Health | Wellness | Yoga

By Marlo Sollitto, AgingCare.com contributing editor Alzheimers disease or dementia causes a persons behavior to change, seemingly without reason or explanation. Clearly, some behaviors such as wandering or forgetting to turn off the stove are not only dangerous; they could put a persons life in danger. Other behavior problems are less life-threatening: Mom tells the same story all day. Dad compulsively loads and unloads the dishwasher. Dad shouts inappropriate comments in public. Are behaviors such as these hurting the person with Alzheimers or dementia? Or is it that they are annoying and hard to deal with for the caregiver? 5 Causes of Alzheimers Outbursts Feeling confused, worried, frustrated, or even angry about the bewildering behaviors exhibited by your family member is normal. Now, its time to come to terms with a hard truth: the real source of your negative reaction is not necessarily the patient. Its you, says Nataly Rubinstein, a geriatric care manager, social worker and

By Ronnie Citron-Fink, Moms Clean Air Force I recently met Josh Fox, the creator, director and narrator of the landmark film, Gasland . While I was waiting to talk to Josh about Moms Clean Air Force at the Design By Nature Conference , a conference participant started chatting with me. His name tag said Sam. Sam claimed many of our environmental problems, like polluted air (MCAF was on my name tag), were happening because people have given up trying to understand such complicated issues. Sam said,With all the politics and anti-science sentiment, its no wonder people are losing hope. I said,I think parents will be the driving force behind cleaning up our environmental messes because we want a healthy world for our children . While people were clamoring to talk with Josh about their horrifying experiences with the gas companies fracking up their water, air and land, Josh caught wind of our conversation and nudged closer to follow the exchange. With Josh listening, Sam said: Even the be

Like most Americans, I am eagerly anticipating the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. It is an opportunity to break bread with family, enjoying both the nourishment of good food and the company of loved ones. However, we all know that a good deal of stress often accompanies the holidays. For many, spending time with loved ones is both a welcome experience and an anxiety inducing one. Family members may have political views that are different from ours or expectations of us that dont always align with our own goals and dreams. Finding a way to navigate these disagreements while still enjoying the holiday is often challenging. In addition, many Americans experience stress at this time of year because they fear over indulging at family meals. As a culture, we spend a great deal of our energy scrutinizing what we put in our bodies. The prospect of facing what we see as temptation can be quite stressful. My advice for enjoying the holiday season is to be true to yourself and your own knowledg

Taxus contorta, a Yew tree species growing in the Himalayas is now considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has been overharvested for the production of the anti-cancer drug Taxol. The harvesting of the bark kills the trees, but it is possible to extract Taxol from clippings, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plants, said Craig Hilton-Taylor, and IUCN manager. (Source: The Guardian ) Other species of Yew trees can also be used to make Taxol. Even eighteen years ago people knew Yew trees were going to be consumed at a rapid rate to make Taxol, but who would side with trees over people sick with cancer that needed treatment? About six 100-year-old yew trees must be sacrificed to treat each cancer patient. But the scraggly, slow-growing Pacific yew, once common in old-growth forests from Northern California through British Columbia, has fallen victim to widespread clear-cutting, making it scarce, reported Stanford

You might or may not recall, I have these pants . They are my only pants because well, mostly because Im hard-headed. You can go read the other story if you want the long version but the short version is that I put on extra weight and refused to buy more pants at this size. Then, the zipper broke on my other pair of pants and now I have just these. I realized that if these are going to be my only pants until the rest of my pants will fit, Im going to have to get serious about letting go of this weight. I mean, come on how long can a pair of even the finest blue jeans last when youre wearing them every single day? I work in them. I watch soccer games in them. I hike in them. Thank goodness, I dont do yoga in them but I will need to get my butt in the flower beds this week to pull some weeds and guess what I will be wearing? Yes, my pants. Recently, my pants and I went roller skating. The offspring were out of school and things get sort of hairy around here when any of my family membe

Some of you know my friend Dr. Lee Lipsenthal. I wrote about him here and he wrote an article for Owning Pink here . A physician, author, and workshop leader who spent most of his career working with Dr. Dean Ornish and teaching physicians how to find balance in a medical life, Lee has inspired hundreds of thousands of people with his work. And then we lost him way too young to esophageal cancer in September. I was blessed to honor his life at the memorial service held for him at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, where Dean Ornish and dozens of others celebrated Lees remarkable life. (Lee insisted that we drink margaritas, listen to classic rock music, and enjoy every sandwich BLTs to be specific.) As more than 300 of us gathered to remember Lee, we laughed a lot, cried a lot, and remembered how Lee lived his life saying Today is a good day to die. Today Is A Good Day To Die We knew what he meant that every bit of love had been expressed, that every dream had been fulfilled, that Le

If youre truly interested in organic (i.e. ecological and healthy) alternatives to chemical fertilizers, then its time to start scrutinizing organic growing practices and store-bought fertilizers a bit more carefully. When you bite into an earthy organic tomato you may not be thinking about blood, bone, feces, fish sludge and antibiotics, but you should be. These fertilizers and the hidden chemicals inside are commonly used in organic farming and their environmental and ethical implications make them far from sustainable soil amendments. I am by no means suggesting that we do away with organic farming and give the chemical companies a stronger strangle hold on the market than they already have. But its time that we ask these green growers to live up to their hype and grow sustainably and ethically with stock-free, vegan-organic methods. What does that mean? And why is veganic agriculture important? Next: What chemicals are found in organic fertilizers? How are stock-free methods more s

A day to give thanks, a plentiful bounty. As Thanksgiving approaches, Id like to share a different perspective on giving thanks; 4 real benefits of gratitude; an Appreciation exercise; a free in-depth e-book The Appreciative Heart and, of course, wish you a Happy Thanksgiving Day! Thanksgiving Day in the United States and (did you know?) in Brazil is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November as a day of gratitude for the nations harvests. The holiday dates back nearly four centuries to the pilgrims in America, and just four decades in Brazil, where in 1949 the Brazilian ambassador in Washington D.C., so liked the holiday that he took the idea home, where it was promptly adopted. Thanksgiving was celebrated in Canada on the second Monday of October this year, as it has been since 1957, to offer thanks at the end of the harvest season. Chung Chui in China and Chuseok in Korea are major three-day national thanksgiving harvest festivals whose date of celebration varies slightly each y

A man claiming to be a doctor injected cement, fix-a-flat, mineral oil, and Super Glue into the buttocks of a woman in the Miami area, resulting in several hospital visits for the victim. The person depicted in the image above is the alleged injector of the toxic materials, not the victim whose identity has not been released. Police in Miami eventually found the transgender man who claimed to be a doctor, yet has no license and injected the victim in a Miami Gardens townhouse several times for $700. As of yesterday it wasnt verified, but it appears the accused had been injecting him or herself as well. In a world where body image is in the forefront of our media, this woman, for whatever reason, thought that this was the answer and she almost lost her life, said one of the detectives on the case. (Source: Sun Sentinel ) It actually took over a year to track down the fake doctor. The victim was too embarrassed to report the situation, due to the sensitive nature of the attempted body

By Heather Ashare, MPH for DietsInReview.com Have you shunned a drumstick at Thanksgiving because of a fear of fat and calories? In our attempts to trim our turkey dinner we may be cutting out some key nutrients. We looked at the nutritional benefits of both white and dark meat turkey and learned that theres nothing wrong with fighting over the drumstick after all. In our side-by-side analysis, we used a 3.5 ounce serving for both white and dark meat turkey, without skin. Calories: White meat = 161 calories. Dark meat = 192 calories. Fat: White meat = 4 grams. Dark meat = 8 grams. Protein: White meat = 30 grams. Dark meat = 28 grams. Iron: White meat = 1.57 mg. Dark meat = 2.4 mg. Zinc: White meat = 2.08 mg. Dark meat = 4.3 mg. Thiamine: White meat = .04 mg. Dark meat = .05 mg. Riboflavin: White meat = .13 mg. Dark meat = .24 mg. Selenium: White meat = 32.10 mcg. Dark meat = 40.90 mcg. Folate: White meat = .01 mcg. Dark meat = 10 mcg. Dark meat turkey meat offers a richer flavor than

Posted on November 20, 2011, Sunday KUCHING: Venerable Mahinda Maha Thera will give a Dhamma talk at Kuching Dhamma Vijaya (KDV) Buddhist Centre, Jalan Kung Phin, tomorrow. The talk in English will start at 8pm. KDV Buddhist Centre, is located behind SJK Chung Hua Mile 4. He is abbot of the Aloka Meditation Centre, New South Wales, Australia and founder of the Australian Buddhist Mission and Aloka Foundation Malaysia. Mahinda is the advisor to the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia and spiritual advisor to the Kuching Dhamma Vijaya Buddhist Association. Born in Melaka in 1949, he was ordained a Theravada Buddhist monk in 1976 under the tutelage of the late Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera. He undertook basic Buddhist studies and training in Sri Lanka and practical Buddhist meditation under several masters in Sri Lanka, India, Burma and Thailand. He is also acquainted with both the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. Mahinda has travelled to over 30 countries to sprea

By Heather Ashare, MPH for DietsInReview.com Have you shunned a drumstick at Thanksgiving because of a fear of fat and calories? In our attempts to trim our turkey dinner we may be cutting out some key nutrients. We looked at the nutritional benefits of both white and dark meat turkey and learned that theres nothing wrong with fighting over the drumstick after all. In our side-by-side analysis, we used a 3.5 ounce serving for both white and dark meat turkey, without skin. Calories: White meat = 161 calories. Dark meat = 192 calories. Fat: White meat = 4 grams. Dark meat = 8 grams. Protein: White meat = 30 grams. Dark meat = 28 grams. Iron: White meat = 1.57 mg. Dark meat = 2.4 mg. Zinc: White meat = 2.08 mg. Dark meat = 4.3 mg. Thiamine: White meat = .04 mg. Dark meat = .05 mg. Riboflavin: White meat = .13 mg. Dark meat = .24 mg. Selenium: White meat = 32.10 mcg. Dark meat = 40.90 mcg. Folate: White meat = .01 mcg. Dark meat = 10 mcg. Dark meat turkey meat offers a richer flavor than

I have a crush on coffee. I dont actually drink coffee but am absolutely smitten with the ritual of it. Perhaps its the heat that attracts me. I love the way hot coffee makes people pause. Coffee drinkers may succumb to its addictive nature (ahh, the caffeine) but with that physiological pull comes with the grand gift of of daily pause. The measuring of scoops, pouring of water, waiting, and the smell. Oh, how I do love the smell of coffee. Every day people wake up early to brew and wait, sit and sip, read the paper and ponder, while the sun comes up in the distance. I suppose that was the coffee fantasy of my childhood. Todays is more about coffee shops, groovy baristas, music, familiar strangers, baked goods, and inspiring quotes printed on environmentally friendly cups. It all feels very romantic to me. I crave itthe romantic pause of the coffee culturebut theres a problem. I dont like coffee. I cant stand the way it tastes, never have been able to. I used to complain about my brok

Were in an ever-accelerating hurry up culture, one in which human beings are required to make remarkable adaptations to increasingly technologically driven lifestyles and consumer-oriented pressures. This spiraling pace requires us to move so quickly that we tend to override and become desensitized to our bodily sensations and our feelings. In this anesthetized state we ironically require more stimulation- bigger, better, newer, louder, faster just to grab and hold our attention. We become so saturated with excessive stimulation and cumulative tension that we may become numb to all but the most adrenaline producing experiences or else attempt to soothe the frayed nervous system with alcohol, drugs or ignore it with compulsive activity. One of the unfortunate effects of being assimilated into such a system is that we become increasingly alienated from the awareness of physical sensations, so that it becomes difficult to notice the more subtle signs of stress and tension where they firs

by Staness Jonekos , Contributor to Acupuncture on AllThingsHealing.com , Author of Menopause Makeover According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined. I was one of them until I tried acupuncture , and I now live relatively pain free. Over 30 years ago I injured my left ankle. After a debridement surgery, injections, supplements, heat and cold therapy, and activity adjustments my injury was getting worse. This past year suffering from osteoarthritis and inflammation has taken a toll on my life. I am allergic to aspirin and ibuprofen, so over-the-counter medication was not a solution for pain management. Living with daily pain- rated an eight with ten being the worst pain possible I visited the doctor who informed me after a recent MRI that the only option to permanently relieve the pain was an ankle fusion. I am a healthy 53-year-old, and for me this was not a realistic option. Noting my reaction, the do