Do Lesser-Recognized Facelift Exercises Work For Getting Rid Of Lines And Toning Faces?

One can find anti-aging skin care products which can make improvements to the skin. However, there exists a better way for appearing younger and that's with facial exercises. Do they work well? If you are searching for answers please read on further about face aerobics. Read here

The Importance of Sulfur, Especially As We Age

As we get older, our skin begins to wrinkle and droop a little, and our muscles and joints become a little less flexible and harder to stretch. We probably just put this off as normal aging, but it is also obvious that not everyone ages at the same rate. So why do we age at different rates, and is there anything we can do to rig the game? Some of it is indeed genetic, but there are nutrients that we can make sure are in our diet to help us age more slowly. Source

Kathy Andersen: 4 Steps For Getting On The Right Side Of Success

Kathy Andersen: 4 Steps For Getting On The Right Side Of Success

Is Your Definition of Success Making You Unsuccessful?

Do you wake up each morning feeling inspired, passionate, and purposeful in your life, knowing that you have set your life on a path toward "authentic success"?

If not, perhaps you need to redefine success in your life in a way that is attuned to the uniqueness of who you are, and all that you are here to be. "Changing your shoes," stepping outside of your life, observing it with new possibilities, and creating your "authentic success affirmation" can be your first steps to bringing "authentic success" into your life and leaping out of bed each morning!

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." Our lives count toward that "one life" lived, because we have an obligation to honor our lives, as much as the lives around us. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is explicit in that command.

The question is, how do we enable ourselves, and those around us, to "breathe easier" and experience our greatest and most authentic successes? How do we not get lost in looking for "success in all the wrong places," and end up with achievement but not fulfillment? How do we experience wealth as abundance in our being, not only in our bank accounts? How do we redefine success so it is filled with substance and not superficiality?

The origins of the word "success" are found in the Latin word "successus," meaning "advance, succession, happy outcome." Yet, to what or to where are you advancing? What "succession" and legacy are you creating? What makes you truly happy? What will be the impact on the greatest vision for your life, and on your contribution to the world?

The answers are found in committing to take steps each day that allow you to breathe your authenticity into the world, in the pursuit of your perpetual magnificence, not your temporary materialism. Without that pursuit, you clip the wings that enable you to fly to your greatest heights.

Steps to Achieving Authentic Success:

1. Change Your Shoes!

Take off your shoes and stand barefoot in your life. Think about the shoes that represent "success on the outside," yet don't make you feel comfort, wellness, happiness, and freedom on the inside.

1. Write down the successes "on the outside" that don't necessarily "fit" you on the inside.
2. Write down what success would look like on the outside if it were inspired by what brings you to life on the inside -- your authentic success. Think about the feelings you most want to experience every day, what you want to express in the world every day, the most purposeful legacy you would like to create -- the most meaningful impact you want to have in your life and in the world.

2. Step Outside Your Life!

Leap outside of your life and elevate yourself to a higher platform from which you can see yourself standing in the world. Are you taking responsibility for where you appear in your life and in the world? Do you see other places you wish to be?

1. Write down how you see yourself from your higher platform. Describe what you see around you, and what is missing around you. Describe what you sense is complete within you, and what is missing within you.
2. From your higher platform, and guided by your inspiration, passion, and to where you wish to purposefully "advance," what guidance would you give to yourself?

3. Allow New Possibilities for Your Life.

Often we become stuck in the "shoes" we wear every day. The comfort of our habits keeps us from the happiness that comes from leaping into new possibilities. Unless we step into new shoes and onto new paths, we remain stuck in the same place, in the same circumstances.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

In order to "go" onto those paths, you need to find the shoes that can take you, and then you must choose to leap. You must allow yourself to try new shoes and take new paths. It is your choice. It is your life. It is in your hands. It is waiting now.

1. Write down the new possibilities you would like to create for your life, guided by your passion and purpose.
2. Write down what "authentic success" would look like in your life as those possibilities become realities.
3. List the first steps you need to take, and then identify just one that you can take today. Take it today. Then tomorrow, take the next. Keep listing and taking those steps for 30 days to create new habits that will take you along paths to your most authentic successes in your life.

4. Create Your "Authentic Success Affirmation."

The key to continuing to travel on the path to your authentic successes is to keep affirming all you desire within you to manifest those things in the world around you. Create your "authentic success affirmation," and keep it with you. Each morning, in the middle of your day, and before you sleep, read your affirmation aloud and feel its presence in your life.

Answer the following to create your authentic success affirmation:

1. Which three feelings do you most want to experience every day in your life?

1. ___________________
   
2. ___________________
   
3. ___________________

2. Which two words describe how you would like to most purposefully affect the world around you each day? For example: inspire, empower, influence, teach, heal, help, etc.

1. ___________________
   
2. ___________________

3. Write a phrase describing the world you would most like to create. (Don't hold back!)
___________________________________________________________________________

Finally, combine the answers to 1, 2, and 3 above, to complete your authentic success affirmation:

I feel (1) ________________, __________________, and __________________
as I (2) ___________________ and ____________________ myself and others
to create a world in which (3) _________________________________________________ .

Click here to be guided through Kathy's accompanying HuffPost GPS For The Soul.

To experience a deeper, personal journey on the path to your authentic success and transformation, trial Kathy's award-winning book, Change Your Shoes, Live Your Greatest Life, here.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Dr. Michael J. Breus: Lack Of Sleep Disrupts Our Genes

Dr. Michael J. Breus: Lack Of Sleep Disrupts Our Genes

Insufficient sleep is related to a range of health problems, from diabetes and cardiovascular disease to depression, poor immune function, and cognitive decline, particularly in later years. For all that we know about the health risks associated with lack of sleep, we actually don't know a lot about exactly how poor sleep contributes to poor health. The mechanics of the relationship between sleep and disease remain little understood.

New research may offer some important insight into how sleep affects heath. A new study indicates that poor sleep can significantly disrupt and inhibit normal gene activity in hundreds of genes. The genes affected help to govern broad and important biological functions, including stress, the immune system, inflammation, metabolism, and circadian rhythms. A team of researchers led by scientists at England's University of Surrey examined the influence of sleep on gene function and found that a week of low sleep altered the activity of more than 700 genes. The study was collaborative effort among specialists in sleep science, genomics, physiology, and bioinformatics.

The study included 26 adults whose sleep was monitored for two weeks. During the first week, participants sleep slightly fewer than six hours per night, less than the recommended seven to eight hours. During the second week, they slept 8.5 hours nightly. After the conclusion of each week, researchers took blood samples and analyzed them to identify any changes in genetic activity. After controlling for other factors, including exposure to light, activity levels, and food, the results showed that a single week of insufficient sleep had a dramatic effect on gene activity:

• Low sleep altered the activity of 711 genes.
• The total number of genes affected by sleep increased by seven times after one week of sleep deprivation.
• Many of our genes rise and fall in activity in accordance with our body's 24-hour circadian clock. A week of insufficient sleep reduced the total number of genes that rise and fall in line with circadian rhythms from 1,855 to 1,481.
• Sleep deprivation also diminished the amplitude of the rise and fall of some of these circadian-aligned genes.

The genes affected by sleep deprivation help govern circadian rhythms, metabolic functions, and sleep homeostasis -- the regulation of sleep itself. These are genes connected to immune system functioning, inflammation levels, and stress responses. Previous research has shown that disrupted sleep is indeed strongly associated with health problems related to these biological functions:

Circadian rhythms. In recent years, we've learned a great deal about the importance of our circadian rhythms to health. Sleep itself is one of the many essential biological functions governed by our 24-hour circadian clock. Disruptions to circadian function are associated with a range of health problems, including psychiatric disorders, dementia, metabolic disorders such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer.

Metabolism. Disrupted sleep is also strongly associated with metabolic diseases, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. Studies have shown that sleep problems can predict the future development of metabolic syndrome, a disorder that is associated with higher risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Sleep is a critical factor in healthy weight control, and sleep deprivation is strongly linked to obesity. And there is a great deal of research to indicate that poor sleep increases the risk of diabetes, perhaps by contributing to insulin resistance.

Inflammation. Inflammation in the body is linked to a long list of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, diabetes, and cancer. Insufficient sleep has been linked to an increase in inflammation. This study showed people who slept six or fewer hours per night had higher levels of inflammation than those who slept between six and nine hours nightly.

Immune system. Research has also shown that sleep plays a role in immune system functioning. Numerous studies in recent years indicate that disrupted sleep, as well as too little sleep, may compromise healthy immune activity. This recent research found poor sleep to be as damaging to the immune system as stress.

Stress. Stress response is another biological process affected by the gene disruption found in this latest study. The relationship between sleep and stress is complicated. Stress can interfere with both the quantity and quality of sleep, as this study shows. And insufficient sleep can have negative effects on the way we respond to stress. Research shows that low sleep is linked to hormonal changes that can affect stress response. Studies also show that healthy sleep works to ease the emotional sting of difficult memories. Lack of sleep may inhibit our ability to process difficult emotional experiences, prolonging periods of stress and anxiety.

There's an abundance of scientific evidence linking sleep to these and other health problems. But we're just scratching the surface of understanding the underlying pathways by which sleep influences health. Understanding more about how sleep affects genetic function holds great promise in illuminating these pathways and could open important new avenues for both treatment and prevention of illness and disease.

Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, Ph.D.
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night's sleep™
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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Brooke Burke-Charvet's Healthy-Living Secrets

Brooke Burke-Charvet's Healthy-Living Secrets

Get Healthy Living Alerts:

By Amy Spencer

You'd never guess looking at her now, but just four months ago Brooke Burke-Charvet was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer. The diagnosis was a shock for the 41-year-old "Dancing With the Stars" co-host. Newly married to David Charvet, the mom of four was busy juggling her career and blended family when, last spring, her doctor found a lump.

More from Health.com:
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She is now cancer-free, and the experience reinforced Brooke's belief in the importance of taking care of yourself -- inside and out. Here's her everyday advice for eating right, getting fit and staying grounded.

• Focus On What Matters

  "Dance through the chaos. Breathe through everything. I've got four kids -- including a 13-year-old going on 30 -- and this is my second marriage. I know there's not going to be balance in every day, so I don't beat myself up. I'm an idealist; I strive and dream big. But I focus on the stuff that really matters, and I let everything else roll off. Truly, truly, truly."

• Keep The Romance Going

  "In our house, with four kids, it's tough to remember we're a couple, not just people's parents! We try to have a regular date night, but sometimes it doesn't happen, so we make sure we <em>connect</em> every week. Maybe it's a lunch. Maybe it's dinner after the kids fall asleep. Sometimes it's with another couple. It's just the fact that we got up, got dressed and got out of our sweats!"

• Have A Big Lunch

  "Lunch is usually my largest meal. I love sushi. Or I'll do a huge salad with mixed greens and vegetables like cucumbers, and I'm not afraid of avocados. Then I top it with a really nice piece of salmon or other fish."

• Schedule Workouts

  "Pay for that class, buy that DVD, commit with a girlfriend. As working women and moms, we make it to all our meetings, get our kids to every appointment. But you have to make yourself a priority. Just commit. Write it down. Make a plan. I try to do my workouts early in the day, after I drop my kids off at school, so they're just done. I think if you procrastinate your workout, as evening falls, it's just never gonna happen! Also, I want that energy. I want that adrenaline."

• Eat More Asparagus

  "I've been baking asparagus in the oven, which is so yummy and healthy because you don't need all the oil and it cooks beautifully. You can even put a little Parmesan on top."

• Soak The Stress Away

  "I love a great bath," says Brooke. "I explain to my kids, 'I do so many things for you guys, I just need you to give me 10 minutes.' " Her ingredients for a perfect dip? <ul> <li><strong>Zone-Out Music.</strong> "easy listening, mellow instrumental, no lyrics. nothing to think about."</li> <li><strong>Epsom Salts.</strong> "I use them all the time, and you can get them at any drugstore for $5. They're great for muscle aches and soreness."</li> <li><strong>Spa Add-Ons.</strong> "I will light candles, put on a facial mask and create this whole spa thing at home. It is just as good as the real deal -- except that I have to keep the kids out!"</li> </ul>

• Cook Good Food

  "My husband is French, and we love to cook and eat flavorful food. We try to eat a Mediterranean diet -- lots of greens, lots of fish, lots of vegetables. It's really all about portion control."

• Add Flavor Without Fat

  "We flavor with salts and rubs rather than drowning things in sauces. I use a lot of harissa -- it's a Middle Eastern spice, like a chili paste. It's great on sandwiches, and it's ideal on vegetables if you just put a little bit of olive oil in them."

• Don't Be Afraid To Indulge

  "If your body is really craving something, you might need it. Last night, my mom came over and made homemade meatballs and Bolognese, which is so not on the plan. But I had a couple of meatballs and a little less pasta. Do it in moderation, then get back on track."

• Keep Healthy Snacks Handy

  "I keep a smart snack pack in my SUV. Then my kids aren't running into the gas station and buying chips. It might contain these foods: <ul> <li><strong>Fresh Fruit And Dried, Roasted Seaweed Packs.</strong> Which, thank God, my kids eat.</li> <li><strong>Nuts.</strong> Usually almonds.</li> <li><strong>My Girlfriend's Popcorn Recipe.</strong> It's the best in the world -- I make it at home and put it in baggies. You pop kernels using regular olive oil, not extra-virgin, then you season with pink Himalayan salt."</li> </ul>

• Face Your Fears

  "I try to remain neutral [on <em>DWTS</em>], but I get emotionally connected to a few contestants. Rob Kardashian was one. When he started he had no confidence, then he learned to dance and became this stud. It's amazing to see people face their fears and transform themselves."

• Age Gracefully

  "The 40s are a reality check. That's when some people are trying to look 25. I would like to slow down my aging process, but I don't want to look like a pumpkin, all swollen! I don't want to fill every flaw in my face. A few? [Laughs] But you have to embrace Mother Nature a little. I'm a woman. I'm a wife. I'm a mother of four. I don't want to look like a 25-year-old anymore. I want to be my best healthy self."

"Brooke Burke-Charvet's Healthy-Living Secrets" originally appeared on Health.com.

Also on HuffPost:

By Amy Spencer You'd never guess looking at her now, but just four months ago Brooke Burke-Charvet was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer. The diagnosis was a shock for the 41-year-old "Danc...

By Amy Spencer You'd never guess looking at her now, but just four months ago Brooke Burke-Charvet was undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer. The diagnosis was a shock for the 41-year-old "Danc...

Filed by Lily Avnet  | 

 
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Menna van Praag: Aim High

Menna van Praag: Aim High

Daily Inspiration: Day 25 of 31 Days

"Aim at a high mark and you will hit it. Not the first time, not the second and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting. Finally you'll hit." -- Annie Oakley (entertainer, 1860-1926)

Last night I was watching figure skating, gaping open-mouthed at the television as incredible specimens of woman and manhood spun and twirled and hurled themselves into the air. Occasionally they fell onto the ice and I gasped, amazed, as I always am, at how they instantly return to their routine, swallowing physical pain and emotional anguish, to finish with aplomb.

I've always loved figure staking, perhaps because it's such a beautiful metaphor for life. The skaters, like all sports people, have to aim at their marks thousands of times, overcoming fear of failure or injury. They have to commit absolutely and, if something goes wrong, they can't take a moment to cry or scream or pout, they have to throw themselves -- with perfect precision and absolute focus -- into the next spin or twirl.

They remind me of what's possible in terms of triumphing over the urge to have a temper tantrum, or wallow in self-pity, and instead keep living your life with full brilliance and passion. Personally, pouting when things go wrong is my natural inclination, so I need all the reminding I can get. Because one can either pout or twirl but one cannot do both.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.: Tuberculosis: Modernizing the Fight Against an Ancient Scourge

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.: Tuberculosis: Modernizing the Fight Against an Ancient Scourge

March 24 marks the anniversary of the discovery in 1882 by German microbiologist Robert Koch of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). With that knowledge in hand, one might expect that by now we would have the disease under control. Tragically, this is not the case. In 2013, thousands of years after the first human cases of TB were recorded and more than a century after Koch isolated the rod-shaped microbe that causes TB, this disease remains entrenched in many countries around the world.

TB bacteria are now thought to infect 1 out of every 3 people worldwide -- more than 2 billion in all. Although most of those individuals do not become sick, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2011, approximately 8.7 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.4 million people died from the disease. The overwhelming majority of cases and deaths are among poor and vulnerable people living in low- and middle-income countries.

How did we get to this point? By the 1970s, annual TB cases had fallen sharply in the developed world, beginning two decades earlier after the introduction of effective antibiotics: first streptomycin, then isoniazid, and later rifampin and other medications. Unfortunately, that success in wealthier countries produced a false sense of security that TB was under control. The ensuing complacency proved devastating for developing countries. There, antibiotics were not as accessible, and TB continued to fester and spread, little noticed by the developed world.

Then in the 1980s HIV/AIDS emerged, and TB re-emerged along with it as an AIDS-related opportunistic infection, sounding the alarm that TB was not beaten. In the United States, for example, TB cases swelled in New York City in the late 1980s, and the evolution of drug-resistant TB strains increased insidiously. Concerted action by public health officials, at a cost of approximately $1 billion, eventually brought the New York City TB epidemic under control.

Globally, however, the emergence of HIV/AIDS in developing countries where TB was already endemic set up a perfect storm. HIV/AIDS came to be recognized not only as a problem in global health but also as a threat to economic stability worldwide. Subsequently, new international health programs such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, helped to reveal more clearly the health challenges in the developing world. In particular, they showed us the deadly synergy between HIV/AIDS and TB (1 in 4 HIV-related deaths is caused by TB), as well as the increasing problem of TB drug resistance. Together, these factors demonstrated the urgent need for a transformative approach to TB research -- to rein in TB was reason enough, but it would also help turn around the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Fortunately, a renewed push to fight back against TB, while slow to come, is now occurring. Dedicated scientists and health care workers -- including scientific leaders in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and other hard-hit regions -- are collaborating with governments, health care organizations, advocacy groups, and philanthropists in focused and strategic ways to gain the upper hand against this ancient scourge. As a result of aggressive TB control programs, 51 million people with TB were successfully treated and 20 million lives were saved between 1995 and 2011, according to the WHO. New cases of TB have been falling steadily since 2006, and in 2011, they declined by 2.2 percent.

Yet, we still have a long road ahead. In the United States, where the problem of TB is relatively modest, officials remain on guard to keep TB cases contained. To get a real feel for the burden of endemic TB, you need to travel to sub-Saharan Africa. There, the difficulty of managing the coexisting pandemics of HIV and TB is obvious. For example, the interaction between drugs used to treat TB and those used to treat HIV are complex and makes treating both diseases simultaneously difficult. In addition, active TB enhances HIV replication in the body, and HIV weakens the body's defenses against TB. It is also apparent that the spread of multidrug resistant (MDR) as well as extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB is complicating our efforts to curtail the TB pandemic. The detection of MDR-TB cases is a slow process, and access to appropriate treatment is limited; and at last count, XDR TB has been identified in at least 84 countries.

Revitalized research efforts are slowly bearing fruit, however. Quick and accurate diagnosis is the key to effective treatment and control of TB. In this regard, in December 2010, the WHO endorsed the GeneXpert TB diagnostic. This new diagnostic test can detect active TB bacteria in sputum samples and the presence of drug resistance in two hours, much more quickly than the one month or longer required for standard sputum tests. By the end of 2012, according to the WHO, almost 1,000 GeneXpert instruments and nearly 2 million associated testing cartridges had been distributed at a reduced price in 77 countries. Although we still must do more to get the test widely used, and to bring down its cost, this point-of-care diagnostic has been welcomed by frontline health care workers.

In the area of TB treatment, current TB drug regimens are notoriously long in duration and complicated, and some drugs have severe side effects. Moreover, drug development lags behind the emergence of drug resistance. Encouragingly, however, the TB drug "pipeline" has more candidates than ever before and includes several new classes of drugs. Late last year, bedaquiline was the first new drug specifically developed for the treatment of TB that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in nearly 40 years. It is designed to be used as a part of a combination treatment regimen for patients with MDR TB who do not respond to first-line regimens.

On the vaccine front, we were disappointed recently by the lack of efficacy seen in a clinical trial in Africa of a candidate vaccine known as MVA85A given to infants who had already received the licensed TB vaccine, BCG. Although the results were not as hoped, this was the first large-scale test of a new TB vaccine in more than 90 years, proving that such large studies are feasible. Moreover, scientists are carefully examining the trial data to learn how to improve TB vaccine design. A dozen or so other TB vaccines are currently in various stages of clinical testing. We have established momentum, and we look forward to the results of those vaccine trials.

Despite this valid reason for optimism, we still are faced with the challenge of overcoming decades of relative inertia in the arena of scientific pursuit. We face a lengthy war to be fought tenaciously on many fronts, and likely over many decades, as we move toward our goal of TB control and, ultimately, elimination.

To that end, it is crucial that we modernize the scientific and public health fight against TB. After centuries of inflicting suffering and death on the human race, TB remains a poorly-understood disease being fought with antiquated tools. We must continue to apply our most advanced technologies, such as an integrated, multidisciplinary approach, to better understand the biological and molecular-level interactions underpinning the disease, especially the dynamics that turn a quiescent latent infection into active disease. This increased understanding of TB disease in turn will help us to develop the up-to-date medical tools that patients deserve. We must improve our diagnostics, simplify our treatment regimens, and above all, develop effective vaccines to prevent pulmonary TB disease in children and adults. Equally important, we must make these interventions available to the countries and people who need them.

Progress is being realized, and the recent rapid deployment of a modern diagnostic test for TB and the gradual decline in TB cases and deaths are gratifying examples of this. In addition, we have built many extraordinarily strong and committed TB partnerships and collaborations, and this gives us hope that we will be able to sustain this fight over the long haul. Nonetheless, we must continue to work harder, faster, and smarter to advance the field toward the truly transformational approaches that are required to bring TB under control. Let this commemorative day remind us that we still have an enormous challenge ahead.

For more by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., click here.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Deanna Minich, Ph.D.: Cancer's Journey: Then and Now

Deanna Minich, Ph.D.: Cancer's Journey: Then and Now

It was more than three decades ago that I witnessed, as a 10-year-old, my grandmother going through her serious bout with bone and breast cancer. I remember those haunting days she would return from chemotherapy treatments. Those afternoons, she would lie in bed while my family and a few of my uncles would huddle around her bed, trying as best we could to support her through this grueling process. It was apparent that she was becoming increasingly fragile, almost withering away before my eyes, first her hair, then her breasts, and eventually, her weight.

One of those days, at the familiar foot of her bed, I found myself withdrawn from the external bustle of family and lost in an internal quiet of reflection. It was a terrible tragedy to see her suffering through the trio of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation -- I couldn't quite comprehend how we could all allow this to happen. It seemed like this regimen just made her sicker, wearing her down, ultimately leaving her feeling defeated: quite the antithesis of a wonder woman mother of six who had been able to "do it all" over the course of her lifetime. For the next two years as she made this arduous journey, I secretly promised to myself that I would eventually do something throughout my life to help others with cancer. I made an internal pact with myself in honor of her.

Years from that point in time, during my graduate school days, I had the privilege of doing some part-time research for a well-known oncologist in Chicago. The project involved interviewing his patients and their experience of his therapies, which happened to be quite cutting edge at the time, as they included extensive nutrition therapy and even guided imagery. I recall being on the phone with these cancer survivors, asking them the battery of research questions, and, at the same time, feeling a sense of elation, because these were the patients who had found themselves out of the maze of the cancer labyrinth -- not by drugs, but by a life overhaul with different methods that had significant merit.

As time progressed, I found myself giving lectures at a local cancer retreat center (www.harmonyhill.org) to help patients with cancer understand more about nutrition. It was fulfilling to see that during each retreat, the participants were provided with a sampling of options -- organically-grown foods and home-cooked meals, being in nature and taking leisurely walks, unraveling their stress through foot massages and drumming, engaging in movies and laughter, processing through psychotherapy, and receiving medical information about their cancer. It was almost as though the vision I hoped for from a young age at the foot of my grandmother's bed had come alive -- cancer became a healing journey rather than a strict death sentence.

All of these events culminated in my memory today as I attended the Pierce County Cancer Survivorship Conference in Tacoma to give a talk on cancer and nutrition. The room was packed with earnest expressions, conveying a literal hunger for this knowledge. As I always do when I give my talks on cancer, I began the presentation by dedicating it to my grandmother, and mentioned that I wish we knew what we knew now back then, years ago.

We are fortunate to be living among a multitude of possibilities, being able to take a multi-faceted, personalized, kaleidoscopic approach to cancer. Thankfully, there is greater visibility and encouragement to explore food, physical activity, art therapy, movement, sound, and touch as part of the journey. It was evident that the hundreds of cancer survivors who attended the conference were seeking ways to make their lives better and to understand their cancer more fully. As I walked through the vendor booths and sat within the talks, listening to everything from genes to art therapy, I had this inner sense of peace filling me from within, stemming from this overwhelming realization that we have reached a precious time in history where the patient has access to tools to becoming empowered and can, to a large degree, embrace an active role in their health, even with a devastating disease like cancer.

As I drove home, a gentle smile spread across my face as I basked in the events of the day. Although I had attended as a speaker to provide this audience with information, I felt that I had also been given a gift in return. After experiencing the kindness and curiosity from the people who were so earnest in asking me questions about nutrition, the wisdom from listening to the lectures indicating the emergence of cutting-edge personalized tumor genetics, and the creativity from sessions on art therapy and journaling, I had realized that my seed of a wish to witness change in people's experience with cancer was blossoming before my eyes. Just within my relatively short lifetime, we have evolved in opportunities and options, enabling people with cancer to have a better quality of life.

I know my grandmother would've been smiling, too.

For more by Deanna Minich, Ph.D., click here.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Look Younger With 5 Anti Aging Skin Care Techniques

Look Younger With 5 Anti Aging Skin Care Techniques
Undeniably, it is observed that as we age, our body encounters several physiological changes. This tends our body undergo changes which affects skin volume, texture, fineness, softness and overall total appearance.
Source: EzineArticles.com

Natural Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for Women - Alleviates Menopause Symptoms

Natural Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for Women - Alleviates Menopause Symptoms
Hormone imbalances are a source of distress and can have a significant impact on health,weight, wellbeing and how people age. Hormones decline in both the sexes and many people find it quite difficult to deal with the symptoms of aging and hormone imbalances. They look for anti aging solutions that may or may not be appropriate. Women who seek various anti aging solutions such as herbs, supplements and medicine for sleep,anxiety, depression and weight as well as, beauty treatments such as Botox, peels, laser therapy and herbs may not be addressing the root cause of the symptoms. While there is no magic bullet, there is hope and help.
Source: EzineArticles.com

How This Belly-Dancer Got Her Groove Back (PHOTOS)

How This Belly-Dancer Got Her Groove Back (PHOTOS)

Get Back
On Course.
Download
GPS for
the Soul

The stress and strain of constantly being connected can sometimes take your life -- and your well-being -- off course. GPS For The Soul can help you find your way back to balance.

GPS Guides are our way of showing you what has relieved others' stress in the hopes that you will be able to identify solutions that work for you. We all have de-stressing "secret weapons" that we pull out in times of tension or anxiety, whether they be photos that relax us or make us smile, songs that bring us back to our heart, quotes or poems that create a feeling of harmony, or meditative exercises that help us find a sense of silence and calm. We encourage you to look at the GPS Guide below, visit our other GPS Guides here, and share with us your own personal tips for finding peace, balance and tranquility.

As a former semi-professional ballerina and belly dancer, being physically active has always been a centerpiece of 69-year-old Suzanne Goff’s life. Her ballet career ended when she was 34-years-old with the birth of her second daughter, and she resumed her previous career as a graphic designer. During that time, Suzanne also began learning to belly dance, and at age 50, she performed and choreographed locally near her home in East San Marcos, California -- a suburb of San Diego. Into her retirement, Suzanne enjoyed staying healthy and fit by walking outdoors, lifting weights, gardening and doing aerobics.

One morning while making her bed in December of 2011 she felt a sharp pain in her back. It wasn’t until then that she worried her ability to stay active would be cut short. After multiple visits to the chiropractor yielded her no relief, and her pain intensified, she took herself to the emergency room where an X-ray revealed she had osteoporosis and had suffered a spinal fracture as a result. Physicians initially recommended she combat her symptoms with pain medication and a brace. But three weeks into pursuing such a regimen, her condition worsened and she found herself unable to do everyday activities such as household chores, getting dressed, and preparing meals -- let alone aerobics.

Suzanne took matters into her own hands, determining that this was no way to live. She sought out the opinion of an orthopedic surgeon who informed her that a minimally invasive procedure, called balloon kyphoplasty, could be the key to getting her back to exercising and eliminating her pain. In balloon kyphoplasty, orthopaedic balloons are inflated to lift the fractured bone and return it to the correct position. Bone cement is then injected into this newly-created cavity to stabilize the fracture.

Since having the procedure in January of 2012, Suzanne is back to walking, weight lifting, tending to her plants and aerobics. She has even taken up tai chi. “I’ve gotten my life back and honestly feel even better than I did before knowing the osteoporosis caused my spinal fracture,” Suzanne said. In addition to keeping up her exercise regimen, Suzanne plans to soon begin volunteering at her local animal shelter and historical society. “You’ve gotta pay it forward,” Suzanne said. In her GPS Guide below, find the inspiration that keeps Suzanne moving and enjoying each and every day.

• Suzanne at age 27 posing backstage at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pa. before performing in the corps de ballet opera “Carmen.”

• Even years after she retired from ballet, Suzanne stayed on the move and developed a passion for belly dancing. Here she is at age 56 performing on the dance floor of Greektown Restaurant in Downtown San Diego, Calif.

• When Suzanne was diagnosed with osteoporosis and a painful spinal fracture in December of 2011, she worried her ability to stay active would be cut short. Her husband Paul was -- and continues to be -- a big source of inspiration and support.

• Suzanne found hope in a minimally invasive procedure called balloon kyphoplasty, which corrects vertebral deformity and stabilizes the fracture. After the procedure, Suzanne was pain free and able to touch her toes and exercise for the first time in months.

• After the balloon kyphoplasty procedure, Suzanne was also able to regain her lifestyle and is back to doing the things she loves like gardening

For more GPS Guides, click here.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Erin Hawkes: I Thought I was Too Smart to Have Schizophrenia

Erin Hawkes: I Thought I was Too Smart to Have Schizophrenia

I have schizophrenia, they tell me. They line up my symptoms and thrust the diagnosis in my face. So here are your pills.

When I stop taking those medications I lose my grip on reality, but I don't know this. They, my psychiatrist, a security guard, the police, bring me to the hospital (again) and I am told (again) that I have schizophrenia.

No, I don't. People with schizophrenia don't have a Master's degree in Neuroscience. I'm simply too intelligent to have schizophrenia, right?

Then why do rats eat my brain, why do voices yell at me, and why am I being stalked by a homicidal man with a sniper gun (I've got proof)? I assume it is normal. I don't have any friends and I have withdrawn from my family so no one but Them (doctors, nurses -- everyone in league with the enemy) diagnose me, treat me. So here are your pills.

I remember my first antipsychotic. I was in the psychiatric hospital after a failed suicide attempt and, after drawing me out, my psychiatrist decided to start me on Risperidone. She did not tell me what it would do. Soon, my Voices were quieter, quieter, quieter. Rats stopped chewing and the sniper stopped tracking me. Wow, I thought. Those were symptoms? That was schizophrenia? The scientist in me knew it wasn't a simple placebo effect, since I had had no idea what those little pills were going to do. I became open to the idea that I might have schizophrenia.

Yet repeatedly, over the next half-dozen years, I would leave the hospital quietly, only to be forcibly returned after "decompensation due to medical noncompliance." That is, I fell into the oh-so-common trap of thinking: "I am doing well. I don't need these pills any more. I'm cured." Round and round the revolving door.

You would think that after all of this, I would surely realize that I had schizophrenia. I didn't, though. I was under the heavy spell of anosognosia: the physiological inability to recognize that one has an illness. It is common, and strong, in schizophrenia. But in me, equally strong was a scientist. So, experiment number one: recall that first antipsychotic? Well, it did strange things, things I was not expecting.

My second hypothesis: maybe I was just in it for the attention. When psychotic and certified in the hospital, I would bash my head against the concrete wall until both it and I were bloody; that bled the brain-eating rats out. It also earned me restraints, physical and chemical, which I raged against. I screamed and kicked and cried but the strong security guards tying me up and the nurses with injections (rat-laden!) for me always won. That was attention, I reasoned. So I decided to do it. Bang head, fight restraints, scream over injections... it was a good show, but it felt foreign. I was an actor, not a true patient, that time, making me realize that all the other times had actually felt real.

Then there were the Voices that harassed me continually. They yelled at me to kill myself, forbade me to buy even a coffee, and hissed at me if I dared talk to anyone. When these receded with medication, I later -- when everything schizophrenic seemed out of focus -- attempted a third experiment: I tried to create Voices. I thought really hard but to no avail. All I could generate was the "little voice in my head" that everyone experiences from time to time.

Finally, convinced I was too smart to have schizophrenia (an idea of mine echoed by an arrogant psychiatrist), I fought to keep an A+ average at university. I earned prestigious scholarships (two NSERCs, a Michael Smith scholarship, and various others). That's not something someone with schizophrenia does, right? No; there are other people with schizophrenia who attain graduate-level education. It is very hard, but it can be done, particularly when the person is stable on medication.

So a neuroscientist with schizophrenia. I tried so hard to prove I was immune to schizophrenia, but because of my experiments, I am convinced. It was a relief of sorts: an explanation, a treatment, a hope. It came to prove not that I didn't have the disorder, but that I can live beyond it. For me, medication is key; taking it reliably, the master key. And I become a person with schizophrenia who is well.

Interested in my story? My memoir, When Quietness Came: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey With Schizophrenia, is available on Amazon.

• In any given year, one in five people in Canada has a mental health problem or illness.

• Of the 6.7 million people who have a mental health problem, about one million are children and teenagers between nine and 19 years old.

• Mental health problems cost at least $50 billion a year, or 2.8 per cent of gross domestic product, not including the costs to the criminal justice system or the child welfare system.

• In 2011, about $42.3 billion was spent in Canada on treatment, care and support for people with mental health problems.

• Mental health problems account for about 30 per cent of short- and long-term disability claims.

• If just a small percentage of mental health problems in children could be prevented, the savings would be in the billions.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.ca

When To Start Using An Anti Aging Night Cream

When To Start Using An Anti Aging Night Cream
When it comes to aging, an ounce of prevention can save a lifetime of wrinkles and fine lines. It follows, then, that at some point in your adult life, you should begin using anti aging skin care products so you can have younger looking skin as you get older. The only questions are: when is a good time to start using these products, and how soon is too soon?
Source: EzineArticles.com

When To Start Using An Anti Aging Night Cream

When it comes to aging, an ounce of prevention can save a lifetime of wrinkles and fine lines. It follows, then, that at some point in your adult life, you should begin using anti aging skin care products so you can have younger looking skin as you get older. The only questions are: when is a good time to start using these products, and how soon is too soon? Full article

Reduce Dark Circles and Puffy Eyes With Caffeine Eye Cream!

Caffeine eye cream helps reduce dark under eye circles, puffiness and fine wrinkles when applied twice a day. Numerous clinical studies have been shown to back this information up, making caffeine eye cream one of the most popular antiaging facial treatments on the market today. Source

Why It Hurts To Hurt Others

Why It Hurts To Hurt Others

Being purposely ignored hurts -- and so does purposely ignoring someone, new research suggests.

"Our results highlight that it goes against the grain of people’s psychological needs to exclude others," study researcher Richard Ryan, of the University of Rochester, said in a statement.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, involved having study participants play a computer game called Cyberball, in which "players" throw a ball to one another.

For the first part of the experiment, researchers led the study participants to believe that the other two "players" in the game were actual people who were also playing the game, when really it was just the computer. Some participants were instructed not to throw the ball to one of the players; others were instructed to throw the ball equally to both of the other players; others were not given any restrictions or requirements for who to throw the ball to.

Researchers found that those who were instructed not to throw a ball to a certain player had a worse mood after the experiment, compared to the other two groups.

Then, the researchers conducted a similar experiment with the computer game, to measure the moods of people who were not the ostracizerss, but the ostracized -- meaning they were the ones who were being ignored and not being passed the ball. Researchers found that their foul moods were comparable with those who were instructed in the first part of the experiment to not pass the ball to certain players.

Past research has highlighted the mental health effects of being ignored. For example, a study published last year in the same journal shows that feeling ignored -- even if it's by a stranger -- spurs feelings of disconnectedness. And another study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, shows that even being excluded online, like on Facebook, can make people feel just as bad as if it had happened in real life.

Also on HuffPost:

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Ben Greenfield: A Workout For Becoming A Better Athlete: Part II

Ben Greenfield: A Workout For Becoming A Better Athlete: Part II

In part one of this series, you learned how to identify the physical needs of your sport, and the key movements that make up most athletic scenarios. And while creating a specific workout for every single sport on the planet is beyond the scope of this blog post, you can guarantee that you'll be able to perform quite proficiently in just about any sport if you can include each of the movements you learned about in part one in just a few workouts a week.

For example, for a full-body, three-times-per-week workout using the exercises in the previous post, you could perform the following:

• Five- to 10-minute dynamic warm-up (Don't know what a dynamic warm-up is? Check out "What Is the Best Way to Warm-Up?")

• Three to four sets of six to 10 reps of each of the following, performed as either a circuit, or with 60 seconds to two minutes recovery after each exercise:
  
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  • Vertical Pulling (i.e., pull-up)
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  • Vertical Pushing (i.e., overhead press)
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  • Horizontal Pulling (i.e., seated row)
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  • Horizontal Pushing (i.e., incline bench press)
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  • Double or Single Leg Strength (i.e., squat)
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  • Lift (i.e. ,deadlift)

• Three to four sets of six to 10 reps of any or all of the following, performed as either a circuit, or with 60 seconds to two minutes recovery after each exercise:
  
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  • Slams (i.e., medicine ball slams)
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  • Throws (i.e., medicine ball throws)
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  • Tosses (i.e., medicine ball underhand throws)
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  • Jumps (i.e., double leg box jumps)

• Three sets of 12-15 reps of each of the following:
  
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  • Twists (i.e., cable torso twists)
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  • Core flexion (i.e., hanging leg raises)

• At a separate time of day, or on your "non-lifting" day, do your moving exercises (also known as conditioning), which would include treadmill or cycling intervals, rowing, swimming, sprint repeats etc., preferably with time lengths and rest intervals that are close to what you'll experience while playing your sport.

You can find videos of most of the exercises above by clicking here.

As you can see, a workout to improve sports performance is a bit more complex than a weight-loss workout. But when implemented properly, it can not only help you run faster, jump higher, and push harder, but also keep you from getting injured.

In addition, the number of sets and reps you perform at any given time of year may change depending on whether you're in the off-season, in the competition phase, or in the post-season conditioning phase. You can learn more about this in the two-part series on "How to Train Like an Olympian."

For more by Ben Greenfield, click here.

For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

Follow Ben Greenfield on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GetFitGuy

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

How to Treat Sleep Bags Under Eyes

How to Treat Sleep Bags Under Eyes
Wanting to know how to treat sleep bags under the eyes is a common question asked by many as we get slowly older. The skin under the eye is extremely sensitive and with a few bad habits, coupled with stress and a lack of sleep are what lead many of us to believe are the most common causes - but this isn't always the case. Obviously drinking alcohol in excess can give you big black dark round circles which in later life may cause tension under the eye and effect the skin in...
Source: EzineArticles.com

Reef Karim, D.O.: Television Rehab: Treatment or Trauma?

Reef Karim, D.O.: Television Rehab: Treatment or Trauma?

I rolled my eyes when I first heard a rehab show was about to air on television. "Oh, that's great -- a producer-driven inpatient rehab show. Healing on television. Good luck with that."

I had no doubt it would be "faux" treatment riddled with inherent conflicts including: sensationalistic production tactics trumping what's right for the client, a total lack of confidentiality, no private time for the clients and also exposure to stressors that are absolutely unnecessary in the process of healing from drugs/alcohol and/or mental health issues. My other immediate concern was, "What happens when the cameras shut down and the lights turn off? What do those people do then? And are you doing more harm than good?"

I thought the problem was primarily ethical with a potential for medical consequences. And although I didn't expect great results, I never expected the recently-reported five deaths of participants from just one television rehab show.

Respect the disease!

As a double board-certified medical physician in both psychiatry and addiction medicine, I know firsthand the clinical treatment and research associated with addiction and mental health issues.

And having published, treated and worked as a director at inpatient rehab facilities, I can say with authority that it is common knowledge that addiction is a chronic and relapsing illness that cannot be cured. An addict is vulnerable to stressors, triggers and cravings throughout their lifetime, and continued aftercare and meetings are imperative to achieving continued sobriety from drugs, alcohol or out of control behaviors. An individual could be sober 20 years and then one day the wrong acute stressor sends them off-track.

Which begs the question regarding television rehab. Why expose these individuals to a "faux" rehab experience chock full of dramatic television experiences that favors ratings over treatment?

The proponents of television rehab state that these clients/people/celebrities didn't have the financial resources or motivation to enter a "real" rehab, or they needed to be tricked into doing rehab. But here's the problem. When you're in rehab, you need to feel safe, cared for, focusing on yourself, looking at your specific internal way of feeling and thinking and working on changing your lifestyle and behavior. You simply can't do that when your day's activities are set up by a production team and you have cameras, sound guys and lighting guys around you all day long. The negatives outweigh the positives, and it's not even close.

And don't forget motivation. Are these participants motivated by money (being paid to be on the show), fame (of being on a television show), validation (of being picked to be on the show) or do they genuinely want treatment? It's common knowledge that narcissism and self-centered behavior are definitive obstacles in the recovery process, and that's why service to others is such an important part of treatment.

And guess what you're doing when you treat someone on an inpatient basis on television? You're potentially making that behavioral obstacle more difficult.

Fame trumps reasonable thinking. Many addicts can't think for themselves when under the influence. The drugs, alcohol and behaviors do the talking. So aren't you taking advantage of these individuals when asking them to be on an inpatient show that may overlook serious psychiatric and addition concerns (because there's not a true team of clinicians) and thereby increasing the risk of potentially negative health consequences?

Want to help? Send them to a real inpatient rehab experience instead of the reality show version. And if they are on a show, send them to legitimate aftercare, paid for by the network, after the show is over. And keep them there for an extended period of time.

I'm all for discussion, debate, information exchange and entertainment. Talk shows do this well. And they should continue to discuss these issues. Even some reality shows make us think about other people, issues or even ourselves in a different way. And one could debate whether outpatient counseling, when the individual is not in an acute crisis, is problematic on television.

But when you're dealing with a potentially life-threatening disease and that person needs inpatient treatment, don't make it worse than it already is. Especially if you're a clinician.

These people need real help.

Respect the disease! Lights, camera, action. For serious addiction issues, let's limit the "action" to a legitimate inpatient rehab experience.

Dr. Reef Karim,

Psychiatrist/Addiction Medicine Specialist

Doctorreef.com
Follow me on Twitter: @DrReef
Like my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/drreef

For more by Reef Karim, D.O., click here.

For more on addiction and recovery, click here.

Follow Reef Karim, D.O. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drreef

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

The Effects of Gravity On Our Health, Minds And Bodies

The Effects of Gravity On Our Health, Minds And Bodies
Have you ever stopped to think about how the biggest force in our universe, that we are subject to, day in, day out, affects our bodies and our brains? Let's look at Gravity!
Source: EzineArticles.com