Cranberries really do help avoid urinary tract infections

Do you get a lot of urinary tract infections (UTIs)? You may be interested in this article then: Cranberries Really Are a Miracle Cure for Women.

Sometimes it really is the simple things in life, isn’t it?

Most of us have tasted or seen cranberries, usually in juice or sauce, but what exactly are they? The berry, that grows on bushes, starts out as white and then eventually takes on the characteristic deep red color. They’re harvested in the fall and the vast majority (up to 95%) are used for juices, sauces and for drying.

It was originally the Native Americans who realized that cranberries played a role in health. Now, the benefits are more understood although there’s still research to be done. For example, we’ve known since the early 1900s that cranberries can help reduce the chances of developing a UTI. They work by flushing out the bacteria that cause the UTIs but, somehow, doesn’t flush out the necessary bacteria in the gut. The berries also contain vitamins and fiber, as well a the antioxidants, thought to help prevent the development of several disease.

News for Today:

Open wide, for a breast cancer test: study
Birth control patch linked to 16 cases of blood clots, 2 deaths
Many teens abusing cough medicine: U.S. report
Teens getting help for suicidal behavior from an online community
Cranberries Really Are a Miracle Cure for Women
Overactive nerves in head and neck may account for 'ringing in the ears'

New help for physicians working on pain management

Do you feel that your doctor isn’t managing your pain properly? If you have pain, either short-term or long-term, chances are you aren’t being managed properly if you have a doctor who is uncertain of how to use certain types of medications, namely opioids (narcotics).

The uncertainty could be from fear of their patients becoming addicted, for example. Unfortunately, that way of thinking still holds true for many doctors – even if it’s not right. Other doctors are just not familiar with how to prescribe narcotics, be it for what type of pain, the dosage, and the frequency.

If you live in the United States, this may change as the push to educate healthcare providers regarding pain control makes its way to the doctors. The Federation of State Medical Boards Research and Education Foundation (FSMB) has published and made available country-wide, the Model Policy for the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain, a handbook for physicians.

It seems like a good step in the right direction.

Take my acupuncture poll at Help My Hurt - do you use acupuncture?
Also: What type of chronic pain do you have? and How often do you take over-the-counter pain relievers?

News for Today

Listen-up ladies: Don’t postpone knee-replacement surgery
Transplant drug sirolimus shrinks tumors, improves lung function
Physicians Gain New Tool To Better Manage Acute And Chronic Pain
Chromosome abnormality linked to autism, study finds

Considering being an organ donor? Here are some links.

Do you want to be an organ donor? Have you discussed your wishes with your family or loved ones? If you want to donate, you need to discuss this so that everyone knows what you would have wanted. Too many people die while waiting for life-saving organs.

This article, Rural patients less likely to receive organ transplants, shouldn’t have surprised me. It’s amazing what is involved in organ transplants.

If you are in the US, this site, Donate Life America, has information on the laws in each stated. In Canada, Health Canada lists the provincial transplant societies. In the United Kingdom, UK Transplant is a site where potential donors can register. People in Australia can go to Medicare Australia to register their interest, and those in New Zealand can go to Organ Donation New Zealand.

News for Today:

Ethnicity can skew kids' asthma diagnosis: study
4 healthy habits can increase lifespan by 14 years, study suggests
Multiple skin cancer risk behaviors are common among US adults
US ranks last among other industrialized nations on preventable deaths
Newer meningitis vaccine appears safe and effective for infants
Rural patients less likely to receive organ transplants

Vaccine-cause theory for autism debunked again

Finding out that your child is autistic is devastating. Thinking that you may have caused it or played a role in it through an action you thought was best for your child, is even more devastating. That’s what many parents went through when the rumours started spreading that the rising rates of autism was due to the vaccination programs for our children.

Time and time again, it’s been found that the vaccines are not linked and that is a very unfortunate coincidence that autism is noticed or starts around the same time vaccines are administered. Unfortunately, some people still believe it though, and will not get their children vaccinated. Or if they have, they blame themselves.

I hope that the most recent study, written about in this article, Study casts doubt on autism-vaccine link, will start putting this to rest. We need to put our efforts into finding out what really causes autism and stop making parents feel guilty about choices that they have made.

>Autism Vox is a very interesting blog on everything autism. I recommend you check it out if you want to learn more about the disorder.


News for Today:

Northerners should boost vitamin D exposure: study
Avian flu viruses don't easily infect people: U.S. scientists
U.S. experts change advice on kids' allergies
Study casts doubt on autism-vaccine link
Disordered eating less common among teen girls who regularly eat family meals
Lack of vitamin D may increase heart disease risk
Here's something new to worry about: Anxiety hikes heart attack risk

An interview with someone with ADEM, at Help My Hurt

By now, my regular readers know that I have another blog on pain and pain management. Every so often, I’ll let you know here what is going on over there – particularly on Mondays, when I have a new feature called Company’s calling.

Mondays’ post will be interviews or guest posts with/by people who are living with pain or who are working with people who have pain. Today’s post is with someone who suffers from chronic pain because of Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. I had never heard of ADEM before so I had to do a bit of research to understand what she was going through.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke: “Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is characterized by a brief but intense attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin – the protective covering of nerve fibers.”

If you would like to read the interview, just visit Company’s calling - a guest discusses living with pain.

News for Today:

Multiple flu vaccine shows promise in clinical trials, say its makers
Contact lenses purchased over Internet may place individuals at risk for harmful eyecare practices
Exercise program improves symptoms in arthritis patients
Strength training of neck muscles relieves chronic pain
Heart patients find education programs lead to better health