Category Archives: teens

Approaches to Healing Jealousy

Posted on August 19, 2009 by continuum wellness| 2 Comments

by Catherine Carter

“Everybody likes you.” “I wanted that.” These thoughts led a teen to write what could be called hateful and spiteful notes in her diary of fellow classmates. She thought it was private. No one would ever know. And no one did until the fateful day that someone found the secret book and made it very public. Her secrets were now out in the open.

So what is jealousy?
Jealousy
foolish and irresistible
Meaning: (Webster)
Suspicious fear or apprehension; painful apprehension of rivalship in cases nearly affecting one’s happiness. Uneasy through fear that good will, interest, affection or the like, regarded as belonging to one’s self is transferred to another; pained by suspicions of preference given to another.
Synonyms: suspicious; anxious; envious

In the Complete Repertory, the rubric: Ailments from jealousy, lists 65 remedies. Among some of the remedies listed are Apis (honeybee), Lachesis (Bushmaster Snake) and Platina (Platinum metallicum). As you can see just from the three listed remedies, homeopathic remedies come from the natural world around us. What is important to understand is that the young lady’s jealousy was a reflection of some lack of inner peace. The cause we do not know and we are offering any type of diagnosis.

Homeopathy focuses on healing the person,their unique way of being in the world. By identifying similar substances in nature that can produce a similar pattern one is able to heal internally. Homeopathy is quite helpful in balancing emotions.

Emotions are powerful forces. Ignored the energy often remains blocked and can lead to physical ailments or further emotional problems.

Flower Essences such as the Bach Flower remedies are also very helpful for emotional balancing. The Bach Flower essences recognize 38 conditions which are aligned to the following seven headings:
For Fear
For Uncertainty
For Insufficient Interest in Present Circumstances
For Loneliness
For Those Over-Sensitive to Influences and Ideas
For Despondency and Despair
For Overcare for the Welfare of Others.
Dr. Edward Bach discovered the remedies through an intuitive process, while in the English countryside. The Bach flower essences focus on Type Remedies which relate to a personality pattern and the Helping Remedies which help to resolve transient mood of the psyche. For more information on the Bach Flower Essences click, here. And here is a questionnaire, you can explore.

One does not have to be undone by the thought pattern labeled as ‘jealousy.’ See it as a sign that you simply need some healing. Ultimately you are not your thoughts.

There are many ways that one can heal emotional states that will lead one to ultimately balance and fulfillment.

“Resentment of someone’s good will serve as a barrier to one’s own growth.”

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www.continuumwellness.org

Posted in alternative medicine, healing, healing philosophy, Health, health beliefs, health care, healthy mind, Homeopathy, integrative medicine, self-care, self-healing, teens, thoughts, wellness, women, women's health

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Research: Chlamydia and Ovarian Cancer

Posted on October 15, 2008 by continuum wellness| 2 Comments

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman’s reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur “silently” before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected man. (more info at the CDC)

The research abstract below shows a probable link between chlamydia and ovarian cancer.

Research Summary
Ovarian cancer is a highly lethal disease and its underlying biology is poorly understood. Prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomies in BRCA + women have recently implicated the fimbria as a site of origin for high-grade serous carcinoma and its intraepithelial precursors. This suggests that at least some ovarian cancers, probably the most aggressive ones, may not originate in the ovary itself, but rather may arise in the uterine tubes.

Chronic inflammation is associated with carcinogenesis in several tissues, including liver, esophagogastric junction (cardia), and the uterine cervix. The mechanisms underlying the relationship between inflammation and cancer are complex and involve common pathways, in addition to DNA damage.

A critical source of uterine tube inflammation is infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. We hypothesize that C. trachomatis infection may be involved in chronic tubal inflammation and subsequent fimbrial carcinogenesis. Fimbrial intraepithelial precursors can evolve into high grade serous carcinomas that spread rapidly to the ovarian surface and peritoneum; such tumors may appear to be primary ovarian neoplasia, though in reality being a secondary malignancy. This hypothesis must be further investigated to understand the intracellular signaling pathways involved in Chlamydia infection and its healing, and their relationship to carcinogenesis in order to discover potential therapeutic molecular targets.

If our hypothesis were confirmed, salpingectomy instead of ovariectomy may also become the recommended surgery for high risk women.

for the abstract source —>
Is Chlamydia-infected tubal fimbria the origin of ovarian cancer?

Posted in adolescents, girls, Health, sexually transmitted disease, teens, women, women's health

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Back to School: Feeding Children Healthy Lunches

Posted on August 26, 2008 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

by Catherine Carter

No need to be overwhelmed with packing the kid’s lunches. Packing a healthy lunch doesn’t require one to be a dietitian or a nutritionist it just takes label reading and a little planning. You will save money and build your young one’s health.

One of the challenges of the mid-day meal is that if it is too heavy it interferes with mental work. After all, nodding off in the classroom will lead to other problems. Have the children start off with a healthy breakfast of a whole grain cereal, such as steel cut oats. It’s good for mom and dad too. The oats have plenty of fiber and b-vitamins which are excellent for the nervous system, the brain and emotional stability. Add a protein shake for extra nutrition. Eating a nutritious breakfast cuts down on cravings and will enable you to make it to lunch time with out feeling famished.

Less Healthy Lunch Options
For lunch avoid processed meats, the salt, the sugar, the additives, the source of the meat itself all lend it to be not a great choice. Avoid white bread and sugary snacks. Avoid items with artificial colors. Repeatedly these substances, although labeled by the FDA as “generally recognized as safe” , have been implicated in aggravating hyperactivity and mood disorders. One last thing to avoid are sugary drinks. Young people are developing diabetes at an astounding rate and even fruit juice has been implicated as a factor. Consider diluting fruit juice with mineral water for a tasty lunch beverage.

Healthier Lunch Options
Prepare sandwiches made with whole grain bread. Use a tasty home made spread. It is cheaper and you have better control over the quality of the ingredients. And of course nothing can substitute for the love you put into it. Slice veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower with a dip. Use delicious nut butters for sandwich spreads. Bean burgers are very easy to make and are tasty alternatives to meat as are grain burgers. Adding a few nuts and seeds or a home made trail mix to the lunch box is tasty and nutritious too.

Posted in breakfast, children, diabetes, diet, family, food, fruit, lunch, mood changes, nutrition, teens, Uncategorized, wellness

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Antidrepressants May Lead to Bone Loss

Posted on July 15, 2008 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

As if it is not hard enough in itself going through a deep sadness, for those who take anti-depressant medication another risk is surfacing, brittle bones. This is a rather serious problem. In the model of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the kidneys are the rulers of the bones. The kidneys are involved in water metabolism, relate to bone problems (knees, teeth, low back); urinary and sexual issues, growth, mental development and from an emotional perspective relate to fear and insecurity.

The makers of Prozac list osteoporosis as a rare event (1 in 10,000). Are those who have smaller, nagging symptoms ignored? Researchers are also concerned about growing teens that there later health may be affected by taking SSRI medication.

Antidepressant medication should not be stopped suddenly. Following are a few measures to build bone and fight the blues.

  1. Take a daily walk. If you just can’t find the motivation, find a friend, a relative, a neighbor or a coach to help you.
  2. Increase your vit D by spending time in the sun. Find 30 minutes to relax and sunbathe.
  3. Increase your green vegetable intake.
  4. Increase whole grains in your diet.
  5. Make a soup of sprouted barley and kale. Cook the sprouted barley for 10 minutes and add the kale towards the end.
  6. Practice T’ai Chi the gentle exercise strengthen the bones.
  7. Reduce meat intake. Meat in excess interferes with calcium absorption.


Posted in adolescents, adverse events, healing, seniors, side effects, symptoms, teens, Uncategorized

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Looking Forward to Laughter Heals

Posted on April 15, 2008 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Anticipating a Laugh Reduces Our Stress Hormones, Study Shows
ScienceDaily

In 2006 researchers investigating the interaction between the brain, behavior, and the immune system found that simply anticipating a mirthful laughter experience boosted health-protecting hormones. Now, two years later, the same researchers have found that the anticipation of a positive humorous laughter experience also reduces potentially detrimental stress hormones. According to Dr. Lee Berk, the study team’s lead researcher of Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, “Our findings lead us to believe that by seeking out positive experiences that make us laugh we can do a lot with our physiology to stay well.”

In their earlier work the researchers found that the anticipation of “mirthful laughter” had surprising and significant effects. Two hormones – beta-endorphins (the family of chemicals that alleviates depression) and human growth hormone (HGH; which helps with immunity) – increased by 27 and 87 percent respectively when volunteers anticipated watching a humorous video. There was no such increase among the control group who did not anticipate watching the humor film.
Using a similar protocol, the current research found that the same anticipation of laughter also reduced the levels of three stress hormones. Cortisol (termed “the stress hormone”), epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) and dopac, a dopamine catabolite (brain chemical which helps produce epinephrine), were reduced 39, 70 and 38 percent, respectively (statistically significant compared to the control group). Chronically released high stress hormone levels can weaken the immune system.
The research is entitled Cortisol and Catecholamine Stress Hormone Decrease Is Associated with the Behavior of Perceptual Anticipation of Mirthful Laughter. It was conducted by Lee Berk with Stanley A. Tan, both of the Oak Crest Health Research Institute, Loma Linda, CA; and Dottie Berk, Loma Linda University Health Care, Loma Linda. Lee Berk is presenting the team’s findings at the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society, part of the Experimental Biology 2008 scientific conference.

The Study

Having found that the anticipation of a laughter event increased certain “beneficial” chemicals/hormones, the researchers proposed that the anticipation of a laughter event might reduce stress hormones. To test their theory they studied 16 healthy fasting male volunteers for cortisol and catecholamine level changes. The participants were assigned to either the control group or the experiment group (those anticipating a humorous event).
Blood was drawn from both groups prior to the event (anticipation), four times during the event, and three times afterward (event and residual effect). Analysis showed that the blood levels in the anticipatory phase decreased for stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine and dopac in the experimental group. Trend analysis showed a progressive pattern of the decrease for the three hormones through the event.
As a result, the researchers suggest that anticipating a positive event can decrease stress hormones that can be detrimental when chronically released. These findings have implications for understanding the modalities that can benefit stress reduction in health and wellness programs.
“Biology of Hope”

Norman Cousins was a journalist and an editor of the Saturday Review. He was also a pioneer in the idea that beliefs, thoughts and emotions have biological effects (“biotranslation”). His view about the body’s unrecognized ability to heal itself was captured in his 1979 book, “Anatomy of an Illness (As Perceived by the Patient).”
Forty years ago, few scientists would likely have agreed with Cousins. Today, researchers like Berk are beginning to pinpoint exactly what thoughts can drive which affects. Researchers like Berk are finding that, in addition to what resides in our bodies, what resides in our brains and mind is important, too.

Adapted from materials provided by American Physiological Society.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407114617.htm

Posted in Health, health care, healthy body, healthy mind, medical news, medicine, teens, Uncategorized, wellness, women

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TV In Your Teens Bedroom, Just Say No

Posted on April 10, 2008 by continuum wellness| 1 Comment

(HealthDay News) — Although your teenager may poignantly plead that he or she is the only child left in America without a bedroom television, health experts recommend that parents stand their ground and keep TV out of the bedroom.

There seems to be a good reason for this. The latest research, published in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, shows that having a bedroom television not only leads to more TV viewing, but also results in less time spent with the family, less time exercising, lower fruit and vegetable intake, more sweetened beverage consumption, and in lower grades.

“The big take-home message from our study is that TVs should be removed from kids’ bedrooms, and it could have a positive effect on kids’ health,” said the study’s lead author, Daheia Barr-Anderson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Adolescent Health Protection Research Training Program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis.

Health professionals have been warning for years about too much television watching among young people, and especially about making the TV set so easily accessible. But past research suggests that many parents aren’t heeding that advice. About 68 percent of American youngsters have televisions in their bedrooms, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

One large study found that children between ages 8 and 18 spend more than three hours every day watching television. Numerous studies have been done to assess TV’s effect on young children, but research on bedroom TVs and older adolescents is scarce, according to the current study.

Barr-Anderson and her colleagues gathered information on the presence of a bedroom TV and socio-demographic, behavioral and personal characteristics through a questionnaire mailed to 781 teens who were an average age of 17.2 years.

The results mirrored past studies. Almost two-thirds of this group had a TV in their bedroom. Having a personal TV doubled the risk that a teen would regularly watch more than five hours of TV daily, compared to teens without a television in the bedroom.

Teenage girls who had a bedroom TV watched an average of 20.7 hours each week, about 5 hours more than female teens without a bedroom TV (15.2 hours). For boys with TVs, 22.2 hours were spent in front of the tube, compared to 18.2 hours for boys without personal TVs.

Both girls and boys with bedroom TVs attended fewer family dinners — about one less per week — than kids without their own sets. Girls with TVs ate slightly fewer vegetables each day, while boys with TVs consumed less fruit.

Girls with TVs in their bedrooms participated in less physical activity, and boys with bedroom TVs had lower grade point averages.

“For most kids, a TV in the bedroom is not a healthy thing,” said Anita Gurian, clinical assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the New York University Child Study Center in New York City. “It’s not bad for all kids; there are those who use it constructively, and there is a lot of good stuff on TV, but it definitely has its downside,” she said.

“Parents should know that research has shown TV’s deleterious effects on grades, eating habits, in attraction to violence, and most importantly, in social relationships,” added Gurian. “If teens are in their bedrooms, watching TV for three hours a day, they don’t have time to develop relationships or to do homework,” she said.

Barr-Anderson said she suspects it’s not always an intentional plan to give the child a TV. Instead, it’s usually because the family has upgraded to a larger TV, and now has a spare set. She recommended that parents resist the pressure they’ll likely feel to put the extra TV in their teen’s bedroom. “You may experience a backlash, but parents have to do what’s best for their child,” said Barr-Anderson.
HealthDay

Posted in adolescents, exercise, family, fruit, teens, Uncategorized

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Alcohol and malt liquor availability and promotion higher in African American inner cities

Posted on April 3, 2008 by continuum wellness| 1 Comment

Study begs questions of inner city health

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (April 2, 2008) – It appears that living in a poor neighborhood with a high concentration of African Americans is associated with greater alcohol availability and promotion – especially malt liquor – according to a recent study by University of Minnesota researchers.

The study found that poor neighborhoods with high concentrations of African Americans had higher homicide rates and significantly greater numbers of off-premise alcohol outlets, 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor in coolers, and storefront ads promoting malt liquor than other neighborhoods. Researchers also found that the average price of a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor was $1.87, or less than a gallon of milk.

Malt liquor is a concern in inner cities because of its cheap price, high alcohol content, association with heavier drinking, and its link to aggressive behavior that can result in public safety issues, said Rhonda Jones-Webb, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. The cheap price of malt liquor also makes it especially available to inner-city youth, she added.

The findings were published in a recent issue of the Journal of Substance Use and Misuse.

“We wanted to know the extent to which the alcohol environment in African American neighborhoods — high concentration of alcohol outlets and high availability and promotion of malt liquor – contributes to high homicide rates in those communities,” Jones-Webb said.

Among non-Hispanic males 15 years and older in the United States in 2003, African American males were 12 times more likely than Caucasian males to be victims of homicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study targeted low-income neighborhoods in 10 cities (Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Ana, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri) across the country in 2003. Each city had also been selected to receive federal grants from the government for economic development activities.

Researchers then collected information on homicides in the neighborhoods, compiled information on alcohol licenses, and linked them with the addresses of homicides. Observations were also conducted of the availability and promotion of alcohol and malt liquor in off-premise alcohol outlets in the neighborhoods.

“We need to ask ourselves why high alcohol content beverages, such as malt liquor, are more readily available and highly promoted in poor and minority neighborhoods, and how we can mobilize communities to implement effective policies to restrict their sale and promotion,” Jones-Webb said.

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The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Posted in African American, Health, life, minorities, poverty, teens

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Mobile Phones “More Dangerous Than Smoking”

Posted on April 3, 2008 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

By Geoffrey Lean – The Independent UK – Sunday 30 March 2008

Brain expert warns of huge rise in tumours and calls on industry to take immediate steps to reduce radiation.

Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by an award-winning cancer expert has concluded. He says people should avoid using them wherever possible and that governments and the mobile phone industry must take “immediate steps” to reduce exposure to their radiation.

The study, by Dr Vini Khurana, is the most devastating indictment yet published of the health risks.
It draws on growing evidence – exclusively reported in the IoS in October – that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer. Cancers take at least a decade to develop, invalidating official safety assurances based on earlier studies which included few, if any, people who had used the phones for that long.

Earlier this year, the French government warned against the use of mobile phones, especially by children. Germany also advises its people to minimise handset use, and the European Environment Agency has called for exposures to be reduced.

Professor Khurana – a top neurosurgeon who has received 14 awards over the past 16 years, has published more than three dozen scientific papers – reviewed more than 100 studies on the effects of mobile phones. He has put the results on a brain surgery website, and a paper based on the research is currently being peer-reviewed for publication in a scientific journal.

He admits that mobiles can save lives in emergencies, but concludes that “there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumors”. He believes this will be “definitively proven” in the next decade.

Noting that malignant brain tumors represent “a life-ending diagnosis”, he adds: “We are currently experiencing a reactively unchecked and dangerous situation.” He fears that “unless the industry and governments take immediate and decisive steps”, the incidence of malignant brain tumors and associated death rate will be observed to rise globally within a decade from now, by which time it may be far too late to intervene medically.

“It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking,” says Professor Khurana, who told the IoS his assessment is partly based on the fact that three billion people now use the phones worldwide, three times as many as smoke. Smoking kills some five million worldwide each year, and exposure to asbestos is responsible for as many deaths in Britain as road accidents.

Late last week, the Mobile Operators Association dismissed Khurana’s study as “a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual”. It believes he “does not present a balanced analysis” of the published science, and “reaches opposite conclusions to the WHO and more than 30 other independent expert scientific reviews”.

Posted in adolescents, adverse events, brain, cancer, cell phones, Health, teens

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HPV vaccine mandates

Posted on March 16, 2008 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

Viruses are not the cause per se of cervical cancer. There has to be exposure to the virus and their has to a susceptibility to it. Their are many factors involved and by changing those inputs (behavior, diet,nutrition, life focus, spiritual focus of an individual, teaching wise choices vs. risky behaviors, etc.) outcomes can be changed. There are healthier approaches beyond vaccination.

A Research Study

HPV vaccine mandates: just say ‘no’ to the “great big public health experiment”

While many states are seriously considering requiring vaccination of pre-teen girls as a condition of middle school admission, the case for mandatory human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is very weak. Such a requirement lacks the traditional justification for vaccine mandates and therefore represents an unjustified usurpation of parental authority. Moreover, serious questions remain as to whether the vaccine is effective in preventing cervical cancer. The vaccine is the most expensive pediatric vaccine in history. Given the uncertainties surrounding the vaccine, Missouri lawmakers and taxpayers should reject this expensive and intrusive “public health experiment”.

Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA. Bob.Onder@house.mo.gov

Posted in girls, Health, health care, healthy body, healthy mind, HPV, sex, teens, Uncategorized, vaccination, vaccines, women

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Breakfast Important for Teens and Healthy Weight

Posted on March 6, 2008 by continuum wellness| Leave a comment

For teens looking to keep weight off, it doesn’t have to be a breakfast of champions, but it should be some kind of breakfast — and preferably a healthy one.

Yet another study is confirming that adolescents who skip breakfast have a higher risk of being overweight.

“There’s a pretty significant inverse association between how frequently kids report eating breakfast and how much weight they gain over time, and we took into account other dietary factors and physical activity,” said Mark Pereira, co-author of the study, published in the March issue of Pediatrics.

“It’s interesting to note that the kids who eat breakfast on a daily basis overall have a much better diet and are more physically active,” Pereira said.

Added Dr. Peter Richel, chief of pediatrics at Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y.: “Grandma and Mom are right. When we skip breakfast, especially in the teenage years, then kids tend to snack and graze.”

More than one-third of teens aged 12 to 19 are now overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. And over the past two decades, the proportion of children who are overweight has doubled; among teens, the proportion has tripled, according to background information with the study.

An estimated 12 percent to 34 percent of children and adolescents skip breakfast on a regular basis, a number that increases with age. Previous studies have linked breakfast skipping with a greater tendency to gain weight.

More than 2,000 adolescents were followed for five years. Participants completed detailed surveys on their eating patterns and also provided information on their height, weight, body-mass index and physical activity.

The more often a person ate breakfast, the less likely he or she was to be overweight or obese.

“This really shows that we have the potential to improve energy balance and weight control with healthy breakfast consumption. We’re not talking pop-tarts.”

Posted in breakfast, children, diet, food, nutrition, teens, Uncategorized, weight loss