Health & Wellness
This was not the case 20+ years ago when I was much younger and my immune system was shot. I was fortunate to have good health insurance. I went to a couple of doctors and eventually I was referred to an allergist. He had me endure horrible skin prick tests which revealed only that I had a light allergy to mold. I knew that already.
He recommended an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor who put me on steroids. That didn't help at all. After pleading with the ENT, he ran a camera up my nose and down into my throat. Nothing looked unusual.
Naturally I was upset. The ENT was kind enough to tell me about another one of his former patients who he had not been able to help. She later called him and said that another doctor had run different tests on her and discovered she had high levels of mercury. The ENT didn't validate the test or the diagnosis. However, he offered me the name and phone number of that doctor as long as I understood that it was NOT a referral. I accepted it and thanked him.
Comment: Further reading on this rapidly growing problem that has been poo-pooed by the big money interests:
- Is your headache caused by electro-smog?
- Electro-sensitivity, EMF and WIFI - one woman's saga
- 'Occupy your home': Confronting 'electro-pollution' and smart meter toxification
© Beliefnet
Interestingly, insomniacs will often insist they've not slept a wink all night, even though they've actually been sleeping. Researchers have now discovered there's a reason for this discrepancy in experience, and it has to do with consciousness. In a nutshell, even though the brain is sleeping, insomniacs remain consciously aware, and therefore believe they've not slept at all.
Understanding why your muscles are sore and how you can both minimize and accommodate sore muscles will help you deal with muscle discomfort, tenderness and stiffness. You might be surprised to learn that sore muscles are not always a reason to skip your workout.
Why Exercise?
If you are still wondering why exercise is important, I'd like to remind you of a few of the reasons why your body needs physical activity on a regular basis. Because most of these benefits are temporary, not permanent, you will benefit most by getting active and staying active. In terms of benefits, exercise:
© Corbis / Getty
As a result, I became consumed with the idea of minimizing my need for sleep as much as possible. I had always required less sleep than my wife, but I thought that if I could just find some clever solution, some trick or tool, I might be cured of this time suck forever. I wanted to hack my need for sleep.
Eventually, I researched polyphasic sleep, a trend among the kind of people who quantify every aspect of their nutrient intake. Taken to its extreme, the practice promised the magic I was looking for: Simply sleep for 20 minutes or so every few hours, and eventually you'll only need two or three hours of sleep a day. Sleep would be conquered! In its place, productive bliss.
Unfortunately, there are still a large number of people who generally 'feel fine,' and thus don't realize the damage they actually may be causing to their bodies. Luckily, the human body is an amazing organism that, if given the right environment is perfectly capable of healing itself.
Comment: Read more about how food affects the brain:
- Scientists learn how food affects the brain
- The brain-shrinking effects of a junk food diet
- Experts Say: Junk Food Can Hijack Brain Like Drugs Do
- Study reveals what added sugars are doing to the brain
- Why isn't my brain working
- Training your brain to prefer healthy foods
- How to Rewire Your Brain to End Food Cravings
We don't mean to cast aspersions, but are vegans nuts? Join us for this episode of The Health and Wellness Show where we explore this question and the very real underlying dietary reasons for why this may be so.
And stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment, where she speaks about the inappropriateness of vegetarian diets for pets.
Running Time: 01:43:49
Download: OGG, MP3
Listen live, chat, and call in to future shows on the SOTT Radio Network!
© Photo courtesy David Gregory & Debbie Marshall/Wellcome Images
Colour-enhanced image of the bacteriophage T4.
Colour-enhanced image of the bacteriophage T4.
The Scottish physician Alexander Fleming discovered the first modern antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928. In 1945, Fleming issued a warning: should we misuse or overuse antibiotics, bacteria can and will resist. Today, resistance has become a scourge of modern medicine. Not only did we deploy antibiotics to save lives, but for commercial gain - pumping them into industrial farm animals, from cows and pigs to chicken and fish. Under pressure from this assault, bacterial populations did what they'd done for aeons: evolve or die. Those strains that could survive antibiotics are now winning the evolutionary race, and we are progressively running out of cures.
© plainpicture/photocake.de
It’s not worth skimping on sleep.
It’s not worth skimping on sleep.
A severe lack of sleep has been linked to mood disorders, depression, anxiety and Alzheimer's disease. But much less is known about the effects of skimping on a little sleep each night, missing the recommended amount by an hour or so.
According to the US National Sleep Foundation, most adults should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, while 6 hours may be okay for some people. Anything under 5 hours is deemed insufficient.
Comment: See also:
- Sleep deprived? The effects of sleep impairment on the brain
- Study finds being exposed to small amounts of light during sleep is linked to depression
- Sleep cycle disruption could be an early warning sign for Alzheimer's
- Sleep as a cognitive tool: How sound and smell cues can enhance learning while you sleep
- Sleep yourself slim: how an extra 90 mins in bed can help stop sugar cravings while shedding excess lbs
- Senior moments: Poor memory tied to faulty brain rhythms during sleep
Yellow fever is spread by the same mosquito that causes Zika virus, which spread through the Americas after being detected in Brazil in 2015 and has been reported in southern Florida and southern Texas.
The U.S. Centres for Disease Control advises that yellow fever is found in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa and South America, and is a very rare cause of illness in U.S. travelers.
But the study, "International travel and the urban spread of yellow fever", showed that almost 2.8 million people flew to the United States from endemic yellow fever areas in 2016.
Unlike some countries, the United States does not require travelers from such places to show proof of yellow fever vaccination.
Comment: The polio vaccine: A worthless and carcinogenic threat to humanity