Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

There are a number of myths associated with depression. This article attempts to dispel common myths and provide factual information about depression to assist in reducing the stigma associated with depressive illnesses.

Depression is often misunderstood by the broader community and is one of the most common of all mental illnesses. It affects more than 19 million Americans annually. Generally known types of depression include clinical, manic, major, and dysthymia, which is a milder and longer-lasting type which may never be diagnosed or discovered.

What is depression?

Depression causes individuals to feel a lack of pleasure from activities in their day to day life. People say they have a general feeling of overall sadness, despair and inability to complete normal daily tasks to their satisfaction. Depression may also add complications to other medical conditions. There can be very serious consequences for those with depression who do not seek treatment. In the most extreme cases the feelings of despair and sadness can be significant enough to result in self harming behaviors including thoughts of death and may as a consequence attempt suicide.

Drug abuse is defined as the compulsive and habitual misuse of any drug for various purposes, such as achieving calming or euphoric effects, an escape from reality, dulling anxiety, and fighting depression. Drug abuse victims need a support system to help them overcome this negative habit. The rehabilitation of such drug abuse victims is conducted through special drug rehab programs that are designed to make the victim independent from the drug. Drug rehab statistics are an indication of the number of drug abuse victims and the common drug abuse methods.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, it is estimated that almost 22.8 million Americans need treatment for either alcohol or drug addiction. Out of these 22.8 million people, only a small percentage received help from rehabilitation, and the rest were not exposed to any rehab programs. Around 1.2 million drug abusers who did not receive any treatment admitted to having felt the need for treatment at some point in time. A small percentage of these people disclosed that they made attempts to get some kind of help, but were unable to contact any rehab support group.

Autism is a severe brain development disorder defined by significant impairments in social interaction and communication. The causes of it are still not understood completely, but it affects people quite often, bringing lots of difficulties and stress to their lives.

There’s no known cure for autism yet, but there are many treatments available. Some of them help manage symptoms, other teach social and behavioral skills. Hundreds people suffer from this severe disorder, but fortunately, they are not isolated or closed in institutions anymore as it was some time ago.

It is well known that people with autism do not follow the typical patterns of development. It takes also longer to them to learn to interpret what others are thinking and feeling. Therefore, such people need a great support and medical assistance. If diagnosis and treatment are determined early enough, it can help children with autism develop to their full potential. Thus, the main goal of treatment is to improve the overall ability of the person to function.

Symptoms and behaviors can combine in many ways and vary in severity. But although people with autism do not show the same symptoms and deficits, they tend to have typical social, communication, motor, and sensory problems that affect their way of behavior.

Trauma centers are specialty hospitals which are capable of providing comprehensive emergency medical services to patients who are suffering from traumatic injuries such as burns. This type of hospital was developed as the medical establishment realized that traumatic injuries required a different level of care than ordinary injuries.

In order for a hospital to qualify is a trauma center, the hospital must have a high-quality intensive care unit as well as an operating room that is fully-staffed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. This emergency room typically has an entire trauma team. The trauma team is usually led by trauma surgeons, including specialists like neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons.

Because these specialized centers are extremely expensive to operate, some areas or states are under-served by trauma centers. For example, Harborview Medical Center in Seattle actually serves all of the state of Washington as well as the states of Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Due to the distance that some patients might have to travel to get to the hospital, the majority of specialty hospitals have a helipad for receiving patients who have been airlifted. Ironically, in many instances, those who were injured in a remote area and then air lifted to a hospital frequently receive better medical care than those taken by an ambulance to an ordinary emergency room.

Hair loss is believed to be a predominantly male problem but a growing number of today’s women are losing their hair because of too much brushing, bleaching and styling.

Considered as a woman’s crowning glory, many women spend too much time taking care of their hair and unconsciously damaging it in the process. The use of chemicals for dyeing, tinting or bleaching can weaken hair and may ultimately cause it to break. Contrary to popular belief, brushing your hair one hundred times a day won’t make your hair shine; it actually destroys the hair!

Fortunately, hair loss in these cases can be treated. It can be remedied by following good hair habits such as avoiding tight pony-tails, curlers and strong chemicals and staying out of the sun whenever possible. Also, it might be a good idea to towel dry hair gently instead of rubbing it vigorously after showering.

It is normal for some hair to fall every day while new ones grow. The situation only becomes imbalanced when the rate of expelling old hair is faster than producing new ones. Abnormal hormone secretions, stress, medication and nutritional deficiencies can cause temporary hair loss.

An anxiety disorder may be an outcome from a mixture of causes. Some people are genetically inclined to developing it, while others may have experienced stressful life events, such as a move, a job change, the loss of a loved one, or a divorce, which can trigger the anxiety.

The person with an anxiety disorder may develop a sense of fear for no obvious reason. Their body may exhibit trembling, sweating, nausea and “butterflies in the stomach”. Stress is your body’s response to change. Exercise helps your body relieve stress. It also will make your body stronger to be able to handle stress. The best type of exercise for improving the way your body reacts to anxiety is aerobics. People with anxiety disorders worry that aerobic exercise will bring on a panic attack. You may feel a panic attack is starting when your heart rate intensifies and you begin to sweat. Start gradually. Taking a walk a little bit every day is a good beginning.

Healthcare reform is being hotly debated across the country right now, but the need for dental services isn’t being discussed. The cost for just healthcare is in the trillions and just like employer based insurance, dental is an afterthought. Everyone needs to have their teeth checked and the price for these services isn’t going down any time soon. Many people no longer get dental through their employer and the government health reforms won’t have any affect on that; the government also won’t be providing it through a public health system. The good news is that there are many options available to the general public to keep your families teeth in good shape.

Dental insurance is the most common type of plan that people think of when they are shopping around. Companies like Delta Dental, Cigna and Metlife all offer these plans and they usually cost in the hundreds each month for a family of four. They usually have some limits on how many times you can go to the dentist and what kinds of things you can have done. Teeth whitening and other cosmetic work isn’t covered, but most of the services your family needs are taken care of with a small co-pay. Depending on your budget, these plans work for most Americans as long as you are willing to pay on a monthly basis.

So you think you need harsh chemicals to fight gingivitis, bad breath or tooth plaque? Not so! Natural therapies for oral hygiene can boost your gum disease fighting power both inside and out. Let’s examine a few of the most popular natural therapies used today.

Herbal Natural Therapies for Oral Hygiene

Certain herbs have antibacterial properties and can aid in your oral hygiene routine as well as make your breath smell a little sweeter. Essential oils of almond, peppermint and spearmint, for example, may all be rubbed around the base of the gums as therapies for oral hygiene.

Tea tree oil has even more bacterial-fighting agents than the essential oils previously mentioned as therapies for oral hygiene. Adding a few drops of tea tree oil to your toothbrush during regular brushing will leave your gums feeling clean and invigorated.

Green tea has been credited for centuries as one of the best natural therapies for oral hygiene. The Chinese have long used green tea as an oral rinse for daily mouth care. Green tea contains powerful antioxidants that also help boost the immune system.

Vitamin Natural Therapies for Oral Hygiene

Some older people with osteoarthritis discount their pain and are reluctant to take pain relievers. A study of the use of pain medications and seniors indicates that they often have a negative attitude toward the drugs. They frequently don’t follow the instructions for use, choosing instead to downplay their pain. As a result, many suffer needlessly. I know I observed my elderly mother behaving this way, and I became curious about other elderly people.

Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with men and women ages 67 to 92, who had severe hip or knee osteoarthritis. They asked the study participants to gather all their prescription and nonprescription medications and then discussed the doses and timing of each. The researchers posed such open-ended questions and as:

What does your osteoarthritis feel like at this time? What are you doing for your osteoarthritis? What other medications are you taking? Do you take your medication in the way your health care professionals suggested? Why or why not? Do you take your medications regularly? Why or why not?

Most participants took medications for other conditions too, but they viewed painkillers as different. They were reluctant to take pain pills and often didn’t follow label directions. Although the participants generally follow the instructions on their other medications, most purposely took pain relievers less often than recommended or at lower doses.

Many people fail to realize how greatly stress affects one’s physical health. In some cases, stress is beneficial, because it encourages some people to remain focused, motivated to complete task and fulfill goals. Some individuals need stress in order to function at maximum efficiency. However, there are also negative sides of stress that can not only be harmful but lead you down a destructive path physically and emotionally. Stress, if not dealt with properly, could eventually lead to sudden mental and physical illnesses and conditions. Often, our hair is one of the first places affected when dealing with stress.

Sudden hair loss due to stress is called Telogen Effluvium. Telogen Effluvium occurs when sudden or severe stress causes an increase in the shedding of hair thus causing the hair follicles to be pushed prematurely into the resting phase. Sudden hair loss can be noticed 2 to 3 months after a stressful event has occurred. While it is normal to lose up to 100 hairs per day, stress related hair loss can increase hair shedding to as much as 300 - 400 strands of hair per day and one can lose up to 70% of scalp hairs. In most cases the sudden hair loss is temporary and the hair recovers quickly. However, in some cases the sudden hair loss continues until the underlying cause of the stress is fixed.