The FAT(s) reminds us of cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, diabetes.

SATURATED FATS
Saturated fats are found in animal products such as meat, poultry, milk, cheese, butter, and lard, as well as in tropical oils (such as palm, palm kernel, and coconut oil) and foods made from these oils. These fats are high in cholesterol and linked to heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity, and cancers of the breast, colon, and prostate.
Most people get 38 percent or more of the day’s calories from fat while health authorities suggest no more than 20–35 percent of which less than 10 percent comes from saturated fat. To cut your intake of saturated fat, trim fat and skin from meat, choose lean poultry over red meat, and low-fat cheese and dairy (cottage cheese, feta, and hard cheeses have less fat). Butter is fine in moderation, according to some health officials.

BUTTER VERSUS MARGARINE
For years margarine was considered to be a healthier alternative to butter, however most margarines contain hydrogenated oils (trans fats), which are artificial processed fats linked to heart disease and cancer. The exception is non-hydrogenated margarines, such as Becel, which contain beneficial plant sterols that can help lower cholesterol. While butter contains saturated fats, they are short-chain saturates, which are easily digested and provide a source of useable energy. Butter also contains nutrients: lecithin, vitamins A and E, and selenium. So the bottom line is: Choose butter or a non-hydroge- nated margarine.

TRANS FATS
Trans fatty acids are naturally found in small amounts in animal products; however, the majority of trans fats in our diet come from the artificial form. Trans fats are created when oils undergo a chemical process called hydrogenation, which solidifies them. This is the process that makes vegetable oil into margarine. Trans fat is also found in cookies, crackers, french fries, baked goods, and other snack foods.
When trans fats were first introduced into our food supply, they were thought to be a healthier alternative to saturated fats. Many years later this was found to be false. Trans fats elevate cholesterol levels, increasing the risk for heart disease and heart attack, and are also linked to cancer, particularly breast cancer. The Institute of Medicine has stated that there is no safe limit for trans fats in the diet and that we should reduce consumption of these dangerous fats. Food companies have been making efforts in this area. You will now see many packaged foods labelled “trans fat free.”

CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in the fats (lipids) in our blood. It is manufactured in the liver and also obtained from consuming saturated and trans fats. Cholesterol is not all bad the body requires it to produce sex hormones, maintain cell membranes, and for a healthy nervous system. Aside from diet, cholesterol levels can be elevated by family history, lack of activity, and liver disorders, and cholesterol consumption increases the risk of heart disease.
As with fats, there is good and bad when it comes to cholesterol. The good cholesterol is HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and the bad is LDL (low-density lipoproteins). LDL cholesterol can build up in the artery walls of the brain and heart, narrowing the passageways for blood flow, a process known as atherosclerosis, the precursor to heart disease and stroke.
HDL cholesterol is called good cholesterol because it picks up the LDL deposited in the arteries and transports it to the liver to be broken down and eliminated.
To lower LDL and raise HDL levels, exercise regularly, minimize saturated fats, avoid trans fats, and don’t smoke (smoking lowers HDL).

TRIGLYCERIDES
Triglycerides (TG) are the chemical form in which most fats exist in food (both animal and plant fats). They are also present in the blood along with cholesterol.
A diet that is high in fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates, and alcohol can elevate TGs. Overeating also raises TG because excess calories are converted to fat in the liver and then into TG to be transported in the blood. High levels of triglycerides are associated with heart disease and diabetes. It is possible for triglycerides to be high even when blood cholesterol is normal, so get your levels checked regularly. In most cases, TG levels can be effectively managed with diet and exercise.

Grief (in our moments of loss, and/or death)

Nothing becomes so offensive so quickly as grief. When fresh it finds someone to console it, but when it becomes chronic, it really raises different assumptions.
To spring is to bear a greater burden of falling, no condition remains permanent. It all began with, "In the beginning" and ended with "Amen", which ensures hope in the fate that every beginning shall end. For not only life but death as well will certainly, one day, come to an end. As we experience birth and death now, there comes a time we will not feel, hear nor mention life or death any longer. But till then we need to remember as long as we experience light and darkness, spring and fall; To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
A time to mourn, a time to weep, a time to lose, grief is then seasonal. Going through something that causes great unhappiness or intense sorrow is emotionally and physically daunting. Facing a discouragement through fear is nervous and heart breaking torture, remember, this is a season you can not buy or just wish to go away. When it strikes it hits the heart and shatters the brain, fear and danger becomes the deepest and nearest companion.
People might not favour grieving as it's been thought to bear some darkness or evil motives within it's concept, on the other hand some people tend to over experience it, especially within cultural and religious grounds. But when grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates.
Sorrow is the great idealiser. Everyone has the choice and the right to grief, for there is no vengeance greater than making other people aware of how hapless, hopeless and helpless we are when death arrives, when being victimised by the majority or the powerful, by nature in it's disastrous moments, by politicians or scandals, and worse of all when we are decorated motionless against the undertakers duty of dragging our breathless breadths beyond the yew tree. If there is a time to die or a time to lose, then shall a man grief beyond these mesmerising seasons, merely to satisfy the soul but the spirit survives. Freedom to mourn and to grief, makes mourning a language and a good expression to communicate beyond our knowledge, an appreciation that mother nature expects and respects.
For how long shall one mourn, ever heard of the saying, we can allow the bird of sorry to rest on our heads but we should not allow the bed of sorry to nest on our heads. How do we do this?
There probably two spirits in us, at the time of sorrow, grief, both are stricken weak and a lot of us break down, unable to choose between good and evil because all that seems perfect would have been taken away and the only spirit that would survive is the one we feed. When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left.

Apologise. Reconcile. Give Help.

Whatever you do, make it an offering to the world -- the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering. Our world is full of information, full of adages, common sense, wise sayings and wisdom, yet pride, arrogance and ignorance diminish our progress towards maintaining our integrity, dignity and the respect we crave.
We were never born heroes as well no one was conceded demonised, all that matters is believing in ourselves. If you don't believe in yourself, then who will believe in you? The next man's way of getting there might not necessarily work for you, so you have to create your own ways of getting there. Psychologically I should say that a person becomes an adult at the point when he produces more than he consumes or earns more than he spends. This may be the age of eighteen, twenty-five, or thirty-five. Some people remain unproductive and dependent children forever and therefore intellectually and emotionally immature. Most importantly the most responsible certainty is to be able to admit our faults, to err is human but to forgive is devine and responsibleness for our inactions or actions is deify. We don't have to say sorry when we wrong another, admitting our failure or mistake could be depicted through signs; a bow or a hand in hand or raising both hands high above our heads and many more depending on cultural backgrounds. Or simply we can say; pardon me, I hold my hands up, my fault and many more or simply we can show some bravery by saying, it won't happen again. Saying sorry might compromise our spirit and integrity but being human we will wrong, fault, err or deviate. Remember, a coward dies many a times before his death but our body, full of faults, has yet one great quality: Whatever it encounters in this temporal life depends upon one's actions.
Now after admitting our fault let's make it up, the common conception is that motivation leads to action, but the reverse is true -- action precedes motivation. We have to "prime the pump" and get the juice flowing, which motivates us to work on our goals. Getting momentum going is the most difficult part of the job, and often taking the first step is enough to prompt us to make the best of our world. Always work on what your mistakes were and always try doing much better each time again, our ego is important but without the people we meet on our way up, we will never comprehend our achievements. The road of life can only reveal itself as it is traveled; each turn in the road reveals a surprise. Man's future is hidden. To find our destiny and to reach our destination we always need to cooperate with people we know or strangers we meet to reach the peak. My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. Within me he will be worshipped and I will ensure my son succeeds much more through my footsteps, so as him to be a role model to another.
Now the sky is full of people but only some wants to fly, surely not that the others don't want to fly but might need the lesson to fly. Stretch out and give a hand, It is through cooperation, rather than conflict, that our greatest successes will be derived. We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on it's vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to it's security and peace. Preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work and the love we give our fragile craft. You and me are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you. I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see us cooperating like that. We are here to help and learn from each other, We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another -- until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices. An elderly friend once said to me that, the lack of only two words sank the unsinkable Titanic; Observation and Anticipation. I'm not a self-made man. I cannot forget those who have sacrificed for me to get where I am today. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

Probiotics May Help Prevent Some Diarrhea

Many types of bacteria and yeast normally live on our skin, in our intestines and on other body surfaces. They're known as our "normal flora."

When there's a balance in the normal flora, these bacteria do not invade beneath the surface they live on. They do not disrupt our normal body functions. And they do not make or give off toxic substances that could harm us.

We take antibiotics to kill the bacteria that are causing an infection. But the antibiotics also kill these "good" bacteria, too. This upsets the natural environment in the intestines. The result is often loose, watery stools. This is called antibiotic-associated diarrhea.

Most often, the symptoms start on the last day or two of treatment or shortly after the antibiotics are gone. The diarrhea is usually mild. There may be two to four loose stools per day for a couple of days. In most cases, it gets better quickly without treatment.

Some people get very ill from antibiotic-associated diarrhea. The most severe form, called Clostridium difficile (C. diff) colitis, can be life-threatening.

Probiotics have been widely promoted as a way to keep your body in balance. Probiotics contain bacteria found in the healthy normal flora of the gut. They are sold in the form of pills, yogurts and other preparations. The idea behind probiotics is to increase the populations of bacteria that seem to be present in good health.

There's no good evidence that probiotics are useful in otherwise healthy people. But prior medical studies have suggested they work in some conditions, such as:

Treating C. diff colitis that keeps coming back, or doesn't go away, even with repeated courses of other treatments
Helping prevent further problems caused by pancreatitis
Decreasing repeated vaginal yeast infections
Probiotics also appear to decrease the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Researchers reviewed 82 clinical trials that were relevant to this question. The studies had to meet well defined criteria. According to the analysis, people who took a probiotic with an antibiotic had a 42% lower risk of diarrhea.

What Changes Can I Make Now?

The results of this study sound impressive. But I won't be advising probiotics every time I write a prescription for an antibiotic. Probiotics are generally considered safe. But the authors of this article note that side effects or adverse reactions are still possible. And most often antibiotic-associated diarrhea causes mild symptoms that go away quickly.

I likely will advise that some people take a probiotic along with an antibiotic. But I must admit that there is not yet clear evidence for my personal advice. People who might benefit from a probiotic include:

People who have had antibiotic-associated diarrhea in the past. This is especially true for those who have had C. diff infection.
People receiving a prolonged course of antibiotics, more than 10 days. Note: This is very arbitrary and not based on data. Other doctors might prescribe if antibiotics are used more than 5 days.
People who have switched from one antibiotic to a different one within a relatively short period of time.
The researchers were not able to answer these important questions:

Which probiotics work best in preventing and treating antibiotic-associated diarrhea?
Which specific antibiotics are more likely to cause diarrhea?
The best way to keep your normal flora in balance is to take antibiotics only when you need them.

What Can I Expect Looking to the Future?

Most antibiotic-associated diarrhea is a mild nuisance. But C. diff colitis can be deadly. C. diff is best prevented by limiting the use of antibiotics and preventing the spread of the infection in hospitals and nursing homes. The contact precautions used include private rooms, strict hand washing, gloves and gowns.

We don't know whether a probiotic prescribed on the first day of antibiotic treatment will decrease the rising number of C. diff cases. This question needs further study.

Man On The Blinks. Generations wipe out.

The really unhappy person is the one who leaves undone what they can do, and starts doing what they don't understand; no wonder they come to grief.
What plans are there in place; If There are folds of too many folks losing their memories. If There are too many dementia people to account for. If There are numerous relatives we can not relate to or hold a conversation with. If There are human beings struggling for a quality of life due to progressive altered personalities, reasoning, judging, emotions and thinking via incurable impairments to the brain. If There are few qualified CARERS to survive an imminent memory extinction.
Do we have to watch wisdom and history mysteriously being wiped out right under our noses, may be we are too wise to bother, so we sit and neglect the saying, ability without honor is useless.. Why then should we open every door, discover entirely species and creatures beyond us and still shut our passion to cope with the impairments without solutions.
I do not cry out for the cure or solutions, I preach the care demanded by the devastated memories of dementia people. The trainings to create memories capable to survive the gruesomeness of caring for people with dementia. Dementia could not wipe out this generation but potentially it can damage who we are and how we relate to each other. If you want it to happen, you will regret it happen. If you let it happen, you won't like what happened, your support will help humanity and fight dementia.
Possibly resources are not available to train a lot more into caring and especially, professionally become dementia CARERS. The government and the financial situations, the political and critics subjects are surely not my sermon.
I preach awareness of humanity, dignity, care and freedom to empathise. If science becomes pathetic and hopeless then let nurture take it's natural prevalence and do what it does best, care for humanity.
Join the revolution to care, opt to care because you can, make that choice to provide a quality of life. You can as much as I can, let love be the rule and care our guidance. Visit someone with dementia and put a smile on a face, thank God you care. Let us do or die. Let's free ourselves out of the strain of doing and into the peace of the done.

I can, so send me a question on dementia.

God's perfect tree.

The search of beauty will never be a discovery without the perfect property of God, the most high and nigh. The only tree that bears stars, stars as bright enough to lit the whole of Eden. You are pretty, prettier than diamonds, your seductive nature turned an eternal world into man's burden. By your sight, Adam faulted, he couldn't resist your lustful beauty which sentenced him to mortality. Adam took you, the apple never to be touched and you made him enjoyed your sweet intact, right away from your creator's dominance. He did fall for your beauty, what will I do with my naked eyes upon your beauty, a mere mortal.
Your sweet embrace was enough to make the great David, slayer of Goliath, snatched you from another man. The wise king Solomon had many of your smoothly oil skin to warm his left, right, front and back, I can but only one and even that one still makes me melt away with that royal kisses. Moses in the glories of the exodus still managed to find you among the mountains. These great men needed you away from your creator, fair or foul means they stranded through hell and heaven to possess you and call you theirs.
Out of your soul came love that made or destroyed men. Shakespeare called you cleopatra, portia, so as many mouth watering titles but above all was Juliet, comparable to non but the sun, arise fair sun and fill my yearning heart. Thank God he created you, without doubt there would never have been any sort of possibility for the creator to have kept you to himself. Myth, tells of you as Andromeda none but the head of Medusa could save you through the love that drove Perseus senseless to face the undefeated. The walls of troy fell, Achilles was the hero and Helene was your name with such tantalising beauty that drove mighty nations against each other. I love to seize your your heart, then conquer you emotionally to make you feel I'm yours forever, you are someone who dances with me in the sunlight, and walks with me in the shadows. You were the queen of Sheba, yet you ruled England and led the commonwealth. Though I love you, many alike feared you, for you break a heart as well as conceive a heart. You are only one rib out of a man and your name remains a Woman.
Impenetrable in her dissimulation, cruel in her vengeance, tenacious in her purposes, unscrupulous as to her methods, animated by profound and hidden hatred for the tyranny of man -- it is as though there exists in her an ever-present conspiracy toward domination, a sort of alliance like that subsisting among the priests of every country.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS KILL OVER 100,000 ANNUALLY

A drug is neither moral nor immoral -- it's a chemical compound. The compound itself is not a menace to society until a human being treats it as if consumption bestowed a temporary license to act like an asshole.
Even higher than the number of people who die from medication errors is the number of people who die from medication, period. Even when a prescription drug is dispensed properly, there's no guarantee it won't end up killing you.
A remarkable study in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that prescription drugs kill around 106,000 people in the US every year, which ranks prescription drugs as the fourth leading cause of death.
Which is better: to have fun with fungi or to have Idiocy with ideology, to have wars because of words, to have tomorrow's misdeeds out of yesterday's miscreeds?
Furthermore, each year sees 2,216,000 serious adverse drug reactions (defined as "those that required hospitalization, were permanently disabling, or resulted in death").
The authors of this 1998 study performed a meta-analysis on 39 previous studies covering 32 years. They factored out such things as medication errors, abuse of prescription drugs, and adverse reactions not considered serious. Plus, the study involved only people who had either been hospitalized due to drug reactions or who experienced reactions while in the hospital. People who died immediately (and, thus, never went to the hospital) and those whose deaths weren't realized to be due to prescription drugs were not included, so the true figure is probably higher.
Four years later, another study in the JAMA warned:
Patient exposure to new drugs with unknown toxic effects may be extensive. Nearly 20 million patients in the United States took at least 1 of the 5 drugs withdrawn from the market between September 1997 and September 1998. Three of these 5 drugs were new, having been on the market for less than 2 years. Seven drugs approved since 1993 and subsequently withdrawn from the market have been reported as possibly contributing to 1002 deaths.
Examining warnings added to drug labels through the years, the study's authors found that of the new chemical entities approved from 1975 to 1999, 10 percent "acquired a new black box warning or were withdrawn from the market" by 2000. Using some kind of high-falutin' statistical process, they estimate that the "probability of a new drug acquiring black box warnings or being withdrawn from the market over 25 years was 20%."
A statement released by one of the study's coauthors — Sidney Wolfe, MD, Director of Public Citizen's Health Studies Group — warned:
In 1997, 39 new drugs were approved by the FDA. As of now [May 2002], five of them (Rezulin, Posicor, Duract, Raxar and Baycol) have been taken off the market and an additional two (Trovan, an antibiotic and Orgaran, an anticoagulant) have had new box warnings. Thus, seven drugs approved that year (18% of the 39 drugs approved) have already been withdrawn or had a black box warning in just four years after approval. Based on our study, 20% of drugs will be withdrawn or have a black box warning within 25 years of coming on the market. The drugs approved in 1997 have already almost "achieved" this in only four years — with 21 years to go.
How does this happen? Before the FDA approves a new drug, it must undergo clinical trials. These trials aren't performed by the FDA, though — they're done by the drug companies themselves. These trials often use relatively few patients, and they usually select patients most likely to react well to the drug. On top of that, the trials are often for a short period of time (weeks), even though real-world users may be on a drug for months or years at a time. Dr. Wolfe points out that even when adverse effects show up during clinical trials, the drugs are sometimes released anyway, and they end up being taken off the market because of those same adverse effects.
Postmarketing reporting of adverse effects isn't much better. The FDA runs a program to collect reports of problems with drugs, but compliance is voluntary. The generally accepted estimate in the medical community is that a scant 10 percent of individual instances of adverse effects are reported to the FDA, which would mean that the problem is ten times worse than we currently believe.
Drugs aren't released when they've been proven safe; they're released when enough FDA bureaucrats — many of whom have worked for the pharmaceutical companies or will work for them in the future — can be convinced that it's kinda safe.
It is in the interests of our society to promote those things that take the edge off, keep us busy with our fixes, and keep us slightly numbed out and zombie like. In this way our modern consumer society itself functions as an addict. Basically, the use of prescription drugs by the general public can be seen as widespread, long-term clinical trials to determine their true safety.
We are all guinea pigs.
Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, that found me poor at first, and keep me so.

Broken heart syndrome

Broken heart syndrome (Takotsubo cardiomyopathy)

A temporary condition of the heart that occurs after a stressful event such as the death of a loved one. It is thought to occur because of a release of adernalin (epinephrine) associated with the event. Patients can experience chest pain, breathing problems, irregular beating of the heart, or fluid build up in the lungs. The symptoms can mimic a heart attack.

Symptoms:
Chest pain, breathing problems (shortness of breath), abnormal heart beat, racing heart (palpitations).

Treatment:
Patients are typically admitted to the hospital until the condition passes which can last up to a week. Blood pressure medications may be prescribed. Any other complications of the disorder will be treated as well such as abnormal heart rhythms or fluid build up in the lungs (pulmonary edema).

Other tests will be performed to rule out a blockage of a coronary artery as the cause of the symptoms or other diseases of the heart such as an infection.

Birth control pill use

Birth control pill use

Birth control pills are a common type of contraception. There are many different types of pills but they all contain hormones that change the normal monthly female reproductive cycle by preventing the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). The most common type are combination pills that contain both estrogen and progesterone. There are three types of regimens. The first and most common contain the combination hormone medicine for 21 days and then either take a "dummy" pill for 7 days or no pill for 7 days. This regimen enables a women to have a menstrual cycle every month. A second type involves taking the combination hormone pill for 12 weeks and then stopping for 7 days. This reduces the number of periods to every 12 weeks. A third form is called the "mini pill" and contains only low dose progesterone. This regimen may be less effective than the combination pill. Some of the side effects of birth control pills include irregular menstrual bleeding, mood changes and blood clots.

Symptoms:
Irregular menstrual bleeding, nausea, blood clots (more common in women older than 35 and who smoke), mood changes, breast tenderness, dizziness.

Treatment:
There are multiple different types as described in the description section. The healthcare provider and patient will select the best option for each patient.


A history and physical will be done to determine the appropriateness of birth control pill use and the best type to take.

SMOKING CAUSES PROBLEMS OTHER THAN LUNG CANCER AND HEART DISEASE

If pleasure was not followed by pain, who would forbear it?
The fact that smoking causes lung disease and oral cancer isn't exactly news, and only tobacco industry executives would express (feigned) shock at being told. But cigarettes can lead to a whole slew of problems involving every system of your tar-filled body, and most people aren't aware of this.
The American Council on Science and Health's book Cigarettes: What the Warning Label Doesn't Tell You is the first comprehensive look at the medical evidence of all types of harm triggered by smoking. Referencing over 450 articles from medical journals and reviewed by 45 experts — mainly medical doctors and PhDs — if this book doesn't convince you to quit, nothing will.
Among some of the things that cancer sticks do:
Besides cancers of the head, neck, and lungs, ciggies are especially connected to cancers of the bladder, kidney, pancreas, and cervix. Newer evidence is adding leukemia and colorectal cancer to the list. Recent studies have also found at least a doubling of risk among smokers for cancers of the vulva and penis, as well as an eight-fold risk of anal cancer for men and a nine-fold risk for women.
Smoking trashes the ability of blood to flow, which results in a sixteen-fold greater risk of peripheral vascular disease. This triggers pain in the legs and arms, which often leads to an inability to walk and, in some instances, gangrene and/or amputation. Seventy-six percent of all cases are caused by smoking, more than for any other factor, including diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.
Smokers are at least two to three times more likely to develop the heartbreak of psoriasis. Even if that doesn't happen, they'll look old before their time. The American Council tells us, "Smokers in their 40s have facial wrinkles similar to those of nonsmokers in their 60s."
Smokers require more anesthesia for surgery, and they recover much more slowly. In fact, wounds of all kinds take longer to heal for smokers.
Puffing helps to weaken bones, soft tissue, and spinal discs, causing all kinds of musculo- skeletal pain, more broken bones and ruptured discs, and longer healing time. "A non-smoker's leg heals an average of 80 percent faster than a smoker's broken leg."
Smoking is heavily related to osteoporosis, the loss of bone mass, which results in brittle bones and more breaks.
Cigarettes interfere with your ability to have kids. "The fertility rates of women who smoke are about 30 percent lower than those of nonsmokers." If you're an idiot who continues to smoke while you're expecting — even in this day and age, some people, including stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Courtney Love, do this — you increase the risks of miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, underdevelopment, and cleft pallet. If your child is able to survive outside the womb, it will have a heavily elevated risk of crib death (SIDS), allergies, and intellectual impairment.
Smoking also does a serious number on sperm, resulting in more deformed cells, less ability of them to swim, smaller loads, and a drastic decrease in overall number of the little fellas. The larger population of misshapen sperm probably increases the risk of miscarriages and birth defects, so even if mommy doesn't smoke, daddy could still cause problems. What's more, because smoking hurts blood flow, male smokers are at least twice as likely to be unable to get it up.
Besides shutting down blood flow to the little head, smoking interferes with the blood going to the big head in both sexes. This causes one quarter of all strokes. It also makes these strokes more likely to occur earlier in life and more likely to be fatal.
"Depression — whether viewed as a trait, a symptom or a diagnosable disorder — is over- represented among smokers." Unfortunately, it's unclear how the two are related. Does smoking cause depression, or does depression lead to smoking? Or, most likely, do the two feed on each other in a vicious cycle?
"Smokers experience sudden hearing loss an average of 16 years earlier than do never smokers."
Smokers and former smokers have an increased risk of developing cataracts, abnormal eye movements, inflammation of the optic nerve, permanent blindness from lack of blood flow, and the most severe form of macular degeneration.
Lighting up increases plaque, gum disease, and tooth loss.
It also makes it likelier that you'll develop diabetes, stomach ulcers, colon polyps, and Crohn's
disease.
Smoking trashes the immune system in myriad ways, with the overall result being that you're more susceptible to disease and allergies.
And let's not forget that second-hand smoke has horrible effects on the estimated 42 percent of toddlers and infants who are forced to inhale it in their homes:
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), children's "passive smoking," as it is called, results in hundreds of thousands of cases of bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, and worsened asthma. Worse yet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 702 children younger than one year die each year as a result of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), worsened asthma and serious respiratory infections.
It's very surprising to note that smoking can have a few health benefits. Because they zap women's estrogen levels, cigarettes can lead to less endometriosis and other conditions related to the hormone. Smoking also decreases the risk of developing osteoarthritis in the knees, perhaps because the pliability of thin bones takes some pressure off of the cartilage. And because it jacks up dopamine levels, it helps ward off Parkinson's disease. Of course, these benefits seem to be side effects of the hazards of smoking, so the trade-off hardly seems worth it.

Are the police legally obligated to protect us.

THE POLICE AREN'T LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO PROTECT YOU
Without even thinking about it, we take it as a given that the police must protect each of us. That's their whole reason for existence, right?
While this might be true in a few jurisdictions in the US and Canada, it is actually the exception, not the rule. In general, court decisions and state laws have held that cops don't have to do a thing to help you when you're in danger.
In the only book devoted exclusively to the subject, Dial 911 and Die, attorney Richard W. Stevens writes:
It was the most shocking thing I learned in law school. I was studying Torts in my first year at the University of San Diego School of Law, when I came upon the case of Hartzler v. City of San Jose. In that case I discovered the secret truth: the government owes no duty to protect individual citizens from criminal attack. Not only did the California courts hold to that rule, the California legislature had enacted a statute to make sure the courts couldn't change the rule.
But this doesn't apply to just the wild, upside down world of Kalifornia. Stevens cites laws an cases for every state — plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Canada - which reveal the same thing. If the police fail to protect you, even through sheer incompetence and negligence, don't expect that you or your next of kin will be able to sue.
Even in the nation's heartland, in bucolic Iowa, you can't depend on 911. In 1987, two men broke into a family's home, tied up the parents, slit the mother's throat, raped the 16-year-old daughter, and drove off with the 12-year old daughter (whom they later murdered). The emergency dispatcher couldn't be bothered with immediately sending police to chase the kidnappers/murders/rapists while the abducted little girl was still alive. First he had to take calls about a parking violation downtown and a complaint about harassing phone calls. When he got around to the kidnapping, he didn't issue an all-points bulletin but instead told just one officer to come back to the police station, not even mentioning that it was an emergency. Even more blazing negligence ensued, but suffice it to say that when the remnants of the family sued the city and the police, their case was summarily dismissed before going to trial. The state appeals court upheld the decision, claiming that the authorities have no duty to protect individuals.
Similarly, people in various states have been unable to successfully sue over the following situations:
when 911 systems have been shut down for maintenance when a known stalker kills someone
when the police pull over but don't arrest a drunk driver who runs over someone later that night
when a cop known to be violently unstable shoots a driver he pulled over for an inadequate muffler
when authorities know in advance of a plan to commit murder but do nothing to stop it when parole boards free violent psychotics, including child rapist-murderers
when felons escape from prison and kill someone
when houses burn down because the fire department didn't respond promptly
when children are beaten to death in foster homes
A minority of states do offer a tiny bit of hope. In eighteen states, citizens have successfully sued over failure to protect, but even here the grounds have been very narrow. Usually, the police and the victim must have had a prior "special relationship" (for example, the authorities must have promised protection to this specific individual in the past). And, not surprisingly, many of these states have issued contradictory court rulings, or a conflict exists between state law and the rulings of the courts.
Don't look to Constitution for help. "In its landmark decision of DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services," Stevens writes, "the US Supreme Court declared that the Constitution does not impose a duty on the state and local governments to protect the citizens from criminal harm."
All in all, as Stevens says, you'd be much better off owning a gun and learning how to use it. Even in those cases where you could successfully sue, this victory comes only after years (sometimes more than a decade) of wrestling with the justice system and only after you've been gravely injured or your loved one has been snuffed.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome

After suddenly stopping alcohol consumption patients can have a wide range of symptoms ranging from tremors and sweating, to seizures, hallucinations (delirium tremens), and death. This disorder is more likely to occur in patients who have been drinking daily for weeks to months. The symptoms can begin a few hours to a day after drinking has stopped, and can last for as long as 1-2 weeks.

Symptoms:
Tremors, sweating, high blood pressure, racing heart, fever, confusion, hallucinations.

Treatment:
The mainstay of therapy is sedation, supporting the vital signs, and preventing self harm. Treatment includes: intravenous fluids, benzodiazepines (diazepam Valium, lorazepam Ativan, chloazepate tranxene), anti-nausea medications, and anti-psychotics.

A history and physical exam will be performed along with other tests which may include: liver function tests, electrolytes, lipase, and a brain CT scan.

Other Specific Tests:
Ethanol level

A matter of life and death

I have seen birth, I have seen death but what I dare not see, grow enough to see a lover's last breathe or witness a lover's face through my last breathe???? Be a life long or short, its completeness depends on what it was lived for. Man will always remain highly judgemental about life as some believe life is a series of little deaths out of which life always returns. our fear is the naiveness about death, simply we live within the certainty that every atomic bit of life reminds us of man's destination of death and yet none bothers to understand death or the reason to die.
Cheers to fame, riches and arrogance which engraves us deep into the ignorance of death. I have seen faith but I have seen fear and there lives not a man who can withstand the aggravations of death. Life is a mere punishment of death as a crime each man commits before extinction. Men do not die but ceases to continue punishing the self through living and the best way to ensure this is through deceasing. Every single man will fear death but through the transition of life non chooses to dedicate time to seek that man fears most, emptiness is that we are even before we admit that we admit life is meaningless.
What bout our riches, the fame, poverty, leadership, yes all the vanities, yet the only thing full of life in the graveyard is the yew. Anguish is man's victory. Torment, torture is what we live for even during the times of ceasing to live. For I know not who created the culture, the believe of burial. The addiction of cremation. Is a sheer insanity to continue punishing lifeless man through eternal imprisonment, hold on, not only that but an inclusive six feet of sending a man closer to the underworld where you and me share the faith that, only the devil and it's army belong. If that crime of chucking a body down below to rot ain't enough then consider standing next to your mortal carcass, being sentenced to a furnace of temporarily hell. Our fears condemns us closer to evil than thinking about hopes after death, the ultimatum. Could we talk about a world without opposites? We certainly can't, just as well as we couldnt talk about a world without paradoxes, precisely because we are all of this. If we were not a paradox, than our world either wouldn't be paradoxical. It hurts to feel that life ends shortly on earth and belief remains our biggest foe. But if we do not belief what birth leads us into then we might neither survive that which compounds our fear of death.

BEAUTY IS WITHIN US.

An "ideal beauty" is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.

Never retract, never explain, never apologize; get things done and let them howl. Mark the things you do and be responsible for them, a case of adamant reaction to counter the critics. Create beauty in you, feel brilliant and look gloweringly stunning as we used to do with our imaginary pals. Beauty is a belief.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep a person quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

It is usually best to be generous with praise, but cautious with criticism.

What then is beauty?

Beauty is the emotional bottomless entity that lives faultlessly deep within our souls. Truth and fibs exist for the wise soul but beauty is a halo for the yearning heart. To be is never to think about not being. A beauty created is precious than the beauty gifted which every soul prides within.

Beauty, also called prettiness, loveliness or comeliness is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction.

The experience of "beauty" often involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being.

Because this is a subjective experience, it is often said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Hence beauty survives on necessity, for a person ages and wrinkles, in the eyes of a dear beholder beauty remains a transitional entity, beauty is not what a person sees but that a person persuades the self to envisage. Remember none a person born a hero, the act of heroism actually perchance a person, beauty then can be fabricated into anything or precisely everyone. The world would be meaningless with likes and dislikes, more or less, what a person likes or not has led to genocides and unbearable crimes. Nevertheless, personage and egotism will always abide.

Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his trials and tribulations, that is the beauty we possess.

Wherefore a person might see beauty in all, to make every look beauty is a mission could make possible. Beauty is that which gives joy and the beauty seen, is partly in the person who sees it. Beauty that we feel is something indescribable, what it is or what it means can never be said. Beauty is a form of genius as higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words, that makes you beautiful.

Please give beauty to see beauty in all, for the beauty we love should be what we do.

ABORTION

MANY OF THE PIONEERING FEMINISTS OPPOSED ABORTION
The idea that feminism equals the right to an abortion has become so ingrained that it is ludicrous to think otherwise. "Prolife feminism" appears to be an inherent contradiction in terms. Yet more than 20 founding mothers of the feminist movement — who helped secure women's rights to vote, to own property, to use contraception, to divorce abusive husbands — were adamantly opposed to abortion.
The most famous nineteenth-century feminist — Susan B. Anthony, she of the ill-fated dollar coin — referred to abortion as "the horrible crime of child-murder." And that's just for starters. She also called it "infanticide," "this most monstrous crime," "evil," and a "dreadful deed." Surprisingly, given that unsparing language, she didn't believe that it should be made illegal. Responding to an article in which a man called for the outlawing of abortion, Anthony writes: "Much as I deplore the horrible crime of child-murder, earnestly as I desire its suppression, I cannot believe with the writer of the above-mentioned article, that such a law would have the desired effect. It seems to be only mowing off the top of the noxious weed, while the root remains."
The root, she believed, was the horrible way in which women (and children) were treated. As summed up in the book Prolife Feminism, these pioneering women felt that "abortion was the product of a social system that compelled women to remain ignorant about their bodies, that enabled men to dominate them sexually without taking responsibility for the consequences, that denied women support during and after the resulting pregnancies, and that placed far more value on a child's 'legitimacy' than on his or her life and well-being."
Indeed, while Anthony gave women a lot of grief for ending a pregnancy, she reserved the most vitriol for the men who knocked them up:
Guilty? Yes, no matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification, heedless of her prayers, indifferent to her fate, drove her to the desperation which impelled her to her crime.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony's best friend for life, resented society's dictate that all women must become mothers. Yet she also thought that "maternity is grand," but it must be on the woman's own terms. Despite this, she railed against abortion. Like her pal, she referred to abortions as "murder," "a crying evil," "abominations," and "revolting outrages against the laws of nature and our common humanity." Also like Anthony, Stanton laid the blame for abortion at the feet of men.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, lionized as the first US woman to become a medical doctor (in 1849), wrote in her diary:
The gross perversion and destruction of motherhood by the abortionist filled me with indignation, and awakened active antagonism. That the honorable term "female physician" should be exclusively applied to those women who carried on this shocking trade seemed to me a horror. It was an utter degradation of what might and should become a noble position for women.
Another prolife feminist was Victoria Woodhull, best known for being the first female candidate .for US President (way back in 1870). Radical even by early feminist standards, she and her sister, Tennnessee Claflin, declared that children had rights which began at conception. Their essay "The slaughter of the Innocents" first discusses the abominable death rate of children under five, then turns its sights on abortion:
We are aware that many women attempt to excuse themselves for procuring abortions, upon the ground that it is not murder. But the fact of resort to so weak an argument only shows the more palpably that they fully realize the enormity of the crime. Is it not equally destroying the would-be future oak, to crush the sprout before it pushes its head above the sod, as it is to cut down the sapling, or cut down the tree? Is it not equally to destroy life, to crush it in its very germ, and to take it when the germ has evolved to any given point in its line of development? Let those who can see any difference regarding the time when life, once begun, is taken, console themselves that they are not murderers having been abortionists.

POPE 'rotic

ONE OF THE POPES WROTE AN EROTIC BOOK
Before he was Pope Pius II, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini was a poet, scholar, diplomat, and rakehell. And an author. In fact, he wrote a bestseller. People in fifteenth-century Europe couldn't get enough of his Latin novella Historia de duobus amantibus. An article in a scholarly publication on literature claims that Historia "was undoubtedly one of the most read stories of the whole Renaissance." The Oxford edition gives a Cliff Notes version of the storyline: "The Goodli History tells of the illicit love of Euralius, a high official in the retinue of the [German] Emperor Sigismund, and Lucres, a married lady from Siena [Italy]."
It was probably written in 1444, but the earliest known printing is from Antwerp in 1488. By the turn of the century, 37 editions had been published. Somewhere around 1553, the short book appeared in English under the wonderfully old-school title The Goodli History of the Moste Noble and Beautyfull Ladye Lucres of Scene in Tuskane, and of Her Louer Eurialus Verye Pleasaunt and Delectable vnto ye Reder. Despite the obvious historical interest of this archaic Vatican porn, it has never been translated into contemporary language. (The passages quoted
below mark the first time that any of the book has appeared in modern English.)
The 1400s being what they were, the action is pretty tame by today's standards. At one point, Euralius scales a wall to be with Lucres: "When she saw her lover, she clasped him in her arms. There was embracing and kissing, and with full sail they followed their lusts and wearied Venus, now with Ceres, and now with Bacchus was refreshed." Loosely translated, that last part means that they shagged, then ate, then drank wine.
His Holiness describes the next time they hook up:
Thus talking to each other, they went into the bedroom, where they had such a night as we judge the two lovers Paris and Helen had after he had taken her away, and it was so pleasant that they thought Mars and Venus had never known such pleasure....
Her mouth, and now her eyes, and now her cheeks he kissed. Pulling down her clothes, he saw such beauty as he had never seen before. "I have found more, I believe," said Euralius, "than Acteon saw of Diana when she bathed in the fountain. What is more pleasant or more fair than these limbs?... O fair neck and pleasant breasts, is it you that I touch? Is it you that I have? Are you in my hands? O round limbs, O sweet body, do I have you in my arms?... O pleasant kisses, O dear embraces, O sweet bites, no man alive is happier than I am, or more blessed."...
He strained, and she strained, and when they were done they weren't weary. Like Athens, who rose from the ground stronger, soon after battle they were more desirous of war.
But Euralius isn't just a horndog. He waxes philosophical about love to Lucres' cousin-in-law:
You know that man is prone to love. Whether it is virtue or vice, it reigns everywhere. No heart of flesh hasn't sometime felt the pricks of love. You know that neither the wise Solomon nor the strong Sampson has escaped from this passion. Furthermore, the nature of a kindled heart and a foolish love is this: The more it is allowed, the more it burns, with nothing sooner healing this than the obtaining of the loved. There have been many, both in our time and that of our elders, whose foolish love has been the cause of cruel death. And many who, after sex and love vouchsafed, have stopped burning. Nothing is better when love has crept into your bones than to give in to the burning, for those who strive against the tempest often wreck, while those who drive with the storm escape.
Besides sex and wisdom, the story also contains a lot of humor, as when Lucres' husband borrows a horse from Euralius: "He says to himself, 'If you leap upon my horse, I shall do the same thing to your wife.'"
Popes just don't write books like that anymore!

Wisdom for your perseverance.

Send me your comments on the picture or signs here:
asrichme@live.co.uk

Able to read the signs? Then reveal what it says about you. We have no words for speaking of wisdom to the stupid. He who understands the wise is wise already.
Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things. It is the continuous revolution of the marketplace. It is the understanding that allows to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions.
Two attitudes are all that is needed; do not harm anything; say and do things that make others happy.
Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know -- and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know -- even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction -- than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.

Painkillers

Treating pain is the duty of all doctors. Powerful medicines can help us. Sounds easy, right? Yet the downsides are also powerful. The medicines don't work for everyone. Some people become addicted or use the medicines inappropriately.

During the last 10 years, use of prescription pain medicines called opiates has increased dramatically. These medicines include oxycodone (Oxycontin), morphine and others. Overdoses have increased dramatically as well. This is a national problem. It is particularly evident among teens and young adults in rural areas.

Young women are among the abusers of these drugs. So there is a second concern -- babies born with opiate dependence.

This new article addresses something called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Between 60% and 80% of babies newly born to mothers who are taking these drugs -- legitimately or not -- have withdrawal symptoms. They include tremors, poor ability to feed, diarrhea, seizures and trouble breathing.

Such babies require time in intensive care. Many of them stay in the hospital for more than 2 weeks after birth. This costs the health care system up to $50,000 per baby. The authors of this study looked at a large database of information on children admitted to U.S. hospitals. They found that the risk of NAS tripled between 2000 and 2009.

At the same time, the use of opiates by mothers increased five-fold. State programs paid the majority of costs for treating the babies.

Why is this important? The authors bring up several issues that are key to all of us as we think about health and health policy. In Florida, for example, the risk of dying from a prescription drug overdose is four times higher than the risk of dying from an illegal drug overdose. The number of addicted babies in the state has increased five-fold.

Money we spend caring for these sick babies is money that can't be spent on everything from repairing roads and bridges to education to maintaining green spaces. It impacts all of us in different ways.

Most importantly, it impacts two generations -- babies and mothers -- who are the future of our country. This article suggests that we need to do more to prevent the problem. We also need to provide more efficient care for its adult and child victims.

What Changes Can I Make Now?

If you live with chronic (long-term) pain, explore options with your doctor. In many cases, opiate pain medicines are perfectly appropriate. But consider alternatives, too. These include various kinds of pills as well as other treatments, such as steroid injections. Some people really benefit from exercise, physical therapy, acupuncture or even massage.

It's unlikely that any one treatment will make pain disappear completely. The goal is to manage pain and gain function in your life. Some people have a higher risk of addiction, or using powerful medicines incorrectly. They include people who have:

A personal or family history of addiction, especially to prescription medicines
Certain mental health problems
A history of being abused in childhood
If you have a history of addiction, tell your doctor. Work with him or her to treat your pain safely.

Early Invitation For MENOPAUSE

Early menopause increases the risk of osteoporosis, fractures and a shorter life, a new study finds. The research was published online in the journal BJOG.

Prior studies often suggested similar results. But not all of them did. Some showed no link between early menopause and greater fracture risk or shorter lifespan.

The researchers in the new study defined early menopause as no menstrual periods for 12 months before age 47. Late menopause was defined as occurring at age 47 or older.

The study, done in Sweden, began in 1977. All 390 women were 48 years old when the study began. Of these, 61 had early menopause and 329 had late menopause. By age 77, 198 of the women were alive and still in the study. Researchers were able to interview them and do bone mineral density studies.

Women with early menopause were almost twice as likely to have osteoporosis as women with late menopause. This disease causes brittle bones. Early menopause increased the rate of broken bones related to osteoporosis by 68%.

Only 48% of the women with early menopause were alive at age 77. Of the women with late menopause, 65% were still living.

The researchers were not able to find out why there was a greater risk of osteoporosis, fractures and early death in women with early menopause. But estrogen is well known to help strengthen bones.

The average age of menopause for the early group was 42. The researchers did not have the average age of menopause for the late group.

The average age of menopause in Western countries is 51. A woman who reaches menopause at 51 has had 9 more years of estrogen than a woman who reached menopause at 42. So she is starting the rest of her life with a much higher bone density than a 51-year-old woman with early menopause.

What Changes Can I Make Now?

The current advice is to use estrogen after menopause only to decrease symptoms. These symptoms include hot flashes, especially those that interrupt sleep, and dryness in the vagina. The estrogen dose should be the lowest effective amount for the shortest period of time.

New research suggests that the scare about estrogen treatment for some women after menopause may be overblown. Some studies have found that women taking estrogen-only treatment soon after menopause may actually have a lower risk of heart disease and breast cancer. Estrogen-only treatment means no progesterone. Taking estrogen along with progesterone increases breast cancer risk.

Women take progesterone with estrogen mainly to decrease the risk of cancer of the uterus. This is also called endometrial cancer. If a woman has had a hysterectomy to remove the uterus, progesterone is not needed. For women who have a uterus, there are ways to screen for early-stage endometrial cancer with ultrasound and biopsy. This provides an option for estrogen-only therapy. However, most gynecologists still recommend progesterone.

If you have early menopause, it's surely reasonable to consider estrogen treatment until age 50 or perhaps a bit longer to help protect your bones. That's an easy decision if you don't have a uterus. You can take estrogen without progesterone.

If you do have a uterus, things get more complicated. You will need to weigh the added risk of breast cancer with estrogen plus progesterone vs. the increased risk of endometrial cancer with estrogen only. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.

Anxiety

Experience of fear or apprehension in response to anticipated danger or stressful event accompanied by some or all of the following signs: muscle tension, restlessness, diarrhea, palpitation, rapid breathing, jitteriness, suspicion, confusion, decreased concentration, or fear of losing control. This abnormal reaction may be brief or long lasting, and in some patients the symptoms may go away and return repeatedly. This disorder is also known as anxiety disorder.

Symptoms:
Fear, apprehension, muscle tension, restlessness, diarrhea, palpitation, rapid breathing, jitteriness, hyper vigilance, confusion, decreased concentration, fear of losing control.

Treatment:
Therapy depends on the severity of symptoms. Treatment includes: benzodiazepines (diazepam Valium, lorazepam Ativan), antidepressant medications, psychological counseling, and psychological treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Allergy

An allergy is an abnormal response of the immune system of the body to some type of foreign substance. The substance that triggers the allergic reaction is called an allergen. Initial contact with the allergen does not produce any symptoms. However, with time the immune system begins to form antibodies to the allergen, and future interactions with the allergen trigger more dramatic responses. The response to these sensitizing allergens varies from mild sneezing to respiratory difficulty, shock, and death

Symptoms:
Hives, other rashes, swelling, mouth swelling, throat swelling, wheezing, breathing problems, vomiting, fainting, low blood pressure, death.

Treatment:
Treatment includes: antihistamines (diphehydramine Benadryl), steroids, histamine 2 blockers (cimetidine Tagamet, ranitidine Zantac), epinephrine, intravenous fluids, and or oxygen.
Allergy testing may be done to determine the allergen causing the reaction.

Asthma

An inflammatory disease of the lungs characterized by reversible airway obstruction. The tubes that carry air in the lungs are called bronchi and bronchioles. In asthma these tubes become narrowed because of abnormal muscular contraction of the tubes and from inflammation. The mucous lining of these tubes become irritated and secrete mucous and white blood cells into the airways making the narrowing worse. In some patients this narrowing occurs in response to an irritant such as cold air, dust, pollen, exercise, or tobacco smoke. The severity of symptoms vary greatly amongst patients ranging from a mild irritant to life threatening collapse.

Symptoms:
Shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, low oxygen, fainting, death.

Treatment:
Beta-agonist bronchodilators (Albuterol, levalbuterol, metaproterenol) are usually given by meter dose inhaler or nebulizer. Steroids are administered intravenously, orally or by inhalation. Parasypathetic agents such as Atrovent (ipratropium) are also used frequently. Combination medications containing a bronchodilator and steroid are also available. In severe cases positive airway pressure breathing device (BiPAP), heliox (mixture of helium and oxygen), and or mechanical ventilation (breathing tube place in trachea) may be needed.

Peak expiratory flow rate will be taken to measure the lungs function and effects of treatment. A chest X-ray will be taken if infection is suspected.

Other Specific Tests:
Peak expiratory flow rate, allergy testing

Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is death caused by a cardiac arrest. SCD is the largest cause of natural death in the U.S. resulting in 325,000 adult deaths per year. A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart cannot beat normally. The most common cause is ventricular fibrillation or v-fib. In v-fib the large chamber of the heart (ventricle) beats chaotically and is unable to pump blood to the body and brain causing the patient to collapse. Starting CPR immediately is number one determinant of a patient surviving a cardiac arrest.

Symptoms:
Just prior to cardiac arrest patients may experience light headiness, breathing problems, chest pain, and fainting. Some patients have no warning signs.

Treatment:
Cardiac arrest can be treated but therapy must begin immediately after the event for the best result. 911 should be called and CPR should be started. New recommendations from the American Heart Association emphasize hands only CPR consisting of calling 911 and pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest until help arrives. Here is more information and a video demonstrating the recommended technique: http: handsonlycpr.org . If available an AED (Ambulatory External Defibrillator) should be used since most cases of cardiac arrest are caused by an abnormal beating of the heart called ventricular fibrillation, and an external shock from an AED given as soon as possible can save a life. It is the combination of immediate CPR and AED use that gives the patient the greatest chance of success.


Extensive cardiac testing will be done to determine the cause of the cardiac arrest.

Other Specific Tests:
echo cardiogram, coronary angiography

WITCHING A MAN'S WORLD.

AROUND ONE QUARTER OF "WITCHES" WERE MEN