Author Archives: schatzi

How Strong Can Depression Be?

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Depression, which affects millions of people all over the world, ranges in severity. Its mildest form is described simply as having the blues, while the most severe form of depression can push one to the edge of sanity. In many cases, the severe form of depression can be fatal.

Mild Depression

Mild depression happens to every one of us. Sometimes we don’t really know the reason behind it. We just feel so “out of it”. Individuals who suffer from this type of depression appear gloomy and sad. Some may have decreased energy levels and self-confidence; others become inattentive.

But the thing about mild depression is that it goes away without any treatment, although some may resort to mood-lifting activities such as window-shopping, maybe, or pampering one’s self. After a few days, one can normally bounce back to his or her normal self.

Chronic Depression

Chronic depression is a more serious form of depression. It manifests in signs and symptoms that already affect one’s physical and mental well-being, as well as social and personal relationships. People with chronic depression typically:

  • Have poor sleeping patterns. They may oversleep or not sleep at all.
  • Have poor eating habits. They may resort to comfort foods, go on a food binge, eat very little or not eat at all.
  • Have low sex drive.
  • Become less productive at work, costing them their job or creating another problem in the process.

These signs and symptoms happen over the course of two years, and require a combination of psychotherapy and medications to remedy the problem. Without proper treatment, this form of depression can develop into schizophrenia, a mental disorder whereby the sufferer hallucinates and becomes paranoid or even delusional.

Major Depressive Disorder

The most severe form of depression is called major depressive disorder. Patients with this mood disorder:

  • Are severely withdrawn
  • Have poor concentration
  • May look malnourished
  • May have suicidal tendencies

A major depressive disorder requires proper care and treatment. Professional management of the signs and symptoms is necessary. Psychotherapy, along with the right medications, can prove to be of great help in reducing the signs and symptoms, as well as the possibility of depression of this nature to recur.

Treatment Options

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy will be recommended to patients manifesting signs and symptoms of chronic depression and major depressive disorder. Individuals with mild depression may not seek psychotherapy, but talking to a counselor can help ease their feelings.

Psychotherapy aims to help individuals:

  • Identify the factors that have triggered the depression.
  • Create short-term and long-term goals to cope with depression.
  • Develop coping mechanism and techniques.
  • Regain self-worth.

There are different approaches of conducting psychotherapy:

  • Individualized. An individualized session is an interaction between only the patient and the therapist.
  • Group. Group sessions are conducted to two or more clients at the same time. What’s good about this is that clients can interact with each other, sharing problems, thoughts, and experiences. In a sense, this helps them realize that they are not the only ones suffering from depression.
  • Family. Family sessions have the family as part of the therapy. Members of the family are invited to be involved or participate in the sessions for them to come to a better understanding of their role in their loved one’s healing process.

Medications

In more severe cases of depression, the following medications may be prescribed:

  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors. MAOIs are antidepressants that are usually given when other forms of antidepressants fail to produce results. However, these drugs can react negatively with other drugs and even foods like cheese and wine.
  • Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors. SNRIs work by increasing serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain.

Depression can be mild or severe, and although there are people who have greater tendencies of developing the more severe forms of depression, it shouldn’t hurt to take the necessary preventive or controlling measures. Eating right and taking essential vitamins, especially the B vitamins, can be of great help in preventing depression, controlling it, and reducing its impact on your health.

Dog – Home Dental Care

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Home dental care for your pet is easier than ever and all it takes is a little awareness of the tools available and a reminder of the health problems that can arise if neglected. Although there is a lot you can do to ward off disease and other problems at home, regular checkups from your Vet should always be a part of the prevention program. And of course, if you ever see symptoms of problems in between visits, don’t hesitate to get your little friend some professional attention.   
 
The most common method of supporting your pet’s dental health is providing some sort of bone (real or artificial) the dog can chew on. This action goes a long way to strengthening tooth structure and can eliminate or reduce plaque buildup. Dogs are natural chewers, so this method of enhancing dental health is easy! Recreational raw beef bones or rawhides are also wonderful materials to keep the teeth structures of your dog clean and free from formation of plaque and buildup of bacteria. 
 
The toothbrush is also a valuable tool in the fight against plaque and other bacterial invaders. Ask your Vet next time you’re in the office for recommended brushes and toothpastes. Because your pet will no doubt swallow whatever you put in its mouth, it’s not advised to use your own personal toothpaste when cleaning his or her teeth. Homemade pastes are also safe and easy to make, being composed mostly of baking soda. Use caution when trying to brush your dog’s teeth! You should know if you have the kind of dog that won’t tolerate it well. Dental wipes may be be an option in this case, also available at pet supply stores and probably your Vet’s office.
 
From chew toys to toothbrushes, maintaining your dog’s overall health through dental readiness has never been easier! Try these simple techniques combined with regular visits to your Vet’s office for a healthier, happier dog.

Ways to Attain Child Care Government Grants

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These days, childcare centers are one of the important and profitable businesses. There are many people out there who wish to put up their own childcare center, so they seek for advices on how to obtain grants on starting their own business and on how to expand and upgrade their facilities. There are ways in order for you to find financing for your new business such as check your local bank, seek loan from family or friends, obtain venture capital, seek for advice from incubator organizations and obtain counsel from small businesses.

If you are operating your own child care center, definitely, you will be happy to know that there are grants that are available for your business. From new business start up programs and other programs that are operated by state governments, you can get grants.

From the Child and Adult Care Food Program, local, state, or provincial programs that are being offered from your licensing offices, you can get grants.

There are some organizations that provide grants to business that are being started by women, minorities and the likes. There are other sources where in you can get financing for your business which include venture capital, bank loans, gifts and loans from your family and friends.

You can check out some books that are about starting a child care business, this can help you gain information and knowledge about organizations that provide grants. You can check online and find for books that can help you gain lots of information about starting your own business. Indeed, the internet serves as the huge market place not only for products and services but for information as well. So, you have to give a little of your time in finding the book that can help you out in knowing the organizations that provide grants. Actually, these books do not only have the information about the organizations, it also has the contact numbers and website addresses.

Bear in mind that it is not only you who seek for grants; there are lots of other people who want to gain grants. It is best to apply to a lot of organizations that provide grants. If you provide negative reply, you can hope and try for other organizations.

Be alert. Give a little of your time in finding the organizations that provide grants, having the right kit can help you out to gain the necessary information and details.

Cancer Prevention – Is It At All Possible?

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When people start saving for their future they usually dream of having that place in the country on a lake, traveling to see the world, or, just finally, not having to answer that dang alarm clock on Monday morning. The last thing that people think of is having to use their hard earned savings on co-payments. One round of chemotherapy costs $18,000 and an additional injection of a blood boosting drug buckles your knees at $15,000.

Forty years after the National Cancer Act launched the “war on cancer,” the battle is not just finding cures and better treatments but also being able to afford them. Last time I checked, we are losing that war. Shocking as it is, it is not only happening to people with poor lifestyle choices. At the turn of the 20th century cancer was only striking 3% of Americans, it is afflicting 40% now and at the end of this century it is estimated to be 100%. With our world becoming more and more toxic, the arrogant attitude that persists to put all the emphasis on curing cancer, combined with the supplicating majority who accept it, one might ask is it possible to prevent Cancer?

Can New Drugs Be The Answer For Cancer Prevention?

There was great excitement recently reported on one of the major TV news networks, early February 2012, about a new drug “Aromasin.” According to a new study, the hormone-blocking drug Aromasin reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer by 65 percent in post-menopausal women at high risk for breast cancer. (I know, guys I know… you may be saying to yourself “this article is just for da women”… guess what, men get breast cancer too, as well as may other cancers that are affected by decisions to develop disease preventing drugs.) Cold water was thrown on that initial excitement with new evidence showing women who take the drug may experience three times the bone density loss of women who don’t take it. In a last ditch effort to save the drug companies a set back in their continued arrogance, researchers threw calcium and vitamin D supplements at the patients with no result. The drug worsens bone loss even when women take calcium and vitamin D supplements. Other drugs have been approved for cancer prevention but all have serious side effects… Duh!

4 Things That Protect You From Getting Cancer… Ever!

Funny… Why do you suppose drug manufacturers would choose calcium and Vitamin D to save their beloved drug for the prevention of breast cancer? Well that is easily answered. It is because calcium and vitamin D already provide your body protection against cancer. They don’t, however, provide an opportunity for the drug companies, (and those that line their pockets from your illness), to pilfer your life savings.

1) Supplement with Vitamin D3

Vitamin D has been shown to influence over 2,000 of the 30,000 genes in your body. A study by Dr. William Grant, Ph.D., found that about 30 % of all cancer deaths could be prevented each year with higher levels of vitamin D. Other studies showed that you can decrease your risk of cancer by more than ½ simply by optimizing your level of vitamin D3.

Beyond cancer, the researchers pointed out that increasing level of vitamin D3 could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year. Vitamin D3 even fights colds and flu as it regulates the expression of genes that influence your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and viruses. In fact, it is very rare for someone with optimized vitamin D3 levels to come down with the flu at all. Drug companies and the CDC would have you believe that you need a flu shot every year.

When examining the medical literature, it becomes clear that Vitamin D3 affects human health in an astonishing number of ways and that not obtaining enough of this important nutrient can leave the door open for you to develop a number of health conditions. The recommended dosages are ridiculously low at 200 IU to 400 IU. They should be 10 times that… between 2000IU and 5000IU or more. Research has shown that Vitamin D3 is fat soluble and can only be toxic at levels well over 10,000IU. [Vitamin D3 is the natural form of vitamin D converted to D3 that you get from the sun and the form that your body uses. Vitamin D and Vitamin D2 are usually synthetic forms and cannot be converted to D3 easily.]

2) Supplement Coral Calcium

No other mineral is capable of performing as many biological functions as is calcium. Calcium is involved in almost every biological function. It provides the electrical energy for the heart to beat and for all muscle movement. It is the calcium ion’s job to feed every cell. It does this by latching on to seven different nutrient molecules and one water molecule to shuttle the nutrients into the cells. It then dumps its load and returns to repeat the process over and over again. Another job calcium performs is DNA replication. This is crucial for maintaining youth and a health. DNA replication is the basis for all body repairs and can only occur on a substrate of calcium. So, If you are low on calcium, it means that you are low on growth and body repair (which is known as decay and beginning the process of premature aging).

As important as all these and hundreds of other biological functions of calcium are to human health, none is more important than the job that it does in control of pH. Calcium quickly destroys oxygen robbing acid in the body fluids. The more calcium that is available in your body the more available oxygen there is. (You can also toss out those antacid remedies that unnaturally manipulate your stomach acid for heartburn.) More oxygen means more energy and less cancer and other degenerative disease. The scientific evidence that calcium is a key to longevity and anti-aging is overwhelming. [Coral Calcium has a ratio of calcium to magnesium of 2:1. Other sources of calcium have the other minerals beached out of them. The source of Coral Calcium is from dead coral deposited on the ocean floor miles from the live coral reefs].

3) Keep your Cells Alkaline

“Alkalinity is an anti-aging secret available to all…”So says Paul Lynn MD of San Francisco Preventive Medical Group. Cancer has a difficult time growing in an alkaline environment Dr Lynn has found that keeping our body in a state of metabolic alkalinity protects it against premature aging. When the human body is in an alkaline rather than acidic condition, the health of the cell membranes or “lining” of the cells is maintained longer. We know that the Sine qua non (condition or requirement) of aging is the disruption and decay of your cells cellular membranes. This produces errors in your cells cellular information processing and is responsible for diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, diabetes and 150 different preventable degenerative diseases that cause premature aging. Dr. Lynn has found at least one simple effective method to help neutralize a significant amount of the acidic excess that accumulates in most people as they age. Take baking soda… Yes that’s right baking soda (not baking powder), along with proper amounts of calcium. “Use 1/3 tsp per day in a glass of water. Not more. Anytime is okay, but best after 3 PM. This is enough to restore an alkaline condition for the cells in most cases. Too much alkalinity can create another set of problems.

4) Intense Exercise

In Ralph Paffenbarger Harvard Study (1984), individuals who burned more than 2,000 calories a week had a lower cancer death rate. A Southern California study suggests that a large number of activities probably have cancer prevention effects against breast tumors, they are: running, cycling, swimming, soccer, aerobics, and variety of other sports were shown to deter breast cancer. Moderate exercise tends to activate your immune system and can temporarily boost the activity and proliferation of a unique immune-system cell – the NK or Natural Killer Cells. Intense exercise can also lower the risk of lung cancer and a number of studies have shown that exercise can reduce the risk of colon cancer.

I would agree that some kind of exercise is better than nothing; however, some would have you believe that walking or exercising less than ½ hour can bring you cancer prevention. This is just nonsense! It is merely a ploy to again pilfer your pockets by filling your head with false belief. The studies show that moderate to intense exercise can prevent some cancers. Sure vigorous walking may be very intense for someone who has never exercised before. I concur that should be their prescription to begin. They should also know that intense exercise feels the same for everyone. World class athletes just need more and more intensity because they are getting higher and higher levels of conditioning. To be redundant… the feeling they have from intense exercise is the same. As beginners get accustomed to walking, they need to up the intensity to continue to get the cancer prevention benefit from the exercise. They also need to do it for at least ½ hour.

The bottom line, and this is where the rubber meets the road and may be a hard pill to for some to swallow, if you want to totally prevent all cancer and coronary heart disease, you have to exercise intensively. Most traditional means of exercise, (yes even P90X), doesn’t meet the requirements of intense exercise. [Intensive exercise is defined as expending 2000 calories per week, exercise sessions have to be longer than ½ hour, and you have to maintain a pulse rate that is at 75% to 85% of your maximum heart rate. That’s it!