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Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer among women and one of the leading causes of early death in women worldwide. Here in the United States, 14,500 cervical cancer cases are diagnosed each year and 4,800 women die as a result of the disease. Cervical cancer deaths can be prevented with early detection and later initiation of sexual activity: the earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the higher the survival rate.
I’d made up my mind; I was going to lose weight, change my eating habits, and start an exercise program. Like my prior attempts, four days into my new lifestyle my enthusiasm began to wane. I reached for the cookie canister. Who would know? Or more important, who would care if I cheated, or just gave up? The phone rang; it was Susan, my friend, my weight-loss partner. She must have heard that weakness in my voice . . . for she knew.
“You’re going for the cookies, aren’t you?” she asked.
I leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed.
“Don’t do it,” she said. “Eat a piece of fruit. Remember how good you said those apples tasted yesterday? We agreed to weigh in in three days. How about if I meet you at the park in 30 minutes? We’ll walk. Remember what you told me yesterday when I wanted that chocolate bar? `Exercise curbs your appetite.’ Come on, don’t let me down; I need you. We can do this.”
I smiled, agreed to meet her, then taking her earlier advice, I hid the cookie canister in the pantry. Susan was right. I could do this. Or rather, we could do this. Together we found the strength and the willpower to change our eating habits and follow a regular exercising routine. The key to our success wasn’t a pill, or a diet shake; it was teamwork.
Do you give your yard a lick and a promise once a month purely out of respect for the neighbors? Do you enjoy gardening, but seldom take time to dig in the dirt? Maybe you need a new perspective on gardening to motivate you.
Gardening affords you access to the fresh air and exercise you need. It’s a wonderful, creative outlet. To many people, gardening is also therapeutic. One friend says, “When I’m angry or upset about something, I go out and pull weeds. When I’m depressed or sad, I putter with the plants. To me, gardening is comforting, and I always leave my garden feeling better.”
Mary is a cancer patient and an avid gardener. She says, “My garden is my therapy. It’s constant renewal. Working in my garden or just walking through it after work slows me down and helps me to refocus my thoughts.”
Although soybeans have been a staple crop in China for thousands of years, they have come to Western kitchens only in recent years. In 1904 George Washington Carver noted that the soybean is a rich source of protein and oil. By the early 1930s these beans were grown commercially in the United States. Since then they have been widely used to feed livestock and are currently one of the biggest cash crops in America.
Today soy is known as an inexpensive source of protein. Both the Food Guide Pyramid and Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fifth ed., list soy foods as a way to meet dietary guidelines. A one-cup (8 oz.) serving of tofu, for example, is listed as a serving suggestion in the meat and beans Group.
Read more about Soy Connection …
A woman tells of her ex-husband, who became hooked on painkillers and muscle relaxants for years. “He could not hold a job, and we lost our house, our credit, and our friends. We tried counseling and drug treatment centers, both in-patient and out-patient, but nothing worked.” The man continued his addiction, becoming creative in finding doctors from out of state and even out of the country who would ship him pills.
Finally, for her own sanity and the safety of their two children, the woman left him. Here is her description of her husband’s life after she and the children departed: “He fell in and out of jobs and lived on the streets, with friends, or in homeless shelters. All this finally caught up with him, and he died of hepatitis C. He had not seen his children in three years and owed more than $50,000 in back child support. He died broke and alone.”
You know the drill. From the moment the alarm clock sounds, you’re rushing at warp speed. Get up. Get the kids up. Grab a shower. Get the kids ready for school. Rifle through the cupboards for a cereal breakfast. Scoop the car keys. Grab the kids’ sack lunches, backpacks, homework, and you’re out the door. Whew! Before you’ve even begun the day, you’re frazzled, disconnected, and out of sync. Were we meant to live like this? Dr. Eva Shaw, Ph. D. author of Shovel It: Nature’s Health Plan, doesn’t think so.
Blame our breakneck pace on the Industrial Revolution, the need for a two-income household or just the velocity of modern times. Wherever the blame lies, sometimes it can seem like we need a dose of therapy just to cope. But before you send your fingers walking through the yellow pages for a psychologist or group therapist, take a look at your thumb. Even if it’s not green, you can benefit from a bit of garden therapy.
Read more about The Grace of Gardening …
When I landed my new job I was given rigorous safety training. I used high-speed machinery that could slice off a finger before I could hit the off switch. It could grab my tie and drag me into the machine in seconds. What we didn’t realize, until the government ran some tests, was that this machinery was slowly destroying our hearing. Earplugs became mandatory (even for the macho guys who made fun of them).
About 10 million Americans suffer partial hearing loss from noise. Few of them are jet mechanics or rock stars. They are victims of a hidden health danger that is found in many homes, schools, and offices. The reason experts know this danger exists for all of us is that hearing loss and permanent ringing in the ears is being reported at younger ages. A recent study shows that 46 percent of the children responding experienced ringing in the ears. “Once you lose your hearing, it never comes back,” says Malvina Levy, clinical audiologist at the San Francisco Hearing and Speech Center. What seems like a normal level of sound can be dangerous because of the way ears process sound.
There is a very common notion among people across the world that addictive drugs are substances that make people feel drunk and sleepy, and interrupt their natural senses. Though this may be true especially for alcohol, this simply is not the case for cocaine, a very dangerous drug commonly used.
Cocaine is a white powder that comes from the coca plant grown in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. Coca plants were initially reserved for use by Inca royalty. The rest of the population eventually used coca plant leaves for mystical, religious, social, and medical purposes. They exploited its stimulant properties to ward off fatigue and hunger, enhance endurance, and to promote a sense of well-being.
The invading Spanish forced the Incan people to work hard in the fields. But the Spanish quickly learned that their captives could barely do work in the fields without chewing on the coca leaf (then referred to as the “gift of the gods”). Eventually the coca leaves were harvested and distributed to the Incan workers three or four times per day.
With the use of this magical plant, the Incans were able to do much productive work. Soon the use of cocaine became so common that the leaves were used as money; distances were measured by how far one could travel before having to stop and replenish the leaves.
A financial emergency. Corporate downsizing. Marital upheaval and divorce. A frightening diagnosis and impending surgery. Who hasn’t experienced life’s tough times, along with carrying the arduous baggage of anxiety, anger, and fear?
If you suffer from emotional distress, accompanied by nagging health concerns, you are probably well aware of the tension these can cause. Perhaps you have blamed the frantic pace of life for your lack of passion or enthusiasm in life. Yet when we are wrought by constant stress and turmoil, when life’s interruptions hit, they are greatly exaggerated.
Everyone wants a quick fix. A quick checkout. A quick teller. A quick commute. And we treat dieting no differently. When we decide to lose weight, we want to do it quickly. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey was a good example of this when she went on a liquid diet and lost some 60 pounds. But she and everyone else who watched saw the pounds come back.