The environment we live in is full of toxins. We inhale them in the air we breathe, ingest them with our food and water, and absorb them through the pores in our skin. Even the personal care products and cleaning supplies that we take for granted are full of poisons that are harmful to our bodies.

While we are surrounded by pollutants from the environment, the human ...
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By: Valerie Balandra ARNP, BC

Your adrenal glands are two tiny pyramid-shaped pieces of tissue situated right above each kidney. Their job is to produce and release, when appropriate, certain regulatory hormones and chemical messengers.

Adrenaline is manufactured in the interior of the adrenal gland, called the adrenal medulla. Cortisol, the other chemical from the adrenal gland, is made in the exterior portion of the gland, called the adrenal cortex. The cort...
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Stress is the number one cause of adrenal fatigue; however, many individuals may have this condition but not realize they have a problem or that there is something that can be done about it.

Anyone that is overworked has mental or physical stress, marital problems, or a slew of other issues should pay attention to their body in order to detect symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include nervousnes...
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Fight Depression Using Amino Acid Therapy

Major depression is a serious medical illness affecting 9.9 million American adults, or approximately 5 percent of the adult population in a given year. Unlike normal emotional experiences of sadness, loss, or passing mood states, major depression is persistent and can significantly interfere with an individual's thoughts, behavior, mood, activity, and physical health. Depression is typical...
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*What is anxiety, and when is it more than natural worry?

We all feel anxious and worried at times. Our bodies are naturally wired with the so-called fight-or-flight mechanism which is triggered in response to stressful situations. It is normal to feel anxious before an important business meeting or final exam, or when you are awaiting the results of a medical test. But when worry and fear become so constant and overwhelming that they are interfering with your ability to function n...
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Medical Journal: Autism Rates Decline as Mercury Removed from Childhood Vaccines

Independent Analysis Refutes Institute of Medicine Claims of "No Relationship," While Mercury Still Used in Flu & Other Vaccines

TUCSON, AZ -- A new study shows that autism may be linked after all to the use of mercury in childhood vaccines, despite government's previous claims to the contrary.

An article in the March 10, 2006 issu...
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Depression is a medical illness that involves your thoughts, mood, and body. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things.

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Buff and Brainy

Exercising the body can benefit the mind
Christen Brownlee

This is part one of a two-part series on lifestyle and brain fitness. Part II: "Eat Smart," is available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060304/bob8.asp.

Anyone who frequents the local gym has probably noticed a cyclical pattern to attendance. W...
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Can a Neurotransmitter Imbalance be causing your mood problems?

By Valerie Balandra ARNP, BC

Neurotransmitters are powerful chemicals that regulate numerous physical and emotional processes such as cognitive and mental performance, emotional states and pain response. Virtually all functions in life are controlled by neurotransmitters.

Interactions between neurotransmitters, hormones, and the brain c...
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* Definition of Depression

Nearly everyone experiences occasional feelings of sadness; depressed feelings are a natural reaction to disappointment, loss, difficulties in life, or low self-esteem. But when periods of intense sadness last for weeks at a time and hamper your ability to function normally, you may be suffering from clinical, or major, depression.

Major depression is diagnosed when you have at least five of the following nine symptoms for at least two weeks:<...
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Creative Responses to Stress:
A holistic approach
by Jay Busemeyer

Stress can be seen as positive or negative. Challenges can be stressful yet growth producing! With too little stress we may become bored with life. As our daily stress increases, it becomes very important to learn how to manage stress to remain healthy and to reach our true potential. In this presentation we will examine the physical, psychological and spiritual factors in stress mana...
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Are you anxious or depressed? Having trouble getting a good night's sleep? Find out how science can help you to relieve your symptoms and get your life back.

Depression and anxiety can take a huge toll on your life - your relationships, your career, and most importantly, your own sense of well-being are all tremendously affected by these common emotional disorders. Even with prescription medications, these conditions are often difficult to control; at least 80% of individuals who u...
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Eat Smart

Foods may affect the brain as well as the body
Christen Brownlee

At family dinner tables around the globe, prodding mothers have dished out the same refrain for decades: "Eat your fish," they say. "It's brain food!" For children picking at crusty fish sticks or blobs of pink poached salmon, the statement raises suspicions. But the message is turning out to be more than just an attempt to get children to ...
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Fibromyalgia is classified as a disorder that causes chronic pain with the main sufferers believed in the past to only be women. This is an untrue statement due to the fact that fibromyalgi...
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Autism is referred to a group of major developmental disorders. The patients have problems with behavior, social relationship, and communication. In most cases, autism is not diagnosed until a child reaches the age of three and begins to exhibit abnormalities in the child's development or behavior. However, some signs of autism can be noted while the child is still in infancy, such as a noticeable lack of crying, arching away from touching, extreme fussiness, and avoiding eye contact. [ More Info ]

OpEdNews.com
Is It Really Anxiety Disorder?
by Kenneth W. Thomas, RN
April 4, 2006

"Doctor, I don't sleep well. I feel nervous for no reason. My hands
tremble and my palms sweat at times. Sometimes I feel like my heart
beats too hard or is skipping a beat. It scares me. I get moody;
sometimes I'm depressed. I can't seem to concentrate at work.
What's wrong with me?"

Depending on which kind of...
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When it comes to the topic of food allergies, many of us think of young children and peanut allergies. After all, the sometimes-fatal reactions of those with peanut allergies are responsible for warnings on food, in restaurants, and other establishments where one may come in contact with peanuts or peanut residue. You should know, though, that food ...
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The Mental Health Risks of Adolescent Cannabis Use
Wayne Hall

Wayne Hall is Professor of Public Health Policy at the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston, Australia. E-mail: w.hall@sph.uq.edu.au

Competing Interests: The author declares that he has no competing interests.

Published: January 24, 2006

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030039

Copyright: © 2006 Wayne Hall...
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Natural Remedies for Coping with Menopause

* Menopause Defined

Menopause is defined as the time in a woman's life when she has not menstruated for one year, indicating the end of fertility. Menopause typically occurs around the age of 50, but some women menstruate well into their 50s, while others experience menopause sometime in their mid-40s.

Perimenop...
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Major depression is a serious medical illness affecting 10 to 14 million adults. It involves disturbances in mood, concentration, sleep, activity level, interests, appetite, and social behavior. Depression can develop in anyone, regardless of race, culture, social class, age, or gender. Many people suffering from depression are not aware that there are natural remedies for depression that are a safe and effective alternative to psychiatric med...
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Millions of men experience problems with erectile dysfunction each year. In the past, erectile dysfunction (also called impotence) was regarded as an inevitable part of getting old. With the exception of certain herbal treatments and natural libido enhancers known in limited cultural areas, there was no cure for male sexual dysfunction.

Fortunately, due to medical research, it is now clear that erectile dysfuncti...
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Do you occasionally have one of those "senior moments" where you walk into a room and then totally blank out on why you went in there, or scramble mentally to remember the name of a person to whom you were just introduced? These small memory lapses happen to everyone - they are simply part of the brain's constant efforts to sort out, prioritize and file away the information it is constantly receiving.

Minor forgetfulness is a normal part of getting older and generally does not affe...
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Neurotransmitters, chemicals in our brains that work as messengers between brain cells, are responsible for most of what goes on in our bodies. They regulate our behavior, our emotions, our ability to learn, and the way we sleep. When these chemicals are not present in the proper balance, it can affect everything from our energy levels to our ability to focus to how we feel.

Studies have shown that neurotransmitters hav...
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Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers of the nervous system, essential for relaying signals within the brain and communicating with all organ systems of the body.

A neurotransmitter imbalance is an underlying cause for the improper functioning of the communication system of the body. Recent medical surveys report that eight out of ten people are found to suffer from neurotransmitter imbalances that ultimately result in general disorders like obesity, migraine headaches, depres...
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Nutritional Deficiency: Symptoms & Recommendations For 24 Common Nutritional Deficiencies
By: B. SixWise

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion compiled their Healthy Eating Index for 1999-2000, they found only a slight reason to smile. Ten percent of the population had a good diet.

This was based on 10 aspects including how many servings of fruits, vegetables and meat were being consumed, along with...
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Preventing Pharmaceutical-Induced Nutritional Deficiencies
By Frederic Vagnini, MD, and Barry Fox, PhD
 
 
While pharmaceuticals have lifesaving benefits, many of these medications can have serious side effects, ranging from cardiac arrest to suicide.

Millions of Americans suffer from an almost completely ignored epidemic of drug-induced nutrient depletion that can cause grave health problems. Perhaps 30% of pharmaceutical side effects a...
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Psychiatric Drugs On The Couch
Matthew Herper, 04.03.06, 10:00 AM ET

New York -
A pair of giant, U.S. government-funded studies could drive changes in psychiatry that could slash sales of some of the world's biggest drug companies.

The clinical trials are part of a $140 million effort by the National Institute of Mental Health to compare the most common treatments for schizophrenia and depression. Already, both trials had shown that most patients di...
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Most people live their day-to-day lives believing that it is common and normal to have stress, and do not find it unusual that they are more often stressed than not.  There are many causes of stress in daily life, many of which are beyond our control.  Although the cause may be beyond control, the way in which we react to and deal with these stressors is within our control.  The truth is, people who suffer from stress are unaware of the adverse health effects that their stress ...
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Thirteen tips for a great nights sleep

By Blake Graham, BSc (Honours), AACNEM

If you find yourself tossing and turning every night or you are waking up before the birds you may want to try this list of recommendations for overcoming insomnia and achieving a great nights sleep. Insomnia is caused by a vast array of physical and emotional components so no one of these recommendations helps everyone. Overcomin...
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Click below to read about the value of neurotransmitter testing.

Urinary Neurotransmitter Testing: Myths and Misconceptions

The validity of urinary neurotransmitter measurements.
By Gottfried Kellermann, PhD

Background

Many diseases are associated with specific chemical alterations; these alterations are commonly called biomarkers and are routinely used to determine if a medical event or process will occur, is occurring, or has occurred. While they may be indirect, the interest in identifying chemical measurements that can be used as biomarkers is very high. ...
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Visualization - Fighting Phobias and Anxiety

Author: Thomas Chant

Exposure therapy often put fear into the heart of any one who as a simple phobia or agoraphobia, but does it have to be terrible?

Sure, you have to actually face what you fear, the apparent cause of all your discomfort, panic and anxiety, but isn't that what you have always wanted? To be able to go out and face it like a "normal person"? More importantly, are you doing e...
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* How Fat is Obese?

Many of us are carrying around a few unwanted pounds here and there. While some extra curves may affect our jeans size and self-image, they are otherwise not much cause for concern. But when excessive body weight becomes a danger to your health, a condition we call obesity, it presents a more serious problem.

It is estimated that 30% of the population of the United States is currently obese, an alarming statistic when you understand the consequences,...
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Title: The Simplest Weight Loss Tips No One Follows!

Author: Will Brink

Article:

I have a Cheez-It problem. You're not listening, I really have a Cheez-It problem! I have never met a Cheez-It I didn't like.* Some people can't resist chocolate or ice cream, some people it's pizza or some other food or sweet. While I enjoy all of those foods on occasion, Cheez-It's are the food equivalent of crack cocaine for me.