Thursday, January 31, 2008

Bulimia Facts - Bulimia Nervosa Treatment

Family and home therapy are probably two of the most important aspects in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. Recovery for the sufferer will happen at home, over time, and living alongside parents, siblings and other family members.

There is a simple reason for this, it is because people under treatment with counselors only spend around 45 minutes a week on average with their therapist or doctor. For the rest of the time people live at home and recovery must take place there living amongst other family members.

In the past few weeks there has been a mountain of scientific proof saying the best way to recovery quickly from an eating disorder is to get help from the other members of the family in a concerted effort by all concerned. A study recently by the University of Chicago conducted by Dr. Daniel le Grange and his team, showed that family therapy is much more effective than traditional solo psychotherapy in helping young people battle with bulimia.

Whereas other bulimia therapy methods where the family was not involve in the treatment process, showed a much higher failure rate in long term improvement. People generally relapse at home after attending clinics and therapist in a matter of weeks sometimes months. And the reason for it is normally just a lack of correct family support and help.

Family therapy or recovery at home must include certain things.

One is attending the clinics as a family together with a sufferer. This makes the sufferer think that she/he are not alone and they do not need to lead a secret life. This relieves the sufferer’s burden enormously as it takes a lot of stress away.

Secondly, it is important to be close to the sufferer to give mental and emotional support. This helps the family support her/him when they have emotional ups and downs and stops the chance of them slipping back to their bulimic habits again and again as an escape or coping mechanism for their fragile emotions.

The third way is to educate yourself and the family about eating disorders, recognize that an eating disorder is not about food, but about the feelings and the emotions of the sufferer. This will give the family as a whole an opportunity to influence the way she/he thinks and sees themselves as a person and help them to improve their self-esteem, change their associations with food and help them find a meaning to their lives (different from what the bulimia gives to them).

The Family should always remember that bulimics as well as binge eaters are extremely vulnerable and sensitive people. After all their bulimia is only a symptom of much deeper emotional problems.

If the family goes from the point of pure love, understanding and exercises an non-judgmental approach to the sufferer, this will assure the person’s recovery from bulimia and make them stay away from slipping back into their bulimia long term, even permanently in most cases.

But if family does nothing, it can force the sufferer to turn away from the family where they may decide that recovery is just too hard and stay where they are in misery and pain. This way will never do the sufferer any good or the family either. If the family is not a part of the solution, then the family is in danger of being a part of the problem.

To conclude, the family is the first and most important people to help and who have a real chance to keep the bulimic on the road to recovery. If you are a mother, a father, a sibling, a husband or a lover of a person who has bulimia; then you are in a unique position to help the person and you can provide probably the best help for the sufferer in their endeavors to recover.

If you don’t know how to talk to them about the problem or how to provide the best help you possibly can provide, you should start by educating yourself on how to do this.

Beautiful Skin For Everyone To Show Off

Possibly, there are millions of people all over the world who will do anything just to have a blemish-free and smooth skin. Practically everyone is dreaming of a flawless and porcelain-like complexion. In this era, people are more judgmental and tend to take notice first on one’s physical appearance. Being the most visible organ, it is easy to spot any blotch on the skin. It may be painful and sad to assimilate that usually, a person’s worth is oftentimes equated to how he or she looks physically. Therefore, acne, blemishes or any skin discoloration can be awkward for somebody who has it.

How does a perfectly beautiful skin is attained? Remember that magic potions are not applicable when it comes to skin care. Neither is a genie around to help you. Most people acquire beautiful skin with the use of expensive skin products, pricey treatments and maintenance. While there are those who take comfort on make-ups to shield their skin imperfections. You can do well without any of these. In time, you will be most comfortable in your own skin, that is, if you do not feel like it yet. The following paragraphs will further convey some tips for you to follow.

What is the use of skin vitamins if they are just around and not in your hands to take? A fair and beautiful skin is indication of a good health. Summon the aid of these crucial vitamins to provide you with the proper supplements and nutrition vital to your skin’s health. Nutrient deficiency is one major health concern of the society at present. People are more into junk foods. It is about time you start to re-assess your diet and your health. Give yourself some time to look back on your diet. Are they nutritious? Are you eating what you are supposed to eat?

Know the necessary nutrients you should fill your body with. Vitamin A helps your body repairs any damaged cells and tissues and it also moisturizes your skin, delaying the aging process. This vitamin can be derived from food sources such as eggs, broccoli, milk, butter, cheese, fish oils, carrots, and spinach. Vitamin A supplements may also be incorporated in your diet but utmost caution is needed since this type of vitamin is fat-soluble. Any excess amount may be stored in the liver and this is highly dangerous. Overly high level of vitamin A is hazardous to your health.

Another vitamins, B and C are similarly essential to improving your skin condition and health. Vitamin B improves your skin tone and blood circulation. Cereals, brown bread, yogurt, yeast, wheat germ, and leafy vegetables supply this vitamin. Like the vitamin A, supplements can be taken in vitamin B form and any excess is not a problem since this is water-soluble and therefore, can just be easily flushed out from the body.

Vitamin C functions in maintaining the adequate collagen level. Collagen is a form of protein accountable for skin healing. This vitamin is responsible for the skin’s luster and glow, and keeps your skin firm and smooth. Citrus fruits are the best sources of vitamin C, together with blackcurrants, strawberries, cabbage, potatoes, broccoli, and sprouts. Like the other vitamins, supplements must also be taken to meet with what is required of you daily.

Water is essentially important in keeping that healthy glow on your skin. It aids in cleansing your body, as well as your skin, eliminating impurities. Aside from this, being stress-free enhances that alluring skin. You must avoid being stressed out as much as you can. Unwind if you feel the need to release some tensions and pressures. Stress has some way of deteriorating your skin’s natural softness and glimmer. It does nothing but leaves your skin looking dry, aged, and wrinkled. It is likewise best to protect your skin from the harsh elements of the environment like the sun, wind, pollution and other detrimental factors. You must do your best to shield yourself from all these in order for you to sport that beautiful skin everyone dream of having.

Mannatech, And Their Ambrotose

The story begins when Mannatech scientists discovered that the carbohydrate chain is the base of everything in the human organism, but not only as a fuel for the cellular activity. Actually, this chain is composed of eight unique molecules, which play an important role, being compared to building blocks or raw materials. These unique molecules are named monosaccarhides or glyconutrients and form the cellular suface glycoprotein structures.

Like pieces of a Lego game, these molecules get together, combine and multiply in our body, playing a major role in the organism’s synthesis and physiological process. Due to their specific abilities, every cell in the human body communicates to one another, through the complicate, yet reliable mechanism built up by these miraculous molecules.

Why is this communication between cells so important? Our body is made up by trillions of cells. They do not exist independently. They co-exist so they need to know every cell’s role and how it affects the entire organism. Only through this communication, the human body can function properly. Mannatech found out how the cells are talking to each other and the role of the glyconutritional components in this process.

But not everything works in our bodies as it should work. The communication lines, built by these molecules, are damaged by many noxious factors, like preservatives, toxins that enter our body through the food we eat or through the air we breathe or through the entire environment that interacts with our physical beings. The pollution, the soil depletion and the limited variety of the foods we eat, all contribute to the decay of that complicated communication system in our bodies.

When the communication between cells is made properly, the cell functions well, the tissue functions well and the entire body functions well with all its systems. When we lack these important molecules or they are damaged by factors like those mentioned above, the communication system falls and the human body suffers.

You will not know right away that there is a malfunction in your body. The negative effects may take years to develop into an ailment or into some sort of a negative physical reaction. Then the body will not be able to heal itself as the communication between its cells is broken. The result is sickness, malfunction and the development of a serious autoimmune disease.

There is a solution to give your body what it needs. Mannatech created a glyconutritional blend consisting of all eight of the monosaccharides, by taking these isolated molecules. The product, a nutraceutical supplement, is called Ambrotose Complex. If the body misses those important molecules in order to create those necessary communication lines between the cells, this supplement gives it what it needs and the body can function properly.

Mannatech and Ambrotose are trademark of the Mannatech corporation in Coppell Texas. We are not affiliated with them.

Excessive stomach acid production healing

ACIPHEX® 20 mg once daily was significantly more effective than ranitidine 150 mg QID in the percentage of patients with complete resolution of heartburn at Weeks 4 and 8 (p<0.001). ACIPHEX® 20 mg once daily was also more effective in complete resolution of daytime heartburn (p=0.025), and night time heartburn (p=0.012) at both Weeks 4 and 8, with significant differences by the end of the first week of the study.

Long-term Maintenance of Healing of Erosive or Ulcerative
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD Maintenance)

The long-term maintenance of healing in patients with erosive or ulcerative GERD previously healed with gastric anti-secretory therapy was assessed in two U.S., multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of identical design of 52 weeks duration. The two studies randomized 209 and 285 patients, respectively, to receive either 10 mg or 20 mg of ACIPHEX® QD or placebo. As demonstrated in the tables below, ACIPHEX® was significantly superior to placebo in both studies with respect to the maintenance of healing of GERD and the proportions of patients remaining free of heartburn symptoms at 52 weeks

Symptomatic Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
Two U.S., multicenter, double-blind, placebo controlled studies were conducted in 316 patients with daytime and nighttime heartburn. Patients reported 5 or more periods of moderate to very severe heartburn during the placebo treatment phase the week prior to randomization. Patients were confirmed by endoscopy to have no esophageal erosions.
The percentage of heartburn free daytime and/or nighttime periods was greater with ACIPHEX® 20 mg compared to placebo over the 4 weeks of study in Study RAB-USA-2 (47% vs. 23%) and Study RAB-USA-3 (52% vs. 28%). The mean decreases from baseline in average daytime and nighttime heartburn scores were significantly greater for ACIPHEX® 20 mg as compared to placebo at week 4.

ACIPHEX® 20 mg also significantly reduced daily antacid consumption versus placebo over 4 weeks (p<0.001).
Healing of Duodenal Ulcers
In a U.S., randomized, double-blind, multicenter study assessing the effectiveness of 20 mg and 40 mg of ACIPHEX® QD versus placebo for healing endoscopically defined duodenal ulcers, 100 patients were treated for up to four weeks. ACIPHEX® was significantly superior to placebo in producing healing of duodenal ulcers.

At Weeks 2 and 4, significantly more patients in the ACIPHEX® 20 and 40 mg groups reported complete resolution of ulcer pain frequency (p=0.018), daytime pain severity (p=0.023), and nighttime pain severity (p=0.035) compared with placebo patients. The only exception was the ACIPHEX® 40 mg group versus placebo at Week 2 for duodenal ulcer pain frequency (p=0.094). Significant differences in resolution of daytime and nighttime pain were noted in both ACIPHEX® groups relative to placebo by the end of the first week of the study. Significant reductions in daily antacid use were also noted in both ACIPHEX® groups compared to placebo at Weeks 2 and 4 (p<0.001).
An international randomized, double-blind, active-controlled trial was conducted in 205 patients comparing 20 mg ACIPHEX® QD with 20 mg omeprazole QD. The study was designed to provide at least 80% power to exclude a difference of at least 10% between ACIPHEX® and omeprazole, assuming four-week healing response rates of 93% for both groups. In patients with endoscopically defined duodenal ulcers treated for up to four weeks, ACIPHEX® was comparable to omeprazole in producing healing of duodenal ulcers.
ACIPHEX® and omeprazole were comparable in providing complete resolution of symptoms

Natural Cures

In recent years the issue of Natural or Alternative Healing has skyrocketed to the forefront of the medical field. A 2004 government survey concluded that more than one third of adults use alternative medicine and healing.

One area of this growing interest is Herbal Medicine. While it may seem “trendy” to some, Herbal Medicine has been around for thousands of years. In fact, many of the familiar pharmaceutical medications we use today were originally created from “natural” ingredients. Drugs like opium (from poppies), aspirin (from willow bark), digitalis (from foxglove) and quinine (from the cinchona tree.)

Interestingly, the synthetic version of “aspirin” is credited with the beginning of the pharmaceutical industry. A chemist working for the Friedrich Bayer Company in Germany created the synthetic. The company registered the term “aspirin” as a trademark but Bayer lost the patent rights when the Allies seized and resold its foreign assets after World War I.

The right to use the term “aspirin” in the United States was purchased by Sterling Drug in 1918. But even before the patent expired in 1917, Bayer had been unable to prevent their formula from being copied. Hence, the term “aspirin” has been a generic term in the U.S. ever since.

What we will try to do with this blog is provide you with an overview of herbal remedies and subsequently give you an in-depth look at some simple herbal remedies to common, everyday ailments.

Please remember that there is no substitute for advice from a medical practitioner. The contents provided here should not replace a health and fitness program and is provided for educational purposes only. You should consult your own medical practitioner before embarking on any program that affects your health and well being.