Hair Loss in Circular Patches: Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata affects one out of every 100 people, causing loss of scalp hair in well-demarcated patches, usually in a circular pattern.

Most doctors feel that alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease caused by a person's immunity that is supposed to be killing gems attacking the hair follicles and causing the hair to fall out. It is associated with other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, vitiligo or white patches on the skin, certain types of thyroid disease, and pernicious anemia. The vast majority of people who get alopecia areata are healthy and do not need blood tests or further medical evaluation.

Since the hair follicles are not damaged, hair loss is never permanent and a short course of any cortisone-type drugs can bring back all of the lost hair. However, immediately after a person stops taking cortisones, the hair starts to fall out again. Since cortisones do not cure the hair loss and they can have serous side effects, most doctors prescribe cortisone pills only when there is a serious need to bring the hair back temporarily. Cortisone injections into the bald spots bring the hair back only temporarily. Another treatment is to apply chemicals that act like poison ivy in causing blisters. When the blisters heal, the hair often returns. Available drugs for baldness such as monoxidil, called Rogaine, and Propecia are not very effective. Aldara may help to treat alopecia areata. Tacrolimus (brand names Protopics and Eladil)were promising treatments but doctors no longer prescribe them because of possible serious side effects. Check with your doctor.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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The Mesmer Skills

I remember in the Fifties, at the hypnotist show, entertainers persuaded audience members to start wiggling their hands out in front of them, then told them they couldn't stop. During the Seventeen hundreds Anton Mesmer was called a charlatan, and during the Sixteen hundreds hypnotists were condemned as witches.

Clinical hypnosis of today is quite different, the modern hypnotist could be a doctor, a psychologist, a professor at a university, or a nurse at the hospital. Adult hypnotic wishes include golf hypnosis to improve your game, there's weight loss through hypnosis, and many other examples of positive changes hypnosis. Hypnosis works!

Not only is this a serious hypnosis therapy, it is also calming and quite pleasent, plus it offers an opportunity to transform yourself.

Weight Loss Hypnosis

Hypnosis is the treatment of choice for weight loss and other health and emotional problems, its noninvasive, there are no drug side-effects, and its not too expensive. Hospitals and HMOs are finally getting the message to try hypnosis first, not last.. You've no doubt heard about the Mind/Body connection in New Age healing - well, hypnosis illustrates this best.

Does Hypnosis Work?

Many clinical hypnosis stories are told of no pain in the dentist chair, how a fearful patient was calmed, and how tooth grinding was stopped. Hynosis smoking treatments and nail biting are two habits that have been completely eleminated by appealing to the subconscious through hypnosis. The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis wants you to know that hypnosis can help you regulate your behavior, use the mind to control the body and alter your thoughts. Its very effective when dealing with phobias, stress and pain. Insomnia hypnosis is a growing field as well, many people can not sleep at night. Clinical hypnosis will not doubt find many new applications in the future.

Past Life Hypnosis

Past life hypnosis is for hypnotists who believe in reincarnation and in past lives. They guide their clients backward in time. This type of hypnotherapy is called past-life regression.

Travis Waack is a website publisher and author of many diverse topics of interest. Find out more about Hypnosis, its history and types at http://hypnosis.websearch018.com/hypnosis.html

Iodine Deficiency and Your Health

Iodine, is a chemical element that is required as a trace element for most living organisms. Iodine is also used in medicine, photography and in dyes.

Iodine, derived from the Greek: ioeides, or violet, is a violet coloured solid that sublimates at standard temperatures into a blue-violet gas that has a distinctive odor.

The element was discovered in 1811 by Barnard Courtois, who was involved in the manufacture of saltpeter, at the time. knowledge of this substance has come to include the host of benefits it brings to the body as an essential nutrient.

Getting enough Iodine naturally in one's daily diet was difficult in certain remote areas that had no access to seafoods. Unfortunately, this is still the case in some developing nations.

Since the introduction of iodized salt, meeting the daily Iodine requirement has become almost effortless and inexpensive in the industrialized nations. In these nations Iodine Deficiency is now quite rare. As developing nations are able to make the shift to iodized salt, their rates of Iodine Deficiency and the Health problems associated with it have also begun to decrease.

Iodine mainly serves the body through its interactions with the thyroid gland. Approximately 80% of the Iodine found in the body is located in the thyroid. With the help of Iodine, the thyroid is able to produce its hormones, thyroxine and triodothyronine. These hormones play a major part in regulating processes relating to growth and development of the body, and also influence the maturation of the reproductive system.

Because of its influence on the activities of the thyroid gland, Iodine plays a great role in the basic metabolism processes and levels in the body. It helps to enable the body to efficiently burn calories and prevent excess calories from being stored as more fat than the body needs. It has a role in maintaining the energy level of the body and in helping the skin, teeth, nails and hair to he strong and healthy. Iodine also helps to destroy toxins throughout the body, and assists the body to use both calcium and silicone.

A Deficiency in Iodine can negatively affect the Health and functioning of the body and mind in many ways, some of which are more serious than others. The symptoms of Iodine Deficiency that affect the mind range from feelings of frustration, anxiety, depression and mental retardation stemming from an IQ point decrease of up to 15 points.

The World Health Organization places Iodine Deficiency as one of the leading causes of mental retardation worldwide relating to such diseases as cretinism, which includes serious physical malformations.

Physical symptoms of Iodine Deficiency can include dry, scaly skin, fatigue, constipation, unusual weight gain, impaired thyroid operation, goiters, decreased fertility, increased rate of stillbirth, and severe growth abnormalities.

Iodized salt is so inexpensive, it should be spread throughout the poverty centers of the developing nations and the needless suffering of millions could be alleviated.

The average daily requirement of Iodine ranges from 40 Micrograms per day for infants up to 150-200 Micrograms of Iodine per day for adults.

Pregnant women need 175 micrograms of Iodine per day and lactating mothers should have 200 micrograms daily. A half teaspoon of iodized salt contains 190 micrograms of Iodine.

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The Best Abdominal Workouts

As we age, we are more susceptible to gaining excess fat in the midsection. The best way to tone the abdominal area is to decrease your caloric intake, practice good posture, and exercise. Regarding exercise, there are many of the best abdominal workouts that you can perform to get your abs in shape. You can use some of the traditional exercises for your abdomen. There is a variety of ab fitness equipment from which you can choose to minimize your midsection. Whichever method you choose, make sure your back is not strained because this can result in serious injury.

There are effective non-equipment workouts that you can perform. Crunches are the most common and best method of getting the ab in better shape. You can do crunches anywhere. The three most effective abdominal crunch exercises include the captain?s chair, the vertical leg crunch, and the bicycle. The captain?s chair (no fitness equipment needed for this workout) involves you lying on your back and placing your legs on a chair. You then simply crunch upwards. The vertical leg crunch is a bit tougher and you will feel its effects on your abdomen after only a few reps. You lie on your back with your legs crossed in a vertical position. Like the captain?s chair workout, you just raise yourself up using your ab muscles. As its name implies, the bicycle crunch is performed like riding a bicycle. You can work your oblique muscles with this exercise by touching your elbows to the opposite knee.

If you want to use equipment, you have several choices. One of the best choices with consumers due to its ease of use and low cost is the exercise ball. Working out with an exercise ball not only can strengthen your abs, but can also improve your coordination. You can purchase a video such as ?Exercise Ball Video - Awesome Abs? if you need a workout program. Some of the best ab machines such as the Ab Crunch Machine provides thorough workouts and is perfect for someone new to fitness training. This machine does most of the work so there is little chance of you injuring your back. If you watch any late night television you?ve likely viewed an infomercial of the Body by Jake Ab Scissor. This machine sculpts your abdominal muscles with a unique system that uses your own resistance.

About the Author:

Kevin Urban is the editor at Best Home Gyms.com, a consumer guide featuring home gym reviews and treadmill ratings and reviews For a great selection of the best home gyms, click here!

Got Soy? Milk Snuff and Soy Beans

Milk is highly underrated. Experts say, America finds itself in a calcium crisis today because consumers aren't drinking enough milk.

Milk is highly overrated. Experts say,If you really want to play it safe, you may decide to join the growing number of Americans who are eliminating dairy products from their diets altogether.

Which one of those statements is true? If you follow health and fitness news at all, you?ve probably heard about the debate over milk and its inclusion in our diet. There is a difference of opinion about the values and dangers of milk in our diet. Where did I find these opposing quotes?

The first statement is from whymilk.com, a website promoting the benefits of milk. If you look at the bottom of the home page, you will find that it is sponsored by an entity comprised of America?s milk processors.

That fact does not validate nor negate the content and statements on the website about milk. It does, however, make me think. It gives me a filter through which to view and analyze the statements made by the website. In other words, I now know the website's bias.

The second statement is in an article posted on notmilk.com, a website dedicated to spreading the news about the dangers of milk. How did I find these websites?

Of course, I turned to one of the major search engines. Placing the word milk in the rectangular box, I pressed Enter, and off went the search engine?s spiders all over the web, searching frantically, hungry for data and content. What they brought back is interesting.

The two quotes at the beginning of this article are from the two websites noted above. The two websites noted above are,respectively, Result #1 and Result #2 from the major search engine as of the moment I am writing these words.

What?s the point? The web is a forum of different ideas, conflicting agendas, and polar opposites. Sometimes you have to do some homework to really find out what a website is all about.

The first website I browsed made the point pretty easy to understand. Examine, however, the second website. It is a little more difficult to ferret out my point.Search Result # 1 is from a website with a specific agenda, namely, the promotion of milk as a benefit to our health. At least that is the stated, obvious agenda.

The first website, whymilk.com, is sponsored by America?s milk processors. Now I know what the underlying agenda is for that website: sell more milk and dispel the notion that milk is not a part of good nutrition and a balanced diet.

Now there?s nothing wrong with that as long as the consumer knows about the underlying agenda or, at the least, can find out about it through a rather cursory perusal of the website.

Armed with that information, we can filter all of the content and advertisements we see from that website. In other words, we will keep in the back of our mind the entire time we are nosing around in the whymilk website the notion that they are trying to get us to buy milk. Fair enough.

Search Result #2 is also from a website with an agenda thatis a little more complicated. It is here where the consumer might make some decisions for the wrong reasons and based upon incorrect assumptions.

Notmilk.com is a website dedicated to evangelizing lactose saturated sinners who drink milk and bring them into the light of salvation. That salvation comes when each adherent realizes the evils of milk, rejects said evils, and turns from them unalterably, wholeheartedly, and irrevocably. Then, and only then, will you have turned from your wicked lactose laden life and be free of the Dairy Devil.

Now I have no reason to question or affirm this website?s sincerity in believing that milk is not good for human consumption. What does make me stop and think, however, is the ad for a device called a SoyToy right on the homepage.

With this device you can make fresh and delicious soy milk from dried beans in only twenty-five minutes at just four cents per quart. And it?s yours for only $159.00 (plus shipping and handling). Hmmmm. Are you beginning to get the point?

What is really interesting is that if you look hard enough you find that the owner of the amazing SoyToy is EVS Holding Company. This is without a doubt one of the most laughable things I have seen in awhile. Not that it?s that uncommon.

No, it?s because it is so common that it is laughable.While promoting your good health through the SoyToy found on the notmilk.com website, the same entity is the holding company for Arrowhead Smokes. There three major products? Cigarettes... Cigars... and Snuff. Yes, you read correctly?snuff! Now are you getting the point?

If not, here?s the Online Help button.

When it comes to your health, doesn?t it make sense to rely on the professionals to help you make choices about good nutrition, diet, and healthy weight loss?

Consult your physician or medical practitioner about milk or about anything that has to do with altering your diet significantly. He or she is a trained medical professional who, in most circumstances, is only trying to sell you his or her service by being the best medical professional they can be!

Now, I?m not expecting anyone to believe that doctors don?t give one product a little push over an equally effective product from time to time. They sometimes do a little ?affiliate advertising? of their own in a roundabout sort of way.

But how long has it been since your physician offered you, along with your annual exam, a chance to make soy milk from dried beans in less than twenty-five minutes? And at such an ?easy on the wallet? price of $159.00 (plus shipping and handling). Hmmmm.

And now surely there are those adept ones reading this who are now wondering just what is my angle? Where am I coming from?

I have a website too, along with my business partner, Michael Smith, MD. It?s called Diet Basics, and you?ll find it at www.weight-loss-professional.com. We offer really up to date content and tools to assist in healthy weight loss. Most of what we promote is absolutely free. But NEVER FORGETthis: I'm still going to try and sell you something!. And that?s true of almost every website you?ll encounter.

And that is absolutely fine. It?s absolutely fine as long as we as consumers have the opportunity to get to the site's story behind the story. That is particularly important when it comes to your health.

So what's the point? It does not matter whether it?s pro-milk.com, anti-milk.com, or whocaresaboutmilk?.com

It doesn't even matter if it is my website you are surfing. Find out who has created the site, and why they created it before you make any decisions based on that site?s advice.

Dig a little! Find out just who sponsors the website, what they are saying and what they are promoting. Find out also, and perhaps more importantly, what they are NOT saying or promoting-?that?s the story behind the story.

And when it comes to your health, consult with your physician. Know the facts. Then you will be able to make sound decisions and choices regarding nutrition and balanced diet.

And by the way, I?ve been meaning to ask you...?Got Soy??

Cheers to your health!

Mark Fuqua
http://www.weight-loss-professional.com

With 3 earned degrees and more than 16 years of experience as spiritual leader, pastor, director of marketing and investment banker, Mark Fuqua brings to the discussion table a breadth and depth of unique experience coupled with academic acumen. Yet he subscribes to the philosophy that you can approach life from either a positive or negative pathway. How you choose that determines your experiences in life whether you are trying to lose weight, build a career, raise a family, or prepare for retirement. He is Consultant and Chief Editor of Diet Basics, a website dedicated to healthy weight loss success.

Causes of Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are fine lines of thin stretched tissue that may appear on the body, often during rapid weight gain or pregnancy. Naturally, our skin is very flexible. However, during rapid growth, the production of collagen is disrupted (collagen is a protein found in our skin that makes up most of the connective tissue giving it a smooth texture).

This leads to reddish lines on your skin with a rough texture that will eventually turn grayish or white before fading. Stretch marks can affect both men and women, however, they are more prevalent in women, especially during pregnancy.

Apart from pregnancy, often times people who are obese, people how have excess amounts of body fat, or even body builders can both develop stretch marks as a result of the rapid bodily changes that occur. Heredity can also play a role in the development of stretch marks. Some people are naturally born with dry skin that is less elastic than that of other people. In these instances, it will require less body change in a short period of time to develop stretch marks. Also, many steroids which are taken through contact with the skin can cause stretch marks in one?s body.

Stretch marks will eventually fade over time, although they will never naturally be removed from your skin. There are a few medical operations and products that you can use to help remove the stretch marks from your body, ranging from surgery to a variety of creams available which claim to help remove stretch marks. These operations and creams are very expensive and most of them are not very good or dangerous, so it is best to help reduce your chances of developing stretch marks in the first place.

This can be done by insuring that you are drinking a sufficient amount of water daily. It is also important not too drink excessive amounts of caffeine found in coffee, soda, and other drinks, as caffeine will help weaken the dermis, the layer of skin which gives it elasticity. Research has also shown that a healthy balanced diet helps reduce the chances of stretch marks.

Make sure that your diet includes protein rich food such as eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, milk, yogurt, and other dairy products. Zinc rich foods such as fish, as well as foods rich in vitamins will also help. A proper intake of fruits, vegetables, dairy and grain foods can all help reduce your chances of developing stretch marks.

Stretch Marks are a truly unfortunate condition. It is best that you make all attempts at avoiding them if possible. Try to be sure to maintain a healthy balanced diet and have a sufficient intake of water. There are certain times in your life where the chances of stretch marks are high and it is not feasible to avoid these because of circumstances, such as pregnancy. In these cases talk to a dermatologist (skin doctor) to determine what treatment is best for you if they do develop on your skin.

Bronia is a researcher and writer for http://www.skin-fresh.com a user guide to microdermabrasion, stretch mark removal and treatment, botox, chemical and skin peels, acne treatment and all non surgical cosmetic procedures. For more information please visit Skin-Fresh.

ADD: One Woman's Story

When I was a 42 year old woman the awareness that I had ADD, or ADHD to be specific, changed my life forever. Until that day, I had never even heard of ADD.

ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is not fun. Not for anyone. I am annoyed when I hear anyone minimizing it or its effects. I am a 53 year old woman who was affected my whole life by an invisible disorder I couldn?t name. I never knew what was wrong with me. I always felt as if there was something, but I never quite knew what it was. I was always complimented on my achievements, capabilities, looks and talent. The compliments somehow felt odd. The outsides looked perfect. I functioned on a very high level- always in the ?in crowd?, lots of friends, good schools, nice boyfriends, husbands, career, family, mother, and wife. To the outside world, I was a success in life, highly achieving both personally and in any profession I chose. (And there have been a few.)

The insides were another story. I often felt overwhelmed by life, terrified of nameless things, anxious, confused, hopeless, resentful, and depressed. I wasn?t conscious of ?keeping up the facade? because it never felt like a facade. It just felt like the way it was. This internal conflict was in direct opposition to all of my outward appearances.

School was a nightmare for as far back as I could remember. Thinking about the struggle makes me uneasy to this day. What do I mean by nightmare? Basically, I never knew whether I was going to retain the information that I was receiving. As the lecture proceeded, I was still thinking about, processing the first fact or concept that had been presented, while in the meantime, several other facts had been offered and I missed them all. There were always what felt like gaps and I always felt as if I had to scramble to put them together. Sometimes I made the Dean?s List with A?s, sometimes I barely passed. I remember always feeling somehow as if it wasn?t up to me. I just never knew. Consequently, I regularly felt stupid, scared, confused and often inferior.

I was 42 years old when I finally found out what was really wrong with me. I mean really wrong. I had been searching for years. Therapy, group therapy, Alanon, Chit Chat, ACOA, more therapy, psychodrama, career counseling, you name it; I never gave up. The diagnosis in my case was a classic one for an adult. We are often diagnosed when our children are diagnosed. It is hereditary. At the time, my daughter was in 2nd grade at one of the preeminent public schools in NYC. I always ?sensed? that there was something wrong with the way she was learning, processing information or playing from the time she was really little. Everything just FELT wrong.

The so called? experts? continually and emphatically assured me that it was ?just my imagination? and her issues were merely ?developmental?. They assured me that she had been tested by ?the finest reading specialists in NYC and there was nothing wrong?. She was outgoing, very social, very bright, socially integrated, and adorable. In fact in nursery school, they moved her quickly ahead to kindergarten because they felt that she was so ready! From the time she was in nursery school, I would literally feel nauseous whenever I went to her school, whenever I sat in a conference. I could never quite put my finger on it, but the feelings were very real and very consistent. I knew that she was never the kind of kid who sat and played with blocks or puzzles but never knew what to do with that information or thought much about it. I remember sitting in a school conference after she had taken her first ERB tests when she was 3 1/2.

The director said that everything was great and as an aside, almost as an afterthought, mentioned that her scores had fallen dramatically on the tasks that she had no interest in. The tests reflected some difficulty with attention. I remember taking note in my head, but not sharing it because it was a thought without a context.

I wanted badly to believe all of the so called experts and educational professionals. After all, I had always felt that anyone in a position of authority naturally knew more than I did.

I tried but things with my daughter were not improving. She was still struggling with reading and organizational skills and the pain for me was getting greater. It?s interesting as I look back to know that the pain that I was experiencing through her was all of those unresolved years of my own pain. It was certainly not clear at the time. The only thing that was very clear was that something was not right. That?s all I knew.

I finally sought help outside of the school with a psychologist who was recommended to me by a friend. She said that it might be nothing more than an eyelash. But, she said, an eyelash could drive you crazy so we decided to take a look and see. I felt very relieved because I intuitively sensed that I was in the right place. I somehow just knew. She spent some time testing my daughter, then 7 years old, and diagnosed her with ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which as I mentioned, until that day, I had not ever heard of. No one had ever mentioned it- not the experts, not the schools, none of the therapists that I had seen over the years, no one. She diagnosed me simultaneously and I had what I have learned is a classic response to this awareness. It was as if the flood gates opened up, the bright lights went on. After all of these years, I knew what was wrong with me. I wasn?t crazy. I wasn?t stupid. I wasn?t even confused. I had a neurological disorder with a name that appeared to be the cause of most if not all of the underlying negative feelings about my own behavior that I had been living with and compensating for all of my life. I knew that I was not alone and I knew that there was hope. It wasn?t my fault and there was nothing wrong with me except exactly what was wrong with me which suddenly became OK.

Since my diagnosis, I have stopped wondering, searching and feeling shame about my very existence. I learned that ADD is a neurological disorder and has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. It has to do with brain wiring and body chemistry. I learned that there is no blood test and that it is diagnosed through symptoms which must have onset before the age of 7 like impulsivity, difficulty sustaining a single task or getting organized, interrupting constantly, a sense of underachievement and a tendency to be easily bored. I learned that there is an 80% correlation between ADD and substance abuse and depression/anxiety disorders. I began to read everything that I could get my hands on, went to CHADD meetings and began to be very verbal about this. I began to address my shame- the all pervasive feeling that told me that I was fundamentally flawed. I not only began to advocate for my daughter in school, I began to advocate for myself both at work and in my personal relationships.

My life is no longer an uphill climb. I would have to say that I am happier today than I have ever been in my life. I see a therapist regularly who is trained in and very knowledgeable about ADD and I am on medication prescribed and monitored by a medical doctor. My daughter is doing great. She takes her Ritalin as prescribed and is an integrated, socially adept, well adjusted, happy kid. I can accept the eclectic person I am today with love and kindness. I often feel a sense of well being and peace and no longer castigate myself for walking on the planet. I find joy in living and feel hopeful much of the time. The inner voices are much more gentle and continually remind me that all is well.

Nancy Snell is a Certified Professional Business Coach specializing in Adult ADD and workplace issues. She coaches professionals who are ready to get unblocked, unfrustrated and on track. http://www.nancysnell.com or 212.517.6488