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"Stress is the trash of modern life-we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life."

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Is Hay Fever a Genetic Condition?

Pollen time is misery time for about 15% of the Australian population or about 3.1 million people afflicted with hay fever or allergic rhinitis.  Most of these sufferers (about 2 in 10 people) live in Canberra and Western Australia, areas with the highest grass pollen counts.

For people unfortunate to possess an immune system overly sensitised to pollen, pet dander, dust mites, mould, and cat saliva, everyday can an ordeal of irritated sinuses; perennial runny noses; sneezing; and red, watery eyes.  Especially during pollen season, everyday is sick day which affects people’s social lives and productivity.  The hardest hit age group is the middle or working years, between the ages of 25-44 years old, more than children or seniors.

What Hay Fever Is

Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is an allergic condition in which a person’s immune system reacts to normally innocuous substances such as pollen and fungal spores with an abnormally protective response.  The immune system perceives these substances (which it now identifies as allergen triggers) as harmful and thus releases histamine into the bloodstream, causing sinus, eye, and airway inflammation.

Hay fever comes in two types:  seasonal and perennial.  The seasonal kind occurs only during the time of year when plants pollinate.  The perennial type, sadly, plagues the sufferer all year round.

Many Australians are particularly allergic to pollen, so much so that as few as 50 microscopic grains of these per cubic yard of air are enough to trigger a violent allergic reaction.  Grass pollen, in particular, has proven to be a major culprit of allergic rhinitis and asthma.  Hay fever or allergic rhinitis that is triggered by pollen is also called pollinosis.

Where you live in Australia may be a huge factor of when your hay fever strikes.  Knowing when pollen season arrives at your region may help you prepare adequately to pare down the symptoms.  The better prepared you are at worst of pollen time, the better you can cope with work, social, and family demands in those debilitating months.  Yes, hay fever can be debilitating especially if your immune system’s reactions get particularly severe.

Not everyone of course suffers allergic rhinitis; so, what makes one more susceptible to hay fever than others?  Is hay fever even hereditary?

Risk Factors for Developing Hay Fever

Although allergies can be developed by anyone, one is more at a high risk of developing them if one’s family has a history of allergies.  As an allergy, hay fever tends to be hereditary.  One is more likely to be born with the genes for it especially if one’s mother has allergy problems.

Aside from the genetic factor, other high risk factors for hay fever include:

• Having other allergies -- If you are prone to other allergies, you are more likely to be susceptible to hay fever as well.


• Having asthma -- Asthma and hay fever are closely tied.  People afflicted with asthma may acquire hay fever as well.


• Being the firstborn -- Interestingly, being born first of your siblings can be a high risk factor for allergic rhinitis and other allergies.  This phenomenon may be attributed to the hygiene hypothesis which attributes first time parents to over-sterilise the environment, consequently leaving the eldest child with less opportunity to strengthen his immune system from germs. With more experience, parents get to relax with clean-ups so that subsequent children get to have more germ contact and a bolstered immunity.
  
  Scientists also say that a womb with a first time pregnancy does not have much  immunity to transfer to the first foetus; but, subsequent pregnancies let the womb build up and transfer immunity to babies born after the first.
  
  
• Being the only child --- The premise of being the firstborn is the same for the single child situation.  An over-sanitised environment or the new-womb-less-immunity situation for the only baby makes


• Gender and age -- Before and during adolescence, more boys are prone to have hay fever than girls.  After these periods, however, a lot of boys outgrow their allergy, leaving the count of affected girls higher.


• Income Level -- Babies born to families with higher incomes and higher standards of living are more at risk for developing hay fever.  Higher standards of living decrease the chances of babies to contract infections.  Somehow, people with fewer childhood infections are at greater risk of facing autoimmune problems later on.  As with the hygiene theory, the less chances the young body has to build up its immune system early in life, the more susceptible it is to allergies in the future.


• Exposure to second-hand smoke -- Infants who are constantly exposed to cigarette smoke in their first few years of life are more prone to develop allergic rhinitis in the later years.
  

Climate Change and Hay Fever

If you belong to about 500 million people worldwide suffering from hay fever, it would be good for you to know that the presence of grass pollen, a major allergen, is expected to be on the rise globally as a result of climate change.  An abstract published in 2014 on the online journal, PLOS ONE, states:  “Climate change is noticeably affecting plant, animal and human systems and is anticipated to have large impacts on human health.  A major concern is that wind-borne pollen, a primary cause of allergic rhinitis, may change in timing, amount, and allergenicity with future climate change, and may increase both the symptom severity and number of people affected.”  According to the abstract, the increased levels CO2  in the atmosphere shows that there is indeed a significant amount more of pollen travelling in the air.

As plants are sensitive to the gases in the air, the artificial increase of carbon dioxide released into our atmosphere is stimulating the earlier release of pollen and also lengthening the time of pollination. This means that the pollen season is beginning earlier than before and is becoming more prolonged than ever. What’s more, the heightened levels of CO2  increase pollen production and strengthen the allergen component in the pollen itself as well.

Climate change is indeed very bad news for hay fever sufferers.

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Cheese, the Healthy Saturated Fat...Huh?!

Here’s the thing. We’ve been conditioned to fear food with saturated (bad) fats because these mess with our cardiovascular systems.  Yet, the French seem to eat anything and everything (with epicurean style of course) and still manage to be ranked as a nation with relatively low obesity rates.

Figures from 2008 in the World Factbook of the CIA point to the fact that only 18.20% of the French population is obese.  It’s a far cry from Japan’s 5%; but, it is significantly lower than that of Australia’s.   26.80% of the Australian population is obese.  New Zealand trails slightly behind with a 26.30% prevalence. In the United States, 33% of the population is having obesity problems and clearly on the road (if not already there) to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression, and whatever curses obesity brings.

Now how do the food-obsessed French manage to keep their waistlines trim?  Indeed, it’s a French paradox.  The French diet is loaded with rich pastries, butter, fatty meats, red wine, and baguettes made from refined flour.  And loads of cheese.  France is a nation with the highest consumption of saturated fatty cheese.  So what’s their secret?  People believe it’s their whole eating lifestyle of portion control, leisurely pacing, and even the red wine habit (it’s the resveratrol in the wine).  Yes, these all may be right;  but, a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry says the answer to the puzzle could also be in the…..cheese!

What’s with Cheese?

The Danish study was conducted on 15 healthy men to determine how dairy food was metabolized and how much it contributed to cholesterol level.  These men were given three diets for two weeks.  All three diets involved the same amount of calories and fats, but one diet had more milk, the other, more cheese, and the third, was the control diet.

Faecal analyses and urinalysis revealed positive changes in gut flora when the subjects ate the prescribed diets with more cheese and milk in them; but, what stood out more was the cheese-heavy one.  Gut-friendly microbiota produced more butyrate, an anti-inflammatory fatty acid which lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels and also acts as a metabolic catalyst.  In addition, lowered TMAO levels were discovered.  TMAO is a gut-flora dependent metabolite that helps transport cholesterol to the arteries, leaving these to form plaque.  TMAO contributes to heart disease; so, lowered TMAO is a good thing, especially if it comes about from a cheese-rich diet, right?

A 12-week Perth research at the Curtin University of Technology corroborates that cheese and other dairy products are cardiovascularly beneficial.  Forty volunteers were asked to go on a weight loss diet but were made to increase their servings of cheese, yogurt, and low-fat milk from three to five.  At the end of the trial, subjects had significantly lowered their blood pressure and decreased their abdominal fat, thereby reducing their risks for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Other Benefits of Eating Cheese

If you love cheese, you should be practically beaming with this news.  Yes indeedy, we should eat cheese.  Aside from its cardiovascular and microbiotic benefits, cheese can do us a world of good by:

• Helping with weight control -- Food rich in proteins can help us keep us full longer as these takes longer to digest than carb-laden foods.  The protein in cheese can also help speed up metabolism.

• Keeping up our muscle tone and mass -- As we age, we tend to lose muscle mass and tone.  Coupled with weight-bearing exercises, the protein in cheese and other foods helps keep our muscles from degenerating.

• Helping maintain our bone density-- Calcium is important for maintaining our skeletal system.  Calcium is abundant in cheese.  To maintain strong bones through life, we need cheese and other calcium-rich food in our diet.

• Providing vitamins and minerals -- Cheese is nutrient dense and therefore makes perfect sense to include in our diets.  Aside from protein and calcium, it offers phosphorus, zinc, Vitamins A and B12.  Zinc and Vitamin A are great for keeping our immune system healthy while Vitamin B12 helps maintain nerve functions and red blood cell production.

• Being just plain wonderful! -- Having a bowl of macaroni doesn’t put a smile on your face; but, top it with lovely, melted cheese and macaroni transforms into a slice of heavenly comfort.  If cheese can make us happy, why not have some?

 Of course, the caveat still remains...enjoy, but in moderation.  The French don’t eat cheese like there is no tomorrow.  After all, cheese is a saturated fat and quite high in sodium.   Portion control is still very much a part of the French eating habit but cheese may be the secret to those French women’s trim figures.

Healthy Cheeses to Make Your Day

Cheese is one saturated fat to love.  It is healthiest if the milk used for its production is from grass fed cows, goats, and sheep.  Here are five of the healthiest you can try:

Feta cheese

Feta cheese is a brined, white curd type made in Greece from sheep or goat’s milk.  In the cheese world, feta has one of the lowest fat and calorie content.  A serving of 30 grams gives only 79 calories and 6.03 grams of fat, of which 4.23 grams are of the saturated kind.  It also provides 14% of the RDI (recommended daily intake) of calcium per 28 grams. Feta is fantastic on salads and sandwiches, too, if paired with roasted peppers and eggplant on pita. Yum!

Cottage Cheese

A staple in many bodybuilding diets, cottage cheese is a favourite because of its inherently low fat and low calorie content. One cup of the full fat variety contains 220 calories and 9.7 grams of fat while the low-fat version offers less at 194 calories and 5.5 grams fat.  You get about 25-27 grams of protein from this and a boost in your calcium and selenium intake.  Top fresh fruits with cottage cheese for a delicious, wholesome snack. What’s not to love?

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmesan cheese packs a punch when grated over salads, pasta, and chicken dishes. Because it is made from naturally skim milk, it joins the low fat cheese category.

Among cheese purists, genuine Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard, grainy, aged cheese that is produced only from the Italian provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, and Mantova.  If a wheel of this cheese is not from any of these regions, it isn’t a true Parmigiano but a generic parmesan.
For those who can settle for less, the generic parmesan copies are still a great addition to your diet. One 28-gram serving offers 110 calories and 8 grams of fat. It is a good source of calcium and Vitamin B12 as well.

You can have your cheese and eat it too! Just eat as the French do (in slivers) and you don’t have to worry about the high sodium content. On this note, bon appétit!

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Learn to Boost Your Confidence at Work

Let’s face it. Our work environment can be intimidating. We have bosses with certain standards and competitive colleagues who always seem to know what they are doing and where they are going. They probably do. These people somehow seem to be one step ahead, often exuding an intangible quality that says they’re cool and got things all figured out. That quality, that thing you can’t put a finger on, is... work confidence.

We were all not born with confidence. We entered the world in ignorance and naiveté; so on the heels of these, self-doubt. Our confidence (or lack of it) was gained through the years as a result of our experiences. In other words, we acquired it. Our level of self confidence varies according to where we are in life. We may feel at home partying with 100 people but completely out of our depth at a company pow-wow for new strategies and ideas. For this, we need to acquire a little more belief in our work selves.

Now unless you were hired through lottery or deception, you need to recognize that the company you now work for saw some value in your credentials. This is why you’re in and your competition at the job interview isn’t. So relax a little; but, take these confidence building steps as a personal priority project, once that may hoist you up the higher rungs of that corporate ladder.

You won’t build your confidence overnight or even over a week...well, unless you’ve got loads to begin with and you’re simply doing some tweaking. If you are like a lot of us with some major “I can’ts,” let’s learn to walk the confidence talk first before the going off on a run. Gain self-assurance by changing the little things until you are ready to take on greater risks and challenges.

Taking the Baby Steps

1. Kick a bad habit or begin a good one. What can be more of a great kick-starter than achieving a small victory over yourself? Developing good habits could be as small as consistently keeping a tidy workspace or as mundane as smiling a good morning to everyone you meet (despite being deprived of your morning caffeine fix). Conquering a bad habit even as small as breaking that daily soda craving can help you feel empowered. It’s a wonderful feeling to actually realize that you do have control and you do have choices. Know these and you are on your way to kicking up some major “can do” attitude.

2. Dress for success. Yep, it’s a cliché; nevertheless, true. Image is all...well, a huge chunk of our social relations. Just knowing you look good and presentable will make you feel more assured and positive about yourself. Notice that people gravitate to or have more respect for those who have taken the time to groom themselves and have placed some thought into their workaday look.

3. Cut the negative self-gab. Don’t beat yourself up all the time. You’ll just grind your self-esteem to the ground. Know you are bound to make mistakes. Instead, develop a mindset of a lab scientist...experiment, make a mistake, learn why it is a mistake, and approach the problem in a different way. Once you know the social and work ropes, you’ll be winging your way with your head held higher.

4. Be positive. Cut out the “I cant’s,” “maybes,” and “buts” from your thoughts and see where this leads you. As the iconic Nike slogan aptly says, “Just do it.”

5. Know your strengths. Be aware of what you are good at, and bolster these. If you can placate some irate customers, refine your skills so you can put a smile on their faces when they leave the store. It’s better to be highly skilled at something you are good or even promising at, rather than be content to stay at a mediocre level.

6. Update your skills or learn something new. If you think you need help with customer relations, time management, or website design, read or take a course on the subject. You can’t keep banging yourself against a wall you don’t know how to scale. You need to improve your skills in order to be more effective at work. Once you see some self improvement, watch that confidence meter rise.

Taking Longer Strides

When the baby confidence-building steps have given you a good bit of self positivity, you are prepared to lengthen your strides:

1. Find allies. Work is competitive and in a way, a survival run. Rare is the job where you can work by yourself without much social help. Cultivate good relationships with people who will have your back when you’re low or need to defend your actions. Sadly, some of your workmates can make work life difficult. The more friends you have though, the less afraid of circumstances you will be. Of course, this goes both ways. You must prove yourself a good ally as well.

2. Get professional feedback. This does not mean always positive feedback. You need to know how you are really doing and where you truly stand. Get the opinions of a trusted boss or colleagues whom you know will dish out the real score. Beware the sycophants or the hypocrites who will give you false information. Hence, the first advice: find allies.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is better than failing at an assignment simply because you were afraid to clear things up. Besides, no one will shred you because you dared ask work-related questions. Asking questions may even signal your boss or supervisor to the fact that you are interested in doing your best because you take the time to clarify what is expected of you.

Running the Race

At this point, you may be ready to take on challenges and risks. Your confidence level should be high enough to take the victories and weather the pitfalls. You are ready to run…

1. Speak up. Putting yourself out there at a department meeting could be pretty intimidating; but, if you do believe you have something to contribute, be heard. You do run the risk of your idea being smirked on, but what if the majority see your light? If you consistently share your talents and good ideas, you won’t be a nobody for long.

2. Dare to differ. Sure, that tag line seems to be getting a lot of thumbs up; but, you think it’s tacky. You don’t have fake agreement to go with majority. Stand out by giving your own opinions. Just don’t come off as arrogant; instead, be constructive with criticism. If you have a better suggestion in mind, share it. Again, speak up. You might be surprised; there may be a lot who had the same opinion but just didn’t have the guts to say so.

3. Go the extra mile. Can you beat the deadline two days earlier? Do so. Can you suggest a process that could cut down on time? Even better. In line with updating your skills in the baby step phase, try to think or learn of ways of how to improve an idea, a process, or a product. Think out of the box. Yep, the company has probably been doing the same thing for five straight years; but, maybe little tweaks here and there could gain it some edge over competition. Companies need innovation. Contributing to that would definitely garner you a wagonload of professional respect.

4. Dwell not on the problem but on the solutions. Take the bull by the horns and find several ways out of that dilemma. You can hone your leadership skills (and work confidence) by being a problem solver.

There are lots more to do in running that confidence marathon. Confidence building is a matter of purging self-doubt and building up your own internal assurance. It is important to know that there is a fine line between arrogance and self-confidence. Your self-possession can take a major beating if you let it morph into puffed-up pride in the long run. Remember, work means getting along with other people’s egos, too; so “do (or don’t do) unto others…..” and you’ll be more than fine.

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Ear Infections: Risk Factors, Symptoms, and Treatment

As ear infection is one of the most common of childhood ailments, it is not surprising if most of us have had a bout with this malady at some point in our lives. About one in ten young Australian children suffer from otitis media every year, especially after an attack from colds or throat infection. Kids aged four and under are particularly susceptible to ear infection. Adults can also be afflicted by this painful malady; but, the odds are a yearly one in a hundred.

A Closer Look at the Ear

The most common infections of the ear affect the outer and the middle portions of the ear.
To understand what ear infections particularly affect, let us take a closer look at our hearing organ:

Image reference: http://www.rch.org.au/
The ear has three general parts, namely the outer ear, middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear encompasses the external parts you see, from the lobes down into the ear canal, ending at the eardrum barrier. The middle ear starts at the eardrum and contains the tiny bones that amplify sound. Sounds are transmitted to the inner ear of which the cochlea is a part of. The cochlea transmits sound as nerve impulses for the brain to interpret.

Types of Ear Infection

Virus, bacteria, and even fungi can play havoc on the ear, particularly in the outer and middle ear areas. Infections can range from mild to severe with a discomfort level ranging from slightly annoying to very painful. Infants and toddlers, more often than older children, are especially prone to ear infections because they are highly susceptible to head colds. Young children’s Eustachian tubes are shorter and more horizontal, offering an easier path for bacteria or viruses to traverse the ear from the nose and throat.
More often than not, it is the outer and middle ear sections that usually bear the brunt of an infectious assault. Inner ear infections are less common but no less painful or dangerous when it strikes. Ear infections must be treated with the proper medical care.

Outer Ear Infection (Otitis Externa)

When the outer ear is compromised, the condition is called otitis externa. Also known as swimmer’s ear or tropical ear, acute otitis externa is a painful condition in which the outer ear is irritated or inflamed by fungi or bacteria in dirty water. As swimmers often swim in public pools, dirty water sometimes get trapped in their ears. The bacteria or fungi in this water spread in the outer area and infect it; hence, the apt cognomen. Of course, the pool is not the only source for the swimmer’s ear condition. Swimmer’s ear can be caused by:

• Excessive swabbing or cleaning of the ear canal which can injure the skin or eardrum.
• Eczema or seborrhoea
• Contact with chemicals such as hairsprays or hair dyes
• A wound in the skin of the ear can invite bacterial and fungal infection

Swimmers or kids in dirty pools are not the only targets. Outer ear infection can affect those with eczema and those who happen to produce excessive earwax.

Middle Ear Infection (Otitis Media)

Head colds, the flu, or some upper respiratory illness often bring middle ear infections down on children. Three prevalent versions of this middle ear malady are:

• Acute otitis media - This condition comes about when infected fluid from colds travels to the Eustachian tube and builds up there as pus. Pus puts pressure on the eardrum and causes hearing problems and pain. Sometimes, the pressure is enough to rupture the eardrum. The burst allows us to drain out and effect a leaky ear.
  Although most kids are often diagnosed with this condition, treatment must be sought immediately because the infection can deteriorate to one as bad as facial paralysis, meningitis, and deafness.
  

• Chronic Otitis Media (COM) - The word chronic tells us that this condition is a result of repetitive infections because the infection has actually never fully healed. COM can cause hearing damage. This is especially true in Aboriginal kids and those from the Torres Strait Islands. As these children sometimes do not get adequate treatment, hearing loss due to COM is a frequent result among them.

• Glue Ear - Instead of air, a sticky fluid with a glue-like consistency fills the middle ear. This substance dampens sound vibrations, causing affected individuals to hear a very muted or “turned down” volume. Sometimes, glue ear goes unnoticed and this condition in kids gives rise to learning disabilities, bad balance, delayed speech development, impaired social interactions, and other psychological issues stemming from weakened hearing.

Inner Ear Infection (Labyrinthitis)

Respiratory illness, middle ear infection, stomach virus, and herpes virus can cause inner ear infection. Prominent symptoms are dizziness and vertigo which may result in vision, balance and hearing problems. Labyrinthitis is rare in children. Adults are more prone to developing this as other causes for the condition may include:

• Smoking
• Drinking a lot of alcoholic beverages
• History of allergies
• Extreme stress
• Chronic fatigue
• Medicating with aspirin

Symptoms of Ear Infections

Because ear infections vary, so do the symptoms. These more or less hold true though across the many types:

Sharp, intense pain. Babies or toddlers may have uncomfortable crying bouts and be extremely irritable. You may see a child pulling or rubbing his ear or sticking their finger in it.

• Nausea/vomiting
• Impaired hearing
• Discharges from the ear
• Loss of appetite
• Diarrhoea
• Impaired balance; vertigo
• Loss of appetite
• Fever
• Headache
• Fatigue

Outer ear infections may also manifest as a feeling of fullness in the ear which may appear red and swollen. Sometimes it will be painful to touch or movement. With middle ear infections, pus can leak out of the ear as a result of the pressure of fluid build-up.

Treatment

External ear infections would be treated with cleaning of the ear and antibiotics. Pain medication may be given to relieve pain. Middle ear infections may also require antibiotic treatments. A child afflicted with glue ear may need to have his ears drained.
It is important to know that children can have recurring ear infections in a year. Always see to their immediate treatment so that they are ensured to outgrow ear infections with normal, perfect hearing. Avoid home treatment with over-the-counter drops to loosen wax or ear candling. These practices often yield no treatment value and may make your child’s ear condition worse.

Prevention

It is quite difficult to prevent ear infection in children as it is equally tough to prevent them from coming down with some upper respiratory infection. The onset of flu, for instance, is bound to happen. The key here is to try to minimize the occurrences of colds and influenza. Boost your kid's immunity from colds and flu by seeing to and instructing him on good personal hygiene. Support your efforts at bolstering your little one's immunity with a healthy diet and exercise.

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Fibromyalgia: The Chronic Muscle and Joint Pain

Fibromyalgia (FM): The Chronic Muscle and Joint Pain Syndrome

What Is Fibromyalgia?

About one in twenty Australians suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by widespread pain and fatigue of the muscular and skeletal system. Fibromyalgia is a musculoskeletal syndrome that targets the muscles, tendons (the fibrous collagen tissue that connects muscle to bone), and ligaments (connective tissue that connects one bone to another). It causes chronic pain and fatigue and a host of other symptoms. Sadly, fibromyalgia is incurable but it can be managed.

How Does FM Manifest?

Fibromyalgia causes an individual to feel sore all over, much like having muscle aches and pains. Pain and tenderness are the predominant markers of this condition and its severity varies. Some people feel mild muscle aches all over while others report on feelings higher up on the pain scale such as stabbing and burning sensations in the muscles and joints. FM patients may feel like their muscles have been pulled or stressed from a strenuous workout. In other cases, the muscles may feel a throbbing weakness just as they would feel under a bad case of the flu. Most also feel an abnormal exhaustion despite having just gotten up from sleep.
Up until 2006, FM was thought to be a psychosomatic condition, a side effect of emotional disorders. Part of the symptoms it carries is anxiety and depression; so, no wonder it has also been miscategorised. Presently, it is recognized as a true physical condition, one in which an inflicted person processes pain abnormally.
Because the symptoms of muscle and joint pain usually mimic arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and some mental disorders, among others, many a diagnosis have been thrown off the FM scent towards these other similar conditions. The severity and combination of symptoms for fibromyalgia are also so varied among individuals. It is for these reasons that some patients have been misdiagnosed as suffering from other conditions other than FM.
The symptoms for the FM syndrome include the following:

• Soft tissue pain – can mimic thyroid problems and other endocrine disorders
• Tenderness in certain areas like the shoulders, neck, chest, elbow, hip, knee
• Pain all over the body
• Decreased pain threshold
• Muscle cramps, weakness
• Fatigue – ranging from plain tiredness to exhaustion. About 75% of chronic fatigue (CFS) patients actually fulfil the FM criteria as well.
• Gut problems such as frequent indigestion, diarrhoea, constipation, or cramps---much like irritable bowel syndrome
• Sleep problems; insomnia
• Problems with cognition --- memory problems, inability to focus well
• Depression; anxiety
• Headaches and migraines
• Itchy or burning skin

These symptoms by no means form a complete listing but these are the common ones.

Who Are At Risk?

Women, especially between the ages of 35 and 55, are more susceptible to developing FM than men are. Although the syndrome commonly hits individuals in their middle age, anyone including kids and adolescents can come down with fibromyalgia.
Certain personality types are also at high risk. Type A personalities or high achievers are at risk because their personal habits may negate nutrition, exercise, and rest. Studies have also linked obesity to FM, as many patients with the syndrome tend to be obese.
Fibromyalgia could also be a genetic hand-me-down; so the syndrome could run in families.
Other causes of FM may be attributed to:

• Infections
• Lupus
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Previous pain syndromes
• Injury or trauma
• Emotional disorders
• Substance abuse

How Is FM Treated?

Unfortunately, there is no cure for FM; but you can live with it by following a good management program. Usually your doctor tailors the program to your specific needs which generally involves:

• Education – you need to understand your condition
• Stress management – FM usually brings with it the symptoms of anxiety and depression; so, you need to plan how to relax and manage your emotions
• Medication --- for pain, sleep promotion, and possibly, depression
• Exercise – Although painful at first, you must work your way up to exercising at least 30 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week. The goal is to be aerobically fit. Low impact exercises such as walking, swimming, or tai-chi will go a long way in managing pain, anxiety, and sleep issues.
• Massage – to aid as a muscle relaxant and stress reliever
• Nutrition planning --- You can’t fight or manage a condition without proper nutrition. You need to increase your energy levels by managing your weight as well.
• FM Support groups --- There are several support groups for FM which can be invaluable sources for information and encouragement. One such group you can check on is the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Victoria.

To manage fibromyalgia well, you must be prepared to make some lifestyle changes. Although it may be difficult, success here will enable you to kiss the debilitating side of fibromyalgia out of the way. Bringing a condition to heel is never easy; but the rewards are great when you can learn to live with it.

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Effects of Sleep Deprivation

The Impact of Sleep Deprivation On Your Brain Health

This shouldn’t be new; but it has been making major headlines on the net. Now, more than ever, research points to the fact that burning the midnight oil can fry your brain cells.

A Sleep-Deprived Australia

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, “Australia is a sleep-deprived nation.” ABC Capricornia reports on a huge study involving over 13,000 respondents all answering to a survey on insomnia. An astonishing 96% of participants have woken, unrefreshed by sleep.  Of this number, about 40% have fallen asleep at work. In my book, this is epidemic!

Consider the implications on a macro level.  These statistics should be alarming as sleep deprivation does have its costs. As chronic loss of sleep affects each person’s performance, safety, and quality of life, the impact of a sleep-deprived population will tell on a nation’s economy, health, and psyche. I’m not some economist though to write about the impact of sleep loss on such a grand scale. I’m interested in letting you know what sleep loss can do to you, personally.  It’s still very alarming.

A Sleep Loss Consequence:  Brain Cell Damage

The furor on the net was born out of some new findings on sleep deprivation. There is a high probability for sleep loss to be linked to brain cell death. BBC News Health reports that studies done on mice subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation showed a 25% brain cell damage. The mice were only given four to five hours of sleep a day, over a period of just three days. After three days, their locus coeruleus neurons or LCs simply degenerated.

The study was done to imitate the schedules of modern living---late nights at the office, changing shifts, and the like. Damage to the LCs is deemed irreversible, according to the Journal of Neuroscience which published the findings. The bad news here is that recovery sleep cannot reverse the damage.

Apparently, sleep maintains a metabolic balance in the brain. Without it, the mitochondria in brain cells get stressed sufficiently to deteriorate and die. But, here’s a silver lining. A protein called SirT3 (Sirtuin Type 3) may be the answer to LC damage as this had been discovered to protect LCs from the devastating effects of sleep loss. Until this protection can be mass produced though, we are all still in danger of losing some brain cells forever by prolonged wakefulness.

Your memory cells are also susceptible to sleep deprivation. The journal on Neurobiology of Aging states that those with chronic sleep issues have greater chances of developing Alzheimer’s over those who frequently have a good night’s rest.

For this conclusion, tests were done on mice in which the animals’ circadian rhythms were disrupted with only four hours of darkness for eight weeks. Researchers found that the animals exhibited poor memory and the inability to learn new things. Their brains failed to formed new synapses.  Other cognitive functions were also impaired. Sleep deprivation therefore ramps up the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or hastens its progress. How does this happen? Another popular journal, “Science,” published that sleep flushes out toxins from our brains, including those that contribute to the disease. Chronic wakefulness simply gives the toxins more chances to build up and wreak their havoc. Women are doubly more susceptible to Alzheimer’s than men are; so, if you are a woman over the age of 60, make your sleep a paramount importance.

Although all these findings have been through lab mice testing, they are quite significant as humans and mice share a strikingly similar physiology, anatomy, and genetics. In fact, 95% of the mouse genome is the same as our own. It wouldn’t be wise to pooh-pooh these discoveries as inapplicable to us. Instead, it would be safer to take heed until the results are proven otherwise.

Other Consequences of Sleep Loss

Sleep loss also affects cells of other parts of our bodies. Findings from the Medical College of Wisconsin also point to chronic wakefulness as a cause of cell damage to the liver, lungs, and small intestine.  Unlike the brain though, these organs have better chances to survive the ravages of sleep loss because recovery sleep can heal cell damage to these organs. Yet, we all can see how sleep deprivation can work so much damage at the cellular level.

At a more visible level, lack of sleep can give you age lines, an expanding waist, and a moodier disposition. There are other surprising effects of chronic sleep deprivation, you may not know.

Sleep is so integral to our well-being that we need it not just to function but to live healthy, long lives. When you find yourself at your bedtime, settling down to read just one more chapter or to watch just one more show on the telly, think of your disrupted circadian rhythm and your dying cells. Is it really worth those fleeting pleasures?

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