RPM Campaigns Blog

Archive for February, 2009

The approval by the FDA to use BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone) to increase the amount of milk produced per cow is just the icing on the cake for an already bleak scenario. BGH causes an in crease in insulin like growth factor (IGF-1) in the milk of cows receiving this dreadful hormone. IGF-1 survives milk processing (pasteurization and homogenization) and is easily absorbed into the human bloodstream. It is important to note that IGF-1 promotes the transformation of human breast cells into cancerous cells. IGF-1 is an already intact growth factor for existing cancer cells. BGH also causes cows to have increased rates of infections. Of course, regular doses of antibiotics help to alleviate this phenomenon.

But what about my calcium? The majority of the world’s population takes much less calcium than we do, yet have markedly lesser rates of osteoporosis and tooth decay. You can get all the calcium your body requires by including ample portions of dark leafy green vegetables into your diet. Where do you think that cow gets the calcium in requires to grow to such monstrous proportions?

To date, cow’s milk is the number one allergic food in this country. Cow’s milk is very well documented in cases of bloating, gas, diarrhea, anemia (iron deficiency type), atherosclerosis and acne. Cow’s milk, the primary cause of repeat ear infections in children. Cow’s milk is linked to insulin dependant diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. However, small amounts of dairy products consumed in moderation will result in little to no problems for the majority.

The major difficulty here is processing. Healthy, nutrient dense milk products are turned into hormone laden allergens via modern feeding methods that substitute fresh green grass with soy and grain based feeds. NOT what a cow was designed to live on. Modern breeding methods produce cows with oversize pituitary glands which stimulate them to produce three times more milk.

During pasteurization, valuable enzymes are destroyed. Without these naturally occurring enzymes, milk is near impossible to digest for many. Synthetic Vitamin D is added after processing. Synthetic Vitamin D is known to be toxic to the liver.

The American Dairy Board has done a bang up wonderful job of promoting this atrocious food as a must have in the American diet. The majority believe that milk is a must have for a complete wholesome diet. Nothing is further from the truth.

If possible, try to obtain non processed raw dairy products in your area. There are a fortunate few who are able to go directly to the farmer for unprocessed dairy products. At the very least, obtain organic and hormone free dairy products from your local health food store.

One of the most important techniques for providing relaxation to your body is massage therapy. Practiced by professionally trained massage therapists, this practice provides ultimate relief to long-pending pain to the muscles and tendons. Message therapy works on the principle of applying structured or unstructured pressure on different parts of the body.

Massage therapy has a got a long binding relationship with Bodywork. Before we could understand the relationship between massage therapy and bodywork, we need to understand the definition of bodywork. Bodywork is practiced by anyone who has studied alternative medicine which deals with some form of touching or rational understanding of a human body. Bodywork could be classified in the umbrella of Somatic Disciplines which include any technique related to body-mind disciplines, movement therapy or body-mind integration.

All this leads us to a point that in most cases, bodywork and massage therapy are the same words with different definitions but are interchangeably used. The only difference that I could point out is that bodywork would encompass massage therapies and other types of touch and heal techniques. Bodywork allows the patient to benefit from a very effective treatment which would impact their posture in a positive way. Bodywork which is often combined with personal development and psychotherapy of the body is primarily used as a body relaxation technique. Massage therapy deals with application of pressure or touch on parts of the body or the whole body itself.

The procedure for a massage therapy applied on a person’s body is very simple. The person is asked to remove his clothes (happens only in some cases) and lie down on his stomach on a flat floor. A professional therapist starts massaging the body with his hands. The parts of the body which are highly impacted by a massage therapy are the spinal cord (upper and lower), hip and shoulders. Many massage therapies are also done with the help of an Ayurvedic or an Aromatic Oil which enhances the effects of the Massage Therapy. Massage is applied on the subject for him to avail of physiological benefits in the form of a therapeutic massage.

Massage therapy has acquired tremendous professional significance over the last few years because of which many entities have now started offering massage therapy and bodywork as a part of their services. When you go to such entities for a massage therapy, you would be made to lay flat on a massage table with you being partially disrobed or your body being wrapped around in towels. This is a highly controversial aspect of massage therapy as in some countries, private parts of the body like a man’s genitals or the nipples of woman are not draped at all. Thailand, a country which is famous for massage salons does not drape the private parts of the persons body at all.

Techniques of massage therapy and bodywork are undergoing a major sea-change in terms of the way they are practiced. Significantly, this form of treatment of body issues which do not have any side-effects of using a drug at all is gaining fast popularity in almost all parts of the world.

Sometimes in the months and years following a cataract operation the vision within the eye can gradually diminish. For the patient the effect can be rather like the original cataract recurring. One common cause for this is a phenomena called “Posterior Capsule Opacity”. It is also sometimes referred to as “after cataract”. What is it?

This can be explained by thinking of the eye as a camera. Like a camera the eye contains a lens. This is positioned within the eye just behind the pupil. This natural lens of the eye has the shape of a tiny discus, similar in size to a “smartie” or “M & M” sweet. A cataract occurs when this lens becomes hazy and obscures vision. To remove a cataract the surgeon must therefore remove the lens from the eye.

The lens of the eye has a thin membranous outer layer. This is called the lens capsule. As with a discus there are two main surfaces to the lens capsule. The front surface is called the anterior capsule and the rear surface the posterior capsule. During modern cataract surgery a small piece of the anterior capsule is removed in order to gain access to the cloudy interior of the lens. The art of cataract surgery is to remove this cloudy inner lens material whilst preserving the posterior capsule that lies behind it.

Returning to the “smartie” or “M & M” analogy a cataract operation is a bit like removing a tiny piece of the sugar coating from one surface so as to remove the chocolate within; but leaving behind the rest of the sugar coating intact! The effect is to create a little empty sac with a hole in its front surface. In the eye this is called the capsular bag. A replacement artificial lens (called the lens implant) is then inserted into this bag. The posterior capsule lies behind this lens implant and partially supports it.

The posterior capsule is extremely thin and delicate. Its centre is thinner than a single red blood cell! Eye surgeons make every effort to preserve the posterior capsule intact during surgery. It helps maintain the natural compartments within the eye. It separates the fluid filled space at the front of the eye from the jelly (called the vitreous) that fills the main rear cavity of the eye. It also stops the vitreous from moving forwards and interfering with the operation.

At the end of surgery the posterior capsule is clear and transparent. In some patients it may become hazy or opaque during the following months and years. This is “Posterior Capsular Opacity”. Eye surgeons refer to it as “PCO”. If this happens and it impairs vision significantly it can be treated using a laser. This is a quick simple painless outpatient procedure taking just a few minutes to perform. This treatment is called a “YAG laser posterior capsulotomy”. The aim is to create a small opening at the centre of the posterior capsule and thus clear the line of vision. If there is nothing else wrong with the eye this treatment should restore vision to that first achieved after the original cataract operation.

The information within this article is for general interest only. These are the personal views of Consultant Ophthalmologist Mr C J Heaven. If you have a problem with your vision then always seek the advice of your own eye specialist.

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Those who work in the field of healthcare have known for some time that a connection exists between our underlying beliefs and thoughts and the functioning of our bodies. Dr. Herbert Benson, in his 1970′s landmark book, The Relaxation Response, articulated the concept that stressors can trigger a “fight or flight response”, an inner startle response that indicates we are about to experience an unpleasant event. Although there is a healthy fear that protects us from harms way, many times how one interprets stressful events and one’s ability to manage it, can affect the immune systems functional capacity. There is now sufficient research to validate Benson’s work, that relaxation techniques such a meditation, can have a direct link to minimizing the effect of a wide range of disorders such as high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, back problems, neurological pain, and headache problems. Relaxation strategies calm the sympathetic nervous system, making it easier for the body to heal.

In Barbara Levine’s book, Your Body Believes Every Word You Say, she explores how our thoughts and underlying beliefs about our physical maladies affect our auto-immune system which regulates our ability to ward off illness, manage pain, and promote healing. In other words, legitimate pain from various illnesses and somatic complaints can be intensified by the kind of messages we tell ourselves. Spontaneous self-defeating thoughts such as, “What’s the use, my body will always betray me and never get better.” can reinforce the pain cycle of making things worse. People with such chronic self-defeating reactions have been shown to create inner chemical changes and constricted blood flow which further erodes the individual’s ability to manage pain. How we respond to our bodily disorders, in terms of core beliefs and inner dialogue, may affect the outcome of our health.

Some time ago, I attended a presentation by psychiatrist M. Scott Peck. He talked with mental health providers about his struggles with neck pain, a problem that had plagued him for years. An operation resolved some of his pain, but he felt that there might be some negative underlying belief that was also contributing to the problem. He ultimately concluded that he was a conflict-avoider, lacking the ability to appropriately assert himself, refusing to “stick his neck out.”

Physical illnesses can be intensified by self-defeating underlying thinking that is a metaphor for the chronic condition experienced. For example, people with back pain may at times lack the “backbone” to express their thoughts and feelings courageously. Individuals with gastrointestinal problems may not be unable to “stomach” certain intolerable thoughts and feelings. People with headache syndromes may experience beliefs and thoughts about events that make them want to say, “Life is making my head hurt.” Eating disordered people may experience core assumptions such as, “I’m so angry that I could just vomit, or if I monitor my weight and eating habits, at least it’s one area in my life that I can control!” People with neurological pain such as inner ear disorders may exacerbate their pain by experiencing thoughts of panic such as, “Oh my God, here it comes again, that nasty, annoying pain. I’ll never get over this because the volume in my life is turned up too high.”

Anxiety, panic, and depression are typical characteristics associated with physical pain. The more effectively one manages these symptoms, the less troublesome the pain may be. Learning to cope with anticipatory anxiety by rationally responding (“Ok, I know that this pain can be troublesome, but when it comes I will do my deep breathing and manage just fine!”), or dealing with panic ( “When a wave of pain comes, I’ll just go with it. It’s not a big deal, my scary feeling are time-limited, they’ll be over soon”), and managing depression (“Just because I feel awful doesn’t mean I can’t do things to stay active and make me feel involved”) are important ways of adaptively responding to pain.

The following ideas are some guidelines for managing pain more effectively:

 Try to get you pain in perspective. Make a realistic appraisal. “In the scheme of things, how bad is my condition?”

 Don’t fight with your symptoms, it only makes them worse. The more you accept your symptoms, the more they are likely to diminish.

 Use various activities to refocus away from your pain. Dwelling on pain makes it more painful. Stretching, music, swimming, meditation, and other activities are important.

 Seek a multidisciplinary approach to your problem, if necessary. Get a team of healthcare specialists, including a quality physician, psychotherapist, physical therapist, message therapist or other providers of pain management.

 Develop a solid support system of family and friends. Also, there are many support groups in our community for people suffering from a variety of physical ailments.

 Remember, that the things we tell ourselves have an impact on our physical and emotional well-being.

Many people think that once they have been diagnosed with cancer, there is nothing they can do except seek medical treatment. While medical treatment is extremely important, it is wrong to think that you cannot aid your healing at home. Did you know that if you suffer from prostate cancer, a prostate cancer diet can help you heal faster? You need to take care of your body when you have cancer and one of the best ways to do this is to eat a healthy diet and exercise.

Men that suffer from prostate cancer should do everything that he can do aid his body during the healing process. This is important throughout treatment and once he goes into remission. A diet rich in healthy foods can certainly help a man through his prostate cancer treatments. Here are some ways that you can follow a prostate cancer diet and make sure that you are healing in no time flat.

o Take your vitamins: Cancer takes a lot out of your body. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you will want to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of the necessary vitamins and minerals everyday. Your doctor can recommend a good vitamin supplement to take during your treatment.

o Go low fat: It is always important to eat a diet that is low in fat, but it is even more important to do this if you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. When you follow the prostate cancer diet, stick to foods that are low in saturated fats and avoid any food with trans-fat. Eat lean meats such boneless, skinless chicken breast, and turkey. Also, remember to stay away from fried foods.

o Get plenty of fruits and vegetables: The rule of thumb when it comes to following a good prostate cancer diet is to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Dark green veggies are rich in iron, while orange veggies are good anti-oxidants. This is what you want to look for when you add these types of foods to your diet.

o Legumes and Dairy: It is also important that you follow a diet that contains legumes (peas and beans) and plenty of low fat dairy. Low fat string cheese, yogurt and skim milk are ideal when following prostate cancer diet. Soy is also an excellent option for anyone that is suffering from cancer.

In addition to eating correctly while you are following the prostate cancer diet [http://www.prostatecancertreatmenthelp.com/Laser_Prostate_Treatment/], you also need to make sure that you are getting the proper amount of exercise. This cannot only help you feel rejuvenated; you will also help your body heal faster. As you can see, following the proper diet and exercising are the keys to helping your body heal from prostate cancer.

It was actually hard for me to come up with something so exciting to talk about (yeah, right…). However, I do believe that it is important to give the basic information and understand in more detail what causes obesity in this day and age. I will not write this article like a medical encyclopedia and bore you to tears like many other books out there. I will make it user-friendly, and of course, a bit more sarcastic. However, for you to understand the rest of the information, you will need to bear with me and keep on reading.

Let’s start by explaining what “hypoglycemia” is.
“Glucose”, a type of sugar, is the body’s main fuel. Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, occurs when blood levels of glucose drop too low to fuel the body’s activities.

Carbohydrates (sugars and starches, explained later in the book) are the body’s main dietary sources of glucose. During digestion, the glucose is absorbed into the blood stream (hence the term “blood sugar”), which carries it to every cell in the body. Unused glucose is
stored in the liver as glycogen.

Hypoglycemia can occur as a complication of diabetes, as a condition in itself, or in association with other disorders.

The normal range for blood sugar is about 60 mg/dl (milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood) to 120 mg/dl, depending on when a person last ate. In the fasting state, blood sugar can occasionally fall below 60 mg/dl and even to below 50 mg/dl and not indicate a serious abnormality or disease. This can be seen in healthy women, particularly after prolonged fasting. Blood sugar levels below 45 mg/dl are always associated with a serious abnormality. Most of us will not let the levels reach that low. You will feel dizzy, cranky, and have low energy. I don’t recommend socializing in this state – you might make more enemies than friends.

Your body works with you to level the blood sugar and avoid going into shock. The amount of glucose in the blood is controlled mainly by the hormones insulin (secreted by the pancreas) and glucagon. Too much or too little of these hormones can cause blood sugar levels to fall too low (hypoglycemia) or rise too high (hyperglycemia). Other hormones that influence blood sugar levels are cortisol, growth hormone, and catecholamine (epinephrine and norepinephrine). Isn’t this too technical for you? It is for me!

The pancreas, a gland in the upper abdomen, produces insulin and glucagon. The pancreas is dotted with hormone-producing tissue called the Islets of Langerhans, which contain alpha and beta cells. When blood sugar rises after a meal, the beta cells release insulin. The insulin helps glucose enter body cells, lowering blood levels of glucose to the normal range. When blood sugar drops too low, the alpha cells secrete glucagon. This signals the liver to release stored glycogen and change it back to glucose, raising blood sugar levels to the normal range. Muscles also store glycogen that can be converted to glucose. For those with different levels of diabetes, injection of insulin is important since the pancreas doesn’t work properly. Since insulin controls the blood sugar level in your body, it’s required so it won’t affect other organs in your body.

What Are the Symptoms for Those Suffering from Hypoglycemia?
A person with hypoglycemia may feel weak, drowsy, confused, hungry, and dizzy. Paleness, headaches, irritability, trembling, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and a cold, clammy feeling are also signs of low blood sugar. In severe cases, a person can lose consciousness and even lapse into a coma.

The symptoms associated with hypoglycemia are sometimes mistaken for symptoms caused by conditions not related to blood sugar. For example, unusual stress and anxiety can cause excess production of catecholamine, resulting in symptoms similar to those caused by hypoglycemia but that are not related to blood sugar levels.

You must be wondering what the relation is between hypoglycemia and diabetes?
The most common cause of hypoglycemia is a complication of diabetes. Diabetes occurs when the body cannot use glucose for fuel because either the pancreas is not able to make enough insulin or the insulin that is available is not effective. Consequently, glucose builds up in the blood instead of getting into body cells.

The aim of the treatment of diabetes is to lower high blood sugar levels. To do this, people with diabetes may follow a specific diet to control glucose intake or use insulin or oral drugs, depending on the type of diabetes they have or the severity of their condition. Hypoglycemia occurs most often in people who use insulin to lower their blood sugar. All people with type I diabetes and some people with type II diabetes use insulin. People with type II diabetes that take oral drugs are also vulnerable to low blood sugar episodes.

Conditions that can lead to hypoglycemia in people with diabetes include taking too much medication, missing or delaying a meal, eating too little food for the amount of insulin taken, exercising too strenuously, drinking too much alcohol, or any combination of these factors. People who have diabetes often refer to hypoglycemia as an “insulin reaction”.

Because they are attuned to their symptoms, people with diabetes can usually recognize when their blood sugar levels are dropping too low. They can treat the condition quickly by eating or drinking something with sugar in it such as candy, juice, or non-diet soda. People with type I diabetes are most vulnerable to severe insulin reactions which can cause loss of consciousness. A few patients with long-standing insulin-dependent diabetes may develop a condition known as hypoglycemia unawareness in which they have difficulty recognizing the symptoms of low blood sugar. For emergency use for patients with type I diabetes, physicians often prescribe an injectable form of the hormone glucagon. A glucagon injection quickly eases the symptoms of low blood sugar, releasing a burst of glucose into the blood. Emergency medical help may be needed if the person does not recover within a few minutes after treatment for hypoglycemia. A person suffering a severe insulin reaction may be admitted to the hospital so that the blood sugar level can be stabilized.

People with diabetes can reduce or prevent episodes of hypoglycemia by monitoring their blood sugar levels frequently and learning to recognize the symptoms of low blood sugar and the situations that may trigger it. They should consult their health care providers for advice about the best way to treat low blood sugar. Friends and relatives should know about the symptoms of hypoglycemia and how to treat it in case of an emergency.

The best way to control hypoglycemia is through a diet similar to that used to control diabetes: a reduction in simple sugars, a large intake of complex carbohydrates, and frequent meals. Candy, sodas, and even fruit juices (which manufacturers often sweeten with lots of sugar) all are high in sugar and should be avoided, or only on extreme circumstances, as mentioned above. Foods that are high in soluble dietary fiber slow carbohydrate absorption and help prevent fluctuations in blood sugar levels. For some, fruits may also be a good addition as fructose – the natural sugar in most fruits – does not require insulin to be absorbed into the body cells.

Also recommended is an increase in meal frequency. Eating more than three meals per day helps maintain blood sugar levels and prevent the onset of hypoglycemic symptoms. The menu below is a one-day meal plan that puts these hypoglycemia guidelines into action.

Breakfast
1 cup of hot whole grain cereal like oatmeal or oatbran
1 slice of whole wheat bread
1 piece of fruit

Mid Morning Snack
1 slice of slice of whole wheat bread and celery sticks

Lunch
Salad with uncooked vegetables, beans (chickpeas, kidney beans, etc.), sunflower seeds, and a non-fat dressing
1 slice whole wheat bread
1 piece of fruit (strawberries or raspberries are preferable)

Snack
4 crackers (preferably whole wheat)
1 piece of fruit

Dinner
1 cup brown rice or pasta or 1 large baked potato
1/2 cup beans or tofu
1 to 2 cups cooked vegetables (good source of fiber)
Snack
1 to 2 pieces of fruit