Archive for May, 2011
May 13th, 2011 | 
Author: The difference between someone who “suffers” from allergies and someone who doesn’t is the degree to which the body reacts or in the case of sufferers, overreacts to the allergen.
For example, let us consider hay fever season where the pollen count is becomes high and two people walk out into the street. The person who has a normal immune system and doesn’t overreact to every outside allergen will probably not even notice that the pollen count is high. There will be no itching, sneezing, watering of the eyes or any symptoms whatsoever. The person, who has an overactive immune system, will begin to sneeze. Maybe the eyes will start to water. In severe cases the person may even have trouble breathing, all because their immune system is viewing the pollen as a great threat.
So the question is, why do some people have immune systems that behave normally and others have immune systems that overreact? Studies show that in most cases this is because these people are genetically made up to react in such a manner. Maybe they inherit this particular sensitivity from their mother or father. It may happen that a generation is skipped, but in most cases this is simply inherited.
In other cases, allergies are not inherited. In these cases the person’s immune system does not work correctly or is weak because of some other condition. Maybe they are a poor eater and thus aren’t getting the nutrition they need to stay healthy. This can weaken the immune system and cause it to behave intermittently. In other cases the weak immune system may be because of another underlying problem such as an inability of the body to absorb a certain protein or amino acid.
In either case, the immune system becomes what we call “hyperactive”. This results in the immune system identifying quite harmless substances as enemies and then reacts totally out of proportion to the threat itself. In some cases the reaction can be severe enough to cause some serious health problems. Yes, people can die from allergies so this is not something to be taken lightly.
Even surveys conducted by Health Insurance in India show that diseases caused by allergies can be fatal. Various medical aids are provided by centers governing Medical Care in India. Companies running Health Insurance in India provide coverage for various diseases caused by allergies.
Many people believe that if there is a genetic reason behind allergies then there is nothing that can be done to solve the problem. This is not the actual fact. There are many things a person can naturally do to build up their immune system so that allergies are no longer a problem. So, eat healthy and fight against various allergic diseases.
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Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler, the great triumvirate and founding fathers of early psychological theory are probably the best known names in the world of early psychology. Freud and Jung are better known and the work of Alfred Adler is often forgotten.
It is difficult to understand how different the academic world was in those days. No Internet, no telephone, no radio and no TV. Information travelled slowly, and yet in a few short years after 1900, the work of Freud, Jung and Adler began to have a major impact on the way in which people who had non-physical troubles were treated.
It’s also interesting to note how deeply the early life experiences of these three pioneers in psychology molded and sculpted their particular understandings of the way our minds work, and the theories which they later elaborated.
So back to Alfred Adler.
Like Freud, Adler was an Austrian, and his initial training was in general medicine. In 1901, at Freud’s invitation, he joined the “Wednesday Group”, a relatively informal discussion group concentrating on the emerging science of psychology, whose members included Freud himself, Carl Jung and Wilhelm Stekel. However, as each member of the group developed his own theories, tensions developed and in 1911, Adler and his camp followers split away, followed soon afterward by Jung and his coterie.
Adler speculated that an individual’s social context and situation had as much to do with his psychological health as the influences of his childhood and his particular sexual drives. Adler was essentially socialist in nature (indeed, he corresponded with Leon Trotsky), and was one of the first to remark on the way that gender politics (feminism as a reaction to masculine domination) permeated society.
He theorized that our self-perceptions as being ‘superior’ or ‘inferior’ were extremely important in the way we interacted with others. This line of thought, together with his socialist leanings, led him to be one of the first to do away with the “Analyst’s Couch”. Instead he simply used two chairs in his consultations, so that therapist and client would react as equals.
Adler’s theories on birth order, parenting and social involvement were some of the most powerful influences on Western social thought in the mid 20th Century.
Alfred Adler’s early collaboration with Freud and Jung inevitably colored his own thinking, and his primary contribution to psychological thought was his theory that human personality and behavior was inherently goal directed, driven by some inner force, and that very early in life we develop goals which we strive to achieve.
Of course, we cannot always achieve what the self would wish us to, and indeed, it might have some very unpleasant social consequences if we could.
He thought that the goals of the Self – which can be quite extreme – were moderated by the social and ethical demands of the particular society in which we live. As we strive to achieve these goals, there is a constant balancing and counter-balancing between the feelings of inferiority and superiority which we experience in relation to our particular situation and in our relationships with others. The results of these balancing mechanisms lead us to display quite distinct behaviors.
Adler coined the term ‘inferiority complex’ to describe one of the main dynamics of this situation. If we feel slightly inferior to others in a given area, this is often a spur to action and improvement. Unfortunately, however, if the action taken is a gross overcompensation for the reality, instead of just producing great achievements, it can produce really bizarre behavior. If the feeling of inferiority is extreme, it can simply act as a disincentive to any effort at improvement, leaving the afflicted person with even lower self-esteem.
The Adlerian school of psychological thought (which he called Individual Psychology) is paradoxically much concerned about the ways in which the individual and society interact. He was a great proponent of sound parenting skills, of a holistic approach to problem solving and was a considerable supporter of feminist views, something quite unusual for a man of his time. Contentiously, he suggested that the way in which people acted out their feelings of inferiority and superiority formed much of the basis for gender bias and stereotypical ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ attitudes and styles.
In strong counterpoint to his generally inclusive view of human nature, he had some very firm opinions on homosexuality, suggesting that homosexual people were “failures in life”; a situation which he thought resulted from an over-compensation to an inferiority complex towards one’s own gender!
Probably no-one has had a greater impact on what is widely regarded as good parenting and ‘child management’ than Alfred Adler. Although he was an extremely good therapist himself, his main interests lay in preventive psychology and in the structure and interaction of families.
He identified two parental styles that were almost certain to cause problems in adulthood. The first was pampering – overprotecting a child, giving him too much attention, and protecting him from the harsh reality of life.
Children brought up this way are poorly equipped to deal with the tough business of living, highly dependent and find it hard to make decisions. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Adler thought that the ‘neglected’ child (one who is given little support) would grow up to fear the world, distrust others and probably find it hard to form sound relationships.
At the time Adler was introducing his ideas on ‘democratic parenting’ to the world, the old order was changing. The First World War had almost swept away inherited privilege and a rigid sense of class. People were beginning to expect their voices to be heard, and this fitted well with what Adler thought was good for the family.
Adler believed that successful parenting was based on:
-Mutual respect – parents who show respect for the child–while winning his respect for them – teach the child to respect himself and others.
-Encouragement – implies faith in and respect for the child as he is
-Natural and logical consequences – allowing the child to experience and learn from the actual result of his own behavior. Natural consequences are the direct result of the child’s behavior, for example, Tommy refuses to wear a coat while it is raining: he will get wet.
Independence – Never do for a child what he can do for himself.
A dependent child is a demanding child. Children become irresponsible only when we fail to give them opportunities to take on responsibility.
Adler’s views survive today as the core of good parenting – there have been advances, of course, but Adler lit the torch.
Here is the continuation from Part 1 exploring two other culprits that have increased the collective weight in America:
Along Came the “Drive Through”
The first drive through restaurant (not to be confused with drive in) was established by In-N-Out Burger in 1948. It was an addition to their first location in Los Angeles, California. By 1976 there were only 18 In-N-Out Burger Locations, and they were all located in California.
This was hardly enough to make a huge impact on the American middle. Then McDonald’s open their first drive through on January 24, 1975 in Sierra Vista, Arizona. This started a cascading effect of drive through proliferation that continues to this day. Now there are thousands of through restaurants serving everything from hamburgers to coffee to tofu. There is almost, literally, one on every corner. There billboards provide decoration along the Interstates, beckoning and temping us with the lure of fast food delight, “10 miles ahead off exit 28.”
The Drive Through has undoubtedly made it much easier for us to indulge our appetite for “junk food.” Many fast food chains offer healthier alternatives.
However, the majority of fast food orders are less than stellar when it comes to eating healthy.
Supersize Me
Research from the American Journal of Public Health reveals the increasing availability of larger food portions. Fast Food restaurants use bigger portions as a marketing ploy; other restaurants promote larger servings with banners, t.v. advertisements, and coupons; manufacturers of diet foods and pre-packaged frozen dinners advertise larger sizes; convenience stores promote huge drink sizes with window displays; and non fast food chains tout increased portions on the menus.
Restaurants use bigger plates, baked goods are coming out in the form of larger muffins and cup-cakes; pizzas are larger with thicker crust, and fast food containers are ever expanding.
Recipes for desserts in new editions of classic cookbooks have been edited to show the end result with fewer servings, meaning that individual servings are to be bigger. Vehicles are being manufactured with larger cup holders.
Overall, research shows portion sizes of most foods and beverages prepared for immediate consumption have increased. Studied were over 175 products for which market availability dates were available. The research suggest that movement toward larger portion sizes began in the mid 1970s; portion sizes then increased sharply through the late 1990′s and continue to grow.
In conclusion, there are more processed, sugar laden foods in the marketplace. Junk food is more prevalent and convenient, and our serving sizes have continued to expand and we eat out more. All the while we don’t get enough activity to get rid of these empty calories.
It is widely known how deadly cancer is. Those ghastly cells grow at an abnormal rate in the body, are as destructive and as life threatening as they can be and eat up the system with the due course of time. Once they attack a certain part of the body, you might subdue them from time to time but you cannot finish them off. They keep returning back to haunt you time and again. With the progression of science, there have been several methods to fight Cancer off. These include the likes of Surgery, Chemotherapy (the most common), Radiation Therapy, Hormone Therapy and Immunotherapy.
Considering this, cancer Treatment has had great success in India through Ayurveda. Ayurvedic Treatment through herbal medicines has had a defining role to play in curbing the effects of cancer and stopping its cells from growing rapidly. Ayurvedic Treatment aims at a healthy lifestyle.
It helps in balancing physical, emotional, spiritual and material aspects of life. The body is cleansed well from inside and the spiritual side of the person is strengthened further and brought closer to nature.
Cancer Treatment in India through Ayurveda has been established through three stages:
* The First Step of the Ayurvedic Treatment is Reduction of the Tumor Size. The Tumor keeps increasing with time and the medicines prescribed help a great deal in suppressing that growing tumor.
* The Next Step of the Ayurvedic Treatment would involve curbing the spread of tumor cells through blood. Once the cells start growing, they barge into platelets all over the body striking all the cells that come in their way. Within no time, the cancer cells are present in every platelet of the blood.
* The Final Step in the Cancer Treatment in India involves protecting the tissues from the side effects produced courtesy radiation and chemotherapy sessions.
This Three-Tier Ayurvedic Treatment of Cancer in India has produced many miraculous results and brought patients so near of achieving desirable results. Through Ayurveda, Cancer Treatment in India has received a huge shot in the arm through the advent of certain medicines such as Guggul, Podophyllum, Sadapuli, Ashwagandha, Amalaki, Heerak Bhasma etc. All these have gone the mile in ensuring a drastic reduction in tumor cells. They have also played a part in increasing body immunity and ensuring physical stability.
Treating the two ‘Doshas’, ‘Rasa’ and ‘Rakta’ has been an important part of Cancer Treatment in India. Treating the two of these has been possible through Ayurvedic Medicines such as Saariva, Manjishtha, Neem and Kanchnaar. That Ayurveda has segregated the Human body into 7 various tissues namely Rakta, Rasa, Mansa, Meda, Asthi, Majja and Shukra, all 7 of them get worked on through the above given plethora of medicines.
The cure for this deadly disease has had many wonderful progressions over the years. Indian Ayurvedic practitioners and medical experts can hold their heads high and claim proudly their work has had some real positive results and continues to make a difference to the live of Cancer patients.
There are claims by both researchers and cancer survivors alike, that alternative cancer therapy really works, even in the most aggressive of cancers, such as pancreatic. Eighteen months of research by Nobel prize winners, doctors, scientists, biochemists, and Ph.D.’s state their findings uncovered over 350 natural and alternative non-specific cancer treatments.
Non-specific meaning that cancer cells no matter where they are residing in the body, react to these natural and alternative treatments by either curing the cancer completely, increasing the tumor response rate combined with chemo for more shrinkage, or in terminal or non operable cases increased survival time by 64% , and a 59% increase of survival time in patients with metastasized breast cancer using the alternative and natural treatments combined with chemo.
The researchers also claim to have found a substance being used in Japanese hospitals that reduces hair loss to “slight” as opposed to “severe.” This substance is also supposed to inhibit metastasis, improve survival rates, and relieve other side effects of chemo.
There is supposed documented evidence that the natural and alternative treatments work, with over 2,000 testimonials from current or recent cancer patients that have utilized the natural and alternative treatments, either exclusively or in combination with conventional medical treatment.
The truth is that today, as many Americans are dying from cancer as in 1950, even after being adjusted for age. Despite this fact, it seems too many medical professionals are only concerned with treating this disease through rigorous treatments such as chemo and radiation. It is also possible that many of the medical professionals are only knowledgeable about, and can prescribe treatments regulated by the FDA.
Many of the natural and alternative cancer therapy treatments contain herbs and vitamins often found in readily available natural food sources, which falls outside the jurisdiction of the FDA.
It is not unreasonable to think that natural and alternative cancer therapy exists, and can work. Antibiotics are a perfect example. They are harvested from mold, and are given to fight bacterial infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, scarlet fever, strep throat, blood poisoning, gangrene, and a host of other bacterial infections. Here is a logical question – If a fungi combats bacterial infections, what other natural remedies are out there that we are not aware of, and what are they capable of combating?
Men’s fragrances are a much sought after commodity on the market these days. Though many men still think that perfumes and fragrances are the forte of women, a wide variety of men’s fragrances are available for men of all ages. In the earlier days, fragrances were available only for rich and famous, so they were not accessible to the common man. However, in the present times, fragrances are accessible to men and women of all income groups.
Well, most men might deny the fact that they don’t like perfumes and fragrances, but the big secret is out – they just adore fragrances albeit their preferences differ. Perfumes make men feel elegant and suave. They lend men an air of sophistication and make them look erudite and genuine.
While going in for a men’s perfume, the main goal in your mind should be to purchase one that fits your personality.
You might want one that gels with your lifestyle; though buying a perfume that matches your individuality is perhaps a more important aspect initially. As men aspire to climb up the social ladder and impress others around them, the lifestyle aspect becomes more important, and the perfume that you choose at this time talks a lot about your social aspirations.
Perfumes can literally be very expensive if you go in for the top brands like Armani and Christian Dior, but there are cheaper brands that are available if you are considering one for your day-to-day use. If you are a bit of an introvert, then you may consider buying a mild mannered perfume that doesn’t sound too loud.
However, if you feel that you are outgoing and dashing, then your fragrance should also do a lot of talking about yourself. There are a few evergreen predominant fragrances available like citrus, musk, and tobacco. These are always the standard types that most men will prefer. However, you can also experiment with a combination of tones such as sandalwood, lavender, oaks, pine, and other flowery varieties.
Some of the scents that are available today can be used by both men and women. These fragrances are called unisex fragrances. However, be sure that you want a unisex fragrance just in case there is a better alternative in a male fragrance available. Never neglect a personal taste, because you might not like what you buy as an option.