Lifestyle Choices

GLA

The amount of GLA required to have this effect is quite high. I recommend 200-300mg GLA per day, reducing to 150mg after three months if inflammation reduces and symptoms stay stable. Only 9-10 per cent of the oil in evening primrose oil is GLA so that means you need to take 3000mg of evening primrose oil, or six 500mg capsules per day. Borage oil contains a higher proportion of GLA and you can get single capsules which provide 250mg of GLA. One of these a day is an essential part of an anti-inflammatory strategy. Supplementing GLA has been shown to be more effective when the co-factor vitamins and minerals (vitamin B6, zinc, B3 and vitamin C) are also supplied. (more…)

Many disease processes involve inflammation, often characterised by swelling, redness, pain and heat.

These include all the `itis’ diseases — arthritis, dermatitis, colitis, nephritis and hepatitis, as well as asthma and others not often associated with inflammation, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in which parts of the brain become inflamed. Inflammation also lies at the root of atherosclerosis, the common cause of thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes. In addition, it is an underlying cause of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, now suffered by eight million people in Britain. (more…)

Depression Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

CBT works on the basis that there is a close connection between thoughts (cognitions), feelings and behaviour. The treatment focuses on patterns of thinking that are negative and examines their underlying dysfunctional beliefs. For example, a person who i_sdepressed may have the belief: “I’m useless”. The underlying belief could be: “If I am not as competent as my colleague, I might as well resign from my job”. While the person in distress likely holds such beliefs with great conviction, with a therapist’s help, the individual is encouraged to view such beliefs as hypotheses rather than facts and to test out such beliefs. Furthermore, those in distress are encouraged to monitor and record the maladaptive thoughts which pop into their minds (called “negative automatic thoughts“). (more…)

Wile drug treatments have demonstrated their effectiveness in treating biological symptoms such as poor appetite, interrupted sleep, low energy and psychomotor retardation, they have little effect on psychological symptoms, for example, pessimism, low confidence, feelings of hopelessness, guilt, self-hatred and the like. These should be addressed using psychological approaches. The most common approach is Supportive Psychotherapy. (more…)

Express Your Feelings

Depressed feelings need to be expressed. Keeping a tight lid on one’s feelings will, in the long run, intensify the feelings and drive one to deeper levels of depression. If you have a friend or a confidant, speak to him candidly about how you feel. The tendency in depressed people is to withdraw from others and this adds to their sense of isolation. Loneliness is not good for depression. It can worsen depression. So resist the tendency to withdraw into your own world. (more…)

What would you put the first place in your life? I think it is health. If I want live free, I will first have a powerful health insurance to get me covered. Sickness can make me broke immediately, I don’t want that happen. (more…)

All cancer is genetic. That is to say, that in order for a normal cell to convert to a cancerous cell, a genetic mishap must occur. These genetic mishaps, or mutations, occur quite frequently and are usually of little consequence unless the event occurs at a critical location on one of the chromosomes. A single mutation does not lead to a cancer. Cancer results from two to three separate events over time. (more…)

However, if your cancer treatment is completed and you feel an unexplainable anxiety even though your trials are apparently over, read on.

These feelings are common and occur, in part, because the end has come to the frequent visits with your various doctors, which can serve to comfort—giving you the tangible evidence that someone is watching over you and your health. But, aside from that, you may be struggling with the fear of recurrence that many women experience at this time. Remember, during the treatment planning process, you want to develop a plan to optimize your chance of cure and to carry out that plan. When done, it is time for you to go on with your life. (more…)

You have a general idea of how each part of your body has a corresponding reflex located in the hands and fingers. In explaining how to work the various reflex points and their coinciding areas in the body.

We will start with the top of the thumb and fingers, and work the reflexes corresponding to the head. Then we will progress to the rest of the hands, explaining the reflexes and body areas as we go. (more…)

I have only roundabout evidence regarding HRT in breast cancer survivors. For example, we know that younger women who have had breast cancer and then go on to become pregnant, with the associated high levels of estrogen and progesterone, do not have a worse prognosis or earlier relapse of breast cancer than women who do not experience a pregnancy. If estrogen can theoretically stimulate breast cancer growth, why do I see breast cancer appear in older postmenopausal women who are not on HRT? This is a fairly frequent occurrence, and most of these cancers are hormone receptor positive, yet they are growing in an estrogen-poor environment. This seems to counter what we know about the environment that is conducive to breast cancer, but this is just another reminder of how much we do not understand about this disease. (more…)

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a major area of concern among women with a history of breast cancer. If you are in the crisis of a recent breast cancer diagnosis, the issue of HRT may seem relatively unimportant. However, as you get farther along and finish your treatment and proceed with your life, questions regarding HRT will certainly arise.

Much has been written on the issue of HRT in general. Less is known specifically about HRT for breast cancer survivors because doctors have been concerned about prescribing anything for their patients that may increase the risk of recurrent disease. (more…)

I suggest you adopt an organized approach to collecting your medical information from the time you are diagnosed with breast cancer. Purchase a three-ring binder with dividers, and create the following categories:

1. Insurance/doctor directory. This section includes such personal information as your insurance policy number and the address and phone number of your insurance company, your date of birth and social security number as well as those of your spouse, work phone numbers, people to call in an emergency and their numbers, baby-sitters, and anyone whose phone numbers and addresses you may need in a pinch.

(more…)

The following is a list of lifestyle adjustments that could improve the quality and length of your life:

• Go for a regular medical check-up.
• Keep a record of your and your family’s medical history.
• Avoid pollution as far as possible.
• Try to live in a crime-free area.
• Have your home and workplace tested for radon.
• Live within 50 km of a hospital or emergency unit.

(more…)

Arrange for Early Psychiatric Appointment

The most important thing you can do for the depressed person is to help him get a psychiatric referral. This could be self initiated or made by a doctor at a polyclinic or by the general practitioner. Early treatment leads to early recovery from the illness.

Patients may feel apprehensive about contacting the clinic. If so, you may wish to assist in making an appointment and accompanying the depressed person to the doctor. (more…)

You Are Not Alone

Many teens suffer from depression, therefore you are not alone. There are effective treatments and hence no depression is a hopeless case. You need to be patient with yourself. It takes time for the mind to heal just as it takes time for the body to heal. Wishing that the depression will disappear is not going to work. It will not go away immediately but it will, eventually. Continuing with treatment and therapy will ensure that that day will come even sooner. In the meantime, try to relax yourself, sort out your feelings and thoughts, and allow your mind and emotions to recover. (more…)

If feelings become so painful and overwhelming that you feel like harming yourself or others, you need to get help right away. Speak to a parent, an adult or a doctor. Ring the

SOS or teenage helpline for crisis counselling. In the meantime, the following suggestions can offer some solace until you find someone you can talk to:

Many teens who have attempted suicide (and survived) say that they did it because they had mistakenly felt that there was no other solution to the problem they were experiencing. At the time, they could not see another way out — but in truth, there is always a way out, even if they could not see it there and then. No matter how horrible you are feeling now, these emotions can, and will, pass. (more…)

Some survivors have the opposite problem: orgasms that come too quickly. A survivor may have found a quick orgasm helped in coping with stimulation, tension, or painful emotion felt during abuse. Also, sometimes the abuser left the child alone after orgasm; orgasm was a way to end the abuse more quickly.

As a result of past associations, sexual touch may trigger an early climax. A current situation may remind a survivor of the abuse in some ways. A survivor may feel caught in an intense buildup of anxiety and fear that erupts suddenly in an orgasm, as this survivor experienced: (more…)