Combining Talk Therapy and Antidepressant Medication

Just as when people think that the only effective treatment for depression is to take drugs, new findings about talk therapy called cognitive behavior therapy appears to cancel the risk of suicidal thinking or behavior associated with taking antidepressant medication. Cognitive therapy is a type of talk therapy that involves counseling and changing a person’s negative thought patterns.
In one of the most comprehensive and long-running study to date about depression treatment among adolescents, 600 patients were treated for chronic depression.  Statistics show that four out of five adolescents treated for chronic depression recovered entirely, or nearly so, when treated over nine months with medication, talk therapy or a combination of the two.
Significant signs of improvement were seen from patients taking medication 6 weeks earlier than those who were undergoing cognitive behavior therapy alone, but were about twice as likely to report feeling suddenly suicidal. The combination of the two therapies, the authors found, produced the most rapid recovery and protected against sudden suicidal urges.
The argument regarding the risks of antidepressants to children and adolescents have been going on for years, prompting health regulators to require all labels for antidepressants to carry prominent warnings that the drugs have been associated with increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior in young patients.  Such a move was seen by many psychiatrists to be a case of something being blown out of proportion and scared off patients who could have benefited from drug treatment.
This study showed that antidepressants lowered the risk of suicidal thoughts and actions over all, but significantly less so than talk therapy.  According to Kevin Stark, a psychologist at the University of Texas who was not involved with the research, the study convincingly showed for the first time that there are very good options for a child who is going through depression and thought to be at risk for suicidal thinking.  “Psychosocial therapies do work on their own, with time. But they also help prevent relapse, and this shows that they can help make drug treatment safer,” said Stark.
Experts agreed that talk therapy was a safer alternative. Almost 15 percent of the patients taking just antidepressant medication reported what were described as “suicidal events,” mainly talk and thoughts of suicide so alarming that doctors called in the patients and, often, altered dosages.
The rate of such events for those receiving just cognitive behavior therapy was 6 percent. The results for combination therapy were about the same.
Dr. John March, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Duke University Medical Center and the principal investigator for the study believed that medication accelerates recovery while cognitive therapy protects against these bad reactions.  “The combination of both treatments is the best option,” said Dr. March.
Getting patients out of bed and doing something that they enjoy, like playing basketball or going to a party, are just some of the behavioral changes promoted by talk therapy.  The young patients are also taught to diffuse “poisonous assumptions” like “I’m a loser” or “I’ll never get a girlfriend.”
It may not be easy to find specialists for this therapy outside large cities. However, the techniques have been widely published in various manuals and books which can serve as sources and references for a good therapist to work on a depression treatment plan.

Choosing the right playground safety surfacing:

You’ll accept a array of altered assurance surfacing options including pour-in-place rubber, elastic mulch, elastic chips, copse cilia strips, bogus grass and aeroembolism elastic tile. Now there is a aberration if it comes to assurance and durability. I’ll rank anniversary blazon of surfacing on a calibration of 1-5 from high, average high, average low and low (1) getting the atomic safe or durable

5 for High

4 for Average high

3 for Medium

2 for Average low

1 for Low

(1) Copse cilia strips are the acceptable surfacing actual that has been acclimated in amphitheater assurance for abounding years. However the backbone is low with copse fiber, abounding playgrounds accept surfacing that is confused or advance throughout a esplanade causing a accident for abatement heights. Abounding humans who accommodate amphitheater aliment acquisition that they generally charge to alter the copse strips several times a year. I accord copse cilia strips a assurance appraisement of 2 and a backbone appraisement of 3.

(2) Pour-in-place was a growing trend in assurance surfacing a few years ago because of its apathy and architecture options. You will acquisition angled edges or names that are advised into pour-in-place surfacing as able-bodied as altered colors. The disadvantage with pour-in-place is that it will able and achromatize aural three years or less. You will aswell activate to see holes in the top band (there are two layers) area the elastic has been worn. This is of acute affair due to assurance regulations on the minimum abyss of surfacing for a accustomed abatement height. Since pour-in-place is adequately new, we’ve alone apparent this abridgement of backbone aural the accomplished few years causing abounding humans to break abroad from this blazon of assurance surfacing. I accord pour-in-place a assurance appraisement of 3 and a backbone appraisement of 2.

(3) Elastic admixture is acceptable the next bearing of copse fiber. The aforementioned humans that accomplish this aswell accomplish beyond chunks that they accredit to as elastic chips. Recycled actual is beatific through a different action that cleans and colors the elastic so that it is absolutely safe for accouchement and has blush that lasts as abundant as seven years. I accord elastic admixture and elastic chips a assurance appraisement of 4 and a backbone appraisement of 4.

(4) Bogus accommodation has been about for a while with some acceptable improvements. The actual is placed assimilate a abject of absorptive chaplet that act as a band of cushioning, abundant like tilled dirt. Unlike clay though, this abject provides abiding assurance for anyone who ability abatement and it allows baptize to breeze advisedly throughout so that the accommodation doesn’t accept baptize damage. I accord bogus accommodation a assurance appraisement of 4 and a backbone appraisement of 5.

(5) Elastic Tiles are a absolute high-quality surfacing material. There’s alone one architect of elastic tiles that I would recommend: SofSurfaces has a patented locking arrangement amid tiles that created one massive apparent for amphitheater safety. This actual is aswell actual durable. SofSurfaces provides a solid 7 year agreement on not alone the blush but the abyss also. That’s THREE TIMES best than the aboriginal three assurance surfacing options. I accord elastic tiles a assurance appraisement of 5 and a backbone appraisement of 5. If you account allows, this is the ideal choice.

Cleaning Up Your Act: Constipation and Its Effects

The excretory system is a collection of organs whose main function is to red the body of all its waste. These wastes may include solid, liquid or gaseous wastes that when kept inside the body for too long may prove fatal.

Liquid wastes or urine is expelled from the body via the kidney, the bladder and the tubes connected to these 2 organs. The process of eliminating liquid waste is called urinatio. Gaseous wastes are let out of the body by means of the mouth, nose, and the rectum. The process is called burping, when excess gas is released from the mouth; exhaling for when you let out carbon dioxide which is a by-product of respiration; and farting for release of toxic gases by way of the rectum.

Solid and or semi-solid wastes are eliminated from the body through the anus in a process called defecation. Food passes the digestive system where nutrients and other nourishment is absorbed and processed. It then becomes feces stored in the rectum until time of excretion. Food is pushed along the large intestine towards the rectum by waves of muscle contraction called peristalsis. Fecal matter should be expelled from the body at least on a daily basis to ensure that no waste materials are kept inside the body. However there are circumstances that the body experiences difficulty removing solid wastes.

CONSTIPATION
It is a digestive tract ailment where a sufferer excretes hard feces. When constipated, the large intestine that pushes the food to the rectum may be moving slowly or not moving at all.  People with constipation may find it extremely painful and/or difficult to defecate and may lead to fecal impaction in the rectum. Stool of a constipated person may be hard and dry. Constipation is one of the most common digestive complaints. It is more common in children and older people and affects more women than men.

What causes constipation?
The three characteristics of constipation has each their own causes.

Hardening of the feces may be caused by:
l    Improper chewing or mastication of food.  Chewing is the first step in digestion and in this stage, food is broken down to smaller bits to make food easier to process in the stomach, and necessary nutriets absorbed by the body.  Bigger chunks of food are therefore more dificult to process and are moved around in the
l    Insufficient fiber in the diet.  Dietary fibers are the indigestible part of plant foods that absorb water while passing through the colon, making defecation easier.  If there is insufficient supply of fiber on your diet, the colon may absorbs all the water in the digested food as it passes through the large intestines.
l    Dehydration or inadequate liquid intake.  When water is in short supply in the body, the colon will act to restrict unnecessary water loss through the stools.
l    Medications.  Diuretics that make the body expel water faster than normal contribute to the loss of water in the feces, making it hard and difficult to expel.

Paralysis of the colon or slow peristaltic movement can be caused by:
l    Medical conditions.  Certain medical conditions such as hypothyroidism and hypokalemia may cause slow movement of the colon.
l    Injured anal sphincter.  It is scientifically known as patulous anus.  When the anal sphincter is injured, it is either caused by damage to the sphincter muscle itself or the nerve supply of the anal sphincter.  This causes an abnormal loss of tone in the muscles surrounding the anus and all contracting actions
l    Medications.  Medications such as loperamides, pain relievers and certain anti-depressants may cause paralysis or slow peristaltic movement as well.

Dyschezia or difficulty defecating is usually results from often suppressing or ignoring the urge to defecate.

What complications arise when constipation is remained untreated?
Complications may arise if you continue to ignore constipation.  These complications include:
l    Hemorrhoids.  These are caused by too much strain on the anal sphincter while trying to force bowel movement.
l    Anal fissures.  These are tears in the skin around the anus brought about by over-stretching while trying to pass hard stool.  This can also cause rectal bleeding.
l    Rectal prolapse.  This is when a small amount of intestinal lining is pushed out of the anal opening while straining for  bowel movement.
l    Fecal impaction.  This develops when hard stool are compacted tightly in the intestine and rectum that normal peristaltic movement of the large intestine is insufficient to have it expelled.
l    Bowel perforation.  This is when the hardened fecal matter punctures through the intestinal wall and spills into the abdominal area.  This causes severe infection as waste products of the body comes into direct contact to other organs housed by the abdominal cavity.  The severe infection caused by this overflow of fecal matter may even prove fatal when not treated immediately.

How is constipation treated?
Constipation is an avoidable condition.  Simple intervention that would entail a slight change of lifestyle can be done to help alleviate constipation and prevent it from re-occuring.  Maintaining a well-balanced, high fiber diet, drinking plenty of water, regular exercise, and setting a regular bowel habit can help.  Don’t ever ignore the urge to defecate when your body tells you you need to, it is never healthy.

In case that the natural approach doesn’t help with your constipation problem, enemas and colonic irrigation help trigger peristaltic movement in the bowel.  If these still don’t work, laxatives are suggested to stimulate bowel movement.

If laxatives and other measures fail, manual disimpaction is performed on the sufferer.  This entails manually removing impacted feces from the rectum.  This may  be done with or without sedatives or anesthetics.  In cases that the constipation reaches intestinal perforation, immediate surgery is required to remove spilled fecal matter from the abdominal cavity.

In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, it is easy to ignore what your bodies are telling you.  People think they have more important things to do and therefore put off for later the need to expel bodily wastes – be it urine, gas or feces.  In  the end it will just cause more inconvenience.  To bad people learn their lessons a bit too late.

Clenbuterol – Is It Safe?

You generally hear/read about Hollywood stars and celebrities accident weight, demography clenbuterol, a new weight-loss biologic that in actuality melts abroad fat, and generally you humans chase your admired stars and celebrities. However, yield a moment to apprentice about the biologic that you are traveling to put into your body.

Often mistaken for a steroid because of its adulterous use in athletics, clenbuterol is in actuality the biologic that is meant added for veterinary than animal use. It is the biologic for horses. In animal use, clenbuterol is generally assigned to the humans adversity from breath disorders as, such as decongestant and bronchodilator. Generally acclimated as a bronchodilator, clenbuterol helps to accomplish breath easier for the humans adversity from abiding breath disorders like asthma. Clenbuterol is a lot of frequently accessible in alkali anatomy as Clenbuterol hydrochloride.

Clenbuterol is generally answer for its lean-muscle-mass allowances a part of bodybuilders. It is generally acclimated as weight accident biologic and generally advertised as safe biologic in assorted countries, but the United States Aliment and Biologic Administration abstracts don’t abutment clenbuterol as weight accident drug. The bureau aswell does not endorse the use of clenbuterol a part of bodybuilders, and added jocks.

Clenbuterol was banned by the US FDA in 1991, as it was begin to advice add added weight and beef in appearance animals, and abounding cases of adverse reactions were appear in humans who had captivated the clenbuterol-tainted meat; the humans showed broken affection and lung function. The US FDA about accustomed clenbuterol for the analysis of horses adversity with lung in 1998. But, the horse that accustomed the biologic could not after be collapsed for food.

Yet, the Centers for Disease Control, in 2005, appear some 26 cases of people, who were ailing for cardiovascular ancillary effects, such as a antagonism affection exhausted and palpitations, abhorrence and chest pain, reportedly demography heroin. However, these reactions were untypical, as heroin depresses the afraid system. So, if patients were tested, clenbuterol was begin in their urine. The allegation appropriate that the heroin ability accept been abstemious with the stuff.

In September 2006, over 330 humans in Shanghai were appear to accept been berserk by bistro pork attenuated by clenbuterol that had been fed to the animals to accumulate their meat lean.

In fact, the FDA considers clenbuterol as a poison, and has banned clenbuterol for all off-label use. As of fall, 2006, clenbuterol is not an additive of any ameliorative biologic accustomed by the U.S. FDA. The artefact labeling for clenbuterol actual acutely states: “For use in horses not advised for food.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA adviser the actionable use of the substances in animals.

Clenbuterol has aswell been banned by the International Olympic Committee. Thus, unless you’re a horse with bum lungs, clenbuterol is illegal. Former Major League baseball pitcher, Jason Grimsley accepted that he was application clenbuterol. The tennis amateur Mariano Puerta was already penalized for use of clenbuterol. Australian wrestler Mitchil Mann was aswell abeyant for testing absolute for the clenbuterol.

Coconut Oil: Cholesterol And Weight Loss Maintenance That Tastes Good

Coconut oil does not contain toxic unsaturated oil that other oils do. It is loaded with healthy benefits that include lowering your cholesterol and your weight. If you find yourself in the “50 and over” group, should your cholesterol and weight rank higher than your retirement plan?

Coconut oil has a pleasant taste, does not go rancid (even after a year) like other oils and has health benefits instead of health detriments. Civilizations consuming coconut oil without the trans fat oils are healthier, have less colon problems, less cancer, do not battle weight loss and have less heart disease.

Coconut oil has antioxidant properties due to the lack of oxidation of the oil in the body thereby reducing the need to supplement Vitamin E that is normally used up in the oxidation process. The general studies indicate that regular consumption of coconut oil reduces cholesterol to a normal level by converting cholesterol into pregnenolone.

Ever since “trans fat” became a dirty food, we have looked for replacement oils that will deliver our favorite “bad” food to the table without sacrificing the good taste. It has been established that our best bet to stay healthy is to eat healthy. Eating healthy includes eliminating harmful oils and supplementing our diet with foods that includes basic building block nutrients that have eroded from our farms and gardens.

The trans fats stay in the bloodstream and eventually collect as fat in the vessels and body. Coconut oil goes straight to the liver and is converted to energy. This “good” oil speeds up your body’s metabolic rate, causes you to burn calories and in this manner you will loose weight.

Coconut oil has a laundry list of healthy benefits. Using coconut oil as a supplement, 3-4 tablespoonfuls a day, produces sufficient lauric acid. Lauric acid produces monolaurin. Monolaurin is a natural antiviral that kills viruses. This is a huge support to the immune system.

Cooking with coconut oil will eliminate harmful fatty chains that manifests themselves as trans fatty acids in the body. If you are reducing trans fat in your body you also raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels and lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels in your bloodstream.

The medicinal use worldwide of coconut oil includes: supplement to prevent osteoporosis, sore throat, kidney stone dissolving, reduce swelling and for weight loss.

The results are clear, nutritionists and dietitians agree that coconut oil is one of the healthiest supplements you can consume. Civilizations that have used coconut oil are generally healthier and do not have the many western nation diseases such as heart disease, blood pressure issues, blood sugar, obesity and diabetes.

Coconut oil can be used for cooking and frying. Battle weight loss the natural way. Replace all oil such as butter, margarine, vegetable oil or shortening with coconut oil. Warmed to 76 degrees, coconut is liquid and can be used in salad dressing. You can also use it as a skin lotion. It is liquid on contact to the skin.

It may be a while before it is time to make another new years resolution. Don’t wait, for your health’s sake, make a change now that will change the “quality of your life” of tomorrow.

Do Carb Blocker | Starch Blocker Pills Work?

•What are carb blocker or starch blocker pills?

Drop in to any pharmacy or supermarket and you will see many brands of carb blocker pills for sale. The carb blocker pills or more specifically, starch blocker pills are supposed to block carbohydrate absorption from the food you have eaten for weight management and weight loss purposes.

They are generally made from bean and wheat germ extracts especially white kidney beans. Carb blocker pills when taken are supposed inhibit the release of a digestive enzyme called alpha amylase that breaks down starchy carbohydrates. This then prevent carbohydrates or starch from converting into glucose and then to body fat. The unabsorbed carbs are then passed through the intestinal tracts and subsequently excreted.

•Are there any side effects from taking carb blockers?

Some people suffer from various minor side effects and discomforts such bloating, gas, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea after taking the carb blocker pills. However, carb blocker manufacturers consistently claim that these syptoms are actually indications that the starch blocker pills are working just fine.

•Do carb blocker pills really work?

Are carb blocker pills effective in blocking carbohydrate absorption? Early reports and researches are not very convincing. However, recent studies at the Mayo Clinic seem to suggest that much higher doses than those found in most commercial carb blocker pills did slow carbohydrate absorption but was not proven that they could help people to lose weight.

•Then what is my take on carb blocker pills?

Well, if it is just as simple as popping some magical pills and you will lose weight and manage your weight successfully, then the developed world should be able to solve its obesity problems easily along with many obesity related diseases. Apparently this is not the case.

So from this simple fact, you can draw your own conclusion as to whether carb blocker pills indeed do work.

Deaf Awareness: Listen Up!

There are an estimated demographic figure of 36 million deaf and hard of hearing in the United States. Of this large number, only a few million are considered “deaf” and the remainder are “hard of hearing.” Further confusing statistics is the fact that some “deaf” people may actually be “hard of hearing,” and some “hard of hearing” people may actually be “deaf.”

In previous years, the labels “deaf” and “hard of hearing” were employed as subcategories of the term “hearing-impaired.” During that time, it was used as a generic term that was applicable to anybody with any degree of hearing loss. However, some deaf people objected to the description of their hearing status as “impaired” because they felt that the term also implied that the person was “impaired.” Such degrading terms can actually cause depression and anxiety among deaf people and, thus, this generic label has been dropped.

The deaf and hard of hearing community is very diverse, differing greatly on the cause and degree of hearing loss, age at the onset, educational background, communication methods, and how they feel about their hearing loss. How a person “labels” themselves in terms of their hearing loss is personal and may reflect identification with their relationship with the deaf community or merely how their hearing loss affects their ability to communicate. They can either be deaf, Deaf (with a capital “D”), or hard of hearing.

Interestingly, the lowercase “deaf” is used when referring to the audiological condition of not hearing, while the uppercase “Deaf”  is used to refer to a particular group of people who share a common language such as the ASL (American Sign Language) and culture. The members of this group have inherited their sign language, used it as a primary means of communication among themselves, and hold a set of beliefs and their connection to the larger society. They are distinguished from those who find themselves losing their hearing because of illness, trauma, or age. Although these people share the condition of not hearing, they do not have access to the knowledge, beliefs, and practices that make up the culture of Deaf people.

Generally, the term “deaf” refers to those who are unable to hear well enough to rely on their hearing and use it as a means of processing information. On the other hand, the term “hard of hearing” refers to those who have some hearing, are able to use it for communication purposes, and who feel reasonably comfortable doing so. A hard of hearing person, in audiological terms, may have a mild to moderate hearing loss.

To understand hearing loss, it is important to understand how normal hearing takes place. There are two different pathways by which sound waves produce the sensation of hearing: air conduction and bone conduction.

In air conduction, sound waves move through the air in the external auditory canal (the “ear canal” between the outside air and the eardrum). The sound waves hit the tympanic membrane (eardrum) and cause the tympanic membrane to move. Hearing by bone conduction occurs when a sound wave or other source of vibration causes the bones of the skull to vibrate. These vibrations are transmitted to the fluid surrounding the cochlea and hearing results.

Fortunately, there are many treatments that are available for hearing loss. People with conductive hearing loss can have the middle ear reconstructed by an ear, nose, and throat specialist. Hearing aids are effective and well-tolerated for people with conductive hearing loss. People who are profoundly deaf may benefit from a cochlear implant.

For people with hearing loss, it is a matter of deciding whether to treat it as an audiological perspective or as a cultural lifestyle. It’s all about choices, comfort level, mode of communication, and acceptance of hearing loss. Whatever the decision, there are support groups and organizations that represent all deaf and hard of hearing Americans, and advocacy work that can benefit everyone, regardless of the type of hearing loss and background.

Death By Breathing

Breathing is allotment and bindle of the animal condition. If you don’t breathe, you can’t absolutely do much. The air about us, however, is not absolutely as authentic as it already was. Arguably, the air about us was never absolutely that authentic in the aboriginal place, but that’s delving a little too deep. In accomplished ages, humans sometimes feared bubbler baptize during times of war because there was a actual acceptable adventitious it was berserk by the enemy. An base tactic, to be sure, but one that was acclimated nonetheless. In the avant-garde world, humans may not be as batty about the air they breathe, but there is no abstinent that things like buzz smoke and the achievability of aerial bacterial infection accomplish breath a chancy thing.

You’ve apparently heard a abhorrence adventure or two about the abeyant ancillary furnishings of breath in buzz smoke. You’ve apparently been told that, back there’s no clarify to abate the bulk of toxins and carcinogens, you’re at greater accident than smokers if you acquiesce yourself to be apparent regularly. Smokers accept the filters on their cigars and cigarettes to abate the damage, but humans who angle there and yield in the buzz smoke don’t accept that protection. The abeyant after-effects of abiding acknowledgment consists of a account of respiratory disorders accoutrement aggregate from accessory fits of coughing to something as astringent as lung cancer.

Of course, it isn’t just the smoke from cigarettes and the like that you accept to anguish about. The avant-garde atmosphere has, according to some estimates, added carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide than before. Some skeptics agnosticism the accuracy of the affirmation that the air now is added baneful than at any added point in history, but that is mainly because there is a abridgement of affirmation to prove for or adjoin the theory. While radical, some humans see the air superior of the archetypal burghal association as getting chancy to a person’s bloom in the long-term, primarily due to the baneful apparatus in it.

Science aswell has an absorbing account of all sorts of aerial pathogens, bacteria, and bacilli that are amphibian around. While a lot of of them are almost accessory and backpack alone a basal accident of bacterial infection, others are not as amiable in nature. However, it doesn’t yield a advised agitator advance for anyone to arrangement an affliction by just breath in the pathogens. Things like the accepted algid can be apprenticed because the viral or bacterial infection is airborne. While the accepted algid is something that anybody has to put up with and is far from lethal, it can do abundant accident to the body’s allowed arrangement that added bacilli can footfall in and could could cause added damage. For some cases, such as Legionnaire’s Disease, all it absolutely needs is an aperture to do the bedraggled work.

According to some statistics, the bulk of allergens in the air seems to be assuming an access over the accomplished few decades. When allergen levels from 1968 were compared to levels in 1996 and 2006, there was a notable accretion trend in between. This botheration can sometimes be added aggravated in well-developed burghal environments, decidedly in all-embracing appointment barrio with centralized altitude ascendancy systems. A lot of appointment barrio aswell accept centralized cooling systems that adapt the temperature of the absolute building. The bankrupt and assimilation ports of these systems can be absolute ancestry area not alone for assorted types of bacteria, but aswell a array of allergens. As anyone who has an abhorrence understands, the acuteness of the reactions can vary, but a lot of of them accordingly could could cause ache and accessory bloom concerns.

Diagnosing & Treating Parkinson’s Disease

Characterized as a movement disorder, Parkinson’s disease often is accompanied by muscle stiffness, a slowing or loss of physical movement, tremor, etc. In addition, Parkinson’s disease may carry symptoms that include mood swings (i.e., depression, anxiety, panic attacks, apathy, etc.), changes in behavior, sensations (i.e., arms, legs, hands, etc.) and the ability to process thoughts. Because each case of Parkinson’s disease is unique to the individual it affects, the symptoms may vary from one person to another.

There are several treatment options available to patients who suffer from Parkinson’s disease, including medication that may help to ease the symptoms, surgical procedures, a customized diet consisting of nutrition and exercise. Clinical research indicates that nutrients may help to treat Parkinson’s disease and may even help to slow it’s deteriorating effects. Certain types of physical activities, including yoga and dance are believed to be beneficial in helping to maintain mobility and may ease the discomfort associated with muscle stiffness caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Certain types of medication, including those prescribed for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, carry a risk of dangerous side effects. Therefore, it is important for patients to discuss any possible side effects with their physician prior to taking any medication. It is equally important that physicians be made aware of any past or current medical condition from which the patient suffers and/or any medications that they are currently using. At times, one medication can have a negative reaction with another, which is why it is very important that the patient disclose their medical history to the doctor who is treating them for Parkinson’s disease.

To this day, research continues in the fight to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. Fundraisers and donations are all a part of what makes medical research possible and what many hope will eventually lead to a cure for this life-altering illness. While Parkinson’s disease may result in the patient becoming more apt to developing other medical conditions, the most common cause of death in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease is believed to be that of pneumonia.

The information in this article is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered as, or used in place of, medical advice or professional recommendations for the cause, diagnosis or treatment of Parkinson’s disease. If necessary, individuals should consult a medical doctor for information regarding the likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease, a proper diagnosis and/or course of treatment.

Discovering Spiritual Wellness

Very few people are attuned with their spiritual health which has a significant effect in the over-all wellness of the mind and body. Spirituality is unique to each individual. It can be equated with traditional religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, or Buddhism. It could also be manifested in the level of growth that one experiences in personal relationships, or in simply being at peace with nature. Those who are not in touch with their spiritual needs usually experience deep sadness, depression, intense anger, fear, anxiety, and grief. These negative feelings can create the environment for emotional, physical, and mental health dysfunction. People who suffer from repeated physical and emotional abuse carries a wounded and broken heart, as if perpetually tormented by life’s difficulties and pains. They do not realize that their heavy-heart influences their well-being or quality of life. Denial of the depth of distress will only aggravate the situation and may lead to serious heart conditions and illnesses. Recent studies have shown the connection between depression and anxiety, and the development of heart diseases. They are considered risk factors equal to high cholesterol and diabetes. According to research, patients going through depression are twice as likely to die from the complications of a heart attack, compared with people who don’t have depression. Some experts even suggest that depression and anxiety should be classified as new risk factors for the development of heart disease. People who are alone and friendless tend to be more sickly, with greater chances of developing heart disease and a shorter life expectancy, than those blessed with a wide circle of friends and other relationships that provide emotional and moral support. There seems to be a direct connection between illness and lack of love as documented in research studies conducted by Dean Ornish, M.D., a respected cardiologist from the University of California in San Francisco. A few years ago, scientists have discovered that inflammation of the coronary arteries plays a role in the arteries becoming clogged with cholesterol. Two of the most successful heart medications, beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors, work at the hormonal level, reducing the influence of adrenaline released when we are upset, nervous, or experiencing stress and fear. These drugs have been nothing short of miraculous, reducing incidence of death by 30 percent. However, there are many patients who do not respond well to drugs because of emotional as well as physical ailments. This is where alternative healing, such as meditation, prayer, or psychotherapy, comes in. One such meditative therapy is called Sufism, or Practicing Remembrance — an ancient spiritual practice that originated in Islam, and best known in the West through the poetry of Rumi. Sufism focuses its many practical and effective methods of healing on the heart with a simple but miraculous way of opening a person to the healing rays of love. Practicing Remembrance is a time-honored method of healing that makes use of a combination of breathing and sounds to open the heart to greater love. What you will be remembering when you utilize this technique is the concept of love. To many spiritual groups, the concept of love and God are interchangeable. For Sufis, the Practice of Remembrance is the repetition of God’s name in a number of succession or cycles. Each time the name of God is repeated, love flows into the heart. It is this continuous process of repetition that has the power to cleanse the heart of all the negative vibrations and the heaviness it carries. But it is important to visualize love or the spirit entering the heart when the sound is being repeated. Spiritual wellness is discovering a sense of meaning in your life, and living out the reason and purpose of your existence.