You try again, this time revealing that you are having sharp pains in your wrist. Your doctor appears irritated and orders you to get on the examination table. He grabs your wrist and unsympathetically bends it in all directions, insensitive to your obvious pain. He asks you how long it’s been going on and you say about a week. He ask you what your doing when this takes place and you say “Just normal everyday stuff, lifting groceries, typing, driving the car”. “Hmmm” he says. The doctor asks what you’re taking for pain and you say ibuprofen. “I think you might have carpel tunnel. I’ll write you a prescription for Percocet and the nurse will issue you a wrist brace. Your insurance should cover it. If not, we’ll bill you. Call the office if your symptoms don’t change in a couple of weeks.” he replies. “

Time spent waiting in the lobby - 30 minutes. Time spent waiting in the examination room - 25 minutes Time spent with the doctor - 9 minutes. Now, if you knew that you would you have to wait for almost an hour for an exam that took 9 minutes would you have shown up? Wouldn’t that make you feel shortchanged? Would you feel as if you were being rushed through your appointment? Really, an office visit can run anywhere from $55 and upwards, you arrived on time, had to wait for 55 minutes before you were actually seen and got a whole 9 minutes and where made to feel as you were imposing.

This scenario is not that unusual and is taking place in physician’s offices all over the country. The patient is not getting their money’s worth and if current information is correct, you will be paying higher premiums and you will be getting even less service unless you are willing to pay out of pocket. But you have insurance? Sorry, that was the scenario for an insured person. A person without insurance would not be seen unless they had cash up front. Otherwise, the uninsured turn up at emergency room doors with problems that has gotten worse because of lack of attention.

To be continued…

How many times has your optometrist asked you about your diet? Often, nutrition is an overlooked solution to future eye problems. Your sight can be improved with the right nutrients and the right foods. Learn more about these sight saving nutrients.

Lutein Lutein is a member of the carotenoid family. Its yellow/orange tint is found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, collards, cabbage, tomatoes, as well as in the yolk of eggs. By eating just five servings of lutein-rich foods per week, you protect your vision from future deterioration.

Lutein protects your vision in two ways: By acting like a soldier, attacking free radicals, protecting your vision from cataracts and by acting like a filter, filtering out dangerous blue tints, preventing macular degeneration.

Vitamin C This vitamin stops cataracts from progressing as well as from forming. The most well known source of vitamin C is the orange. Vitamin C is also found in fruits and vegetables, such as broccoli, grapefruit, tomatoes, cantaloupe, peppers, and cabbage.

Best known for preventing scurvy and treating colds, vitamin C is also a protector. Like lutein, vitamin C attacks free radicals. Recent studies show that a diet high in Vitamin C may reverse the onset of cataracts, preventing future cloudiness.

Vitamin A Also known as retinol, vitamin A is concentrated in our eyes. It is essential for proper vision. If there is a deficiency, the first sign is poor night vision or trouble adjusting to bright lights. Fortunately, this can easily be corrected.

You can obtain vitamin A from many sources. Preformed retinol is present only in animal products such as cheeses, fish oil, milk, liver, and eggs. Fruits and vegetables don’t contain Vitamin A, however they do contain carotenoids such as beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is converted into Vitamin A by our body. By eating more colorful fruits and vegetables ranging yellow to orange, such carrots, cantaloupes, sweet potatoes, yams, etc. you increase your intake. Since carotenoids are also antioxidants, they protect as well

Zinc Second only to iron, zinc is the almost the most concentrated nutrient in our body. Zinc is found mostly in high protein foods such as oysters, chicken, cheese, liver, turkey and beans. You can also find nuts and cereals like pecans, wheat germ, granola, and walnuts.

Absence of zinc has long been associated with poor night vision. Now, zinc has been linked to protecting you from macular degeneration. And if fate has already stepped in, zinc may slow further deterioration.

Poor vision may seem like a lifetime away, but as each day pass, you risk increases. Be proactive. Eat a variety of foods rich in nutrients. Remember the golden rule; eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. This can prevent future surgery and future loss.

Circuit training consists of going quickly from one exercise to another for an extended period of time, say 20 minutes. It is promoted as giving both strength and aerobic training in the same workout. It does that, but you compromise both. The strength aspect is not as effective as a dedicated strength workout, and the aerobic benefits are less than with strict aerobic training. Nevertheless, circuit training does have its place. For one thing, if your schedule is so tight you will not have the time to do both aerobic and strength workouts, you can at least get some of the benefits of each. Or, you can use it as a change of pace, or because it is fun. It will also keep you in shape if you’re spending most of your exercise time on a seasonal sport. There are ways to make circuit training more effective. If you want to do circuits, home training is ideal. At the gym, you may find someone sitting on the machine you need to use next, which breaks your rhythm and disrupts your circuit. At home, you just sail through.

For circuit training, use a weight that is about 60% of 1RM (the weight you can lift only once) for a given exercise. Do exercise 1 for about 45 seconds, take about 15 seconds to set up for exercise 2, then continue. Although the weight is light, you still need to take 3-5 seconds per repetition, so that you will do about 10-15 reps before moving on. Rotate body parts so you won’t overwork a particular muscle. A typical circuit would be: bench press (for chest), row or pulldown (back), squat (legs), military press (shoulders), biceps curl, triceps kickback, calf raises, ab crunches. Rest a minute and do another circuit. With a 3-minute warm-up (jog in place, climb stairs, jump rope) and a couple minutes stretching at the end, you have a good over-all workout in 25 minutes.

If you want to emphasize the cardio aspect, you can do super circuits, which involves doing cardio intervals in between exercises. Expand the period between exercises to 30 seconds, or even 60, and use that time to do cardio exercise. A stationary bike is the best to use for this, because it doesn’t usually require a lot of programming of the equipment. You could use a treadmill, if you keep it running, and if you are sure you can get on and off safely. Or, of course, you can run in place, go up and down an interior staircase, jump rope (a good cardio exercise), or even bounce on a rebounder.

Want more lower body or just heavier weight workouts? Do something like this: squats, bench press, bentover row, lunges, incline press, pull-ups, for one minute each, for your circuit.

If you have more time, you can do a third set. Two circuit workouts a week is good, but three would be better. Don’t do these two days in a row.

To help you deal with back problems or to avoid them in the first place, here are some tips:

- Your office chair should be adjusted so that your forearms rest perpendicularly to your upper arms when your upper arms are resting parallel to your spine. If you must, adjust your chair either up or down so that you can achieve this position with your arms. Since most modern office chairs have height adjustments, there is no reason for your chair to be inappropriately adjusted.

- Take advantage of the armrests on your chair. They should be adjusted so that your arms are lifted a bit at the shoulders. This will decrease the strain on your shoulders and neck.

- Your butt should make contact with the rear of the chair and a cushion should be in place that makes your lower back arch slightly forward so that you can avoid slouching. Don’t slouch while sitting because you will put stress on your lower back.

- Stand up routinely, and get away from the desk. Keep stretching and moving. There are exercises that can be done to keep you limber and help relieve tension that can build during the course of the day.

- One good exercise is to keep your bottom as close to the back of the chair as possible and put your fist behind your calf and in front of the chair. If you can’t, then adjust your seat. You should use a lower back support or adjust the backrest forward.

- You should focus your eyes on the middle of your monitor. If this is not the case, you should change the monitor or your seat.

- Keep yourself in shape with exercise. Yoga is an excellent way of exercising gently and reducing stress, which is another possible cause of back pain. Stress causes muscle tightening which can possibly lead to problems.

- The law requires your employer to keep its staff’s welfare and health in mind. They can offer you a risk assessment and they must take action with regard to any reports of health issues caused by the work environment. If you think that there is something your employer should or could do to improve your work environment, let them know.

He’s not the type of man who needs to get away by himself. No fishing camp for him. No hunting lodge. No weekend with The Guys. Tennis after work perhaps, but home for a late dinner. Will travel for business if he must, but as much as he hates hotel rooms far far away, what he hates more is coming home to an empty house.

While I decide if I should refer to my spouse from now on as MWH*, let me explore the phenomenon that he maintains is the absolute truth. *My Wonderful Husband

MWH THEORY OF EMPTY HOUSES AS IT RELATES TO HIM AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE IS LEFT ALONE

It’s like living in the middle of a Yeats’ poem, he says. “Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.” It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s an afternoon shopping extravaganza with friends or a longer journey I might make to a convention or a workshop.

If I’m gone, A Situation Arises. A Situation that must be dealt with by using lots of rags, ladders, a wet/dri vacuum, and phone calls to service people who of course won’t come on a weekend. Bills follow.

All of the following happened in New England before our move south.

The first time seemed like an isolated occurrence, not the start of a pattern. I came back from an afternoon of bargain hunting soon after we began sharing a home. When I drove in the basement/garage it registered somewhere in my brain that a heavy mist seemed to be rising from the cement floor. Odd, but I didn’t think much about it. A foggy basement seemed a rather nice and moody place. MWH ran down the stairs with The Look on his face.

“Hi!” I said. “How was your day?”

Picture hysterical husband with The Look starting to sputter. “Didn’t you notice the cellar?”

“What about it?”

“Steam? From the floor? You didn’t notice?”

“I guess. Huh. No pipes in the floor; I wonder what caused that?”

“Oh, I can tell you. Yep, I can tell you all right.”

Our elderly washing machine busted its hose, spewing water all over the place before it got noticed. Lots of mopping and draining followed. I gathered that my timing was perfect in that it had taken hours to clean up. He finished just as I arrived. Frankly, I like when that happens.

Since that time, while I was out and MWH was home, the following things occurred:

A spring thaw and rain on the ice jammed roof caused a melt down that showed itself by first trickles of water coming in around the fireplace/wood stove, then streams. He called a friend who came over with a ladder and MWH got on the roof with an ice pick. It was dark, raining, turning very cold and MWH is afraid of heights. Both Richard and MWH spent hours stuffing towels around the crevices inside, taking down heavy pictures and mirrors that might give way in the soaking wallboard, plus chipping away at the ice outside. I drove back into town a few hours later. This time MWH said, “You planned it. You must have known about the ice jam and gone out of town so you wouldn’t have to deal with it.” Suspicion squatted on his face.

THEN

An unexpected snow storm dumped so much wet stuff in our part of the state that trees buckled. The power went out. Which meant the heat was out. And a tree fell on the roof taking cable wires with it. None of this would have happened if I’d not gone to Boston for the weekend.

THEN

Appliances began committing suicide. The refrigerator died while I was at a conference. The dishwasher overflowed, hemorrhaging soapy water all over the kitchen. (Now that time, I think MWH might have used dishwashing liquid instead of dishwasher liquid, but he’d never admit it.) The microwave blew a fuse mid-lasagna one time. But even little things like the latter started to seem like a plot or certain proof that if I went away he should definitely come with me or find somewhere else to be for the duration.

If I was heading off somewhere, he would predict some kind of household revenge.

I just got back from a week away. First one since the move. We talked by phone every night and I listened carefully for disaster. Work related things happened that weren’t great. He’d run out of the food possibilities that I’d left and was sick of foraging.

But fire ants remained under control. Squirrels had not eaten their way into our attic. No mention of a plague of locusts. Hmn. I began to worry that my homecoming would not mean he could get respite from the Forces of Evil. I could be out of a job.

He met me at the Delta gate with a huge smile of general relief. What it all boils down to is the very lovely point he makes when ever I’m off some where. It’s the lyric of an old Bill Withers song you might recognize: “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone (and this house just ain’t no home, anytime you go away.”

Which makes me ask myself, Why would I ever want to go away?

Because coming home is the best part.

They found that the more positive outlook a person had the lower was the risk of stroke. There was a 41% drop in risk for men and an 18% drop in risk for women, Reuters reported.

The study was conducted by Dr. Glenn Ostir of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The researchers found that the risk of stroke increased among patients who showed signs of negative affect or mood when interviewed.

Participants were asked if they “felt lonely” or “had crying spells” as a measure of their mood. Dr. Ostir’s research was published in the March, 2008 issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Stroke is the number one cause of long-term disability in the elderly and the third highest cause of death. Widely recognized risk factors for stroke include obesity, chronic illness, smoking and alcohol abuse.

It may take years to determine if these findings are significant. The study does raise a number of questions such as the efficacy of treating depression in the elderly in order to reduce the incidence of stroke. An association between mood and stroke does not imply causality, only that the two entities occur together.

People always think that candy is the biggest cause of tooth decay, but in fact, carbohydrates leave your teeth ridden with plaque as well. Potato chips might be one of the worst foods that cause tooth decay. The bacteria feed on the plaque that remains from the potato chips just as though the bacteria are having a Thanksgiving feast. Anything with sugar, especially candy, can cause tooth decay, but even carbs can leave your mouth laden with more bacteria. Sugar certainly is a carbohydrate by itself, but potato products are the worst carbohydrates. If you don’t brush whenever you snack on potato chips or candy, you allow bacteria to make dangerous acids inside your mouth, like eating a meal or going to a buffet. You are certain to suffer some type of tooth decay if your diet contains a great quantity of  carbohydrates. You can struggle against the bacteria using a toothbrush, but if you don’t take your toothbrush with you everywhere you travel, you will continue to have bacteria feeding.

Several experts think that the problem is sweet beverages like soda and coffee. It may very well be true, but scientifically speaking, the only established fact regarding sodas and coffees is that without appropriate care, they WILL stain your teeth. You can purchase teeth whitening products that will remove stains. Also you might get the same exact outcome with any type of OTC product. It is so simple to whiten your teeth at home. While soda does cause staining, it has never been proven to be more damaging to your teeth than other sweets.

You can avoid tooth decay by keeping a close eye on everything that you ingest. Using the right kind of care and being very careful about what you eat, you can ensure that you won’t ever have to face cavities or gum problems. I realize it is hard to stop eating potato chips and candy, but if you restrict your consumption of these snacks it will be advantageous in a lot of ways. If you can’t let them go, you will have to be thorough with teeth whitening.

Depression has many causes. It can start from extended substance abuse or after a certain situation like a loved one dying, or having suffered a heart attack or being stricken with a terminal illness. But maybe the most fascinating is the truth that depression is sometimes inherited in families. Depression is considered to occur due to imbalanced levels of the brain chemicals called neurotransmitters that govern moods.

Normally depression is treated in one of two ways. Psychotherapy is one of these, a method created to promote understanding of problems and help with troubled emotions, actions, or relationships. Being different from psychotherapy, biomedical therapy, typically in the version of antidepressants, has ended up being a well known remedy for depression. Among the current medicines, choices vary from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, to others such as Wellbutrin and Effexor, for instance which focus on different or mixed neurotransmitters.

There are tons of jokes about these medications. As opposed to popular thought, the main function for these antidepressants are not to change a very depressed person into a person who is completely carefree and to make them more friendly, efficient, or give them better self-esteem, but they are instead to help them deal with the signs of depression so that the person can act like a normal person again.

Similar to many medicines taken as a remedy for sickness, antidepressants have negative affects like headaches, jitters, insomnia, decreased appetite, and sexual problems. In spite of these side effects, the general success of these antidepressants has led to their popularity. Prozac is taken by five million people in America, and twenty million worldwide. Research conducted with 159 outpatients, currently reported to the Journal of American Medical Association, show that people who used Zoloft for a long time avoided repeat chronic severe depression.

There is some concern about psychotherapy, which has been verified to work, being used less as a way of treating depression. A current examination of 600 very depressed patients verified that the ideal treatment procedure consists of a mixture of psychotherapy with medicine therapy.

If used as instructed, and along with psychotherapy, antidepressants are a helpful way to deal with depression. Despite the bad side effects, the positives are better than the negatives.

Over 17 to 18% of people are afflicted with migraine headache pain, a crippling ailment that can be harmful to American society. Due to the inability to perform a job, the impact on everyday lifestyle, and the effect on family life and socialization, migraine sufferers search continuously for a way to relieve symptoms as well as to keep migraines from ever beginning.

Popular prescription medicines taken are serotonin agonists, vasoconstrictors, anti-depressants, calcium channel blockers and even common narcotics, but still it appears that the health community is out on a limb when it comes to treating the migraine pain that affects so many people. This is the reason that migraine sufferers seek alternative medicine methods to remove and avoid migraine pain.

Acupuncture practise: generally accepted as a complete migraine pain treatment, numerous numerous who migraine experience some relief using acupuncture in key nerve areas where the migraine occurs and it seems to decrease the number of migraine headaches.

Herbal Supplements & Vitamins: In many experiments, the connection between chronic headaches and digestive wellness have been investigated. The fascinating evidence is that there appears to be a correlation between digestive disorders and increased risk of developing migraine pain. This has promoted migraine sufferers to improve the diet plans by taking magnesium and riboflavin as well as this herb. Akeso Health Sciences has developed a three-fold therapy method with an item known as MigreLief to avoid migraine pain. Using these approaches alone might be a therapeutic way to prevent migraines.

Widely acknowledged as helping headache pain, ice packs are a standard method of getting rid of migraine pain. One of the newest migraine relief methods, surprisingly enough, is a bit like making an ice pack with a bag and towel. Both MigraCap and BeKool are items that may be obtained without prescription to furnish cooling and calming relief much like a conventional ice pack. Migra Cap which is just a gel pad that is put on the forehead or on
the back of the neck. Migra Cap, which comes in many colors, is a gentle cap that is put over the scalp during a migraine pain. Lined on the inside with black, the MigraCap not only blocks light out, but it also has cold gel packs in various locations inside the cap for very good cooling and comfortable relief to the places where migraine pain hurts the most.

No matter what the choice is in therapy treatment for migraines, alternative medicine options should also be considered.  Even though the medical profession offers many prescription drugs to treat migraines, taking available non-prescription medicines may enhance the prescriptions, or in some situations, give people an alternative to prescription medications. Whatever route you choose, the ultimate outcome may relieve the discomfort of migraines and enhance your day-to-day life.

You must ask yourself this question: when did you feel the most alive, hopeful, and healthy? The majority of people would say around age 21 and 26. So why not find out the level of each hormone in your body and use orthomolecular human hormone supplementation to return all deficient ones to the levels you enjoyed in your early twenties? Once this is done, you will feel better after a couple of days. After a few months, you will begin to feel that you are that age. After a period of time, you will start to look as young as you feel.

Of course, we do not mean that you will look like you are 21 years old again, but it is very possible to look 10 to 20 years younger, something you probably thought could never happen.

Hormones that regulate our rate of aging as well as the physical and mental manifestations of aging include DHEA, melatonin, pregnenolone, the estrogens, testosterone, and HGH (human growth hormone) and they are all currently available on the market. With most of these supplements being available over the counter, the majority of people have not received accurate information about their use. The concept is to augment supplies to the levels present in a 20 year old, instead of merely stockpiling hormones beyond what you might require. You can receive many other hormones by prescription only, such as estrone, estriol, estradiol and testosterone. But for the hormones to work best, they all need to be tested before supplementation, and this supplementation needs to provide optimal levels — high levels are not good enough. Pertaining to hormones, it is bad not to have enough, but even worse if you have too much.

Hormone Replacement Therapy is becoming more well-regarded, and on its own is capable of reducing morbidity and mortality rates by 60%. By requesting just a few tests, including adrenal, sex and thyroid hormone levels, you may be on your way to better health.

Of course, the trouble is locating the right physician to do these exams. Many physicians are still of the mindset that considers aging to be an inevitable process rather than a disease. Many people have sought their doctors’ advice regarding one complaint or another only to hear the reply, “Well, what did you think was going to happen? You are beginning to get older. You have to just accept it. We will all die eventually!” Prior to making an appointment, be sure that you first screen your physician.

Human Growth Hormone

The hormone that is most influential regarding changes involved in aging is human growth hormone, also known as HGH. It works along with the adrenal, sex, and thyroid hormones, but it is the most important hormone with regard to aging. HGH is released through the pituitary gland in the brain, the main gland which controls the whole system of hormones. As a matter of fact, 50% of the anterior pituitary cells are known as somatocytes and they create HGH. Considering the sheer number of cells that perform this task, it would seem that HGH production is important for the body to function properly.

In children, HGH makes the long bones grow and is instrumental in helping people obtain their final height. Historically, it was believed that this was the totality of HGH’s function. Research done recently indicates that HGH receptors are present in every cell of the body and that HGH performs a variety of human metabolism functions in all the body organs. Even the brain contains receptors which, upon stimulation, cause endorphins (molecules that help us maintain an even and buoyant mood) to be generated. HGH causes the skin cells to react by producing even growth, creating the smooth look of children’s skin. The brain cells respond by bouncing back to life (nearly 15% of the brain cells cease to function every decade you are alive). Because of this, the most current and most effective treatment for Alzheimer’s is HGH, despite the lack of large double-blind clinical trials.

A recurrent consequence of HGH shortage is feeling irritable, thus with replacement therapy, the patient returns to a feeling of contentment. Cells in the skeletal structure react by producing new bone, reversing osteoporosis - but this takes several years to be complete. The response of fat cells is that they use their lives to supply energy. The extra pounds in the stomach area which characterizes an HGH deficiency, dissolves in a few months. Muscle cells react, especially in the upper body, by growing bigger and stronger. You start to get back the strength and endurance you had when you were younger. Since the ciliary muscle of the eye regains its strength, many individuals could read again without the aid of reading glasses.

As HGH performs all manner of functions, it is the predominate hormone that drives the physical metamorphosis that shows the process of aging. As expected, HGH levels drop gradually with advancing age. With the information we have on HGH, we should reconsider calling it HVH or human vitality hormone.

Total Hormone Rejuvenation Therapy

The concept is to get your hormones to go back up to the level you were used to when you were twenty-something. Once this happened, your hormone levels were certainly starting to decline. Perhaps you have referred to it as “normal aging” but it could be called “multiple system degenerative disease.” If it is not necessary to deal with all the problems involved in the disease we call aging, then why do it?