One Life Gone: Stop the Deterioration of Health

Her name was Mary. I had never met the woman. All I had been told was that she had died and that my brother-in-law needed the storage unit cleaned out so that he may rent it to another. She had been only two years older than I am today; but she hadn't had a peaceful life.

As we sorted through the myriad of boxes, sorting out the paper for recycling and those items that could be donated, I also tried to sort through the feelings as a story of her life unfolded in the items Mary had deemed not important enough to keep in her home.

But as we filled the second brown grocery bag with unused medical drugs, a sense of anger mixed with the sadness. I picked up a stack of pharmacy receipts. Eleven drugs had been refilled in 1 day. A printout showed 56 different prescriptions had been filled in 3 months.

No wonder the woman had suffered.

I recognized most of the names and knew their uses: asthma, diabetes, depression, anxiety, pain, etc. But half of the drugs on the list were to manage the side effects of other drugs, such as the dizziness caused by an antidepressant, or the constipation caused by the narcotic analgesic (pain medication).

I began to wonder if I could have helped this woman. There are SO MANY people who suffer so much and take too many drugs to manage a variety of ailments. Why?

In some respects, at one time, I was similar to the people who suffer a lot and take a lot of medical drugs. But I had never accepted that I'd have a chronic disease for the rest of my life. I chose to fight back.

When a surgeon told me that I would have to have surgery every year in order to diminish my suffering, I said "no". And I have not had surgery since-it's been 15 or more years and my suffering has diminished without the surgery.

When I was told I had 3 months left to live, I said "no"; it's been almost 10 years now since the doctor had made that proclamation.

It wasn't that I knew a lot about natural health or homeopathy at the time-I just didn't want to be heavily medicated. I also knew that medical care would be unable to cure/heal me. The only road I saw ahead of me with medical care was health deterioration and to die suffering.

But not everyone is like me and I know that. Healing a chronic illness isn't easy; it's hard work and sometimes the suffering that can occur with healing makes one wonder if it is worth it. Lord knows I thought about giving up more than a few times when I hit bumps along my healing path.

When I became more educated in medical drugs while in nursing school, I learned that many of the medical drugs I was taking were to manage the side effects of other drugs. As I worked in the nursing field, I saw this in most of my patients. At the first nursing home I worked at as an RN, I had one patient to whom I gave 10 different drugs each morning for breakfast. Her diagnoses were high blood pressure and arthritis. For those two diagnoses, three of the drugs she took were for treating those ailments-all the others were to manage the side effects from those 3 drugs or the side effects of a drug that had been prescribed to manage the side effects of those 3 drugs! For example, a common side effect of a narcotic pain drug is constipation. So my patient had been prescribed a stool softener to manage that side effect; but she was also prescribed a drug for diarrhea as stool softeners sometimes have the side effect of diarrhea. One of the first articles I had written was about the "snowball effect" of medical drugs.

As I expanded my knowledge about medical drugs in natural health school, I found many ways to manage the side effects of medical drugs with safe alternatives. I also found that many of the side effects of drugs are caused by nutrient depletion, such as when taking an antipsychotic, antidepressant or anti-anxiety drug, Vitamin B-1 can be depleted from the body. The symptoms of Vitamin B-1 deficiency are: memory problems, fatigue, numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, development of alcoholism, malabsorption issues such as Celiac Disease, Crohn's Disease or colitis, weight gain, etc. What are the side effects of antipsychotic drugs? Most of those listed here.

Each time any medical drug is taken, it causes a change within a person's body, even in places where the drug is not intended to work. For example, an antibiotic for an infection in the toe can cause problems in the brain, sinuses, stomach, intestines, colon and vagina. It can also cause a rash. Medical drugs work by either taking over a body process, or inhibiting it ("anti-" drugs; anti means against or opposite). For example, an antihypertensive is "against tension" and "tension" is blood pressure. Antihypertensive drugs are against blood pressure. The subclasses of antihypertensive drugs are usually a "blocker" such as a Beta Blocker or an "inhibitor" such as an ACE Inhibitor.

The longer a drug is taken, the harder it is for the body to regain balance. For most people, balance cannot be regained once a drug is taken. Introduction of a chemical into the body causes so many changes as the body has to make accommodations for the drug. When a person takes a medical drug for the first time, they usually become ill from it. The usual recommendation from the medical community is that your body has to adjust to it, and then the symptoms will go away. In "English" it means that the symptoms will diminish or go away because the body makes changes to accommodate the chemical.

What usually happens after the drug is stopped is a worsening of a person's condition (or the development of new symptoms) because the body is trying to function properly again. An example is antibiotics. Most people experience nausea or stomach cramps with the first few doses. These usually subside until taking the drug is over, then diarrhea occurs as the body is trying to heal the damages caused by the drug.

The higher the number of drugs taken, the harder it is for the body to accommodate or heal. Chronic diseases form and the person cannot regain balance without some serious interventions. It has been said that most people do not die of their disease, but because the body could no longer accommodate the chemicals.

When I looked at Mary's history over the course of her diseases, I found this to probably be the case.

She had started with a rash that had been medicated; she had been diagnosed with "eczema". Then she developed an infection in the rash and was given several different antibiotics (or a combination) for 6 months. When nothing seemed to help, a biopsy was done and it showed a bacterial infection from Staphylococcus aureus ("Staph"). She was treated with three different antibiotics specifically known to target that bacteria. Meanwhile, she had developed severe diarrhea and a vaginal yeast infection and was given drugs for those conditions.

Shortly thereafter, she had a lot of abdominal pain, and the diarrhea did not slow. She was diagnosed with colitis and given prednisone (a corticosteroid). This led to the development of Gastroesophageal Reflex Disease (GERD) then asthma. Drugs were prescribed for both of these (on top of those she was already taking for diarrhea and a now-chronic vaginal yeast infection).

Because of taking long-term corticosteroid therapy, she developed Diabetes-yes, more drugs.

Then, to top it all off, because her body was in a severely compromised state, due to her repeated hospitalizations and biopsies, Mary developed MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) in the rash-the severe Staph bacteria that is found only in hospitals. This bacterium was resistant to all known antibiotics except for Vancomycin. The infection soon spread and eventually found its way to her lungs and sinuses. So Mary was hospitalized, as anyone sick with this bacterium is likely to die.

Buy Drugs Online and Get Better

You may buy drugs online through a national pharmacy chain or a mail-order program offered by your health insurance. Although you will come across many legitimate online drug stores, you should know that there are those not licensed in the United States. There are even those that are not pharmacies at all. This is why it's important for everyone to be selective.

To ensure good health and finances, here are some reminders for those who want to buy drugs online.

-Consult your doctor

Take only medications prescribed by your doctor. He or she knows which particular drug is safe for you and which ones are not. Your doctor can also suggest other effective treatments when necessary.

-Use a Licensed Pharmacy

Check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. They can tell you if a certain online pharmacy is licensed and in good standing. The site must have a seal of approval from the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS).

-Make sure the Site uses Registered Pharmacists

Good sites offer toll-free access to registered pharmacists who can address the concerns of consumers. Some online drug stores have brick-and-mortar stores also. If you have certain questions about a drug or you're concerned about drug reactions, speak to the pharmacist in person.

-Understand the Policies

Before you buy drugs online, read and understand the privacy and security policies. Sensitive information like your credit card number, personal health records and other personally identifiable information should be protected.

-Don't use sites that bypass prescriptions.

Online drug stores that distribute medication without valid prescription are actually violating U.S. law. Don't choose websites that give prescriptions under the condition you will complete an online questionnaire. Only your personal doctor can do that.

-Be careful with your Purchase

Don't order drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It's illegal to import unapproved drugs into the United States. This may lead to life-threatening situations. Read online pharmacy reviews as these will let you know if the drugs are effective and safe to use. Online pharmacy reviews are reliable sources of information.

-Look for contact information

Make sure the website has a functioning phone number and an existing address. Keep away from sites that list foreign contact information. Make sure you use U.S. pharmacies.

-Don't keep complaints quiet

If your order does not arrive and you find some unauthorized charges on your credit card, report it to the FDA. Speaking up can help make the marketplace safer for online shoppers such as yourself.

Be assertive and Take control

Whether you fill your prescription at a local pharmacy or online, make sure you get what the doctor ordered by checking the following:

Does the dosage match the prescription?
Is your name printed correctly on the medication label?
Is the packaging intact?
Is the name of the medication correct?
Is the expiration date clearly listed?

Read online pharmacy reviews and should you have any other questions or concerns, check with your doctor. A simple phone call can help avoid serious mistakes.

Introduction to Joint Replacement

Over the years, surgery has become more common. This may have been because of the advances in technology which have made such procedures accessible to the public in general. Combine this with the increase in conditions like arthritis which are known to be a great factor in degeneration of joints and therefore lead to hip, knee or wrist replacement et al.

Moreover, people nowadays have come to expect a certain type of life and they want to be able to keep up their lifestyle inspite of the demands it may make upon their body. This may include things like playing sports or the more mundane like being overweight et al.

Surgery itself is not an easy procedure to undertake and should only be considered as a last option. So first, the patient undergoes a variety of other alternative and basic treatments and medications. However if these fail to help the patient or if the pain becomes intolerable or if the patient has difficulty in functioning on a daily basis or a combination of the above then in that case surgery should be considered.

There are a number of alternative treatment options available to us like rest, weight loss, medication, physical therapy, and injection treatments. All of these, have their own pros and cons, have helped many and prove to be the first step to combat the pain and stiffness of arthritis.

Joint replacement, very simplistically, replaces the damaged joint surfaces with a part or more of an artificial joint after putting the blood vessels and nerves in place. The joint is thus made of various combinations of metal and plastic.

So to put it bluntly, the prosthetic joint is not a normal joint. The process may have to be repeated every five to seven years if the artificial joint wears out. Therefore, the quality of the artificial joint material and how much strain you put on it will determine how soon the joint will be replaced. Moreover, the procedure itself is complicated and demanding for everyone involved including the surgeons.

The post surgery recovery process is quite gradual and takes place in stages. Most patients see an improvement in mobility about a month after the procedure.

So it is highly recommended that you do not rush in to the operation without making sure you have tried all other non-surgical treatments. Furthermore, some research into what type of procedure is recommended and why and how will this specific procedure help the problem, is generally a good idea for the patient and family.

Do Your Antibiotics Really Work?

I want to start off by sharing a story with you about the truth of antibiotics. This story involves many trips to the emergency room, many not so great doctors and even more useless antibiotics.

Fortunately for us there are a couple good doctors in this story.

Lets go back a few years to 2003. This was the year I got my first MRSA infection. If you've ever had that type of infection then you know how painful it can be. This being my first experience with it you can imagine how scared I was. So naturally I went to the Emergency room. The doctor there told me this was a typical infection. He then cut it open and sent me home with antibiotics.

This type of thing went on and on.

I went back to the emergency room several times within the next year or two. Each time I went for the same thing. Each time they did the same thing. Cut the infection open bandage it and give me antibiotics. I eventually grew tired of this game and demanded answers. I assumed they didn't want to know the what was going on or they didn't know. Getting a straight answer was like pulling teeth.

Until, I ran across an emergency room doctor that cared. This doctor explained the whole thing to me. The reason why I had to keep coming back to the E.R. The reason none of the antibiotics were working. He even told me why the other doctors couldn't tell me anything.

My suspicions were right.

They themselves didn't know the answer to my questions.

What this doctor told me was informative and scary. He told me that a lot of infections like the one I had. MRSA. Were hard to diagnose. Infections like MRSA have many different strands. Which means that an antibiotic that works on one strand of MRSA might not work on another strand. This was the reason for so many different types of antibiotics and so many trips to the emergency room.

Finding the antibiotic to match that certain strand of infection was a crap shoot. They literally had no way to match the medicine to the illness.

Importance Of Visiting An Urgent Care Center

Illness and accidents happen some times while traveling. Really there is not much that can be done to avoid such type of incidences. If a person seeks medical care while on the trip, don't be astonished to wind up in the immediate care center.

Urgent care is delivery of the ambulance care in ability dedicated to the medical care delivered outside of the emergency department of the hospital; normally this is on an unscheduled and walk-in base. Primarily these are used to treat the patient who has an illness or injury that needs immediate care. Often these immediate care centers would be opened on the continuous basis, not like the hospital emergency, which would be open at every time.

If your loved one or you get injured or sick, you may avoid a long time waiting in the crowded, emergency room of hospital if the injury or illness isn't too serious. Urgent care centers have a team of nurses, support staff and doctors; they are all dedicated to provide compassionate, high quality care for an array of non-life threatening, urgent medical symptoms, which require urgent evaluation and also treatment.

Immediate care centers are designed to provide a vast array of services. They are also provide medical services for some minor emergencies, broken bones, work injuries, dislocations, lacerations, and dislocations. And also onsite x-rays, bracing, pre-employment screening of drugs and early physicians.

It is necessary that if you are in a situation of life threatening, then you seek medical care from the emergency room. Immediate care centers would be able to deal several serious conditions; they don't have all medical devices and also surgeons that an ER has such as, a sprained ankle, it is best to visit the care center, but the broken bone, which needs medical courtesy and should head to an emergency room. Sometimes, you may unsure about your condition, if you are so, then you can call the local care center for better advice.

The really advantageous thing about this type of care centers is the fact that you do not need to take an appointment before you arrive. Even though most of the people come to an urgent care center with minor work injuries for one time visits, others would take benefit of the yearly physical services.

Walk in care centers can be your best resolution because these clinics are equipped specifically for such type of conditions. These clinics would prevent the emergency room visits and they offer proper treatment when your family doctor is not available.

What Are The Effects Of Daylight Savings Time?

Did you wake up feeling groggy yesterday? Chances are most of us did, and not just because it was Monday. Yesterday we lost an hour thanks to Daylight Savings Time (DST). On Sunday March 11, 2012, we sprung our clocks forward an hour just like we do every spring in order to make the most of the daylight.

Daylight Savings Time showed up during the First World War to extend the amount of daylight hours as a way to preserve energy. Some countries have never used DST, others have dropped it completely. But here in most of Canada, and most of the United States, we still go through the bi-yearly change.

You might think losing one hour of sleep wouldn't make a significant impact, but according to many sleep experts, losing an hour sleep can have some pretty severe consequences. In fact the change has been blamed for an increased risk of heart attacks in the week following DST (the risk decreases in the fall by the same amount). A 6-17% increase in traffic accidents has been observed on the days following DST. And workers also report more on-the-job injuries on the Monday after DTS.

There is no concrete reason why this happens, just that our bodies may be more sensitive to this change than we initially thought. Of course sensitivity will vary from person to person, and is usually based on personal health, sleep habits and lifestyle.

So based on the above, we assumed the best and safest thing to do on the Monday after Daylight Savings is to stay in bed. But sadly, that's not correct. Follow these simple rules and your circadian rhythm should be back to normal within a few days:

* Try to get in 20 minutes of aerobic exercise each day like a brisk walk to elevate your heart rate.
* Get as much light as possible during the day, then when it's dark out, avoid bright lights (like TVs and computers).
* Eat foods high in tryptophan like bananas, nuts or milk.

For overall health and a better night's sleep, get yourself into a regular sleep schedule and practice good sleep hygiene, including reducing caffeine and alcohol before bed, exercising several hours before bed, and creating calming rituals like baths or reading before bed. You'll be feeling and sleeping better in no time!

Daylight Savings Time showed up during the First World War to extend the amount of daylight hours as a way to preserve energy.

Medical Supplies You Should Keep Handy While Traveling

In the midst of travel preparations, when transportation options, lodging plans, and expectations of exciting activities occupy your mind, it is easy to overlook the importance of bringing along a well-thought-out pack of medical supplies. However, despite its many attractions, traveling carries with it some health risks especially as you move farther and stay away longer from your own residence. That is why a medical kit should be an important inclusion in your luggage when you travel. The type and quantity of medical supplies to carry depend on the length of your trip, your destination, and the kinds of activities you plan to engage in. There are, however, basic medical items that you should always have in your travel medical provisions.

Bring sufficient prescription and non-prescription medication.

If you are under medication for diabetes, hypertension, or any other serious afflictions, it is necessary to have your prescription drugs in your possession at all times while traveling. When traveling abroad, check and comply with the customs policies of your destination country. Another thing you should prepare for is the inevitable encounter with common illnesses that travelers experience. Water, food, environmental conditions, and stress usually leave travelers suffering from diarrhea, fever, cuts, burns, insect bites, stings, and the like. To counteract these unpleasant travel consequences, bring appropriate over-the-counter medications including pain relievers, antihistamines, and antibiotics.

Carry a personalized first aid kit.

Commercial first aid kits for travelers are readily available, but they are often insufficient. To make a first aid kit truly useful in a medical situation, you need to add more to its contents. Make sure it has bandages and sterile gauze, cotton, sutures, needles, syringes, small scissors, tweezers, gels and creams for burns and insect bites, a thermometer, closure strips, water purification tablets, a bottle of antiseptic, and anything else that might come in handy depending on your destination. Along with what's inside, consider the first aid container itself. If you will be doing water activities during your vacation, for example, then it would be wise to bring along a waterproof first-aid kit.

Have room in your bag for miscellaneous health and medical items.

These are the provisions that are too bulky for your first aid kit but are equally important to have around while you travel. When traveling, it is a good idea to have with you some or all of these items: hand and feet sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, medically tested sunscreen, a tube of lip balm, hot and cold compress, and vaso-constrictor or cleansing eye drops. Other items that you might include in your list depending on existing medical conditions include a nebulizer, an inhaler, and allergy shots. For accurate health monitoring while traveling, you may also carry items such as electronic blood pressure monitors, pulse rate gauges, blood sugar monitors, and the like. Finally, mobility aids such as medical crutches, canes, slings, and braces are also useful if you encounter minor injury or if you are hampered by pain while traveling.