Improving Mental and Emotional Health

Originally published on Helpguide.org:

People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their emotions and their behavior. They are able to handle life’s challenges, build strong relationships, and recover from setbacks. But just as it requires effort to build or maintain physical health, so it is with mental and emotional health. Improving your emotional health can be a rewarding experience, benefiting all aspects of your life, including boosting your mood, building resilience, and adding to your overall enjoyment of life.

What is mental health or emotional health?

Mental or emotional health refers to your overall psychological well-being. It includes the way you feel about yourself, the quality of your relationships, and your ability to manage your feelings and deal with difficulties.
Good mental health isn't just the absence of mental health problems. Being mentally or emotionally healthy is much more than being free of depression, anxiety, or other psychological issues. Rather than the absence of mental illness, mental and emotional health refers to the presence of positive characteristics. Similarly, not feeling bad is not the same as feeling good. While some people may not have negative feelings, they still need to do things that make them feel positive in order to achieve mental and emotional health.

People who are mentally and emotionally healthy have:

• A sense of contentment.
• A zest for living and the ability to laugh and have fun.
• The ability to deal with stress and bounce back from adversity.
• A sense of meaning and purpose, in both their activities and their relationships.
• The flexibility to learn new things and adapt to change.
• A balance between work and play, rest and activity, etc.
• The ability to build and maintain fulfilling relationships.
• Self-confidence and high self-esteem.

These positive characteristics of mental and emotional health allow you to participate in life to the fullest extent possible through productive, meaningful activities and strong relationships. These positive characteristics also help you cope when faced with life's challenges and stresses.

The role of resilience in mental and emotional health

Being emotionally and mentally healthy doesn’t mean never going through bad times or experiencing emotional problems. We all go through disappointments, loss, and change. And while these are normal parts of life, they can still cause sadness, anxiety, and stress.
The difference is that people with good emotional health have an ability to bounce back from adversity, trauma, and stress. This ability is called resilience. People who are emotionally and mentally healthy have the tools for coping with difficult situations and maintaining a positive outlook. They remain focused, flexible, and creative in bad times as well as good.
One of the key factors in resilience is the ability to balance stress and your emotions. The capacity to recognize your emotions and express them appropriately helps you avoid getting stuck in depression, anxiety, or other negative mood states. Another key factor is having a strong support network. Having trusted people you can turn to for encouragement and support will boost your resilience in tough times.

Physical health is connected to mental and emotional health

Taking care of your body is a powerful first step towards mental and emotional health. The mind and the body are linked. When you improve your physical health, you’ll automatically experience greater mental and emotional well-being. For example, exercise not only strengthens our heart and lungs, but also releases endorphins, powerful chemicals that energize us and lift our mood.
The activities you engage in and the daily choices you make affect the way you feel physically and emotionally.

• Get enough rest. To have good mental and emotional health, it’s important to take care of your body. That includes getting enough sleep. Most people need seven to eight hours of sleep each night in order to function optimally.
• Learn about good nutrition and practice it. The subject of nutrition is complicated and not always easy to put into practice. But the more you learn about what you eat and how it affects your energy and mood, the better you can feel.
• Exercise to relieve stress and lift your mood. Exercise is a powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression. Look for small ways to add activity to your day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going on a short walk. To get the most mental health benefits, aim for 30 minutes or more of exercise per day.
• Get a dose of sunlight every day. Sunlight lifts your mood, so try to get at least 10 to 15 minutes of sun per day. This can be done while exercising, gardening, or socializing.
• Limit alcohol and avoid cigarettes and other drugs. These are stimulants that may unnaturally make you feel good in the short term, but have long-term negative consequences for mood and emotional health.

Improve mental and emotional health by taking care of yourself

In order to maintain and strengthen your mental and emotional health, it’s important to pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Don’t let stress and negative emotions build up. Try to maintain a balance between your daily responsibilities and the things you enjoy. If you take care of yourself, you’ll be better prepared to deal with challenges if and when they arise.
Taking care of yourself includes pursuing activities that naturally release endorphins and contribute to feeling good. In addition to physical exercise, endorphins are also naturally released when we:

• Do things that positively impact others. Being useful to others and being valued for what you do can help build self-esteem.
• Practice self-discipline. Self-control naturally leads to a sense of hopefulness and can help you overcome despair, helplessness, and other negative thoughts.
• Learn or discover new things. Think of it as “intellectual candy.” Try taking an adult education class, join a book club, visit a museum, learn a new language, or simply travel somewhere new.
• Enjoy the beauty of nature or art. Studies show that simply walking through a garden can lower blood pressure and reduce stress. The same goes for strolling through a park or an art gallery, hiking, admiring architecture, or sitting on a beach.
• Manage your stress levels. Stress takes a heavy toll on mental and emotional health, so it’s important to keep it under control. While not all stressors can be avoided, stress management strategies can help you bring things back into balance.
• Limit unhealthy mental habits like worrying. Try to avoid becoming absorbed by repetitive mental habits—negative thoughts about yourself and the world that suck up time, drain your energy, and trigger feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

More tips and strategies for taking care of yourself:

• Appeal to your senses. Stay calm and energized by appealing to the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Listen to music that lifts your mood, place flowers where you will see and smell them, massage your hands and feet, or sip a warm drink.
• Engage in meaningful, creative work. Do things that challenge your creativity and make you feel productive, whether or not you get paid for it—things like gardening, drawing, writing, playing an instrument, or building something in your workshop.
• Get a pet. Yes, pets are a responsibility, but caring for one makes you feel needed and loved. There is no love quite as unconditional as the love a pet can give. Animals can also get you out of the house for exercise and expose you to new people and places.
• Make leisure time a priority. Do things for no other reason than that it feels good to do them. Go to a funny movie, take a walk on the beach, listen to music, read a good book, or talk to a friend. Doing things just because they are fun is no indulgence. Play is an emotional and mental health necessity.
• Make time for contemplation and appreciation. Think about the things you’re grateful for. Mediate, pray, enjoy the sunset, or simply take a moment to pay attention to what is good, positive, and beautiful as you go about your day.

Everyone is different; not all things will be equally beneficial to all people. Some people feel better relaxing and slowing down while others need more activity and more excitement or stimulation to feel better. The important thing is to find activities that you enjoy and that give you a boost.

Supportive relationships: The foundation of emotional health

No matter how much time you devote to improving your mental and emotional health, you will still need the company of others to feel and be your best. Humans are social creatures with an emotional need for relationships and positive connections to others. We’re not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Our social brains crave companionship—even when experience has made us shy and distrustful of others.
Social interaction—specifically talking to someone else about your problems—can also help to reduce stress. The key is to find a supportive relationship with someone who is a “good listener”—someone you can talk to regularly, preferably face-to-face, who will listen to you without a pre-existing agenda for how you should think or feel. A good listener will listen to the feelings behind your words, and won’t interrupt or judge or criticize you. The best way to find a good listener? Be a good listener yourself. Develop a friendship with someone you can talk to regularly, and then listen and support each other.

Tips and strategies for connecting to others:

• Get out from behind your TV or computer screen. Screens have their place but they will never have the same effect as an expression of interest or a reassuring touch. Communication is a largely nonverbal experience that requires you to be in direct contact with other people, so don’t neglect your real-world relationships in favor of virtual interaction. 
• Spend time daily, face-to-face, with people you like. Make spending time with people you enjoy a priority. Choose friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family members who are upbeat, positive, and interested in you. Take time to inquire about people you meet during the day that you like.
• Volunteer. Doing something that helps others has a beneficial effect on how you feel about yourself. The meaning and purpose you find in helping others will enrich and expand your life. There is no limit to the individual and group volunteer opportunities you can explore. Schools, churches, nonprofits, and charitable organization of all sorts depend on volunteers for their survival.
• Be a joiner. Join networking, social action, conservation, and special interest groups that meet on a regular basis. These groups offer wonderful opportunities for finding people with common interests—people you like being with who are potential friends.

Risk factors for mental and emotional problems

Your mental and emotional health has been and will continue to be shaped by your experiences. Early childhood experiences are especially significant. Genetic and biological factors can also play a role, but these too can be changed by experience. 

Risk factors that can compromise mental and emotional health:

• Poor connection or attachment to your primary caretaker early in life. Feeling lonely, isolated, unsafe, confused, or abused as an infant or young child.
• Traumas or serious losses, especially early in life. Death of a parent or other traumatic experiences such as war or hospitalization.
• Learned helplessness. Negative experiences that lead to a belief that you’re helpless and that you have little control over the situations in your life.
• Illness, especially when it’s chronic, disabling, or isolates you from others.
• Side effects of medications, especially in older people who may be taking a variety of medications.
• Substance abuse. Alcohol and drug abuse can both cause mental health problems and make preexisting mental or emotional problems worse.

Whatever internal or external factors have shaped your mental and emotional health, it’s never too late to make changes that will improve your psychological well-being. Risk factors can be counteracted with protective factors, like strong relationships, a healthy lifestyle, and coping strategies for managing stress and negative emotions.

When to seek professional help for emotional problems

If you’ve made consistent efforts to improve your mental and emotional health and you still don’t feel good—then it’s time to seek professional help. Because we are so socially attuned, input from a knowledgeable, caring professional can motivate us to do things for ourselves that we were not able to do on our own.

Red flag feelings and behaviors that may require immediate attention

• Inability to sleep
• Feeling down, hopeless, or helpless most of the time
• Concentration problems that are interfering with your work or home life
• Using nicotine, food, drugs, or alcohol to cope with difficult emotions
• Negative or self-destructive thoughts or fears that you can’t control
• Thoughts of death or suicide

If you identify with any of these red flag symptoms, consider making an appointment with a mental health professional.

Adding Massage To Help With Anxiety Disorder

If you suffer from anxiety disorders, you’re not alone. Thirteen percent of the population lives everyday with persistent anxiety. Massage therapy is a great addition to anxiety treatments.
This anxiety is more than the fear you feel when you have to speak in public. Panic attacks can seem to happen for no reason at all. Anxiety symptoms can be as mild as a general feeling of uneasiness or as severe as paralyzing terror.
Let’s take a look at the various types of anxiety conditions you can have and some natural ways to treat them.
Types of Disorders
There are several different kinds of disorders.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by chronic worry that lasts 6 months or more. The worry is not in proportion to the problem and is sometimes accompanied by physical anxiety symptoms.
trouble sleeping
restlessness
sweating
muscle tension and twitching
headaches
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by repetitive thoughts that occupy your mind and cause you to do repetitive behaviors. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder have persistent anxiety and develop a behavior, like hand washing or hoarding, to relieve that anxiety. The behavior is like a ritual to ensure that whatever the person is anxious about won’t happen.
Panic disorder is characterized by crippling fear for no reason. People who have this disorder usually can’t predict when or where it will strike. When someone has a panic attack they may feel these physical anxiety symptoms:
chest pains
increased heartbeat
shortness of breath
light-headedness or dizziness
nausea
sudden change in temperature (hot flashes or chills)
choking
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs as a result of a traumatic experience. We often hear about this condition in reference to war veterans, but it can be experience by anyone who has lived through a terrifying experience. People with PTSD constantly relive these traumatic events in there heads to the point that it interferes with their ability to lead a normal life.
Phobias are irrational fears. These irrational fears often trigger panic attacks.
Many people who suffer from anxiety disorders never seek anxiety treatments. They are highly treatable though with methods like biofeedback, cognitive behavior therapy, medications, relaxation techniques, and massage.
Massage for Anxiety
When you experience anxiety, your body produces a lot of the stress hormone cortisol. Massage lowers cortisol levels. It also gets rid of the muscle tension caused by anxiety disorders.
In 1996 the Touch Research Institute did a study with 26 adults. For the study half the adults were given chair massages two times a week for 15 minutes and the control group sat in a massage chair but didn’t receive a massage 2 times a week for 15 minutes. You have to feel sorry for the poor control group.
Before and after the 5 week period their anxiety and depression levels were measured. They were also given saliva tests for cortisol. Then they were given math problems to solve. At the end of the study the people who received massage had lower anxiety and depression levels. Their cortisol levels were lower and they had increased speed and accuracy on the math problems.
Relaxation massages are best for treating anxiety, but you can try just about any type of massage to help calm your nerves. You might want to stay away from deeper more intense bodywork when you’re trying to relieve anxiety.
Other Natural Treatment Methods
There are a few herbal remedies that have been effective in treating anxiety disorders. Passion flower, valerian, chamomile and kava. These herbs all have calming effects, but like medications they can have negative side effects. If you’re interested in learning more about treating common ailments with herbal remedies click here.
Meditation can help ward off anxiety when you feel it coming on. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Focus your attention on your breath. This will help slow your heart rate and calm your nerves. When you’re first starting out meditating on your own can be tricky. These meditation MP3′s can help you achieve the mindset required for meditation more easily.
Aromatherapy is soothing and helps calm nervous tension. Essential oils can easily be added to massage oil to calm you down even more than just a plain massage will.
Taking calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins can also help ease anxiety symptoms.
Some Books You Might
Read more: http://www.massage-therapy-benefits.net

When Should Runners Get a Deep Tissue Massage?

By Jason Fitzgerald | For Active.com


Runners have long known that a good massage can boost their recovery after a tough race or hard workout. Besides the obvious "it hurts so good," massages can also reduce stress and help you relax before an important race.
But when are the best times to schedule your massage? And how can you maximize its value, because, let's face, they're not cheap.
There are specific times to get deep tissue massages if you want to boost the benefits of the massage. First, it's important to understand what those benefits are because they'll help you schedule your massage session for the optimal time. Most critically, deep tissue massages improve blood flow to your muscles by stimulating the circulatory system. You'll get an influx of oxygen-rich blood, which helps flush out the byproducts of hard exercise, and delivers fresh nutrients.

 While the circulatory benefits of massage are profound, other benefits of regular sessions include: reduced existing muscle soreness, improved range of motion, and the break up of scar tissue or adhesions that can restrict the movement of your muscles.
More: Massage for Runners: The Low Down

When to Schedule Your Massage

Because deep tissue work releases waste products at the cellular level—and may even leave you slightly sore—it's best to consider them a type of workout. Framing massages as workouts helps you schedule your massages more strategically.
You should always get a massage after your run and preferably with an easy run planned for the following day. This helps your body along with the recovery process and ensures you're not negating the benefits by doing a hard workout 12 to 24 hours later.
If you do run a strenuous interval session or long run the day after a massage, you're simply contracting your muscles, introducing more waste products, and further dehydrating muscles—which won't boost the benefits of massage.
If possible, it's also helpful to schedule your massage after an easy run, not a hard workout or long run. Ideally, you want your muscles to be relatively relaxed and not in a very fatigued state.
More: 3 Reasons to Include Recovery Runs in Your Training
This is also why it's never recommended to get a massage the day of a marathon or the day after. There's a substantial amount of muscular damage after a race of this distance, including inflammation, so it's wise to let your body heal itself for the first one to two days. Later in the week after about three to five days, you can schedule a massage after your body has dealt with the acute symptoms of post-marathon soreness and muscle damage.
More: 5 Golden Rules of Marathon Recovery
And just like it's beneficial to wait three to five days after a race to schedule a massage, make sure you give your body three to five days after a massage before you race. This gives you enough time to flush out the byproducts that massage has released, and for any residual soreness to go away.
Remember that massage can be more helpful during periods of heavy training. If you're reaching new weekly mileage records, preparing for your first marathon, or doing faster workouts than ever before, your training is at a new peak. Recover accordingly and use massage to help prevent injuries.
To further extend the benefits of massage, you can help the waste product removal process by staying hydrated and drinking lots of water. Combined with a clean diet of whole foods and light foam rolling, you'll get the most out of your deep tissue massage sessions, and will recover much more quickly—so you can train harder and race faster.

About the Author

Jason Fitzgerald

Jason Fitzgerald is a USATF-certified running coach, 2:39 marathoner, and the founder of Strength Running. Have a question about running? Download the free Strength Running PR Guide to get 35+ answers to the most commonly asked questions about running.

Grief & Loss Providing a Safe Haven for Clients

By Mary Kathleen Rose

Originally published in Massage Bodywork magazine, July/August 2011. Copyright 2011. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.



 "Your touch was so reassuring. It helped me know I could survive this loss. Being touched helped me stay with my feelings. It helped me so much just to know you were there."

These words, spoken by a client dealing with death are typical of statements I have heard over the years in my work as a certified massage therapist. Oftentimes people come to us for massage when they are experiencing the stress of loss in their lives. Whether the loss is through death, divorce, or other significant life changes, we find ourselves in the role of supporting them through these challenging times. We can be most helpful by understanding some of the basics of the normal grieving process, as we allow our clients a safe haven in their time of need.

Beginning in 1990, I facilitated hospice bereavement support groups for 12 years. What I learned in that time, as I listened to people of all ages and backgrounds share their stories, has personally enriched my life and significantly informed my practice of massage. I grew to appreciate the perspective, fostered by the hospice movement, that bereavement is a natural, normal process--an integral part of life. With education to help people understand the process, along with social and emotional support, we can all become wiser, more compassionate, and happier individuals.

This study of bereavement has strengthened my understanding of losses associated with acute and chronic illnesses, aging, and other physical and psychosocial life changes. I've found that human beings are amazingly resilient and adaptable, all the more so with support from friends, family, and conscientious health-care professionals, including massage and bodywork practitioners.

Understanding Grief As A Response To Loss
Bereavement is most often thought of as the mourning of a death. But the process of grieving can be applied to many other life-changing events, including disability, divorce, job loss, financial loss, or other changes in physical circumstances or relationships. Aging, itself, is a process involving many changes, including losses for which a person may grieve. A person living with chronic illness or disability may undergo an extensive process of grieving over the loss of health or function.

Whether a loss is sudden and specific, as with a death, or prolonged, as with a gradual loss of function owing to illness, it is normal for the individual to move through a range of responses and reactions. While Sigmund Freud pioneered the study of bereavement in his essay "Mourning and Melancholia,"1 written in 1917, it was psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross who advanced the study of bereavement in relation to the dying process. In her groundbreaking book On Death and Dying,2 published in 1969, she proposed five psychological stages of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. Her passionate commitment to ease the psychological as well as physical suffering of the ill and dying compelled her to work to bring about awareness of these issues within mainstream medicine and psychology. Her work paralleled the growing hospice movement, which sought to bring compassion and dignity to the terminally ill.

British psychiatrist John Bowlby's study of attachment behavior in children contributed to the understanding of bereavement.3 His theory of attachment, presented in the 1960s, provided an explanation for the common human tendency to develop strong, affectional bonds. Grief is an instinctive universal response to separation. In their study of adult grieving, Bowlby and fellow psychiatrist Colin Parkes described four phases of grief: numbness with intermittent anger; yearning; disorganization and despair; and organization.4

An understanding of the grieving process has continued to expand as it applies not only to death and dying, but also to the broader range of human experience. Grieving is not a simple linear process. It applies not only to losses incurred as a result of death or the anticipation of death, but also to other kinds of loss. For example, grief can be experienced when someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening and/or debilitating disease. The physical and psychosocial issues involved with aging and illness also contribute to the complexity of the bereavement process for many individuals.

More recent advances in the understanding of grief theory include the dual-process model developed by Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut.5 While previous models focused on stages and phases of grieving, the dual-process model recognizes a dynamic in which the bereaved individual alternates between focusing on the loss--with all the associated reactions and responses--and avoiding focusing on the loss in order to cope with the stresses and practical requirements of everyday life.

In the dual-process model, it is recognized that both expressing and controlling emotion have value for the individual who is dealing with loss. The bereaved person is able to "take time off" from the intensity of emotional response to the loss in order to deal with the life changes brought about by the loss. For example, someone who has lost a loved one might still need to care for young children in the family, so will set aside her or his own feelings in order to attend to the needs of others. This person may also take a break from the intensity of emotion through other self-care measures that can include nutrition, rest, exercise, massage, and/or social interaction.

The Cycle of Grief
How individuals respond to loss depends on many factors, including their personal belief systems, their social and cultural conditioning, and the personal coping skills and support systems they have in place at the time of the loss. While people experience grief in many individual ways, there are general patterns of physical and emotional responses that frequently occur after a loss. The Cycle of Grief, at left, is a useful image for individuals to understand their own responses to loss. For massage therapists and those supporting people in times of bereavement, it is also a helpful way to understand the psychosocial experiences of their clients, as they move from the initial reactions to loss through a myriad of possible reactions and emotions, toward a healthy adaptation to change.

Shock and Protest
The first phase following a loss is characterized by shock and protest. In the initial hours, days, or weeks following a loss, the individual may experience numbness or actively protest the reality of the loss. Some people may be cheerfully present at the funeral of a loved one, only to be hit emotionally by the awareness of the loss later. It is common to function out of habit or act automatically just to get through this unfamiliar and often difficult time. Denial is a way that many people protect themselves from the painful reality of their new circumstance.

The bereaved may feel anxiety and fear. They may be afraid of the unknown in their lives now as a result of the loss, and feel confused about the next steps to take. Sadness, loneliness, and intense yearning for whom or what was lost are common experiences. The bereaved individual may also experience relief if, for example, the death of a loved one occurred after a long and painful illness. Joy may be felt where death is believed to be a release into a freer or happier state of being. Other kinds of loss can bring a feeling of relief, because the uncertainty of waiting has ended.

Another common reaction is anger, which may be a feeling of frustration directed toward oneself or others. Guilt may be present for some, as often occurs when death is by accident or suicide, and the survivors wonder what they could have done to prevent it. Regret is another feeling that surfaces when the bereaved individual wishes she or he had made different choices earlier in her or his life.

Physical reactions and symptoms may include insomnia, crying, muscle weakness, nausea, and/or loss of appetite. Some people experience difficulty breathing. Grief can be experienced as physical pain and has been described in many ways: dull, aching, stinging, biting, sharp, pressure, contracted, or constricted. Any or all of these reactions are normal parts of grieving. Just as people are individual in how they respond to everyday stresses and challenges of life, so will they respond in different ways to loss. Some feelings or reactions may be fleeting. Others will be of persistent intensity.

The helpful massage therapist or bodyworker best serves grieving individuals by allowing them to be present with their feelings. It is not necessary to diagnose bereaved people or judge their process; it is most respectful to simply be present and listen, acknowledging the significance of their experiences. If the client seems to be exhibiting reactions or behaviors outside of a normal range, it is wise to refer her or him for further evaluation and/or counseling with a mental health professional.

Disorganization
The next stage in the cycle of grief is characterized by disorganization. The loss has occurred and the initial shock has begun to wear off, but now the individual is left to cope with a reality that is different. Life is not organized the way it was
before. The sense of disorganization occurs on different levels.

Disorganization often involves practical concerns, which may include financial and legal issues. Mentally, the individual can feel disoriented and overwhelmed with decisions to make. Sometimes even the simplest decision seems to take an inordinate amount of energy. Individuals may experience forgetfulness, or in some cases, become obsessive in their behavior, thinking, or feeling. Emotionally, some feelings may persist or intensify from the first phase; others shift and change. The range of emotions that might be felt during this time includes anger, sadness, depression, despair, anguish, and low self-esteem. Physical exhaustion tends to intensify many of these feelings.

Socially, the person who is grieving may feel detached, withdrawn, apathetic, or antisocial. Some people may feel needy and afraid to be alone. Disorganization also occurs within the family or social network of the bereaved individual. Differences in the way people communicate and deal with loss within their social groups may vary, contributing added pressures and distress to the individual.

Periods of grief are difficult times for people. In its intensity, grieving may last for several weeks or months, sometimes years. Whereas people often have the support of family and friends soon after a loss, they are often alone in their grief as time goes on. Typically, our culture does not give people time to grieve. Furthermore, it is not customary to talk about our most significant losses or share our feelings with the people we work with or interact with socially. Without adequate support during this time, bereaved people feel further alienation and the added burden of suffering their grief alone. In this time, nurturing massage and bodywork can provide much needed support, providing a steady and nurturing presence.

Reorganization
With time, the acute pain of loss begins to subside, and the bereaved individual begins to reorganize her or his life. Painful emotions carry over into this phase, but the intensity or duration of the feeling is usually less than in the previous phases. One begins to accept or understand that the loss is permanent, and begins to adapt to a new life, integrating the reality of the changes into present life.

The process of reorganization involves changes and adaptations on many levels. When the loss involves the death of a loved one, the survivor learns to reorganize her or his life physically, emotionally, and mentally without the presence of that special person. When the loss involves illness or disability, the person learns to adjust their physical surroundings, lifestyle, and health care to the current situation.

Loss of one kind--either of person, place, or quality of life--involves changes in other activities and relationships. For example, persons who are injured in a debilitating accident may find it difficult or impossible to participate in once-enjoyable activities such as hiking or skiing. As they reorganize their lives, they might find other activities they enjoy that are less physically demanding. Or if they regularly participated in activities with a loved one who has now left or died, they can adapt by finding other people with whom to enjoy social activities.

Reorganization and adaptation also involve an appreciation of the pleasant and/or valued memories of the past, while accepting the reality of the present circumstance. It becomes easier to celebrate and remember the past without feeling intense sadness. Many people learn the value of compassion, while opening to new possibilities for social connection with others who have suffered similar losses.

As bereaved individuals adapt to the change, they may begin to feel improved self-esteem and mental clarity. It becomes easier to make decisions and engage with others socially. Physical exhaustion gives way to renewed energy and confidence. During this time, therapeutic massage can continue to support the individual who is adapting to change. As a massage therapist, you can appreciate and validate the client for the steps she or he is taking to reorganize their lives.

Variables In The Expression Of Grief
While the grief cycle is portrayed here as one phase that occurs after another, it is not really a fixed process, either in length of time, intensity, or sequence of emotional expression. The cycle shows the range of experience of people going through the normal process of grieving. Not only do people vary in their responses to loss, they may respond differently to different losses. Multiple losses complicate the picture. A person may be in one phase with one loss and in another phase with another loss. Or the experience of one loss may trigger unresolved feelings from a prior loss. Individuals may think they have come through the cycle only to experience an upsurge of anguished feelings, sometimes around an anniversary, birthday, or holiday.

Adaptation To Change
As the individual moves through the process of grieving, she or he may realize that loss is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. Change and loss are inevitable aspects of the human experience. The pain of loss may never fully go away, but individuals are empowered as they learn to adapt to change. Helen Keller said, "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All we love deeply becomes a part of us." Her words illustrate the concept of healthy adaptation to change and loss. It is our role and privilege as massage and bodywork professionals to provide a safe, open-hearted, nonjudgmental, and reassuring atmosphere to the bereaved individual.

Mary Kathleen Rose, BA, CMT, is an authority in holistic health education and is internationally known as the developer of Comfort Touch nurturing acupressure. An ardent advocate for the needs of the elderly and the ill, she provides training and support for massage in medical settings. Her understanding of the bereavement process developed as she facilitated hospice grief and loss support groups. She can be reached at 303-651-9375 and www.comforttouch.com.

Notes
1. Sigmund Freud, Mourning and Melancholia, The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 8th ed. (London: Vintage, 2001).

2. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Touchstone, 1969).

3. J. Bowlby, Attachment and Loss: Loss, Sadness, and Depression, vol. 3. (New York: Basic Books, 1980).

4. C.M. Parkes, Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life (New York: International University Press, 1972).

5. M. Stroebe and H. Schut, "The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: Rationale and Description." Death Studies (April-May 1999): 197-224.

Back from the unknown

Hi all. Yes I know....I've been away for a while. I'm back. Posts and articles will be starting soon.

Kids starved of sun...Rebecca Lynch | 7th July 2012 6:35 AM

PARENTS should protect their children and teens from bone problems by ensuring they receive a daily dose of vitamin D from the sun, an Ipswich pediatrician says.
The warning comes as greater sun safety awareness, increasingly indoor-focused lifestyles and a growing African population have resulted in more Ipswich children suffering vitamin D deficiencies.
The pediatrician, who asked not to be named to protect his clients, said children most at risk of developing a deficiency did not go outside enough, or had darker skin and thus required increased exposure.
"The issue we're having is two-fold; first, it's with refugees from Sudan and other parts of Africa who are breastfeeding children and don't have enough vitamin D themselves," he said.
"There was a particularly severe case at the hospital of a small child who had rickets.
"The other group are children and teens who never leave their bedrooms. They play video games and don't go outside, and are usually very pale."
A deficiency could cause the "demineralisation of bones, osteoporosis and can have an effect on mental health".
He said children could avoid developing a deficiency by playing outside for a short time. "If they don't have a deficiency, they can prevent one by receiving about 20 minutes of sunlight on the face and arms daily," he said.
Laura Vassett, mother of six-year-old Molly Smith (pictured), said her kids loved playing in the sun. "Molly loves to go outside and play in the backyard or the park," she said. "She and her brothers might play a few iPhone games but nothing beats the outdoors for them."
DAILY DOSE OF 'D'

• Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the best source of Vitamin D, according to Cancer Council Australia.
• The risk of skin cancer from sun exposure needs to be balanced with the importance of maintaining vitamin D levels.
• Most people can maintain adequate vitamin D levels with six to 20 minutes of exposure to sunlight on their face and arms outside of the peak UV period from 10am to 3pm.
• At-risk groups include people with darker skin who may need more exposure, people who cover their skin and breastfed babies with vitamin D deficient mothers.

Coconut Water: Hype Or Healthy?

With its cultish celebrity following, coconut water has become the new go-to for thirsty health nuts. Celebs such as Rihanna, Madonna, Courteney Cox, and Mischa Barton are public supporters of the drink, but new research indicates coconut water may not be the health elixir it and its followers claim it to be.

Why coconut water?

Makers of coconut water claim their product is a healthy alternative to sports drinks because it not only hydrates, but also helps replenish electrolytes like potassium, sodium and magnesium.

According to WebMD, coconut water has been used as a way to rehydrate after exercise or illness, used as an emergency substitute for IV solutions, and may be a good storage solution for a tooth that has been knocked out until someone can see a dentist. Some substances in coconut water could theoretically have antioxidant benefits in the body. But before you race out and stock up, consider that though coconut drink has a strong A-list backing, it also lacks scientific support.

Scientific evidence is limited

Despite the health claims of coconut water followers, the scientific evidence is limited. WebMd says there are a couple of small studies that suggest coconut water may reduce the risk of heart attack and may significantly lower blood pressure, but that the celebrity-extolled drink has not been well-studied as a treatment and that there is no documented evidence to clearly prove the health benefits of coconut water.

New report finds false labeling

More drink for thought: ConsumerLab.com recently tested the Zico, Vita Coco, and O.N.E. brands of coconut water and found that the only product that actually contained what the label listed was Zico. According to CNN.com, "the sugar and potassium content in the other two brands, Vita Coco and O.N.E., also matched the label. But the amounts of sodium and magnesium -- two nutrients key to hydration -- were as much as 82% and 35% lower, respectively, than the listed amount."

Don't be deceived

If you are a hardcore fitness fanatic who works out long and hard, coconut water isn't going to replenish your electrolytes like a sports recovery drink specially formulated for athletes. However, if you like the way coconut water tastes and you want a little something extra after a modest workout, it won't hurt. Just beware that you may be just as well off drinking plain water. Bonnie Taub-Dix, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, told CNN: "When something like this becomes wildly popular, people have a tendency to look at the claims rather than reality."

http://www.sheknows.com/authors/michele-borboa-ms/articles

Couch Potato? Too Much TV Leads To Heart Issues, Diabetes

The average American watches five hours of television daily, making most of us officially "couch potatoes." However there is a downside besides watching habits that lead to bad eating and sleep deprivation. Now according to a new study, TV time is also associated with type 2 diabetes and heart problems. Yikes.

Aside from sleep, watching TV is the most common daily activity for Americans. In fact, prolonged television viewing is the most prevalent and pervasive sedentary behavior in industrialized countries and has been associated with morbidity and mortality. The study's team quantified for the first time how much the passive act of TV watching contributed to conditions like diabetes and heart disease, as well as to premature death.

For every two hours of TV watching, the researchers found the risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 20% over 8.5 years of follow-up, the risk of heart disease rose by 15% over a decade and the odds of dying from any cause increased 13% during a seven year follow-up.

Based on disease incidence in the US, the team estimates that among 100,000 individuals per year, each two-hour hike in TV viewing per day brings 176 new cases of type 2 diabetes, 38 new cases of fatal cardiovascular disease, and 104 new cases of all-cause mortality.

Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, who lead the analysis of past data sets, didn't explicitly say why TV time was associated with poor health, but the potential connections are no mystery.

Hu explains:

"Excessive TV watching is related to decreased physical activity, decreased consumption of health foods, and increased caloric intake. Now we know that excessive TV watching may do more damage than other types of sedentary behaviors, so it's a good idea to ask how much time people spend in front of the TV and for doctors to give advice not only about exercise but about how to reduce TV watching."

Television watching tends to promote other unhealthy activities like snacking on junk food and eating fewer fresh fruits and veggies. All of these are known risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, conditions that can contribute to early death.

In 2008, there were an estimated 327 million television sets in the US. An adult who watches three hours of TV a day is far more likely to be obese than an adult who watches less than one hour.

A National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey released in October 1995 found 4.7 million children between the ages of 6-17 (11% of this age group) to be severely overweight, more than twice the rate during the 1960's. The main culprits: inactivity (these same children average more than 22 hours of television-viewing a week) and a high-calorie diet. A 1991 study showed that there was an average of 200 junk food ads in four hours of children's Saturday morning cartoons.

Exercise doesn't necessarily make up for long sessions in front of the tube. When comparing groups of adults who exercised the same amount, but watched varying amounts of TV, those who watched more TV were still at a higher risk of dying during the study.

Sources: The Journal of the American Medical Association and The US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention

Written by Sy Kraft
Copyright: Medical News Today

Thyroid Cancer Risk May Increase Due to Multiple Dental X-Rays

By Mary Shomon, About.com Guide June 29, 2010

According to research conducted by UK and Kuwaiti investigators, and recently reported on in the journal Acta Oncologica, the risk of thyroid cancer increases with multiple exposure to dental x-rays.

The thyroid gland is sensitive to radiation, and radiation exposure is a known cause of thyroid cancer. But dental x-rays have long been overlooked as a source of radiation, given the low dose of the radiation used.

Repeated exposure, however, now appears to be correlated to an increased risk of thyroid cancer, and according to the researchers, their findings correlate to previous research that has found an increased risk of thyroid cancer in dentists, dental assistants, and x-ray workers.

The researchers found that study subjects who had up to four dental X-rays had more than double the risk of developing thyroid cancer than those who had never had a dental x-ray. Those who had between five and nine X-rays had a risk more than four times normal. And the greatest risk was for those with ten or more X-rays, whose risk was more than five times that of someone who had not received dental x-rays.

Lead investigator Dr. Anjum Memon has said that the implications of the findings are especially important, given the increased rate of thyroid cancer in the past 30 years. In the US, for example, thyroid cancer is the fastest growing form of cancer, and in the United Kingdom, the thyroid cancer rate has doubled from 1.4 per 100,000 in 1975, to 2.9 per 100,000 in 2006.

The researchers are cautioning, however, that the topic requires further research and study, especially to get a better estimate of the radiation doses and number of exposures that are more associated with an increased risk.

What Can You Do?

Given this new information, what should you do to help protect yourself against thyroid cancer?

According to the study author Dr. Memon: "Our study highlights the concern that, like chest or other upper body X-rays, dental X-rays should be prescribed when the patient has a specific clinical need, and not as part of routine check-up or when registering with a dentist. 'So, one of the first things you can do is to make sure that you get dental x-rays only when your dentist has a specific need for them, and not just as a routine part of treatment, i.e., routine annual x-rays, or a routine dental x-ray with every checkup.

Second, and this is a recommendation that I've been making for years here at the site and in my books: Ask the dentist to protect you with a lead thyroid collar when doing any x-rays. This is a recommendation that you'll also hear from About.com's guide to Dentistry, Shawn Watson, who says: "Before you have x-rays taken at your dental office, make sure the protective lead vest, that is placed over your body prior to taking an x-ray, has a thyroid collar." (My own dentist didn't even have a thyroid collar for the longest time. He used to look at me a bit strangely when I would ask that he protect my thyroid for dental x-rays. I would end up pulling the lead apron up so that it would go right up to my chin. Now he has an actual thyroid shield on his lead apron, thankfully!)

Third, if you have young children, minimize their exposure to any unnecessary dental x-rays, and insist that their dentists and orthodontists also use a thyroid collar. Children are especially susceptible to thyroid-damaging radiation, so you'll want to ensure they are not subjected to routine or unneeded dental x-rays. And for children, any essential x-rays should only be conducted with use of the appropriate lead thyroid collar.

Does Exercise Really Boost Your Metabolism? by Liz Neporent

You burn additional calories after a workout session without even trying -- which is sort of like a buy one, get one free deal at the supermarket. This concept of continuing to burn extra calories long after you've left the gym is called "afterburn." The amount of calories you burn depends on how long and how hard you work out in the first place.

You're likely to get the greatest afterburn from a long, hard weight-training workout. In one study, fit men who completed a super-high intensity, 90-minute strength workout, performing 60 sets with little rest in between, experienced an 11 percent metabolism increase for about two hours after the workout. The next morning, 15 hours after the workout, their metabolism was still elevated by a substantial 9 percent, which translated into about 150 extra calories burned. While these numbers are impressive, the workouts were far longer and more strenuous than most people can handle or tolerate on a regular basis without injury or burnout. During a more typical workout -- say, three sets of ten exercises -- researchers say a generous guesstimate for afterburn add up to no more than 50 to 75 calories total.

Still, that's a decent return on investment, and it's a considerably greater afterburn bonus than most people appear to enjoy from cardio workout. For the amount of aerobic exercise most people do -- about 30 to 45 minutes -- the afterburn appears to be less than 50 calories. Still, even such a miniscule boost is nice; five days a week could theoretically add up to a 3-pound weight loss over the course of a year with zero additional effort.

Weight training produces a greater afterburn than cardio exercise because it's a more intense type of workout and possibly because it elevates hormones, such as epinephrine, that simulate metabolic rate. It's also possible that the microscopic tissue damage caused by weight lifting may compel the body to expend extra energy for tissue repair.

So what about a more permanent elevation in metabolism? Is it possible that exercise can actually shift the number of calories you burn all the time by changing your body composition?

Lifting weights builds muscle, and the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn at rest. All true, but it takes a lot of extra muscle to dramatically rev up your resting metabolic rate. Although you may have heard that you burn an extra 50 or 100 calories per day for each pound of muscle you build, that figure isn't supported by science. The number is probably closer to 10 to 15 calories, so you really can't expect to see much of an increase in metabolic rate with the typical 3- to 4-pound increase in muscle mass.

It's actually unclear what you can expect to see. Weight-training studies have produced radically different findings. For example, some show an increase in fat-free mass of up to 4 pounds over 12 to 16 weeks, along with a boost in resting metabolism of up to 10 percent, or 160 calories a day. Others show no increase at all in resting metabolism over three to four months, despite increases in fat-free mass. Still, other studies show a slight increase in metabolism despite no increase in fat-free mass and no detectible increases in fat-free mass or metabolism.

One possible reason the data is all over the place is that most studies last just a few months, which isn't enough time for many people to build enough muscle to result in a significant metabolism spike. In many cases, the increase may be so small as to be within the margin of error for measurement. Also, fat-free mass isn't the same thing as muscle; increases in fat-free mass may, in part, reflect increases in water content, not muscle.

You're most likely to get a dramatic metabolism boost if you lift weights consistently for a couple of years and gain more than the typical few pounds of muscle. It's worth it, too, since many experts believe that even a paltry extra 40 calories burned a day could make a real difference in weight control.

But say you do get a metabolism boost from packing on muscle. That doesn't mean you can pat yourself on the back and park your butt for the rest of the day. In some research, a metabolic boost proved to be irrelevant because subjects became less active during the rest of the day. Even though their resting metabolic rates increased, the total number of daily calories they burned did not.

Besides, exercise probably plays its greatest role as you age -- something that's far more important than any temporary boosts or small long-term increases. Sedentary people tend to lose at least one-third of their muscle from age 30 to age 70, but consistent weight lifting may offset most of the decline. With more muscle and a resting metabolic rate than doesn't grind to a halt with advancing age, you're less likely to gain fat.

Back from Hell: Treating PTSD with Massage and Other Bodywork Therapies

An interesting article recently published online talks about the therapeutic benefits of touch (massage therapy, in this case) for PTSD, without making it seem like either a panacea, or a complete walk in the park. Kudos to the article's author for acknowledging the difficulties faced by this client population, and the special sensitivities needed. Bodywork modalities like massage therapy, craniosacral therapy, possibly even Reiki and therapeutic touch, hold some promise for treating combat veterans, provided the practitioners are educated about the special challenges of that population, and provided the participants are willing. (The attached photo is of a crayon drawing, done by one appreciative child patient, depicting his practitioner's healing hands.)

The article is well worth reading, and is excerpted in part below:

Traumatized in war, often faced with family and job relationship difficulties, and also frequently confronted with government bureaucracy, veterans deal with high levels of anger. One study stated, "Anger management intervention is an integral part of post-traumatic stress disorder treatment in the Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the country."11 The presence of intense anger, along with other deep emotions, can cause a veteran -- triggered during therapy -- to undergo an explosive emotional release. "PTSD may cause a person to fly into a rage for no apparent reason or strike out in fear at inappropriate targets."12

"Vets tend to have a more violent type of reaction if a memory comes up," explained Chris Smith, director of education at the Colorado School of Healing Arts in Lakewood, Colorado. Smith, who is also a massage therapist and instructor for the school's 100-hour program in Trauma Touch Therapy, explained, "It takes a therapist who can stay grounded and isn't afraid of the intense emotional outbursts." Because of their war-time experiences, she said, veterans in therapy may tend to be "less resourced" in how to handle stress and "more hyperaroused" than other trauma clients.

According to some therapists who work closely with veterans, the VA and other group programs provide only limited help for veterans. After a certain amount of time has passed, these therapists say talking about the trauma in a group setting can become a useless "rehashing" of the horrors. To emerge from the sense of victimization may likely demand hard, individual work in therapy on the part of the patient. It generally requires facilitation by an extremely grounded and well-versed therapist. If the veteran chooses to try an alternative therapy, such as massage, the process will likely necessitate participation not only in bodywork sessions, but also in simultaneous sessions with a psychotherapist.

One massage therapist who has worked with veterans visited a VA hospital to learn more about PTSD and observed that many of the veterans were in extremely serious condition. "For many vets, the only answer is a great deal of isolation and seclusion and often medication that can have so many other side effects. They often cope by removing stimulation as much as possible," she said.

It seems like a good time to re-mention the fabulous Claude Anshin Thomas passage in his book, At Hell's Gate (see sidebar), about suffering not being the enemy. Click this link to bring back that earlier blog entry.

Chronic Pain Affects Memory, Concentration (Published in Massage Magazine)

Musculoskeletal pain brings many clients to massage therapy. New research shows people who live with chronic spinal pain (for more than three months) experience difficulty with mental concentration and problems with remembering information.

Researchers placed a total of 64 patients with musculoskeletal pain syndromes in the lumbosacral area into two age groups: 30 to 50 years (41 patients) and 51 to 60 years (23 patients), according to an abstract published on www.pubmed.gov.

The reference group consisted of 20 healthy volunteers comparable in terms of gender, age and level of education. The patients underwent neurological, neuro-orthopedic, clinical-pathopsychological and neuropsychological investigations, the abstract noted.

Among the results:

• Complaints of difficulty with mental concentration were present in 17.3 percent of patients, and problems with remembering information in 20.2 percent of patients.
• As compared with healthy subjects, both groups of patients had cognitive functions in younger patients were affected by the sensory-discriminant (intensity) and affective-motivational (negative emotions, particularly anxiety) characteristics of pain.
• Cognitive functions in older patients were affected by the affective-motivational (anxiety, level of psychoemotional distress) and cognitive (level of catastrophization) components of pain.

"Characteristics of Cognitive Functions in Patients with Chronic Spinal Pain" ran in the journal Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology in December 2010. It was conducted by researchers at Department of Nervous Diseases, Therapeutic Faculty, I. M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, Moscow, Russia.

The Metabolic Detective: A Look at Nutrition for Your Thyroid Interview with Dr. Edward Bauman

According to Dr. Bauman, thyroid disease is not caused by one toxin, nutritional deficiency, or pathogen. Rather, he feels that thyroid problems more likely result from a number of different factors, including environmental exposures, pesticides, chemicals, and a number of deficiencies in nutrients that result from improper diet or toxic overload.

At the same time, Dr. Bauman does not believe that any one food, supplement, or detoxification process is the easy solution to a thyroid problems. It's a function of finding the right balance among a number of approaches, and that's something that's difficult to do on your own. Dr. Bauman believes that most patients will need to find and work with a practitioner - whether it's a nutritionist, or holistic M.D., naturopath, or other insightful practitioner - who understands thyroid problems. Dr. Bauman, who in addition to running IET, also works with patients for nutritional consultations, feels that thyroid problems can be complex, and says "It can take me three to six months to figure out a thyroid problem."
At the same time, Dr. Bauman does not believe that any one food, supplement, or detoxification process is the easy solution to a thyroid problems. It's a function of finding the right balance among a number of approaches, and that's something that's difficult to do on your own. Dr. Bauman believes that most patients will need to find and work with a practitioner - whether it's a nutritionist, or holistic M.D., naturopath, or other insightful practitioner - who understands thyroid problems. Dr. Bauman, who in addition to running IET, also works with patients for nutritional consultations, feels that thyroid problems can be complex, and says "It can take me three to six months to figure out a thyroid problem."

While Dr. Bauman relies primarily on nutritional solutions, he does not oppose using thyroid medications, and he said he frequently works with patients who are on thyroid hormone replacement. Often, he's found that patients who begin nutrient support will go for several months, and then make a decision whether to taper down their medication dosage over time.

In looking at the issues behind thyroid problems, Dr. Bauman identifies three different stages of hypothyroidism:

1. When the gland can't make good hormone.
2. When the gland makes hormone but the gland and peripheral organs don't convert the hormone - an impaired T4 to T3 conversion ability.
3. When the gland can produce the hormone, and the body can convert the hormone, but the immune system can't handle it, and hormones can't get to the receptor site. Dr. Bauman refers to this as a "receptor site problem." According to Dr. Bauman, "Just like there is a situation known as insulin resistance, there's also a similar situation, thyroid resistance."

Nutritionally, Dr. Bauman focuses then on helping the gland make good hormone, helping the conversion from T4 to T3, and helping reduce or eliminate any receptor site resistance.

According to Dr. Bauman, "I'm a nutritionist, but I'm also a metabolic detective. I'm looking for substances that alter thyroid function by either damaging the gland, or altering enzyme conversion."

Dr. Bauman has worked extensively with patients studying food's effects on the endocrine system, and had some guidelines for thyroid patients on how the toxins we are exposed to, the food we eat, and the nutrients we lack can affect our thyroid conditions, general health, and ability to lose weight.

Avoid Aspartame

A product that is of particular concern to Dr. Bauman is the artificial sweetener aspartame, which goes by the brand name Nutrasweet. He feels that Nutrasweet is a particular problem for thyroid health, and that it can specifically can contribute to hyperthyroidism.

In 1981, aspartame came on the U.S. market, and became the first new low-calorie sweetener approved by the Food and Drug Administration in more than 25 years. Aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanyl-methyl-ester) is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, and has almost no calorie count. Aspartame breaks down in the body into several components, including: phenylalanine, which can be a neurotoxin, and may trigger seizures in some susceptible people; aspartic acid, which has the ability to cause brain damage in a developing brain; and methanol, which in the body converts into formaldehyde, a toxin.

Sweet Poison After firefighter Janet Starr Hull collapsed on the job, she was told she had a deadly case of Graves' disease, and might die. Searching for the cause of her illness, Hull discovered what she felt was the culprit in her illness -- the chemical sweetener aspartame - which is found in Nutrasweet She wrote a book to discuss her efforts at recovery and the little known facts about aspartame . You can read about it in her book, Sweet Poison: How the World's Most Popular Artificial Sweetener Is Killing Us - My Story.

The concerns over aspartame are definitely controversial. While the FDA and manufacturer maintain that the product is safe, there are accusations that accurate data has not been made available to the public regarding testing and side effects.

Noted alternative practitioner Andrew Weil, M.D. summed it up well when he said at his site: "Because I have seen a number of patients - mostly women - who report headaches from using it, I don't view it as nontoxic or biologically inert. Some women also find that aspartame aggravates PMS. There are no proven long-term side effects, but there's a lot of suspicion. "

Detoxify Mercury and Metals

Dr. Bauman feels that mercury toxicity is really quite important. According to Dr. Bauman, dental mercury is in close proximity to the thyroid, and the nerves that enervate the thyroid run along the same plexus. When mercury toxicity is present, Dr. Bauman feels that the straight remediation approach to treating thyroid disease isn't always enough.

According to Dr. Bauman, "I've seen people who've had some sort of oral chelation therapy - nutrients and herbs - to try to clear out the toxins, and their thyroid normalized. This was after having tried thyroid medications, herbs, natural thyroid, etc."

Holistic physician Joseph Mercola, D.O., offers one protocol for mercury detoxification at his site, focusing on proper nutrition, use of flora or probiotic supplements, use of chlorella or ProChitosan, and other elements.

According to a statement released by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, "Research has shown that mercury even in extremely small amounts has toxic effects, for example, low dose mercury exposure has been shown to produce neurological pathology, cytotoxicity to nerve tissue."

Some alternative practitioners do not believe that there's clearcut evidence that mercury fillings have any noticeable impact on health. Dr. Weil, for example, has said: "I don't think any study has been large enough or designed well enough to determine for sure whether there is a long-term effect from mercury fillings. One problem is that any harm may be subtle and hard to detect."

The issue of mercury toxicity is a controversial one, because conventional dentists maintain that it's entirely safe. Dental amalgam containing mercury are used extensively in tooth fillings and according to the American Dental Association, in a 1995 survey, up to 76 percent of dentists say they use it as their primary restoration material. According to a statement from the American Dental Association's Gary C. Armitage, chairperson of ADA's Council on Scientific Affairs., "The World Health Organization, FDI World Dental Federation and the American Dental Association (ADA) all support the continued use of dental amalgam as a safe, durable and cost-effective material to restore teeth."

Stabilizing the adrenal function is really helpful for the thyroid. In particular, according to Dr. Bauman, for people dealing with allergies and stress, the adrenals can be forced into overdrive. And, when there are hormonal changes such as puberty, perimenopause, and menopause, the adrenals and fat tissue are forced to pick up where the ovaries leave off. If adrenals aren't up to the task, there can be various hypothyroid and hyperthyroid reactions.

Some practitioners, such as the United Kingdom's Dr Barry J Durrant-Peatfield, believe that adrenal insufficiencies must be addressed and balanced before thyroid problems can truly be resolved. In some cases, Dr. Durrant-Peatfield used low-dose cortisone with patients.

Adrenal crisis may explain in part the theory behind the highly controversial "Wilson's Syndrome," which theorizes that stress causes the body to fail at converting T4 to T3, and instead convert to an inactive form of T3 known as Reverse T3. Wilson's proponents advocate treatment with the controversial use of all-T3 therapy, which is not an accepted treatment by most practitioners, conventional or alternative.

When T4 to T3 conversion is suspected to be impaired, Dr. Bauman feels that nutritional supplements can help, and selenium, zinc, vitamin E and B6 supplementation may be needed in order to help enhance the conversion process.

Use Hormone-Free Meats

Hormones that come in via the food chain, can be used by the thyroid for its own constituent tissue. Certain steroids and hormones are fed to animals in the U.S. for example, and when this meat is eaten, according to Dr. Bauman, the body will absorb these "xeno-hormonal" materials. Exposure to those hormones can offset the body's own natural production of hormones.

Organic meats can usually be found at chains such as Fresh Fields or Whole Foods, or local co-operative markets. The most widely distributed brands include Laura's Lean Beef, Peterson's Pork, or Buddy's Chicken.

Avoid Iodized Salt

According to Dr. Bauman, use of commercial iodized salt is not recommended for thyroid patients. Iodized salt contains aluminum and sugar as stabilizing elements, and those are irritants to the thyroid and can create imbalances. Dr. Bauman believes that "the body can have difficulty dealing with metabolizing refined salt, because the salt is heated at high temperatures, and the body tends to retain the salt and it can become a stimulant."

Dr. Bauman recommends a switch to an unrefined salt, including Celtic salt, Japanese salt, or a good quality sea salt. These salts also have additional benefit, in that they offer some trace elements. Many of these salts are available at natural and health food stores, or online.

Add Seaweeds, Chlorella and Algaes to Your Diet

Rather than taking iodine in it's straight form, Dr. Bauman suggests thyroid patients consider adding seaweeds to their diet. In particular, Dr. Bauman recommends dulse, a type of northern Atlantic seaweed, which he finds beneficial for hypothyroidism, rather than kelp. Dulse has a far better flavor than kelp, and different mineral composition that seems nutritionally better suited for thyroid patients.

Some natural and health food stores have dulse. You can also check out the sites for Maine Sea Vegetables and Slocum and Ferris dulse products.

Sodium alginate is a thickener that contains kelp. A good mercury chelating agent and source of trace minerals, it can be used to make a healthy dessert. According to Dr. Bauman, adding two tablespoons of agar/sodium alginate to 1 quart of fruit juice (Dr. Bauman recommends half coconut, half pineapple), makes a nice fruity gelatin.

In an interview with Mary Shomon, Dr. Mercola also recommended the use of seaweeds. Says Dr. Mercola:

"The best source of organically bound iodine that I know of is non-commercially harvested seaweeds. The dose is about 5 grams a day or about one ounce per week. . . . The better seaweeds are hand picked and dried and not typically available in health food stores. They are the absolute best forms of minerals that I am aware of. . . Kelp from the health food store may work, but it really depends on how it was harvested and there is no way to know that reliably, so I rely on seaweed harvesters who hand pick the seaweed and reliably dry them free from contaminants."

Chlorella and algaes are also recommended. Chlorella is a single-celled alga that is high in chlorophyll. Chlorella comes from the Pacific Ocean, and according to Dr. Bauman, has high trace elements, good amino acids, good tyrosine, and even good omega 3 fatty acids. Dr. Bauman feels that chlorella and other algaes can enrich the diet, feed the gland, and can help with moderate detoxification.

Dr. Bauman believes that coconut is a particularly important food for thyroid patient. Coconut contains monolauric acid, which has strong antiviral property and is soothing fuel for the glandular system. Dr. Bauman suggests thyroid patients incorporate natural coconut into the diet, or buy unsweetened desiccated coconut, or unsweetened coconut milk (such as used in Thai cooking).

Dr. Bauman also suggests that if you can't or don't want to drink cow or soy milk, you can use coconut milk. To make coconut milk, take desiccated coconut and cashews, soak ¼ cup of each with 1 quart of water, blend, then strain, for a creamy, smooth, nutritive blend.

According to noted author and alternative medicine expert, Dr. Ray Peat, "Coconut oil has several thyroid-promoting effects. It contains butyric acid which helps thyroid hormone move into the brain [liothyronine (T3 ) uptake into glial cells]. It opposes anti-thyroid unsaturated oils. It contains short and medium chain fatty acids which help modulate blood sugar, is anti-allergic, and protects mitochondria against stress injuries."

In her book, "The Body Ecology Diet," Donna Gates' also writes that coconut helps to balance out the thyroid, and recommends it as part of a healthy diet.

Eat More Fish and Flax Seeds

Dr. Bauman believes fatty acids are vital for the uptake of the thyroid. Ocean fish are one good source of fatty acids. While you'd still be better off replacing some meat in your diet with something like canned tuna, some tunas have methyl mercury, so you are better off going with ocean fish. Keep in mind that most salmon sold in the U.S. is farm raised. In order to have the needed Omega-3 fatty acids, fish need to eat algae, so farm-raised fish do not have fatty acid value.

Another good source is whole flax seeds. According to Dr. Bauman, flax seeds look like sesame seeds, and have a good taste. They offer high fiber and lignans, vitamin E and zinc, from a nutritional perspective. He recommends grinding fresh flax seeds in a coffee grinder, and sprinkling the powder on hot cereal, or over a salad, or in a soup, eating 1 - 2 tablespoons, a few times a day. (Keep in mind to add the ground flax seeds to foods after cooking.)

Consider Food's Effects on Antibody Levels

In the case of autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Dr. Bauman believes that foods themselves may be creating problems. According to Dr. Bauman, "food sensitivities, such as to dairy, gluten/wheat, and hormones added to meats, for example, can disrupt the overall endocrine system."

When you have elevated antibodies, such as found in Hashimoto's disease or Graves' disease, your body has found something antigenic -- something it perceives to be a "foreign body" - and the body feels it needs to be vigilant. According to Dr. Bauman, the things that can cause a high antigen load, and thus elevate antibody levels, include:

• Food antigens
• Environmental antigens
• Body tissue that has been impacted with a foreign substance

Some patients and practitioners report that thyroid symptoms increase when the diet is higher in processed sugars, or when they are exposed to seasonal allergens, or when they've had a virus. Dr. Bauman explains that exposure to antigens or allergens are the reason behind this activity. He believes that a malfunctioning thyroid may already be exhibiting evidence that it's infected with a virus, yeast, or toxic metals, which as already weakened the "terrain" - the gland itself. Then, when the immune system sees a foreign material, the thyroid being weak is likely to be susceptible to that "invader," and the immune system, in an effort to clear out the foreign substance, essentially says, 'let's clear out the thyroid.'"

So, for example, if you have bacteria or yeast that has compromised your thyroid, when you eat refined sugars, you feed the bacteria or yeast, which can aggravate the inflammatory and antigenic response, and antibody levels will go up.

In the case of autoimmunity, Dr. Bauman feels that detoxification can be particularly helpful, including antioxidants and some form of chelation.

Consider Thyroid and Lympathic Massage

Dr. Bauman indicated that the thyroid has problems with deposition, so very gentle, massage of the thyroid and lymphatic system may be of benefit to help eliminate what he refers to as the "bottleneck around the gland. " You can find out more about Lymph Drainage Massage in an article by Sean Riehl, author of Lymphatic Drainage, and founder of Real Bodywork, or in Mario-Paul Cassar's Massage for Detoxification.

Institute Other Dietary Changes

In addition to the recommendations noted here, for thyroid patients, Dr. Bauman favors a whole foods approach, using organic foods.

He recommends a diet that is sufficient in protein, and even potentially vegetable based, but not necessarily vegetarian, as seeds and seafoods are important. Seeds recommended include pumpkin, chia, and flax seeds.

For some patients, nutritional brewers yeast may also be a good dietary addition.

Seaweeds and sea vegetables are also a good addition. Dr. Bauman recommends bladderwrack as a soothing and normalizing supplement. But patients need to be careful, and if they see signs that a product- particularly those that contain iodine -- is stimulating (tenderness in the neck, enlargement of a goiter, swelling in the thyroid area), keep in mind that you might need to cut back, and not take a product daily, but rather, even weekly.

Increase your understanding of trans fatty acids

Increase your understanding of trans fatty acids -- harmful artificial fats that the Federal Government now requires to appear on nutrition labels -- with the help of University of Maryland Medical Center registered dietitian Mary Beth Sodus.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration shed light on a potentially serious health threat recently when it announced that products containing trans fatty acids require stringent nutritional labeling starting in 2006. And one city in the U.S. has gone further. In December 2006, New York City became the first city in the nation to ban artificial trans fats at all restaurants. Restaurants in the city will be required to eliminate the artificial trans fats from all of their foods by July 2008.

Trans fats can be natural or artificial. Small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in beef and dairy foods. Artificial trans fats are made when hydrogen gas reacts with oil. They can be found in cookies, crackers, icing, potato chips, stick margarine and microwave popcorn. About 80 percent of trans fat in American's diet comes from factory-produced partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Trans fats are artificial fats made when hydrogen gas reacts with oil. They can be found in cookies, crackers, icing, potato chips, margarine and microwave popcorn.

Many manufacturers started including trans fats in their processed foods about 20 years ago to prolong their products' shelf life, but public health experts warn that these kinds of fats clog arteries and cause obesity.

"Numerous studies have found that trans fats raise our risk of heart disease," said Mary Beth Sodus, a registered dietitian at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "They can also contribute to an increase in total cholesterol levels and a drop in the healthy HDL cholesterol. These man-made fats are much worse for you than any other natural fat, even the saturated fats found in butter and beef."

Below are Sodus's answers to some frequently asked questions about trans fatty acids:

What are Trans Fatty Acids?

They are man-made or processed fats, which are made from a liquid oil. When you add hydrogen to liquid vegetable oil and then add pressure, the result is a stiffer fat, like the fat found in a can of Crisco. Trans fats are also called hydrogenated fats.

Why are They Bad for You?

Trans fats pose a higher risk of heart disease than saturated fats, which were once believed to be the worst kind of fats. While it is true that saturated fats -- found in butter, cheese and beef, for example -- raise total cholesterol levels, trans fats go a step further. Trans fats not only raise total cholesterol levels, they also deplete good cholesterol (HDL), which helps protect against heart disease.

What Harm do They do to the Body?

The stiffer and harder fats are, the more they clog up your arteries. Artificial trans fats do the same thing in our bodies that bacon grease does to kitchen sinks. Over time, they can "clog the pipes" that feed the heart and brain, which can lead to heart attack or stroke risk.

According to the comprehensive Nurses' Health Study -- the largest investigation of women and chronic disease -- trans fats double the risk of heart disease in women.

Why Have Trans Fatty Acids been Put in So Many Food Products?

No human body has any need for these man-made fats. Food manufacturers started putting them in products because they allow for a longer shelf life. Crackers, for example, can stay on the shelf and stay crispy for years in part because of the hydrogenated fats in them.

Are Trans Fats Bad for Kids?

Trans fats increase the risk for heart disease. Therefore, children who start at age 3 or 4 eating a steady diet of fast food, pop tarts, commercially prepared fish sticks, stick margarine, cake, candy, cookies and microwave popcorn can be expected to get heart disease earlier than kids who are eating foods without trans fats.

While a person may not get heart disease until they are in their 40s, some of our research here at the University of Maryland has shown that kids as young as 8, 9 and 10 already have the high cholesterol and blood fats that clog arteries. By starting healthy eating habits early, parents can help their children avoid heart attacks and stroke.

What Steps Can Parents Take?

1. Model healthy eating behaviors, make healthy choices available.
   
   Try new fruits, vegetables, bean, chicken and other foods and recipes. Cook or prepare food more often as a family. Guard against fatigue because a tired parent can rely too heavily on fast foods or highly processed foods.
   
   
2. Learn how to identify high fat and trans fat foods.
   
   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring food labels to list trans fats in January 2006. Trans fats are listed under the Fat category of the Nutrition Facts panel. Many foods are now formulated to be trans fat free. Naturally low fat foods are generally the best: fruits of all types, vegetables, chicken, turkey, fish, beans, whole grains, breads and some cereals. These foods can be fixed in fun ways that your children will enjoy.
   
   
3. Learn the categories of foods that are likely to have trans fats:
   
   • Fast foods - fried chicken, biscuits, fried fish sandwiches, French fries, fried apple or other pie desserts
   • Donuts, muffins
   • Crackers
   • Many cookies
   • Cake, cake icing, & pie
   • Microwave popped corn
   • Canned biscuits
   • International and instant latte coffee beverages parents are more likely to use
     
     
4. Be a smart shopper
   
   • Don't shop when you're hungry because you're more likely to make poor choices and buy on impulse when you shop on an empty stomach. If you take the children with you, give them a satisfying snack before you go. Stand firm in your plans about what you will and will not purchase.
     
     
   • Shop the perimeter of the store. Most of the processed foods, which contain a lot of trans fats, are on the inner isles of the supermarket.
     
     
   • Have a plan for quick meals, snacks and lunch items you plan to purchase. Buy foods that you can fix quickly at home such as stir-fry packages, rice or couscous, chicken and salmon you can grill.
     
     
   • When you do purchase processed foods, choose the lower fat versions of crackers, cereals and desserts.
     
     
   • Finally, remember that you are responsible for the quality of the foods you bring into the house for your children. Children eat the foods that are available to them.

Massage Therapy Can Ease Symptoms of Muscular Dystrophy

by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

In general, those who choose massage therapy as a profession share a genuine desire to help people. Wanting to help others is the cornerstone of compassion, defined by freedictionary.com as “deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.” When it comes to relieving the suffering caused by muscular dystrophy, massage therapists have the opportunity of a lifetime.

Describing over 30 genetic diseases characterized by progressive weakness and skeletal muscle degeneration, muscular dystrophy (MD) can occur in infancy, childhood or adulthood. The disorders differ in terms of the distribution and extent of muscle weakness, age of onset, rate of progression and pattern of inheritance.

The primary types of MD include:

· Duchenne – This is the most common form of MD and primarily affects boys. It is caused by the absence of dystrophin, a protein involved in maintaining the integrity of muscle. Onset is between 3 and 5 years and the disorder progresses rapidly. Most boys are unable to walk by age 12, and later need a respirator to breathe.

· Becker – Becker MD is very similar to, but less severe than Duchenne MD. Those afflicted with Becker MD have faulty or not enough dystrophin. This form generally affects older boys and young men, and progresses more slowly, usually over several decades.

· Facioscapulohumeral – Also known as Landouzy-Dejerine disease, this form of MD usually begins in the teenage years. It causes progressive weakness in muscles of the face, arms, legs, shoulders and chest. It progresses slowly and can vary in symptoms from mild to disabling.

· Myotonic – Also known as Steinert’s disease, this MD is the most common adult form and is typified by prolonged muscle spasms, cataracts, cardiac abnormalities and endocrine disturbances. Individuals with myotonic MD typically exhibit long, thin faces, drooping eyelids and a swan-like neck.

Physiology
Both the Duchenne and Becker forms of MD revolve around a problem with, or the absence of, the protein dystrophin. Dystrophin is necessary for normal muscle tissue function. Here is a quick refresher to help place dystrophin’s role in muscle physiology. Myosin, the muscle’s thick filament, pulls on actin, the thin filament, by swiveling its head. This causes the actin to slide towards the M line, (the center of the muscle’s sarcomere), shortening the muscle. Dystrophin has many spider-like links to actin, attaching actin to the endomysium (part of the muscle’s tendon). Therefore, when actin slides towards the M line, the dystrophin pulls on the bone-surrounding endomysium, which ultimately creates movement. Therefore, a deficiency or lack of dystrophin has devastating effects on muscle movement, control and health.

Signs and Symptoms
Signs and symptoms vary according to the type of muscular dystrophy. Typical symptoms include:

· Muscle weakness
· Lack of coordination
· Progressive crippling
· Involuntary muscle contractions
· Loss of mobility

Many specific signs and symptoms vary from among the different forms of MD. Each type is different in the age of onset, what parts of the body the symptoms primarily affect and how rapidly the disease progresses. For example, signs and symptoms unique to Duchenne MD may include:

· Frequent falls
· Large calf muscles
· Difficulty getting up from a lying or sitting position
· Weakness in lower leg muscles, resulting in difficulty with running and jumping
· Waddling gait
· Mild mental retardation (in some cases)

Treatment
There is no specific treatment to stop or reverse any form of MD. Treatment plans are designed to help prevent or reduce deformities in the joints and spine and to allow people with MD to remain mobile as long as possible. While not curative, typical treatment approaches utilize medications, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, speech therapy, orthopedic appliances used for support, and corrective orthopedic surgery. Drug therapy includes corticosteroids to slow muscle degeneration, anticonvulsants to control seizures and muscle activity, immunosuppressants to delay damage to dying muscle cells and antibiotics to fight respiratory infections.

A host of alternative treatments are often turned to for periodic, symptomatic relief for muscular dystrophy. In particular, massage therapy has been reported to ease a wide range of MD’s symptoms including:

· Relieving muscle pain
· Relaxing tight or contracted muscles
· Increasing circulation in a deprived area
· Restoring some range of motion

Since the goal of all bodywork is analogous to its application for muscular dystrophy, it almost appears massage is designed specifically for MD’s symptoms. While never intended to replace or supersede a physician’s advice, adding regular massage therapy sessions to a MD management plan can help reduce spasms, ease chronically tightened muscles, and improve the person’s quality of life. By seeking to help those with muscular dystrophy, a practitioner’s compassion can go a long, long way.