For the majority of people, acne comes, stays for a month or so, and then passes peacefully away. There’s some looks and comments to put up with but, for the most part, the whole experience is painless. But for those of you who are unlucky, the comments and behavior toward you are cruel. This is more likely when a mild outbreak refuses to clear up, or the outbreak is more severe. Then those whose mouths are bigger than their brains will suggest you have hygiene problems or start treating you as if you have leprosy or some serious contagious disease. This can cause emotional scarring. No matter how you prepare yourself when you leave home every morning, there’s a sense of dread you can never shake off as you approach school or work. It passes beyond self-consciousness. It becomes a fear of being seen in public. Left untreated, this can become social anxiety disorder or, in the worst cases, agoraphobia. In theory, schools and colleges are supposed to have policies in place to deal with bullying. Workplaces are supposed to have codes to deal with harassment. But the reality is that pieces of paper cannot stop a group of fellow students or colleagues from making your life a misery. Because your emotional health is at risk, this is not a time to be slow in coming forward. You need to get protection and support. Failure to confront the problem now simply stores up the problem for you in the future. When it comes to physical scars, only a small number of people have levels of inflammation or skin irritation sufficiently severe to leave blemishes as the acne heals. No one is sure why some people scar and others do not. It seems to be something to do with the way the collagen in your skin reacts, causing a change in the texture or coloring of the skin around the site of the inflammation. This can show as small pits or holes in the skin. These are not usually deep and have smooth edges, but one variety is called “ice pick” where the hole is deeper, has steeper sides, and has more defined edges. Or there can be slightly raised, thicker scar tissue on the chest or back. These scars are more common on those with darker skin so if you are African American or Asian, you should have early treatment to reduce the risk. Physical scars can be a permanent mark, but you can have them removed by dermabrasion – a procedure that removes the top layers of skin. This can be painful for ice pick scars and a local anesthetic is used. If deep abrasion is required, there can be risks of even further damage to the skin, so take proper medical advice before consenting to the treatment. This should emphasize the importance of early treatment to prevent the acne from growing severe. If the other treatments fail, Accutane will restore unblemished skin. But do remember the risks. Do not use Accutane for more than three months in any one session. If you can have children, take every possible precaution to prevent pregnancy.
Archive for ◊ October, 2010 ◊
Your girlfriend isn’t satisfied in bed. Does it matter?
For some couples, the answer might be a resounding yes. But for many women, a lack of sexual desire or pleasure isn’t worth getting worked up about. Studies find that while one-third to nearly one-half of women report sexual function problems, only about 10 percent are worried about those troubles.
Unsurprisingly, the 10 percent of women who experience both problems with desire and stress about sexual function have received the bulk of the research attention – they’re the ones with real problems, after all. But studies on the happily dysfunctional might provide hints into the factors that influence sexual distress. (The results could also give these women a hint of what they were missing.)
“We’ve assumed for so long that for both men and women, these problems were always depressing,” Kyle Stephenson, a University of Texas at Austin doctoral candidate in psychology who recently published a paper on the topic, told LiveScience.
When survey data proved that notion wrong, Stephenson said, the question became, “What happens within the confines of a sexual relationship that makes these problems so distressing you want to seek treatment?”
The dysfunction gap
Sexual problems are common in both genders. A 1999 study of sexual dysfunction in the United States, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 43 percent of women and 31 percent of men reported sexual problems. It’s the flavor of those problems that tends to differ, said Sheryl Kingsberg, a psychologist at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
“For women, the biggest problem is going to be desire,” Kingsberg told LiveScience.
Men, on the other hand, tend to experience problems with the plumbing: premature ejaculation in young men and erectile dysfunction in older men.
Compared with the stew of physical, psychological and cultural factors that make up desire, erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation are a breeze to treat. The common male problems are also easier to diagnose. Want to have sex but can’t maintain an erection? That’s erectile dysfunction. Don’t have the desire to have sex? Well, maybe you’re tired. Or stressed. Or in a bad relationship. Or experiencing medication side effects.
Compounding the confusion is the fact that women’s subjective experiences of sex may not match up with their physical sexual response. A 2008 study of more than 31,000 women, published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, found that while 43 percent of women reported having sexual problems, only about a quarter cared.
And female patients and doctors don’t always agree on sexual setbacks. For instance, researchers found that 10 percent of the 436 English women (ages 35-59) studied felt they had sexual problems. However, as reported in 1988 in the British Medical Journal, a third of those didn’t meet the researchers’ criteria for sexual dysfunction. (That study found that overall 33 percent of participants met criteria for sex problems.)
A similar result popped up in 1998, when a study published in the journal Family Practice reported that 39 percent of the female respondents were interested in seeking help for their sexual problems, but only half of that 39 percent actually had problems by the researchers’ reckoning.
Putting sex in context
Part of the reason dysfunction and distress don’t match up, said Leonard Derogatis, the director of the Center for Sexual Medicine at Sheppard Pratt Health System, is that the average woman’s sexual desire is more contextual than a man’s.
“Women might be having sex for a dozen different reasons, only one of which might be that it feels good and is satisfying,” Derogatis told LiveScience. “It’s a path to intimacy, it’s a path to fulfilling a role of the woman or wife, it’s a means to keeping her partner happy, and on and on.”
That context is what Stephenson and his co-author and adviser, UT Austin psychologist Cindy Meston, were interested in investigating. They asked 200 heterosexual undergraduate women to complete questionnaires about their relationship quality and sexual satisfaction. The results, published in August in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggest a woman’s approach to relationships, as well as her level of intimacy with her partner, influence how distressing she’ll find sexual problems.
The researchers went into the study predicting that in intimate relationships marked by trust and openness, sexual problems would be less distressing. That turned out to be true only to a point, Stephenson said. Only women who were anxious about their attachment to their partners found intimacy soothing in the face of sexual dysfunction. In women with secure attitudes about their relationships, extra intimacy didn’t help.
It may be that women who are anxious about their relationship are so relieved to have intimacy, they ignore problems in bed, Stephenson said. The women who are secure, on the other hand, might put a higher priority on sex.
When the researchers set aside other sexual problems and looked at low sexual desire alone, however, they found that intimacy did protect against distress. That could be because women in intimate relationships are experiencing closeness in nonsexual ways, Stephenson said, or it could be that when they tell they’re partner they’re not in the mood, he’s more understanding.
Stephenson is now collecting preliminary data to try to understand what happens on a case-by-case basis when a woman has problems with sexual functioning. Does her partner get frustrated? Do they end up having less sex? And how are those consequences tied to her experience of distress?
“It’s all speculation at this point,” Stephenson said.
DEFINITIONS
Dandruff is a chronic condition where there is hair loss on the scalp, characterized by itching and flaking scalp. Although dandruff is not contagious and is rarely serious but it can be embarrassing and sometimes difficult to treat.
Good news is that dandruff can usually be controlled. In mild cases only requiring nothing more than washing your hair every day with a gentle cleanser. In more difficult cases often require medical shampoo.
SYMPTOMS
In many teens and adults, the symptoms of dandruff is easy to see that a white powder, flakes of dead skin on the head of greasy as dots on the hair and shoulders and itchy.
This type of dandruff is called cradle cap in infants may be exposed. This disease, which causes hair loss and scalp, is most common in newborns, but can occur at any time until childhood. Despite a warning for parents, cradle cap is not dangerous and usually disappear over time.
Causes & Risk Factors
Cause
Dandruff can have several causes, namely:
• Dry skin. Dry skin is a lot of causes scalp irritation and hair loss. Flakes of dry skin are generally smaller and less oily than other cases of dandruff.
• Irritation, oily skin (seborrheic dermatitis). These conditions often cause dandruff. Marked by red, greasy skin covered with flake white or yellow scales. Seborrheic dermatitis resulted not only in the scalp but also other areas that have many oil glands, such as the eyebrows, the nose and behind the ears, chest and sometimes in the armpit.
• Often do not use shampoo. If you do not clean your hair regularly, oil and skin cells on the scalp can be formed, which causes dandruff.
• Psoriaris. This skin disease causes the accumulation of dead skin cells to form silver scales. Psoriaris usually occurs in the knees, elbows, and other body parts, but also can occur on the scalp.
• Eczema. If you have eczema on the scalp, chances are you’ll get dandruff.
• Sensitivity to hair care products. Sometimes sensitivity to certain hair care products or hair dye can cause redness, itching, and scalp hair loss. Washing hair with shampoo too often or using too many products for hair can also cause irritation of the scalp, causing dandruff.
• Yeast-like fungus (Malassezia). Malassezia lives on the scalp in many adults without causing problems. But sometimes this fungus grows out of control and eat the oil that comes out of the pores of the head. This can cause irritation to the scalp and cause many skin cells grow. Excess skin cells may result in some cells die and fall.
Risk factors
Nearly everyone has dandruff, but certain factors can make you more susceptible:
• Age. Dandruff usually begins at a young age. But somehow that does not mean people with advanced age did not have dandruff. For some people this problem can continue for a long time.
• Male. As more men have dandruff, some scientists think the male hormone has a role in the cause of dandruff. Men also have more hair and skin oil production that contributes to cause dandruff.
• Hair and scalp is oily. Malassezia eat the oil on the scalp. For that reason, has the oil on the skin and hair makes you more vulnerable to excessive dandruff.
• Diet is wrong. If you are deficient diet foods containing iron, vitamin B or some kind of fat, you are more easy to dandruff.
Put away the chewing gum and nicotine patches. Japanese smokers are learning that all they need to kick the smoking habit is a reminder of death’s steady approach right on the screen of their iPod.
Osaka-based game software and graphics developer Proge Inc. has created a free software application to help smokers roughly determine how many years they have left on this planet based on their age, the number of cigarettes they smoke each day and how many years they have been slaves to nicotine.
Users input the data into the “Death Meter” and a countdown until their likely demise appears on the screen over the image of mocking Grim Reaper with a cigarette between his boney fingers. The countdown can be slowed by inputting a smaller daily cigarette consumption figure, but that requires lighting up fewer coffin nails each day.
More Japanese are now trying to go cold turkey after prices for a pack of smokes surged by as much as 140 yen (USD 1.70) on October 1 to account for the largest-ever hike in the tobacco tax.
Takayuki Suda, an engineer living in Nagoya, has been trying to cut back on his 15-cigarette per day habit after prices shot up, so gave the Death Meter a try.
“It’s an interesting game, but not nearly as scary as a doctor telling me I have to stop smoking,” said Suda.
Smoking remains popular in Japan with nearly 40% of Japanese men lighting up, according to a recent survey by Japan Tobacco Co. Many of these men will likely keep puffing away despite higher prices and the Death Meter countdown on their iPods.
“I can’t imagine work breaks without lighting up,” said Suda, taking a long thoughtful drag on his Mild Seven Extra Light.
Tick . . . tock.
Surveys are always interesting as a snapshot of what people claim to be thinking at any one time. Of course, some of us delight in giving all the wrong answers if someone is daft enough to stop us in the street with a quick questionnaire. But, allowing for there being a number who game the survey, there’s always a basic element of truth buried in there somewhere. All you have to do is dig it out. So, look around the country and what do you see? Well, there’s the obvious recession. Walk down any street in the suburbs or exurbs and you’re going to see sale boards out front of many homes. People are hunkered down, fearing the worst on employment. And walk down any Main Street and you’re going to see a lot of overweight people. Put all this together and you have the grit to make a pearl of a survey.
Look on the magazine racks, count the reality television shows, surf through the virtual bookshelves of Amazon, and walk down the isles in any drugstore and you could only conclude we are a nation obsessed with weight loss and dieting. Except, when you do your walk through a mall, you’re immediately struck by the number of overweight people. We are just not eating more healthy food or exercising properly. Without a real commitment to losing weight, the necessary lifestyle changes are never going to be made. It’s one of these dreams-meet-reality things. Having a great body is what we all want, but when it comes to the need to give up our favorite foods, cook for ourselves and the family, and pay more to get fresh healthy food from our local stores, we lack the stones. This latest survey shows only 35% of Americans actually have a healthy lifestyle based on eating smaller portions of healthy food and exercising. At the other end of the scale, 30% of Americans admit to being unhealthy, having unsuccessfully dieted 20 or more times.
Despite repeated failures to lose weight, people admit to being embarrassed by their bodies, particularly when it comes round to the summer months and they might be expected to show more flesh. Worse, many feel sufficiently self-conscious, they have given up dating. When it comes to this level of commitment to defeatism, it hardly seems worth mentioning Acomplia. Although the clinical trials consistently show people losing an average 10% of their body weight, this drug only works in combination with a diet and exercise program. An appetite suppressant does not reduce the number of calories you eat. That’s always down to you. Worse, if you don’t sacrifice your comfort and burn off some of those calories, even eating less is not going to produce real weight loss. The survey demonstrates the sad truth. Most Americans don’t know how to lose weight and no matter how good Acomplia, it’s never going to help the majority. But for that small percentage determined to join the 35% who remain healthy, this is the drug for you!
Cancer is a man-made disease fueled by the excesses of modern life, a study of ancient remains has found. Tumors were rare until recent times when pollution and poor diet became issues, the review of mummies, fossils and classical literature found.
A greater understanding of its origins could lead to treatments for the disease, which claims more than 150,000 lives a year in the UK. Despite slivers of tissue from hundreds of Egyptian mummies being re-hydrated, just one case of cancer has been confirmed. This is even though tumors should be better preserved by mummification than healthy tissues.
Fossil evidence is also sparse, with just a few dozen – mostly disputed – examples, Nature Reviews Cancer journal reports. Even the study of thousands of Neanderthal bones has provided only one example of a possible cancer.
And references to cancer-like problems in ancient Egyptian texts are more likely to have been caused by leprosy or varicose veins. Researcher Michael Zimmerman, a visiting professor at Manchester University, said: ‘The virtual absence of malignancies in mummies must be interpreted as indicating their rarity in antiquity. This indicates that cancer-causing factors are limited to societies affected by modern industrialization.’
The ancient Greeks were probably the first to define cancer as a specific disease and to distinguish between benign and malignant tumors. But researchers said it was unclear if this signaled a real rise in the disease, or just a greater medical knowledge.
The 17th century provides the first descriptions of surgery for breast and other cancers, while the first reports of distinctive tumors occurred in the past 200 years or so.
They include scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps in 1775 and nasal cancer in snuff users in 1761. Co-researcher Professor Rosalie David said: ‘There is nothing in the natural environment that can cause cancer.
‘So it has to be down to pollution and changes to diet and lifestyle.
‘The important thing about our study is that it gives a historical perspective to this disease.
‘Data from across the millennium has given modern society a clear message – cancer is man-made and something that we can and should address.’
Dr Rachel Thompson, of the World Cancer Research Fund, said a healthy diet, regular exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight can help prevent a third of common cancers.
‘So perhaps our ancestors’ lifestyle reduced risk from cancer,’ she added.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a medical condition that can be caused by a number of mental, physical, and environmental factors. It is important to try to fix the condition first by discovering the cause and curing it and then to treat the symptoms – impotence.
Curing ED isn’t all about pleasure. Sex is a crucial and natural part of human health – mental and physical – and is also important for maintaining relationships.
The Underlying Condition The most common causes are mental:
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Depression
- Fear
- Boredom or being uninterested in your partner
Physical causes are also extremely common and combine with the mental:
- Problems with blood pressure, caused by:
- Diet
- Lack of exercise
- Side effects of medication
- Injury
- Nerve Disorders
- Diabetes, liver, and kidney disease
- Alcohol use
- Urinary tract and prostate surgery
The best way to treat ED long-term and period is to fix the underlying problem. Cut cholesterol from your diet and gets lots of fiber by going vegetarian – vegetarians are said to have better stamina and sexual vigor – or get on a blood pressure medication. See a psychologist or therapist to overcome mental challenges to sex. Go on an antidepressant if you’re depressed.
The interesting thing about some of these conditions is that they can start with the sexual problems. Depression, anxiety, fear of sex, and alcoholism can all come as a response to a lack of sexual activity. Let’s find out why.
The Importance of Sex to the Brain
Sex generally effects the brain through various hormones and chemical releases. Some of these are essential to mental health and we can only get them through our sexuality. Others we get elsewhere, but a healthy sex life can ensure we get enough and stay healthy.
Sex not only prevents depression, but it also helps to relieve it and neutralize stress. Studies have gone in depth on the topic, even discovering that sex without condoms is more beneficial (as long as both parters are disease-free and using birth control or ready to conceive). A bit of semen isn’t bad for the health – essential nutrients zinc, potassium, sugar, proteins, and calcium are all present.
Furthermore, the endorphins released from healthy sex actually relieve pain! Oxytocin, which comes right before you do, is especially helpful for this. It lasts longer than you do in bed as well, guaranteed.
Your blood pressure could do with some sex as well. Beyond just the exercise, sex lowers your blood pressure. Any kind of sex helps. Sex accelerates your heart activity and breathing, which you need.
Ejaculating for a man is essential to prevent prostate cancer. You don’t have to have sex for this; you can masturbate.
Perhaps because of all these health benefits or perhaps for some inherent reason, people who have regular sex their whole lives live significantly longer.
Treating the Symptoms, Improve Health and Relationship
Keeping in mind that sex is also essential for bonding and healing in relationships, allow yourself to overcome erectile dysfunction and reap the benefits by getting help from Levitra. Levitra is safe, inexpensive, and effective. Learn about Levitra and your health from your doctor.
Everyone gets worried every now and again. That’s all part of being human. But when worry and anxiety get out of control, the world gets to be impossible. Any little thing can set you off. Watching television, you see a report about a terrorist bomb and suddenly you’re afraid the terrorists may leave a bomb in the mall the next time you’re shopping. A casual remark at work about the recession immediately turns into fear you’re the next in line for a pink slip. You hear a friend talking about relationship problems and you’re looking anxiously over your shoulder at your partner. When anything can trigger another wave of anxiety, all you want to do is hide yourself away. You know you can’t stop the worry. That means avoiding the world. You stop going out. You won’t answer the phone. Except that just leaves all those thoughts running through your mind, worrying about what people are saying about you now you’re no longer around.
Ordinary worry grows into generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) when there’s no real reason for any of your fears. You just can’t stop thinking about all the worst things that could happen to you. This is not to say there won’t be good and bad days. But doctors will diagnose GAD when the bad days seriously outweigh the good over at least three months. There are likely to be a mixture of physical and psychological symptoms from tension in your muscles, insomnia and fatigue, to feeling irritable, finding it impossible to relax, and living with the fear you’re losing control of your life. So what can you do to help yourself feel better?
The first step is admitting you have a problem and then confronting your fears. If you can be honest with yourself and see the fears as irrational, you can start to move forward. There’s some uncertainty in everyone’s life. You just have to learn to accept it in yours. Then look at your lifestyle. If you live for the next hit of caffeine, dial it back. Instead, start a gentle exercise program to tire you physically and help you relax. Gather friends and family around you and get their support. If you find these simple steps are not working, go for some counseling. There are some excellent relaxation techniques. Yes, you may be skeptical about meditation and the idea of being able to calm yourself, but many people find they do work. The aim is to switch from a negative to a positive view of the world. Recognize your worst fears are almost never realized. Start to hope for the best instead.
Of course, it’s always possible you can’t make self-help work. If that’s the case, a quick course of Xanax may well give you the edge. Sooner or later, you must learn to deal with anxiety head-on. If you fail, GAD can grow into depression or you may find yourself dependent on alcohol or prescription drugs. Xanax can give you a vital breathing space while you get professional help to resolve your problems.
Chlamydia is the most commonly contracted bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and most of the world. In 2008 alone, and in the US alone, 1,210, 523 new cases of chlamydia were reported. Considering that most people who have contracted chlamydia are not aware of it-because it is a “silent” disease-the number is probably closer to 2 million.
The symptoms include:
- In Men
- Burning while urinating
- Discharge from penis
- Itching or burning at the tip of the penis
- Pain and swelling in the testicles
- In Women
- Abnormal vaginal discharge
- Burning while urinating
- Lower abdominal pain
- Lower back pain
- Nausea
- Fever
- Bleeding between menstrual periods
- Pain during sex
Most cases of Chlamydia show no symptoms at all
Typically, people get Chlamydia in the genital region, with a risk of it spreading to the rectum and the abdomen. However, people can also contract it in the throat.
Unfortunately, there are a number of ways to get Chlamydia.
- Vaginal sex
- Anal sex
- Oral sex
- Childbirth (If the mother has Chlamydia, the child may contract it.)
WHY YOU MUST TREAT IT
Just because you have no symptoms does not mean you are good to go. For one, you can infect your sexual partners. For another, there are many complications that are quite likely to occur, including:
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
- Permanent damage to fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues.
- Pelvic pain
- Infertility
- Ectopic pregnancywhen the pregnancy occurs outside the uteruswhich may lead to death in the mother and fetus
- Increased chance of contracting HIV
- For men, there is a chance of genital pain, fever, and sterility.
TESTING
Any physician can give you a number of simple laboratory tests that will give an accurate and quick diagnosis. They will swab your penis or cervix or do a urine test.
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION
The best way to prevent Chlamydia is to not have unprotected sex. Make your sexual partner take an STI test to be sure he or she is disease-free. And remember, always wear a condom, because oral contraceptives do not protect against sexually transmitted infections and diseases. Sexually active women over 25 should be tested by a physician every year. If you suspect that you may have contracted an STI, get tested right away. It’s SILENT, remember?
The good news is treatment is simple. Your doctor will prescribe you either Azithromycin or Doxycycline. These antibiotics are well trusted to cure Chlamydia. Doxycycline is taken twice a day for one week. Always take the full prescription of Doxycycline to make sure the infection is gone.
Scientists believe the brain adapts to the loss of hearing by rewiring itself to enhance sight. Parts of the brain that normally locate sound can learn to do the same job using vision instead.
Researchers made the discovery by studying cats – the only animal besides humans that can be born congenitally deaf. People who are born deaf or blind often report their remaining senses being enhanced.
Some experts believe that losing one sense early in life at a time when nerve connections are still being made allows the brain to rewire itself to compensate. In deaf cats, scientists found brain regions that usually handle input from hearing become reorganised.
The area of the brain that would normally pick up peripheral sound can be rewired to boost peripheral vision. As a result, deaf cats – and probably humans who are born deaf too – have an enhanced ability to observe moving objects.
Study leader Dr Stephen Lomber, from the Centre for Brain and Mind at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, said: “The brain is very efficient, and doesn’t let unused space go to waste.
“The brain wants to compensate for the lost sense with enhancements that are beneficial. For example, if you’re deaf, you would benefit by seeing a car coming far off in your peripheral vision, because you can’t hear that car approaching from the side; the same with being able to more accurately detect how fast something is moving.”
The findings are reported online today in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Dr Lomber and his team are conducting the research to improve understanding of how the brain handles cochlear implants, devices that can help the profoundly deaf hear again.
One question they want to answer is if the brain rewires itself to compensate for loss of hearing, what happens when hearing is restored?
“The analogy I use is, if you weren’t using your cottage and lent it to a friend, that friend gets comfortable, maybe rearranges the furniture, and settles in,” said Dr Lomber. “They may not want to leave just because you’ve come back.”
