Anti depressants and Placebos

A lot of the criticism of alternative and complementary medicine is of the kind it works as a placebo - people get well because they think they will.

This view seems to be held very rarely about main stream medicine. This new article in PLOS on the effectiveness of the new generation oif anti-depressants is therefore a timely reminder that placebos are at work in main stream 'scientific' medicine too.

The editor of the journal summaries the findings in this way:

"These findings suggest that, compared with placebo, the new-generation antidepressants do not produce clinically significant improvements in depression in patients who initially have moderate or even very severe depression, but show significant effects only in the most severely depressed patients. The findings also show that the effect for these patients seems to be due to decreased responsiveness to placebo, rather than increased responsiveness to medication. Given these results, the researchers conclude that there is little reason to prescribe new-generation antidepressant medications to any but the most severely depressed patients unless alternative treatments have been ineffective."

Read the editor's summary Read the full article

Mandy's Magic Muesli Cake

Last year I went on an amazing cycle ride through Kenya and Tanzania with Escape Adventures, a New Zealand based company. The trip was fantastic and the food was unbelievable. The muesli cake was particularly good to sustain us while we were riding, so it's great that Mandy wants to share the recipe. Here it is:

• In a large mixing bowl place the following dry ingredients (or adapt to suit what you have available): 2c sesame seeds, 1c coconut, 1c sunflower seeds, 1c sultanas, 1c chopped dried fruit, 1c nuts, 1c pumpkin kernels, 3c cornflakes, 1½c rolled oats.
• In a saucepan melt 250g butter, 1½ c honey, and 1½ c tahini (in Africa I use peanut butter). Simmer stirring often until golden brown (for about 10 minutes).
• Pour contents into dry ingredients, mix well and then press into a greased tray. (On the road - I was using the tupperware containers which worked fine). Chill in the fridge and cut when set.
• Keep in the fridge - but take with you on your favourite rides to help you up those hills!

By the way this year's trips have had to be adapted because of the unsettled political situation in Kenya, but I'm sure the trip will still be great, as I know how much thought and care Mandy and John give to planning everything.

They also do other cycle trips in New Zealand and elsewhere, so do check out their cycling holidays web site.

Adverse Drug Effects

CCHR (London) are campaigning to make it mandatory that Pharmaceutical Companies issue black box type warnings of adverse side effects.

This means that adverse side effects would be listed on the outside of drugs, and include information about the official body that collects information on adverse reactions.

The UK Health Minister has now told CCHR (London) that the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) are working on the wording which is to be included by the Pharmaceutical companies on their Patient Information Leaflets (PILs). These are the leaflets that are inserted inside the packaging.

CCHR(London) say:

"This is certainly a progressive step. However, we now need to keep the actions going until "black box" warnings are included on the exterior of the packaging similar to those found on cigarette packets. We are now taking our Petition to the Prime Minister and have duplicated it on the Downing Street website.

We have set a target of 25,000 signatures by January 27th 2009 and to achieve this will require everybody's help!

The steps are simple:

• Read the Petiton

• Sign it
• Forward to family and friends - it concerns them too!

You can go directly to the Petition here.

Once you've signed the petition you get an email with a link that you need to click to confirm that you have genuinely signed the online petition, so look out for that and complete the last step.

Skipping Back Up Soon - I Hope

I have had a dreadful few weeks with my web sites. The web site hosting company was taken over by another company, and they wanted to move the sites to a new server. They promised a smooth transition with no down time, but it didn’t work out like that.

Health & Goodness in particular was affected and was off-line for most of last week.Even this week we are still being affected as traffic is less than half what it usually is. Presumably because Google and the other search engine spiders couldn’t find many of the pages last week – at one point there were over 500 faulty internal links.

One of our most popular information pages on skipping which usually gets over 1000 visitors a month, because it was at the top for organic searches for skipping tips etc. is now no where to be seen.It’s all very frustrating, but hopefully now that the site is back up and the internal links are working, the search engines will look kindly on the site again and put it back where it belongs – on the first page for many organic searches.

The Complete Natural Health Experience 2008

The Bakewell Therapy Rooms are organising The Complete Natural Health Experience 2008, taking place at The Devonshire Dome, Buxton (UK) on Saturday 26th April 2008.

The event is organised in conjunction with Bakewell based entrepreneur and BBC TV's Dragons' Den star Rachel Elnaugh and Derby University, who are the hosts at The Dome in Buxton on the Devonshire Campus. It will host more than 40 natural health professionals giving advice on health related topics and offering taster treatments and seminars.

Email Victoria Pountney for more information.

Non-Addictive Painkillers

Today’s UK Observer newspaper has a front page headline about how many people are becoming addicted to painkillers. The report by the all-party parliamentary group on drug misuse says that some GPs give repeat prescriptions without seeing the patient.

This is such a sad piece. The addictive nature of a lot of pain killers has been known for a long time, so why use pain killers as the first solution when there are so many effective alternatives?

Cold and dark treatment for migraine, glucosamine for arthritis pain, natural creams for all sorts of injuries and accidents work – not for everyone – but then what does? So these should be given a try first.

Some Great Love Quotes

With Valentine's Day nearly upon us, I thought I'd look out some quotes about love and relationships. I hope you enjoy them:

"A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald but if he has fire, women will like him." Mae West

"Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age." Jeanne Moreau

"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her." Agatha Christie

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8

"I like men to behave like men--strong and childish." Francoise Sagan

"I think one of the great things you can do if you want to be a seducer is make her laugh." Michael Caine

"Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache." Mae West

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8

"Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." Kahil Gibran 'The Prophet'

"Men make love more intensely at 20, but make love better, however, at 30." Catherine II of Russia

5 Tips to Finally Get Rid of Cellulite

Here's more great information from Lynn VanDyke - how to banish cellulite:

I was a bit surprised at the many misconceptions surrounding cellulite. A lot of women asked if such-and-such cream would work, if they should stop eating cottage cheese or if surgery was their only option.

What exactly is cellulite and what is the best way to get rid of it?

Cellulite is nothing more than additional fat cells stored in your body. We all have connective tissue that separates fat cells into little compartments. Women have honey-combed shaped compartments and men have a crisscross pattern. The honey-combed shape compartments are the reason some women have dimply thighs, or cottage cheese looking arms.

Getting rid of cellulite is simple, but not necessarily easy. The only way cellulite can be reduced is to reduce overall body fat. You cannot spot reduce or rub a cream on it. You cannot starve yourself either. The only way to rid yourself of cellulite is to follow these 5 highly effective, simple, and to-the-point tips.

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.

2) Drink a cup of water at each meal.

3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.

4) Cardio should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions per week.

5) Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method. If you need more guidance or exercise ideas you can head over http://www.strength-training-woman.com

All of the above things combined will result in cellulite reduction. There are no miracle creams or secrets. It’s all about good old fashioned working out. Having said that, workout smarter and not harder! Get on a great program that is tailored to your body and your goals. Everyone is different, but following these 5 tips practically guarantees your cellulite will vanish.
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Lynn VanDyke is the head trainer at http://www.TrainerLynn.com . She will create a custom fitness and nutrition program for you. Get dramatic results with a professionally designed workout routine and menu. Work with a master trainer and fitness nutritionist 1-on-1 and finally achieve your weight loss goals! Simple and extremely effective.

Inverse Wisdom

I like this from David Kreuger MD:

I came home from college after my freshman year and announced to my Mom that I'd decided to major in psychology. We talked; she was excited for me. Then she mentioned that she made an A in her college psychology course.

I said, "You must have really enjoyed it and studied a lot." She said, "No, I just answered everything on the test the opposite of what I thought was right."

Here is a list of six things that are the inverse of conventional wisdom in writing a new story. In honor of my Mom, who thought it was all opposite anyway.

1. Burn your bridges. Make it impossible to go back to an old habit or way of being. If you decide to quit smoking, make it impossible in some way to go back. Create an uncomfortable scenario if you do return. Focus on the present without the bad habit. Reward yourself for not going back.

2. When you are afraid, worried, anxious, or uncomfortable, do the opposite of what you'd normally do. If you're uncomfortable with public speaking, avoidance will increase the fear, so do more of it. Jump in the water; you can't learn to swim on paper.

3. Obstacles reveal desires. Show me an obstacle, and I'll show you a desire. An obstacle conceals but simultaneously reveals the underlying desire. Proceed despite the obstacle: when you're ready to recognize the obstacle, you're ready to consider the possibility of not creating it.

4. Discomfort can be a sign of progress. Moving beyond a comfort zone is necessary for progress. Comfortable is not a place you begin, but a place you can arrive. Moving from a comfort zone is necessary in order to proceed.

5. Lean into the unknown. You can tiptoe through life very carefully and arrive safety at death.

6. You do not attract what you want, you create what you focus on. Everyone wants more money, so wanting is not the key to having it. Focusing on scarcity attracts scarcity; focusing on prosperity aligns your energy to pursue prosperity.

Check out www.NewLifeStoryCoaching.com for three new Teleseminars in the 7 STEPS TO LIVE A NEW LIFE STORY™ series:• A ROAD MAP™ for Eating Disorder Professionals• A ROAD MAP™ for Wellness• A ROAD MAP™ of Re-Creation for Retirees

Helping Allergic Reactions

I received this sad email today:

Hi Jane, I found your site by chance and thought you might be able to help my severe allergy to rapeseed oil. It came on overnight 6 yrs ago when I had scarlet fever. I find it very difficult to avoid eating the oil as it has crept into so many different foods as a cheap additive. I take a small dose of antihistamine daily to keep the background reaction at bay, but live in fear of making a mistake and having a big reaction. Labels often list vegetable oil without being specific so life is not easy - especially as I have a family to feed. I am not allergic to the pollen (the NHS can test for it but not the oil) ... Sorry to go on - I hope you can help or know someone who can.

here's my reply:

sorry to hear about your problems.

I suggest you find a health kinesiology practitioner to help you and your children.

I suggets also you read two of my articles: one on health kinesiology and one on allergy testing.

and also check out this simple method to switch off allergy reactions.

Basic Muscle Testing Skills

A lot of therapists see muscle testing (kinesiology) and get really excited by it. They often attend short courses that focus on what you can do with muscle testing (allergy testing, dealing with stress, etc.), but don't teach the participants to muscle test properly. Colleague Maggie La Tourelle says that she's not surprised that kinesiology comes in for a lot of criticism, because so many people are doing it so badly.

If you are a tehrapist and want to learn to test more accurately, why not attend her 2 day course in London in March.

This is what Maggie says about the course:

This 2 day course has been designed for therapists, counsellors and students who are also trained or training in energy and meridian therapies such as EFT, TFT, Seemorg Matrix etc. It aims to provide you with muscle testing skills that will enable you to work more effectively and precisely with your clients. It addresses the complications that can arise when muscle testing and teaches protocols and additional tests that ensure accurate and reliable results. In addition you learn a range of wonderful healing and balancing kinesiology techniques that you can use yourself and apply and teach to your clients. You have the opportunity to practice applying all that you have learned to your own therapy modality.

If you're not a therapist but would like to learn some muscle testing, Maggie runs a one-day Discovering Kinesiology workshop.

Boost Mental Energy

The Vale Practice top 10 Tips to boost mental energy!

Suffering from post-Christmas slump? Can’t drag yourself out of bed in the morning? Or do you face each work assignment with a feeling of dread? Long, dark nights and cold, windy days can drain the joie de vivre from the most robust of souls. But work your way through the following remedies and those rays of inner sunshine will soon return.

1. Bach Flower Remedies are fantastic at boosting mental energy or gently helping our minds through the challenges we face. Hornbeam is great at helping that heavy head, Monday morning feeling, when you are disinclined to face another “grey” day. Hornbeam seems to reach the parts that a strong cup of coffee cannot reach. Olive is also a very good essence for great tiredness which develops after periods of prolonged mental strain. When the daily grind seems to require an overwhelming effort, Olive brings renewed cheerfulness and vitality.

2. Water. We all know we need to drink 1.5-2 litres of water a day to keep healthy but few of us do so. The brain needs water to function, so when you feel like you are heading for mental fatigue and can’t make it through the rest of the day drink a glass of water. Half the time that is all your body needs!

3. Avoid sugar swings by cutting out refined carbohydrates- even if it is just for a month or a couple of weeks. A diet that relies on refined (white bread, sugar) or processd foods lacks many necessary nutrients and without these your blood sugar levels become scrambled and leave you feeling tired and drained. Eat foods rich in vitamin B, C and E, iron and magnesium. Also foods rich in fibre (wholegrains, fresh fruit and green veg) help you to sustain blood sugar levels throughout the day.

4. Caffeine can give you a great mental boost at the first swig, but this is an illusion. It often brings your energy levels much further down than before you had the caffeine. Caffeine before you go to bed can lead to unrestful sleep – which is like a vicious circle as you then wake up more tired and need caffeine to keep you going. Cut out harsh caffeinated products such as redbull, tea and coffee and try to substitute elderflower or limeflower which act like energising tonics. Also if you leave the tea bag in chamomile tea until it is darker than usual this acts as a natural stimulant. If you really need a kick, other natural stimulants to keep you going are green tea, peppermint tea or any tea containing guarana.

5. Feed your brain with a good supply of essential fatty acids in whatever form you prefer. You can add lots of seeds and nuts to salads, grind them up and sprinkle them into pancake batter, or on porridge or cereals; try having a tablespoon of hemp or flax oil; and boost your intake of oily fish. Cod liver oil is ok too but with the shortage of cod in the sea using a hemp/flax oil instead is more environmentally friendly.

6. This is the best time of year to start a new exercise regime as exercise boosts your mood and your brain. Our bodies can become stagnant and toxic as we spend more time inside to escape the cold. We feel better in summer as we have sunlight and spend more time outside moving around. Once you’ve got your circulation going, oxygen will then start flowing to your brain and perking you up! If the weather’s too nasty, you don’t have to go out at all: ance around the house when no-one’s in! But it’s a great time of year to start some good habits: walk or cycle instead of jumping in the car. It isn’t always easy to get started, but take it slowly and build it up. Once you start to feel the benefits you won’t want to stop!

7. If your body feels sluggish your mind will often feel the same. Festive food, excessive alcohol, sugar and all those ‘treats’ we like at Christmas, can leave you feeling bloated and stressed. Bea Erler, Vale Practice Aromatherapist recommends Basil essential oil massaged (diluted in a carrier oil) on the stomach to ease digestion. However, Basil has lots of uplifting properties, and a couple of drops placed in a burner can clear and stimulate the mind, at home or in the workplace!
8. Rosemary oil is a natural brain stimulant with a historical reputation for improving memory as it stimulates the central nerve system. Bea tells her patients to inhale a few drops of this oil when they need a quick boost of mental clarity. On those days you feel tired when you wake up – sprinkle a few drops of rosemary in your wet hair to wake you up, or carry a few drops on a tissue, for the odd, mood-lifting sniff! Rosemary is also a tonic for the heart, liver and gallbladder and is said to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood. Just what we need after the rich Christmas dinners! Eucalyptus is also very stimulating: use an inhalant or in an oil burner.

9. In Chinese medicine our mental strength is very closely related to our digestion. The organs of the spleen/pancreas relate to our strength of mind, our ability to concentrate and to think - our intelligence. These organs belong to the concept of earth: the earth we walk on, the food we harvest from this earth and what we eat all sustain us. The part of our bodies resonating with earth is the middle, the stomach, the belly. Which is probably still stressed from the festive season! Acupuncture treatment improves the quality of the spleen/pancreas organs, rebalances the digestion and helps free up any congestion in the middle of our bodies to improve the working of our mind and brain.

10. Last and by no means least there is a miracle supplement which research has shown boosts brain power! Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) is a natural component of the brain and studies have shown that ALC slows or prevents age related decline in mental function. ALC helps synthesize acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter responsible for memory and learning and can even help patients with fatigue from cancer treatments. As a derivative of an amino acid ALC transports long fatty chain acids into the cellular mitochondria (energy producing structures found in our cells). For more specific supplementation visit your nutritionist or naturopath.

The Vale Practice has over 27 therapists to call on. Therapies include: Osteopathy, Remedial and Deep Tissue Massage, Reflexology, Reiki, Swedish Massage, Eco Beauty, Chinese Herbal medicine, Nutrition, Naturopathy, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, Tui Na Massage, Shiatsu, Allergy Testing, Aromatherapy, Sports Injury Massage, Indian Head Massage, Counseling, Cranial Osteopathy, Group Therapy, Life and Work coaching, Chiropody, Medicinal Herbalism,Bio Energiser and Child Art and Psychotherapy

Journal of Women’s Health Available Free Online

Journal of Women’s Health Available Free Online in Honor of “National Wear Red Day”
To Promote Heart Health in Women
New Rochelle, NY, February 1, 2008 – Publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. will provide free online access to all issues of its authoritative, peer-reviewed publication Journal of Women’s Health through the end of February in recognition of National Wear Red Day, organized by Go Red For Women and the American Heart Association. Go Red For Women is a movement dedicated to increasing awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women in America. The Journal is available free online.

Journal of Women’s Health is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women’s healthcare issues.

“Journal of Women’s Health is the primary source of information that meets the challenge of providing optimum healthcare for women,” says Mary Ann Liebert, President and CEO of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. “I am happy to provide access to the latest clinical management strategies and cutting-edge research published in the Journal.”

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research including Obesity Management, Thyroid,Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, Breastfeeding Medicine, and Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics .Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News(GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 60 journals, books and newsmagazines is available online.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801 www.liebertpub.comPhone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax (914) 740-2110