Health News. Lots of resources and information

Up to 15 percent of all U.S. women of childbearing age are deficient in iron— needed for healthy blood—and zinc which is necessary for immunity. According to medical experts, correcting those deficiencies can also lead to memory improvement.

A two month study at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, tested the effect of supplements on the memories of 34 iron-and zinc- deficient women whose ages ranged from 18 to 40. Eleven other women who had normal levels of both iron and zinc served as a control group. Each subject had a normal memory range and took a vitamin supplement. Some of the subjects who were deficient in iron and zinc took 30 extra milligrams of iron and/or zinc. At the end of eight weeks, the iron and zinc deficient women who had taken one of the supplements had improved their memory test scores by as much as 20 percent. Women who had taken both iron and zinc showed only a slight improvement in memory, while those who took just a common multivitamin experienced no improvement at all. The researchers explain the disparity by pointing out that iron and zinc can interfere with each other’s absorption when they are taken as supplements. There is no such interference when the two are part of a balanced diet.

The best source of both nutrients is red meat, and not eating enough red meat is a typical cause of iron and zinc deficiencies. Iron and zinc can also be found in chicken, fish and beans, but in lesser amounts than in red meat.

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Dr. Leonard Cohen of the American Health Foundation states ” You might reduce your risk of getting breast cancer by 50% — just by following the right diet.”

Several studies suggest that diets high in saturated fats could increase your risk of breast cancer. This type of dietary fat woman’s estrogen levels and this could increase breast tumors.

Thus a suggested diet to reduce the risk of breast cancer would include:

(1) Only small amounts of saturated fats.

(2) Plenty of vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, corn, beans, lentils, kale, spinach, and sweet potatoes.

(3) 2 -3 servings of fruit each day.

(4) Use whole grain breads and pasta.

Some researchers have claimed that taking large daily doses of certain vitamin mixtures can cure or prevent cancer. However, most medical experts agree that megadoses of vitamins have not been proven to be a cureall.

In fact too much of certain vitamins can be very harmful to your body. At this time the best advice is not to overdo it when it comes to taking vitamins.

A number of studies have shown that physically fit people have a lower chance of getting cancer. One study revealed differs between women college classmates. Women who were active in sports and exercise had lower breast cancer rates than those who exercised little if any. Walking is one of the best forms of exercise.

Another study indicated that people who have some form of weekly exercise have 50% less chance of getting colon cancer. This indicates that you should at least get some form of mild weekly exercise.

Numerous studies have shown much greater cancer risks for smokers. Therefore, you can easily reduce this risk by not smoking. This increased risk is not just for lung cancer but also for many other types of cancer as well as other diseases. Many of the chemicals produced by burning are known to be strong irritants or cancer producing agents.

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Even though one American president publicly admitted he didn’t like it, many scientific studies suggest that eating broccoli, as well as Brussels sprouts and other yellow and green vegetables, may lower the risk of colon and other cancers. Although scientists are not certain why, recent evidence indicates that several substances in these foods, such as fiber, beta carotene and vitamin C, all have a part in protecting the body from carcinogens. And recent research at Johns Hopkins University may have uncovered another vital substance in these foods.

The substance, called sulforaphane, is present in significant amounts in broccoli. It appears to promote increased production of special enzymes in the body’s cells. The enzymes in turn neutralize cancer-causing agents. More testing needs to be done to determine sulforaphane’s true potential for certain kinds of cancer prevention, but the latest evidence is encouraging.

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CRAVING

For many people, weight control is a battle against cravings for fats and sweets. The cravings may be difficult to deny because when sweets or fats are consumed the body produces “pleasure chemicals” called opioids. And while experts say that there is no cure for food cravings in the forseeable future, they may have taken a step toward just such a solution recently.

In a study at the University of Michigan, researchers injected nine women with the drug naloxone, which is also used to prevent heroin from being absorbed by the brain when people have taken overdoses. The drug, known as a “pleasure killer” stopped cravings for fats and sweets.

Researchers say naloxone worked in their test because it effectively blocks opioids from delivering their message of pleasure to the brain. Once the message of pleasure has been eliminated, the craving ceases to exist.

To confirm their initial findings, the researchers reversed the experiment. Another group of women were injected with “extra” pleasure chemicals with the drug butorphanol. The women injected with this drug reported an increase in pleasure when eating fats and sweets.

Even though naloxone was successful in blocking food cravings in the controlled study, it is not available to the public for that purpose. Scientists say its effects are only temporary and wouldn’t make much of a difference. However, continuing research using the information uncovered in the University of Michigan study could lead to an eventual solution to food cravings and a significant victory for many people battling weight problems.

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Sleep on your side with your knees bent and with a pillow between them. This not only will relieve pressure on your back muscles, it will also prevent you from overstretching your hip muscles during the night. Other Back Pain Relief Tips:

It is important that you stand up straight with your head up, your shoulders back, and your weight resting equally on both feet. Always avoid standing in one position for longer than a few minutes. If you can’t avoid standing in one position, try shifting your weight from foot to foot. This will prevent any single area from being subjected to excessive stress. You can also try putting one foot up on a stack of books or a stool to keep your back from arching. And always try to avoid wearing shoes that have high heels, because they can place unnecessary strain on your lower back.

When you pick something up, you should squat in front of the object, keeping your back straight while holding the object close to your body. You should then rise slowly by straightening your knees. This allows your legs to do most of the work.

When carrying something relatively heavy, such as luggage, always try to keep the load balanced with equal weight in each hand. You should never twist at the waist when carrying a heavy object— rather move your feet instead.

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This highlights the importance of the gay community as an alternative or supplemental family. Bill said he had been fairly cynical about the gay community at first. ‘I thought the whole scene was really superficial and forced. I used to keep pretty much to my small group of friends. When one of my close friends developed AIDS I was deeply upset. I wanted to do anything I could to help, so I got into some volunteer work. Over the past year I have seen the supportiveness and the strength of the community trying to cope with so many young people dying.’

Any person coming out invariably throws the family into crisis. Loving parents often want to be supportive but don’t know how. They will need accurate information and support too so that they can genuinely help their child.

It helps to try to get in touch with why you are having trouble dealing with your child’s choice. Have you never been able to talk about emotional things? Graham is thirty-four and told his mother only three years ago. ‘She said, “For God’s sake don’t mention a word of this to your father. You know how conservative he is.” I had no intention of telling Dad because we had never talked about anything more deep and meaningful than the stock market results. Pick any other subject and we would get into an argument about it.’

Strong objections based on religious beliefs can be hard to shake. The old trinity of guilt, shame and fear are pretty powerful emotions. The discomfort they cause forces you to reassess your own sexuality and for some parents this can be an intensely confronting experience, especially if it brings up aspects of their own past that might have been forgotten or suppressed, like adolescent experimenting.

Some parents say they feel like failures … ‘Where did I go wrong?’ … and there may well be a concern about how their own friends, colleagues and relatives might react. Hopefully their child’s need for support will be more important at the time.

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Many people say their first time was when they were drunk at a party or a dance. This happens so often because your usual inhibitions disappear. The best of intentions can be blown away in a matter of minutes by the influence of drugs and alcohol. All the self-talk and assertiveness in the world is not going to protect you if you drink so much alcohol, or do so many drugs, that your judgment goes out the window. The old story of waking up to a stranger in bed next to you who doesn’t look a bit like the person you thought you brought home can be a jarring reminder of the tricks alcohol can play on a brain.

It is very easy to be coerced into intercourse before you are ready if you don’t have a lot of self-confidence and if you are not willing to stick up for your rights. Some of the methods of coercion are more sophisticated than others. It’s hard to believe that old lines like, ‘I’ll tell everyone you’re frigid’ or ‘What’s wrong with you? All your friends do it!’ or “Why not, are you gay or something?’ can work, but they have stood the test of time. Parents would do well to prepare their children with a healthy dose of cynicism and a few clever retorts.

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‘He knelt down beside her and only then could she make out his face in the moonlight. His breath was warm against her neck and the sweet smell of jasmine hung in the air like perfume. He sighed softly and stroked his cheek down her temple.

She could feel the warmth of his body as it neared and a chill down her spine turned into a quiver. This was the moment she had dreamt of since she first saw him walk into her life in that little cafe down the street from the University. Now as she lay close to him listening to his breathing get faster and faster, she remembered the way he laughed when he spilt his cappuccino down the front of his shirt. As his fingers lowly but expertly unbuttoned her shirt to reveal her now heaving breasts, her apprehension gave way to his gentle yet confident lips. First-time fears melted as her body trembled with moist expectation. His hand traced a tingling trail of ecstasy across her thighs and she gasped as they surrendered to each other’s passion …’

Now if you believe this romance novel version of the first experience of intercourse, your own first experience might leave you with a few lingering doubts and a fair share of disappointment. For many people this might as well be a story from another planet.

In the real world, things are usually very different. If you ask people to describe their reactions to their first experience of intercourse … their technical ‘loss of virginity’ … you discover a range of emotions from fear, guilt, regret and disappointment to relief, elation, and pride. These reactions may well determine how you feel about sex for many years to come.

One woman in her sixties told me, ‘I think the honeymoon for us was grossly oversold. I remember it as the worst week of my entire life. I kept wondering what on earth I had let myself in for. I didn’t even know there was a thing called an erection! That was quite an unpleasant shock I can tell you. The only sex education I had at home was when my mother shyly handed me a book and said, “If you have any questions, ask your aunt.” My husband and I went along to a church-organised “Married Love” course. To go along, you had to either produce a marriage certificate or a signed affidavit from a clergyman that you were booked to be married within the next six weeks. If you wanted to know about contraception, they sent you along to a doctor they recommended but you weren’t allowed to make an appointment until three weeks before the wedding date. A few friends of mine at the time were sexually active, but they didn’t know anything about contraception. If they accidentally fell pregnant they just got married in a hurry … it didn’t seem to matter whether they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other or not. Or else they got shipped off to relatives in the country until they had the baby and had it adopted out. It was never openly discussed.’

There is little doubt that the partner you choose and the circumstances make a big difference to the experience. ‘I was a virgin until I was twenty-eight,’ said Susan. ‘I had had lots of boyfriends. I got on really well with all of them, I was even engaged once, but I never felt any sexual attraction for any of them. For a while I thought I must be a lesbian, but I wasn’t aware of any attraction to other women. Well, one day I met John and all that changed. We had a fantastic physical and emotional attraction right from the start and he’s the one I married.’

While some people describe their first intercourse as a pleasant experience, there are many who say the first time is downright unpleasant. Beth recalls, ‘I couldn’t believe how painful it was. I had no idea that it might hurt. I knew very little about sex at all and so I was incredibly nervous. I suppose that made matters worse. Because the first time was so painful it took me months and months before I could relax. I reckon it took years before I could say I really enjoyed it.’

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Puberty is a time of physical and emotional turmoil as both boys and girls face the dilemmas of their changing bodies, and a growing sexual awareness. It is a time of evolving a concept of ourselves in relation to others.

The time bomb of puberty is set to explode at a preordained age, releasing a surge of hormones that have effects on every part of our being: our thoughts, our appearance, our emotions. Although it can be frustrating for late bloomers, the timing of that change is different for each person and there is nothing that will speed it up.

While nature is working its wonders it is also playing some pretty mean practical jokes, things that make you suspect a Creator with a sense of humor. Why else would your nose and your feet grow first? Why else at the most self-conscious time in your life would you break out in pustular lumps all over your face? Why else would so many developing boys grow breasts which disappear just as mysteriously as they arrive? This is a phenomenon called ‘gynecomastia’. You can often pick the boys with gynecomastia … they’re the ones wearing big sloppy sweaters on the beach in the middle of summer. If only they knew they weren’t changing into girls and that the swelling would go away there wouldn’t need to be so much anguish.

Getting used to a changing body is part of the excitement of growing up … I can remember being really excited when I realized I had grown tall enough for my feet to touch the floor when I was sitting on the bus … but it is also a source of embarrassment, fear and confusion. The biggest question is, Am I normal?’ If an adolescent can be reassured that what they’re going through is normal, a large part of the battle will be won.

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Teaching our children about sex is as important to their wellbeing as teaching them about good food, road safety or protecting their environment. But no one says it’s always going to be easy.

It’s not possible to write a script for every situation, but here are some useful guidelines that will help you to talk to children about sex.

There are certain times in a child’s life when you can pretty easily predict that they are going to want to know more. If you tell a three year old that there is a new baby brother or sister growing in Mum’s tummy, they’re sure to want to know how it got there. If parents are separated and a new partner comes on the scene, questions will be asked. Sooner or later, they’re going to want to know what a condom is.

If you can foresee that things like these are going to come up, you can prepare a bit of a spiel that covers the basics.

Thankfully the days of babies arriving in the cabbage patch or being dropped off by a low-flying stork are long gone. Children cope with the truth remarkably well, provided we use words they can understand and we are prepared to take the time to explain anything they don’t follow. A friend in her forties is the youngest of four siblings. She recalls that, when she was about six, a neighbor became pregnant. She had no idea what pregnancy was, only that the lady next door was getting fat in the strangest way. Curiosity got the better of her so she asked her mother about it. ‘It’s a growth,’ she was told. ‘Don’t worry, the doctor will take it out.’ She was worried sick for months, wondering if the woman was going to die.

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