Circulatory Disorders – What are the Health Consequences?

October 12th, 2009

Many of you have written to me telling me that you’ve been diagnosed with a certain circulatory disorder and you are wondering if my programs can help. Oftentimes, your diagnosis is ambiguous and treatment options are vague. Many of you don’t know why circulation is so important to the body.

The short answer is oxygen. The organs and tissues of the body need oxygen not only to survive but to perform optimally. Blood is the delivery system for oxygen. If that delivery system is blocked or slowed, the effects can be potentially life threatening - both initially and over time.

When referring to circulatory disorders, there are actually two different groups in which they fall: heart disorders (disorders consisting of the heart and/or its valves and arteries) and blood disorders (disorders affecting red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, enzymes and/or plasma).

The list of heart disorders is vast. Some of the more common types of heart disorders are: Heart attack, stroke, coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, heart failure, congenital (from birth) defects, and heart muscle disease.

Symptoms of heart disorders can include: chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, poor circulation, hypertension (high blood pressure), hypotension (low blood pressure), tachycardia (pulse over 100 beats per minute) and bradycardia (pulse under 60 beats per minute), nausea, dizziness, numbness in limbs, fainting and perspiration.

Risk factors include: high blood pressure (although mentioned as a symptom above, chronic high blood pressure can, over time damage the heart and other major organs), high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, smoking, lack of physical activity, heredity, stress and excessive alcohol and/or drug use.

Just as there are many types of heart disorders, the same can be said for blood disorders. Some of the more common blood disorders include: reduced numbers of white blood cells (leucopenia and its associated diseases), a reduced number of red blood cells (various anemias), reduced platelets (thrombocytopenia and its associated diseases), too many red blood cells (polycythemia) or too many white blood cells.

Additionally, some blood disorders are due to insufficient or abnormal blood clotting.

Symptoms of blood disorders include: fatigue, shortness of breath, weight loss, fever, bruising, chest pain, irritability, numbness and/or coldness in hands and feet, headache, pale skin and excessive bleeding .

Causes of blood disorders include: vitamin deficiency, blood loss, certain chronic illnesses, genetic disorders, side effects of certain drugs, and cancers of the cells.

Because the list of symptoms for each type of circulatory disorder is so vast and they oftentimes overlap, it is important to see your doctor to verify your condition. For some of the circulatory disorders (especially the blood disorders), medication may have to be an option. This can be scary to many (including me) because all medications have side effects, many of them dangerous.

For other conditions, medication may be only one method of treatment and there are oftentimes, more natural methods of treatment, such as exercise, diet and/or getting your required amount of vitamins and minerals. The key is to insist that your doctor explain the benefits and potential complications of all therapies.

If weight loss is your issue and is contributing to other illnesses or disorders, I highly encourage you to try my all natural Weight Loss Breeze program. It’s also very effective to increase the oxygen level in the body. Additionally, if high or low blood pressure is your problem, please try my High Blood pressure program. The breathing and relaxation exercises are simple to do and best of all, effective!

EL331002

Depression and Health Risks – Weight Gain or Loss

October 9th, 2009

I have a few clients who tell me they hate to go clothes shopping – it simply gets them depressed. While they are mostly women, some men complain of this as well.

Upon deeper examination, one learns that it’s hard to tell where the depression starts. Am I depressed because I’ve gained weight and my clothes don’t fit or have I gained weight and my clothes don’t fit because I’m depressed.

As you probably already guessed, it’s a cycle involving both. One can’t just label depression as “one size fits all.” There are many components to depression and different severity levels. Just as diverse are the triggers which can set it off.

For example, there are those who feel “down” all the time, there seems to be no hope of anything better and to make things worse, there is no actual reason they can pinpoint. This is a chemical imbalance in the brain for which one needs to seek the advice of a professional.

For most, though, depression can be associated with actual events such as death of a loved one, stress at work, or the end of a relationship. The symptoms can still be quite serious and a bit of a paradox when describing them – insomnia, extreme tiredness, hopelessness, weight gain, weight loss, lack of an emotional response to stimuli and mood swings.

What’s the toll of prolonged depression? The toll on one’s health can be extreme. For today’s article, let’s focus on weight issues.

Oftentimes, when depressed, we have difficulty sleeping. In order for the body to replenish lost energy and oxygen from sleep, it will rely on whatever it can find. The body will tell the mind that it’s hungry to replace the energy somehow.

Additionally, continual stress can summon the release of cortisol in the brain which, in turn, increases one’s appetite.

Also compounding depression and keeping a healthy lifestyle is the fatigue oftentimes associated. One simply doesn’t have the energy to get out and exercise like he/she used to do.

Hence, weight gain, sometimes rapidly. This is not good for the heart and other major organs. Upon seeing the effect of weight gain on our body image, we can become even more depressed and so the cycle begins. Over time, conditions such as high blood pressure and/or diabetes can occur.

That’s when many will turn to extreme dieting to shed extra pounds. This will often involve some sort of fasting which is in essence starvation dieting. Taken to extremes one can develop certain life-threatening food disorders such as anorexia nervosa (deliberately starving the body) or bulimia (bingin on food then vomiting afterwards).

Even if these extreme disorders don’t occur, the body is not meant to gain and lose weight rapidly. Just as it’s not good to gain weight too quickly, rapid weight loss makes the body think it’s in essence, starving and it takes steps to slow down metabolism to compensate for the shortage in food.

Key ingredients to living a healthier lifestyle when subjected to depression triggers are to try to get plenty of rest, try to continue to eat healthy, get regular exercise and avoid stress when possible. When not possible, breathing and relaxation exercises can show amazing results in achieving a stress/depression-free life.

This is why my all natural programs have seen such amazing results. If weight loss is your concern, I highly encourage you to try my Weight Loss Breeze program. As mentioned before, the results are incredible!

EL331002

Anxiety Disorder and Its Effects on Health

October 5th, 2009

Would it surprise any of you to know that the number one fear among adults is public speaking? It’s true! To know just how great a fear this is, consider that people rank this fear above fear of maiming or even death.

The above is one example of anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder is actually a blanket term to describe many types of anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (example above), obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety and panic disorder.

With anxiety disorder, the sufferer experiences anxiety – the negative emotional state related to a perceived threat or uncontrollable situation and fear – the physiological and/or emotional response said threat.

One in ten people suffer from anxiety disorder with phobias – irrational fears or real or perceived threats being the most common.

For many, this condition is present in childhood, however for some, it is triggered in adulthood. The cause can be congenital (from birth) or environmental (emotional or physical trauma). This disorder is often worse during times of stress.

Symptoms include heart palpitations, sweating, difficulty breathing, nausea, diarrhea, trembling, persistent worry, headache, muscle tension, nervousness, restlessness, fatigue, exhaustion and over time, hypertension (high blood pressure). Many of these symptoms incorporate panic attacks which many think are heart attacks because of the similarity to heart attack symptoms.

Additionally, over sixty percent of anxiety disorder sufferers also suffer from depression. This is generally a combo effect. Persistent fear and anxiety can lead to a depressed state.

Many find their sleep patterns interrupted by anxiety – trouble sleeping due to constant worry or fear or more often, waking in the wee hours and being unable to return to sleep due to anxiety.

For many, the fear can be debilitating, interrupting day to day living. Many become shut-ins, trying desperately to control some aspect of his/her life.

Many often make it worse by not seeking help because they fear being labeled “crazy,” when in fact, these symptoms – no matter how unhealthy – are a way for the body/mind to attempt to deal with the anxiety and fear.

Many fear medications which are overwhelmingly prescribed by doctors as a quick fix. While these medications do work for some, they have side effects – many of them dangerous.

Over time, anxiety disorder is more than just troublesome to one’s mental state – it can also lead to health issues like high blood pressure, which can in turn, lead to heart disease, stroke and other health disorder.

Additionally, erectile dysfunction or ED is highly reported by men as a side effect of anxiety disorder for a couple of reasons. Some fear having a panic attack during sex. For others, the fear of achieving and/or maintaining an erection can cause panic.

These are only a couple of examples of conditions caused by anxiety. I would go so far as to say pretty much all diseases I’ve dealt with are partly caused by anxiety and part of the solution is to relax and gain inner peace.

If anxiety is affecting your blood pressure or causing ED, I highly recommend both my High Blood Pressure program and my Erectile Dysfunction program, respectively. They consist of easy to do breathing and relaxation exercises which have shown amazing results!

EL331002

Motivation – What Makes Us Want to be Healthy?

October 2nd, 2009

I’ve been planning on writing this article for some time but I just keep losing interest. OK, just kidding. But how many of you want to achieve something big or small and just don’t seem to be able to get started?

I am a naturally high-energy person who, once an idea hits me, has trouble letting go of the idea until some sort of creation comes to fruition. Whether that be researching and writing an article, creating a new health program or taking a vacation.

I realize that I am on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to motivation. Many of my friends, family and clients, however, often experience a lack of motivation when it comes to achieving a dream no matter how big or small.

How many of you have wanted to complete that novel that’s been popping into your head for years? How many of you want to train for and complete a marathon? How many of you simply want to clean your house?

Have you ever sat down and tried to list the reasons why your motivation is so lacking? Let’s face it. Procrastination is easy and doesn’t need help in the excuse department.

Often times, we won’t do something positive just because it’s the right thing to do. We wait until we fear a negative impact of not doing the right thing. Let’s take something seemingly as easy as cleaning the house.

Isn’t it interesting how one’s house “suddenly” becomes dirty when we find out we’re having company? Or, even if we realize the house is in need of cleaning, motivation doesn’t strike until we learn of impending guests. Then, motivation comes on in a fury!

This can be applied to a healthy lifestyle. There are some of us who eat well, exercise regularly, get the proper amount of sleep and don’t drink to excess or do drugs, simply because we want to be healthy.

For many though, just like finishing that novel or taking out the trash, motivation to improve our health only comes when it becomes a necessity.

For example, it’s often not until one is diagnosed with high blood pressure and prescribed medication with awful side effects that one takes the initiative to exercise and eat better.

This can also be said of lifestyle induced health issues like type II diabetes, obesity, smoking related health issues and alcohol and drug related issues.

No matter how much we hear over the years that we are affecting our health by our negative choices, it’s not until we have been diagnosed with an actual problem that we seek to better our lives.

The best course of action is to make a plan for change, set a date and TELL someone. Having someone take an interest and ask you about your progress is highly motivating to stay on the path to good health.

I also encourage you to try one of my all natural programs such as my High Blood Pressure program or my Weight Loss Breeze program. The results are amazing! Make a plan and order today!

EL331002

Fibromyalgia – How Does Diet Contribute?

September 28th, 2009

Fibromyalgia, a disease whose symptoms include chronic fatigue (regardless of the amount of sleep attained), muscle and joint pain, has no known cause. It affects up to 5% of the population, mostly women.

With so many people afflicted with this disorder, I am amazed at the number of my clients who have told me that they had to see several doctors before one would actually acknowledge that fibromyalgia is even a health condition.

Not only did they often times not have the support of friends and family, they were then subjected to “experts” who, at best, summed the condition up to depression. They were then prescribed various antidepressants, all with serious side effects.

There’s nothing worse than knowing something is wrong with you and being told that it’s “all in your head.”

The correspondence I have received has been heart breaking, with the exception of the gratitude expressed by my clients over the fact that my Fibromyalgia program has helped them significantly.

Many have asked if there is something in their diet or environment that could be causing this condition. Emerging evidence indicates that diet can, in fact play a very large role.

While diet is not thought to cause or even trigger fibromyalgia like say, migraine headaches, the growing belief is that fibromyalgia symptoms are exacerbated by other conditions which can be caused or triggered by certain foods. Once these conditions subside, the result is that fibromyalgia symptoms dissipate.

The thing to keep in mind is that fibromyalgia loves diversity. Just as not everyone is affected to the same extremes, there is no all-inclusive list of foods to avoid. The key is to take note of certain known foods that affect many with fibromyalgia and test to see if your condition is eased over time as you test removing these foods from your diet.

Some foods experts now say to avoid are Aspartame and MSG. They are known to excite certain pain receptors which for fibromyalgia sufferers are already heightened.

Removing caffeine from one’s diet has also proven to be effective. While many are tempted to drink caffeine drinks for the “pep,” it can actually make fatigue worse.

Dairy foods also make the list, although this is controversial. Some believe strengthened bones can actually ease joint pain.

Also included are yeast, mold, gluten and vinegar. This is thought to be because TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder), IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and migraines, all known to affect fibromyalgia symptoms, are triggered by these foods.

A macrobiotic diet (whole foods) has shown promise for some fibromyalgia patients, as well as Omega 3 fatty acids (found in fish, flax see, certain nuts and also added to certain foods such as cereal).

I also encourage you to try my Fibromyalgia program. Its results have been amazing!

EL331002

Erectile Dysfunction – Your Sleep Apnea and/or Snoring Could be the Culprit

September 25th, 2009

I recently read a snippet which stated that over one third of men who snore experience no sex life.

One might assume that with a person who snores, this simply means that their sleeping partner is in another room, leaving little to no chance for a sexual relationship.

This, however, is not the only or even the biggest reason. Would it surprise anyone to learn that between sixty and eighty percent of those who suffer from sleep apnea experience erectile dysfunction (ED) – the inability to achieve or maintain an erection.

The percentage increases, the worse one’s sleep apnea is. Why is this? A couple of theories abound.

The soundest theory is that when one suffers from sleep apnea, an obstruction that occurs when soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and in turn blocks the airway during sleep, vital oxygen necessary to health is not properly delivered by the blood.

This in turn can lead to all sorts of health problems including stroke, kidney disease and hypertension (which can eventually lead to heart disease).

For the purposes of ED causes, hypertension would be the culprit. In fact, the most common cause of ED is hypertension (high blood pressure).

Another theory is that if one suffers from even mild sleep apnea, he stops breathing several times per night which, in turn, interrupts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. It is thought that REM state erections are actually necessary to produce healthy conscious erections.

Snoring can also be an issue. While one doesn’t necessarily stop breathing when one snores (if you can be heard in the next room, you likely have sleep apnea), breathing is still restricted and this in turn leads to less oxygen delivery to the body.

Risk factors for suffering ED due to sleep apnea include: being overweight, over age forty and alcohol or other drug abuse which can depress respiration.

Regardless of your reason for ED, I highly recommend my Erectile Dysfunction program. It’s all natural and most importantly, it works! If you know snoring or mild sleep apnea are a problem for you, I also encourage you to try my Stop Snoring program.

EL331002

Irritable Bowel Syndrome – A Stressful Subject

September 21st, 2009

I rely heavily on client feedback to know how well my programs help. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have many of you email me and tell me that other health conditions have improved as a result of using my program for a completely different health concern.

The most common feedback supporting this relates to my High Blood Pressure program. So many of you have written to me telling me that you used my program to treat your high blood pressure, which it did, but surprise – your Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms subsided as well!

How could this be? Let’s start with the cause. Well, there’s our catch. IBS is defined as a chronic gastrointestinal disorder with no known cause (such as cancer, etc.). Its symptoms include: abdominal pain/cramping, diarrhea, bloating, gassiness and sometimes constipation.

While it is not considered a life-threatening condition, there’s a reason it achieved the nickname, Spastic Colon. Twenty percent of the population suffers from this condition. Women tend to report symptoms more than men with symptoms being worse during menstrual cycles.

For most, it is an annoyance but for some, it can be debilitating, affecting one’s ability to maintain relationships or even a job.

While no known cause is attributed to IBS, your doctor can diagnose it with a detailed health history and by ruling out other infections or diseases.

Triggers for IBS include eating large meals, overly spicy meals, caffeine, and alcohol. The most commonly reported trigger, however, is stress.

This is where the link to my High Blood Pressure program comes in. Just like our heart and lungs, the colon is partly controlled by our autonomic nervous system. The colon has many nerves that connect up through the brain.

These nerves are responsible for normal contractions of the colon but when we are emotionally charged, overwhelmed or angry, these nerves become extra sensitive and normal contractions are exaggerated.

While there are medications available to treat IBS, I want to stress that these medications have very serious side effects including extreme constipation and blood flow restriction to the colon. The colon is an organ like any other and it cannot function without blood which delivers vital oxygen.

Other treatments for IBS include maintaining a healthy diet, getting enough sleep and consistent exercise and most importantly, reducing your stress level.

If stress seems to be the trigger of your IBS, I highly recommend my High Blood Pressure program. The natural breathing and relaxation exercises are designed to of course stabilize blood pressure but it they also help both the mind and body relax and enable you to get back to stress-free living!

EL331002

Food Toxins and Weight Gain

September 18th, 2009

“I eat like a bird, yet I continue to gain weight!” That’s a comment a friend of mine would always make. I can attest to the fact that she tended to eat very little when we would go out for a meal but I’ll admit that I assumed she went home and ate the entire contents of her refrigerator later.

Of course later when she was diagnosed with a pituitary disorder, I no longer assumed she wasn’t being honest.

When my friend asked her doctor what could have caused this, she was told that in cases like hers, it is thought that a build up of toxins did the damage over time and this in turn, led to her weight gain.

Of course, one does not have to be afflicted with a pituitary disorder to suffer weight gain due to food toxins. Does it seem like a paradox to you that we are living in an age of “low fat,” “no fat,” and “low carb” yet over a third of our population is overweight?

It is a known fact that chickens are fed a chemical hormone in order to cause them to gain weight without eating nearly as much as they would naturally. What do we think happens to this chemical when the chicken is packaged and sold as meat?

Chemicals used as food preservatives while, intended to save the consumer money, also lead to a build up in the body.

The liver, which filters the toxins out of the body before they can do damage to other organs, becomes overloaded. Fat then accumulates in order to protect the body from damage by these toxins.

It’s not just toxin laden food that causes toxins to build up in our bodies. Pesticides, make up and other “beauty” products are also oftentimes riddled with toxins.

Add to that what we do to ourselves – smoking and drinking alcohol to excess promote even further toxic buildup in our bodies.

For my friend, just knowing that there was a reason for her weight gain helped her. She started looking for organic foods when she shopped.

While it’s true that her meats and vegetables didn’t stay fresh as long as the processed foods she was used to but it was a small sacrifice for a bigger reward.

She also tried my Weight Loss Breeze program and loved the results! She, like so many of my clients, found the all natural program to be easy to start and even easier to maintain. If weight loss is your goal, I encourage you to try it as well!

EL331002

Dementia – Lack of Oxygen Can Take its Toll!

September 14th, 2009

I recently had a client tell me that her mother had been diagnosed with high blood pressure. She encouraged her to try my High Blood Pressure program. Other treatment methods were difficult as they involved daily medication or other complicated steps and her mother suffered from dementia.

While her blood pressure did go down, that wasn’t the major point of her communication to me. It turns out that her mother’s dementia symptoms greatly subsided once she started my program!

Dementia literally means, “deprived of mind.” It is a progressive decline in cognitive function which affects memory, attention, orientation, judgment language, motor and problem solving skills. Like vertigo is basically dizziness due to a myriad of causes, dementia is not a disease in and of itself but rather caused by damage or disease.

Once thought of as part of the aging process, dementia is now thought to be a deterioration due to damage (stroke or other vascular damage, head trauma, alcoholism – due to lack of thiamine and certain other vitamin deficiencies), or disease (Alzheimer’s – the most common type of dementia,

Syphilis, Lewy bodies, brain tumors, Pick’s disease, HIV and/or AIDs, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Huntington’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis).

Common symptoms include moodiness, memory loss, and communication difficulties (including the ability to read and write). Due to the progressive nature of most forms of dementia, the sufferer eventually finds it difficult to perform everyday tasks and can eventually become unable to care for his/herself.

While no longer considered a normal part of aging, studies do reflect that dementia affects 1% of the population over the age of 60, that number doubling every five years after. Interestingly enough, those who are bi or multi-lingual have tend to experience symptoms an average of 4 years later. “Use it or lose it,” definitely figures in.

Blood tests, CT, PET and MRI scans can rule out dementia due to certain diseases or injuries (stroke), however, for many, mental and cognitive tests are required.

A doctor must, however, take into account one’s socio-economic, cultural and educational background when administering the test. Just as many claim IQ tests are biased, it can sometimes be difficult to know what “normal” is for a patient.

Risk factors include smoking and drinking (alcohol), due to the fact that it puts one at an increased risk for vascular diseases, which in turn puts one at risk for dementia. Additionally, high cholesterol and diabetes can contribute.

Regardless of how the dementia occurs, whether it is through brain trauma such as stroke or Alzheimer’s disease, the reason for the dementia is LACK of OXYGEN to vital parts of the brain. Some types of dementia can be reversed while others can’t.

Do not, however, consider your or your loved one’s dementia a death sentence, even if your doctor claims otherwise. New research is emerging on the effects of oxygen on already damaged tissues in the brain. Worst case, you don’t want the dementia to progress. The key is delivering the oxygen to the necessary areas of the brain.

I highly recommend my programs due to the fact that they are completely natural, relaxation and breathing exercises specifically designed to get blood/oxygen to your major organs, including the brain. I highly recommend my Alzheimer’s program (coming soon!).

El331002

Oxygen – Its Importance for Good Health

September 11th, 2009

“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” That’s a great quote when wanting to lend support to someone after a negative experience. It is however, especially in my line of work, mis-leading. I believe it would be more accurate to say, “That which does not kill us right away, can still kill us in little ways, every day.”

Yes for those how know my personality, that’s a bit dark. The point I’m stressing today is that just because one hasn’t suffered a major trauma such as head injury, near drowning, stroke or heart attack, it doesn’t mean one’s body is immune to oxygen deprivation.

It’s generally accepted for each minute the brain goes without oxygen, there is a 10% increase damage caused. After 3-5 minutes however, one’s chances of survival are greatly diminished.

It also depends on the type of injury. Someone who’s drowning is still getting some blood to the brain as compared to someone in a choke hold that is getting no blood and therefore, NO oxygen to the brain. In a situation like that, death could occur within seconds.

What isn’t generally accepted is that other factors occur, many of them environmental, which cause the body to deliver reduced and/or polluted oxygen to the brain and body. When this happens, the effect may not be immediate or even noticed at first, if at all.

An excellent example of this would be heart disease. Known as the “silent killer,” damage to the heart can occur for years before it is made known, via chest pains, heart attack, etc. Keep in mind that the organs work together and when one of the major organs fails to operate at a proper level, all of the organs can suffer.

If high blood pressure has caused the heart to enlarge, this has in turn, affected the muscle and it is more than likely that the heart isn’t pumping blood properly to the other organs, including the brain.

Another example could be sleep apnea. While moderate to severe apnea can definitely cause high blood pressure and other negative health issues, even mild sleep apnea or snoring can cause extreme tiredness and overeating – due to the fact that the body will try to get it’s “energy” from somewhere.

Over time, this weight increase on its own can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues, not to mention the psychological issues associated.

Pollution is another example but a little scarier to me because barring any congenital or genetic health disorders, this is the one arena I feel I have the least control. While we may disagree to what extent our earth is being polluted, I don’t think anyone will disagree that pollution is occurring.

To my point above, the sun doesn’t have to be blocked and the earth’s population dwelling underground such as in certain sci-fi movies for there to be a very real adverse affect to our health caused by pollution.

Studies now abound that more cancers, viral infections and other diseases are occurring and not just due to population increase. This pollution affects the oxygen molecules being delivered to our brain and other vital organs.

Before you decide that we are fated to ill health, I want you to consider my programs. They are all natural, safe and most importantly, these breathing and relaxation exercises work! I have had great success with the following programs which are aimed at delivering vital oxygen to the brain and body: High Blood Pressure, Alzheimers (coming soon!),Weight Loss Breeze, Migraine and Headache Relief, Vertigo and Dizziness and Stop Snoring.

EL331002


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