Dr Raj Persaud: A British Soldier in Afghanistan Has a Baby Without Knowing She Was Pregnant - How Is This Possible?

Dr Raj Persaud: A British Soldier in Afghanistan Has a Baby Without Knowing She Was Pregnant - How Is This Possible?

The story that a British soldier, who did not realise she was pregnant, has recently given birth 'on the front line' in Afghanistan, is a more common enigma than generally realised.

Pregnancy, particularly late pregnancy when a mother is close to giving birth, would seem an utterly obvious condition. Yet obstetricians repeatedly encounter women who even deliver at full term, without being at all aware they were pregnant.

Many of these predicaments end joyously, with a woman who initially complained to doctors of baffling tummy pain, finding themselves astonished, but eventually pleased mothers. Yet doctors know that the story doesn't end there, what happens to that baby afterwards can be of grave medical concern.

There is a possible and controversial association between so called 'denial of pregnancy' and killing of such newborns. Women who deny pregnancy obviously don't get the right antenatal care and this is hazardous. But is there also a strong link in some cases with neonaticide (homicide within the first 24 hours of life)? This serious problem is being actively researched at the moment.

Some women who deny pregnancy might be much more likely than the general population to kill their newborns, sometimes through neglect, and these can be found in the lavatory, garbage disposal, or a hasty grave.

Klaus Beier, Reinhard Wille and Jens Wessel from the University Clinic Charite´, Berlin and Sexual-Medical Department, University Clinic, Kiel, Germany have surveyed research on pregnancy denial, and found that reports of the phenomenon are in fact increasing recently.

German data suggests one case of denied pregnancy occurs in 475 deliveries for women who were not aware of being pregnant, and did not receive a diagnosis of pregnancy during the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy. Women who do not realize they are pregnant until going into actual labour occurs 1 in 2455 deliveries.

Wessel lead a team whose survey of all births in Berlin over one year, published in the academic journal 'Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica', found such totally unexpected deliveries of a viable fetus, without any previous knowledge at all of being pregnant, occurs roughly 300 times a year in a country the size of Germany. According to their calculations, in the study titled 'Frequency of denial of pregnancy: results and epidemiological significance of a one-year prospective study in Berlin', this means denial of pregnancy occurs three times more often than triplets.

Wessel and colleagues point out that besides denial of pregnancy, there is concealment of pregnancy; the woman actually knows she is pregnant, but hides it from those around her. Possibly fear of disgrace, or worry her partner will leave, may be factors. Very immature younger women who are victims of an unplanned pregnancy may try to 'forget' they are pregnant, perhaps hoping it will go away.

In their study of 'pregnancy deniers' entitled, 'Denial of pregnancy as a reproductive dysfunction: A proposal for international classification systems' Beier, Wille and Wessel found 38% had actually visited the doctor during their pregnancy, but the physician, remarkably, didn't spot the pregnancy. The researchers explain this surprising finding as not in fact that unusual, and explained by a fair degree of obstetrical ignorance being common in non-gynecologists.

An interesting psychological theory they propose is that an unconscious dynamic sometimes develops between a mother in strong denial and her doctor, so they both end up colluding in the denial. This common process is known as 'projective identification' and a sympathetic doctor-patient relationship is vulnerable to the physician embracing the denial projected on to them by the patient.

Another peculiar phenomenon which contributes to pregnancy denial is the continuation of regular menstruation during a pregnancy, which was the case in 46% of Beier, Wille and Wessel's sample of pregnancy deniers. In the study published in the 'Journal of Psychosomatic Research', the authors declare doctors still don't have a medical explanation for this frequently described mystery. Sometimes in older women no periods is confused or rationalised as the start of menopause.

The authors conclude that women who fail to grasp they are pregnant before delivery are commonly suspected of deception or psychosis, yet this and other research finds the overwhelming majority have a normal lQ, little or no obvious psychiatric disorder, and only around 5% appear to suffer psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia.

Beier, Wille and Wessel point out that before we jump to the conclusion these women are stupid or insane, denial of physical illness is very common. Indeed it is almost normal following a life-changing diagnosis such as cancer or severe heart disease. Such denial frequently leads to not following medical advice and this is even a norm in many serious physical illnesses.

There are many different kinds and levels of psychological 'denial'. One form is 'affective denial' and means while intellectually aware of the pregnancy, a woman demonstrates little emotional reaction. For women with severe addictions for example, if unable to give up their dependency, emotional denial defends against guilt from harming their foetus through substance abuse. Psychotic denial of pregnancy might be particularly likely in those with a previous history of psychosis, combined with prior loss of custody of other children, as a result of their severe mental illness.

Natacha Vellut, Jon Cook and Anne Tursz from the Centre de Recherche Médecine, Sciences, Santé, Santé mentale et Société, Paris, have just published a study examining what proportion of neonaticides are made up of women who deny their pregnancy. In three regions of France over a 5-year period there were 32 cases of neonaticide of which possibly three pregnancies were undiscovered until delivery. The authors wonder whether denial of pregnancy has been over-rated by doctors before as an underlying factor in eventual neonaticide.

The study entitled 'Analysis of the relationship between neonaticide and denial of pregnancy using data from judicial files', argues pregnancy deniers may disconnect pregnancy from childbirth. While aware of being pregnant from time to time, none of these mothers seemed to foresee or get ready for delivery.

Just published in the academic journal 'Child Abuse and Neglect', perhaps the most disturbing finding of the study, is that it revealed neonaticide to be at least 5.4 times more frequent in France than officially recorded in mortality statistics.

The authors also point out that as 25% of cases related to discovery of the corpse of a newborn whose family was never identified, this raises the possibility of a much higher unknown number of bodies never discovered.

If so, denial or concealment of pregnancy, might also be much more common that officially realised.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Rania Batayneh, MPH: 4 Myths That May Be Affecting Your Waistline

Rania Batayneh, MPH: 4 Myths That May Be Affecting Your Waistline

Every day, we are tempted to try another weight loss product or fad diet. In fact, daily, we engage in thoughts that may not be conducive to our weight-loss goals. These thoughts are communicated to us via media and what celebrities do to lose weight, or by manufacturers who want us to continue to buy their products. In my practice, I am debunking myths and setting the record straight. Here, I am sharing with you four diet myths that may be doing more harm than good.

• 1. A Gluten-Free Diet Will Help Me Lose Weight

  Due to the recent onslaught of media stories showcasing celebrities who have lost weight and claim they did so because of a gluten-free diet, many people believe that removing gluten from their diet will automatically lead to weight loss. A gluten-free diet isn't necessarily healthier: If you simply replace processed, gluten-containing foods with processed, gluten-free foods, you're still consuming just as many calories, fat, and sugars in the form of refined carbohydrates. In some cases, you may be consuming more calories: Food manufacturers add in fats and sugars to replace the loss of texture and taste that gluten provides. However, switching to a gluten-free diet when medically necessary can be healthy, if you replace processed carbs with beans, legumes, vegetables, and other whole foods. Otherwise, enjoy your whole-grain sandwich.

• 2. Products That Are Labeled "Reduced-Fat" Or "Fat-Free" Are More Nutritious Than Their Original Counterparts

  Foods that have been modified to become fat-free or reduced-fat might seem more nutritious than their original form. If you take out the fat, you take out some excess calories, and you get virtually the same product, right? Let's compare one brand's regular peanut butter to their reduced-fat version: Per two tablespoons, the regular version has 190 calories, 16 grams of fat, and three grams of sugar. Their reduced-fat version has 190 calories, 12 grams of fat, and four grams of sugar. Essentially, the reduced-fat version has been stripped of one quarter of its healthy monounsaturated fats, and to replace that flavor, the brand has added in fillings, additives, and sugar. And all for the same amount of calories! Picking reduced-fat products may even end up hurting your waistline: In one study, average-weight participants ate 22 percent more calories if the food was labeled "low-fat," and overweight participants ate <a href="http://www.realsimple.com/health/nutrition-diet/weight-loss/busting-10-diet-myths-10000001700385/page10.html" target="_hplink">up to 50 percent more</a>. Stick to the full-fat versions to retain the healthy benefits of peanuts and their monounsaturated fats: increased satiety and a decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes (and avoid those empty fillers!).

• 3. Organic Or Natural Foods Are More Nutritious

  In one study, two groups were asked to rate the nutritional value and sensory attributes of the same cookie; one groups' cookies were labeled as organic, whereas the other groups' cookies had no label. The participants whose cookies were labeled as organic estimated that their cookies contained <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/cfb-cl042810.php" target="_hplink">40 percent fewer calories</a>, had significantly more fiber, and were more appetizing than other brands. Trigger words like "organic," "natural" and "local" promote misconceptions about the true nutritional value of a food, and can give otherwise junk food a "health halo." A cookie is a cookie, even if it's made with organic grains, cage-free eggs, and local honey -- and it still contains calories, fat, and sugars!

• 4. Diet Soda Is Harmless

  The nutritional panel on a diet soda reads all zeros: zero calories, zero sugars, zero fat. These numbers have led many weight-conscious Americans to switch from regular soda to diet soda - it's an easy way to cut out <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/focus/" target="_hplink">over a dozen teaspoons</a> of excess sugar a day (per drink!). Statistics tell us that diet sodas may not be so friendly to your waistline, however: A University of Texas study found that people who drank three or more diet sodas per week have a <a href="http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/print-list/186379" target="_hplink">40 percent greater chance</a> of being obese. Experts believe this oddity is due to the fact that artificial sweeteners tend to trigger your appetite -- making you want more and more sugar -- but without actually satisfying a desire for sweets like normal sugar does. Diet-soda-drinkers end up eating tons of sugary and fatty snacks in order to satisfy their cravings. Diet sodas are also often loaded with additives, including caramel coloring. Although it sounds harmless, this caramel coloring is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites, resulting in <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/05/news/la-heb-cola-cancer-20120305" target="_hplink">2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole</a> -- two compounds that have been found to cause lung, liver, and thyroid cancers in mice. Gradually wean yourself off the diet soda by switching to fruit juice mixed with seltzer, and eventually switch entirely to water flavored with fresh fruit and green tea.

For more by Rania Batayneh, MPH, click here.

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Roshi Joan Halifax: Practicing G.R.A.C.E.: How To Have Compassion

Roshi Joan Halifax: Practicing G.R.A.C.E.: How To Have Compassion

Compassion can change your life. Just ask Dr. Gary Pasternak, the medical director of Mission Hospice in San Mateo, Calif.:

"I'm up late admitting patients to the inpatient hospice unit. Just when I think I'm too old for these late nights without sleep, a person in all their rawness, vulnerability, and pain lays before me. As my hands explore the deep wounds in her chest and my ears open to her words, my heart cracks open once again.... This night, a sweet 36-year-old woman with her wildly catastrophic breast cancer speaks of her acceptance and her hope for her children, and she speaks with such authenticity and authority. Her acceptance comes to me as the deepest humility a person can experience. Then again, once again, I remember why I stay up these late nights and put myself in the company of the dying." (From "Humanities: Art, Language and Spirituality in Health Care")

Compassion may be defined as the capacity to be attentive to the experience of others, to wish the best for others, and to sense what will truly serve others. Ironically, in a time when we hear the phrase "compassion fatigue" with increasing frequency, compassion as we are defining does not lead to fatigue. In fact, it can actually become a wellspring of resilience as we allow our natural impulse to care for another to become a source of nourishment rather than depletion.

Developing our capacity for compassion makes it possible for us to help others in a more skillful and effective way. And compassion helps us as well. Findings from recent research studies suggest that compassion plays a significant role in reducing physiological stress and promoting physical and emotional well-being. (For a collection of studies and articles on the benefits of compassion, see this list from the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, based at Stanford University: http://ccare.stanford.edu/publications/articles.)

For nearly 40 years, I have been exploring ways to bring compassion into our medical system and particularly into the work of caring for the dying. These efforts came to fruition in 1994 with the founding of the Being With Dying (BWD) professional training program. While the BWD program is based at Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, N.M., I have been honored to share this training with thousands of health care professionals throughout the world.

For many years, our interdisciplinary team of distinguished health care leaders and educators, including Dr. Pasternak, Dr. Tony Back, and Dr. Cynda Rushton, has worked together in the BWD training, bringing wisdom, sound practicality, and applied compassion to this powerful program in order to transform the quality of countless lives -- and deaths.

Recently, in response to the need for tools that can help prevent burnout and secondary trauma in clinicians, I developed the G.R.A.C.E. model. This practice offers physicians, nurses, and others working in stressful situations a simple and efficient way to open to their patient's experience, to stay centered in the presence of suffering, and to develop the capacity to respond with compassion.

This model has worked so well that we are now adapting G.R.A.C.E. so that it can be used in other settings, including education, corrections, and other relationship-based service endeavors.

G.R.A.C.E. is a simple mnemonic that is easy to remember -- an important quality when we are in the midst of a stressful interaction or situation. Recalling the elements of G.R.A.C.E. allows us to slow down and be more mindful and aware in the process of interacting with another so that compassion can arise.

It's quite possible to use G.R.A.C.E. in your everyday interactions and allow it to help you cultivate more compassion in your own life. Here's how to do it.

The G.R.A.C.E. model has five elements:
1. Gathering attention: focus, grounding, balance
2. Recalling intention: the resource of motivation
3. Attuning to self/other: affective resonance
4. Considering: what will serve
5. Engaging: ethical enactment, then ending

You can use the following detailed description of each element as a script for your own G.R.A.C.E. practice:

1. Gather your attention.
Pause, breathe in, give yourself time to get grounded. Invite yourself to be present and embodied by sensing into a place of stability in your body. You can focus your attention on the breath, for example, or on a neutral part of the body, like the soles of your feet or your hands as they rest on each other. You can also bring your attention to a phrase or an object. You can use this moment of gathering your attention to interrupt your assumptions and expectations and to allow yourself to relax and be present.

2. Recall your intention.
Remember what your life is really about, that is to act with integrity and respect the integrity in all those whom you encounter. Remember that your intention is to help others and serve others and to open your heart to the world. This "touch-in" can happen in a moment. Your motivation keeps you on track, morally grounded, and connected to your highest values.

3. Attune by first checking in with yourself, then whomever you are interacting with.
First notice what's going on in your own mind and body. Then, sense into the experience of whom you are with; sense into what the other person is saying, especially emotional cues: voice tone, body language. Sense without judgment. This is an active process of inquiry, first involving yourself, then the other person. Open a space in which the encounter can unfold, in which you are present for whatever may arise, in yourself and in the other person. How you notice the other person, how you acknowledge the other person, how the other person notices you and acknowledges you... all constitute a kind of mutual exchange. The richer you make this mutual exchange, the more there is the capacity for unfolding.

4. Consider what will really serve the other person by being truly present for this one and letting insights arise.
As the encounter with the other person unfolds, notice what the other person might be offering in this moment. What are you sensing, seeing, learning? Ask yourself: What will really serve here? Draw on your expertise, knowledge, and experience, and at the same time, be open to seeing things in a fresh way. This is a diagnostic step, and as well, the insights you have may fall outside of a predictable category. Don't jump to conclusions too quickly.

5. Engage, enact ethically. Then end the interaction and allow for emergence of the next step.

Part 1: Engage and enact. Compassionate action emerges from the sense of openness, connectedness, and discernment you have created. This action might be a recommendation, an open question about values, or a proposal for how to spend the remaining time with this person. You co-create with the other person a dynamic, morally grounded situation, characterized by mutuality, trust, and consistent with your values and ethics; you draw on your expertise, intuition, and insight, and you look for common ground consistent with your values and supportive of mutual integrity. What emerges is principled compassion: mutual, respectful of all persons involved, and as well practical and actionable. These aspirations may not always be realized; there may be deeply-rooted conflicts in goals and values that must be addressed from this place of stability and discernment.

Part 2: End the interaction. Mark the end of the interaction with this person; release, let go, breathe out. Explicitly recognize internally when the encounter is over, so that you can move cleanly to the next interaction or task; this recognition can be marked by attention to your out-breath. While the next step might be more than you expected would be possible or disappointingly small, notice that, acknowledge what transpired. Without acknowledgement of what unfolded, it will be difficult to let go of this encounter and move on.

We live in a time when science is validating what humans have known throughout the ages: that compassion is not a luxury; it is a necessity for our well-being, resilience, and survival. My hope is that the G.R.A.C.E. model will help you to actualize compassion in your own life and that the impact of this will ripple out to benefit the people with whom you interact each day as well as countless others.

For more by Roshi Joan Halifax, click here.

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Dr. Terri Kennedy: WATCH: On Turning Inward

Dr. Terri Kennedy: WATCH: On Turning Inward

How often do you turn your attention inward? How would you benefit from greater self-awareness? Be inspired by my conversation with Peter Sterios on "Going Within." Peter is creator of the popular Gravity & Grace yoga DVD, one of the top 15 yoga DVDs of all time according to Yoga Journal. He is also the founder of Manduka, a leading eco-yoga products company, and a writer and former contributing editor for Yoga Journal. His yoga classes, workshops, and teacher trainings are offered worldwide and reflect more than three decades of practice and study. I caught up with him at Omega's 2012 Being Yoga Conference Retreat.

Watch Now:

This post is part of "Being Yoga," a series on using yoga to transform your life. Dr. Terri Kennedy interviews some of the most respected yoga teachers in the country. It starts with "7 Ways to Transform your Life... from 7 Expert Yogis." Check back later this week for new interviews.

Check out the entire series in video over the coming weeks:

Peter Sterios on "Going Within"
Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee on "Being Yoga"
Beryl Bender Birch on "Being Present"
Cyndi Lee on "Integrating your Self"
Reverend Jaganath Carrera on "Yoga and Spirituality"
Elena Brower on "The Art of Attention"
Masood Ali Khan and Sheela Bringi on "Music and the Spirit"

Be sure to read the conversation with Sharon Gannon on "Yoga, Life and Being Vegan."

Dr. Kennedy is the founder of Ta Yoga, which operated one of the first yoga studios in Harlem. She also served six years on the Board of Yoga Alliance -- which sets the standards for yoga teaching in the U.S. Now, she applies the principles and techniques from yoga to the Power Living coaching process in order to help people have the clarity and energy to reach their highest potential. Check out her coaching services, private yoga training, inspirational products and/or speaking services.

Do you want to step up your energy, reduce stress or tone your entire body? Get private yoga training from Terri Kennedy.

For relaxation right now, try Dr. Kennedy's latest 1-Minute Mini-Escape. For inspiration for your transformation, listen to Watch the Gap. Also, read about Mindfulness as a Path to Sustainability and about The Power of Meditation.

For more by Dr. Terri Kennedy, click here.

For more on yoga, click here.

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Stress Disrupts Short-Term Memory Function, Research Suggests

Stress Disrupts Short-Term Memory Function, Research Suggests

Scientists believe that stress could have a direct impact on short-term memory.

In a recent study, a group of psychologists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison noted a link between stress and the mind’s ability to ‘remember’ information.

The neurons of the brain's prefrontal cortex store information for short periods, allowing individuals to concentrate on a task and modulate their emotions.

However, in tests, psychologists found that rats subjected to stress (a large blast of white noise) no longer functioned well.

"We're simultaneously watching dozens of individual neurons firing in the rats' brains, and under stress those neurons get even more active," David Devilbiss, lead author, in a statement.

"But what they're doing is not retaining information important to completing the maze. They're reacting to other things, less useful things."

Study Shows Job Stress Linked To Heart Problems

According to psychology professor Craig Berridge, people without a prefrontal cortex are very distractible, impulsive and argumentative.

Previous drug studies have suggested that stress suppresses health brain activity.

However, the researchers suggest their work may suggest new directions for treatment of prefrontal cortex dysfunction.

"These studies demonstrate that rather than suppressing activity, stress modifies the nature of that activity. Treatments that keep neurons on their self-stimulating task while shutting out distractions may help protect working memory."

The research is published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

David Katz, M.D.: What You Should Know About Bacteria On Your Body

David Katz, M.D.: What You Should Know About Bacteria On Your Body

We have long known that bacteria living on and in our bodies outnumber our cells -- which themselves sum up to a number that exceeds any hope of real understanding -- by 20 to one. We are a rounding error in our own skin.

And we have increasing evidence of the profound influence of these intimate neighbors on far more than just digestion. They are increasingly implicated in collaboration with us in almost every aspect of our physiology, exerting particularly noteworthy effects on immune system function and hormonal balance. There is increasing evidence that they may have something to do with the prevalence of obesity, or at least those cases of it associated with particular resistance to weight loss.

We have also long known that the particular cells of the immune system responsible for inflammation in allergy and asthma, called eosinophils, are the cells on which the body calls to fight parasites. Other cells preferentially get the call for dealing with viruses (lymphocytes), or pathogenic bacteria (neutrophils).

And we have long seen a pattern in global epidemiology that hints at something profound about our place in nature, and nature's place in us. By and large, societies that still have parasites to contend with don't have allergies or asthma. Societies, such as ours, burdened by allergy and asthma, have mostly banished our parasites -- such as the various worms that would otherwise take up residence in our gastrointestinal tracts.

All of this is time-honored knowledge. But it is inviting the evolution of new thinking. Maybe parasites aren't all bad.

It may be that the inverse association between parasites and asthma isn't true, true, and unrelated, but actually about cause-and-effect. In the simplest of potential explanations, it may be that when eosinophils are busy doing the job for which they were intended, they don't have the opportunity to loiter in the lungs and cause trouble. It may be that when an immune system has real work to do, it doesn't get all worked up over pollen. Humans cannot be pollinated; pollen is not a genuine threat.

The plot quickly thickens thereafter. If immune system idleness leads to pollen-related mischief, it may underlie far more serious pathologies as well.

Autoimmune diseases are diverse and widespread, and in the aggregate account for a huge portion of the disease burden in modern societies, an enormous toll of misery, astronomical costs, and highly prevalent disability. The category includes conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis, to rheumatoid arthritis, to inflammatory bowel diseases.

What we know of autoimmune diseases, and it's not nearly enough, attributes them to a case of mistaken identity. The fundamental job of the immune system is to defend "us" from "them," "them" being all foreign material in the universe that could attempt to invade our personal space, and would represent a threat were it to do so.

You can well imagine there is no reasonable means to inventory all "foreign material in the universe." So the body has applied the far more manageable approach of simply inventorying itself.

All of our cells bear proteins on their surface, called histocompatibility antigens. That's a long word, but there's an easy way to think of them: initials in your underwear at sleep-away camp. If you go to sleep-away camp (or boarding school, or college), and you wind up in a communal laundry situation, you certainly don't want to memorize what everyone else's underwear looks like. Just mark your own -- and know that everything else is foreign. That's how the immune system works.

But unfortunately, those proteins on our own cells and the proteins on some foreign invaders can look an awful lot alike -- just as someone else can have the same initials as you. When the immune system is provoked to respond to the one, it may mistakenly go after the other. And so it may be that an invader of some kind that really isn't very dangerous comes, and goes -- and leaves the immune system bogged down in a case of mistaken identity, chronically attacking some part of our own body it now misreads as foreign.

While I am not an immunologist, I do deal with autoimmune conditions in my patients enough to have devoted considerable thought to the vexing problem they pose. My musings on the topic have run to "recognition enhancement vaccines," essentially a form of immunization we could use to help the immune system distinguish more faithfully between native and foreign.

Such an approach is used in computer systems to identify fingerprints, for instance. If two prints that look alike are not reliably differentiated by the software, a higher-powered image of an area of noteworthy distinction is fed into the computer -- which then reliably tells the two apart. Such an approach does not yet exist for autoimmunity in us, but I believe it could.

But much creative thinking is now devoted to another approach altogether: getting down and dirty with nature.

There is very little inflammatory bowel disease in parts of the world where bowels accommodate helminths. Or in plain English: worms.

There are now some studies indicating a potential therapeutic benefit of introducing such parasites as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. Other studies suggest comparable benefit for diverse autoimmune diseases, such as MS, having nothing obviously to do with the bowel. And since inflammation underlies the most prevalent chronic diseases of all -- heart disease, cancer, and diabetes -- a potential link there, too, is well within the bounds of current thinking.

The mechanisms of such benefit remain a topic of conjecture. Parasites influence the regulation and responses of the immune system, may alter the integrity of the gut lining, and may simply occupy immune cells otherwise at liberty to cause trouble. It's all a work in progress, as are the relevant therapeutic options.

For now, the use of probiotic bacteria in capsule form as a therapeutic modality for such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome is increasingly routine. We make extensive use of probiotics and related products in my clinic.

The use of therapeutic parasites is not yet routine, or even routinely accessible -- but movement in that direction no longer looks implausible. We have much yet to learn about the optimal balance between distancing ourselves from the dangers of predation by such means as antibiotics and hygiene, and accommodating the ecological equilibrium of which we are an indelible part, and to which we are adapted.

On the topic of antibiotics and indelible linkages, there is a fascinating addendum to this column courtesy of Italian sausage. A recent study indicates that antibiotics used routinely in livestock leave residues in the meats from which sausages are made, that in turn kill bacteria used intentionally in the making of sausage, and responsible for a fermentation process that in turn kills other bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella, which can otherwise hurt or even kill us. The law of unintended consequences may never have been more dramatically ratified.

I have made the case recently that religion and science need not be at odds, and that there are consequences when we act otherwise. Science makes a compelling case for our place in nature, and nature's place in us. So, too, does religion -- which attributes all creation to divine providence. Whichever view you favor, there seems abundant cause to respect the intricate web of life of which we are but one strand.

We are clearly deceiving ourselves to think we can untangle that web haphazardly, and not suffer consequences.

-fin

Dr. David L. Katz; www.davidkatzmd.com
www.turnthetidefoundation.org

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Christy Matta, M.A.: A Flawed Life: How It Just Might Make You Happier

Christy Matta, M.A.: A Flawed Life: How It Just Might Make You Happier

When is the last time you read a glossy magazine and gazed at the pictures of flawlessly decorated rooms, shiny cars or airbrushed models and actresses with perfect clothes and hair and felt inadequate?

We each have a certain way of looking at the world. How we grew up and our own natural personality characteristics determine what we think and believe about ourselves and the world around us. Believing that you and the world around you must be flawless in order for you to be happy is a common in an age where we are surrounded by airbrushed images and messages that nothing short of perfection is acceptable.

Unfortunately, the pursuit of perfection doesn't make us happier or ease stress. A perfect body doesn't solve your emotional problems, a shiny new car doesn't mean you're any more likely to be taken seriously at work and a meticulously kept house can't keep you from a divorce or financial problems.

The fact is, believing you must be flawless adds to life's challenges. It is linked to increased stress and a number of other emotional, physical, and relationship problems, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

On the other hand, doing your best can make you feel competent, proud and in control of your life. Being flawed allows you to have honest emotions, to tackle difficult problems and to see yourself as successful for what you do achieve.

How Do You Know If You Are a Perfectionist?

When you make a mistake, do you spend days, weeks or even months in self-recrimination? Are you intensely competitive and highly self-critical if you don't come in first? If you can't do something "the right way," would you rather not do it? Do you often find yourself correcting other people when they are wrong? Are you acutely aware of other people's expectations and self-conscious about making mistakes in front of others?

If you answered "yes" to the questions above, you may be overly focused on being perfect, rather than good enough.

How Can You Become Happier?

Perfectionism occurs in your thoughts. It is the thoughts about yourself, your actions, the actions of those around you and the world around you that must change.

Try This:

When you make a mistake and become self-critical, soften the thought. For example, instead of thinking "I'm an idiot," or "I'm a failure," think "I'm human," or "Mistakes are necessary to achieve anything new."

Refocus your attention. If you enter a room and typically notice all the imperfections, refocus on what is "right" about the room. Or focus on what is beautiful, comfortable or interesting.

Start conversations with a positive. Often when you're a perfectionist you hold others to your own perfect standards, which can create tension and damage relationships. When you speak to someone or give feedback to someone, start the conversation with a genuine observation of a positive characteristic or action.

Internalize positive self-talk. Try to turn that positive conversation into internal self-talk. If you get focused on your own mistakes and failures, or find yourself listing all the reasons you "can't" try something new, switch your focus to your positive characteristics or the positive actions you've taken. When you're mind wanders back to your failures or fears, refocus back on what your strengths.

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