Wednesday 2 November 2011
Sunday 30 October 2011
You Must Take Control Of Your Weight Loss
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| Drink water to lose weight |
Well, you've decided to you want to be healthier and lose weight. Great! However, there is so much information that you may not have any idea where to start. Don't worry, quick weight loss tips are here! Listed below are some tips that will help you get started so that you can become healthier and happier.
While the body does not normally turn ingested carbohydrates straight into fat, the consumption of alcohol turns this pathway on. Therefore, while having some fat in the stomach is good when drinking because it slows absorption, it would be wise to minimize carbohydrate consumption if you are trying to lose weight.
Drink ice water. When you do this, your body needs to burn calories to warm the water to your internal body temperature. Drinking cold water allows you to burn calories without ingesting any calories and since water has no fat and is essential to the functioning of your body, it's the perfect beverage at any time.
Weight loss is mainly done through the changes in your diet but that doesn't mean that you should ignore the advantages that can come by participating in sports or exercise. These things will help to increase the calories that you spend which will in turn help you to lose weight more quickly.
You should not treat your fork as if it is a shovel. When you are eating take moderate size bites until you are full, and then stop. If you shovel your food in quickly, you are likely to eat a lot more because you are not giving your stomach a chance to tell you that you are full. Losing weight is simple, if you just remember a few tricks.
A great weight loss tip is to introduce foods that contain healthy fats into your diets. Foods such as olives, salmon and walnuts can curb your junk food cravings while supplying your body with healthy fats that can actually reduce your cholesterol. These foods contain little or no saturated fats at all.
Replace white bread with whole grain in your diet. White bread is made from refined flour that has been stripped of its nutrients and fibrous qualities. On the other hand, whole grain bread is made from flour that includes all parts of the grain. So whole grain bread is more nutritious than white bread.
If you are going to have a meal at a restaurant, you should avoid sandwiches, because they usually have mayo, cheese, and other fat-laden sauces. It is okay to have one, but only if you ask for it with no mayo or cheese. Get the sauce on the side so you can control how much of it is used. Another helpful hint, is to remove the top bun.
Often it's the little things done consistently that can lead to huge gains in weight loss. Try buying small weights to wear around your ankles during the day. This extra weight will continuously burn calories whenever you move throughout the day. The best part is you won't even notice you're working out!
You may be putting yourself in a tough position to lose weight if you are getting to bed late. Sleep deprivation can alter your hormones, which can slow your metabolic rate. Get to bed very early for a full week, as this should have a significant impact on your weight loss and temperament.
You need to be persistent when you are trying to lose weight. Everyone falls off the wagon at least once when they are trying to lose weight. You need to pick yourself up and start again right away and not let it eat away at you. You need to be in control of your weight not your weight control of you.
When trying to lose weight stay away from white products. Products that are white are usually more refined. Things like white breads and pastas, are made from refined flour and have little nutritional value. Eating whole wheat breads and whole wheat pastas, will add fiber and nutrients to your diet.
Eat smaller, more frequent meals. This will keep your metabolism at a regular level all day, and will prevent you from overeating at night. Reduce the amounts you eat at lunch and dinner, and add a mid-morning and afternoon snack. The one meal you shouldn't reduce is breakfast, as it gives you the fuel you need to jump start your day. If you eat small portions often, you aren't hungry constantly, and you will feel more in control when you are around food.
In order to lose weight, start out with the most important meal of the day being healthy. For breakfast, have fruit and a piece of toast. Never overdo the meal, but make sure you eat this meal so you have energy from the natural sugars and will be full of life until the next meal.
To help you lose weight you should eat five to six small meals a day instead of three meals. Eating smaller meals will allow your metabolism to keep working throughout the day and keep your blood sugar stable. Eating several smaller meals will also help to keep your blood sugar stable which will keep you from feeling famished.
Having a goal outfit can help keep you motivated when you are trying to lose weight. Having a motivator that you can see and feel can give you that extra bit of encouragement when you are starting to lose hope. Try the outfit on at regular intervals, but make sure you have given yourself enough time in between fittings to actually see a difference.
It has been found that people who eat eggs in the morning, remain less hungry than those who eat meals with lots of carbs. If you are trying to lose weight, it is important that you feel full for as long as possible. When you eat items that do not keep you full, you will end up eating more to avoid feeling hungry.
You should feel better after reading those tips when it comes to losing weight. That was a lot to think and read through, but at least you should have an idea of what to do and where to begin with your weight loss. Besides, you can always come back to this list.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Friday 30 September 2011
Stress Reduction Techniques Are An Effective tinnitus Treatment
A regular relaxation routine is a very helpful part of tinnitus treatment and can help you manage the stress that is often associated with tinnitus.
What has stress got to do with tinnitus relief?
Many people notice their tinnitus more when they are worried or tired, and this in turn increases their levels of anxiety and stress. This becomes a vicious circle. Many of the natural tinnitus remedies described in the tinnitus miracle report include some form of stress relief and relaxation techniques. It is now widely accepted that stress plays a key part in the way people react to their tinnitus. A certain amount of stress is vital to maintain the systems that alert us to possible dangers - for instance, those signals that tell us to leap out of the way of an oncoming car. However, in today's busy lifestyles there is a build up of 'stressors' - things that cause you intense pressure, tension or anxiety - which put both your body and mind on constant alert. You probably do not have enough time to relax and feel calm, so allowing your body and mind to rest. People react differently to different 'stressors', but your reactions to stress will happen whether you think about them or not.
What can be done about stress?
You can learn to control your responses to stress by using relaxation techniques. These are taught in many tinnitus clinics and audiology departments. You will also find local adult education classes teaching relaxation techniques, or you could try classes in meditation or yoga, for example, which can help you learn to relax. You can also buy guided relaxation cassettes and CDs from the RNID Tinnitus Helpline, or your local library may have some you can borrow.
Relaxation techniques can vary widely. They can include brief, 'time-out' exercises, which you can use if you are faced with a stressful event or as part of your everyday routine, or extended body and mind exercises, which create a sense of deep and total relaxation. These are usually practiced lying down, in quiet, peaceful surroundings.
Exercises can be physical, for example, tensing and releasing your muscles, or psychological - where you use your imagination to help you relax. Some form of breathing exercise is usually a key part of a relaxation routine.
What has stress got to do with tinnitus relief?
Many people notice their tinnitus more when they are worried or tired, and this in turn increases their levels of anxiety and stress. This becomes a vicious circle. Many of the natural tinnitus remedies described in the tinnitus miracle report include some form of stress relief and relaxation techniques. It is now widely accepted that stress plays a key part in the way people react to their tinnitus. A certain amount of stress is vital to maintain the systems that alert us to possible dangers - for instance, those signals that tell us to leap out of the way of an oncoming car. However, in today's busy lifestyles there is a build up of 'stressors' - things that cause you intense pressure, tension or anxiety - which put both your body and mind on constant alert. You probably do not have enough time to relax and feel calm, so allowing your body and mind to rest. People react differently to different 'stressors', but your reactions to stress will happen whether you think about them or not.
What can be done about stress?
You can learn to control your responses to stress by using relaxation techniques. These are taught in many tinnitus clinics and audiology departments. You will also find local adult education classes teaching relaxation techniques, or you could try classes in meditation or yoga, for example, which can help you learn to relax. You can also buy guided relaxation cassettes and CDs from the RNID Tinnitus Helpline, or your local library may have some you can borrow.
Relaxation techniques can vary widely. They can include brief, 'time-out' exercises, which you can use if you are faced with a stressful event or as part of your everyday routine, or extended body and mind exercises, which create a sense of deep and total relaxation. These are usually practiced lying down, in quiet, peaceful surroundings.
Exercises can be physical, for example, tensing and releasing your muscles, or psychological - where you use your imagination to help you relax. Some form of breathing exercise is usually a key part of a relaxation routine.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
How To Cure tinnitus By Understanding What Causes It
Tinnitus can be an extremely stressful condition - which you are no doubt already well aware of if you have it. Unfortunately there are no known medical cures, but there is still a lot you can do, and several natural tinnitus remedies, to eliminate tinnitus from your life, or at worst, get it to a state where it is virtually unnoticeable so you can easily live with it.
Well, if in the long run I can assure you that it will get less noticeable and become less of a problem, how can I help you to bring the day closer to hand when you no longer consider the tinnitus to be a significant worry? First of all, I would advise you not to do what I did - namely pester a whole variety of doctors and look for 'alternative' cures - like hypnosis and acupuncture. Although I did it myself and understand people's reasons for doing it, I think in the long run it may be counter-productive and just increase the significance of the tinnitus for you. Complementary therapies are another altogether, and some are definitely worth you while. Take a look at the TinnitusMiracleSystemx.com report for more info on natural remedies for tinnitus.
Another thing you need to do is to stop worrying about it. Easier said than done, of course, but since the likely cause of the tinnitus is not serious, you needn't worry about that. Although you might worry about how you will cope with the ringing in the ears noises, try to take comfort from the fact that I and thousands of others like myself have got to a position where it no longer concerns or bothers us.
A lot of people are likely to find the tinnitus worse or more noticeable when they have time on their hands, or they are feeling a bit bored and have nothing particularly absorbing to do. There is also quite a bit of evidence to suggest that feeling stressed, depressed or tired will make the tinnitus more noticeable. When you are stressed and depressed there is probably an increased tendency to 'body-monitor', to sensitise yourself and to ponder upon your bodily state. We shall mention later what you might do about this.
Many people with tinnitus find it is more noticeable in quiet environments. On the other hand, some people with tinnitus may find that a noisy environment seems to make the tinnitus worse or more noticeable.
Some people who have tinnitus find themselves struggling to hear people speaking. Sometimes they put that down to the tinnitus interfering with their ability to hear speech properly, or distracting their attention from what is being said. But in many cases people with tinnitus may also have some form of hearing loss which they are not usually aware of. If you are finding it a struggle to hear speech clearly, it is possible that this will seem to make the tinnitus more noticeable; a hearing aid could do a lot to help the tinnitus too.
Feeling alone or isolated, thinking that you alone know what you are going through or that no one else really has the problem like you do, is also likely to highlight the significance of the tinnitus and hence its apparent noticeability for you. It is possible that medicines you are taking, or some foods or drinks with drugs like caffeine in them, or cigarettes may also seem to be making the tinnitus worse.
Feeling guilty because you are irritable and hard to live with due to your tinnitus can make you try and concentrate on not letting the tinnitus affect you. But such efforts, although well-intended, may actually keep tinnitus on your mind. Deliberate efforts not to pay attention to it or let it affect you may actually exacerbate the problem. This also applies to thinking it is not fair that you should have tinnitus. Life isn't fair in all kinds of ways and dwelling on its unfairness will not help you, or make the tinnitus go away.
Is It Going To Get Any Worse?
Well, if in the long run I can assure you that it will get less noticeable and become less of a problem, how can I help you to bring the day closer to hand when you no longer consider the tinnitus to be a significant worry? First of all, I would advise you not to do what I did - namely pester a whole variety of doctors and look for 'alternative' cures - like hypnosis and acupuncture. Although I did it myself and understand people's reasons for doing it, I think in the long run it may be counter-productive and just increase the significance of the tinnitus for you. Complementary therapies are another altogether, and some are definitely worth you while. Take a look at the TinnitusMiracleSystemx.com report for more info on natural remedies for tinnitus.
Another thing you need to do is to stop worrying about it. Easier said than done, of course, but since the likely cause of the tinnitus is not serious, you needn't worry about that. Although you might worry about how you will cope with the ringing in the ears noises, try to take comfort from the fact that I and thousands of others like myself have got to a position where it no longer concerns or bothers us.
A lot of people are likely to find the tinnitus worse or more noticeable when they have time on their hands, or they are feeling a bit bored and have nothing particularly absorbing to do. There is also quite a bit of evidence to suggest that feeling stressed, depressed or tired will make the tinnitus more noticeable. When you are stressed and depressed there is probably an increased tendency to 'body-monitor', to sensitise yourself and to ponder upon your bodily state. We shall mention later what you might do about this.
Many people with tinnitus find it is more noticeable in quiet environments. On the other hand, some people with tinnitus may find that a noisy environment seems to make the tinnitus worse or more noticeable.
Some people who have tinnitus find themselves struggling to hear people speaking. Sometimes they put that down to the tinnitus interfering with their ability to hear speech properly, or distracting their attention from what is being said. But in many cases people with tinnitus may also have some form of hearing loss which they are not usually aware of. If you are finding it a struggle to hear speech clearly, it is possible that this will seem to make the tinnitus more noticeable; a hearing aid could do a lot to help the tinnitus too.
Don't Focus On your Tinnitus
Feeling alone or isolated, thinking that you alone know what you are going through or that no one else really has the problem like you do, is also likely to highlight the significance of the tinnitus and hence its apparent noticeability for you. It is possible that medicines you are taking, or some foods or drinks with drugs like caffeine in them, or cigarettes may also seem to be making the tinnitus worse.
Feeling guilty because you are irritable and hard to live with due to your tinnitus can make you try and concentrate on not letting the tinnitus affect you. But such efforts, although well-intended, may actually keep tinnitus on your mind. Deliberate efforts not to pay attention to it or let it affect you may actually exacerbate the problem. This also applies to thinking it is not fair that you should have tinnitus. Life isn't fair in all kinds of ways and dwelling on its unfairness will not help you, or make the tinnitus go away.
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Thursday 11 August 2011
Friday 5 August 2011
Thursday 4 August 2011
Sunday 31 July 2011
Diet Tips To Help Control Psoriasis Symptoms
People who suffer from psoriasis might benefit greatly from taking care of their bodies by following a health and specific diet and in engaging in healthier lifestyles. Although psoriasis can be caused by many internal and external factors that have a negative impact on the skins overall state, its primary causes can be traced to hereditary circumstances and having complicated physical problems - so a psoriasis diet is going to help from the inside out.
When the body becomes unable to properly get rid of any toxins by the natural means of perspiration, urination, and defecation, then these poisonous substances pile up within the body and create havoc in the immune system, causing it to break down. This is the main reason why a topical psoriasis treatment won't really work - they are only addressing the symptoms, and only ever have a very short term impact.
With many psoriasis sufferers, their immune system malfunctions in a way that affects skin cell production and turn over to create a situation wherein the entire process is increased rapidly. With the body renewing skin cells at an alarming rate, both new and old skin cells collide and build up on the skin’s surface to create the scaly patches that itch, swell, and dry up.
By implementing a diet for psoriasis to lessen the toxins circulating in the bloodstream, the body can be aided in performing its basic functions to jumpstart the immune system into fighting back.
When the body becomes unable to properly get rid of any toxins by the natural means of perspiration, urination, and defecation, then these poisonous substances pile up within the body and create havoc in the immune system, causing it to break down. This is the main reason why a topical psoriasis treatment won't really work - they are only addressing the symptoms, and only ever have a very short term impact.
By implementing a diet for psoriasis to lessen the toxins circulating in the bloodstream, the body can be aided in performing its basic functions to jumpstart the immune system into fighting back.
Friday 29 July 2011
The Impact Of Psoriasis On Lifestyle
Psoriasis is a common skin condition that affects people of both genders and of various ages. The disease has many false impressions that continue to circulate even in today’s modern times, with even a few people who have it having some misinterpretations about the condition themselves due to a lack of a proper understanding and knowledge of the true nature of the disease.
Although psoriasis is considered to be a non-contagious and incurable form of physical disease that can be effectively treated with the appropriate treatment for psoriasis, there are still many psoriasis sufferers out there who regularly suffer personal persecution and of being labeled as social outcasts due to its glaring symptoms. For majority of those who have long suffered from having the disease most of their lives, the reality of living from day to day without experiencing the scornful and indignant stares of other people continues to be a major thorn on their lives.
This type of behavior exhibited by those who see people with psoriasis as a “persona non grata” is very much felt by those who have it throughout their existence here on this earth. It is not an easy stigma to carry on ones shoulders and it will surely affect them for a great deal of their lives. The pointless degrading and negative impact it has on their feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence added with the very irritating and bothersome causes of psoriasis makes for a very deadly and volatile mix for additional complications to develop and happen.
With the continual amount of constant and continuous nervous tension being felt by a psoriasis sufferer will surely introduce more stress into their system to make the condition much worse than it already may be. Almost more than half of the total number of people who experience a significant worsening of their conditions attribute this to having started by the introduction of stress from other people. This makes it more dangerous for them to develop full-blown and irreparable psychological disorders like deep and chronic depression, anxiety, frustration, anger, and shame if not immediately addressed during its early stages.
A good way to help any psoriasis patient to the fullest is to give them the much needed support system that will enable them to go through life as normally as possible and to be fully understood and treated as human beings. In conjunction with such helpful therapeutic home remedies for psoriasis, a doctor will recommend all the necessary forms of treatments with the exercise of traditional medications and natural psoriasis treatment in order to get the desired results the soonest possible time.
It can be very difficult for any person to suffer a pervasive skin disease such as that of Psoriasis. Psoriasis can not only affect any person on the physical aspect but also have a profound impact on their emotional and psychological well-beings. To effectively tackle all the main issues and concerns of the disease, a psoriasis sufferer has to take into consideration enlisting the aid of a skin expert to effectively treat the disease and a psychological therapist to help them handle their condition psychologically.
To be psoriasis free for life is not a far-fetched dream but can be a reality for majority of people who are afflicted with psoriasis. Given the right help from modern medicines, both traditional and natural, the many symptoms of psoriasis can be eradicated even though at present the disease itself cannot be cured.
The precise origins of what causes psoriasis are still yet to be fully established, but much of the medical community is in agreement that people with psoriasis have in more ways than one a genetic abnormality or that is has been handed down to them from a parent or both parents.
Although psoriasis is considered to be a non-contagious and incurable form of physical disease that can be effectively treated with the appropriate treatment for psoriasis, there are still many psoriasis sufferers out there who regularly suffer personal persecution and of being labeled as social outcasts due to its glaring symptoms. For majority of those who have long suffered from having the disease most of their lives, the reality of living from day to day without experiencing the scornful and indignant stares of other people continues to be a major thorn on their lives.
This type of behavior exhibited by those who see people with psoriasis as a “persona non grata” is very much felt by those who have it throughout their existence here on this earth. It is not an easy stigma to carry on ones shoulders and it will surely affect them for a great deal of their lives. The pointless degrading and negative impact it has on their feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence added with the very irritating and bothersome causes of psoriasis makes for a very deadly and volatile mix for additional complications to develop and happen.
With the continual amount of constant and continuous nervous tension being felt by a psoriasis sufferer will surely introduce more stress into their system to make the condition much worse than it already may be. Almost more than half of the total number of people who experience a significant worsening of their conditions attribute this to having started by the introduction of stress from other people. This makes it more dangerous for them to develop full-blown and irreparable psychological disorders like deep and chronic depression, anxiety, frustration, anger, and shame if not immediately addressed during its early stages.
A good way to help any psoriasis patient to the fullest is to give them the much needed support system that will enable them to go through life as normally as possible and to be fully understood and treated as human beings. In conjunction with such helpful therapeutic home remedies for psoriasis, a doctor will recommend all the necessary forms of treatments with the exercise of traditional medications and natural psoriasis treatment in order to get the desired results the soonest possible time.
It can be very difficult for any person to suffer a pervasive skin disease such as that of Psoriasis. Psoriasis can not only affect any person on the physical aspect but also have a profound impact on their emotional and psychological well-beings. To effectively tackle all the main issues and concerns of the disease, a psoriasis sufferer has to take into consideration enlisting the aid of a skin expert to effectively treat the disease and a psychological therapist to help them handle their condition psychologically.
To be psoriasis free for life is not a far-fetched dream but can be a reality for majority of people who are afflicted with psoriasis. Given the right help from modern medicines, both traditional and natural, the many symptoms of psoriasis can be eradicated even though at present the disease itself cannot be cured.
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Living With Hair Loss
Losing Your Hair
Not all hair loss remedies on the market today is created equal - but you probably know that already, or you wouldn't be looking for something to deliver the promises of the other "snake oil" potions that have left a gaping whole in your purse or wallet, and a distinct lack of anything else.
The good news is that there are hair growth products and remedies available today that do work - but you probably won't find them in your doctors surgery, or the local pharmacy, or many of the websites that you've recently visited.
So, at least for a minute or so, feel confident that there are options out there that help with hair loss in women (I'll tell you about them in a few minutes) and kick back and let me help reassure you about hair loss and how it affects us (and how we can deal with it).
When it happened . . .
The Olympic gold medalist says. 'If it hadn't happened to me when I was 10 years old I might never have made it as a champion in sport. Adversity either makes or breaks.'
These people have one thing in common. They have all lost their hair, rapidly and frighteningly, through the scalp disease alopecia areata. It can happen to anyone, man or woman, at any age. It happened to me, when I was in my thirties and appearing on television for a living.
It could happen to you.
So you have suddenly lost your hair? Maybe you are only starting to get small bald patches, or perhaps you have lost it all. You are shocked, horrified and panic-stricken, and all you can think about lately is finding some effective hair growth products that can undo the damage.
Of course you are. One minute you are taking your hair for granted - complaining, perhaps, that it is too dry, too greasy or that your hairdresser has cut it too short. Or maybe you just dislike the style. Then wham! Out of the blue, for no reason you know of, your hair falls out. The process may take six months or just a day or two. It can even happen overnight.
The result is the same. A scalp made unsightly by large bare patches, a thin top layer of hair you can see through... or a shiny, completely bald head. Miserable enough for a man. A downright catastrophe for a woman.
When you suddenly lose your hair as an adult, you feel immediately humiliated. It destroys your confidence in yourself in every aspect of your life.
You see a different person in the mirror. That unfamiliar hairless head - is that mine?
You feel unattractive - how could anyone possibly fancy such a poor, bald freak? To be attractive you need to feel - at least a little - enamored of yourself. When your hair goes and self-esteem with it, your self-image is shattered.
So, probably, is your sex life. Without hair, many people find that their first problem is sex. Their second problem is sex. And their third problem is sex. To survive severe hair loss you need a whole new outlook on yourself and your relationships.
With my blog and articles I will do more than tell the story of the thousands who suffer. I will also tell you how to survive, how to come out of the situation looking as good as you did before - perhaps even better!
One in a hundred
As many as one in a hundred people lose their hair through the scalp disease alopecia areata, according to leading American dermatologist Dr Sigfrid A. Muller of the Mayo Clinic
For years, no one has known how many people suffer this freak hair loss. This is because only a tiny percentage of victims ever goes to a hospital. Many don't even see their family doctor. Medical statistics, therefore, reflect only a tiny fraction of the problem.
To find out the true incidence, Dr Muller led a team of doctors in a major epidemiological survey in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
He asked: 'Just how many of the population get this disease?' His conclusion was staggering. Over the next 60 years, he discovered, approximately one per cent of the population will have alopecia areata - not the gentle, gradual balding of old age, but sudden, devastating hair loss which can happen at any time.
Dr Muller emphasizes the good news. He told me that as many as 95 per cent of these cases may be only mild ones, but his earlier research suggests that the number of people who lose all their hair could be as high as 30 per cent.
Alopecia areata (from the Greek for 'mangy fox') usually starts with a tiny bald patch the size of a 10 pence piece. Sometimes it becomes diffuse alopecia, spread over the entire scalp. Younger patients often find their alopecia areata begins as a diffuse loss.
When it happened to me, it was first diagnosed as post partum telogen effluvium - hair loss related to a recent pregnancy; later, by a consultant dermatologist, as classic alopecia areata; and later still, by another consultant, as diffuse alopecia.
Worldwide, experts have suspected for the past 30 years that there has been an increase in diffuse alopecia, particularly among women. As far back as 1960, a team of German dermatologists reported an increase in diffuse hair loss in women. This came at a time when - coincidentally - women were beginning to take the contraceptive pill. All over the world, women were swallowing high quantities of synthetic hormones, progestogens and estrogens.
Several years later, dermatologist Dr Frank E. Cormia of Comell University, New York, linked cases of female hair loss directly with the pill and suggested that it could trigger 'male pattern' baldness in women, telogen effluvium and other types of diffuse hair loss.
His report prompted the question: 'Is a generation of balding women the price we pay for the convenient chemical?'
Alopecia areata is the mystery scalp disease which strikes savagely without warning, so that someone who has had a perfectly normal head of hair suddenly loses it. Hair comes out from the roots in ugly clumps. You may be lucky and have only a small patch, which clears up and never reappears. You may be unlucky and lose the lot - all scalp hair plus eyelashes and eyebrows (alopecia totalis). You may lose all body hair, including scalp (alopecia universalis). Or you may be plagued by odd patches all your life.
At the same time, nails often become pitted and ridged. You won't know why, neither will your doctors. They know the mechanism, that it is almost certainly an autoimmune disease in which some of the white blood cells - the lymphocytes - overwork and produce antibodies which attack the hair follicles as though they were foreign bodies. But doctors don't know what triggers it or, more important, how to stop it.
After years of research across the world, dermatologists admit that they are still baffled. Too often they are forced to tell patients: 'There is nothing we can do. Go home. Leam to live with it.' Or without it! Doctors daily carry out miraculous treatments on tragic cases of cancer, heart disease, polio, but when it comes to the apparently simple fact of baldness there is - too often - little they can do.
When it happened to me, I was perfectly happy with a young family and an exacting career as a television journalist. I felt totally alone and a complete freak. I thought I was the only young woman in the world to go bald, but an article I wrote in a top women's magazine, and a radio feature on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour convinced me I was wrong.
Countless letters poured in, all from people in the same boat. Sudden baldness had isolated them, had caused marital, social and psychological problems. One woman, who had been a glamorous nightclub dancer, confessed: 'There's never a week when I don't consider suicide.'
They wrote from the United Kingdom, Europe, America, the Far East. All over the world women were spending their lives in headscarves or wigs, terrified of revealing their secret, that underneath they looked like plucked chickens or victims of Chemobyl. Men wrote that alopecia areata (AA) had shattered their confidence and wrecked their relationships. The moth-eaten patches had played havoc with their appearance and made them look slovenly. They felt odd, different from other men.
For years, the subject had been swept under the carpet. Pre-mature baldness, particularly in a woman, is by no means a seductive sight.
Some doctors, embarrassed perhaps by their inability to help, have blamed it vaguely on stress or shock, or prescribed tranquillizers with advice to 'stop worrying'. Some have suggested that it is imaginary. In a few rare cases, they are right. The patient may have a distorted body image. But for most of us, when hair falls out suddenly it is an all too horrifying fact.
As I mentioned above, there are several effective hair loss treatments that work and actively stimulate and encourage hair regrowth, but because they're not medical treatments, you won't hear about them through your doctor. But you can learn more about them at this site, and discover the best hair loss treatment for your specific condition.
Not all hair loss remedies on the market today is created equal - but you probably know that already, or you wouldn't be looking for something to deliver the promises of the other "snake oil" potions that have left a gaping whole in your purse or wallet, and a distinct lack of anything else.
The good news is that there are hair growth products and remedies available today that do work - but you probably won't find them in your doctors surgery, or the local pharmacy, or many of the websites that you've recently visited.
So, at least for a minute or so, feel confident that there are options out there that help with hair loss in women (I'll tell you about them in a few minutes) and kick back and let me help reassure you about hair loss and how it affects us (and how we can deal with it).
When it happened . . .
- Anna, 24, a beautiful nurse, called off her wedding.
- Ross, 45, a former army officer, felt he would never satisfy a woman again.
- Hilary, 35, the sophisticated wife of a city industrialist, spent a fortune trying to get her hair back - only to lose it all in the shower of her Mediterranean villa.
- Joanne, 7, suddenly stopped wearing dresses. She felt like a boy.
- Toni, 9, a star of BBC TV's Bob says 'Opportunity Knocks', was tormented cruelly by other children.
- Sally, 18, tried to kill herself with an overdose of alcohol and drugs.
- Duncan Goodhew, swimmer, turned his affliction to advantage.
The Olympic gold medalist says. 'If it hadn't happened to me when I was 10 years old I might never have made it as a champion in sport. Adversity either makes or breaks.'
These people have one thing in common. They have all lost their hair, rapidly and frighteningly, through the scalp disease alopecia areata. It can happen to anyone, man or woman, at any age. It happened to me, when I was in my thirties and appearing on television for a living.
It could happen to you.
So you have suddenly lost your hair? Maybe you are only starting to get small bald patches, or perhaps you have lost it all. You are shocked, horrified and panic-stricken, and all you can think about lately is finding some effective hair growth products that can undo the damage.
Of course you are. One minute you are taking your hair for granted - complaining, perhaps, that it is too dry, too greasy or that your hairdresser has cut it too short. Or maybe you just dislike the style. Then wham! Out of the blue, for no reason you know of, your hair falls out. The process may take six months or just a day or two. It can even happen overnight.
The result is the same. A scalp made unsightly by large bare patches, a thin top layer of hair you can see through... or a shiny, completely bald head. Miserable enough for a man. A downright catastrophe for a woman.
When you suddenly lose your hair as an adult, you feel immediately humiliated. It destroys your confidence in yourself in every aspect of your life.
You see a different person in the mirror. That unfamiliar hairless head - is that mine?
You feel unattractive - how could anyone possibly fancy such a poor, bald freak? To be attractive you need to feel - at least a little - enamored of yourself. When your hair goes and self-esteem with it, your self-image is shattered.
So, probably, is your sex life. Without hair, many people find that their first problem is sex. Their second problem is sex. And their third problem is sex. To survive severe hair loss you need a whole new outlook on yourself and your relationships.
With my blog and articles I will do more than tell the story of the thousands who suffer. I will also tell you how to survive, how to come out of the situation looking as good as you did before - perhaps even better!
One in a hundred
As many as one in a hundred people lose their hair through the scalp disease alopecia areata, according to leading American dermatologist Dr Sigfrid A. Muller of the Mayo Clinic
For years, no one has known how many people suffer this freak hair loss. This is because only a tiny percentage of victims ever goes to a hospital. Many don't even see their family doctor. Medical statistics, therefore, reflect only a tiny fraction of the problem.
To find out the true incidence, Dr Muller led a team of doctors in a major epidemiological survey in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
He asked: 'Just how many of the population get this disease?' His conclusion was staggering. Over the next 60 years, he discovered, approximately one per cent of the population will have alopecia areata - not the gentle, gradual balding of old age, but sudden, devastating hair loss which can happen at any time.
Dr Muller emphasizes the good news. He told me that as many as 95 per cent of these cases may be only mild ones, but his earlier research suggests that the number of people who lose all their hair could be as high as 30 per cent.
Alopecia areata (from the Greek for 'mangy fox') usually starts with a tiny bald patch the size of a 10 pence piece. Sometimes it becomes diffuse alopecia, spread over the entire scalp. Younger patients often find their alopecia areata begins as a diffuse loss.
When it happened to me, it was first diagnosed as post partum telogen effluvium - hair loss related to a recent pregnancy; later, by a consultant dermatologist, as classic alopecia areata; and later still, by another consultant, as diffuse alopecia.
Worldwide, experts have suspected for the past 30 years that there has been an increase in diffuse alopecia, particularly among women. As far back as 1960, a team of German dermatologists reported an increase in diffuse hair loss in women. This came at a time when - coincidentally - women were beginning to take the contraceptive pill. All over the world, women were swallowing high quantities of synthetic hormones, progestogens and estrogens.
Several years later, dermatologist Dr Frank E. Cormia of Comell University, New York, linked cases of female hair loss directly with the pill and suggested that it could trigger 'male pattern' baldness in women, telogen effluvium and other types of diffuse hair loss.
His report prompted the question: 'Is a generation of balding women the price we pay for the convenient chemical?'
Alopecia areata is the mystery scalp disease which strikes savagely without warning, so that someone who has had a perfectly normal head of hair suddenly loses it. Hair comes out from the roots in ugly clumps. You may be lucky and have only a small patch, which clears up and never reappears. You may be unlucky and lose the lot - all scalp hair plus eyelashes and eyebrows (alopecia totalis). You may lose all body hair, including scalp (alopecia universalis). Or you may be plagued by odd patches all your life.
At the same time, nails often become pitted and ridged. You won't know why, neither will your doctors. They know the mechanism, that it is almost certainly an autoimmune disease in which some of the white blood cells - the lymphocytes - overwork and produce antibodies which attack the hair follicles as though they were foreign bodies. But doctors don't know what triggers it or, more important, how to stop it.
After years of research across the world, dermatologists admit that they are still baffled. Too often they are forced to tell patients: 'There is nothing we can do. Go home. Leam to live with it.' Or without it! Doctors daily carry out miraculous treatments on tragic cases of cancer, heart disease, polio, but when it comes to the apparently simple fact of baldness there is - too often - little they can do.
When it happened to me, I was perfectly happy with a young family and an exacting career as a television journalist. I felt totally alone and a complete freak. I thought I was the only young woman in the world to go bald, but an article I wrote in a top women's magazine, and a radio feature on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour convinced me I was wrong.
Countless letters poured in, all from people in the same boat. Sudden baldness had isolated them, had caused marital, social and psychological problems. One woman, who had been a glamorous nightclub dancer, confessed: 'There's never a week when I don't consider suicide.'
They wrote from the United Kingdom, Europe, America, the Far East. All over the world women were spending their lives in headscarves or wigs, terrified of revealing their secret, that underneath they looked like plucked chickens or victims of Chemobyl. Men wrote that alopecia areata (AA) had shattered their confidence and wrecked their relationships. The moth-eaten patches had played havoc with their appearance and made them look slovenly. They felt odd, different from other men.
For years, the subject had been swept under the carpet. Pre-mature baldness, particularly in a woman, is by no means a seductive sight.
Some doctors, embarrassed perhaps by their inability to help, have blamed it vaguely on stress or shock, or prescribed tranquillizers with advice to 'stop worrying'. Some have suggested that it is imaginary. In a few rare cases, they are right. The patient may have a distorted body image. But for most of us, when hair falls out suddenly it is an all too horrifying fact.
As I mentioned above, there are several effective hair loss treatments that work and actively stimulate and encourage hair regrowth, but because they're not medical treatments, you won't hear about them through your doctor. But you can learn more about them at this site, and discover the best hair loss treatment for your specific condition.
Tuesday 26 April 2011
How People Get Tinnitus
A constable was standing in the car-park at the police station where he worked when a roof slate fell on his head. At that moment he became one of the average of 200 people who experience the onset of tinnitus each day. The same fate awaited a youth when kicked in the neck in a rugby scrum. A thirty-year-old mother driving to school to collect her child was involved in a slight accident. She found that the whiplash effect caused by the collision brought with it a mixture of head sounds.
Most people, however, cannot point to a specific incident, but can usually say on what day - perhaps the hour and minute - it began. This exposes a paradox, that although tinnitus still insists on being an enigma wrapped in a mystery, it announces its attachment to an individual unequivocally and with a timing and precision lacking in most other medical conditions - making finding a tinnitus treatment even more difficult.
This distinction would probably remain merely academic were it not for the fact that knowing the tinnitus causes of when and in what circumstances it started can have a bearing on useful treatment. The policeman, for example, could have sustained a slight fracture of the skull, with the tinnitus serving some purpose in revealing the whole picture of the injury. The rugby player and the motorist could have sustained disruption of the neck or shoulder, and treatment for these injuries could well reduce the consequent tinnitus. Anyone new to tinnitus should try to recall any injury, however slight, before the noises commenced and mention the possible connection when seeing a doctor. But treatable physical injury associated with head noise accounts for only a small fraction of reported cases.
The trigger can be a surge of music at a pop concert, well above the decibel safety level, an explosion, a burst of gunfire, or surgery conducted on the ear or close to it. The list is a long one and has never been fully written. Even so it is of more anecdotal than scientific value to be able to pin-point the circumstances when the internal sounds began. It does not, for all its precise timing, help to reveal exactly what happened to the ears and the brain when excessive sounds lasting perhaps seconds left behind them other sounds for life. Did the sonic impact shake the nerves between the ears and the brain so badly that the hearing system was left incapable of accurately conducting messages for conscious, aural perception? Even to ask that is to speculate more than explain. At the same time, it does help some people to know of a link between, say, a blow or a loud bang and their tinnitus. It goes some way to rationalize the baffling business and to anchor their problem in a single explicable event that may have caused it, however mysteriously.
There is a list of things it is well to avoid, from discos and pop concerts to firing-ranges, if no ear protection is worn. One day, taking care of the ears and the dangers of exposing them to excessive noise will be included in health education.
There are many internal sounds without a causal link, however superficial. 'I woke up one day and it had just started' or 'I was sitting quietly reading a book when I heard what I thought were plumbing noises from the next room' are the sort of statements a family doctor hears in the surgery. They vastly out-number stories of kicks, accidents or big bangs. In a perverse way, it could be said that these totally unexplained beginnings of tinnitus correspond most accurately to the totally perplexing nature of the condition itself.
It is to some extent age related. A seventy-year-old stands a greater chance of getting it than a seventeen-year-old. There has been a tendency among some doctors to point to another mystery, the ageing process of the body, and say patients should accept tinnitus as easily and naturally as they accept growing old - fortunately there's a few tinnitus remedies that don't follow that pattern. When pressed to explain the spread of tinnitus through the age groups, they are tempted to round off their theory by saying that parts of the body can age prematurely. If it is possible for a man to be bald at thirty, why not tinnitus thirty or forty years earlier than one could reasonably expect it? The reasoning is rather threadbare, and at best supplies only a part of the answer.
If a physical, external blow can disturb the ear-brain mechanism and bring on tinnitus, can a psychological condition start it in the brain, causing equal disturbance? Can the power of thoughts troubled by distress and anxiety, for instance, shatter internal silence just as external blows or sounds can, from the other direction?
The burden of personal worry, if not somehow released through the sharing of it with others, or diminished by a third party such as a skilled therapist, can bring about physical illness and malfunction of the metabolism. The mind dictates to an extent the course of health, and manifests its power in ways that illustrate persuasively the unique and abiding oneness of mind and body. Research into tinnitus underlines the importance of the brain in the false and disruptive perception of sound that has no external source. It also seems that a mind plagued with anguish, probably unexpressed by the sufferer, is capable of originating the din that no one else can hear.
Most people, however, cannot point to a specific incident, but can usually say on what day - perhaps the hour and minute - it began. This exposes a paradox, that although tinnitus still insists on being an enigma wrapped in a mystery, it announces its attachment to an individual unequivocally and with a timing and precision lacking in most other medical conditions - making finding a tinnitus treatment even more difficult.
This distinction would probably remain merely academic were it not for the fact that knowing the tinnitus causes of when and in what circumstances it started can have a bearing on useful treatment. The policeman, for example, could have sustained a slight fracture of the skull, with the tinnitus serving some purpose in revealing the whole picture of the injury. The rugby player and the motorist could have sustained disruption of the neck or shoulder, and treatment for these injuries could well reduce the consequent tinnitus. Anyone new to tinnitus should try to recall any injury, however slight, before the noises commenced and mention the possible connection when seeing a doctor. But treatable physical injury associated with head noise accounts for only a small fraction of reported cases.
The trigger can be a surge of music at a pop concert, well above the decibel safety level, an explosion, a burst of gunfire, or surgery conducted on the ear or close to it. The list is a long one and has never been fully written. Even so it is of more anecdotal than scientific value to be able to pin-point the circumstances when the internal sounds began. It does not, for all its precise timing, help to reveal exactly what happened to the ears and the brain when excessive sounds lasting perhaps seconds left behind them other sounds for life. Did the sonic impact shake the nerves between the ears and the brain so badly that the hearing system was left incapable of accurately conducting messages for conscious, aural perception? Even to ask that is to speculate more than explain. At the same time, it does help some people to know of a link between, say, a blow or a loud bang and their tinnitus. It goes some way to rationalize the baffling business and to anchor their problem in a single explicable event that may have caused it, however mysteriously.
There is a list of things it is well to avoid, from discos and pop concerts to firing-ranges, if no ear protection is worn. One day, taking care of the ears and the dangers of exposing them to excessive noise will be included in health education.
There are many internal sounds without a causal link, however superficial. 'I woke up one day and it had just started' or 'I was sitting quietly reading a book when I heard what I thought were plumbing noises from the next room' are the sort of statements a family doctor hears in the surgery. They vastly out-number stories of kicks, accidents or big bangs. In a perverse way, it could be said that these totally unexplained beginnings of tinnitus correspond most accurately to the totally perplexing nature of the condition itself.
It is to some extent age related. A seventy-year-old stands a greater chance of getting it than a seventeen-year-old. There has been a tendency among some doctors to point to another mystery, the ageing process of the body, and say patients should accept tinnitus as easily and naturally as they accept growing old - fortunately there's a few tinnitus remedies that don't follow that pattern. When pressed to explain the spread of tinnitus through the age groups, they are tempted to round off their theory by saying that parts of the body can age prematurely. If it is possible for a man to be bald at thirty, why not tinnitus thirty or forty years earlier than one could reasonably expect it? The reasoning is rather threadbare, and at best supplies only a part of the answer.
If a physical, external blow can disturb the ear-brain mechanism and bring on tinnitus, can a psychological condition start it in the brain, causing equal disturbance? Can the power of thoughts troubled by distress and anxiety, for instance, shatter internal silence just as external blows or sounds can, from the other direction?
The burden of personal worry, if not somehow released through the sharing of it with others, or diminished by a third party such as a skilled therapist, can bring about physical illness and malfunction of the metabolism. The mind dictates to an extent the course of health, and manifests its power in ways that illustrate persuasively the unique and abiding oneness of mind and body. Research into tinnitus underlines the importance of the brain in the false and disruptive perception of sound that has no external source. It also seems that a mind plagued with anguish, probably unexpressed by the sufferer, is capable of originating the din that no one else can hear.
Wednesday 30 March 2011
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Liposuction Procedures - Patient FAQs
Q: When it comes to physicians who administer Botox, very often many of the office staff have tried It. Is the same true of liposuction?
A: No. Botox is a much less invasive procedure, and not as many people have had tumescent liposuction, which is surgery. But if you want to talk to someone who has undergone the procedure, you should ask at the office. There are people in our office who have had it and are willing to answer patient questions. It's a good way to get information, so remember to ask about it when you come in to the doctor's office. You should also be able to view some of the liposuction before and after photos of people in the office who have had the procedure.
Q: How many doctor candidates should a patient talk to before deciding on one?
A: I don't think you need to have a second opinion if you've talked to one physician and you're happy with what you've heard - especially if you are already well informed about liposuction. You can come into the office prepared with good questions for the doctor, know exactly what you are looking for, then decide if you have found it.
There are some people who may like what they hear with the first physician they meet, but somehow, something doesn't feel quite right or they don't feel entirely comfortable. In a case like that, it makes sense to meet with another physician.
Q: What are some of the things that might make someone feel that not everything is quite right?
A: There could be many reasons. Maybe they don't like the price; maybe they think' the postoperative instructions are too restrictive; maybe they like the doctor but they didn't get the right feeling from another staff member. There could be any number of reasons that would make someone think twice. And there's nothing wrong with that. You should feel very satisfied before you make a commitment to have surgery.
So the bottom line is this: If you find someone who comes well recommended and you have very good rapport with that doctor, you don't really need a second opinion. You will know in your heart when you feel comfortable and ready to proceed.
Q: How much experience with liposuction should a doctor have?
A: I think the surgeon should have done at least fifty procedures. In my experience, after the first twenty-five procedures, you are already getting pretty good at it Of course, there are surgeons who have done hundreds of liposuction procedures and some who have done thousands. But there is a learning curve, and most people would not want to be one of a doctor's first ten patients, because you might not get the best results.
A: No. Botox is a much less invasive procedure, and not as many people have had tumescent liposuction, which is surgery. But if you want to talk to someone who has undergone the procedure, you should ask at the office. There are people in our office who have had it and are willing to answer patient questions. It's a good way to get information, so remember to ask about it when you come in to the doctor's office. You should also be able to view some of the liposuction before and after photos of people in the office who have had the procedure.
Q: How many doctor candidates should a patient talk to before deciding on one?
A: I don't think you need to have a second opinion if you've talked to one physician and you're happy with what you've heard - especially if you are already well informed about liposuction. You can come into the office prepared with good questions for the doctor, know exactly what you are looking for, then decide if you have found it.
There are some people who may like what they hear with the first physician they meet, but somehow, something doesn't feel quite right or they don't feel entirely comfortable. In a case like that, it makes sense to meet with another physician.
Q: What are some of the things that might make someone feel that not everything is quite right?
A: There could be many reasons. Maybe they don't like the price; maybe they think' the postoperative instructions are too restrictive; maybe they like the doctor but they didn't get the right feeling from another staff member. There could be any number of reasons that would make someone think twice. And there's nothing wrong with that. You should feel very satisfied before you make a commitment to have surgery.
So the bottom line is this: If you find someone who comes well recommended and you have very good rapport with that doctor, you don't really need a second opinion. You will know in your heart when you feel comfortable and ready to proceed.
Q: How much experience with liposuction should a doctor have?
A: I think the surgeon should have done at least fifty procedures. In my experience, after the first twenty-five procedures, you are already getting pretty good at it Of course, there are surgeons who have done hundreds of liposuction procedures and some who have done thousands. But there is a learning curve, and most people would not want to be one of a doctor's first ten patients, because you might not get the best results.
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