Weblog – News – Views – Reviews

By: Sheri O. Zampelli, M.S., CCH
Viewed: 812 Times
Approximate Word Count: 768

There are two mental and emotional habits that will keep you struggling for years to come. These habits are: overreacting, and believing without thinking. I know you probably expected the two habits to be about food or exercise but the truth is, in order to acquire healthy food and exercise habits you must first establish mental habits that insure long-term success.

Many people are stuck in a vicious cycle of all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to food and exercise. Healthy habits are not an enjoyable, integrated aspect of life. Instead, being healthy is something you tell yourself you have to do. Because you haven’t learned to enjoy healthy behaviors, you avoid them until there’s nothing else you can do but change. By then you are so mortified by your weight gain that you decide to do something drastic to get rid of it quickly. Many times, the very method you are using to solve your weight problem is actually creating the problem.

For example, suppose you gained 3 lbs. over the weekend. Perhaps you fear that you must do something immediately. You are terrified that if you don’t do something, the weight will keep creeping up and up. So you decide to go on a fast until the three pounds are gone.

First of all, fasting is a very drastic response to a 3 pound gain and secondly the mere act of fasting causes your metabolism to slow down thereby guaranteeing that you will struggle harder in the future! In this instance, overreacting is actually causing your weight problem.

Here’s another example: let’s say you’ve gained 35 lbs. and none of your clothes fit. So you decide to start a serious diet…on Monday. In the meantime, you engage in a feast of ‘no-no’s’ where you consume 2-5x’s more fat and calories than your body can process. When you finally start your diet, you are already at a deficit. Mentally you feel like a failure. Physically, you have more weight to lose now than you did last week. Many people go off their diet within the first few weeks of starting. If this is the case, you are actually guaranteeing future weight loss struggles. You’d probably be better off if you’d decided to do nothing at all.

Another habit that will make you fat and sabotage your life is: believing without thinking. Many times in our desperation or fear we believe and act on what we hear from others (especially authority) without question.

Here’s an example: buying the good ol’ ‘Finish everything on your plate, there are children starving in Africa” line. People from age 8 to 80 have heard this line so many times that they blindly believe, accept and act on it without question. It’s true, children are starving in Africa. However, finishing everything on your plate only makes you the processing plant for excess food that is guaranteed to make you fat.

Instead of putting leftovers in the trash or in the refrigerator, you put them in your body and your body has no choice but to turn excess food into fat. Meanwhile, the children in Africa are completely unaffected. They are still starving. Continuing to habitually finish everything on your plate is an example of how you literally create your weight problem.

So if you’re ready to take the leap and stop the struggle now, here’s a few things you can do:

* Chew each bite at least 10 times. Put your food or utensil down between bites.

* Remember, your stomach is the size of your fist.

* Stop when you feel satisfied or have eaten a fist-size portion.

* Always leave something on your plate to de-program yourself from automatic eating.

* When satisfied, stop eating. If you’re at a restaurant, push your plate to the edge of the table so the waiter will take it. If you’re at home, get up immediately and throw the food in the trash or put it in storage for another meal.

* Acknowledge your strength and self-control.

* Tell yourself, “I can do this.”

In closing, you have the power to challenge your thoughts and take note of any beliefs that don’t work for you. The great thing about doing this type of self-inventory is that when you realize how you are creating your results, you can take different actions and get different results. Once you access and utilize your ability to make positive changes you will feel more powerful, less insecure and better able to accomplish your goals and dreams.

Sheri O. Zampelli, M.S., CCH is the author of From Sabotage to Success – How to Overcome Self-Defeating Behavior and Reach Your True Potential. Listen to her weekly podcast for motivation and a fresh perspective. Visit http://www.donateyourweight.com for details.

By: Sylvia Riley
Viewed: 1035 Times
Approximate Word Count: 925

7 Superfoods for Weight Loss:

1) Bee pollen

Bee Pollen, around 40% protein with a staggering composition of nutrients, enzymes and phytochemicals, is a virtually complete food. As well as a plethora of health benefits, it is said to stimulate the metabolism, speeding up the burning of calories, and its high content of lecithin can help to flush fat from the body.

Bee pollen also functions as an appetite suppressant, containing the amino acid phenylalanine that is known to effect the area of the brain that deals with feelings of hunger and fullness. Unlike the chemical manmade derivative of phenylalanin called phenylpropanolamine used in commercial weight-loss products, phenylalanin is not addictive and has no negative side effects. Bee pollen also satiates the appetite and eliminates cravings because it is so nutrient-dense.

2) Chili

The active ingredient in chilli called capsaicin is a thermogenic agent which helps to increase metabolism and the burning of calories and fat. This is why capsaicin is found in many natural weight loss formulas. Capsaicin is also believed to be an appetite suppressant. Two studies led by the same Japanese researcher (Yoshioka et al., British Journal of Nutrition; 1998, 1999), revealed the ability of cayenne to increase the metabolism of dietary fats in women as well as demonstrate modest reductions in appetite.

In addition to weight loss properties, capsaicin has been shown to relieve pain, sinusitis, psoriasis, migraines and arthritis, improve circulation and stomach conditions and inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

3) Coconut oil

Dr. Weston A Price, the Darwin of nutrition writes, “Replacing the fats you now eat with coconut oil may be the wisest decision you can make to lose excess body fat… You can lose unwanted body fat by eating more saturated fat (in the form of coconut oil) and less polyunsaturated fat (processed vegetable oils). One of the remarkable things about coconut oil is that it can help you lose weight. Yes, there is a dietary fat that can actually help you take off unwanted pounds. Coconut oil can quite literally be called a low-fat fat.”

Coconut oil is unique from animal saturated fats in that it is comprised of medium chain fatty acids which are absorbed directly and used immediately for energy. Raymond Peat MD, author of Coconut Oil and Its Virtues, concludes, “The anti-obesity effect of coconut oil is clear in all of the animal studies, and in my friends who eat it regularly.”

Coconut oil has also been found to benefit a myriad of conditions from diabetes, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, digestive disorders, thyroid imbalances, and viral, bacterial and fungal infections.

4) Nettles

Nettles contain serotonin, a mood enhancing neurotransmitter with a calming influence. Serotonin also plays a role in the feelings of satiation one experiences after eating, hence functions as an appetite suppressant. It is for this reason that serotonin supplements have been designed to tackle food cravings and aid slimming.

Studies have shown a direct link between obesity (due to overeating) and decreased brain levels of serotonin. This is no doubt one reason why the nettle has a traditional reputation for improving weight-loss. The late naturalist and wild-food forager Euel Gibbons claims, “stinging nettle is very efficacious in removing unwanted pounds!”.

Nettles are incredibly mineral dense and cleansing and detoxifying for the body. They are also great for skin, hair and nails as they contain the beautifying mineral sulphur.

5) Chocolate

Cacao (aka pure chocolate), contains chemicals that increase levels of serotonin in the brain, and as such has appetite suppressing properties. The reason serotonin levels are raised on eating chocolate is because of the action of monoamine oxidase enzyme inhibitors (MAO inhibitors). These decrease our body’s ability to break down serotonin so that more of this neurotransmitter remains in the brain remains, creating feelings of fullness for longer.

Cacao is also exceptionally high in antioxidants, has potent aphrodisiac properties, healthy minerals and mood-boosting compounds such as PEA the “love chemical”.

Pure, unrefined chocolate contains none of the detriments of commercial products such as sugar, hydrogenated fats, milk, additives, agro-chemicals and solvents.

6)Green Tea

A study published in the December 1999 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, led by Dr. Dullo at the University of Geneva, indicates that substances in green tea extract may actually promote weight loss. Men given a combination of both caffeine and green tea extract burned more fat calories than those given caffeine or placebo alone.

The scientists believed that the catechin flavonoids in green tea may alter the body’s use of norepinephrine, a chemical transmitter in the nervous system, to increase the rate of calorie burning. They concluded, “Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se”.

Green tea is a potent antioxidant rich superfood that lowers cholesterol, reduces the risk of stroke, protects against cancer, prevents teeth cavities and has anti-inflammatory action.

7) Omega 3 Fish Oil

Omega-3 oils serve numerous bodily processes and are particularly good for the immune system and heart as well as arthritis, skin conditions, pre-menstrual tension, mental function, improving memory and reducing depressive symptoms. Omega 3 oils also play a role in burning fats within the body and as such can aid weight-management.

This is due to its effects on insulin, reducing levels in the body. Insulin promotes the use of fat for storage and reduces the use of fat for fuel, hence lower insulin levels mean greater conversion of fat for energy rather than storage.

The best Omega-3 oil sources are oily fish like sardines, salmon and mackerel. Plant sources include flaxseeds (the richest plant source), walnuts, pumpkin seeds, green leafy vegetables, evening primrose oil, wheat germ and spirulina.

Discover the World’s Ultimate Superfoods:
http://www.miracle-superfoods.com

And the Pet Nutrition Guide:
http://www.pet-nutrition-guide.com

By: Knut Holt
Viewed: 893 Times
Approximate Word Count: 617

Special areas in the pancreas gland, the Islets of Langerhans, produce a hormone called insulin. This hormone is a protein of small size. Insulin stimulates muscle cells and other body cells to take up glucose from the blood and convert the glucose to glycogen, a kind of starch, and then store the glycogen. By need the body cells convert the glycogen to glucose and use it as fuel. In this way insulin keeps the glucose level in the blood at a normal size.

By diabetes type 2, the cells in the body do not react properly by stimulation from insulin. Therefore they do not take in enough glucose from the blood to store it or to use it as energy source. This condition is called insulin resistance. The amount of glucose in the blood therefore rises. Also the insulin production can rise to regulate the glucose amount down, but this effort to reduce the blood glucose is not effective enough. If the disease persists for many years, the insulin production may tire out, so that the amount of secreted insulin decreases.

THE CAUSES AND MECHANISMS OF DIABETES TYPE 2

The exact mechanism that causes the disease is not known. There may be an autoimmune response to insulin or to the molecules on the cell surfaces that the insulin connects to. However, these lifestyle factors can cause the disease:

-Too high consume of sugar and fat
-Over-weight
-Too less exercise over many years.

Therefore diabetes type 2 can be prevented by a right diet and with regular exercise.

When the glucose uptake into the body cells is reduced, but glucose instead accumulates in the blood, the following physiological effects occur:

-The body cells do not get enough fuel for the work they shall do.
-The molecular thickness (osmality) of the blood increases. This causes water to be pulled out from the body tissues and into the blood. The tissues thus get dried out and the urine production increases.
-The tissues begin to break down protein and fat to get energy, causing weight loss and muscular reduction.

The symptoms of diabetes type 2 are a consequence of these mechanisms.

THE SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES TYPE 2

Diabetes type 2 is the most common kind of diabetes, actually 10 times more common than diabetes type 1, where the insulin production is reduced or stopped. The disease usually appears after the age of 50, but the high sugar and fat consume in western countries nowadays also causes young persons to acquire the disease. Symptoms of diabetes type 2 come gradually. The symptoms are.

-Increased urine production
-Dehydration, that is a lack of water in the body
-Abnormal high thirst
-Dry mouth
-Increased appetite
-Slow healing of physical injuries
-Itching in the skin
-Infections caused by yeasts
-Impaired vision

In the long turn, the disease can cause atherosclerosis with blood vessel narrowing, heart disease and stroke.

THE TREATMENT OF DIABETES TYPE 2

The treatment of diabetes type 2 is most often diet with a low sugar amount and weight reduction. These measures will lighten the burden upon the blood sugar control of the body so that it manages to normalize the blood sugar levels. If this does not work good enough, medicines to lower the blood sugar is used.

If the insulin production is reduced, insulin injections are also used.

There are also natural products in the market that can help to normalize the blood sugar level by diabetes type 2. Those products cannot heal the disease, but they can help the body to regulate the blood sugar. These products contain minerals that are working components of enzymes that stimulate the glucose metabolism in the body. They also contain herbs that have been used for a long time in traditional medicine to regulate the glucose level and have proven their effects in scientific studies.

About the Author Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items. TO FIND supplements for support by diabetes, anti-aging supplements, medicines against acne, eczema, rosacea and other skin problems and natural medicines against heart disease, hypothyroidism, hemorrhoids, depression and other common health problems, PLEASE VISIT:—-

http://www.abicana.com/shop2.htm

—-Free to reprint with the author’s name and link.

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By: Darren MacLeod
Viewed: 840 Times
Approximate Word Count: 737

I went on my first diet around five years ago. Over the past four and a half years my weight went up and down as I tried every diet and exercise program under the sun. Nothing seemed to work for me. Until six months ago I enrolled in a weight workshop which taught me that I need to change the way I look at food. It was then that I realized that I had made many mistakes in my quest to lose weight.

In this article I’m going to share with you eight mistakes I made on my quest to lose weight. I hope by sharing my experiences with others throughout the world via the internet I might be able to help people avoid the mistakes I made. So, here are the eight mistakes I made while trying to lose weight.

1. I started to skip breakfast
Most people trying to lose weight believe simply eating less and skipping meals helps shed that fat. And breakfast is a real easy meal to skip. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when on a weight loss diet. If you leave the house in the morning on an empty stomach you’re much more tempted to eat more at morning tea and lunch times. And, calories you eat at breakfast time are easily burnt throughout the day.

2. I would eat one day and not the next
I would literally eat about 2000+ calories one day, feel guilty, and end up eating about 700 calories the following day. If you “starve” yourself throughout the day you’re much more likely to eat more in the evenings, which is not going to help you lose weight. You should consume most of your calories in the morning.

3. I bought diet food
When I went shopping I always looked for the foods marked diet, low-fat, healthy etc. This is a good practice to get into, but I was buying these foods for the wrong reason. I bought these foods because in my mind it meant I could more. I would totally disregard portion size. If you eat diet foods in large portions you’re not doing yourself any favors.

4. I thought I’d always be fat
This is mindset that you must break if you want to lose some serious weight. Sometimes it feels like you’re doing the right things and not making any progress, this is totally natural. You need to focus on being happy and healthy and achieving your goals. Try not to get caught up in “the big picture”.

5. I started eating salads as main meals
Eating salad is a good way of keeping your calorie intake down right? Yes, meal of salad has much less calories that a pizza but does it have the satisfaction? When you eat you mind needs to get some satisfaction from what you have just eaten. I found that when I ate salads for meals a few hours later I was back I the cupboard looking for more food. I learnt that I was better off eating a balanced meal with slightly more calories than simply eating a salad and snacking afterwards.

6. I started my new diets on Mondays
When I found a new diet that I decided I was going to try I always started it on a Monday. This meant I would eat all weekend like I was never going to eat again. Doing this I was just setting myself up for failure.

7. I was to embarrassed to go to the gym
Taking the plunge and joining a gym was one of the hardest things I ever did. I was always worried that people in the gym would be staring at me and talking about me. I really thought I was too fat to join. My advice is to join a gym! You’ll be glad you did. I look forward to going to the gym now.

8. I set my goals to high
Setting long term goals is great, but these goals always seem to far off. You need to set smaller, more reachable goals that you can regularly meet to keep your motivation high. Set yourself weekly, monthly and three monthly goals. Once you meet one short term goal set a new one for next week.

So there you have it, those are the mistakes I made. I now look at weight loss from a totally different perspective and it has paid off. I now help others with weight loss and keeping healthy.

By: Royane Real
Viewed: 984 Times
Approximate Word Count: 950

If you’re still alive, you’re growing older every day.

You may not notice it, but you are.

When we make that great shift out of our teenage years into our twenties, most of the changes we encounter about growing older are good.

Whe we are in our twenties, growing older means a lot more freedom and a lot of adventure. Physically, we are at our peak of perfection.

In our thirties, we are starting to enjoy many of the benefits of growing older as we accumulate more wisdom and in most cases, continue to have a body and a brain that’s still in great shape.

But there comes a time, perhaps in our fifth decade, or in our sixth, when growing older starts to have some negative effects we don’t really like.

We may not be as physically fit as we used to be. We start to get sags and bags. We get aches and pains. We may be showing some forgetfulness.

Our beautiful perfection of youth is gone.

Why do we age?

Over the centuries, people have often wondered how it is that our bodies grow and develop from a tiny fertilized egg, to a newborn baby, to a young child, then a teenager and, finally, a young adult. A huge number of very complex changes within our bodies must happen perfectly in order to achieve this.

Once we grow into our adult perfection, why can’t we just stay there? Why do we have to age?

And can we stop it?

Doctors and scientists used to take aging for granted. Scientists used to think that because aging was a natural process, there was no need to investigate it.

Now, as increasing numbers of baby boomers are turning fifty, anxious to hang on to some semblance of youth, more and more research is being devoted to the topic of aging.

Scientists are trying to find out how and why we age, and they are investigating possible ways to slow down the aging process, or perhaps even stop it altogether.

If new ways are found to extend physical and mental health for the aging population, the benefits to society will be enormous..

Although all of us want to live a long time, none of us wants to spend our final years in physical pain or suffering from mental decline.

Scientists have been able to identify some of the factors that influence the process of aging, and new knowledge is accumulating at a rapid rate. Dozens of theories to explain aging have been proposed, but it seems that aging is a very complex, and several processes are interlinked.

Here are some of the current theories about why we age:

Hayflick Limit Theory – Two scentists in the 1960s noticed that many human cells would divide a limited number of times, then stop. If the cells were well fed, they divided faster. Body cells may have a built-in genetic program that tells them not to reproduce anymore.

Free Radical Theory – Free radicals are molecules or atoms that have an unpaired electron. In order to be electrically balanced, these molecules or atoms will grab an electron from a nearby atom, thereby creating another free radical, eventually resulting in a cascading chain of damage to cells and organs.

Free radical formation may not account for all the symptoms of aging, but it probably does play an important part in accelerating cellular damage. Free radicals are unavoidable. They are an inevitable consequence of living in a physical body. However, there are steps we can take to slow down free radical damage, such as avoiding pollutants, and eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Telomerase Theory – Telomeres are special types of chemicals that seem to have some ability to protect the chromosomes inside our cells. Every time our cells divide, the telemeres become shorter and less able to protect the chromosome. This may explain why the cells eventually become damaged and die. Scientists are currently trying to find out how to repair telomeres and stop the damage to the cells.

Glycation – When proteins in your body react with excess blood sugar, the proteins become damaged. This process is known as “glycation”. These sugar-damaged proteins may contribute to the breakdown of many other systems in the body. People who have diabetes or problems with insulin resistance are particularly vulnerable to glycation damage because of abnormalities in their blood sugar levels.

If it turns out to be true that glycation plays a major part in causing the negative effects of aging, we may be able to slow it down by making sure we avoid excess blood sugar levels.

Here are some other factors that play a part in aging:

- We experience a steep decline in hormone production in our later years
- Our body becomes less efficient at detoxifying
- The DNA in our cells becomes damaged
- A life time of exposure to stress and environmental toxins in our air, food and water overwhelms our bodys’ repair systems.

These are some of the explanations for why we age, but it’s not a complete picture. At the present time, we don’t yet know all the reasons for this process.. And so far, there is no single magic bullet to stop it.

If scientists can learn how to slow down the process of aging, we will be able to spend many more happy years enjoying our lives while maintaining our peak of physical perfection.

This article was written by Royane Real, author of the Book “How To Be Smarter — Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative” Sign up for her free newsletter filled with life improving tips at http://www.royanereal.com.

By: Sylvia Riley
Viewed: 874 Times
Approximate Word Count: 958

Wouldn’t we all like to age gracefully (if at all for that matter!) and ward off the wrinkly signs and ill symptoms for as long as possible. Keys to longevity may be more accessible than we think, and it appears our diets play a critical role. Antioxidants are the knights in shining armor that subjugate the attack of free radicals in the body, the hazardous molecules that damage cells and procure aging and disease. Though antioxidants are produced naturally in the body, these decline with age, hence an increasing need to acquire them from the foods in our diet.

Before examining antioxidants more closely, it is important to take a look at the free radicals they serve to neutralize.

Free Radicals

Free radicals are created as by-products in our use of oxygen during metabolism such as the burning of food for energy. They are essentially oxidant molecules that are missing an electron and seek to restore themselves by targeting nearby cells in an attempt to recover this electron, potentially harming enzymes, DNA, proteins and cell membranes in the process. This damage can mutate cells and alter cell function, increasing the risk of numerous diseases and chronic conditions including arthritis, diabetes, cataracts, cancer, heart disease and stroke. Free radical damage is implicated in the onset of aging and its degenerative symptoms and diseases.

As well as generated within the body, free radicals come from environmental sources such as pollution, radiation, unhealthy foods, bacteria, viruses, cigarette smoke and UV light.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants serve to mitigate the harmful effect of free radicals by giving up an electron and stabilizing them in the process. Although we produce many of our own antioxidants within the body, food provides an essential source for these key players of our defense system. Vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients all have antioxidant properties. The most common examples include vitamins A, C and E, selenium and zinc, carotenoids, flavonoids, co-enzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid and glutathione.

As there are many different types of free radicals in the body a variety of antioxidants are required to protect against them. Antioxidants function best as a team, with each other and other nutrients and phytochemicals, which is why incorporating a wide range of plant foods into your diet is recommended. Phytochemical groups such as flavonoids and carotenoids correspond to the colour, taste and smell attributes of plants, hence eating a rainbow array of vegetables and fruits can offer a diverse selection of these potent antioxidants.

Antioxidant Rich Foods

Foods especially high in antioxidants include berries, plums, pomegranates, oranges, spinach, green tea, avocado, kale, broccoli, peas, onions, grapes and pure chocolate.

Scientists at the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) have developed a rating scale that measures the total antioxidant capacity of a given food. This is known as the ORAC score (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).

Of 40 common fruits and vegetables measured by the USDA, top ranking scores were those of prunes(5770), raisins (2830), blueberries (2400 — highest of all fresh foods with other berries close behind), kale (1770), spinach (1260), Brussels sprouts (980), plums (949), alfalfa sprouts (930), broccoli florets (890), beetroots (840), oranges (750 ), red peppers (710 ) and red grapes (739).

Pure cocoa surpasses all these foods with a whopping score of 26,00 units, more than 10 times the prestigious blueberry (though one is likely to eat far less in quantity). The extraordinary goji berry from Tibet also has outstanding antioxidant capacity with a score of 18,500 units; hardly surprising as they contain 500 times more vitamin C than oranges and even more beta-carotene than carrots!

According to studies on animals and human blood at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts in Boston, high-ORAC foods may slow aging processes in the body and brain. Results found that high ORAC foods such as blueberries and spinach could increase the antioxidant power of human blood by 10-25%, prevent loss of long-term memory and learning ability in middle-aged rats, and protect rat blood vessels against oxygen damage.

Antioxidants and Aging

As we age, free radical levels rise and yet the body falls short in producing necessary amounts of antioxidants to meet this challenge. For example, cells generate more of the oxidants hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, yet levels of the necessary antioxidant glutathione required to neutralise these decline. The Free Radical Theory of Aging, first proposed by Harman in 1954, is supported by cross-species examination of animals with regard to life span, free radical damage and antioxidant defence. For example, the white-footed mouse lives about twice as long as the house mouse (8 versus 4 years), and is found to generate less oxidants and have higher levels of antioxidants. As Beckman and Ames write in The Free Radical Theory of Ageing Matures (1998), “Together, interspecies comparisons of oxidative damage, antioxidant defences, and oxidant generation provide some of the most compelling evidence that oxidants are one of the most significant determinants of life span.”

Very recent evidence comes from a study on dogs at the University of Toronto by Dr. Dwight Tapp and colleagues who found that “old dogs that were on an antioxidant diet performed better on a variety of cognitive tests than dogs that were not on the diet. In fact, the dogs eating antioxidant-fortified foods performed as well as young animals”.

Additional research by Dr. Rabinovitch and his team, studying aging at the University of Washington, Seattle, found that mice engineered to produce high levels of an antioxidant enzyme (catalase) lived 20 per cent longer and had less heart and other age-related diseases than controls.

In light of the role free radicals play in the onset of aging and disease, it is important to ensure our diets include a rich and diverse supply of antioxidants. These protective agents can be found abundantly in vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds and are particularly high in superfoods.

By: Alfred Jones
Viewed: 895 Times
Approximate Word Count: 847

Many of you will have heard of Paget’s Disease, which is a serious bone disease, but many of you will not have heard of Paget’s Disease of the breast, so I am hoping that the ladies out there reading this article will take notice of the content, because they could come in touch with this disease at some time in their life.

What Is Paget’s Disease Of The Breast?
It is an eczema type change in the skin of the nipple, and most women that develop it, will have an underlying breast cancer.
Paget’s Disease occurs in about 1 or 2% of women that have breast cancer, it appears firstly as a scaly, red rash affecting the nipple and the areola. It can be very sore, may bleed and it will not go away.

The disease can be difficult to diagnose, because it can be very similar to other skin problems like eczema or dermatitis, but this disease usually affects the nipple first then spreads to the areola, whereas the other skin problems usually start in the surrounding areas, first before spreading to the nipple.

I have been asked to include the following in this article, it is taken from an actual case, where the person with the disease wanted this message passed on by you, to all the ladies in your life, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Aunts and Friends.

“A lady developed a rash on her breast, similar to that of young mothers who are nursing. Because her mammogram had been clear, the doctor treated her with antibiotics for infections.
After two treatments it continued to get worse, her doctor sent her for another mammogram, and this time it showed a mass.

A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy. Chemotherapy was started in order to shrink the growth; then mastectomy; then a full round of Chemotherapy; followed by radiation treatment.

After about 9 months of intense treatment, she was given a clean bill of health. She had one year of living each day to its fullest. Then the cancer returned to the liver area. She took four treatments and decided that she wanted quality of life, not the after effects of Chemotherapy.
She had 5 great months, and she planned each detail of the final days.

After just a few days of needing morphine, she slipped away saying she had done what God had sent her into the world to do.”

PLEASE be alert to any thing that is not normal.

Her message is shown below:

“Paget’s Disease: This is a rare form of breast cancer, and is on the outside of the breast, on the nipple and areola. It appeared as a rash, which later became a lesion with a crusty outer edge. I would not have ever suspected it to be breast cancer, but it was. My nipple never seemed any different to me, but the rash bothered me, so I went to the doctor for that. Sometimes, it itched and was sore, but other than that it didn’t bother me.
It was just ugly and a nuisance, and could not be cleared up with all the creams prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on my eyes just prior to this outbreak.

They seemed a little concerned. Mine started out as a single red pimple on the areola. One of the biggest problems with Paget’s disease of the nipple is that the symptoms appear to be harmless. It is frequently thought to be a skin inflammation or infection, leading to unfortunate delays in detection and care.

What are the symptoms? The symptoms include:

A persistent redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple causing it to itch and burn. (As I stated, mine did not itch or burn much, and had no oozing I was aware of, but it did have a crust along the outer edge on one side.)

A sore on your nipple that will not heal. (Mine was on the areola area with a whitish thick looking area in center of nipple).

Usually only one nipple is affected. How is it diagnosed? Your doctor will do a physical exam and should suggest having a mammogram of both breasts, done immediately.
Even though the redness, oozing and crusting closely resembles dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), your doctor should suspect cancer if the sore is only on one breast. Your doctor should order a biopsy of your sore to confirm what is going on.

This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many of your relatives and friends as possible; it could save someone’s life

My breast cancer has spread and metastasized to my bones after receiving mega doses of chemotherapy, twenty eight treatments of radiation and taking Tamaxofin.
If this had been diagnosed as breast cancer in the beginning, perhaps it would not have spread”.

TO ALL READERS: This is sad as women are not aware of Paget’s disease.

As we all know, early diagnosis is so important with all kinds of diseases, so if you are in any doubt about any medical problem, for goodness sake, make an appointment to see a Physician, soon as possible.

Article by Alfred Jones, Information Advisor for http://www.RUsweetEnuf.com – Glyconutritionals, The Eight Essential Sugars that Heal.

RIO DE JANEIRO - The number of people infected with both tuberculosis and HIV is twice what researchers previously thought, top health officials said Tuesday. The World Health Organization’s annual report on TB, presented in Rio, indicates that there were 1.37 million cases of people with both TB and HIV in 2007, the latest year for which statistics are available. About 700,000 people were infected with both in 2006, according to a report released by WHO last year.

Researchers attribute the numbers mostly to more widespread testing and reporting. They say direct information on the HIV status among TB patients is now available from 64 nations – up from just 13 nations in recent years. More reporting is also coming from Africa, where 79 percent of the dual-infection cases were reported.

In 2007, 1.3 million people died from TB, while another 465,000 people who had both TB and HIV died. About 1.5 million people died in 2006 from TB, according to WHO’s report last year. It was not clear how many of those who died also were infected with HIV.

WHO researchers said the new data means HIV-positive people are about 20 times more likely than HIV-negative people to develop TB in countries where HIV is at epidemic levels, and between 26 and 37 times more likely to develop TB where HIV prevalence is lower.

In a message to mark World TB Day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the epidemic is continuing to decline “but the rate of decline is far too slow, and TB still takes a life every 20 seconds.”

“Millions of people are benefiting from treatment through coordinated national efforts, but millions more are still missing out,” he said in the message released at U.N. headquarters in New York. “Unless we accelerate action, the numbers of those falling ill will continue to grow.”

The WHO’s annual report had other pessimistic points: an expected $1.6 billion gap in funding needed to fight the disease this year and an increase in the number of cases of drug-resistant TB.

“We have a situation with very little progress, particularly in Africa and Eastern and Central Europe,” said Tido von Schoen-Angerer, the executive director of Doctors Without Borders, who was attending the TB conference. “There is no room anywhere in this report for congratulations.”

The survey estimates that 9.27 million people around the globe had TB in 2007 – slightly up from 9.24 million in 2006.

That amounts to a per capita rate of 139 per 100,000 people globally, the report states. That pace, a drop of less than 1 percent a year, has continued for the past several years, said Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO’s Stop TB program.

He said it would take millennia to wipe out the disease at that rate.

Multiple-drug-resistant cases of TB also rose in 2007 to 500,000. Such cases are more difficult to treat and have a higher rate of deaths.

Aggravating the fight against TB is the global financial crisis.

Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the U.N.-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said funding for programs to fight TB will fall $1.6 billion short in 2009, a gap he estimates will reach at least $4 billion in 2010.

“The crisis is severely affecting developing nations,” he said. “But countries should realize health costs are an investment for development and not just a strain on budgets.”

Asia registered the most TB cases in 2007, with 55 percent, while Africa had 31 percent. Among nations, India had the most cases with 2 million, China had 1.3 million and Indonesia 530,000.

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CHICAGO – The health care costs of Alzheimer’s disease patients are more than triple those of other older people, and that doesn’t even include the billions of hours of unpaid care from family members, a new report suggests.

Compared with people aged 65 and older without Alzheimer’s, those with the mind-destroying disease are much more often hospitalized and treated in skilled-nursing centers. Their medical costs also often include nursing home care and Medicare-covered home health visits.

That all adds up to at least $33,007 in annual costs per patient, compared with $10,603 for an older person without Alzheimer’s, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Alzheimer’s Association.

The numbers are based on 2004 data and include average per-person Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance costs.

Costs likely have grown since then as the U.S population has aged and the number of Alzheimer’s diagnoses has risen, said Angela Geiger, the Alzheimer’s Association chief strategy officer.

According to the group’s report, nearly 10 million caregivers – mostly family members – provided 8.5 billion hours of unpaid care for Alzheimer’s patients last year.

“All of these statistics paint a really grim picture of what’s going to happen … unless we invest in solutions” to delay or prevent the disease, Geiger said.

This week a Senate committee will hear from an independent coalition of experts that has been working on a strategy for dealing with the growing Alzheimer’s population.

An estimated 5.3 million Americans have the disease; by next year nearly half a million new cases will be diagnosed, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

As the disease progresses, people lose the ability to care for themselves and need help with eating, bathing, dressing and other daily activities. Eventually, they may need help with breathing and swallowing.

From 2000 to 2006, while deaths from heart disease, stroke, breast and prostate cancer declined, Alzheimer’s deaths rose 47 percent.

Geiger said those trends reflect improved treatments for other diseases, while there are no treatments that can slow or prevent Alzheimer’s.

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