Vaccination Information

Lots of therapists are concerned about vaccination and PLOS Medicine have published two interesting articles this month, so I'm really pleased to use the editors' summaries for this on my site. I've put links to the full more academic articles so that people who wnat more info can check it out. The two articles are:

Frequency of Adverse Events after Vaccination with Different Vaccinia Strainsby Mirjam Kretzschmar et alSmallpox vaccination has some adverse effects, occasionally infecting the brain. As smallpox became rarer, the dangers of vaccination began to outweigh its benefits. Now, however, there are fears that smallpox may be used for bioterrorism.
http://www.mytherapypractice.com/bugs_drugs_allergies/vaccination_smallpox.htm

Reduced Antibody Responses to Vaccinations in Children Exposed to Polychlorinated Biphenylsby Carsten HeilmannThe developing immune system may be damaged in some babies by exposure both before birth and after birth through breast milk to “immunotoxicants” such as polychlorinated biphenyls. This has implications for childhood vaccination programs.
http://www.mytherapypractice.com/bugs_drugs_allergies/vaccination_PCBs.html

Organic Cotton Clothing

it has been estimated that 25% of the world's insecticides are used on cotton crops. When I first heard that figure I was appalled. We eat a lot of orgnaic food so I'd assumed that the pesticide thing was pretty much taken care of... but hey I love cotton clothes.

So I was delighted to find the Seasalt brand in a local shop. Fashionable clothes made from organic cotton. In fact I spotted a top that I really liked and only then did I find out it was made from organic cotton. I'm sure there's lots of people wearing Seasalt stuff who don't care about the environment but just like the clothes, but I do so I'm really glad to be able to buy stylish well-made stuff that doesn't cost the earth (in either way).

If you're not lucky enough to live near a shop that sells Seasalt products, you can buy them online at http://www.seasaltorganic.co.uk

Lysozyme, Diarrhoea, Tooth Decay & Cleanliness

One of the things I really enjoy is linking different pieces of info together and (hopefully) providing a more coherent picture. I've tried to do this with some old research and some recent research on the digestive enzyme lysozyme:

http://www.mytherapypractice.com/Medical/lysozyme.html

Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes

our vegan abd vegetarian recipes are proving popular so I'm hoping to add lots more over the next few months.

I've just added one for a spicy, hot chick pea recipe. I'm a great fan of chick peas. If you are too, have a look at this and our other recipes:

http://healthandgoodness.com/nutritiondiet/recipes_index.html

How Can You Build Your Child's Self Esteem

Well, back from a rain soaked cycling trip (North Sea to the Alps - 12 days riding and it rained on 9 days and we were camping!!!). It's good to be back in the office and looking after my web sites again.

Although my children are now grown up, I still have an interest in how we can help youngsters lead happy and positive lives, so I am delighted to post this sensible article by Deanne Mascle on http://www.healthandgoodness.com :

How Can You Build Your Child's Self Esteem? by Deanna MascleAs parents we know that building our child's sense of self esteem is important. There is no simple strategy but there are several effective techniques parents can use to help boost self esteem in their child.

Deanna suggests 7 sensible, do-able techniques. If you're involved with chidlren do take a look:

http://healthandgoodness.com/babieschildren/build_childs_self_esteem.html

Giving up smoking

I used to smoke 40-50 cigarettes a day and I'm passionate now about the health ebenfits of not smoking. There's already several articles in the health section of http://www.healthandgoodness.com on smoking and health, and I've just added a new one tonight. Jonty is an ex-smoker and in this article he looks at the reasons to give up:

If you’re a smoker, you’re probably sick to death of the anti-cigarette lobby spinning out the same old lines about how you’re damaging your body and health. You’re not an idiot, you know all these facts.
to continue: http://healthandgoodness.com/health/why_stop_smoking.html

What To Do If Your Child Is Overweight

Sadly a lot of children are now overweight. Here's some sound advice from Jim O'neill on what to do about it:

http://healthandgoodness.com/babieschildren/child_overweight.html

Summer Fruit Smoothies

It's really hot here at the moment and there's lots of wonderful fruit around, so it's definitely time to make some smoothies. Here's some great advice from Kit Heathcock on how to do just that:

http://healthandgoodness.com/nutritiondiet/recipe_fruit_smoothies.html

Walking A Marathon

In 2001 I did the London marathon. I'd never done much running before, and looking back it was a silly thing to have done. Inevitably I pushed myself in training and so injured myself 3 weeks before the big day. I still "ran" the marathon but was in pain from about 2 miles in. I spent part of the time halucinating I was up a mountain because I was in so much pain!!

I've often wished I'd done it as a walking marathon rather than a running marathon. I don't think I would have been much slower and I would have enjoyed the training and the event a whole lot more.

If that idea appeals to you, I've just published an article on how to prepare to walk a marathon:

http://www.sportandme.com/docs/sports/walking/guide/walking_marathon.html

happy walking!

Biochemic Tissue Salts

When my children were little and not well, they often said: “I want some magic tablets.” The ‘magic tablets’ got their nickname because of how quickly they dissolved on the tongue, and how soon they made my children feel better.

I really rate these gentle remedies for harrassed mums and dads, so I've just put a pice about them on www.healthandgoodness.com:

http://healthandgoodness.com/babieschildren/biochemic_tissue_salts.htm

Ethical Health

I'm really excited to be associated with www.ethical-junction.org. The site is undergoing a major revamp and I am sponsoring the health section. As well as this, I will be contributing to their newsletter - my first article is entitled "What is ethical health", being a moderator on the health forum and lots more.

I am delighted that the guys behind Ethical Junction recognise how well our beliefs and business practices coincide. This is how they describe what they do:

"Our Network provides information on positively screened ethical companies, organisations, products and services, linking you through to the ethical, environmental and sustainability markets."

Am I Drinking Enough Water?

It's very hot in England at the moment. Over the weekend John and I cycled on our tandem from our home in Penzance to Fowey, camped for the night and then cycled back. The round trip was over 100 miles. Because it was so hot I was really aware of how much I needed to drink a lot of water, but even when it's not hot and we're not exercising water is still very important. I was talking about it this morning to someone who didn't know how to tell if she was drinking enough water, so I have written an article for her and for people like her:

http://healthandgoodness.com/nutritiondiet/drinking_enough_water.html

Confidence

I've added a new confidence section to Health & Goodness. In general I have lots of confidence, but I know many people don't, so if you are one of these people take a look at thios new section:

http://healthandgoodness.com/symptoms/symptom_confidence.html

Kids & Exercise

I wish I'd done more to encourage my kids to take exercise when they were young, so I'm delighted to include this article on http://www.sportandme.com on taking your kids hiking:

http://www.sportandme.com/docs/common/children/hiking_with_kids.html

we need to get kids doing more to avoid the obesity epidemic that is developing!

Professional Web Sites For Therapists

I wrote an article on http://www.mytherapypractice.com/ about a great web site design and hosting package for therapists:

http://www.mytherapypractice.com/Successful_practice/web_site_package.htm

Maura Barry of Ireland is one of the first to take advantage of this. Her web site is http://www.green-healing.com/, and here's what she told me in an email:

"I found it extremely easy to set up and the help from Michael was fantastic,
he always answered my questions and was extremely nice to deal with. He
helped me through the whole process.

"I would also like to thank you for bringing the package to my attention as I
is extremely expensive to set up a website and difficult when you are not
computer friendly but this was amazingly easy and inexpensive."

I'm really pleased that she's so pleased!

Triathlons

as many of you know I'm a keen cyclist - I rode across America on my bike two years ago! Once I did a novice triathlon - swim, bike and run. I enjoyed it but have never repeated it.

It's interetsing to read in the paper that triathlons are the "in" sport now, so I've been putting more articles on this demanding sport on http://www.sportandme.com.

The latest one is "Ironman Triathlon-Run Equipment Choices" by Ray Fauteux. He offers lots of excellent, down-to-earth advice for the novice traithlete.

http://www.sportandme.com/docs/sports/triathlon/guide/ironman_equipment.html

Golf and weight training

I've never understood the delights of playing golf - I prefer to go out on my bike - but I know there are lost of epople who do, so I've posted another golf article on http://www.sportandme.com:

http://www.sportandme.com/docs/sports/golf/guide/golf_weight_training.html

Water Rowers

Some ears ago I bought a water rower, and it really is great. Close your eyes and think you'r eon a river.

Antony Wilton agrees with me, so I've included his article "Water Rower, Like A Cruise Down The River Without Getting Wet" on http://www.sportandme.com:

http://www.sportandme.com/docs/sports/rowing/guide/water_rower.html

emotions and biology

I've just posted two interesting articles by Tom Harrison on http://www.mytherapypractice.com:

Depression & Obesity Go Hand in Hand
by Tom Harrison
People who are "fat but happy" are likely the exception rather than the rule. Read more on this at:
http://www.mytherapypractice.com/psychology_emotions/depression_obesity.html

and

Early Childhood Neglect Leaves Biological Mark
Children who are deprived of a loving caregiver in their early years may experience abnormal activity of vasopressin and oxytocin, two hormones essential to forming social bonds and achieving emotional intimacy. Here's the full article:

http://www.mytherapypractice.com/psychology_emotions/early_childhood_neglect.htm

Using a heart rate monitor

I've put a new article on using a heart rate monitopr for training on http://www.sportandme.com

I found that buying a heart rate monitor really helped my training - stopped the fooling myself that I was training hard when I wasn't. Here's the link to the article:

http://www.sportandme.com/docs/sports/running/guide/heart_rate_monitor.html