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Healthy Living: Can Yoga Help Reduce Symptoms of Chronic Illness? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

Back in March, I told you about yet another invisible illness that I’ve had the pleasure of being diagnosed with. Fibromalgia. It was also at that appointment where I learned of the 20+ pounds I had put on in less than a year. And it wasn’t like I was at my ideal weight before that time either. For the first time in my life, I actually weighed more than I did when I was pregnant. It was then that I decided I must begin to take eating healthy more seriously. Aside from not being able to fit into my skinny jeans, the extra weight was exacerbating all of my invisible medical problems.

Since then I’ve lost about fifteen pounds, and I’m starting to think there might be a chance that I’ll be able to finally get back down to my ideal weight. The main problem I’m facing now, is my inability to exercise. It’s not that I have an aversion to exercising, it’s because I also have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (here are some videos that might help you understand), and one of the most devastating symptoms is something called post-exertional malaise. Basically, even though I need to exercise to be healthy and lose weight, just a little bit of exercise can make my fatigue and pain much worse.

I know that yoga would be the best type of exercise for me to try, and I’ve always wanted to try it. But, up until now, I thought yoga was the type of thing that would be too difficult to learn how to do on my own. And then I came across a book on yoga, that was written specifically for people with Fibromyalgia. I was a little skeptical at first, but I was also ready to give something new a try. So, I emailed the publisher, and asked them to send me a review copy of Yoga for Fibromyalgia: Move, Breathe, and Relax to Improve Your Quality of Life by Shoosh Lettick Crotzer.

When I received the book, I was happy to see that it was an easy read, and included many pictures of the yoga positions it was recommending. It’s not a book that claims to be a cure for Fibromyagia, but rather a book that aims to improve the quality of life, of anyone suffering with this debilitating illness. There are positions for reducing pain and fatigue, improving sleep, and maintaining flexibility. If you are living with Fibromyagia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I think you would find this book very helpful. I’ve only just begun to learn these yoga positions, but I intend to make them part of my personal healthy living program, and I’m hopeful that this will be just the type of exercise that will help me.

Here are some other BlogHers that are blogging about yoga…

From BlissChick - 8 Triggers For Centering Yourself

I started this week writing about becoming imbalanced over the weekend (which happened for a variety of reasons). I have spent the whole week getting back to myself, doing all the things I know I have to do to be in my center, to feel good and to be productive.

And this got me to thinking about reminders. Remembering to be centered. Remembering what is important. Remembering what we value and where we want to put our energy.

From Somebody Heal Me - Meditation & Yoga Can Reduce Migraines

Researchers speculate that yoga, meditation and deep breathing help prevent migraines by raising serotonin levels.

From BlogHer contributing editor Mipmup

The popularity of yoga is undeniable. Research varies, but it is estimated that from 15 to 28 million people practice yoga in the United States alone. And with good cause. Yoga “asanas,” or postures, benefit the body physically, mentally and spiritually. Besides keeping fit, yoga is being used to treat HIV/AIDS, depression, heart disease, cancer and anxiety disorders. So who’s blogging about it?

the accidental yogist, as the name implies, finds herself unexpectedly exploring yoga after a knee injury.

Notesgirl has written up a complete step-by-step yoga practice for digestion and stress relief.

the ohmtastic blog is the blog of the founder of ohmtastic lifestyle apparel. She has a useful post on reducing injury during practice.

Everything Yoga, the blog of a registered yoga teacher, posts about the “prenatal yoga trend.”

Are you blogging about yoga? Are you using yoga to help reduce symptoms of chronic illness? I hope you’ll let me know what you think in comments.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, and The Care2 Election Blog

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Heart Disease: The Leading Cause of Death. Are You At Risk? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

What is a heart attack? Why do some people live and others die? Can something be done to help prevent heart disease? Are you at risk?

Yesterday we heard the sad news of Tim Russert’s sudden death from an apparent heart attack, at the age of 58.

Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and is a major cause of disability. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which often appears as a heart attack. In 2008, an estimated 770,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack, and about 430,000 will have a recurrent attack. About every 26 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one.

We now know that Tim Russert was being treated for a condition known as asymptomatic coronary artery disease. This means that through tests, he was aware that he had coronary artery disease, however he had no symptoms. Ultimately, this disease and sudden cardiac arrest is what killed him. In more technical terms, he had a sudden coronary thrombosis, that caused ventricular arrhythmia, that caused a heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest.

Although people can survive heart attacks (when they receive prompt medical treatment), the type of heart attack that Tim Russert had (sudden cardiac arrest), has a very low survival rate.

Here is a video clip of Tim Russert’s physician (who was with him before and after his death), explaining what exactly happened.

I was planning to blog about something else today, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to address some of the issues surrounding heart disease. Specifically, prevention of coronary artery disease.

The Mayo Clinic has a list of specific lifestyle changes we can all make to help prevent coronary artery disease. One of the most important ways to prevent heart disease, is to adopt healthy eating habits. They also suggest…

In addition to healthy lifestyle changes, remember the importance of regular medical checkups. Some of the main risk factors for coronary artery disease — high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes — have no symptoms in the early stages. Early detection and treatment can set the stage for a lifetime of better heart health.

It’s important to Know The Warning Signs…

Some heart attacks are sudden and intense — where no one doubts what’s happening. But most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren’t sure what’s wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness

As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

Wendy at Healthy Endeavors is Heartsick over Heart Disease…

Do you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women, taking close to 500,000 lives each year, far surpassing breast cancer, diabetes and other causes of death?

The reality, however, is that heart disease is highly preventable, yet research shows that many women don’t even know they’re at risk. Why? For a myriad of reasons women often put their health last on the list, despite their best intentions.

I say enough is enough. It’s time for each of us to take a stand and take action about our heart health.

That’s why I created the Take Your Health To Heart Challenge. The Challenge motivates and inspires women across the country and around the world to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes that help prevent heart disease and significantly reduce risk factors. Heart disease has affected people in my own life and I’m determined to help spread the word and encourage women to truly take their health to heart.

Kim from Up North Mommy discovered a man seemingly taking advantage of Tim Russert’s death to push his own agenda (and books)…

If you take a look at this website, you’ll see a couple of books written my Mr. Adams clearly displayed on the right hand side.

So what’s the issue? It’s this: before Mr. Russert has even been eulogized and buried, Mr. Adams has published an article in which he blames Mr. Russert’s death on pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Adams doesn’t know anything about Mr. Russert’s medical history or daily eating and exercise habits. Nor does he know anything about his stress levels, yet he acts like he and his lifestyle alone could have single handedly saved Mr. Russert’s life. Not only is this in bad taste, but it’s also sickeningly manipulative.

Also See:

Women and Heart Disease - Knowing The Facts Could Save Your Life

Menopause and Heart Disease

How Old Is Your Heart?

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

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What Is Your Favorite Sunscreen? - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

It’s summer, and that means it’s time to stock up on sunscreen. What’s important to you when it comes to sunscreen? Is it the SPF? Natural ingredients? Smell? Price? Are you hoping to prevent skin cancer or premature aging? Are you worried the chemicals in sunscreen could be just as bad for you as the sun? What sunscreen is your favorite? I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.

Okay, me first. Here is the evolution of my use of sunscreen (formally known as suntan lotion)…

When I was younger, SPF didn’t mean anything to me, and my favorite sunscreen was Copportone, because I loved how it smelled. I actually would have preferred the scent of Hawaiian Tropic or BAIN de SOLEIL, but they were a little out of my price range back then. As far as SPF goes…2 was plenty, anything higher than 4 and I thought I would never tan. I eventually wised up, and moved up to an SPF of 8, and even though I still loved the way Copportone smelled, I started using Banana Boat and No-Ad products because they were cheaper. Once I had my kids, I spent the extra money to get them Copportone Water Babies with a high SPF, but I stuck with just getting whatever was cheap for myself. Now that my kids are older, we use the same sunscreen, so I always buy an SPF of 15 or greater. But, I’m not buying the Copportone or the cheap stuff anymore. For me, it’s back to being all about how it smells…And I love, love, love, the way Australian Gold smells, I started buying it a few years ago, and now it is all I buy. It’s not the cheapest sunscreen, but it certainly isn’t the most expensive either.

Not everyone is as concerned with the smell of their sunscreen as I am. Take Michelle at Chic Armoire for example, she says…

For the past 2 summers, I’ve used the Neutrogena Dry-Touch in an SPF range of 15 to 30. The formula goes on dry without an sunscreen smell (I hate the smell of Coppertone and similar sunscreens). It’s paba free, waterproof, and sweat proof. Note that the FDA is considering that the word waterproof not be used in the future. Water resistant maybe the replacement term. It also has Helioplex which is a broad spectrum for UVA and UVB.

Savvy Skin suggests…

There are probably 100 different sunscreens available at drugstores, but of those 100, there’s only a few I would bother buying. I firmly believe Zinc Oxide is the best sunscreen ingredient, and there are almost no drugstore sunscreens that contain decent levels of Zinc Oxide.

Blue Lizard is the only drugstore brand I currently buy. They have a few different products, and the Zinc Oxide ranges from 6%-10%, which isn’t spectacular, but it’s the highest concentration of Zinc Oxide I’ve seen in a drugstore brand.

In searching for posts on sunscreen, I kept coming across this video. I know I’ve seen it before, I just don’t know where. It’s more about inspiration and advice than sunscreen, but I thought I would include it anyway.

So, what is your favorite sunscreen? Why?

Is it because of the smell? The SPF? The price?

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

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I have a love/hate relationship with my scale. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

About eight weeks ago I posted about how I started a pre-diet. I was trying to get reacquainted with the taste of healthy foods, and wean myself off of sugar. As far as that goes, I feel like I’m doing pretty well, I’ve even lost some weight. At the time of the post I had lost about six pounds, and since then I have lost another six. I’m now down 12 pounds from my heaviest weight ever (not counting when I was pregnant), I know because that’s what my scale says. If it wasn’t for my scale I wouldn’t believe I’ve lost any weight at all, so for that reason, I love my scale. However, I also hate that the number is still so high. And, I hate that even after losing 12 pounds, I still have almost 30 to go.

But, it’s always a better idea to focus on the positive, so that’s what I’ll try to do.

First, I have finally gotten over the sugar hump, and I’m not craving sugar the way I used to. I even made my world famous chocolate brownie cake with my daughter, and wasn’t tempted to eat any of it. That’s a pretty big deal for me. I’ve also stopped eating junk food, and I’ve stopped eating late at night (for the most part). Another thing I do, is always keep several bags of vegetables, and microwavable diet entrees in my freezer, for when I need a quick meal.

My daughter has been a great help by not asking me to buy cookies and ice-cream when we go shopping. It’s amazing how much easier it is to avoid eating junk, when it’s not in the house. Instead of ice-cream with chocolate sauce, she is now happy to get no sugar added ice-pops, and low-fat granola bars. We also had the opportunity to try something new. Skinny Cow sent us two boxes of Skinny Dippers, and they are very yummy (and only 80 calories). We both love mint chocolate chip ice-cream, so the mint Skinny Dippers were are favorite.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to for the last several weeks. I’m not putting a lot of pressure on myself, and I’m not starving myself. I guess what I’m doing could be called a diet, but I’m sticking with calling it a pre-diet for now. Once I hit a plateau, and I’m not continuing to lose weight, I’ll kick it up a notch and go on an actual diet. For now, this is working for me, so why mess with it?

Have you been trying to lose some weight? How much do you want to lose? Have you been having any luck? What kind of things have been working for you? Are you calling it a diet?

Other bloggers dieting…

Michelle ~ mother & scrapaholic…

So, some of you may have noticed my weight gain over the past few months… well, I’ve officially decided to do something about it. I don’t believe in “dieting” as in starving myself to death, but I do realize that I’ve got to make better nutritional choices. I’m also going to weigh myself weekly to track progress and post the results on my blog. (Hopefully, having to be accountable will help me beat any cravings for big fat fudge brownies or cool ranch doritos or Debbie’s “little Debbie bars”, etc!)

The Diet Naked Blog

Big Fat Deal

Dieting Battle

Down Home Dieting

Vickie’s Voice

Lilly Hydrangeas Blog

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

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Women and Hair Loss: It’s more common than you think. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

When it comes to my hair…I don’t play very nice. For at least the last ten years I have put my hair through more than most heads of hair will go through in a lifetime (I bleach it, color it, over process it). I’m sure if my hair could talk, it would have plenty of nasty things to say to me.

You would think, that since the women in my family tend to eventually have problems with female pattern hair loss, that I would take better care of my hair. But, I don’t. And apparently, thinning hair and hair loss isn’t that uncommon among women, it’s just that nobody seems to want to talk about it. There have been some breakthroughs when it come to genetic testing and hair loss in women, I’m just not sure I would want to know.

Personally, I find there are times in life when ignorance is bliss. And this just may be one of those times. Do I really want to spend the time between now and my hair falling out, worrying about my hair falling out? Honestly, I’ve got enough things to worry about right now, without worrying about my hair falling out too. [Note to anyone going to the BlogHer Conference in July: If you notice my hair falling out, please don’t tell me.]

But, there are many good reasons to know if you are predisposed to the problem of hair loss. Elaine from Genetics and Health talks about the new genetic testing…

Until now, Female Hair Loss has been difficult to predict and diagnose. That changes with today’s announcement that HairDX, LLC pioneers of consumer-friendly genetic tests for hair loss, has introduced a screening test using genetic markers strongly associated with Female Hair Loss (Female Androgenetic Alopecia).

The easy to understand test, which costs US$149, provides an accurate and understandable genetic analysis of a woman’s likelihood of developing this common type of hair loss.

Here are some links to women brave enough to talk about this problem.

This is from The Course Hair Diary…

Several recent studies of men have found that smoking also seems to increase hair loss. I don’t know of any similar studies in women, but one thing is clear: Smoking is harmful for a multitude of reasons, whether or not increased hair loss is among them!

The best plan of action for anyone experiencing hair loss is to determine the underlying cause and eliminate it. And the best place to start is a routine physical exam with blood work. By simply drawing your blood, your physician can determine your ferritin (iron) levels, thyroid levels, and estrogen status - and that will already get you far in recognizing or ruling out many of these causes.

Alisa at Simple. Healthy. Period.

Recently I was speaking with my hairdresser and the topic of hair and the impact of life-events on its luster, texture, thickness, and color came up. He confided in me that the impact of hormonal fluctuations is so great that he often knows when/if his clients are pregnant long before they’re prepared to share the news and sometimes even before they themselves know. But it’s not just the strong hormonal changes that come with pregnancy that have an impact on your hair; have you ever noticed that a prolonged period of stress results in hair loss for you? If you’re struggling with other hormonal imbalances you may have also noticed the unpleasant common symptom of dandruff or an itchy scalp. So, what is the connection?

Kimberly from Petroville is talking about her recent hair loss…

At my annual well woman exam two weeks ago, I told the doctor my concerns over the massive amounts of hair loss I have been experiencing since April. I walked her through my hair color time line which left off with my last color job right at the precise time that my hair began to disassociate itself with my scalp.

Frances Ellen wrote Senior Cotton Candy…

My intent for this blog is to provide a senior citizen voice. In that regard, I am eminently qualified since I have recently joined the 55+ gang. With that in mind, here are a few things you should know about me.

I live and work in corporate America, I like to cook, and reading is my obsession. There’s much more, but for now I’d like to talk about my “cotton candy hair.”

I don’t mean to imply my hair is pastel pink or blue. What I’m saying is, my hair has lost all semblance of what is commonly known as “body.” When I watch shampoo commercials on TV and the model’s lustrous hair is bouncing and flowing from side to side in slow motion, I sigh deeply, and force myself to face reality. The fact is there is no shampoo on the face of this planet that is going to change the fact that I have cotton candy hair.

Fabulously40 wrote Great Hair After 40

After loosing a great deal of my hair I found out that generic hair loss is much worse for women who are deficient in iron and those who have low levels of the B vitamins.

What’s worse is that nine out of ten women between the ages of 16 to 50 are iron deficient.

Surprisingly these figures are much worse nowadays than for our mothers. The reason? So many of us are on some kind of a health kick, and tend not to eat meat or other iron-rich foods like fresh green leafy vegetables.

We can hardly complain about dull, thinning hair if we’re just not giving it the food it needs to be healthy, glossy and thick. So - here’s a quick checklist to add to your shopping cart next time you hit the supermarket.

Eat lots of:

* Fresh vegetables - high colored and green leafy
* Non-citrus fruits- natural yogurt
* Cold pressed oils- such as olive oil, flax seed or sesame
* Soy protein- in the form of tofu, soy milk or soy yogurts
* Legumes- peas, beans and lentils
* Whole grains- especially brown rice, oats and buckwheat
* Seeds-sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and linseeds
* Almonds, figs and dates
* Fresh oily fish- like salmon, tuna, herring, pilchards and sardines

Drink:

* Lots of: pure still water to aid your digestive system and eliminate toxins - a sluggish digestion leads to limp, dull or oily hair

Cut down on:

* Dairy (cow’s milk) products
* Caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate, and soda drinks)
* Sugar and salt

If you can alter your diet to include more healthy hair foods - you will be rewarded not only with great looking hair, but loads of energy and glowing skin.

I like the idea that if I eat healthy my hair may stay healthy. And since eating healthy is something I am now trying to do more of, this is just another incentive. So, do you have a story about hair loss? Is it something you worry about? Would you want to know today, if you were going to lose your hair in the future? Let me know in comments.

—-

Also See:

Alopecia World –Alopecia World is a new social networking site for people living with hair loss, their loved ones and friends. Join today for support, to encourage others, make new friends, or perhaps meet the love of your life. It’s 100% free!

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Is It Possible To Eat Healthy on a Budget? - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

With the value of a dollar going down, and gas prices going up, the ability to make healthy food choices is getting more and more costly. Now that we are spending more money at the pump, we have less to spend at the grocery store, and many are resorting to just buying the cheapest food they can get their hands on. The trouble with that is…The cheapest food is most likely also going to be the least healthy food. And this isn’t just about the money, or the food. It’s about your life, and the life of your family.

It’s not just speculation anymore, we now know that poor eating habits and obesity, are directly related to serious health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Even more troubling is the rate at witch our children are becoming obese, and developing adult medical conditions in childhood. But, what can we do? Is it possible to eat healthy on a budget?

The answer is…Yes. It’s not always easy, but it is possible. Here are some links to women who are blogging about eating healthy on a budget.

Student Mum has a post on How To Feed Your Family For Less…

Feeding a family is done best by a family. Involve even the youngest members of your family in all aspects. They will feel they are appreciated and valued, and they will be learning valuable life skills at the same time. The phrase, “A family who play together stay together,” can be related to cooking and eating. Cooking a meal together can be great fun and eating together, especially in the evening, allows us all a chance to share our day, our thoughts, our ideas or our plans.

This is from MommyK at The Great Walls of Baltimore…

When a friend of mine went to her doctor in early January for her yearly physical, he had bad news for her. Her blood sugar was up, her cholesterol was in the high range, and she had gained ten pounds in the past year. He told her she needs to lose weight or face serious health risks. Frightened by the prospect of diabetes and heart disease, she immediately overhauled the way she cooks and eats. Since then, she’s lost that ten pounds she gained last year and she feels better than she has in years. In fact, there’s only one downside to the new eating plan. Buying healthy food has taken a big chunk out of her grocery budget.

Stacy from Parent Traps also has a post on Feeding Your Family For Less…

Choose generic or store brands of healthy groceries, such as whole-grain cereal and frozen vegetables. Look high and low for them—the most costly options are shelved at eye level. Buy fresh produce in season. Try local farmers’ markets for fresher, less expensive options. Frozen vegetables are healthy and even more affordable than fresh produce, and you can get out-of-season vegetables less expensively.

Amanda from Mrs. W’s Kitchen has a post on Food Budget Issues…

Build menu plans based on what’s on sale at local grocery stores. Check those sale flyers! I find it’s useful to spend that $1.50 for the Sunday newspaper (we don’t purchase regular paper delivery) for the flyers and coupons. Most big-chain grocery stores also publish sale flyers online.

A must read (and also print out)…

Alanna Kellogg wrote one of my all time favorite BlogHer CE posts - Family Finance: How To Save Money On Groceries

She also did a follow-up post - How To Save Time and Money at the Grocery Store

Also See:

Mommy Points - High Price For Healthy Food

Nina Smith — How To Eat on a Shoestring

We Are What We Eat

Menus4Moms — Frugal Meal Planning

The Coupon Mom

So, the bottom line is. It’s not easy, and it will take a little extra work…But, you can eat healthy on a budget. Do you have any tips, stories, links, or recipes? I would love for you to share them with us in comments.

BlogHer Health & Wellness Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog

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Can Ibuprofen Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

I guess most of us either know or have known someone with Alzheimer’s, maybe that person was even a relative. Like many other diseases, Alzheimer’s is thought to run in families. That is why when I read that there was a new study linking the long-term use of ibuprofen to a decrease in risk for Alzheimer’s, I had to learn more.

Don’t go out and buy a bottle of Motrin just yet. Although this study seems promising, there is no recommendations that anyone should take ibuprofen for the purpose of preventing Alzheimer’s. Much more needs to be studied in order to determine whether the benefits of ibuprofen outweigh the risk of long-term use.

From WebMD…

The long-term use of ibuprofen and possibly other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pain relievers may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, but it is still not clear if the risks outweigh the potential benefits.

Use of ibuprofen pain relievers like Advil and Motrin for more than five years reduced Alzheimer’s risk by 44% in a study reported in the May issue of Neurology.

Long-term users of several other types of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) also had a lower than expected risk of Alzheimer’s.

Ibuprofen users seemed to derive the most protection after five years of use, but researcher Steven C. Vlad, MD, of Boston University School of Medicine, says it is far too soon to recommend the use of this or any other NSAID to lower Alzheimer’s risk.

“I would not advise patients to start taking an NSAID to prevent Alzheimer’s,” Vlad tells WebMD. “There are too many known risks associated with this class of medications, and we would need a lot more research to figure out the risk-benefit ratio.”

In researching this ibuprofen study, I came across another recent study. This study seems to link Diabetes to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s.

From A Weight Lifted: Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Linked

Did you know that people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes have a 30 to 65 percent greater risk for Alzheimer’s? Until now, researchers have been mystified as to the reason behind the link, but a recent study (published in the current online issue of Neurobiology of Aging by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies) has pinpointed the molecular connection.

Here are some more Alzheimer’s related blogs…

Rust-Tex: Help End Alzheimer’s Disease

This quilt is up for auction now through May 10 to raise money for the the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI), which is an Internet-driven, grassroots, totally volunteer effort to raise awareness and fund research through art. Ami Simms founded the AAQI in January 2006 because her mother has Alzheimer’s disease. All profit is donated to Alzheimer’s research.

My quilt uses rust dyed fabric, seed beads, plastic beads, metal leaves, cotton boucle. It is machine pieced, machine quilted, couched, and free motion machine embroidered. The cat is made of ultra suede and colored with water soluble colored pencils. The entire piece is 8.875″ x 8.875″.

Mine is not the only one up for auction. You can see them all here. Your generous bid is appreciated by the artists who made these beautiful quilts and by everyone struggling to end this disease.

From ask allison: the middle-aged woman’s go to girl: Alzheimer’s and Caregiving

One of my fellow mid-life lady bloggers, Karen over at Mid-life’s a Trip, has some excellent blog posts related to caregiving and Alzheimer’s. As caregiver to her mother who has Alzheimer’s, and dear friend to a 50 something woman with the disease, she holds the subject close to her heart.

A great informational resource as Karen points out is a recent article in the NY Times. This excellent guide provides information on causes, treatments, exams and tests, and more.

I found this video on Alzheimer’s and Caregivers at Alzheimer’s Notes…

Also See:

Mondays With Mother: An Alzheimer’s Story — In 2002 my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It is a hard road, and we live it one day at a time. This is a chronicle of her disease and my Monday visits with her.

BlogHer Contributing Editor Laurie wrote - Alzheimer’s and Another Love: How Spouses Cope

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How old is your heart? Did you know smoking can add twenty years to the age of your heart? That seems like a pretty good reason to stop. What about stress? Stress can cause as much damage to your heart as smoking. Could you quit stressing?

ALSO SEE MY BlogHer POST ON THIS ISSUE

and Healthcare For All (except the sick)? at The Political Voices of Women

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I originally posted this about a year ago, on BlogHer (where it has had over 17,000 hits), so I thought it deserved an encore. Here goes… Alli: “The Diarrhea Diet” — by Catherine Morgan

I’m not going to try to sugar coat it, I’m an opinionated person. Back at the end of May when I saw an article about an over the counter diet pill being approved by the FDA, and peddled by a pharmaceutical company, my skepticism antenna went into overdrive. The result was a post I did the same day on why you should just say no to diet pills, which included several links of other recent drugs the FDA and pharmaceutical companies had claimed to be safe, and later were taken off the market. In my opinion this happens much too often. And the main thing that sets me off is, it seems to be all about money. (Shocking! Not so much.) The FDA takes money from the pharmaceutical companies to “study” and approve their drugs, then the pharmaceutical companies make millions (even billions) off the American people, then voila, the drug that was once “safe” is no longer safe. It’s a very interesting phenomena.

Glaxo’s Avandia Fuels Arguments For Tougher Drug Laws — The study, released May 21, showed that Avandia, the world’s best-selling diabetes pill, increased the risk of a heart attack 43 percent. Members of Congress are questioning the Food and Drug Administration’s handling of evidence of side effects since the drug won U.S. approval in 1999.

The Avandia report has reignited complaints by Congress that the FDA is too lax in monitoring drug complications after a product is on the market. The agency previously was criticized for failing to act on heart dangers linked to Merck & Co.’s Vioxx painkiller before it was withdrawn in 2004, and for missing suicide risks linked to antidepressants. — read full article

Call me crazy, but it is troubling to me that the FDA considers a drug that basically induces diarrhea as a safe and effective means of weight loss. Sure, you can argue that the drug is blocking fat from being absorbed and a side effect of that is causing diarrhea…but really…semantics. Right? Don’t we consider people that are using drugs to induce diarrhea as suffering from Bulimia, and in need of medical and psychological help? What about this…Lets say that a pharmaceutical company came out with a drug that induced vomiting, does that mean if the person is not sticking their finger down their throat they are not sick, they are just dieting? If that’s the case, maybe someone should consider repackaging Ipecac into pill form, and marketing it as the newest diet plan. Is it really that much of a stretch from where we are now???

Now that you know how I feel about it, lets take a look at some of the facts about the (not so) new diet pill. Then you can tell me how you feel about it.

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Why Is Life Expectancy For Women Going Down In America? - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

A new study has found that the life expectancy for women in the United States is on the decline. But don’t worry, this is not something that will affect ALL women in our country - just the poor women.

Even more troubling, is that the study doesn’t include any statistics after 1999. What that means is, the Bush years have not been figured into these statistics. I can only imagine how the last eight years of the Bush administration have impacted the reality of these numbers.

It seems like it wasn’t that long ago, that I heard how the US life expectancy had slipped in ranking from 11th to 42nd, behind most European countries.

John Edwards was absolutely right when he talked about two Americas. Try to picture America on one side, and a third-world country on the other. Now picture that third-world country within the United States. Thanks to a failing economy and a serious health care crisis, that is exactly what we face today. It’s really not surprising at all. Very sad, but not surprising.


From The New York Times…

Life expectancy has long been growing steadily for most Americans. But it has not for a significant minority, according to a new study, which finds a growing disparity in mortality depending on race, income and geography.

The study, published Monday in the online journal PLoS, analyzed life expectancy in all 3,141 counties in the United States from 1961 to 1999, the latest year for which complete data have been released by the National Center for Health Statistics. Although life span has generally increased since 1961, the authors reported, it began to level off or even decline in the 1980s for 4 percent of men and 19 percent of women.

“It’s very troubling that there are parts of the wealthiest country in the world, with the highest health spending in the world, where health is getting worse,” said Majid Ezzati, the lead author and an associate professor of international health at Harvard. It is a phenomenon, he added, “unheard of in any other developed country.”

Listen to an interview on NPR…

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Health News: DASH Diet Saves Lives, Healthcare Crisis Affecting Prescription Co-Pays, Breast Cancer Screening.

Are you interested in lowering your blood pressure? Reducing your risk of heart disease? If so, you may want to consider the DASH Diet.

When compared to a typical America diet, women following a DASH diet were 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack, and 18 percent less likely to have a stroke. This is a pretty big deal, especially considering that the number one cause of death in women is heart disease.

Diet Reduces Heart Attacks, Strokes.

A large study offers the strongest evidence yet that a diet the government recommends for lowering blood pressure can save people from heart attack and stroke.

Researchers followed more than 88,000 healthy women for almost 25 years. They examined their food choices and looked at how many had heart attacks and strokes. Those who fared best had eating habits similar to those recommended by the government to stop high blood pressure.

The plan, called the DASH diet, favors fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and plant-based protein over meat.

Women with those eating habits were 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack and 18 percent less likely to have a stroke than women with more typical American diets.

From WebMD

A healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat has long been touted as heart smart. Now, increasing evidence suggests that a similar diet reduces blood pressure and decreases a woman’s risk for heart attack and stroke.

Scientists reporting in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine have found that healthy, middle-aged women who closely followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet have lower rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than women who do not follow such diets.

“Our study provides, to our knowledge, the strongest evidence to date on the long-term benefits of the DASH diet in the primary prevention of CVD among healthy subjects,” writes Teresa T. Fung, ScD, of Simmons College, Boston.

National dietary guidelines promote the DASH diet as an example of a healthy eating pattern. The diet comprises plenty of fruits, vegetables, and plant proteins from legumes and nuts, and moderate servings of low-fat dairy products. It is low in meat.

Also See:

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Is This Post About Hillary Clinton, Women’s Health, Ellen DeGeneres, or Breast Cancer? All of the above? - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

Hillary Clinton was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. I didn’t actually see it, but I did see several reports of it on the cable news channels. The media was very thorough and quick to compare Clinton’s mock bowling with Ellen, to Obama’s gutter ball of last week. [Personally, up until that moment I had been undecided, but after seeing the riveting side by side bowling comparison, I’m now totally committed to one candidate.]

Anyway, one station was even observant enough to report on the differences between Barack’s “Ellen Show” strategy and Hillary’s…It seems Hillary didn’t do a jig with Ellen, but Barack did. So thanks to Hillary’s appearance on Ellen yesterday, the evening news programs had a lot of great election news to cover. The level of journalistic integrity on this important election coverage was nonexistent. I even continued to see the same coverage several times today, so I could only assume nothing politically relevant happened during Hillary’s appearance on Ellen. However, it wouldn’t actually be safe to assume that.

To my surprise I happened upon this blog post from Shakesville: Hillary and Ellen…

Hillary Clinton was a guest on Ellen yesterday, and, although I haven’t generally been in the habit of posting talk show appearances of the various candidates, I watch all of them (even John McCain—grumble), and I thought this one was worth posting because the two Dem candidates’ positions on gay rights have been the subject of much debate around here recently, and Hillary spoke to Ellen about gay rights and told a very personal story about people who influenced her support of equality and fairness (love that framing!). She also spoke about an objective that I thought would be of interest to a lot of Shakers: Making breast cancer curable in the next decade.

Hillary said what? She wants to make breast cancer curable? That seems like a pretty big deal, but all I had heard was that she couldn’t hit more than one plastic pin down with a plastic ball.

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Lisa Stone of BlogHer is asking…

How many women’s lives can we save with donations from the BlogHer community, between now and Mother’s Day, May 11, 2008? — CLICK HERE TO DONATE

If you will download this widget today and encourage your readers to donate, we can find out. Won’t you join us?

Here’s what we’re up to: As part of our BlogHers Act commitment to make a difference on the issue of maternal health, BlogHer has joined forces with Global Giving to help save women’s lives and we need your help.

* Every year, 529,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes.
* Children who have lost their mothers are up to 10 more times more likely to die prematurely than those who haven’t.
* More than 80 per cent of maternal deaths worldwide are due to five direct causes: haemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortion, obstructed labour and hypertensive disease of pregnancy.
* Most maternal deaths (61 per cent) take place during labour, delivery or in the immediate post-partum period. Some 3.4 million newborns die within the first week of life.
UNFPA

By harnessing the power of women online, our contributions will improve maternal health and save women’s lives. Your donation to one or more of these projects can save women’s lives by supplying health care, birthing kits, education, trained birthing attendants, meals, and much, much more.

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Weight Loss: Getting Reacquainted With Healthy Food — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

For the last few weeks I’ve been making an attempt at eating healthy. And usually this is where I would tell you that I’ve failed miserably. But, I’m happy to report that I have actually been doing pretty well. I think it is in part because, around the same time I decided that I couldn’t afford to gain another pound, I got an email from Elaine Magee. Funny how we get what we need, just when we need it. Anyway, Elaine is the Healthy Recipe Doctor at WebMD, and she wanted to tell me about her newest book Food Synergy. Even better, she said if I wanted a copy she would send me one. The timing couldn’t have been better.

I’m not sure if it was the book or my total fear of gaining another pound, but I’ve actually lost about six pounds. It’s not that her book is a diet plan or anything…It’s really about eating healthy, and that’s what is so great about it. The book reinforced a lot of what I already knew, but also explained how different food combinations actually work to prevent disease and promote wellness. Not only is the book informative, but it is loaded with great recipes.

Evidence is mounting that certain components in the food we eat and drink (minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals, fiber, smart fats, etc.) interact to provide our bodies extra disease protection and a higher level of health. This advanced nutrition science is called food synergy.

Food synergy is like adding 1 plus 1 and getting 4 or 6 instead of 2; the total is greater than the sum of the individual parts (or nutrients).

From WebMD - At The Healthy Recipe Doctor - Top 10 Food Synergy Super Foods

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Three Tips For Living Healthy — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at Qvisory)

1. You are what you eat, and it is never too late to start eating healthy. Every day, try your very best to put healthy foods and plenty of water into your body. When you have a choice between something healthy and something not healthy, go with the healthy choice. But, don’t be too hard on yourself on the days you fall back into old habits. There is no rule that says you have to be perfect to be healthy. Even if you are eating healthy 50% of the time, that is still better than not at all.

If you are one to never go for the healthy choice, then start today with a commitment to eat one thing that is good for you (just one thing that you would normally not eat), and do that for a week. After a week, start eating two things that are good for you. Continue to gradually migrate toward healthier options. Before you know it, you’ll be eating healthy half the time. And, that’s a great start.

You can start today, loving yourself and your family enough to stop poisoning your body with unhealthy foods. Heart disease is the number one killer in our country and 80% of heart disease is due to eating an unhealthy diet that leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Start today, and take a bite in the right direction. Your heart will thank you.

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