‘I love the NHS. Without it, I wouldn’t be here’

I attempted suicide. Without the NHS, I wouldn’t be here

When I was 20 I attempted suicide. I ended up in A&E where every staff member I came into contact with was patient, kind, and calm, even though the department seemed busier than usual. I was treated with compassion and respect, and one nurse even succeeded in making me laugh on what was the worst day of my life. I could feel the support all around me. They made me feel less alone and I can’t thank them enough.Even though a couple of years have passed, I still think about how fantastically I was treated in my vulnerable state, and how different my life could have turned out if it hadn’t been for their kindness and understanding. Without them, I don’t think I’d be here.
Student, Gloucestershire

I’ve lived in the US. I’ve seen what worse care for more money looks like

The first time the NHS saved my life I was trapped under a car after an accident with a fractured pelvis, skull and three crushed vertebrae as well as a haemorrhaging liver. The eight days I spent in hospital would have bankrupted my family if I had been living in the US. I was 13 and by the time I was discharged I didn’t even want to leave. The care was so good they even brought in school work so I didn’t fall behind in class.

The second time my appendix burst and I underwent an operation. I missed the first day of my finals but the surgeon gave me the smallest appendectomy scar of anyone I’ve ever seen. They obviously took immense pride in it and I thought that was very cool.

I’ve lived in the US. I’ve seen what worse care for more money looks like. I’ve seen people die of preventable cancers because they were too poor to go to a doctor.
Huw Gildon, 40, marketing professional

It’s amazing when patients that have nearly died several times walk out of hospital

I love the NHS because every day I see people who are at their most vulnerable and the sickest they will ever be. The standout stories for me are when patients have been through the biggest fight of their lives, have nearly died several times, have been hooked up to a ventilator for months on end and they then walk out of our unit and hospital.
Jenny, ITU nurse, 32, Liverpool

My consultant came in to operate on me on his day off

I had a radioactive plaque fitted into my eye five days after a diagnosis of eye cancer. A while later, I was lying on a theatre trolley waiting for surgery to remove it. The consultant who had fitted the plaque previously warned me that he had a day off and so would not be doing the removal. Obviously all surgeons are perfectly qualified; I had no need to be fearful. But, it had been a stressful week so I lay having a silent sob about how I was about to die and only one person could save me but they weren’t here. Just as I was being pushed into theatre, someone touched my arm; it was my original consultant. “I’ll be doing your operation today Mrs Dimmock,” he said. Those words are now up there with my husband saying “I do” and my kids first saying “mumumum”.
Victoria Dimmock, 41, Brighton

As a doctor it is marvellous to be able to treat everyone without worrying about them having to pay

I remember about 30 years ago a baby was born in severe heart failure. She was transferred to a specialist heart hospital and then had to be transferred to another hospital in Scotland. Sadly the treatment failed and the doctors explained that the baby was going to die. The parents asked if they could be transferred back to their hometown so the grandparents could see the baby before she died. She was accordingly helicoptered back to where her family was and she died surrounded by them.

The marvellous thing was no one argued about financial matters – it just happened. As a doctor, it is marvellous to be able to treat everyone without worrying about them having to pay.
Anonymous

Woe to the British citizen who doesn’t vigorously defend the NHS

My favourite story is the birth of our third child which was our first to happen through the NHS. Our eldest were born in the US and even though we had “good” health insurance we still received bills for about $ 1,300 after each child was born.

And the NHS has midwives who have the goal of making birth as easy and humane as possible for mum and baby. In the US, birth is much more an assembly line situation that feels like some sort of costly corporate emergency. In the UK, our son swam out into a big birth tub while my wife sucked on some gas and air (which they don’t have in the US). It was just a kinder, gentler experience and while there were doctors nearby if we needed one, we never even had to see one. My wife was coached through labour by a lovely young woman while I tried to stay out of the way and shout nice things or grab a flannel when asked, that type of thing.

Woe to the British citizen who doesn’t vigorously defend the NHS. You do not know how lucky you are. Do NOT take it for granted and fire politicians who you think don’t take care of your nation’s most precious achievement, the NHS.
Rob Delaney, 40, comedian, from the US but lives in London

Sometimes there are wonderful stories of survival

When I was an intensive care nurse, I looked after a patient for several weeks who had a number of setbacks along the way to recovery. One day, it was decided by the doctors that he had reached a stage where survival was unlikely and that, should the time come, he should be allowed to die with dignity. It was agreed to transfer him to a hospice.

I ensured that I was his nurse on each day. He started in a catatonic state. I made enquiries about transferring to a hospice nearer his home, but none of them had any beds. We were told to try again in a few days. Three days later, he had made a strong recovery and was sat out in a chair eating breakfast when his family came to visit.
Nurse practitioner, 40, Cheshire

I have seen HIV go from a death penalty to chronic manageable illness in my time working in the NHS

I worked on a HIV ward in London in the early 90s. We cared for patients who were slowly dying as their immune systems were attacked by the virus and they succumbed to various infections. It was a heartbreaking time with so many people affected and no hope in sight.

There were various drugs being trialled, and the patients were happy to be guinea pigs – they had nothing to lose. There was a breakthrough in the late 90s and I witnessed the introduction of triple therapy. I saw the illness go from a death penalty to chronic manageable illness.
Anonymous

• In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.
  

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‘I love the NHS. Without it, I wouldn’t be here’

Mario, you crossed into our world at the worst time – it’s no game over here | Emily Reynolds

Mario is coming to a street near you. His latest outing, Super Mario Odyssey, was unveiled in a Nintendo trailer earlier this month, and shows the moustachioed plumber gleefully sprinting around a facsimile of New York, hopping over taxis and scaling skyscrapers. Elsewhere, he swings through dewy forests and slides through realistically animated streams. The angry, sentient plant pots may be slightly less believable, but that’s besides the point – Mario has been plucked from the multicoloured fantasy of the Mushroom Kingdom and dumped into our much less palatable reality.

Unfortunately for him he appears to have crossed dimensions at the worst possible time. Super Brexit Odyssey doesn’t sound like a very appealing venture, though Boris Johnson’s foppish faux-blustering would probably slot disturbingly easily into a fantasy game. In an ideal world, Donald Trump would remain a harmless parody of the boorish, hard-to-beat final boss in a video game; in the real world he is the newly inaugurated president of the United States, and already having a marked and negative impact on people’s lives.

His picks for cabinet have included a raft of ardent anti-choice climate change deniers, including a vice-president who supports “conversion therapy” for members of the LGBT community, and believes women should have to state in writing whether aborted or miscarried foetuses should be buried or cremated. The real world is currently looking pretty overrated.

And not only that, there will be no predetermined paths for Mario’s coin collection anymore. Unlike previous iterations of the game, which have taken place in set, closed-off levels, players will be able to roam a more open-ended world. Mario can cross roads, climb ladders, scale buildings and hitch a ride on taxis. That might sound like a good idea until you consider some of the political decisions made by the general public over the last year – maybe a lack of choice is good for us after all.

Tortuous analogies aside, there may be some genuine benefits to ignoring the real world in favour of unashamedly escapist entertainment. Games have long been posited to help with anxiety and stress: alongside bucketloads of anecdotal evidence, numerous studies have found positive links between gaming and mental health.

One, from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, found that Tetris helped reduce stressful intrusive memories in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. A study due to be published in March’s edition of the journal Computers in Human Behavior also found that games could encourage positive, co-operative, pro-social behaviour.

‘Numerous studies have found positive links between gaming and mental health.’ Photograph: Wavebreak Media ltd / Alamy/Alamy

More evidence came in a 2012 study from Stanford University that found gamers “hyper-stimulating” the brain’s mesolimbic pathways (associated with goals and motivations) and hippocampus (linked to learning and memory).

In 2014, Dutch researchers suggested that gaming can “foster real world psychosocial benefits” – cognitive, motivational, emotional and social. There’s no lack of evidence to suggest the positive impact gaming can have, especially on someone experiencing low-level stress, depression or anxiety.

And while Mario might not have a depression level yet – arch-enemy Bowser approaching asking “Have you tried yoga?” and saying “Cheer up!” – a growing number of games have been designed with mental health in mind. For example Sparx, a game designed to help residents of New Zealand with depression, which builds upon gaming’s mental health benefits to create something therapeutically valuable as well as fun.

Comments about how rightwing authoritarian regimes create the best conditions for creativity are obviously facile, especially now: people rightfully fearing discrimination need more than limp, empty reassurance that they needn’t worry because music, games or books are going to get really good again. When artists such as Amanda Palmer – white, able-bodied, rich, and privileged – say things like “Donald Trump is going to make punk rock great again” it’s a frustrating distraction from the potentially horrifying realities of the situation.

But that’s not to say that escapism isn’t a valuable tool if used correctly. Playing Mario – or any other game – is obviously not going to make you less miserable about the realities of any given political climate. What it can do, though, is provide a small amount of respite when you’re feeling stressed about something or you just want to pretend that the real world doesn’t exist for an hour or two. Perhaps Nintendo should bear this in mind when they design the next set of adventures for Mario – next time, maybe he should spend less time in our world, and we should spend more time in his.

Mario, you crossed into our world at the worst time – it’s no game over here | Emily Reynolds

Can’t Sleep? Here are 13 Effective Ways to Fall Asleep Faster

Having trouble falling asleep can lead to getting not enough sleep or sleep deprivation, the most signs of which are excessive daytime sleepiness, yawning, and irritability. Chronic sleep deprivation can interfere with balance, coordination, memory, decision-making abilities. Worse still, it suppresses immune system function.

Remedies to the more physical and environmental sleep-deprivers are fairly obvious, even though not always easily employed. So, if you are in the majority of those having trouble to fall asleep and not having a quality sleep, here are some do-it-yourself suggestions:

Avoid eating within 1 ½ – 2 hours of bedtime

Eating or snacking before bedtime is one of many nighttime habits. Eating especially right before your bedtime can be very disruptive to sleep. Salt-filled snacks such as potato chips, for instance, could make you feel thirsty. Drinking too much fluid before bedtime may cause extra trips to the bathroom.

Taking refined carbohydrates and sodas loaded with sugar (especially high fructose corn syrup) before bedtime can also cause disrupted sleep. Eating high-carb diet before bedtime can cause blood sugar to nose dive.

Snack on fats and proteins

Snacking on fats and proteins 2 hours of bedtime are much safer than snacking on carbs especially processed carbs. The reason is these foods would not cause sugar spikes. Fats especially healthy fats such as coconut milk, cheese, full cream milk and most proteins that contain an amino acid tryptophan may help you to feel calm, which in turn make you falling sleep more easily.

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine

Caffeine, nicotine, and sugar are stimulants if consumed close to bedtime can prevent you from falling asleep. Caffeine is found in a number of foods and drinks, including chocolate, tea, energy drinks, and some pain relievers. While alcohol sometimes makes users feel sleepy and may speed up the onset of sleep, as the body metabolizes the alcohol, it actually acts as a stimulant, preventing quality sleep and increasing awakenings during the night.

Good nite sleep depends much on parasympathetic nervous system (PSN) dominance. So nicotine, sugar (from table sugar or processed carbs), caffeine, and alcohol (certain amounts) would increase sympathetic nervous system activity resulting in its dominance over PSN and may awaken you as well as disrupt your sleep.

Note: Some people believe that any type of alcohol is bad for health due to ethanol content even only a glass of it at a time. Ethanol is converted to ethanal, a lethal aldehyde. This aldehyde is found to be very cytotoxic, meaning it can destruct and eventually kill cells.

Consider alternative treatment/therapy

 Some medications can cause disrupted sleep. These are the most common ones said to cause it, including alpha-blockers, beta-blockers, corticosteroids, SSRI antidepressants, ACE inhibitors, ARBs, cholinesterase inhibitors, H1 antagonists, glucosamine/chondroitin, and statins.

Write down every drug and supplement you take. If you’re taking any of them and having sleep problems, you may try an alternative treatment or therapy. Gotu Kola and Sensitive Plant, for instance, may be used as alternatives for alpha-blockers and beta-blockers. They may also be used as antidepressants.

Turn off you mind

Convert your concern over something that bothering such as worrying about next day’s event into some kind of action plan and you will rest easier. Take a piece of paper and jot down your top concerns. Then write down the steps you will take to resolve the problems or situations. Don’t forget to include how and when you want to materialize your planned strategies.

Exercise, at least four hours of bedtime

Exercise especially cardio workout helps improve the length and quality of you sleep. 30 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise, for instance, keeps your body temperature up to 4 hours, thus, inhibiting sleep. When your body cools down, at the same time the stress hormone cortisol follows suit, your brain starts releasing melatonin, so then you will get drowsy.

Comfortable sleeping environment

Use your bed for sleep and sex only. Using your bed for other activities such as studying or watching television would let your brain to associate your sleep spot with being awake and alert.

Blue wavelengths are beneficial during daylight hours as they boost attention, reaction times, and moods, however, when emitted by electronics with screens, as well as energy-efficient lighting during bedtime may cause disrupted sleep. Many people don’t know that LED screen of their mobile phones emits blue wavelengths.

Use dim red lights for night lights as it has the least power to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin.

Have sex

Having sexual activities before bed is seldom discussed as one of the ways to induce sleep and to have a good sleep. Some married couples have routine intercourses performed every night or several nights per week before bedtime as a means to help them to fall asleep more easily. Sexual activities release endorphins, which exert a soothing effect on the brain and nervous system.

Some married couples or individuals practice non-orgasmic sex or at least delayed orgasm, obtained via having intercourse or caressing/fondling genitals or sensual parts. The moderate release of dopamine would not only provide pleasure but also long-term satisfaction to both parties as well as inducing good night sleep.

Start a sleep ritual

When you were a child, your mother read you a bedtime story and tucked you into bed every night. This comforting ritual acts as a signal to your brain to fall asleep. Have sex, drink a glass of warm milk, take a bath, listen to calming music, or recite bedtime prayer are bedtime rituals, which help signal the mind and body that it’s time to sleep.

Make your bedroom smell good

Essential oils such as Ylang-ylang, Lavender, Bergamot, Marjoram, Neroli, Sandalwood, and Sandalwood are said can combat insomnia, two symptoms of which are difficulty falling asleep at night and waking up during the night.

The most convenience way to use them is by applying on your neck or pillow.

Epsom Salt and lemon

If you want to improve your sleep every night, you may want to consider taking lemon water with Epsom salt added to it. Magnesium is believed can help calm your brain and autonomic nervous system by activating parasympathetic nervous system over sympathetic nervous system.

Squeeze ¼ lemon in a glass of water, add ¼ teaspoon of Epsom salt and a pinch of Himalayan salt. Drink it ½ hour of your bedtime. It is useful in inducing sleep for those experiencing insomnia, hypertension, anxiety, and depression.

Alternatively, take Valerian root, Gotu Kola, Chrysanthemum or Lemon Grass tea ½ hour before bedtime. It can help relax your mind and body

Take coconut oil

Surprisingly, consuming coconut oil daily is said can help induce sleep and have a good night sleep. Coconut oil is believed to have the ability to regulate body functions and eventually help one sleep more easily.

Turmeric milk

In the evening, having a warm cup of golden yellow turmeric milk is soothing and can help you sleep soundly through the night. How to prepare: in a small pot, bring almond milk to a boil, turn off the heat and whisk in turmeric, cardamom, and raw honey. Adding 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla would make the turmeric milk taste better and further synergize its calming effect.

Can’t Sleep? Here are 13 Effective Ways to Fall Asleep Faster

7000 Studies Prove Turmeric is a Super-herb: Here Are 7 Easy Ways to Use it

7000 Studies Prove Turmeric is a Super-herb: Here Are 7 Easy Ways to Use it

If You are Having Low Libido, Here are Natural and Effective Ways to Revive Low Testosterone Levels

Testosterone is a naturally occurring reproductive hormone that plays a vital role in both men and women – its concentration in men is higher than that of women. As a predominant male sex hormone mainly produced in the testicles, it plays a significant role in men including higher muscle mass, higher energy level, improved cognition, improved bone mass, increased libido, improved erection, and better insulin management.

On the opposite side, however, if testosterone level is low, one will experience a completely different set of characteristic, including muscle wasting, osteoporosis, lack of focus, fatigue, depression, insomnia, low libido, erectile dysfunction, irritability, and prone to gain weight with higher fat storage.

Test

The best way to determine whether or not one is experiencing low testosterone is by getting levels of testosterone tested by allopathic doctors. Experiencing one or more symptoms sometimes not necessarily reflect signs of low testosterone levels as many other factors may create similar symptoms.

Stay lean

There several ways of increasing testosterone levels naturally. Keep lean and stay lean all the time throughout life is one of the natural ways to maintain normal testosterone levels. A research found that 40 percent of obese non-diabetic men and 50 percents of obese diabetic men aged 45 or more have subnormal testosterone levels.

In the conclusion section of the study, authors state that obesity is most frequently associated with subnormal free testosterone concentrations in males. Furthermore, the concomitant presence of diabetes is associated with an additional increase in the prevalence of subnormal free testosterone concentrations.

High insulin

In obese individuals, enzyme aromatase that converts testosterone to estradiol is said increases with the increased of adipose tissue – leads to decreased testosterone levels. Hyperinsulinemia caused by insulin resistance experienced by diabetics is believed to be a mechanism for low testosterone levels.  This is believed to be responsible for decreased testosterone levels too.

Sugar 

A research found that the sugar ingestion decreased blood levels of testosterone by as much as 25 percent, regardless of whether the men had diabetes, prediabetes or normal glucose tolerance. Reducing sugar intake especially ultra-processed carbs and taking more servings of vegetables rather than sweet-taste-fruits on daily basis as sugar replacement is a smart move towards boosting testosterone levels.

Overweight and obese may be resolved by making some lifestyle changes including not to overeating, avoid being a couch potato, and exercising regularly.

Cortisol

It is a fact that chronic and prolonged emotional stress increase cortisol. As cortisol levels are inversely proportional to testosterone levels, one who experience prolonged emotional stress should prioritize stress management as the first step towards overcoming low libido.

Intense training

Overtraining such as intense training exceeding 45 minutes is said to elevate cortisol and lead to a reduction of testosterone levels. However, many individuals who are used to overtraining even by doing the not so intense training close to bed time is said to experience much better libido. In my opinion, this phenomenon is similar to those men experiencing better libido and penile sensitivity to touch after drinking coffee just before having sex. Better blood circulation and higher levels of nitric oxide due to polyphenols might be the best explanation for both phenomena.

Working out

According to a study, working out in the gym can worsen the effects of already elevated cortisol levels. If you are training a lot and start to lose the morning erection (morning wood) it may be a sign of overtraining and plummeting testosterone.

Black tea

According to a study, a mug of tea contains about half as much caffeine as a mug of coffee. Unless you are so addicted to coffee, why not try sipping some black tea for its cortisol lowering benefit. In a study, subjects were asked to complete a stressful task, then sip some black tea. Results demonstrated that the black tea drinkers experienced decreased cortisol levels by 47% while the non-tea drinkers only experienced a decrease of 27%.

Healthy fats

Getting adequate intake of healthy fats, including coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, fish oil, nuts, avocado, and animal meat may be helpful in boosting testosterone levels. Some people still treat fats as taboo to talk and think about. However, there is a significant correlation between consuming diet higher in healthy fats and testosterone production.

Get enough sleep

Research showed that men who sleep just 5 hours or less experienced decreased testosterone levels of 10 – 15 percents. The study suggests that adequate sleep is needed every night in order to have optimal testosterone levels. So, how much sound sleep you need each night? Getting at least 6 hours of sound sleep might be adequate. However, 7-8 hours seems to be optimal. Try to take a nap during the day if possible as napping may relieve stress, subsequently, decreases cortisol and leads to better testosterone levels.

Alcohol

Make some effort to limit alcohol consumption as studies demonstrated ethanol, a component of alcohol produced by fermentation reduces testosterone levels. A study found that short-term alcohol consumption will not affect testosterone levels too much, however, smarter choice is probably to minimize the intake as much as possible.

Be mindful of xenoestrogen. Being chemicals mimicking estrogen originating from outside of the body as it is said to increase total free circulating estrogen and leads to testosterone-estrogen imbalance.

Adaptogens

Herbal intervention by taking adaptogens on a regular basis such as Ashwagandha, Gotu Kola, Tongkat Ali, Tribulus, Siberian Ginseng or Horny Goat Weed may help harmonize the production of reproductive hormones including testosterone by regulating cortisol levels.

Adrenal fatigue

Adrenal fatigue that occurs due to prolonged stress may decrease cortisol levels significantly. This, in turn, may cause many symptoms including low libido. Cortisol and two other stress hormones namely epinephrine and norepinephrine are needed in sufficient amount so that our body will physiologically be able to carry out its function optimally.  Whether one experiences adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion (a worse version of adrenal fatigue), taking adaptogen herbs regularly is believed to boost the functions of adrenal glands responsible for the production of stress hormones.

Power pose

A study conducted by Harvard scientists found that standing in a dominant pose with wide legs and arms straight out in the air for just two minutes and performed as daily routine may decrease cortisol levels by 25% while raising testosterone levels by 20%.

These foods offer individual benefits towards reducing cortisol as they are stress busting, which include wild salmon, oats, dark chocolate, olive oils, garlic, oysters, berries, and chamomile tea, among others.

Lamb

Eating meat especially grass fed lamb regularly is said to improve libido. The positive effect is attributed to carnitine which is beneficial in increasing the amount of the active androgen receptors in muscle as well as improving blood circulation.

If You are Having Low Libido, Here are Natural and Effective Ways to Revive Low Testosterone Levels

Every tobacco death is an avoidable tragedy. The epidemic must stop here | Margaret Chan

Tobacco use, the leading cause of death from non-communicable diseases such as heart and lung disorders and cancer, claims about 6m lives a year. On Monday, countries will gather in Delhi, India, for the seventh conference of the parties to the World Health Organisation framework convention on tobacco control, a treaty that has sparked global action to stem the epidemic.

The treaty is already one of the most widely embraced in UN history. One of my proudest accomplishments at the helm of the World Health Organisation has been rallying global efforts to drive down tobacco use. I’m pleased to say that, following the adoption of the agreement, governments around the world have taken decisive steps not only to reduce tobacco use, but also to stand up to the multinational tobacco companies standing in the way of global progress.

The tide of tobacco use is beginning to turn. After decades of Big Tobacco targeting low- and middle-income countries and years of steadily increasing sales, tobacco sales show signs of dropping.Countries are passing stronger laws to reduce demand for tobacco products not envisioned even a few years ago, and tobacco companies are losing the legal challenges they mount against these measures. From Uruguay to Australia, countries large and small have stood up to the tobacco industry by implementing plain packaging and large pictorial health warning labels. Where tobacco companies have tried to threaten and bully nations, governments have responded with firm measures to protect public health.

However, amid these clear signs of progress, the tobacco industry has made it absolutely clear that it has no intention of abandoning a business model that depends on enticing millions of new users – especially young people – to its deadly products.

The impetus of the global movement to reduce tobacco use should not be lost. More than ever, decisive action is needed. Now is the time for countries to build on the momentum established and protect their citizens. By raising tax on tobacco products, requiring graphic warning labels, conducting hard hitting mass media campaigns and banning tobacco industry advertising and marketing, countries can improve the health of their citizens, reduce healthcare costs and prevent the tobacco industry from addicting another generation of children.

Illicit trade in tobacco threatens the progress governments make in tobacco control by making cheap and unregulated products available. I am pleased to note that governments are increasingly taking action and becoming parties to the new international treaty to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.

I urge global leaders convening in India to see this as an opportunity to bend the course of public health history

We need to work together, as allies in global health, to fight to protect people from the dangers of tobacco. I recently appointed Michael Bloomberg as WHO global ambassador for non-communicable diseases because of his track record in tobacco control, which includes more than 10 years of support for low- and middle-income countries. Advocates like him, and many others who champion tobacco control, stand with the WHO to support governments in this fight.

I am also heartened by progress on standardised or “plain” packaging – a measure introduced by the treaty and pioneered in Australia, where smoking rates have now fallen to record lows. The early evidence from Australia shows that plain packaging, as part of a comprehensive approach to tobacco control, is diminishing the appeal of tobacco products, increasing the effectiveness of health warnings and reducing the ability of the pack to mislead. France and the UK have begun implementing plain packaging laws, and New Zealand and Hungary have recently passed legislation. Many other countries are close behind.

We have made great strides, but we have so much more to do. Tobacco use remains one of the most vexing challenges we face in the global health arena.

I urge global leaders convening in India to see this moment as an opportunity to bend the course of public health history and commit to returning home with a renewed dedication to fully implement the WHO framework convention. To make the event effective, it is vital that governments recognise the inherent conflict between public health and the interests of the tobacco industry. Representatives from the latter should be completely excluded from government delegations.

Every death from tobacco is an avoidable tragedy. It is our task to reverse the tide, effecting an irreversible decline in the number of such deaths.

We need history to show us that the turning point in the tobacco epidemic is now. We know what to do and we know how to do it. We now need to ensure that every country moves forward and no one is left behind. Future generations depend on us.

Every tobacco death is an avoidable tragedy. The epidemic must stop here | Margaret Chan

Summer Nightmare: Water in Ears – Here are the Solutions

Summer Nightmare: Water in Ears – Here are the Solutions

Egypt"s obesity battle: "No one cares about calories here"

Inside the neon palace that is Koshary Abou Tarek in downtown Cairo, the air smells of fried onions. Plates are heaped high with koshary, a traditional dish containing rice, macaroni and lentils topped with tomato sauce and onions – a filling mainstay across all Egyptian social classes.

An average serving at the restaurant costs the equivalent of £1.80, and contains an estimated 800 calories. The place is filled with families who are given a choice of sugary soft drinks as an accompaniment.

“We don’t measure the calories in the dish as no one here cares about that,” laughs the manager, Tarek Hosny. He elaborates on a prevailing theory that while koshary is all carbohydrates, these are somehow removed with the water they are cooked in.

Low to mid-income countries have some of the highest child obesity rates in the world and, Egypt ranks seventh with 32% of children obese, according to datafrom the World Obesity Federation. A diet heavy in meat, carbohydrates and sugar combined with few opportunities for exercise are taking a toll on the Arab world’s most populous country.

Nor is obesity bound by social class. Low-income families turn to rice and potato dishes to fill stomachs at the end of a long day. The wealthy, who can afford to eat meat with almost every meal, also have access to fast food, considered a luxury in the Middle East.

Koshary, a popular carb-dense dish, is served in a restaurant in Cairo. Photograph: Alamy

A survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO) covering 2011-12 found that 62.2% of Egyptian adults were overweight, and 31.3% of them were classed as obese.

“This is more than a health issue,” said Dr Randa Abou el Naga of the WHO in Egypt, who cites a lack of physical activity as the main driver of obesity.

“City planning is responsible,” she said. “There should be proper places for playing sports. Overcrowding in schools also means no sports classes; 75% of Egyptians aren’t doing any vigorous physical exercise.”

Naga said the Egyptian government could easily switch from subsidising sugar and oil to healthier options such as milk. Kiosks and corner shops throughout the country offer a range of sugary and salty snacks, a cheap option for children and their parents.

A Pizza Hut restaurant near the Giza pyramids in Cairo. Photograph: Alamy

“It might sound like a cliche, but Egyptians really love sugar. It’s an addiction,” said dietician Dr Sherine el Shimi. “They add sugar in their tea, and have five or six of these per day, each with two or three teaspoons of sugar in. If they just took out the sugar, their lives would be different.”

She said most if not all social gatherings revolve around food, and that social pressure to eat more was high. “Plus we also have delivery for everything,” Shimi said. For those who can afford it, a burger from one of Egypt’s growing number of burger chains can be delivered to your home within an hour.

“Fighting this starts in schools,” she said. “I know we’re not doing great economically right now, but nutrition classes and subsidising one fruit or vegetable per day per child would given them something they don’t get at home.”

Egypt"s obesity battle: "No one cares about calories here"

Suicide kills six men a day. Here are three strategies that can help stop it | Glen Poole

Suicide kills eight people a day in Australia, six of them men, and the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, revealed that male suicides have increased by 41% in the past decade, from 1,624 deaths a year in 2006 to 2,292 suicides in 2015.

Male suicide costs the economy an estimated $ 13.75bn a year. If we closed the gender suicide gap and reduced male suicide to the same level as female suicide, we could save the lives of more than 1,500 Australian men a year and save the economy an annual $ 9.3bn.

With stakes this high, why are we consistently failing to stop male suicide?

According to the American suicidologist, David Lester, all of the main strategies currently used to prevent suicide, are more effective at helping suicidal women. With two women a day dying by suicide, it’s vital we continue to develop our capacity to prevent female suicide and when three-quarters of Australians who kill themselves are men, we can and must more to stop male suicide.

Doing more doesn’t necessarily mean spending more. As Senator Penny Wong said in June, existing funding and resources are failing to reach men. Earlier this year, for example, the Black Dog Institute launched Lifespan, a $ 14.7m suicide prevention project which aims to reduce suicide by 21% with a range of strategies such as training GPs. Yet we all know that men make fewer GP visits on average and are less likely to benefit from such approaches. Even the most sophisticated suicide prevention initiatives, it seems, are failing to consider the gendered impact of their strategies.

It’s not that the suicide prevention sector is unwilling to think about gender. Lifeline’s CEO, Pete Shmigel, has spoken passionately about the need to tackle female suicide by understanding “what’s driving despair and what builds resilience so women are empowered in their emotional lives, as well as their political, social and economic lives”. Yet when it comes to talking about male suicide, he becomes oddly monosyllabic, saying things like “we have to do a better job, us blokes, of talking about our stuff”.

When it comes to suicide and gender, we’re great at pointing the finger at “blokes” for not talking, but don’t reflect on the irony that while many of us can talk freely and fluently about women’s issues, even smart, powerful men like Shmigel, appear to find talking about men’s issues a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

So what could we do differently? When writing the book, You Can Stop Male Suicide, I concluded that there are three simple, but by no means easy, strategies that can help us stop male suicide.

Firstly, we need to get better at tackling the social issues that men and boys face, rather than falling back on tired, ineffective stereotypes of stubborn, stoical blokes, who refuse to talk or get help.

Male suicide is a solution-based behaviour that some men turn to when dealing with problems they can neither fix, nor cope with. It is the product of a whole host of men’s issues we are collectively failing to solve, leaving too many distressed men viewing suicide as the best possible solution to the problems they face.

There are a number of social issues that affect men more profoundly in terms of suicide risk, including unemployment, relationship issues, being separated from their kids, being a victim of violence or abuse, alcohol and substance abuse, long-term illness, homelessness, social isolation and mental health disorders.

We also know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and males who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex are at increased risk of suicide. Our failure to tackle men’s issues in general or consider how gender intersects with factors like culture and sexuality, is hindering our efforts to prevent male suicide.

Secondly, we need to get better at helping men. In Queensland, for example, the department for health has acknowledged that around one in four men who suicide, die within a week of receiving help from the health service. We need to stop saying “why are men so useless at getting help” and ask ourselves “why are we so useless at helping men”.

Finally, we need to shift the balance of suicide prevention work from generic approaches that are better at helping women and girls, to gendered approaches that are better at helping everyone, men and boys included.

Such a task requires progressive thinkers to look beyond the binary narrative of gender issues, that tells us that “women HAVE problems and men ARE problems”.

Every time we put the blame for male suicide on men not talking or getting help, we re-enforce unhelpful, macho beliefs that men should be strong, powerful and self-reliant.

A more evolved view of masculinity requires us to ask ourselves how we get better at helping men, how we get better at listening to men and how we get better at tackling the social issues that men and boys face, not least of which is the fact that suicide kills more than 2,000 Australian men a year.

• Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
  

Suicide kills six men a day. Here are three strategies that can help stop it | Glen Poole

Here Are the Real Dangers of Charging $600 for the EpiPen

If you are like me and rely on an EpiPen to keep you or your child safe from a life-threatening allergic reaction, you’ve probably left the pharmacy thinking, “That’s outrageous for such an essential drug.” 

Now we know exactly how outrageous it is: The price of the EpiPen—an auto-injector of the inexpensive hormone ephinephrine—has skyrocketed by more than 600% since 2008, Money reports, from around $ 100 for the standard two-pack in 2008 to more than $ 735 today. 

Fueling the fury is the fact that the epinephrine itself costs about $ 1, according to Consumerist. Even more disturbing is how much some of the executives at Mylan, EpiPen’s maker, have profited: The compensation of Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, for instance, has soared from $ 2,453,456 in 2007, when Mylan first acquired EpiPen, to $ 18,931,068 in 2015, according to NBC News.

The pressing question now is: Is this legal? Members of Congress including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley (R) are demanding Congressional hearings into the pharma company’s pricing practices. They’re joining a growing chorus who say that the steep price is putting some of the nation’s estimated 15 million people with food allergies in grave danger. (The devices are also commonly prescribed for severe allergies to insect stings and latex.) 

RELATED: Your 12 Worst Allergy Mistakes

Mylan has responded with a statement on their website that details the significant investment the company has made in allergy awareness campaigns and patient coupon subsidy programs. It states that the changes in insurance programs are fueling the high sticker price: ”With the current changes in the healthcare insurance landscape, an increasing number of people and families have enrolled in high deductible plans, and deductible amounts continue to rise. This current and ongoing shift has presented new challenges for consumers, and now they are bearing more of the costs.”

But more people are doing without this critical medicine. Some on high deductible plans are leaving the pharmacy without the injector, unable to pay $ 600 or more. Others are making do with just one set—even though allergists instruct you to leave an EpiPen with a school nurse, the teacher, afterschool programs, etc. Relying on expired pens and DIYing epinephrine-delivering syringes are dangerous practices, allergy experts warn.

So how can Mylan can get away with price gouging for an essential drug? EpiPen has no real competition, according to Fortune. A competing device called Auvi-Q was launched by Sanofi US but recalled in 2015 for administering an incorrect amount of the drug, a potentially deadly problem. There may be a competitor on the horizon though: an epinephrine device with a longer shelf-life is expected from Windgap Medical in 2018.

An EpiPen is something you buy and pray you never have to use. If you do need it, it is a literal lifesaver. When given swiftly and properly—you inject it into the thigh and hold for 10 seconds—it can quickly undo the airway swelling, cardiovascular events, tissue swelling, and other dangerous effects of an anaphylactic reaction. If you don’t have enough epinephrine at the ready for prompt injection, the result can be death. Some reactions require more than one injection, which is why the drug comes in a two-pack (and you are supposed to carry both with you; you don’t leave one at school and one at home, as has been reported).

RELATED: 31 Everyday Things You Didn’t Know You Could Be Allergic To

I have used an EpiPen on my younger son, who is highly allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. I know the drill, as all allergy families do: Do not go anywhere without at least two EpiPens. Do not hesitate to use the EpiPen at first signs of severe reaction, and use the second if needed. Call 911, then go straight to the ER. 

I know the benefits firsthand. It works. It saves. It is the fifth member of our family, with us at all times. I am thankful for epinephrine beyond words.

As a working parent fortunate enough to have solid health insurance, I can curse my $ 60 copay (the highest tier in my ”gold” insurance plan, and twice what it was when I started buying EpiPens in 2009) and plunk down a credit card. For back to school, I’ll spend $ 180 on three; with all the other school costs, we feel that. We can swing it though. Many, many, many families cannot.

This isn’t an optional drug, it isn’t a drug that you can safely use past its expiration date, and it shouldn’t be priced out of anyone’s reach.

Here Are the Real Dangers of Charging $600 for the EpiPen

Ditch the anti-septic mouthwash: Here is why

6 Reasons why your mouthwash may be harming your health

Before I talk about mouth wash I need to preface this with a little background information so that you understand how mouth wash can impact your health.

First a little about Why you need Nitric Oxide

Nitric Oxide (NO) is important for maintaining open blood vessels so your blood can travel easily through the rest of your body. These relaxed blood vessels allow more oxygen to flow through to where the body needs it, such as the heart, brain and your muscles. It is important in the prevention of plaque formation.

So having adequate nitric oxide levels is important for heart health and balanced blood pressure and for sport performance.

How low Stomach Acid complicates the problem

The older we get the less NO we produce because older people tend to have lower levels of HCL. When your nitrate rich saliva is swallowed it reacts with the acidic gastric juices to form nitrous acid, thus if you have low stomach acid you have low NO.

Proton Pump Inhibitors and over the counter stomach acid medications can lower your stomach acid thus creating a host of problems. We need stomach acid!  Often times we think we have elevated stomach acid levels because of acid reflux symptoms but in reality we may have low stomach acid.  For more information on stomach acid I recommend the book “Why Stomach Acid is Good for You” by J. Wright, MD.

Eat these foods
But here is something interesting. Did you know that if you use an anti-septic mouthwash you may be lowering your NO levels right from the get go? Nitrates are found in leafy greens and beets. The bacteria on your tongue convert the nitrates in these foods into nitrites which circulate in the body to form NO.  But if you use anti-septic mouthwash this will kill that bacteria that is needed on your tongue.

So there you go-another reason why you need to eat your leaf greens and other nitrate rich vegetables. Once you chew them well, it mixes with the saliva in your mouth. Having adequate levels of NO will help to manage your blood pressure and reduce systemic inflammation.

By not eating vegetables you already are at a disadvantage, which is a large portion of the US population thanks to the standard American diet.

And if you have heart disease, you can bet that your NO levels are low

But what if you do eat your vegetables daily but also use antibacterial mouthwash daily?

Guess what? It doesn’t matter how many nitrate rich foods you eat, because the anti-bacterial mouthwash will still kill the good bacteria on your tongue.  So all that effort to eat healthy and you may not be reaping the full benefits.

A study found that using antiseptic mouthwash reduced oral nitrite production by 90% and plasma nitrite levels by 25%. Using the antibacterial mouthwash also correlated with higher blood pressure. For your heart health, blood pressure health and to reduce inflammation you are going to want to avoid these products.

What ingredient in anti-septic mouthwash is causing the problem?

Using these mouthwash products will disrupt your oral microflora. As you can see, your oral microflora is very important for overall health. The main ingredient is triclosan which is the antibacterial agent in these products such as Colgate Total Breeze mouthwash for example.

Triclosan is found in many other products, such as dial liquid soap, some cosmetics and some deodorants. For a complete list of products that contain triclosan, visit www.drbenkin.com

Not only does it affect your oral health but triclosan has other effects such as weakening the immune system (which is pretty ironic seeing how it is in soap!) Not only can it have an effect on your oral flora but it has been shown to alter gut flora.

Is my mouthwash affecting my weight

  Studies have shown that by altering the gut flora it can alter your weight. Studies have shown a link between triclosan levels in the body and body mass. So if you are trying to lose weight, that’s another reason to avoid triclosan containing products.

To sum it up: 6 ways how anti-septic mouthwash can impact your health

Disrupt the microbiome

Contribute to weight gain

Weaken the immune system

Contribute to high blood pressure

Contribute to heart disease

Contribute to systemic inflammation

What are my options instead of using my mouthwash?

You may be using these mouthwash products to destroy germs that cause bad breath. You do have other options. You can switch to mouthwashes that are all natural and free of these chemicals.

Since you now know how important the microflora is in your mouth, I like probiotic products that use strains that have shown in studies to support optimal health benefits of your gums, teeth and mouth. These probiotic products will also reduce the bad breath that you have been using the mouth wash for. I personally like Great Oral Health Advanced Oral probiotics. (I have no affiliation with them what so ever).

There are several oral probiotics products so you need to do some research to pick the one best for you. You can also try oil pulling daily to reduce bad breath and support oral health. In the end there are many healthier options for bad breath and oral health than anti-bacterial mouthwashes!

Herbs can be restorative and preventative for your oral health.  You can make them into a tea and swish in your mouth.  Another option is to rub some tincture of one of the herbs along the gum line.  Or you can add a little of the tincture into your toothpaste.

Coming Soon!

More on which herbs to use for a mouthwash and an easy mouthwash recipe!

If you like this information and feel it can be of use to someone else, please pass it on!

Sources
Bauman, E. & Friedlander, J. (2014) Therapeutic Nutrition. Pengrove, CA: Bauman College
Gregor, M. (1/26/16) Antibacterial toothpaste: Harmful, helpful or harmless? Retrieved from
nutritionfacts.org
Kapil, V. et. al. (nd) Physiological role for nitrate-reducing oral bacteria in blood pressure control.
Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Karen Brennan, MSW, CNC, Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition (candidate), author of the E book Tru Foods Depression Free Nutrition Guide; How Food Supplements and herbs can be used to lift your mood and owner of Tru Foods Nutrition Services, LLC believes in food first when addressing the root causes to your health conditions.  For more information, visit her website at www.trufoodsnutrition.com

Ditch the anti-septic mouthwash: Here is why

Think Zika just affects Brazil? It"s here in the US now | Celine Gounder

On Friday the Florida State Department of Health reported four cases of Zika, and on Monday, another ten. All were likely contracted locally from mosquitoes in Wynwood, a north Miami neighborhood. The CDC is advising pregnant women not to travel to the area. Meanwhile, hundreds of women have tested positive for Zika virus in Puerto Rico. At least 2% of blood donors in Puerto Rico have recently been infected with Zika: another ominous sign the infection is spreading rapidly.

Given the geographic distribution of the Zika-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the US, we fully expected to see Zika cases in Florida, Texas and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast and in the Caribbean. What we didn’t expect was that Congress would be so slow to fund emergency efforts to control the spread of Zika.

Congress just went on vacation without approving emergency funds to fight the disease. They won’t reconvene until after Labor Day. In February, President Obama requested $ 1.9bn from Congress, and the Administration has continued to press Congress for funds since then. But according to US House Speaker Paul Ryan, “There is plenty of money in the pipeline right now, money that is not going to Ebola, that was already in the pipeline, that can go immediately to Zika.”

Republicans haven’t wanted to allocate new emergency funds, wanting hold to caps under the routine appropriations process.

The Ebola epidemic should have taught us the importance of strengthening disease surveillance and health systems at home and in those parts of the world where new disease threats are most likely to emerge. I suspect Republicans have been quick to push for reallocating Ebola monies to the Zika fight because they think it’s foreign aid. But, by analogy, is it foreign aid to gather intelligence or train foreign troops in the Middle East? Or are we doing that to protect ourselves?

Strategically supporting disease surveillance and health systems in Africa and elsewhere is very much about protecting our national security. But that takes time and money.

Related: Florida issues warning after cluster of new Zika cases in Miami neighborhood

Meanwhile, the Zika funding bill currently before Congress includes provisions to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Democrats argue that Planned Parenthood provides important obstetric and gynecological services, especially to poor women. These services include birth control, and when necessary, abortions – all services that women will need to prevent having Zika-affected microcephalic babies.

American views on abortion shifted in part due to another infectious disease: a rubella outbreak in the 1960s resulting in over 20,000 babies being born with microcephaly and other birth defects. Abortion was no longer just a sign of moral failure. It became a white, middle class issue, in much the same way that opioid abuse has today. But regardless of where you stand on abortion or Planned Parenthood, I’d argue that we need new funding to fight Zika.

Our system for financing public health emergencies is broken. If we were under attack by Russia or North Korea, you can bet that Congress would immediately approve emergency funding to fight back and defend our shores. We have federal disaster relief funds on hand should an earthquake or hurricane or flood hit. But when a public health threat strikes, we’re caught off guard with our pants down.

We can’t keep playing this shell game: defunding long-term, strategically important public health programs to respond to emergencies. Siphoning off funds from other public health programs – such as the national strategic stockpile of vaccines and other emergency supplies to combat epidemics – to fight Zika doesn’t make sense either. Moreover, local public health departments – our frontline defense against disease outbreaks –have suffered huge funding cuts and lost one-fifth their manpower since the 2008 recession.

We know that the combined forces of globalization, climate change, population growth, urbanization and poverty will lead to more frequent disease outbreaks. It’s our “new normal.” And we can be certain that members of Congress will try to leverage any crisis to their party’s advantage. But politics must not get in the way of our ability to protect the American people. We must insist on stable, permanent funding for public health emergencies because we know there are many more to come.

It’s time to acknowledge that sometimes being a world leader means doing what’s best for our people – even when that means doing good for the rest of the world too.

Related: Democrats demand Congress end its vacation to approve Zika funding

Think Zika just affects Brazil? It"s here in the US now | Celine Gounder

I’m an immigrant and a Muslim. And I’m here to cure cancer | Azra Raza

This article originally appeared on STAT

It’s a long way from where I grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, to the dining room in Vice-President Joe Biden’s home at the Naval Observatory in Washington DC. Yet that’s where I found myself one day last December, along with a handful of other cancer specialists. We had been invited to offer our perspectives on the current cancer landscape, which contributed to shaping the “cancer moonshot”. I’m convinced that my perspective on medicine as an immigrant is what ultimately got me to the table.

Early in my career as an oncologist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, I treated a woman who was terminally ill with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). As her disease progressed, I watched her struggle to write letters for her two-year-old twin daughters. She wanted them to read a letter from her on each of their birthdays until they turned 21. She died before she got to the ones for their 13th birthday.

That experience nearly broke my heart. It also suddenly clarified the purpose of my career. I realized that we needed a more comprehensive understanding of her disease. I needed to learn how pre-leukemia develops into leukemia, how it continues to evolve, and how it can be treated.

Had I received my scientific training in the United States, my immediate instinct probably would have been to develop a sophisticated mouse model to work on each of those steps. But because I was educated in Pakistan, I thought about taking a simpler approach – examining the cells of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), an early-stage version of leukemia.

So I began banking the blood and bone marrow cells of MDS patients at every encounter and following them as they progressed to leukemia. I also saved their normal cells to serve as germ-line controls. Thus began the MDS-AML Tissue Repository. Since 1984, it has banked some 60,000 samples from thousands of patients. The repository is backed by a state-of-the-art computerized data bank that is the ultimate in one-click efficiency. I can safely say that no more than a handful of patients in all those years turned down my request to donate their cells for research purposes.

This repository has helped my colleagues and me define the molecular and genetic milestones that must be covered for pre-leukemia cells to cross over into leukemia cells. It will also help us define potential therapeutic targets that could be used to intercept the disease before it is too late. This work will likely apply to the evolution of other cancers as well.

Cancer is slated to become the leading cause of death in the coming decade, with 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women suffering from the disease at some point in their lives. Over the next 10 years, the number of new cancer cases in the United States will increase by 42%, and the number of cancer survivors will rise from 15.5 million to 20.3 million. During the same period, the number of oncologists will increase by only 28%. Many of the new doctors will be immigrants.

The leader of the group gathered at Vice-President Biden’s home that day was another immigrant, Dr Patrick Soon Shiong, a South African-born, Chinese-American surgical oncologist. He developed a way to transplant human islet cells to treat type 1 diabetes, performed the world’s first encapsulated human-to-human and pig-to-human islet transplants, and the first full pancreas transplant on the west coast. Thanks to this immigrant’s development of the drug Abraxane, the first FDA-approved chemotherapy agent based on nanotechnology, the lives of thousands of patients with breast, pancreatic, and lung cancers are being prolonged.

Many immigrants have brought their unique talents to serve their new country by fighting cancer as healers and researchers. A 2013 study by the National Foundation for American Policy found that 42% of the researchers at the top seven cancer research centers across the country were foreign born. According to a recent study published by George Mason University, immigrants make up 28% of all physicians and surgeons in this country.

My parents chose to live in Pakistan but encouraged all seven of their children to emigrate to the United States in search of higher education. We were brought up to believe that it would equip us with the means of contributing to the knowledge of this world. My parents were deeply moved by the welcome their children received in their new homeland, a place where merit was recognized and rewarded regardless of race or color or religion.

My older brother is a cardiac surgeon, my older sister trained as a pediatric oncologist, and my younger sister is a radiologist and breast imaging expert. Another sister has a PhD in international relations, a brother is a professor of aerospace engineering, and my youngest brother is an electrical engineer.

We are Muslims, we are immigrants, and we are enriching, prolonging, and saving American lives. We are just seven of the many immigrants, from many lands, of many faiths, who are – and have always been – an essential part of America’s strength. We are hard workers, people with big ideas and big dreams, believers in this great country and our shared responsibility to make it even better for all of us.

Closing America’s door to immigrants will never be the answer to the challenges we face. Instead, America needs to bring in the best minds – and the most minds – to fight cancer and solve other seminal issues of our times.

I’m an immigrant and a Muslim. And I’m here to cure cancer | Azra Raza

Lymphatic Drainage: How To Detoxify Lymph Nodes? Right here Are 7 Simple Approaches!

The lymphatic program, or lymph method as it is also called, is a method created up of glands, lymph nodes, the spleen, thymus gland and tonsils. Lymphatic program is essential for each tissue fix and controlling irritation in most organs of the human entire body. The improper drainage of the lymphatic method, outcomes in an impaired immune system, or even tumors in the lymph nodes.

Detoxing your entire body is straightforward as lengthy as you know ways to tap into your lymphatic technique. A healthier glow comes from the within out. Even the fluid in the eyes is lymphatic fluid. The cleaner your are inside, the brighter and clearer your eyes will be.

7 Natural Approaches To Aid Detox Your Lymphatic Technique

Avoid soda

Trash the color-laden sports activities-drink, and drop the sugary fruit “juices” that are more sugar than fruit. These sugar, shade, and preservative-laden beverages add to the currently overloaded perform your lymph program should take care of.

Drink Water

Your body demands water to keep hydrated to preserve your lymph fluid flowing properly. A good rule of thumb is to drink six to eight glasses of filtered or purified water a day and ditch sodas, sport drinks, and commercially offered sugar-laden fruit juices.

Herbal Teas

Certain herbs this kind of as astragalus, echinacea, goldenseal, pokeroot, or wild indigo root have the confirmed capacity to support cleanse the lymphatic method and can be drunk routinely to aid with the detox procedure.

Stay away from Nylon &amp Polyester Clothes

Opt for all organic fibers that let the skin to breathe, such as cotton, hemp, wool, or silk.

Castor Oil

just apply a castor oil pack to the lower abdomen. Get a cotton cloth folded in many layers and cold-pressed oil castor oil. Saturate the cloth in oil and apply it to the skin. You can depart it on overnight. The castor oil pack will boost circulation of lymphatic fluids, decrease inflammation and improve your digestive method.

Breathe Deeply

Breathe not only into your chest, but down into your stomach. It will assist you continue to be much more in a yogi-like standing, calmer and less reactive, and deeper breathing will also aid your lymph fluids stay moving.

Nuts and Seeds

Eat raw, unsalted nuts and seeds to energy up your lymph with ample fatty acids. They contain: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, Brazil nuts, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds.

Extra sources:

alldeepmassage.com

lahealthyliving.com

shop.wellnesscenter.net

bodyenlightenment.me

Read Also:

Lymphatic Drainage: How To Detoxify Lymph Nodes? Right here Are 7 Simple Approaches!

What Is Fenugreek Good For? Here Are seven Facts About It!

Fenugreek is a herb that is typically noticed expanding in the Mediterranean. It is one of the oldest recognized herbs employed by mankind and has been all around for more than 6000 many years. It is also believed that the ancient Egyptians consumed fenugreek and utilised it to prepare kuphi, a variety of incense used for embalming the dead. Fenugreek was prized for its healing properties as it is primarily utilized for helping in remedies for diabetes and cholesterol associated issues.

7 Extraordinary Overall health and Attractiveness Rewards Of Fenugreek

Breast Enlargement

Fenugreek is frequently utilised in several teas and other merchandise that help stability women’s hormones and/or enlarge the breasts. Consequently, a straightforward house remedy for breast enlargement is to make Fenugreek a element of your regular diet regime. A widespread suggestion is to eat up to 3g of Fenugreek seed per day.

Remedy Diabetes

Studies have shown that participants with kind 2 diabetes had substantially lower blood sugar levels after eating fenugreek seeds. Therefore, a suggested residence remedy for treating Variety 2 diabetes is to consume 500mg of fenugreek seed twice day-to-day.

Minimizes Cholesterol

Analysis scientific studies show that fenugreek can reduce cholesterol degree. Fenugreek assists to reduce the level of reduced density Lipoprotein (LDL) significantly, which can avoid different circumstances like atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes. Fenugreek is a rich supply of fiber, which scrapes excess cholesterol off of the arteries and blood vessels of the body.

Remedy for fever

Fenugreek when taken with a teaspoon of lemon and honey can perform wonders to decrease fever by nourishing the physique. The soothing result of mucilage in fenugreek also helps to relieve cough and discomfort from sore throat.

Relieves constipation

Fenugreek adds bulk to the stool due to its substantial fiber material. This also makes it useful in treating constipation and diarrhea, while also relieving small indigestion.

Fat Reduction

Include fenugreek in your weight loss diet regime by chewing soaked methi seeds in the morning on an empty stomach. The normal soluble fibre in the fenugreek can swell and fill the stomach thereby suppressing your appetite and aiding your excess weight reduction objectives.

Avoid colon cancer

The fibre content material (saponins, mucilage, and so forth.) of fenugreek binds to toxins in the meals and flush them out. This in turn assists to shield the mucus membrane of the colon from cancer. Here is a in depth information on cancer.

Sources:

http://www.thehealthsite.com/conditions-situations/15-wellness-rewards-of-methi/

http://www.womenplanet.in/health-fitness/positive aspects-of-methi-seeds-fenugreek-methi-powder-methi-water-fenugreek-tea

http://www.foodofy.com/fenugreek.html

Like far more:

What Is Fenugreek Good For? Here Are seven Facts About It!

The FDA Is Generally Approving Almost everything. Here is The Information To Prove It

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Bear in mind when the FDA rejected medicines? We just received taken care of to a entire great deal of drama this week as to no matter whether Addyi, a drug to increase ladies&rsquos libidos, would be approved. But primarily based on the data, that approval was possibly a foregone conclusion. As recently as 2008, businesses filing applications to promote [...]

The FDA Is Generally Approving Almost everything. Here is The Information To Prove It

Gone off sex? Never ever concern, ‘pink Viagra’ is here to save womankind

Rejoice, rejoice womankind! There is now a magic drug that will make intercourse desirable. Once more. Or for the very first time. I can’t identify right here the presently-present medicines that have this kind of an effect due to the fact they are unlawful, and who knows what would occur if men and women took them? (In reality, they have done for decades.) But, by no means mind, this new magic drug has just been legalised in the US, getting been authorized by the US Meals and Drugs Administration. Flibanserin has just passed an FDA advisory committee stage at the third attempt, so will quickly be on the marketplace. It will be sold as Addyi and is developed by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, which has been pushing what has been dubbed “the female Viagra” for some time.

The tablets are, of program, pink because ladies like pink tablets and not blue smarties as we are silly like that. ‘Pink Viagra’ has been the holy grail of the drugs market. Let’s face it, it’s the holy grail of all varieties of cultural imaginings: the magic substance that tends to make ladies who mostly cannot be that bothered with sex abruptly crave it. Even with their very own partners! No drug can assure this, obviously. Many years in the past, when I worked in a wellness meals store in Manhattan, I was usually shocked by the number of males who asked me to promote them one thing to: “Make my wife … you know? Like it.” But I even now flogged them any outdated mixture of herbs and nutritional vitamins simply because I was doing work on commission. I was tough of heart and quick of money.

The drug companies, however, are not brief of cash and, without a doubt, there have been some crucial breakthroughs recently on every little thing from Ebola to Alzheimer’s. 1 of the greatest funds-spinners, although, remains the “magic bullet”, Viagra, invented by Pfizer at Sandwich ahead of the US giant shut down the site in 2011. Viagra commenced out as a new therapy for angina, a heart issue that constricts the vessels that provide blood to the heart. By accident, it was identified that – hey presto! – a side-impact of the drug was to remedy erectile dysfunction.

A single of the unspoken effects of the uptake of Viagra is that men can now have sex with a lot more, and younger, partners. The “shame” of impotency is pummelled away affordably adequate. If this is what sex is, and what it is reducible to, then fine. This is marvellous. You can get it up for ever and a day. A rush of blood to the groin is the dream coming correct.

Viagra as a result speaks to two of our biggest requirements: penetration and profit. The guarantee of Addyi is rather like all female desire: mysterious and by some means problematic. Viagra locates the sexual disorder of males in the genitals and their mechanics. The dilemma for females is positioned in the brain. Apparently, our brain chemistry should be altered to recharge desire. This new drug, unlike Viagra which can be popped when the require arises or is about to, has to be taken every day. It acts on the brain’s “sexual impulses” in a similar way to a class of medicines acknowledged as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which incorporate antidepressants this kind of as Prozac. It has not been accepted right up until now due to the fact the hazards had been explained to outweigh the advantages.

The side-effects may possibly include low blood stress and loss of consciousness. And you can not drink alcohol with it. Arousing, or just awful? Nonetheless, plough on, due to the fact, even even though these who advocate it make its benefits sound as erotic as altering the battery in a remote management, it is well worth the risks, they say, simply because in small trials with placebos, the ladies on it have an “increase of about one particular sexually satisfying event a month”. Hold me back!

If you are not obtaining “sexually satisfying events”, you could be struggling with what some psychiatrists are calling hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), which, they say, is skilled by eight-14% of girls in the US aged in between 20 and 49. Once you are over 49, no a single cares, frankly. HSDD is a chronic or ongoing lack of curiosity in intercourse that might cause a female distress. It is explained to be caused by depression, tension, low self-esteem or prior abuse. It might be caused by diabetes or cancer or arthritis. What this acronym are not able to deal with – since it cannot name it – is boredom, exhaustion, resentment, and boring outdated relationships: the items that may dampen sexual want.

To say that the brain is the most significant sex organ, which it is, absolutely requires knowing that sex is about a lot more than the ability to be ever ready for it, that there exists an infinite variety of urges that wax and wane, but truly mostly muddle along. And that most people’s lives do not resemble pornography even when they make a lot more work than normal.

Tellingly, even huge businesses this kind of as Pfizer, Bayer, and Procter and Gamble have experimented with to build drugs to deal with the disorder of female sexual desire, but abandoned the search. Even reading through Fifty Shades of Grey and possessing a person unload the dishwasher does not satisfy some women. Can you imagine? The reality is that the drug that liberated women’s need is the one we all get for granted: the contraceptive pill.

Gone off sex? Never ever concern, ‘pink Viagra’ is here to save womankind

Robin Williams" Death Demonstrates Suicide Can Strike At Any Age. Here Are Approaches To Avoid It

It is currently being reported that Robin Williams, 1 of the best comedians and dramatic actors of his time, has died through an obvious suicide. It is hard to fathom that an individual who not only brought us laughter and joy as Mork, Mrs. Doubtfire, and the Genie but also affirmed the deeper worth of residing in Dead Poets’ Society, Good Morning Vietnam, and Goodwill Hunting, could finish up taking his own daily life. But that is the dark irony of getting human.

Another surprise to some may be that Williams would last but not least succumb to depression, which he’d fought publicly, decades right after he appeared to corralled his worst demons, like addiction. The well-known picture of suicide is the one particular presented in Dead Poets, of a younger guy unable to come to terms with adulthood. Our image of suicide typically tends to be young, like Kurt Cobain or Sylvia Plath.  That almost certainly comes from our tendency to romanticize depression, a deadly ailment that is not romantic.

Hunting at the data offered from the Centers for Ailment Management &amp Prevention tells a quite different story. Suicide is practically twice as common among adults as adolescents. Amid middle-aged men and women, it looks to be on the rise. The highest charges are between guys amongst the ages of 45 and 59. Thirty out of every one hundred,000 such males take their lives yearly, compared to about 9 of each and every one hundred,000 girls in the very same age range. For both males and females of that age, the suicide price rose about 50% in between 1999 and 2009, for factors that are not totally clear.

Suicide Charges by age. Source: Centers for Condition Management &amp Prevention

William’s lifestyle brought hundreds of thousands of people laughter and catharsis. His death robs us of that, and robs his household of him. If any excellent can come of this, it may be to remind us that men and women of any age can be suicidal.  The CDC says to view for these warning signs:

• Talking about wanting to die


• Looking for a way to kill oneself


• Speaking about feeling hopeless or obtaining no objective


• Speaking about feeling trapped or in unbearable soreness


• Speaking about being a burden to other individuals


• Rising the use of alcohol or medication


• Acting anxious, agitated or recklessly


• Sleeping too minor or too much


• Withdrawing or feeling isolated


• Displaying rage or speaking about looking for revenge


• Displaying excessive mood swings

The more serious these signs are, the higher the risk is. If a pal or loved 1 is displaying these signs, really don’t leave them alone. Preserve them away from firearms, which are the most widespread implies of self-harm in the United States, and also eliminate any alcohol, medication, or sharp objects. And then get aid. You can call the National Suicide Prevention assist line at 800-273-Speak (8255), or yet another suicide assist line. You can speak to a psychiatrist. You can get your loved a single to the emergency space.

Not each and every suicide can be prevented. But the loss of lifestyle and the damage carried out to these left behind make it worth performing the best we can. And survivors often regret attempting to die. I’m reminded of this passage Tad Friend’s remarkable 2003 New Yorker examine of these who leap off the Golden Gate Bridge:

Survivors typically regret their decision in midair, if not just before. Ken Baldwin and Kevin Hines the two say they hurdled in excess of the railing, afraid that if they stood on the chord they might shed their courage. Baldwin was twenty-eight and severely depressed on the August day in 1985 when he told his wife not to anticipate him home until late. “I needed to disappear,” he explained. “So the Golden Gate was the spot. I’d heard that the water just sweeps you under.” On the bridge, Baldwin counted to 10 and stayed frozen. He counted to 10 yet again, then vaulted above. “I nonetheless see my hands coming off the railing,” he explained. As he crossed the chord in flight, Baldwin recalls, “I immediately realized that everything in my lifestyle that I’d considered was unfixable was completely fixable—except for getting just jumped.”

I locate this letter, by English comedian Stephen Fry, to be beneficial, also. A tip of the hat to science author Ed Yong for displaying it to me. To Fry, depression is a whole lot like the weather.

Here are some apparent things about the climate:

It’s actual.
You can not modify it by wishing it away.
If it’s dark and rainy it really is dark and rainy and you can’t alter it.
It might be dark and rainy for two weeks in a row.

BUT

It will be sunny a single day.
It is not under one’s manage as to when the sun comes out, but come out it will.
1 day.

The sun actually will come out, if not tomorrow, someday. And it is really worth waiting for.

Robin Williams" Death Demonstrates Suicide Can Strike At Any Age. Here Are Approaches To Avoid It