Category Archives: health

What hypnosis does to your brain, and how it can improve your health Read more:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432550-600-what-hypnosis-does-to-your-brain-and-how-it-can-improve-your-health/?utm_campaign=onesignal&utm_medium=alert&utm_source=editorial

The history of hypnotherapy is riddled with hucksters, but it can provide real benefits – from weight loss to managing pain. Why modern medicine is starting to take it seriously

HEALTH 6 November 2019

By Helen Thomson



Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432550-600-what-hypnosis-does-to-your-brain-and-how-it-can-improve-your-health/#ixzz64Wpxqxl9

“HONESTLY, I wondered whether I was actually in labour, because surely it was meant to be more painful than this.” That’s Shona, describing the recent birth of her daughter. Her secret? Hypnosis. During pregnancy, she learned how to hypnotise herself into a state of mind that allowed her to minimise the pain of labour and, in her own words, “quite enjoy the whole thing”.

The word hypnosis may call to mind a swinging watch or an entertainer getting people to believe they are naked on stage for an audience’s amusement. Its history is one of sorcery and magic, tales of the occult and exploitative charlatans. Practitioners are rarely doctors or counsellors, clinical trials struggle to get funded and there is still no regulatory authority that monitors the practice.

Yet despite these issues, people are turning to the technique to help with everything from labour to hot flushes, anxiety and chronic pain, and a growing body of research is starting to confirm its benefits. We are also beginning to get a handle on how it actually works and what happens in the brain during hypnosis.

The result is that how we define hypnosis is changing, and its use in mainstream medicine is increasing. The UK’s Royal College of Midwives now accredits hypnobirthing courses and funds training in the technique. Some anaesthetists now include hypnosis in their toolkit, and it is even being touted as a solution for the opioid addiction crisis. Hypnosis is certainly no cure-all, but learning what works, why it works and how to do it ourselves may …

Continue reading

Subscribe now for unlimited access




  1. Cosmological crisis: We don't know if the universe is round or flat
  2. One in 16 US women were forced into having sex for the first time
  3. Tiny artificial sunflowers could be used to harvest solar energy
  4. US green economy has 10 times more jobs than the fossil fuel industry
  5. How does consciousness work? A radical theory has mind-blowing answers



Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432550-600-what-hypnosis-does-to-your-brain-and-how-it-can-improve-your-health/#ixzz64WqJtlq3

Starting the FODMAP diet

https://www.monashfodmap.com/ibs-central/i-have-ibs/starting-the-low-fodmap-diet/

What to expect from the 3-Step FODMAP Diet

Get started on Step 1: 

FODMAPs are found in a wide range of foods. This sample food list highlights some high and low FODMAP foods.* 

low/high fodmap food table

*This table is not an exhaustive list of high and low FODMAP foods. For the world's most comprehensive database of FODMAP food information, please refer to our Monash University FODMAP Diet App

A low FODMAP Diet is NOT a diet for life

Science-based evidence has found that a low FODMAP diet can help with the symptoms of IBS. The great news is that following a low FODMAP diet isn’t a lifetime change. It is about monitoring your tolerance to FODMAP-rich foods and finding a diet that suits you and your symptoms. 

Once you’re diagnosed with IBS, for optimal results, a dietitian can help you through a 3-step plan.

Our research has found that around 3 in 4 people with IBS feel better after a low FODMAP diet. Once symptoms improve and you feel better this is the time to commence Step 2 - FODMAP Reintroduction.

The reintroduction step helps you work out your tolerance to individual FODMAPs and eventually a combination of FODMAPs. For optimal results, a dietitian can help you work out the type and quantity of foods to reintroduce and monitor your progress.

After reintroducing certain foods back into your diet, you'll continue to monitor their effect on your symptoms and how the foods make you feel.

Although individual FODMAP tolerance varies, most people find that they don't have to be so strict about their FODMAP intake as they were during Step 1. This means you can be flexible with your diet while keeping your symptoms under control. 

The goal is to achieve a balance between the avoidance of some high FODMAP foods and the reintroduction of better tolerated FODMAP-rich foods. 

In most cases, people are able to reintroduce many high FODMAP foods back into their diet, but may not be able to eat them as often or in the same quantity as they did before.  

There is no one-size-fits all that's why a FODMAP Personalization diet holds the key to getting on with your life! 

                            get the app

Planned Parenthood

Cecil Richards

cecile-richards-1-w540

Today Richards oversees a federation with more than 10,000 employees at 700 Planned Parenthood centers across the country. (She also helms their Action Fund.) Even in the face of deep state and federal funding cuts, the organization remains one of the largest reproductive health care providers in the nation. Abortion services constitute 3 percent of the care it provides—meaning that, yes, Planned Parenthood is where roughly 300,000 women will choose to terminate a pregnancy in any given year, often because it is the only place in their state they can do so. But those same health centers also administer more than 10 million medical services yearly—the majority to women and teenagers living in rural or medically underserved areas. That includes 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, and nearly a million screenings for breast and cervical cancer. One in every five women has visited a Planned Parenthood in her lifetime; a full 10 percent of patients are men.

Dementia and Alzheimer's meds

 

Screen Shot 2015-10-04 at 9.41.43 PM

 

Treatments and drugs

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Controlling underlying conditions and risk factors

Controlling conditions that affect the underlying health of your heart and blood vessels can sometimes slow the rate at which vascular dementia gets worse, and may also sometimes prevent further decline. Depending on your individual situation, your doctor may prescribe medications to:

  • Lower your blood pressure
  • Reduce your cholesterol level
  • Prevent your blood from clotting and keep your arteries clear
  • Help control your blood sugar if you have diabetes

Alzheimer's medications

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any drugs specifically to treat changes in judgment, planning, memory and other thought processes caused by vascular dementia. However, certain medications approved by the FDA to treat these symptoms in Alzheimer's disease may also help people with vascular dementia to the same modest extent they help those with Alzheimer's.

Doctors may prescribe one or both types of the following Alzheimer's drugs:

  • Cholinesterase inhibitors — including donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Razadyne) and rivastigmine (Exelon) — work by boosting levels of a brain cell chemical messenger involved in memory and judgment. Side effects can include nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps and diarrhea.
  • Memantine (Namenda) regulates another brain cell chemical messenger important for information processing, storage and retrieval. Side effects can include headache, constipation, confusion and dizziness.

What to expect from your doctor

Your doctor is also likely to have questions for you. Being ready to respond may free up time to focus on any points you want to talk about in-depth. Your doctor may ask:

What kinds of thinking problems and mental lapses are you having? When did you first notice them?
Are they steadily getting worse, or are they sometimes better and sometimes worse? Have they suddenly gotten worse?
Has anyone close to you expressed concern about your thinking and reasoning?
Have you started having problems with any long-standing activities or hobbies?
Do you feel any sadder or more anxious than usual?
Have you gotten lost lately on a driving route or in a situation that's usually familiar to you?
Have you noticed any changes in the way you react to people or events?
Do you have any change in your energy level?
Are you currently being treated for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease or stroke? Have you been treated for any of these in the past?
What medications are you taking?
Are you taking any vitamins or supplements?
Do you drink alcohol? How much?
Do you smoke?
Have you noticed any trembling or trouble walking?
Are you having any trouble remembering your medical appointments or when to take your medication?
Have you had your hearing and vision tested recently?
Did anyone else in your family ever have trouble with thinking or remembering things as they got older? Was anyone ever diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia?