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Emotional Effects of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable bowel syndrome sufferers often find that they have to deal with two sets of symptoms. The physical symptoms of diarrhea, constipation and pain form the main part of IBS, but sufferers may also develop emotional problems such as mild or moderate depression and anxiety because of the strain that IBS places on their lives. There's no doubt that IBS can have a huge impact on your mental and emotional health. One of the reasons why people assume that IBS is caused by stress is that IBS sufferers can appear so stressed and unhappy. But is this really surprising? If you had explosive diarrhea, never-ending constipation or stabbing stomach cramps you would be a bit stressed too! The nature of IBS symptoms can mean that they are very difficult to deal with, both practically, in terms of being afraid to go out because of fear of diarrhea, and emotionally, because of embarrassment and the sometimes unsympathetic reactions of others. Sufferers find that their social lives quickly diminish to nothing, or that they can no longer eat the food at restaurants or dinner parties without ending up in pain. Work or school can become a chronic struggle as you drag yourself in on days when you feel ill, knowing that if you did not you would get fired or kicked off your course. You may also feel that you have to pretend to be healthy most of the time in spite of how you really feel, because people get tired of hearing about your condition or begin to say things like "Well why don't you go to the doctor" or "My mum had that and ate lots of bran and now she's fine. That's what you should do." It can be very hard to bite your tongue and stop yourself answering back. "Oh, go to the DOCTOR, I see, that's where I've going wrong all this time, I thought you had to go to the hardware store. I shall now be cured." What is important to remember is that anyone who is battling with IBS is going through a very difficult time, and deserves some genuine support, as does anyone with a chronic, long-term condition. Hopefully, if you explain your condition to family and friends, support will be forthcoming, but if not you should ask yourself how much misunderstanding you are willing to put up with, and whether it is hazardous to your health. This is what Heather Van Vorous says in The First Year - IBS: "You may even have friends or family dismiss your problem as 'all in your head.' It's up to you to educate these people, and then dump them if they persist in their ignorance at the expense of your health." If they are truly your friends then they will want to learn about the condition and be ready to accept that their views are based on prejudice and assumption rather than fact. But if they still believe that you are exaggerating then ask them to explain exactly why they believe that IBS is psychosomatic or 'all in your head', what scientific studies they are basing their views on, and how they explain the success of new drugs such as the selective 5-HT3 antagonist Lotronex. That should keep them quiet. Sophie Lee has suffered from IBS for more than 15 years. She runs the IBS Tales website http://www.ibstales.com where you can read hundreds of personal stories of IBS and self-help tips.
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Alternative Medicine The Pain Factor Last year I told an acquaintance that at the age of 46, I had taken up running. The reply was, "Oh, that's awfully hard on your knees." At first I was taken aback. Yes, I knew if I did not stretch, warm-up or wear properly fitted shoes, I might experience pain or an injury. But the person telling me this was overweight, had borderline high blood pressure, and never worked out. I wondered if this friend realized by living a sedentary lifestyle, the odds of developing heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and some cancers had substantially increased. Not to mention that being overweight actually placed this person at a higher risk than me for developing knee pain from osteoarthritis and heel pain as a result of plantar fasciitis. 4 Reasons to Feel Safe Submitting an Electronic Medical Claim Electronic Medical Claim Orphan Drugs: Hope Where There Is Little or No Hope NEW YORK, N.Y., February 18, 2004 On a visit to his doctor, Gary Jacob received distressing news not about himself, but a friend of the doctor's. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Simple Self-Help Tips If you have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you will know how difficult it is to treat. Doctors can be dismissive of IBS symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation and bloating, and when treatment is offered it may only help for a short while before the distressing symptoms return. Is the Mexican Pharmacy safe to buy drugs online? Are you frustrated with the high prices of prescription drugs? Take a look at a Mexican Pharmacy. Not only can you save a lot of money but you can also be sure that you are getting quality medicines and online customer service that provides you all the necessary information on drugs. Whether you are looking for prescription medication or herbal products Mexican Pharmacy is your souce for your purchasing medicines.These are all claims that are associated with Mexican pharmacies catering today. But there are some risks involve in it too, which cannot be totally ignored. Awareness is one sure step towards better informed consumer for health care products. Ultram Story: Keeping Pain Control Under Control When Aspirin Isn't Enough Parasites In Your Colon Your colon is a place for other parasites and organisms to breed and live. Many are harmful to your health and enter the body in various ways foods we eat, through the bottom of your feet, air you breathe, the water you drink, and through sexual activity. What is Bextra? (FDA Recalled Drug) Bextra, also known as valdecoxib, is a prescribed medication used to alleviate the problems associated with arthritis and other inflammation-related conditions. The drug helps reduce the pain of swelling and fever without causing stomach irritation like aspirin. Lunesta Sleeping Pills: A Quick Guide To Lunesta When was the last time you enjoyed a good night's sleep? I'm talking about feeling tired, heavy, and relaxed - the times when you might say "wow! I love air conditioning" and fall right into a deep sleep. If you haven't fallen asleep quickly and woken up feeling refreshed and ready for anything, then you are not alone. Diagnosis and Treatments of Cerebral Palsy Before a child can be appropriately diagnosed with cerebral palsy, their doctor must first have to look closely at both the child and the mother's medical background to see if there are any known causes of cerebral palsy present in the case. The doctor will very carefully check the baby's motor skills and the reflexes, and then will be tested by a physician, also they will try to determine the Childs hand preference often a child with cerebral palsy will use the hand that is not always the most practical to them due to the fact that depending on the brain damage one side of the body will be much stronger than the other side that is affected. Kids and Medication Part I We have all talked a lot about the problems in our educational system, about latchkey kids, about teacher turnover (50 percent of teachers quitted within the first five years on the job), psychologists over prescribing medications such as Prozac and Ritalin with our friends and families. We can all foresee a terrible problem in the future because we are feeding these drugs to kids under the age of six, their brains have not been fully formed yet and these drugs and their predecessors and competing drugs all have adverse side effects. 10 Reasons To Buy Drugs From An Online Canadian Pharmacy 1. Online Canadian pharmacies offer overall best prices on Canadian drugs, as well as on international drugs. This is due to the fact that there are many online Canadian pharmacies and they lower their prices to increase the sales number. Heel Pain - Ten Tips for Treatment The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis (plan * tar fash* ee * I * tis). If you experience a sharp pain in your heel when you first step down in the morning, it is most likely due to plantar fasciitis. This type of heel pain may also occur as achiness at the end of the day in the heel or even burning pain in the arch. Plantar fasciitis can be associated with a heel spur, but this is not the cause of the pain. When the long ligament like structure (plantar fascia) on the bottom of the foot pulls on the heel bone over a period of time, a spur is formed. Only 50% of individuals with plantar fasciitis have a bone spur in their heel. The spur will never go away, but the plantar fasciitis will. Plantar fasciitis is typically caused by a new activity, a new pair of shoes, a worn out pair of shoes, a change of routine or change in job. Individuals with flatfeet or abnormal motion in the feet may have a higher chance of developing plantar fasciitis. Once you develop plantar fasciitis, you may find it very difficult to treat. Emollients and Lubricant Drugstore Laxatives Stool Softener Laxatives - Emollients Pediatric Emergency Contact Notifications Made Easier For the head of the trauma department at one of America's top pediatric facilities, Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, having to notifying parents that their children have been the victims of trauma or identify pediatric Jane Does, is an every day occurrence. But just because they look like they're handling it well, doesn't mean that it ever becomes routine. Bee Propolis: Synergisitc Health Care for the 21st Centruy For well over a century modern science has progressed at a startling rate. With this increase in knowledge has come medicinal and healthcare benefits that have seen ages peak and diseases eradicated. These medical advances were based around the paradigm of the "magic bullet", isolating the active ingredient and using it to alter the chemistry of a single molecule/protein to elicit a change of state in the patient. Success however has turned to obsession as cracks appear in the armoury of disease fighting drugs at our disposal. MRSA is rifling through our hospitals as antibiotics become ineffective and severe side effects of modern drugs are becoming common place now years after their introduction. A direct consequence of a one dimensional strategy, it is maybe the time to acknowledge the synergistic health benefits of natural medicine. Propolis is a unique natural medicine because of its breadth of action. It has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and immunomodulatory effects, it could help treat asthma, allergies, arthritis and joint disorders, eczema and dermatitis, ME, viral infections including HIV and even cancer. This medicine could help treat an illness or keep you fit and healthy. Propolis: Defender of the City Propolis is a mainly resinous substance that bees collect from trees and plants. Being made up of waxes, resins, fatty acids and even amino acids. Aristotle reputedly coined the name Propolis meaning "defender of the city". This is exactly what Propolis is for the hive, it acts as a bee population's external immune system keeping the hive sterile and free of microbial invaders Evidence Based Medicine In the following paragraphs I will describe to you the pharmacological properties of Propolis. Before I do so I must explain where this evidence comes from. All the properties and actions of Propolis have been witnessed and detailed in scientific studies which have subsequently been published in journals. The bulk of these scientific studies have been performed in vitro (i.e. in a test tube) or in vivo (i.e. in a host animal for example rats), a much smaller proportion of these studies are clinical trials tested on humans. The abstracts of these papers can be found on the Medline and pubmed databases on the Internet. Propolis: A natural antibiotic Propolis is probably best known for its antibiotic properties. Even as early as 1960 French1 research demonstrated the bacteriostatic action on Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris and Bacillus alvei. The results have been replicated many times and Propolis has even been shown to be effective to MRSA2, the same antibiotic resistant bacteria that has infected up to 70% of our hospitals. A 1997 study by Calder et al. at the University of Oxford concurred with these results and found that the cinnaminic acids and flavanoids present in Propolis in particular show bacteriocidal action. This action believed to be as a consequence of Propolis uncoupling the bacterial energy respiratory chain. Interestingly this action may be involved in a synergistic action with antibiotics when used together, boosting the effectiveness of the drugs. Anti-Viral and immuno-stimulatory Viruses present a unique dilemma in the quest for good health, they are not affected by antibiotics and mutate so frequently that vaccines are hard to produce. They also cause illness by hijacking cells and using the cells machinery to replicate. Modern drugs aim to slow or stop the virus from the replicating and subsequently because they are attacking host cell machinery they have certain side effects. Viruses perhaps pose the greatest threat to humans' health, we are currently in the middle of a HIV pandemic with "39.4 million" people infected world wide. With a Flu pandemic overdue and certainly on its way and predictions of world wide casualties and chaos, a solution is needed. The bioflavanoids in propolis have a unique approach to combating Viruses, instead of trying to combat them once they have infected a cell, they lock the virus in its protein coat. This means that the dangerous machinery and DNA/RNA of the virus is nullified and the infection stopped. Propolis has been shown to be more effective than the pharmaceutical anti-viral acyclovir in treating genital Herpes in a clinical trial conducted in the Ukraine4 and there is growing evidence that Propolis could help treat people with HIV5. Propolis also works hard as an immunomodulator which is of interest for all of us. It does this by altering the way cytokine production and release is managed. Cytokines are the chemical messengers that allow immune system cells to communicate. By altering the cytokine system, it primes the immune system to be ready to react to antigens quickly and effectively. As well as this, bioflavanoids within Propolis stimulate the production of interferon which can help people recover from ME, stimulating their immune system. This alteration of the cytokine and interferon systems means that your body is ready to fight off infection and keep you healthy, making a case for using propolis as a supplement for good health, like vitamins. Prevention is better than the cure. Anti-inflammatory and anti-allergen A survey of Propolis consumers showed that arthritis was the health problem that Propolis was used to treat the most. This is because of the potent anti-inflammatory properties of the propolis constituents in particular CAPE (Caffeic acid Phenyl ester), CAPE has been shown to suppress T cell activation. A paper by Marquez et al in 20046 evaluated this to mean that since T-cells play a key role in the onset of several inflammatory diseases, CAPE is important because the this phenolic compound is a potent inhibitor of early and late events in T-cell receptor-mediated T-cell activation. Results like this have led other researchers to propose that CAPE is a worthwhile agent for reducing the severity of conditions associated with inflammation. Many of the experiments performed on CAPE were done so in vitro, however the anti-inflammatory properties of Propolis have been documented in rats when treating rat adjuvant arthritis. A paper by Park et al in 19997 concluding that the ethanolic extract of propolis had profound anti-inflammatory effects on both chronic and acute arthritic inflammations. These anti-inflammation properties extend to other illness and disorders such as asthma and allergies reducing both smooth muscle airway contraction8 and allergic responses. Any disorder or illness related to inflammation could be helped by Propolis. Anti-tumour/cancer Propolis and CAPE have been shown to reduce the size of tumours and to selectively destroy and to curb the proliferation of malignant cells of many different types of cancer. As recently as June 10th 2005 Cancer researchers have been given a grant of a million dollars to investigate the therapeutic value of Propolis for cancer. Costas Koumenis the lead investigator for the study was quoted as saying, "a very interesting property of these compounds is that they have been shown to cause cell death in tumor cells but not in normal cells." This study along with other current studies promises to propel Propolis into the limelight in the field of cancer treatment. Current Propolis Research in the UK BVR (BeeVital Research) recently won a major government Research and Development Award, part of a £250,000 research programme looking at the chemical, biological and clinical properties of propolis. These studies will focus on the: 1. Documenting the regional variances in chemical and biological properties, by HPLS, GC-MS and NMR. (Taking place at Univeristy of Strathclyde) 2. Futher investigating the role of Propolis in the Hive (University of Gloucester) 3. Dental trials looking at effectiveness of Propolis for Mouth Ulcers, Pericorinitis, Gingivitis and Sensitive Teeth. (Manchester University Dental school) 4. HIV/AIDS trials looking at the effectiveness of Propolis with anti-virals in Zambia and Tanzania 5. The effects of standardised propolis on mood, stress, fatigue and cognition at the Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit at University of Newcastle. 6. To evaluate the use of local and non local propolis for wound healing and the treatment of skin and other dermatological problems. ( The Regional Teaching Hospital for University of Dar es Salaam) 10 Tips for Responsible Medication Use All medications, which include prescriptions, over-the-counter preparations, vitamin and mineral supplements, and herbal preparations, are potentially dangerous. Following some simple rules will not only reduce your chance of having a problem, but should reduce your cost as well. Bextra and Vioxx Withdrawal Spurs Price Increase Among Rivals The market for painkillers is huge. People don't like pain and inflammation, and last year Americans spent nearly $4 billion on just two of them Vioxx and Bextra. Those two drugs, part of a family of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, were withdrawn from the market recently amid concerns that they can cause heart attacks and strokes. The loss of these two drugs to the marketplace is huge, as they were the two largest sellers in a fairly narrow field. COX-2 inhibitors differ from traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in that they inhibit production of the COX-2 enzyme that causes inflammation but do not interfere with COX-1, the enzyme that protects the stomach lining. Patients who use these drugs are thought to suffer less from internal discomfort and bleeding than those who took traditional anti-inflammatories, such as naproxen and ibuprofen. How Do I Choose The Best Arthritis Medicine? Are you spending a fortune on prescription arthritis medicines? Are they helping? Are you concerned about side effects? You may think a particular drug is a miraculous godsend. Yet, someone you know may take the same dose only to experience little relief and life-threatening side effects. All of the choices can be confusing. What You Should Know About Mixing Medications and Diet... I had a call the other day from a potential client in a serious situation. He was young and had been diagnosed with CAD (Coronary Artery Disease), suffering from extremely high blood pressure and cholesterol, his doctor had put him on a medication that was suppose to lower and control these symptoms, and he had been on this medication for over 2 years.
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