Fatigue: When to rest, when to worry

Some days you're so low on energy that you're drowsy by lunchtime and in need of a nap by mid afternoon. What's making you so tired all the time? Stress, poor eating habits, overwork, even medical treatments can wear you down.

Most of the time, fatigue can be traced to one or more of your habits or routines. You have the power to put the vitality back in your life.

Why so weary?
Taking a quick inventory of the things that might be responsible for your fatigue is the first step toward relief. Fatigue can have a variety of lifestyle causes, including:

• Lack of sleep. Getting even an hour less than the sound slumber you need each night can leave you drowsy and unable to manage your daily routine. You may not go to bed early enough. Or more likely, you go to bed but can't sleep well. As you get older, it becomes harder to get uninterrupted sleep. You sleep less soundly. You awaken earlier.
• Stress and anxiety. If you're running from one task to the next without a break, it's eventually going to wear you down. Going through life anxious and on edge can keep you from relaxing and getting the rest you need.
• Inactivity. You're too tired to exercise, so you don't. But then when you do exert yourself, you tire easily because you're out of shape. Engaging in moderate physical activity for a half-hour or longer most days of the week may decrease stress, improve mood and leave you feeling energized. Don't schedule your activity too close to bedtime, though, or you might have trouble falling asleep.
• Eating habits. If you're not eating properly or drinking enough fluids, your body isn't getting the fuel and fluid it needs. Trying to remedy this with caffeine can backfire, especially if you consume it late in the day. Caffeine not only makes it harder to fall asleep, it also interferes with sound sleep and may keep you tossing and turning throughout the night.
  
• Certain medications. Some medications, including many beta blockers and antihistamines, can cause fatigue. In addition, some cold medications and pain relievers contain caffeine and other stimulants that can keep you up at night.

Battling fatigue

Reduce stress
Take some of the pressure out of your day. Learn to say no. Set priorities. Then organize your activities so that you avoid confusion. Pace yourself. Put aside time each day to do something you enjoy. Take a midday stroll around the block, or get up 15 minutes earlier to give yourself more time to start your day.

Manage workplace tension
On-the-job aggravation can add to work-related fatigue. Sit down and try to resolve conflicts with co-workers. Become better acquainted with your boss and clarify what he or she needs from you. Be realistic about your limitations. Take time out to get up from your desk and stretch for a few moments several times a day.

Be active
Try to include at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity in your day. Don't worry about doing a full workout all at once - start with 10 minutes of activity at a time. Whether you walk, garden or swim, once you get moving, you'll likely notice you have more stamina. While 30 minutes is the minimum recommendation, you may need up to an hour of moderate activity daily to maintain fitness and a healthy weight.

Eat well
Start your day with a low-fat, high-fiber breakfast that includes plenty of complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains and fruits for lasting energy. Stay away from sugary cereals and juices and caffeinated drinks. They can make you feel sluggish later in the day. Don't skip meals; refuel every three or four hours. Very low calorie diets are guaranteed to increase fatigue.

Avoid alcohol
Alcohol depresses your central nervous system and acts as a sedative, making you tired for hours after consuming no more than only a drink or two. It may also disrupt your sleep, if you drink just before bed.

Practice good sleep habits
Avoid eating, reading or watching TV in bed. Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet. And set your alarm for the same time each day - the routine can help you establish a regular sleep schedule. Naps are OK, but keep them short and early in the day. Schedule workouts at least six hours before bedtime, Small snacks may help you drift off, but large late-night meals can keep you up. If you can't sleep, don't toss and turn, go into another part of the house and read or relax until you feel drowsy.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

Artificial sweeteners: A safe alternative to sugar

More than ever, people are consuming large amounts of sugar as part of their daily diet. But in excess, sugar can take its toll. Eating large amounts of sugar adds extra calories, which can cause weight gain. Hence many people opt for artificial sweeteners — also referred to as sugar substitutes or low-calorie sweeteners — as a way to enjoy their favorite foods without as many calories.

What are artificial sweeteners?

Artificial sweeteners are chemicals that offer the sweetness of sugar without the calories. Because the substitutes are much sweeter than sugar, it takes a much smaller quantity of them to create the same sweetness. Therefore, products made with artificial sweeteners have a much lower calorie count than do those made with sugar. Artificial sweeteners are often used as part of a weight-loss plan or as a means to control weight gain.

People with diabetes may use artificial sweeteners because they make food taste sweet without raising blood sugar levels. But keep in mind that if you do have diabetes, some foods containing artificial sweeteners, such as sugar-free yogurt, can still affect your blood sugar level due to other carbohydrates or protein in the food. In addition, some foods labeled "sugar-free" — such as sugar-free cookies and chocolates — may contain sweeteners such as sorbitol or mannitol that contain calories and can affect your blood sugar level. Some sugar-free products may also contain flour, which will raise blood sugar levels.

Safety of artificial sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are often the subject of stories in the popular press and on the Internet, claiming that they cause a variety of health problems, including cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, however, there's no scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer. And numerous studies confirm that artificial sweeteners are safe for the general population.
Aspartame does carry a cautionary note, however. It isn't safe for people who have the rare hereditary disease phenylketonuria (PKU). Products that contain aspartame must carry a PKU warning on the label.

Still empty calories

Just removing sugar from cookies and chocolates doesn't make them low-calorie, low-fat foods. If you eat too many, you'll still get more calories than you need, and you may not get enough nutritious foods. Unlike fruits, vegetables and whole grains, sugar-free soft drinks, candy and desserts often provide few — if any — beneficial nutrients.

Use artificial sweeteners sensibly. It's OK to substitute a diet soda for a regular soda, for example, but diet soda shouldn't be the only beverage you drink.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

Get fit, improve memory

Exercise May Boost Memory Through Brain Blood Flow and New Brain Cells.

Want a sharper memory? Lace up your sneakers. Exercise may boost memory, and a new study shows how.

Researchers have found that exercise boosts blood flow to a brain area involved in memory - even in people who aren't in top shape.

Three months of exercise was all it took for people with low levels of aerobic fitness to increase blood flow to that part of their brain and improve their scores on memory tests, the study shows.Additional tests on mice show new brain cells growing in the same memory-related brain area after two weeks of exercise.

Add it all up, and you've got a good reason to get moving, says researcher Scott Small, MD, of Columbia University in New York.

Studying Exercise and Memory

Running were put on the wheels in the cages of 23 mice. For comparison, another 23 mice had no access to running wheels.

As expected, the mice with the running wheels in their cages took full advantage of their exercise gear. They ran on the wheels without any training or encouragement.

Two weeks later, the scientists gave the mice a dye shot to mark new brain cells in the memory-related brain area. After four more weeks, the scientists checked the mice's brains.

The exercising mice had more evidence of new brain cells and more blood flow in the memory-related brain area. The mice with no running wheels in their cages had no new brain cells and no increased blood flow in that brain area.

From the Couch to the Treadmill

Next, the researchers focused on people. They recruited 11 healthy volunteers aged 21-45 (average age: 33) with below-average levels of aerobic fitness.

First, participants completed memory tests and an aerobic fitness test. They also got brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Next, participants shed their sedentary ways. The researchers assigned them to work out for an hour, four times weekly for three months, at Columbia University's fitness center.

The workout routine: Warm up for five minutes at a low intensity on a stationary bike or treadmill, stretch for five minutes, do 40 minutes of aerobic training (on a stationary bike, treadmill, stair machine, or elliptical trainer), and cool down and stretch for 10 minutes.

Work Out, Boost Memory

After three months of exercise, participants repeated the memory tests, aerobic fitness tests, and MRI brain scan.

Those follow-up tests showed an increase in blood flow to the memory-related brain area, better scores on the memory tests, and improvements in aerobic fitness.

The researchers didn't use a dye test to check for new brain cells in the exercisers' brains. So the study doesn't prove that exercise boosted human brain cell production, though exercise apparently had that effect on mice.

The next step is to figure out what exercise regimen is most beneficial for memory, Small notes. He suggests that doctors may one day be able to prescribe specific types of exercise to improve memory.

Meanwhile, be sure to check in with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you've been physically inactive for a while.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

Love your body inside and out

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you like what you see? Women in the U.S. are under pressure to measure up to a certain social and cultural ideal of beauty, which can lead to poor body image. Women are constantly bombarded with "Barbie-like" doll images. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. It's no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty. If not all women need to lose weight, for sure they're all aging — which is a "disaster" sure to happen — just ask any middle-age anchorwoman or model — if you can find one.

Other pressures can come from people in our lives.

• Family and friends can influence your body image with positive and negative comments.
• A doctor's health advice can be misinterpreted and affect how a woman perceives and feels about her body.

Celebrate and Nourish Your Body

Building a healthy lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and physical activity is important to improving body image. We all want to look our best, but a healthy body is not always linked to appearance. In fact, healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes! Developing and nurturing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to a woman's happiness and wellness!

Change Your Body Image Not Your Body

It is important to remember that when you change your body image, you don't change your body, you change the way you think about your body.

Essentials to developing healthy body image include:

• eating healthy
• regular exercise
• plenty of rest

Eating healthy can promote healthy skin and hair, along with strong bones; exercise has been showed to increase self-esteem, self-image, and energy; and plenty or rest is the key to stress management - all of these can make you feel good about your body.

What is body image?

With a positive body image, a woman has a real perception of her size and shape and feels comfortable and proud about her body. With a negative body image, a woman has a distorted perception of her shape and size, compares her body to others, and feels shame, awkwardness, and anxiety about her body. A woman's dissatisfaction with her body affects how she thinks and feels about herself. A poor body image can lead to emotional distress, low self-esteem, dieting, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

And don't forget your kids! The attitude of parents about appearance and diet affects their kids' attitudes. Read how to positively influence your child's body image.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

Happy People Are Healthier

Happiness and other positive emotions play an even more important role in health than previously thought.

People who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to become ill when they are exposed to a cold virus than those who report few of these emotions.
In that study, Cohen found that when they do come down with a cold, happy people report fewer symptoms than would be expected from objective measures of their illness. In contrast, reporting more negative emotions such as depression, anxiety and anger was not associated with catching colds.

That study, however, left open the possibility that the greater resistance to infectious illness among happier people may not have been due to happiness, but rather to other characteristics that are often associated with reporting positive emotions such as optimism, extraversion, feelings of purpose in life and self-esteem.

Cohen's recent study controls for those variables, with the same result: The people who report positive emotions are less likely to catch colds and also less likely to report symptoms when they do get sick. This held true regardless of their levels of optimism, extraversion, purpose and self-esteem, and of their age, race, gender, education, body mass or prestudy immunity to the virus.

"We need to take more seriously the possibility that positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk," said Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon.
The researchers interviewed volunteers over several weeks to assess their moods and emotional styles, and then infected them with either a rhinovirus or an influenza virus. The volunteers were quarantined and examined to see if they came down with a cold. This was the same method Cohen applied in his previous study, but with the addition of the influenza virus.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

Cancer-killing virus fights liver tumors

A genetically engineered herpes virus, designed to kill cancer cells but leave normal tissue unharmed, has shown early promise in clinical tests, a study says.

The idea of injecting cancer patients with a live virus may seem bizarre, but researchers believe viruses - which are experts at killing cells - could one day become a valuable addition to the medical armory against cancer.

The latest progress in a small study using MediGene AG's virus NV1020 was presented at the annual European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Lugano, Switzerland.

NV1020 is a modified version of the herpes simplex virus, which causes cold sores. Its genetic make-up has been altered that so it only replicates in cancer cells, killing them in the process, and leaves ordinary cells alone.

The German biotech company had already announced positive results from an interim analysis of a 13-patient Phase I/II study of NV1020 in September, but efficacy data from a case study was unveiled for the first time at the Swiss meeting.

Axel Mescheder, MediGene's research head, described the case of one very late-stage patient whose cancer had spread to 10 different places around the liver and four in the lungs.

He was given four weekly infusions of the virus followed by two cycles of chemotherapy, and six months after treatment scans showed that his liver tumors had nearly disappeared. The patient survived for 12 months following the intervention.

"The reduction in the tumor masses was really impressive in this patient. The hepatic (liver) masses almost disappeared," Mescheder said in a statement.

"The results are really quite encouraging at this early stage".

Treating cancer in the liver is notoriously difficult, and the prognosis for patients is very poor. Many people with colorectal cancer, in particular, face the risk that their cancer will metastasize, or spread, to the liver.

The encouraging results with the virus in early human studies follow tests in animals, which showed that NV1020 was effective at killing colorectal and liver cancer cells.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

FDA OKs Generic, OTC Versions of Foot Fungus Drug

Athlete's foot and nail fungus sufferers have more options for treatment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of generic versions of Lamisil (terbinafine hydrochloride) tablets and over-the-counter Lamisil cream.

"This approval offers Americans additional alternatives when choosing medications to treat nail fungus infections," said Gary J. Buehler, director of FDA's Office of Generic Drugs, in a prepared statement.

Lamisil tablets are prescribed to treat nail fungus infection. These infections occur when fungus grows under the nails of fingers and toes. This is the first time generic versions have been approved for the tablets. The FDA approved applications from more than 13 manufacturers.

The over-the-counter Lamisil cream treats athlete's foot, a skin disease caused by a fungus that usually occurs between the toes. The cream is manufactured by Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

A drug that erases bad memories

How many times have you wished you could simply delete a bitter memory from your mind? It seems that science may have found a way to do just that.

Researchers at Harvard and McGill University in Montreal are working on an amnesia drug that blocks or deletes bad memories. The technique seems to allow psychiatrists to disrupt the biochemical pathways that allow a memory to be recalled, reports LiveScience.

In a new study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the drug propranolol is used along with therapy to "dampen" memories of trauma victims. They treated 19 accident or rape victims for 10 days, during which the patients were asked to describe their memories of the traumatic event that had happened 10 years earlier. Some patients were given the drug, which is also used to treat amnesia, while others were given a placebo. A week later, they found that patients given the drug showed fewer signs of stress when recalling their trauma.

Similar research led by Professor Joseph LeDoux has been carried out at New York University on rats; scientists were able to remove a specific memory from the brains of rats while leaving the rest of the animals' memories intact. An amnesia drug called U0126 was administered.

The rats were trained to associate two musical tones with a mild electrical shock so that when they heard either of the tones they would brace themselves for a shock.

The researchers then gave half the rats the drug when playing one of the musical tones. After the treatment, the rats that had been given the drug no longer associated that particular tone with an imminent shock but still braced themselves upon hearing the second tone, demonstrating only one memory had been deleted.

Science fiction fans have a number of associations with the idea of banishing unwanted memories.
In the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey play lovers who have a falling out. Winslet’s character goes to a company called Lacuna, Inc. to have her memories of the relationship removed; Carrey’s character also has the procedure performed.

In the film, the process involves showing the person a memento of the relationship and then encouraging them to bring up specific memories while an electric shock is given. Not to give away the film, but this technique does not work as planned.

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com