How You Can Recover From Your Addiction To Alcohol

By Ed Philips

Most people who are addicted to alcohol refuse to find help until their health is at risk, which for most is too late. Unfortunately they either don't recognize they have a problem until its too late or the people closest to them give up trying to get the message through to them. Usually it is through tragedies that are occuring in someone elses life when we see that the same thing may happen in our own life. Those who suffer the most are the people directly related to the alcoholic, the family, and since we all have a family this story should resonant with everyone.

Mr Jones woke up one summers morning to find his 60 year old wife had passed out in her bed. She was only 60, didn't have cancer, no heart disease, just severe depression, due to the fact that her children had moved away and leaving her no grandchildren close by, and her life became empty and she just felt worthless and slowly lead towards depression.

Like many men, David was not a very good listener. Unfortunately he never recognized the fact that his wife was severly depressed and, in fact, had distanced himself from her. Because of these feelings Mrs Jones attempted to find comfort elsewhere, namely alcohol.

Why did she choose alcohol? It helped her forget and made it appear as if her problems didn't exist, making it the perfect solution for a depressed person. Unfortunately Mrs Kelly drank heavily for 21 days until one morning she simply didn't wake up due to her comatose state. During her hospitalization her families only interest was getting her to quit drinking alcohol, and didn't confront the problem that led to the drinking. Unfortunately she believed that without alcohol she would return to a life that was unbearable.

When she left the hospital Bill was charged with the task of keeping her away from alcohol. She was in a desperate state, and later said she was planning suicide, but then that very morning the phone rang. It was her daughter Caitlin with some good news. She was pregnant and had decided to move home as they would need her help with the other grandchildren. With her life suddenly turned upside down she found that there was reason to live. Even though she had to wait several months for their return, she was a new women.

The moral behind the story is twofold really. First, alcohol is not a solution to depression and secondly if you do know an alcoholic personally, ask them what the matter is and act accordingly. Even if you can get their problem met half way it could prevent a tragic end. - 18000

About the Author:

Discover how to quit Abusing Alcohol Written by Ed Philips and Quit Alcohol Today.

Helping with Your Irritable Bowel Syndrome

By Rhonda Dillan

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, otherwise known as IBS, has an unknown cause. Although stress, poor diet, and abnormal muscle spasms in the colon aggravate the condition all that is known is that the muscles in the intestines and colon spasm irregularly and cause abdominal cramp, bloating, nausea, and indigestion.

Not all IBS sufferers experience the exact same symptoms. There are three kinds of IBS. IBS - C is characterized by constipation. IBS - D is characterized by diarrhea. IBS - A alternates between cases of constipation and diarrhea.

Stress reduction and a change in diet are usually the first step in getting help for IBS. Stress from work, school, changing jobs or living situations, bereavement, and any number of other stressors can aggravate IBS. Large meals and even some prescribed antibiotics can trigger diarrhea and constipation in those with IBS. Women tend to be the most vulnerable to developing the condition. This might be due to hormonal changes due to a woman's menstruation cycle.

A sufferer can help IBS by avoiding certain foods, alcohol, and milk products. Some sufferers are more sensitive to certain foods than others. Recognizing what foods trigger symptoms is an important part of awareness.

IBS sufferers turn to laxatives or other over-the-counter medicines in hopes that the condition is temporary. But IBS is a chronic condition. Improper or excessive use of laxatives can cause further problems for those with IBS. Although IBS doesn't cause serious conditions such as colon cancer or intestinal damage, hemorrhoids can result if it goes untreated.

Most people don't know that IBS help is available. Even though the condition can be hard to talk about, it is important to know that there is something that can help IBS sufferers who need to constantly worry about their proximity to the bathroom.

One in 5 Americans has IBS and the number might be higher in reality. To help IBS, some sufferers seek alternative therapies. Balvolex is a natural supplement that has a calming effect on people with depression, anxiety, and high stress levels. Leveling mood and stress reduction can help IBS in almost all cases. Balvolex's natural ingredients calm the nervous system. It also contains plant and herbal extracts to calm the digestive system and lessen the spasms that are associated with IBS.

IBS help comes from Balvolex in the form of a reduction of diarrhea, cramping, constipation, anxiety, and calming the spasms in the intestines. - 18000

About the Author:

To read more about help for ibs go to the IBS Relief website.

A Natural Way Of Controlling The Symptoms Of PCOS

By Marc Sandford

You have thick hair growth on your chest, face, or back. You might be experiencing a hairline that is receding. You're unable to conceive and have brown or gray patches of skin on your knees, elbows, armpits, and neck. Your armpits and neck have soft, small, flesh-colored skin flaps called skin tags.

If you are suffering from these symptoms, you have PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome. There's a well known connection between having polycystic ovary syndrome and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance results when your body responds improperly to insulin in your blood, causing insulin levels to increase.

The elevated insulin increases testosterone levels which causes weigh gain around the belly and waist. Excessive insulin damages the liver, makes you prone to diabetes, decreases good cholesterol, and leads to blockage of the arteries. It is also the reason for the symptoms that were mentioned at the start of this article.

The long term health consequences of too much insulin in the blood in isn't good. If your insulin level isn't brought under control, you may get diabetes and heart disease.

Fortunately, your insulin levels can be lowered naturally through "healthy living". This means getting plenty of aerobic exercise that causes your heart rate to increase as well as weight resistance exercises that builds your muscle mass.

It means eating a healthy, natural diet that consists of eating fruits and vegetables, fish, poultry, and lean meats. Stay away from processed foods and simple carbohydrates such as white bread, cookies and cakes, refined rice and pasta.

Avoid consuming too many calories. Eat a salad before the start of a meal as this makes you feel fuller and reduces your appetite.

Make an effort to reduce the stress that you cope with on a daily basis. Excessive stress alters your hormone balance. This results in weight gain about the waist.

What is most important is not to do this on your own. A knowledgeable health professional is required to inform you what to do. Joining a PCOS support group will keep you motivated. - 18000

About the Author:

Looking for good reference material about ovarian cysts? Learn about hemorrhagic ovarian cysts and a natural treatment for ovarian cysts.

Kill Bedbugs for a Good Night's Sleep

By Renee Garcia

Sleepless nights can be caused by a lot of things. But, if in the morning, your skin has red and flat spots which appear in a pattern (like 3 spots in a row) and are very itchy, your home might be infested with bedbugs. Although the bites do not cause any disease, making you itch during the night can be really troublesome.

As their name implies, bedbugs can be seen in mattresses. You can also find these in furniture, floors, walls, bed posts, drawers, dressers, and carpets. Holes and cracks are also possible habitats of bedbugs. If you see red or brown spots in your mattress, these indicate bedbugs. Look for adult bedbugs. Their bodies are reddish-brown, flat, and oval. Adult bedbugs are wingless. If you find bedbugs, you must kill them.

People hire exterminators to kill the bedbugs for them. You can do this or you can kill bedbugs on your own. Here are ways on how to get rid of bedbugs.

Although vacuuming alone will not get rid of all bedbugs, it can minimize the extent of infestation. Scrub and vacuum every surface of the infested area. After scrubbing and vacuuming, seal holes and cracks.

To kill bedbugs, steam cleaning is effective because they cannot survive extreme heat. The only problem is that steam cleaning cannot be done on all surfaces.

Diatomaceous soil is a natural remedy. It has jagged edges that can cut bedbugs and kill them. It will not harm you or any other mammal because the particles are too small. Just dust the soil onto infested areas. Leave it there for some time. Then vacuum away!

Because bedbugs die under extreme heat, you can expose the infested materials under the sun. This is another natural way of killing bedbugs. Let the infested materials be exposed under the sun for hours. Unfortunately, this method is not 100% guaranteed to kill bedbugs.

See for yourself which step is effective in killing bedbugs. - 18000

About the Author:

Don't let the fear of bed bugs creep you out. Learn how to get rid of bedbugs and kill bed bugs now.

Finding Non-Invasive Alternatives to Carpal Tunnel Surgery

By Tom Nicholson

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a chronic and often debilitating condition which is usually due to the stress of repetitive motion, most commonly in the course of one's work, though there are hobbies which also pose a risk for the development of carpal tunnel. Poor posture and failing to take adequate breaks are common risk factors; and if you've been ignoring those pains in your wrists and hands you are likely on the verge of developing the condition yourself.

We're a society where "playing through the pain" is seen as a virtue and as a result we soldier on even when our work causes pain and weakness in our wrists, hands and arms. However, it's a serious mistake to just grin and bear it; the condition will eventually progress to the point where your ability to work is severely impacted if left untreated.

Failing to take action can lead to severe impairment of your ability to perform your job and even permanent damage to your wrists and hands. How does carpal tunnel syndrome develop? Carpal tunnel happens slowly over time as repetitive motion causes compression and sometimes permanent damage to the median nerve running through your wrists and hands. This compression happens through the repetitive motion of the transverse carpal ligaments; this is a structure which binds together the flexor digitorum profundis and flexor digitorum superficialis groups of ligaments which along with the median nerve run through your wrists into your hand via the tunnel formed by the transverse carpal and the carpal bones.

The transverse carpal ligament becomes compressed when it is subjected to repeated motion, poor posture and too much pressure put on the wrists. If one doesn't have the proper habits when they work, they are essentially exacerbating the issue. It is good to know, however, that there are ways to work through carpel tunnel syndrome and bring some relief to your aching hands.

Good posture can help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Talk to your company's resident ergonomics expert (if you have one) or research the topic yourself to find out how you can protect yourself from this condition. You should also take short breaks regularly throughout the workday to stretch your hands to keep them limber.

What about surgery? Yes, this is certainly an alternative when it comes to carpal tunnel syndrome, but are you willing to take the risk? As you know, there isn't a surgery out there that doesn't come with a small amount of risk. You have to consider the recuperation time and the cost of carpal tunnel surgery, both of which are huge in scale. There is also the chance you could permanently lose some strength in your hands a result of any surgery, so consider these risks well.

Of course, even if you do go the surgical route, you'll still have to do the same exercises and stretches which could help prevent the condition in the first place as well as providing some relief from the symptoms of the condition. Before you schedule a surgery, examine some of the less drastic options; you may be able to treat the problem without assuming the risk and expense of a surgical procedure. - 18000

About the Author:

Considering how often carpal tunnel surgery only causes more problems in dangers, many people are looking to alternative treatments. There are many non-invasive techniques that you should be informed about before going under the knife. Click on this link to learn about the disappointments associated with carpal tunnel surgery.

Controlling Diabetic Ketoacidosis

By Ned Dagostino

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a little known medical condition. Apart from those who have this condition, and their friends and family, the general populace is fairly ignorant of the severe implications of this condition. If the condition is untreated for too long, it may prove fatal. Type 1 diabetics are prone to suffer this condition. But this condition can just as easily occur in a non-diabetic person. The picture that emerges from studies of this condition shows that persons who have suffered severe dehydration or bacterial infection and viral attacks are susceptible to diabetic ketoacidosis.

This condition is related to the metabolic functions of the body. Food is digested to produce glucose, a form of sugar. Glucose is used by the muscles directly to carry out our basic functions. Glucose which is not needed immediately is converted to and stored as fat. Whenever the glucose levels dwindle, the body takes recourse to the stored energy reserves within our body, that is, the fats, reconverting them back to glucose, that is energy.

This reconversion releases ketones which are fatty acids, and the level of ketones in the blood exceeds the normal. This condition is called 'ketoacidosis'. If a person's blood is heavily infected by external organisms like bacteria or viruses, then ketoacidosis is more likely to occur. A person suffering from severe dehydration is also prone to ketoacidosis. Diabetics are more likely to develop ketoacidosis.

In brief, the condition itself is not so much the danger as the delay in treatment is. Why is there this delay? Because the symptoms become evident only after the condition is firmly entrenched. The particular symptoms one should look out for are enumerated below.

Skin dryness, elevated temperature, flushed or pale appearance.

Another telltale sign is impaired vision. A person with diabetic ketoacidosis experiences severe blurring of vision.

Diabetics with diabetic ketoacidosis emit a peculiarly sickening "sweet" odor from their breath. It seems very like the smell from a horse's mouth which has just fed on fresh grass!

The person with diabetic ketoacidosis can feel very tired, so tired that he sleeps almost throughout the day. He won't even take part in those activities that he likes.

Extreme nausea and complete loss of appetite.

The most critical manifestation of diabetic ketoacidosis is related to the thought processing capability of the brain. The person goes through spells where he is completely confused.

The only effective treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis is a prolonged one. The patient should cooperate with the doctors and take the prescribed treatment exactly as advised. The patient must avoid dehydration, taking rehydrating solutions if necessary. The blood glucose must be monitored round-the-clock to avoid it going over or below the normal limits. If these guidelines are followed, diabetic ketoacidosis can be beaten, rest assured! - 18000

About the Author:

There are a couple of things everyone needs to have to assist in controlling their diabetes. The first is a good inventory of diabetic testing supplies and the other is a wholesome diabetic diet plan. Go to www.Diabetes-Diabetic-Diet-Plans.com to learn more about this disease and ways to control it.

Facing Fears: Alligators and Incontinence

By Kate Kew

Lady Luck is about to betray me. It looks like I will win a lottery I would rather not: a hunting permit for some very wily game.

The American alligator elicits no sympathy from me. I am just as cold blooded about that beast as it is about me. For reasons I cannot comprehend (and I am pro-nature), the alligator is legally protected despite not being an endangered species and not having many, if any, natural predators. Meanwhile it menaces water edge prey with lightning speed, humans included. There is scant support in the Department of Natural Resources' literature for its protected status, no more than a vague mention of keeping other species populations in check.

Alligator population in South Carolina alone is thought to be about 100,000 and a number of them have started hiding under cars in my local mall's parking lot for the fun of it. When drainage ditches in populous areas make for their habitat, there is something ludicrous about a regulatory sign that tells citizens not to harass the alligators. Perhaps that has something to do with the Department of Natural Resources opening up a hunting license lottery for a lucky one thousand gator hunters this season, allowing the bagging of gators ranging anywhere in size from 4 feet in length to a rare but possible 16 feet.

Not being a gambling woman under normal circumstances, I didn't check my odds before agreeing to paying for my spot in the lottery. I rationalized that I never win anything so there was nothing to worry about, no personal face to lose. So now I find out that only several hundred people entered last year and everyone was a lucky winner with licenses to spare. To save face, I cannot back out now. So how did I get in this jam to begin with?

My next door neighbor, Walt, is to blame as I figure it. He knows I get wound up about alligators and he has capitalized on that for some personal diversion. Ever since his prostate surgery, Walt has been aggravated about the toll it took on him and he has been antsy to get back into the great outdoors that he has avidly hunted and fished in all his life. He is thankful that his cancer is being effectively dealt with but he is determined to regain his sportsman's stride more quickly than the doctors predicted. It is a matter of pride with him as much as it is survival. So when it comes to pride, his experiencing temporary SUI (Stress Urinary Incontinence) is a major thorn in his side. And Walt being Walt, he is not shy about saying so.

Walt holds court daily in his knotty pine paneled garage, the walls decked with skins of water moccasins, a mangy mounted bob cat head, and the piece de resistance, an 11 foot alligator skin. The Big One, his thirteen footer, is indoors just above his living room mantle. Whenever I enter the garage, I can't keep my fingers from tracing the ridged distance from between the eye slits down to its nostrils, like the ritual rubbing of a talisman, marveling how this distance in inches magically equates the beast's actual length in feet. And predictably, my shoulders always give an involuntary shudder.

It was a coupIe of weeks after Walt's surgery and I had done "the shut-in run" as he called it, delivering a homemade lasagna, placing it on the bar counter in his garage. I was running my fingers along the alligator's bumpy snout when Walt had one of his candid outbursts. "Well, Sister, I don't know what kind of man I am anymore, what with peein' my pants and all these days. I probably should just buy me a rockin' chair and some shares in one of them adult diapers companies."

Walt is no dummy. He knows his encounter with prostate cancer has been a serious one and he is fortunate to have the good prognosis that he does. But even the common and most often temporary nature of the Stress Induced Incontinence (SUI) he was experiencing was severely annoying to him. I was familiar with the literature he had on the TV tray over in the corner; brochures and pamphlets with anatomical drawings and photos of scrubs-cloaked medical professionals explaining the possibilities and procedures surrounding post prostatectomy, including SUI. A cough, a sneeze or a routine golf swing could literally dampen a man's mood in a matter of seconds.

The pamphlets illustrated how the prostate wraps the urethra and how surgery or radiation can possibly lead to various degrees of incontinence, most of which will improve or disappear with time or other surgical intervention. After a prostatectomy or radiation, the sphincter muscles that hold back bladder flow either need time to regain control or the help of some other medical intervention. All workable solutions, all reassuring.

Walt refused to have the patience required of a convalescent. He expected the most of his body now as he had before as though his iron will could translate quickly into an iron bladder. SUI is certainly far more than a mind over matter issue but that was how he was choosing to deal with it, even in his frankness about shopping for "adult diapers, pads or whatever the hell you called them." He was determined to win the day with bravado and I realize now that is why he reached under the bar to pull out his trusty harpoon and bang stick. Plunking them down on the counter, he said, "You and me, we're going to have some fun this September that we need to start plannin' on now." If he had to stare down the maw of a personal darkness, then Walt was going to make sure I had my own personal taste of terror, even if it was trivial in comparison to his.

So here I am, putting my electronic signature to the DNR application and wondering how I will react when my flashlight catches the red glow of those close set eyes from my perch in the boat as we float through the cypress swamp about twenty miles from here that is a favorite of Walt's. His son, an experienced hunter himself, is coming along, too. I extracted that promise from him even though it may have hurt his feelings a little. I suspect I will be no help myself, once the quarry is snared and thrashing alongside the boat. I also told Walt I may be planning a little foray into adult diapers myself for the occasion; terror and incontinence are no strangers to each other. - 18000

About the Author:

Kate Kew has been a senior adult caregiver for over 30 years and she is also the Director of Web Resource Content for a warehouse direct-to-public retailer of Adult Diaper Supplies, where she is creating an extensive library to assist others as they struggle with the problems that come with adult incontinence. You are invited to visit, use and add to this online resource at Adult Diapers and Senior Care Tips.