Everyday Affair

If you can not sleep at night you are not alone. Almost every person in the world will suffer from insomnia at one point or another in their lives. For some, it happens once in a while and they go on to sleep again in a night or two. For others, insomnia can go on and on for weeks leaving someone exhausted, mentally sluggish, and down right frustrated. There are many different causes of insomnia and many different things that may help correct the situation. If you find you can not sleep for nights on end, it may be something that needs attention by a doctor.

The body needs sleep. This is when our brains file away what we have learned that day and our bodies repair the damage from the day. If you are a child or teenager, your body is growing while you sleep. This is why babies sleep so much after they are born. They grow more in the first year than in any other time period, so they have to sleep to allow the body to do what it needs to do. If you are not sleeping, your immune function is not what it should be and you could get sick much more easily. That being said, you can see why finding and fixing the causes of insomnia are important.

For many, the causes of insomnia are related to stress and mental health. If you have a lot on your mind and you are stressed out, your brain may be in overdrive trying to fix your problems thus you can not sleep. You may find you are so worried that you can not turn off your brain to get sleep. The lack of sleep then make the problem worse. Depression and deeper emotional problems can develop when insomnia starts this way as the lack of sleep can make any problem worse. More »

January 21st, 2010 | Category: Health, Wellness | Leave a comment

For many decades now, heart disease has been on the rise. The incidence of heart disease used to be more common in older people, but as the decades pass, the ages of people who develop heart conditions keeps dropping – even people in their 30s are now being diagnosed with one heart condition or another. Our sedentary lifestyles, stressful, fast-paced lives and dietary practices stand in direct correlation to the prevalence of heart disease. Although our physicians seem to constantly be chiding us on following a healthy lifestyle and getting regular exercise, so many of us put off this good advice to some day in the future. Today, it’s important to understand that heart disease can strike you even at a relatively young age. Keeping a healthy heart should be a lifelong pursuit which begins in childhood. Let’s take a look at the ABCs of a healthy heart.

If you take a look at the statistics regarding heart disease over the past several decades, it becomes apparent that a healthy heart does have a relationship to exercise. Up until the 1980s and early 1990s, kids were far more active than they are today. Riding bikes, participation in sports and playground activities were part of a kid’s daily life. As the couch potato syndrome developed, along with time spent at the PC and video games becoming the norm, kids became less inclined to get out in the fresh air after school, opting instead to sit in front of the tube or computer, adopting a sedentary lifestyle while still in their teens. It’s also notable that physical education is now an optional, instead of mandatory, class. More »

January 21st, 2010 | Tags: Health | Category: Wellness | Leave a comment

Most people don’t want to think about what might happen to them or their loved ones in the event of a catastrophic accident. This is natural enough, as contemplating such things is not exactly a pleasant topic. But it’s one that all responsible adults should address sooner rather than later, especially since you never know when disaster can strike. If you haven’t filled out a living will form yet, then this is something you need to do as soon as possible.

You can find a standard living will form for your state online at many different websites. These forms are formatted properly and contain all the proper language to make the document legally binding. All you have to do is pay a fee, download the living will form, fill in all the details, and then sign it with witnesses present. More »

December 8th, 2009 | Category: Legal Matters, Personal Finance | Leave a comment

The first step in attempting to cure depression is to understand that not all kinds of depression are created equal.  There are people who have legitimately unbalanced hormones or, for lack of a better word, crossed wires upstairs.  There are people who are just in a rut, sad about a death in the family or losing a job.  Then there are also teenagers, for whom the default setting is “depressed.”  Each of these states are different, and what works for one is overmedication for another, or not enough medication.  That’s why it’s important to get to a doctor, because in order to cure depression you have to know if you’re actually biologically depressed.

Medication is typically used for people who want to cure depression, but isn’t always needed or helpful.  A bit of anecdotal evidence:  A friend of mine in college claimed to have depression as a result of a chemical imbalance.  He went to the doctor, who tested him for said imbalance and found nothing of note.  However since my friend clearly had symptoms, he was prescribed prozac (or a similar medication) to help him regulate his moods.

It didn’t work.  Why?  Because he didn’t have clinical depression.  He was simply in a rut, unable to be happy with his accomplishments or attempt to break out of his pre-determined path.

So it’s a good step to take a look at yourself before you really go off the deep end by taking drugs that mess with your biochemistry.  Are you really, truly depressed?  Or are you just looking for an “easy” way to make your life into something else? More »

July 20th, 2009 | Category: General | Leave a comment

For years we’ve heard about how cholesterol ratio is the leading indicator for heart disease potentiality.  That’s great to know, but rarely was that information bundled with an actual description of what cholesterol ratio means and how to adjust yours to lead to a longer, healthier and happier life.

Let’s start simply:  Your cholesterol ratio is the ratio of your total cholesterol to your High-density Cholesterol (HDL).  Your total cholesterol level is determined by adding your Low-density Cholesterol (LDL) and your high-density cholesterol.  Low-density cholesterol is frequently called your “bad” cholesterol, while your high-density cholesterol is frequently called your “good” cholesterol.

The American Heart Association (americanheart.org) uses the following as its barometer:

AHA Recommendation

We recommend using the absolute numbers for total blood cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels. They’re more useful to physicians than the cholesterol ratio in determining the appropriate treatment for patients.

Some physicians and cholesterol technicians use the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol in place of the total blood cholesterol. The ratio is obtained by dividing the HDL cholesterol level into the total cholesterol. For example, if a person has a total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL and an HDL cholesterol level of 50 mg/dL, the ratio would be 4:1. The goal is to keep the ratio below 5:1; the optimum ratio is 3.5:1.” More »

July 20th, 2009 | Category: General | Leave a comment

Many women wonder at what age they should start screening for breast cancer, and what types of breast cancer screening are the most efficient and effective.  Unfortunately there are no easy answers to these questions, but medical professionals do agree on certain guidelines that all women should know.  Screening for cancer means looking for cancer before the patient shows any symptoms.  Because early detection can be crucial to cancer survival, especially breast cancer survival, breast cancer screening really does save lives.

Most women should begin regular breast cancer screening around age 45.  The hormonal changes associated with menopause greatly increase breast cancer risk.  Women over age 45 who have not started regular screening should speak to their doctor immediately about how to get started.

Some women with special risk factors will need to start breast cancer screening much earlier.  The most severe risk factor is previous incidence of breast cancer.  Other risk factors include family history of breast cancer, being overweight or obese, having your first child at an older age (older than 35), and having your first menstruation at an early age (before age 12).  Women who think they may be at increased risk of developing breast cancer should consult with their doctors about deciding when to begin breast cancer screening. More »

July 20th, 2009 | Category: General | Leave a comment

The divorce rate is so high that some people are afraid to get married in the first place. They think there is no point because most of the people they know are getting divorced – some even just a few years after saying their vows. An unhappy marriage is no fun, and can make people think that happiness with another person is just not possible. The real problem might be that people do not take marriage seriously, and when things get tough they get out, without any attempts to fix the problems. That can be a huge mistake.

If you are in an unhappy marriage, think about things very thoroughly before you decide that you want to ask for a divorce. There are some things that can happen which can mean the end of any marriage, and you can decide what your limits are. Many believe that cheating is the end of a marriage (though this is totally subjective), and most would agree that any type of physical or mental abuse should not be tolerated. Otherwise, however, an unhappy marriage can be saved.

There are many people today who do not understand what the word commitment means. They believe that this is something that you do when things feel good, but don’t think much of it when they find that they are in an unhappy marriage. Commitment is more about the bad times than the good. It is easy to make a commitment when you are in love and things are going well. Every relationship has its ups and downs, and there are going to be times when it feels like you are in an unhappy marriage. It happens to every couple. More »

May 28th, 2009 | Category: Behavour, Marriage, Relationship | Leave a comment

Men are, indeed, from Mars, and women are from Venus. As old as humanity, there has always existed a disparity of nature between the male and female genders. Men are far more practical and tend to aggression, while women view life in a more subjective manner and tend towards the emotional sides of life. The majority of men find that understanding women is an impossible task indeed. If this describes you, listen up! Understanding women is not the impossible task you might have in mind.

Men, as a group, tend to be practical. Men, as a rule, don’t generally indulge themselves in public displays of revealing emotions, such as crying. On the opposite front, women are ready, on a moment’s notice, to demonstrate their feelings on emotional issues. This makes the poor man uncomfortable. He’s not himself familiar with this state of mind and concludes understanding women is beyond his ken.

The poor, befuddled male may well be an innocent victim. From a man’s point of view understanding women shouldn’t include entertaining the irrational. For example, if a man and women are in a restaurant and the man says something which gets the woman’s ire up, justified or unjustified, the woman’s display of her displeasure may prove so embarrassing to her partner, that he just up and walks. Believe me, this isn’t the way to play it.

Sir, what you need to know is that, to the woman, all that matters is that you’ve somehow insulted her. Unwittingly, you opened the door and created this situation. She’s right and you’re not. The argument will only get worse if you persist in maintaining your correctness. Understanding women requires patience and humility, the virtues of which would be hard to argue, don’t you think? Just think of it as a good deed. Soothe and reassure her and just let it go.

See how it works? No further argument and everyone’s happy. Besides, I’ll tell you a little secret. Your woman will feel indebted to you for your graciousness, you’ll enjoy enhanced esteem in her eyes. She’ll also treat you better in future. More »

May 28th, 2009 | Category: Behavour, General, Relationship | Leave a comment

Recently I met someone who told me that she is a therapist that specializes in relationships. Though she does handle family and even work relationships, the majory of her clients are there for love and/or marriage problems. What surprised me is that even though this is what she does for a living, her own personal relationship wh her boyfriend is pretty much a mess. I see her making mistakes that should be obvious to her. This made me wonder how relationship experts or therapist really work and why they are valuable.

Relationship experts are not going to tell you how to run your relationship. They don’t have all the answers, and they cannot tell you what to do in your own marriage or partnership. They are not all seeing and all knowing. Instead, these relationship experts have learned how to get couples to open up to each other, and to really communicate wh each other. At times,  takes someone else to bring out the problems that even the couple is not aware of before they go into therapy. They then give them the tools to talk to each other and work out their problems on their own. More »

March 19th, 2009 | Category: Behavour, Relationship | Leave a comment