Health Specialist » Depression

The Chocolate Diagnosis

Health Specialist — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:55:15 +0000

Eating chocolate is one of the world’s most popular passions. The typical Swiss eats more than 21 pounds of this chocolate each year. Even the average Belgian or Brit downs some 16 pounds annually. In the United States, consumption weighs in at roughly 11.5 pounds per year. The earliest record of chocolate was over fifteen hundred years ago in the Central American rain forests, where the tropical mix of high rainfall combined with high year round temperatures and humidity provide the ideal climate for cultivation of the plant from which chocolate is derived, the Cacao Tree.

The Cacao Tree was worshiped by the Mayan civilization of Central America and Southern Mexico, who believed it to be of divine origin, Cacao is actually a Mayan word meaning God Food, hence the tree’s modern generic Latin name Theobrama Cacao meaning ‘Food of the Gods. Cacao was corrupted into the more familiar Cocoa by the early European explorers. The Maya brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting and pounding the seeds of the Cacao tree cocoa beans with maize and Capsicum Chilli peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in ceremonies as well as for drinking by the wealthy and religious elite, they also ate a Cacao porridge.

Chocolate is full of mood-enhancing chemicals. To start with, it is loaded with sugar, which is a carbohydrate and triggers the release of seratonin. Chocolate also contains fat, which in itself provides a feeling of satisfaction since it answers the urge for calories. Chocolate is also said to have the same mood-enhancing chemical that is found in marijuana, although in much smaller quantities. To test the theory that chocolate enhances mood, a study was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. Students who felt the urge to eat chocolate were given either milk chocolate, white chocolate which contains no cocoa, just cocoa butter and flavoring, and pills containing stimulants found in chocolate.

Researchers say the findings were predictable. The pill didn’t do the trick, but both the white and milk chocolates did satisfy the students. The results suggest that it is not some secret chemical ingredient in chocolate that provides the euphoria, but the sensory experience such as the taste, the smoothness and the aroma. While some may be using chocolate as an energy booster, a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has found a link between chocolate cravings and personality. Results suggest certain personality types are not only more likely to crave chocolate, but it may also improve their mood.

Researchers from the Black Dog Institute correlated results from an online survey completed by nearly 3,000 people. Of the respondents, 54 percent reported food cravings during bouts with depression, of which 45 percent specifically wanted chocolate, and 61 percent of these said chocolate improved their mood and reduce stress. It’s believed substances in chocolate called endorphins and opioids, may be responsible for the mood enhancing effect. These compounds may make one feel more relaxed, thereby reducing stress and anxiety and improving mood.

Chocolates can also play a major role in a number of disorders, including bulimia, binge eating, and obesity. There’s some hints that chocolate may possess natural analgesic properties. Studies indicate that eating high-fat, chocolate foods can trigger the brain’s production of natural opiates. During the study, it showed that when a physician used a drug to block the brain’s opiate receptors, a binge-eater’s desire for sweet, fatty foods such as chocolate, dropped down. Still, there are questions left unanswered on the experiment, such as Does the body simply desire anything sweet and fatty, or men naturally feel some special craving for chocolates?

The potential health benefit of chocolate is a popular area of study. Previous research has shown dark chocolate may be good for cardiovascular health and some scientists recommend them for reducing heart disease risk. The down-side is, of course, the calories. Chocolate is full of fat and sugar. While small amounts can be beneficial to your health, larger quantities are not so good. When using chocolate, even as medicine, moderation is the key.

Sex Can Be Addictive

Health Specialist — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:58:03 +0000

In the movie Blades Of Glory, the character Chazz Michael Michaels, played by actor Will Ferrel, was a self-confessed sex addict. For those who do not believe in the possibility of people being addicted to sex, Will Ferrel’s character would surely be just fictional. However, one episode of The Tyra Banks Show also discussed sexual addiction and even had guests who openly admitted to being sex-addicts. What was more surprising is the fact that one of their guests is only 14 years old and she confessed to being a sex addict since she was 12. Though hard to believe, it is actually true that some people get addicted to sex. How or why this happens will be discussed later on in this article. A person, especially those who engage in frequent sex, might wonder how he or she can determine if his or her behavior is already considered an addiction or not. Characteristics that differentiate sex addicts from those who are just sexually active are also included in this article. Sexual addiction is considered a mental health problem and is very similar to other forms of addiction such as those with alcoholics and drug addicts. Like most health problems too, sexual addiction can be managed or treatment using a method very similar to that used among alcoholics.

Addiction is usually said to be associated, if not a result of, stress and anxiety disorders. A tragic or traumatic event may cause a person to feel self-hatred, extreme anger, loneliness, and depression. In search for an event or situation to change these negative feelings, they seek for things that would can give them pleasure. Substances such as alcohol, amphetamines, and cocaine have a component within them that causes a person to release more dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter responsible for the good or pleasurable feelings that most people experience. Engaging in some activities such as sex and having an orgasm trigger the same reaction within the brain. Because of the satisfaction, relief or escape that these substances and activities provide to a person who is already psychologically troubled, he or she will seek to experience the euphoria some more. As a result, an addiction develops as well as feelings of obsession and compulsion.

Engaging in sexual or romantic activities is considered natural among humans. The moderation or frequency among each individual, however, varies. Some people do these activities more frequently compared to others but that does not necessarily make them sex addicts.

Some of the characteristics that should be observed in a person to consider him or her as a possible sexual addict are listed below

l He or she must have a pattern of failing in resisting his or her impulse to engage in specific sexual behaviors;

l He or she must frequently engage in those sexual behaviors to a greater extent or longer period than what he or she is intended;

l He or she might experience a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to stop, reduce, or control those sexual behaviors;

l He or she spends an inappropriately large amount of time or resources spent in obtaining sex, being sexual, or recovering from sexual experience;

l He or she has a certain preoccupation with certain sexual behaviors or preparatory activities;

l He or she still frequently engages in sexual behaviors even when expected to fulfill occupational, academic, domestic, or social obligations;

l He or she still continues to do the sexual behaviors or activities despite knowing that he or she will have a persistent or recurring social, financial, psychological, or physical problem that is caused or made worse by the behavior; and

l He or she feels distressed, anxious, restless, or irritated if he or she is unable to engage in sexual behaviors or activities.

There are also different levels of sexual addiction. Level one is being engaged in compulsive sexual activities or thoughts only. Level two already includes acts of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and rubbing against people in public places. Level three is when a person already commits much more serious and intrusive sexual offenses that have more harmful consequences.

Sexual addiction, like most other addictions, have several negative consequences. Someone who engages in sexual activities frequently with other people has a greater tendency to acquire infections such as AIDS for example. A female sex addict also has a higher chance of getting pregnant. Sex addicts usually have financial problems because of their uncontrolled expenditure to satisfy their addiction. They will also have social problems such as difficulty relating to their family and their friends primarily because they already have a sense of shame being aware of their problem and the inability to control it.

Professional help is very much needed in order for a person to recover from this kind of addiction. Therapy sessions with professionals may either be done individually or in a group. Several organizations such as Sex Addicts Anonymous and Sexaholics Anonymous already provide programs and support groups to help a person who has an addiction to change and get better in avoiding the compulsion. Some medications can also be used to treat not necessarily a person’s sexual addiction but his or her co-occurring psychological problems.

Cooling Down Hot Flashes

Health Specialist — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:56:06 +0000

Menopausal women searching for new ways to cool down hot flashes have found a new prescription antidepressants. Although this does not mean that all menopausal women are going through depression, none of these drugs are specifically approved for the condition, yet the number of doctors giving off label prescriptions is on the rise.

Hot flashes are characterized by the sudden, intense, hot feeling on your face and upper body, and can be preceded or accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and sweating, nausea, dizziness, anxiety, headache, weakness, or a feeling of suffocation.

According to research, the use of antidepressants for menopausal women has become increasingly common due to the fact that women and doctors alike are seeking alternatives to menopause hormones. It has been observed that the use of hormone drugs for menopause has decreased significantly since 2002, after a government study that linked hormone use in older women may result to stroke and breast cancer.

There is no clear evidence why antidepressants seem to have a cooling down effect in the hot flashes of some women. The connection was made only by chance in the studies of women with breast cancer. There are some cancer drugs that can set off hot flashes, and researchers noticed that women who were also taking the antidepressants known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors had fewer flashes.

There are studies which showed that the use of these and other serotonin-altering drugs to treat hot flashes in healthy menopausal women have shown disappointing results. On the other hand, Wyeths Effexor and GlaxoSmithKlines Paxil, have shown a meaningful benefit in high-quality controlled studies, as per a review published last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Most women welcome the idea of relief more than they would receive from drugs. In one Effexor trial, the antidepressant users reported about 60 percent fewer hot flashes. By comparison, studies of hormones show estrogen reduces the frequency of hot flashes 80 percent. However, some women also complained of numerous side effects, such as constipation, dry mouth and nausea.
According to Cynthia Pearson, Executive Director of the National Women’s health, some women are fine with antidepressants and say, It helps and it makes a difference, while others say, Forget it. I dont feel like myself.

Different studies produce a variation of results in connection with the drug responses. A study of the antidepressant Zoloft which was sponsored by its maker, Pfizer, and published this month in the journal Menopause, has reported that one-third of the subjects actually had more hot flashes while taking the drug, a third stayed about the same or experienced just a slight benefit, and another third reported far fewer hot flashes. Such finding is similar to trends shown in other studies of antidepressants for hot flashes, which include Prozac and Paxil.

Figuring out which type of women have the most to gain from taking antidepressant drugs is the real challenge but the number of women to be studied should increase in order to come up with significant conclusions. In the Zoloft trial, only 27 women were in the high-benefit group.

A very interesting trend emerged among women who were recently menopausal. These women who had just stopped having their periods turned out to receive the most benefits from antidepressant treatment. However, women who had been menopausal for a year and those who were just starting to experience the effects of hormonal fluctuations fared worse on the drug.

The biggest concern about antidepressant use for menopause is that the drugs may worsen some symptoms already common during menopause things like anxiety, sleep problems and loss of libido. And while the drugs have been used safely for years in people with depression, theres no long-term data on their use in healthy women with healthy brains.

Women who will opt to try antidepressant treatment for the relief of hot flashes should first consult professional medical advise. Regular follow-up is also necessary in the first weeks after starting the drug.

The Power Of Emotional Health

Health Specialist — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:46:00 +0000

Man’s obsession with physical fitness is evident wherever you go. There is a phenomenal increase in the growth of fitness clubs and gyms. People have become conscious of their body image that they are willing to go the extra mile just to have the same sculptured body like those that are usually splashed in the pages of the magazines, billboards, TV, and movie screens. People try to find sensible and sustainable ways to achieve and maintain a physically fit body, yet tend to overlook another important aspect of their well-being their emotional health.
It has always been said that a healthy body cannot be divorced from a healthy mind or a healthy spirit. Emotional health is considered an integral part of man’s overall wellness. Neglecting your emotional health can damage your physical health in the process. Research has shown that one of the leading contributors to illness is stress caused by unresolved emotional issues.
Psychologists believe that emotions, such as fear, joy, sadness, and anger are mental responses to events, circumstances, people, or our own thoughts and memories. They course through our conscious and unconscious mind at critical junctures or during seemingly inconsequential moments of our lives.
Biologists, on the other hand, tell us that our emotions are rooted in self-preservation, triggering physiological reactions that enable us to find food, escape danger, and reproduce. In his work entitled Emotional Intelligence, author Daniel Goleman pointed out that, …all emotions are, in essence, impulses to act, the instant plans for handling life that evolution has instilled in us.”
Emotions have also evolved into facial expressions and body language so that each member of the group can signal his or her wants and needs to other members. As John D. Mayer, a leading expert in the study of emotions, has remarked “Emotions convey information…about relationships.”
Emotions are so powerful and actually possess the ability to make us sick, as well as provide healing. Emotions are relayed to the immune system through the autonomic nervous system. When people experience anxiety, depression, and other painful emotions, the immune system can be affected and may cause risk for a whole host of illnesses. In the same way, having a healthy emotional outlook in life can boost the resistance against disease.
Mayer has emphasized, “People can reason with emotions in the same way they reason with cognitive information. So you can solve emotional problems just as mathematicians solve math problems.” However, he also acknowledged that some emotions, such as grief and anger, can be harder to control or reason with. The interplay of various emotions make that form of reasoning very difficult.
Not all experts agree that human beings are born with a full range of emotions. Instead, some theorize that people were born with instincts and urges, along with an innate capacity for feeling. As people grow older, they develop personalities and nurture relationships with others, which are valuable experiences that help them expand their feelings into full-fledged emotions. Having a complete range of emotion is important for overall health and well-being.

Emotional health consists of five key components
1. Being aware of your emotions. Emotionally healthy people are in touch with their emotions and can identify and acknowledge them as experience.
2. Being able to process your emotions. After connecting with their emotions, emotionally healthy people develop appropriate ways of expressing them.
3. Being sensitive to other people and their emotions and having the ability to empathize. The ability to identify their own emotions enables emotionally healthy people to identify emotions in others and to have an intuitive sense of what it feels like to experience them.
4. Being self-empowered. Emotionally healthy people honor their emotions, which empowers them to fulfill their goals.
5. Being in healthy relationships. Using their emotional intelligence and empathy, emotionally healthy people build and maintain strong, functioning relationships.
Just as emotional health can affect a person’s physical health, the same is true with one’s lifestyle making a direct impact on emotional health. Vitamins and minerals stimulates the production of chemicals in the brain. These are known as neurotransmitters that regulate our physical and mental health functions, including the way we process emotions. Minor deficiencies of these nutrients can lead to depression and irritability, as well as hamper our ability to concentrate and stay motivated.
Definitely, unhealthy foods can adversely affect emotional health. Excessive intake of caffeine demonstrate many of the same physiological and psychological symptoms as people suffering from anxiety, while a diet with too much sugar has been linked to depression, aggression, and impaired judgment.
Many experts believe that people with strong spiritual fervor tend to have healthier immune systems and are less prone to depression and high blood pressure. It can be surmised that the faith of religious adherents gave them an enhanced sense of well-being which helped reduce their levels of stress.

Suicide Rate on V.A. Care vs. Civilians

Health Specialist — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:28:36 +0000

The largest and most comprehensive study on veterans who sought treatment for depression in the governments health care system was conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and University of Michigan. The joint effort detailed records from more than 800,000 veterans, including troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, revealed that veterans receiving treatment for depression are no more likely to take their own lives as compared with civilian patients.
The study yielded 1,683 suicides in all, a rate of less than one-quarter of one percent far lower than some past estimates. However, experts cautioned against applying the findings too widely, because most former servicemen and women with mental health problems do not seek treatment in the Veterans Affairs system.
Contrary to most studies of non-veterans, the risk of suicide generally goes up with age, the highest rate among those ages 18 to 44, but dropped about 20 percent for those ages 45 to 64, and then rose again after that.
Paradoxically, the research suggested that those who had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD as well as depression were at significantly lower risk of suicide than those without trauma symptoms. Veterans being treated for both conditions were 20 less likely to commit suicide than those who were treated for depression alone. People suffering from two conditions are usually considered to be at higher risk for harm than those with one.
According to the Dr. Marcia Valenstein, senior author of the team from the University of Michigan, It may be that those being treated for PTSD have more access to services, more psychotherapy visits, just more mental health services in general.
In addition to that, Dr. Valenstein said that the veterans being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder were more likely than the others to receive income supplements from the government to cover the disability, which could also help account for the difference.
The Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments have been investigating suicide risk closely since a study of combat troops in 2003 found high rates of suicide. In another recent study, Oregon researchers found that veterans were about twice as likely to kill themselves as were people who had not served in the military.
The American Journal of Public Health published the new analysis online which focused only on those veterans who sought treatment for depression in the governments health care system and suggested that they might be different in some ways from others in treatment.
Mark Kaplan, a professor of community health at Portland State University in Oregon said that the s an important study and adds a lot to what we know about this population.
In this new research study, the team evaluated records for 807,694 veterans being treated in the V.A. system from April 1999 to September 2004, which included men and women who had served in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf war, Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the researchers did not do separate analysis for each.
Moreover, the study did not evaluate the methods used in the suicides. In the Oregon study led by a community health practitioner named Dr. Mark Kaplan was published last summer. His study indicated that more than 80 of veterans suicides were found to have been committed with a gun compared to 55 among non-veterans.

Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke Could Happen To You

Health Specialist — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:07:18 +0000

Did you know that if you have diabetes you have a greater chance of dying from heart disease or stroke and it doesn’t make any difference if you are a woman or a man? One reason is high blood levels of sugar make the walls of your blood vessels thicker and cause them to lose their elasticity, which in turn makes it harder for blood to pass through.

Type 1 diabetes is know as juvenile-onset diabetes and usually affects children and young adults and is genetically-linked. The following are some conditions that are typically found in people with type 2 diabetes, which is know as adult-onset diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Depression Depression doubles the risk of a person getting diabetes and after being diagnosed with diabetes a person will go through major lifestyle changes which will cause them to be more depressed. Diet changes and taking medicines are among the things that cause them to be more depressed.

Obesity Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and strongly associated with insulin resistance. Loosing weight has been shown to improve heart-health along with diabetes.

Inactivity Lack of exercise is another major risk factor. Along with loosing weight, exercise has helped to reduce blood pressure and the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Hypertension High blood pressure has long been recognized as a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. If you have both high blood and diabetes your risk for heart disease doubles.

A symptom of diabetes is the skin of a diabetic person becomes very dry and flaky due to excessive loss of water, leading to dehydration which could result in a coma. Also it takes a long time for sores or cuts to heal. Diabetes is usually accompanied by sudden weight loss. There are many things that could be or may not be a symptom of diabetes. If you think you might have diabetes, go to your doctor right away to find out and it never hurts to have your heart checked out at the same time.

Exercising Your Way Out of Chronic Pain

Health Specialist — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:33:57 +0000

A lot of people think that dealing with chronic pain requires a lot of expensive medication and frequent visits to pain specialists. It doesnt have to be that way, because something as simple as exercising may help alleviate your chronic pain complaints.

Generally speaking, chronic pain is pain that lasts for three months or longer. The most commonly reported cases of chronic pain are that of the back and the neck muscles. The neck is important in keeping the head in place and holding it up. Our back, on the other hand, is the so-called workhorse of our body. It carries the burden of the entire body and is responsible for almost every move we make. And because of the important functions these muscle groups carry, they are more prone to straining.

What are possible causes of Neck and Back pain?
Studies have shown that some chronic neck and back pain may be caused by these common reasons

Muscle strain. Overuse of the neck muscles and improper posture may cause muscle fatigue, and eventually, neck andor back strain.
Arthritis. The neck joint is no different from any other joint in the body, it also deteriorates with age and acquires arthritis.
Disk disorders. Any disorder related to the disk in between the vertebraes may cause neck pain.
Injury. Injuries that may cause over-stretching of the soft tissues of the neck and back may cause chronic pain.

Exercise
The cheapest and simplest way to relieve your self of chronic muscle pain is to exercise. Exercise has been noted to help with a lot of condition, from treating depression to improving memory retention. Exercise takes out the possible risks from being inactive for a long while. It also increases the benefits of being active.

The bodys muscles, including the heart, lose its strength and start working less effectively when the body has been inactive for quite a long while. You place yourself at high risk of getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol andor diabetes. Lack of physical activity also increases fatigue, stress and anxiety. Lack of exercise makes the body lose its conditioning, therefore contribute more to chronic pain.

It is understandable that it is difficult to get started with an exercise program, especially if you are currently experiencing chronic pain. However a little sacrifice is necessary to ensure pain relief. Here are some of the benefits you may get from exercising
It signals your body to produce and release endorphins. Endorphins block pain impulses from reaching pain receptors in the brain. They also generate a feeling of well-being, alleviating anxiety and depression.
It helps build strength. The more exercise you do, the stronger your muscles will be. And the stronger your muscles become, the more force and load it takes off your bones and cartilages less stress, less pain.
It helps increase flexibility. When joints are able to move their full range of motion, they are less likely to feel aches and pains.
It helps improve sleep quality. Exercise triggers the release of endorphins that give a sense of well-being, and it lowers the release of stress hormones, resulting in a better, more restful sleep.

A lot of people are afraid to address their chronic neck and back pain concerns in fear of spending a lot on medicines and consultation fees. Because of this fear they tend to overlook the simplest and easiest way to alleviate themselves of this burden exercising. A simple walk around the block or a 15 minute bicycle ride may seem to show no immediate effect, but youll be glad you did it in the long run.

Sanity Reality Or Fabrication?

Health Specialist — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:27:30 +0000

Modern psychology does not define the term sanity. Look it up in any psychology book and you’ll find not a single attempt to actually define what it is to be sane. Different countries have legal systems that define sanity, in the same way that individuals define what is and is not sane for themselves. However, it is unusual that the field most concerned with mental health and insanity has made no attempts to form a single, concrete definition for it. There are some that theorize this situation is similar to the argument about the existence of heat and cold. Cold has a relationship with heat in that the former is the absence of the latter, nothing more. Is it possible that sanity doesn’t actually exist and is merely the absence of insanity?

Legal and mental health institutions round the world have volumes of guidelines and criteria used to determine if someone is insane, but not even a single line to mark a person as being sane. If you take the time to analyze it, it almost seems as if mental health experts believe marking someone sane to be a diagnosis of exclusion. There are hundreds of potential problems in psychology and psychiatry, with the list including anxiety disorders, depression, insomnia, psychosis, and dissociative personality disorder. All of these examples are considered to be signs of insanity, albeit the intensity varies from problem to problem, and person to person. However, most psychologists seem content to pick away at possible problems until they run out of options before declaring you sane.

It is also interesting to note just how much effort psychology puts into finding and defining various forms of insanity. For example, there are currently six different forms of pedophilia. Out of the 300 major psychological disorders, a startlingly large amount are considered to be connected to sex and sexual health. There are a few disorders that are used to describe mood and mentality changes brought about by the weather and other factors in nature that affect us. Social and familial relations are also taken in as an avenue of study, typically with disorders that are inevitably linked to disorders in other fields. So literally, there are thousands of ways for a person to be insane to some degree, but no way to tell if a person is sane. For some, this actually poses a most intriguing conundrum does sanity even exist?

That question, while probably not taken seriously by the vast majority, does put an old adage in a new light. There are some people that often joke that everyone’s insane, that the appearance of sanity is just a matter of how much insanity is present. Given that sanity is not defined by psychology, the field that ought to be the most concerned with understanding it, the joke may not necessarily be completely untrue. There are ways to determine sanity, but these are based on the legal definition and are used strictly to see whether someone was legally liable for a crime or not. However, not being criminally insane does not automatically make a person sane in the psychological sense. After all, only a small percentage of the various mental illnesses out there can actually lead to criminal behavior.

Of course, all this could simply mean that the dividing line between sane and insane is up to the individual observers to determine. That brings a number of risks, as the observations and definitions are likely going to be highly subjective. Even sanity in the legal sane is subjective, as different jurisdictions define it differently. The lack of a credible source for what makes a person sane may be psychology’s way of telling the world that sanity doesn’t exist. Now there’s a disconcerting thought.

Improve Your Mood with 5-HTP Supplements

Health Specialist — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:00:51 +0000

What is 5-HTP?
The Griffonia Extract is rich in 5-HydroxyTryptophan 5-HTP, which comes from an African vegetable, the Griffonia simplicifolia seed, and contains 30 5HTP. 5-HTP is an amino acid that is a direct precursor of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter having pain soothing and relaxing effects. 5-HTP is not present in significant amounts in a typical diet. The human body manufactures 5-HTP from L-tryptophan, a natural amino acid found in most dietary proteins. However, eating food that contains L-tryptophan does not significantly increase 5-HTP levels.

5-HTP and Serotonin
5-HTP is the precursor to serotonin. It improves mood, anxiety and is beneficial in weight loss. 5-Hydroxytryptophan 5-HTP is an amino acid that is the intermediate step between tryptophan and the important brain chemical serotonin. There is a massive amount of evidence that suggests that low serotonin levels are a common consequence of modern living. The lifestyle and dietary practices of many people living in this stress-filled era results in lowered levels of serotonin within the brain.

5-HTP and Carb Cravings
Researchers believe that inadequate serotonin levels are in part responsible for the desire to overeat. Not surprisingly, obese individuals who crave carbohydrates usually show abnormally low levels of serotonin. Taking a 5-HTP supplement half an hour before a meal can ” turn off” cravings and hunger pangs by feeding the brains carbohydrate satiety center. In this way 5-HTP can be a great asset as part of a weight-loss regime.

5-HTP and Addiction
The use of many addictive substances, such as tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and certain narcotics, elevates serotonin levels. When these substances are eliminated, serotonin levels drop drastically, causing anxiety and cravings. Taking 5-HTP can stabilize serotonin levels and help minimize the symptoms of withdrawal.

5-HTP and PMS
PMS sufferers report pain relief, as well as decreased irritability and mood swings from using 5-HTP. The supplement works by countering the hormone-induced decrease in serotonin levels that occur naturally during menstruation.

5-HTP and Sleep
Because of its calming effect, many rely on 5-HTP to alleviate stress-attacks, as well as to encourage restful sleep. Unlike sedative drugs, 5-HTP is not associated with unwanted side effects, such as disturbed sleep patterns or grogginess. It can be taken regularly one hour before retiring as a remedy for insomnia.

Side Effects
Very high intakes of 5-HTP have caused muscle jerks in guinea pigs and both muscle jerks and diarrhea in mice. Injected 5-HTP has also caused kidney damage in rats. To date, these problems have not been reported in humans. Serotonin syndrome, a serious but uncommon condition caused by excessive amounts of serotonin, has not been reported to result from supplementation with 5-HTP; in theory it could be triggered by the supplement. However, the level of intake at which this toxic effect might potentially occur remains unknown.

Warnings
5-HTP should not be taken with antidepressants, weight-control drugs, other serotonin-modifying agents, or substances known to cause liver damage, because in these cases 5-HTP may have excessive effects. People with liver disease may not be able to regulate 5-HTP adequately and those suffering from autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma may be more sensitive than others, to 5-HTP. These people should not take 5-HTP without consulting a knowledgeable healthcare professional. The safety of taking 5-HTP during pregnancy and breast-feeding is not known at this time.
Conditions with low serotonin levels helped by 5-HTP
Depression
Obesity
Carbohydrate craving
Bulimia
Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Sleep apnea
Migraine headaches
Tension headaches
Chronic daily headaches
Premenstrual syndrome
Fibromyalgia

Migraine Headache Treatment

Health Specialist — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:33:06 +0000

Migraine headaches are described as being of a recurrent nature. They are characterized by certain symptoms that precede the actual onset of the headache. These are called prodromal symptoms and may include one or several typical symptoms in each patient. The prodromal symptoms include spots before the eyes, visual field defects, flashes of light, unusual sounds, irritability, depression, restlessness, and anorexia, to name a few. The symptoms may disappear when the headache begins or may merge with it. The symptoms usually follow the same pattern time after time for each patient, and become good indicators that a headache is on the way. Most of the time the headaches will be on the same side, but this is not an absolute rule. The patient may have attacks on a daily basis or they may occur once every few months.

Without treatment, the attacks may last for hours or days. It is not uncommon for the patient to experience nausea and vomiting and an aversion to light. Many people who suffer from migraines will tell you the only way to stop them is to remain in a dark room with a wet wash cloth over their eyes.

The cause of migraine headaches is unknown. Because of the various prodromal symptoms, most medical authorities believe that they are caused by a functional disturbance in the veins of the scalp and within the cranium. Many alternative health care practitioners believe that all diseases begin with a disturbance of the energy fields that surround the body. Because the body uses electrochemical impulses to transmit its messages throughout the body, it generates a magnetic field. In terms of what we normally experience with magnetism, the magnetic field of the body is weak. It is considered to be biomagnetism, and until recently it was not detected in scientific research. However, more modern instrumentation has allowed researchers to measure the weak electric fields generated in living systems.

The approach in energy healing is to consider the body of a living organism to be one complete whole. Unlike the systems approach where each system is studied as an independent unit circulatory system, digestive system, respiratory system, etc. the holistic approach is to consider the complete organism. When any part of the organism is not functioning properly, it affects the entire organism. For certain individuals, this results in a disturbance that results in the symptoms of a migraine headache. The prodromal symptoms are the body’s early warning system. If the warnings are not headed, the cry for help becomes louder and louder until they become incapacitating. Balancing the energy on a routine basis has the potential to keep these symptoms from ever occurring. In my practice I found that many patients experienced fewer headaches, less severe headaches, and in some cases the headaches were eliminated altogether. Below are a few of the testimonials from some of the patients who received help with managing their migraine headaches. Some found that other problems they were experiencing were also relieved.

Learn more about energy balancing at .