Could marriage be the secret of surviving cancer?

Could marriage be the secret to surviving cancer?

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:19 AM on 24th August 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-...ing-cancer.html


Married people are more likely to survive cancer, research shows.

The stress of separation may harm a patient's immune system and make them more susceptible to the effects of the disease, a study's authors said.

They found that those who are separated have the worst chance of survival.

Researchers looked at the five and ten-year survival rates of nearly four million patients diagnosed with cancer between 1973 and 2004.

Married people are more likely to survive cancer, research shows

They found that 63.3 per cent of married patients survived for at least five years and 57.5 per cent for ten years.

Separated people were only 45.4 per cent likely to survive for five years, while after ten years only 36.8 per cent lived.

Widowed patients had the next lowest chance of survival, with 47.2 per cent living for five years after cancer diagnosis and 45.6 per cent living for ten years.

Those who had never married had a survival rate of 57.3 per cent after five years and 51.7 per cent after ten years.

Lead researcher Dr Gwen Sprehn said psychological ' interventions' should be used help reduce stress and with it the chances of death.

'Patients who are going through separation at the time of diagnosis may be a particularly vulnerable population for whom intervention could be prioritised,' she said.

'Identification of relationship-related stress at time of diagnosis could favourably impact survival.'

She also urged other scientists to carry out further studies in the area. She said:

'Ideally, future research will study marital status in more detail over time and also address individual differences in genetic profile and biomarkers related to stress, immune, and cancer pathways in order to determine mechanisms which might underlie this possible critical period.'

The study was carried out by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis in the U.S., and published in the November issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Collective Soul real happiness

Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny
with the object of making men happy in the end, giving
them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential
and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature
and to found that edifice on its un-avenged tears, would
you consent to be the architect on those conditions?
Tell me, and tell the truth.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Until you have become really,
in actual fact, as a brother to everyone,
brotherhood will not come to pass.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Dostoyevsky, whose soul seems to have known no bounds described the nature of change in man needed to bring about a just sustainable civilization when he said, “All the Utopias will come to pass only when we grow wings and all people are converted into angels.” And how do we become angels? Well certainly the first things angels know something about is listening.

To listen is to suffer because we do not want to listen to anything that might
require a change. To listen is to change. We cannot change without listening.
Listening implies a change. We need to change just to listen.

When we lose our capacity to listen we lose our
capacity to love for listening is love in action.

De retinut si aplicat !

UN TANTRA TOTEM CHINEZESC ADUCATOR DE NOROC.

S-ar putea sa nu crezi, dar te sfatuiesc s-o faci!
Citeste tot ce e scris, s-ar putea sa înveti ceva!!!

UNU.
Da-le oamenilor mai mult decât se asteapta si fa-o în mod placut.

DOI.
Casatoreste-te cu un barbat/o femeie cu care iti place sa si vorbesti. Cu înaintarea în vârsta, abilitatea de a conversa va fi mai importanta decât orice altceva.

TREI.
Nu crede tot ce auzi, nu cheltui tot ce ai si nu dormi atât cât vrei.




PATRU.
Când spui “Te iubesc", asa sa fie.

CINCI.
Când spui “Îmi pare rau", priveste persoana în ochi.

SASE.
Fii logodit pe putin sase luni înainte de casatorie.

SAPTE.
Crede în dragostea la prima vedere.

OPT.
Sa nu râzi niciodata de visele cuiva.. Oamenii care nu au vise nu au prea multe.

NOUA.
Iubeste adânc si cu pasiune. S-ar putea sa te ranesti, dar e singura cale de a trai o viata completa.

ZECE .
În neîntelegeri, lupta corect.. Te rog, nu insulta.

UNSPREZECE.
Nu judeca oamenii dupa rudele lor.

DOISPREZECE.
Vorbeste încet dar gândeste repede.


TREISPREZECE.
Când cineva îti pune o întrebare si nu vrei sa raspunzi, zâmbeste si întreaba “De ce vrei sa stii?”

PAISPREZECE.
Aminteste-ti ca marea dragoste si marile realizari presupun mari riscuri.

CINCISPREZECE.
Spune “fii binecuvântat" când auzi pe cineva stranutând.

SAISPREZECE.
Când pierzi, nu-ti pierde învatatura.

SAPTESPREZECE.
Aminteste-ti cei trei R:
Respect pentru tine;
Respect pentru altii;
Responsabilitate în actiunile tale.

OPTSPREZECE.
Nu lasa o mica disputa sa strice o mare prietenie.

NOUASPREZECE.
Când ai realizat ca ai facut o greseala, fa imediat pasii necesari corectarii ei.

DOUAZECI.
Zâmbeste când raspunzi la telefon.
Cel care te-a apelat va auzi asta în vocea ta.

DOUAZECI SI UNU.
Stai un timp singur.

Acum, iata partea distractiva!

Acest tantra totem ti-a fost trimis pentru noroc. A fost pâna acum în jurul lumii de zece ori. Vei avea noroc în patru zile de la predarea mai departe a acestui tantra totem. Trimite cópii celor care crezi ca au nevoie dar nu trimite bani, caci soarta nu are pret.

Nu pastra acest mesaj.


Tantra totem trebuie sa paraseasca mâinile tale în 96 ore. Vei avea o foarte placuta surpriza.

Acesta este adevarul, chiar daca nu esti superstitios. Trimite la cel putin 5 persoane si viata ta se va îmbunatati.

0-4 persoane: Viata ta se va îmbunatati putin.

5-9 persoane: Viata ta va fi pe gustul tau.

9-14 persoane: Vei avea cel putin 5 surprize în urmatoarele 3 saptamâni.

15 si mai multi : Viata ta se va îmbunatati extrem de mult!!

Happiness and health

(NaturalNews) A large study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and presented at the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting in Chicago has found that optimistic post-menopausal women were healthier and lived longer than their less upbeat counterparts.

Details and Findings of Study

The study team, which was led by Hilary Tindle, an assistant professor of medicine at the University, had looked at data from almost 100,000 women who were part of the Women's Health Initiative, a study which follows women aged 50 and above and has been ongoing since 1994. On average, the women's health status was tracked for a period of about 8 years.

The researchers defined "optimism" as the expectation that good things, as opposed to bad things, will take place. It was found that such women had 14% lower risk of dying from any cause and 30% lower risk of dying from heart disease during the study's follow-up period, as compared to their pessimistic counterparts. In addition, the optimists were less likely to have hypertension and diabetes, as well as to smoke cigarettes.

The study team also looked at another trait - the tendency to be "cynically hostile" towards other people. Women with this trait were more likely to agree with statements like "I've often had to take orders from someone who didn't know as much as I did" and "It's safest to trust nobody." Generally speaking, such a tendency indicates an overall mistrust of people.

Women in this group also suffered poorer health, having 16% higher risk of dying from any cause and 23% higher risk of dying from cancer during the follow-up period, as compared to women who were the least cynically hostile.

Significantly, even after the researchers accounted for influencing factors such as health status, lifestyle, income, education, physical activity, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking, the same trends remained, with optimists enjoying better longevity than pessimists. The researchers are unclear if negative attitudes do indeed directly cause poor health, although their findings do imply an association of some sort.

Being Optimistic and Positive

And it's not just about health. Optimists, it seems, are better achievers in life, are better able to cope with stress, and can take on life challenges more resiliently; these traits had been revealed in previous research.

For the skeptics, consider the following point. In his book "Being Happy!", author Andrew Matthews points out scientific experiments showing the incredibly powerful and toxic effects of negative emotions. When blood samples from people who were experiencing serious anger of fear were injected into guinea pigs, the animals dropped dead within a mere two minutes.

Now imagine what the toxins created by negative emotions such as anger, fear, frustration and stress are doing to our own bodies on a daily basis. It is arguable, but these toxins could even be more potent health-destroyers and killers than the external poisons we ingest, inhale, and absorb every minute of every day.

For people who are somewhat naturally upbeat and positive, the findings of the Pittsburgh study will come as good news. But those who tend to be a little more negative and easily discouraged should not fret, because, according to some experts, optimism is a trait that can be picked up and applied.

Some useful suggestions for becoming more optimistic include staying away from negative environments, staying in the company of persons with brighter outlooks, and focusing and celebrating one's strong points instead of concentrating on the weak ones.

Stay cheerful!

References

Optimism May Have Life-Extending Benefits (http://www.healthnews.com/family-he...)

Optimists live longer and healthier lives: study (http://www.reuters.com/article/heal...)

"Being Happy!" by Andrew Matthews

Toxic marriages=health problems

(NaturalNews) Natural healers and even segments of the conventional medical community recognize the crucial role which emotional wellbeing and positive inter-personal relationships play in the balance between good health and disease. In fact, some even believe that toxic relationships and emotional patterns could sometimes or often be the main cause of ill-health. Along these lines, a recent study which was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Chicago has found that while an unhappy marriage can make both husband and wife depressed, the women were more likely to also suffer from physical health issues arising from their depression - what they suffered was a number of symptoms clustered under a condition called "metabolic syndrome".

Previous studies have already drawn a link between distressed marriages and poorer health. For example, a recent US study had found that marriage problems were linked to poorer breast cancer recovery outcomes for women (Read more at http://www.naturalnews.com/025410.html). This latest study, though, went a little deeper, investigating the possible role of depression in the disease process.

Details and Findings of Study

The study team had communicated with 276 couples via questionnaires on various aspects of their marriages, including positive ones such as mutual support and sharing, as well as negative ones such as arguments, hostile feelings and disagreements. The study subjects, who were aged 32 to 76 (median age 54), were also asked about symptoms of depression. On average, the couples had been married for more than 27 years, and most were in their first marriage.

According to the study team, which was led by Nancy Henry, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Utah, the negativity of the unhappy marriages contributed to depression, which was then linked with the physical symptoms that were part of metabolic syndrome. These include high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, unhealthy cholesterol profiles, belly fat, and high levels of blood sugar, which are risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Interestingly, though, while men in unhappy marriages were as likely as their female counterparts to be hit by depression, the link with physical health issues only applied to the women in the study. Although the exact reason was not clear, according to Henry, this could be because women may be more affected by the marriage problems than men.

One thing to note about the study is that most of the subjects may be Mormons, and would thus be less likely than persons practicing other religions to get a divorce. This means they are more likely to stick through unhappy unions.

Another researcher looking into similar areas, Debra Umberson, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas in Austin, found similar negative effects of unhappy marriages on health. The difference between men and women, however, was not evident in her research. "Basically, we find that marital strain undermines the health of men and women," she said. According to her, it was possible that the men in the Utah study may have encountered health problems in other areas.

Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and the medical director of New York University's Women's Heart Program, summed up the importance of the Utah study's findings when she said: "I think we've got to get used to the fact that a toxic relationship is toxic to your whole health."

Improving Marriage Health and Emotional Wellbeing

What, then, should those in unhappy marriages do? Each of the experts had something useful to offer.

Firstly, Umberson pointed out the importance of finding the right partner. "Choose your partner carefully. A strained marriage is bad for your health," she said. And she added that those who were already in problematic marriages should focus on confliction reduction.

Henry also said that divorce was not necessarily the answer. "We can't really say 'Dump your spouse, and you'll be fine,'" she said. She added that there were many other factors which played a part in health, and that the more pertinent question was whether we wanted to treat physical symptoms, or look at the patient as a whole person.

Regarding looking at patients holistically, Goldberg concurred. A couple of tips she gave to improve emotional health were being in supportive environments and undertaking delegation. "You can't have a to-do list with 20 things on it if you can only do five," she said. Exercise also helps for stress reduction, while those who need help should seek counseling. "Talk to someone," she said.

These are simple pieces of advice which could go a long way.

References

Bad Marriages Harder on Women's Health (http://health.usnews.com/articles/h...)

Unhappily ever after: Why bad marriages hurt women's health (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/...)

Distressed Marriages Negatively Affect Breast Cancer Recovery (http://www.naturalnews.com/025410.html)

The Journey into DEEP is a courageous one

How did my life turn out like this?

We are in a time where many people are finding themselves asking deeper questions about their lives…

Questions like: What explanation have you had for your life being the way it is?
Pause for a second, take a deep breath, and really consider that question.

I’m not only referring to the difficulties in your life, I’m also referring to where your life is fantastic. Let me clarify. I’m talking about all of it; your life as a package.

…Maybe you feel you are where you are due to fate. Maybe as you ask that question you hear a voice in your head that tells you, you are lucky; or unlucky. Do either of those statements truly serve as satisfactory explanations as to why your life is the way it is?

Maybe the way you see it is that you got to where you are in life through something called Karma; that God is some kind of mega-accountant in the sky who does yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily tallies of all your good and bad deeds (or was that Santa?). Then, this magnificent accounting god dishes out the luck, both good and bad, in accordance with what’s in your good/bad account.

Does this sound ludicrous to you? Great, now we’re on the same page.

If those reasons are not how you get what shows up in your life, then maybe this concept (which I’m sure you’ve heard before) is the correct one: “Let us create mankind in our own image.”

Over the last twenty plus years of teaching workshops, seminars and working with people one-on-one it has become very obvious that…

The outer circumstances of your life are a direct result of the inner state of your being.
One of the most important things you will ever learn about success, whatever that means to you, is that what’s going on inside your thoughts and feeling ends up showing up outside, in your reality.

We are not victims of circumstance…

We are both the one who manufacturers and experiences these circumstances.
No one magically finds themselves in a divorce court, a prison cell or having a bullet removed with it being a result of something that was going on within them.

These events are a direct result of all the beliefs, thoughts, emotions feelings and behaviors you have had up to that point. That doesn’t make you wrong or right, what it makes you is either paying attention or being ignorant of what’s been going on inside you. Either way, it’s your choice, it’s your result.

Few will ever be brave enough to enter, let alone complete the Emotional Healing and Growth that is required to Reclaim the Authentic Self.

“Deep” is a hero’s journey to go back and find what was left behind in a place falsely named ‘history’. It is falsely named because…

History does not only exist in the past. History lives in every cell and every fiber of our being. It is the calcified tears we dared not cry that stiffen not only our bones but the expression of our lives. History is the constriction of our veins and arteries from laughter that dare not be laughed in a childhood where children must be adults because the adults around them never grew up and faced their own
pain."

Who among us is brave enough to stand as a champion, a guide and a warrior for that lost child?


Who among us is bold enough to say; it wasn’t good enough, the child deserved to be fully alive in all it’s feelings including play?


Who is now willing to go back and get that child, hold it in it’s sadness and give it permission to cry all of it’s tears?


Who is now willing to go back and free that child’s spirit to play in the universe of imaginings?

Who will now hold up that child’s spirit as a great light to the world that can laugh deeper, wilder and more authentically than was permitted?

Below I’d like to share a poem with you, yes you, who still hear the distant voice of a lost child that is yourself, not in some distant history, but the child who lives in the moments where you fall in love with yourself again and again.

Who will cry for the little boy
by Antwone Fisher

“Who will cry for the little boy, lost and all alone?
Who will cry for the little boy, abandoned without his own?
Who will cry for the little boy? He cried himself to sleep.
Who will cry for the little boy? He never had for keeps.
Who will cry for the little boy? He walked the burning sand.
Who will cry for the little boy? The boy inside the man.
Who will cry for the little boy? Who knows well hurt and pain.
Who will cry for the little boy? He died and died again.
Who will cry for the little boy? A good boy he tried to be.
Who will cry for the little boy, who cries inside of me?”

Looking for your life’s purpose can be a great way to stay busy enough to never fulfill it!


Sometimes you’ve just got to be willing to go in the direction of. There is any number of ways of finding your purpose, doing what you came here to do etc. It’s important to stay open to the clues, listen to your intuition etcetera. However, a major factor of discovering your purpose is this; be open to everything and attached to nothing.

Many of the most successful and happy people I know are in their 50’s and 60’s and they still don’t know what they want to do when they grow up. This however does not stop them living something that maybe even more important than living your life’s purpose: Living a purposeful life !

Start each day knowing that there will be fear and say ‘so what’, there will also be love. Each day could contain tears, ‘so what’, that same day can also contain laughter, so choose to live a life of purpose.

The fact is that living your life on purpose means you wake up each morning with a commitment to feel grateful that you are doing just that; living your life on purpose. We can move forward with clear focus toward what we want to achieve and that could be money, possessions or status, but always remember what you, we all of us are actually want is a “feeling” and you can start by deciding what feeling you want to start each day with and then deciding to create it. Take a deep breath and as you breath out step off the cliff and you’ll discover you can fly. Be willing to be surprised at how often something wonderful and wondrous shows up…

Leave me your comments and feedback about finding your life’s purpose and living purposfully below, I look forward to hearing from you.

With deep gratitude and sincere purpose.

Do you have the stones to give with it?

You could avoid it heck, that’s what most people will do, and if you want to be just like everyone else you can tell yourself..’it’s okay’. But if you know there is something within you that’s been fighting to get out, (your real self, your authentic self), It’s time to take action…

The path of least resistance is lined with the corpses of the mediocre.
Just think about that statement for a sec.

To become free we must be able to overcome the obstacles that appear before us. Telling yourself and anyone else who will listen, how tough it is, does nothing but validate that it’s okay to quit on yourself.

Those who don’t have the courage to stand up for who they really are and what they really want, die having lived lives that are, at best, half lived and all too often sadly forgotten.
These are the forgotten lives of the mediocre, whose fear of offending others has ruled them like a cruel master.

Now, it’s important that you understand something here.

All courage is subjective; so, what’s easy for one person is not necessarily easy for another. It could be the most difficult thing in the world for them.

Stop and take a moment now to acknowledge the courage you’ve already displayed in your life, and at the same time turn your back on complacency.

Because celebrating your success is an excellent thing to do; however, staying in celebration mode when it’s time to move on is like wearing your Christmas hat in February; it gets a little stale
You know what you’ve got to do, and you know that no excuse will ever really do. So stop with the excuses because I’m sorry to say, no one is really listening to the excuses anyway.

The quality of your life is not measured by the quality of your excuses…

The quality of your life is measured by your commitment in spite of all the great excuses you could come up with.
Listen, It’s never quite the right time, there is always going to be another place that needs the money, and there will always be someone who thinks your crazy for even considering ‘it.’

I don’t know what ‘it’ is that you need to do to fulfill your purpose, heal your soul or make a difference. What I do know is this; we rarely know the value of something until we’ve been through it! And when you look back on your life, no excuse will have been good enough for you to feel good about not doing what your soul cried out for.

I care about you, not your excuses.

It’s easy to tell yourself that the emotional upheavals in your life are “all in the past”, yet the question remains: Are they really?
When you stop and think about it much of our daily experiences are nothing than the same past experiences playing out in a new senerio.

What we don’t look at actually controls us; Because it becomes the undercurrent of our personality. Just because “it” is in your past on a time line doesn’t mean that you have actually let “it” go. Here’s a quick exercise.

Think about the last time someone cut you off in traffic, or some other equally frustrating behaviour.

If you remember that you got way beyond mad … and into the range of pure outrage, that’s called a ‘disproportionate response.’

Simply put, it means that from an onlookers standpoint the incident might have rated a ‘3’ on an anger response scale; however, your reaction was more like a 6 or more.

And if you can’t remember a traffic incident, think of another time where you’ve become incredibly angry at the drop of a hat. (Even if, because you have become masterfull at stuffing it no one else would know?

Anytime that happens, it’s a reliable indicator that there’s other ‘stuff’ that you’re upset about. Being outraged at this driver is just a safe place to express what you don’t feel safe expressing in another situation.

Bottom line: If you are having disproportionate responses, your past is not in the past at all and until you deal with “it”, it’s running your life!

What we refuse to acknowledge about ourselves becomes the driving force for a destiny we may not desire.
Try this: Watch for disproportionate responses and ask yourself: “What might I be angry about that actually has nothing to do with this situation?”

There is magnificence within you… Who you are is so much greater than your history. However, until you look at your history you are destined to repeat it in one form or another.

“Most people’s lives are nothing more than the realization of a promise they made to themselves”

Let’s take this a little deeper…

These promises that we made to ourselves were in all likelihood ‘unconsciously’ chosen and chances are you made them when you were very young. (Although as you read this you may have had a ‘light bulb moment’ and realized exactly when you made your promise and why you did it).

I spend a lot of my time teaching people how to create thier reality. However, what I also say is that most people are creating their realty at a very unconscious level. In fact many of them only get conscious of ‘creating reality’ when something different shows up and they quickly scramble to get things back to “normal”.

Now there’s that fascinating word: “Normal”. For most people reading this you are bright enough to realize that normal is at least somewhat subjective. I n that what’s normal for you may not be normal at all for someone living on a different continent in a completely different culture.

However, ‘normal’ goes much “Deeper” than that. Most people without even knowing it, for the most part are unconsciously busy doing their best to keep things normal. But again please note; the normal I’m speaking about is your own version of normal.

For some people when I say normal they think of the suburban family with two point five kids, a white picket fence and an minivan. But that’s not the kind of normal I am discussing here.

What I’m referring to is your own particular brand of normal. Have you ever heard the saying: “Situation Normal All F*%ked Up?” Well for some people that kind of situation is as indicated, their own brand of ‘normal’. Normal is relative to the individual, as normal as church on Sunday is to one person, smoking crack is to another.

So here’s my challenge to you to bathe in these questions for a while…

What have you made normal that might not be healthy? And…

What promise might you have made to yourself that without you realizing it, is in fact keeping your life pretty much the same as it was?

CHANGE WITHOUT CHANGING?

“people want to change as long as they don’t have to change”.

But here’s the news: You do know what’s going on underneath! You can fool some of the people some of the time, heck you can even fool yourself some of the time.

But the truth is in your quiet moments you know when the time has come and you are either going to box yourself into a deeper and deeper level of numb, where not only your sadness and pain get buried in your body but, so does any chance of true joy, fulfillment and happiness…

Or you’re on a steady slope into your own personal version of hell, where it will eventually get so painful that you will move mountains in order to change. (I know that I’ve done both and you don’t have to do either)

I challenge you to decide because, today you stand at the crossroads. You can let your ego tell you that I’m an ass for saying this, that I’m only in it for the money or some other crap about how it’s not that bad.

THE PROMISES YOU KEEP TO YOURSELF

Is your future going to be your past with a paint job?

Let me explain what I mean… If you were to take a look into the future of most peoples lives you would see that for the largest majority of them, their future will be pretty consistent with their past – except there’s possibly a slight and fairly uninspiring level of improvement. It’s like they took the old jalopy and gave it a paint job in order to convince themselves it was new.

Seriously, put some thought into it, most people are “waiting” for something or someone to bring about the change they say they want. Maybe “the secret” or some other magical thing will come along and solve their problems, but in all likelihood it won’t and in a moment I’ll tell you why.

Why is it that most people lives pretty much the same from year to year? Why are so many people ‘stuck’ when we live in the wealthiest time in history, a time when there is more knowledge and more availability to that knowledge than ever before?

Are we on automatic and if we are, can we get off it?

Let yourself marinade in this thought:

“Most people’s lives are nothing more than the realization of a promise. A promise to who, you ask. A promise or a series of promises they make to themselves”.

We either (consciously or unconsciously) promise to live ‘better’ than we have, and than those around us have, which means we are willing to butt up against the people, situations and what’s ‘normal’ in our lives. We are not talking about being a rebel without a cause here, we are talking about going “Deep” within to discover what’s authentic.

Or the other option is: We promise to not be a ‘problem’, which means we take a look around, decide what’s ‘normal’, be quiet, accept our circumstances and how we get treated as a result of being with the people we’re with in those circumstances.

The question worth asking yourself is which set of promises are you living by?

Love, health, communication

More People in Love Than Previously ThoughtBy Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 20 March 2009 09:15 am ET

Romeo and Juliet would approve: A new study found that romantic love can stand the test of time.

Though it is widely held that romance and sex must ultimately yield to friendly companionship over time, new research found that's not the case. Instead about 13 percent of people reported high levels of romance in their long-term relationships, in a new study published in the March issue of the journal Review of General Psychology.


Researchers analyzed data from surveys of more than 6,000 people, including some in newly-formed pairs and many in marriages of more than 20 years. The scientists found that a surprisingly high number of people were still very much in love with their long-term partners, though the researchers drew a distinction between romantic love, which can endure, and passionate or obsessive love, which often fades after the beginning of a relationship.

"I think generally, in the literature, love has been measured as passionate love, so I think that's one reason for this widely-held assumption that love had to fade in relationships," said Bianca Acevedo, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who authored the study while she was a graduate student at Stony Brook University. "The obsessive component is generally combined with the romantic component. Thought of that way, it looks like it's diminishing, but if you assess the romantic love differently than the obsessive component, it happens for a greater proportion than what was generally thought."

Romantic love has the same intensity, engagement and sexual chemistry as passionate love has, but without the obsession, Acevedo said. Passionate love, on the other hand, includes feelings of uncertainty and anxiety.

The new findings could help inspire couples to strive for better relationships, rather than resigning themselves to the inevitability of falling out of love, Acevedo said.

"Being in the mindset that [long-term romance] is probably not something to shoot for might be discouraging to some people," she told LiveScience. "They might think, 'This is probably as good as it gets.' I think it's important for people to at least know that it could be attainable."

What's the trick?

Acevedo and her advisor Arthur Aron are interested in finding out how some couples manage to keep the romance alive. So far, research indicates that it often has to do with pure hard work.

"These people are often very relationship focused," Acevedo said. "Their relationship is something that is very central to their lives, something they spend time on, work on, really care about. They seem to resolve conflicts relatively efficiently and smoothly."

Aron's previous studies suggest that couples who want to give romance a boost can benefit from doing new and challenging activities together. These novel experiences stimulate brains to create the neurochemicals dopamine and norepinephrine, which are also created during the early, exhilarating stages of romantic love.

Evolutionary benefits of love

Researchers debate whether people are really meant to stay in love throughout their lives. Helen Fisher, a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, has suggested that passionate love is maladaptive if it lasts too long.

"When people are in the early stages of romantic love, it's very hard for them to focus on other things," Acevedo explained. "They are constantly thinking about the other person. They have a lot of energy; they can stay up all night talking to each other. This can be very metabolically costly, and it's not efficient when it comes to work and relationships. I think this fits in well with the idea that the obsession component has to fade. It's unsustainable to be like that over the years while raising children and having jobs."

However, a certain level of love is beneficial, she said. Having a partner who increases your happiness and comfort is certainly a healthy thing, and being able to trust and rely on someone in difficult situations can improve a person's success in life.

Medical research has demonstrated the physical benefits of loving relationships. People who report being in positive relationships have been shown to be healthier, less stressed, and to have stronger immune systems. And some studies even suggest happily married people live longer than their single counterparts.

Instant Messages Reveal Relationship HealthBy Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer

posted: 23 January 2009 08:09 am ET

The words that flow from our fingers to loved ones could say more than we think. The more frequently women use the pronoun "I" in their instant messages (IM), the more satisfied they are with their partners, a new study finds.

The guys also reported higher satisfaction in couples where the gal used "I" a lot in IMs.

While past psychological studies have analyzed couples and their communication techniques in lab settings, the new study, published last month in the journal Personal Relationships, relied on real-life scenarios.

"Instant messages are a great way to get at how people communicate in the real world," said lead study researcher Richard Slatcher of UCLA.

Great, happy, love

Slatcher and his colleagues analyzed 10 days of instant-message conversations from nearly 70 U.S. couples who had been dating for about one and a half years and had an average age of 19. The couples also answered questions about relationship satisfaction. Six months later, the couples indicated whether they were still dating. After six months, about 60 percent of couples were still dating while the others had broken up.

The researchers read through the conversations, noting the context of the IM threads. Then, they used a linguistic word count program to analyze the conversations' pronouns and words with emotional content.

Among pronouns in IMs, couples used "I" nearly 20 times more frequently than "we." And of the emotion words, all couples were most likely to use positive words.

"We found that the extent to which people used positive emotion words like 'great,' 'happy,' 'love,' tended to be happier in their relationships and to stay in their relationships for a longer period of time," Slatcher said.

Women who IMed with lots of "I's" were 30 percent more likely to stay in their relationships compared with other women.

Signs of comfort

The "I"-laden instant messages could indicate women were talking about themselves and were comfortable doing so with their partners, Slatcher said.

"Women tend to be more emotionally expressive in general and tend to be more disclosing in general," Slatcher told LiveScience. "So this finding suggests that beyond women wanting to disclose more and disclosing more in their everyday life, that when they do disclose more in their relationships, they're happier in those relationships."

He added, "An alternative explanation might be that you are not so enmeshed in your relationship that you have lost yourself completely," Slatcher said.

"What's really unique about this study is the way in which it captures naturally occurring discourse and discourse that's not a response to a particular type of situation," said Denise Solomon, professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State University, referring to perhaps less telling lab studies set up to evaluate specific couple interactions.

"It's not these significant couple interactions that other research has focused on; it's really everyday talk," said Solomon, who was not involved in the research. "I thought that was a really important feature of the study."

Other findings included:

For women, the more they used so-called positive negations, such as "not happy," the less satisfied they and their partners were in the relationship.
The more men used positive sarcasm, such as "oh great," the less satisfied they were in their relationships and the more likely that relationship would split.

For both men and women, the use of negative emotions, such as "angry," wasn't related to their relationship satisfaction or stability.
Slatcher said the million-dollar question is whether using certain words when communicating with a partner leads to healthier relationships or that the most satisfied couples speak to each other, say, with certain pronouns and emotion words.

If couples could get a boost from changing how they speak to each other, "that's big news," Slatcher said, as the finding has implications for couples' therapy.

WHAT MODERN MEN WANT FROM WOMEN-up-dates!

By Sally Law, LiveScience's Science of Sex Columnist

posted: 13 February 2009


What do men want in a woman? Brains? Beauty? Vacuuming prowess?

Researchers at the University of Iowa find that men increasingly are interested in intelligent, educated women who are financially stable — and chastity isn't an issue.

The findings are part of a study, conducted every decade since 1939, which asks participants to rank a list of 18 characteristics they would want in a partner on a scale ranging from "irrelevant" to "essential." Included are such items as "sociability" and "good cook, housekeeper," as well as "mutual attraction and love," which came in first place for both men and women in 2008. (In 1939, it wasn't in the top three for either sex.)

Male and female participants in 2008 rounded out their top traits with "dependable character" and "emotional stability, maturity." Men ranked intelligence fourth, a big jump from 11th place in 1939; in addition, "good financial prospect" moved to 12th place in 2008, a shift from its low 17th-place ranking in 1939 and last-place ranking in 1967.

"This is a generation of men who has grown up with educated women as their mothers, teachers, doctors, and role models," said Christine Whelan, head of the study and author of "Marry Smart: The Intelligent Woman's Guide to True Love" (Simon & Schuster, 2008). "And in tough economic times, sharing the financial burden with a spouse takes the burden off these guys to be the sole provider."

The study's participants were college students from the University of Iowa, the University of Washington, the University of Virginia, and Penn State University.

"Like attracts like, so certainly the fact that we were polling college students would suggest that intelligence and education are going to be important characteristics," Whelan says.

Another notable shift involves the significance of chastity: In 1939, it was valued more than intelligence in women, but in 2008, it was ranked the least important characteristic. Furthermore, it also was ranked the least important for men. This, coupled with the shared top-three ranking for both men and women, suggests a commonality that seems positively modern-day.

Details of the study are below.

The Most Tragic Love Stories in History
Everyone Agrees: Women Are Hard to Read
The Science of Love
Details:

WHAT MEN WANT

Essential characteristics:

Mutual attraction and love
Dependable character
Emotional stability
Important characteristics:

Education and intelligence
Good looks
Ambition
Desirable characteristics:

Good financial prospect
Good cook and housekeeper
Unimportant characteristics:

Similar political background
Chastity
WHAT WOMEN WANT

Essential characteristics:

Mutual attraction and love
Dependable character
Emotional stability
Important characteristics:

Education and intelligence
Desire for home and children
Ambition
Desirable characteristics

Good looks
Refinement
Unimportant characteristics:

Similar political background
Chastity
Comments (15)
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v_o_r wrote:
Well, at least "dependable character" and "emotional stability" are close to the top. People don't think about "chastity" (it's not "celibacy," yeesh) as closely related to "dependable character" but the characteristics are so closely related as to be nearly indistinguishable. "Chastity" means you don't cheat.

"Mutual attraction and love" are transitory (I presume this refers to the in-love feeling). It's great when you have it but if you want a lasting relationship, it will have to be based on something else.

2 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 12:23:31 PMpdxmusl wrote:
Actually, chastity does refer or is often used interchangably with celibacy. More specifically it refers to morality in sexual behavior.

5 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 1:04:56 PMHotone wrote:
It would be nice to see a sample size and the selection process if any.

Personally, I find it illogical that a person interested in politics could handle a mate that is from the opposite side of the political spectrum. So many arguments can erupt from different political beliefs. Chastity should be more clearly defined. Most people now days probably don't care if their partner has experience but too much "experience" would definitely be undesirable.

7 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 3:31:12 PMHierophant wrote:
Good looks being rated in merely the "desireable" category in the women's section is a lie. Women are more self-conscious about their desire for good looking mates than men are. They feel those things SHOULDN'T be somewhere at the top of the list. Sadly it's true for both genders, men are just more openly shallow about it. For either gender, if they don't like what they see, they aren't going to talk to you to find out the rest of it.

16 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 4:19:41 PMDebiwinters wrote:
Did you see this photo for Valentine's Day of Al Capone?


2/13/2009 5:17:27 PMsharptoothuk wrote:
I would go along with what the male survey has said. I love energetic and positive women more than anything else. Good looks would be an added bonus. Women like this are in high demand though so you need to be on the top of your game too!

From personal experience, i find some women put more emphasis on looks than others but generally they are not as shallow as men. If you can make a woman laugh and are relaxed around her then you can get build attraction. I have seen many examples of more attractive women with average looking men.


1 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 5:33:58 PMhwangeruk wrote:
Aren't people fussy. I am simply looking for large boobs and a willingness to perform oral sex.
I don't even care about the laundry.

18 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 5:57:36 PMnovaseeker wrote:
Chastity as unimportant?

It's one of the main reasons why marriages break up. Having both men and women not value it in selecting mates is very telling. It means people are marrying people who are quite sexually prolific, which leads to divorces down the road.


3 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/13/2009 7:10:39 PMHierophant wrote:
I forget who said it, but this quote has always stuck with me:

"Every man wants a virgin who's a whore."

Hey, now we men can be as self-contradicting as you women are, imagine that. :D lol

1 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/14/2009 4:45:32 PMEye wrote:
hwangeruk - LOL - thats for a date, not someone you want to marry. I'ld really like to see this same survey done with married people and see what their results are, I bet it would change quite a bit.

1 Recommend | Report Abuseposted 2/14/2009 5:48:12 PM
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Everyone Agrees: Women Are Hard to Read
Body Language Reveals Wealth

Clean your air and brighten your day with houseplants!

(NaturalNews) People have long known about the psychological benefits of brightening their homes and offices with decorative houseplants. What many may be overlooking are the physical health benefits of having plenty of these plants to remove harmful pollutants from the air and replace them with fresh oxygen.

Not long ago, indoor air pollution was not considered a health threat; most homes and public buildings leaked so much that air often was replaced every couple of hours. After energy shortages occurred in the 1970s, more and more people began to insulate their houses and office buildings to conserve energy and lower heating and cooling costs. As a result, indoor air might linger for five hours or more allowing pollutants to accumulate. Moreover, synthetic building materials used in modern construction have been found to produce potential pollutants that remain trapped in unventilated buildings. These trapped pollutants can result in what is often called the Sick Building Syndrome.

In the late 1980s, a study by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) resulted in excellent news for homeowners and office workers everywhere. The study concluded that common decorative houseplants such as bamboo palms and spider plants not only make indoor spaces more attractive, they also help to purify the air. While it's a well known fact that plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen through photosynthesis, the NASA/ALCA study showed that many houseplants also remove harmful elements such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and formaldehyde from the air. With our ultra modern homes and offices that are virtually sealed off from the outside environment, this study is just as important now as when it was first published.

The NASA study, Foliage Plants for Removing Indoor Air Pollutants from Energy Efficient Homes, was conducted by Dr. B.C. Wolverton, Anne Johnson, and Keith Bounds in 1989. While it was originally intended to find ways to purify the air for extended stays in orbiting space stations, the study proved to have implications on Earth as well.

Under controlled conditions, NASA and ALCA spent two years testing 19 different common house plants for their ability to remove these common pollutants from the air. Of the 19 plants they studied, 17 are considered true houseplants, and two, Gerbera Daisies and Chrysanthemums, are more commonly used indoors as seasonal decorations.

The advantage that houseplants have over other plants is that they are adapted to tropical areas where they grow beneath dense tropical canopies and must survive in areas of low light. These plants are thus ultra-efficient at capturing light, which also means that they must be very efficient in processing the gasses necessary for photosynthesis. Because of this fact, they have greater potential to absorb other gases, including potentially harmful ones.

NASA found that some of the plants were better than others for absorbing pollutants, with certain houseplants found to remove as much as 87 percent of indoor air pollutants within 24 hours. However, all of the plants had properties that were useful in improving overall indoor air quality. NASA also noted that some plants are better than others in treating certain chemicals. For example, English Ivy worked better than some other plants for treating air contaminated with Benzene. The Peace Lily was very effective in treating Trichloroethylene and the Bamboo Palm worked well for filtering Formaldehyde.

After conducting the study, NASA and ALCA came up with the following list of plants most recommended for treating air pollution. Note that all the plants in the list are easily available from your local nursery.

Heartleaf Philodendron - Philodendron scandens `oxycardium'
Elephant Ear Philodendron - Philodendron domesticum
Cornstalk Dracaena - Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana'
English Ivy - Hedera helix,
Spider Plant - Chlorophytum comosum
Janet Craig Dracaena - Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig'
Warneck Dracaena - Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii'
Weeping Fig - Ficus Benjamina
Golden Pothos - Epipiremnum aureum
Peace Lily - Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa'
Selloum Philodendron - Philodendron selloum
Chinese Evergreen - Aglaonema modestum
Bamboo or Reed Palm - Chamaedorea sefritzii
Snake Plant - Sansevieria trifasciata
Red-edged Dracaena - Dracaena marginata

Here is a list of the pollutants NASA tested for and the plants they found that worked the best for each one:

Trichloroethylene (TCE)

Trichloroethylene is primarily used in the metal degreasing and dry cleaning industries; also in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes, adhesives. In 1975 the National Cancer Institute reported that an unusually high incidence of hepatocellular carcinomas was observed in mice given TCE by gastric intubation and now considers this chemical a potent liver carcinogen.

The NASA study found that the best plants for removing trichloroethylene are the Gerbera Daisy, Chrysanthemum, Peace lily, Warneckei, Dracaena marginata

Benzene

Benzene is a very commonly used solvent and is also present in many common items including inks, oils, paints, dyes, plastics, rubber, dyes, detergents, gasoline, pharmaceutical, tobacco smoke, synthetic fibers. In addition it is used in the manufacture of explosives.

Benzene has long been known to irritate the skin and eyes. In addition, it has been shown to be mutagenic to bacterial cell culture and has shown embryotoxic activity and carcinogenicity in some tests. Evidence also exists that benzene may be a contributing factor in chromosomal aberrations and leukemia in humans. Repeated skin contact with benzene will cause drying, inflammation, blistering and dermatitis.

Acute inhalation of high levels of benzene has been reported to cause dizziness, weakness, euphoria, headache, nausea, blurred vision, respiratory diseases, tremors, irregular heartbeat, liver and kidney damage, paralysis and unconsciousness. In animal tests inhalation of benzene led to cataract formation and diseases of the blood and lymphatic systems. Chronic exposure to even relatively low levels causes headaches, loss of appetite, drowsiness, nervousness, psychological disturbances and diseases of the blood system, including anemia and bone marrow diseases.

The best plants for removing benzene were determined to be English Ivy, Dracaena marginata, Janet Craig, Warneckei, Chrysanthemum, Gerbera Daisy, Peace lily

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is a ubiquitous chemical found in virtually all indoor environments. The major sources which have been reported and publicized include urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) and particle board or pressed wood products used in manufacturing of the office furniture bought today. It is used in consumer paper products which have been treated with UF resins, including grocery bags, waxed papers, facial tissues and paper towels. Many common household cleaning agents contain formaldehyde. UF resins are used as stiffeners, wrinkle resisters, water repellents, fire retardants and adhesive binders in floor coverings, carpet backings and permanent-press clothes. Other sources of formaldehyde include heating and cooking fuels like natural gas, kerosene, and cigarette smoke.

Formaldehyde irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and throat. It is also a highly reactive chemical which combines with protein and can cause allergic contact dermatitis. The most widely reported symptoms from exposure to high levels of this chemical include irritation of the eyes and headaches. Until recently, the most serious of the diseases attributed to formaldehyde exposure was asthma. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently conducted research which has caused formaldehyde to be strongly suspected of causing a rare type of throat cancer in long-term occupants of mobile homes, where particle board and other sources of formaldehyde are used extensively.

When it comes to removing formaldehyde, the best plant choices are Azalea, Philodendron, Spider plant, Golden Pothos, Bamboo palm, Corn plant, Chrysanthemum, Mother-in-law's tongue.

Many people feel that the use of houseplants is not needed if they are using an air purifier. However, research has shown that even if you use a HEPA air filter or an ionic air purifier, there is a lot of difference that can still be made by many common house plants, which act as a living air purifier. With the exception of an activated carbon filter, common indoor air filters, such as HEPA or ionizers, will totally miss the toxic household gases, such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and volatile organic gases (VOG).

According to NASA, one plant should be used for every 100 to 120 square feet of office or living space and the plants should be in at least six inch containers with nothing covering the potting soil. In addition to removing pollutants in your home or office, plants also make for a more pleasant place to live and work - where people feel better, perform better, and enjoy life more. Here are some of the other benefits from having indoor plants:

Plants are a Source of Oxygen - Plants take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen through the process known as photosynthesis. The more plants you have, the more oxygen you will receive.

Plants Make You Happy - House plants make people feel calmer and more optimistic, says Bruno Cortis, M.D., a Chicago cardiologist. Interestingly, he says that studies have shown that hospital patients who face a window with a garden view recovered more quickly than those who had to look at a wall.

Plants Fight Fatigue and Colds - According to a University of Agriculture in Norway study, indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses by more than 30 percent, partially by increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust.

Plants at the Office - Major corporations and work environments are beginning to catch on that adding plants indoors does wonders for employee health and morale. According to one study published in Rehabilitation Literature, a manufacturing company integrated plants into its office so that no employee would be more than 45 feet from greenery. The result? Company administrators said they noticed enhanced creativity and increased productivity in employees. One popular plant to use in offices is the Dragon Tree plant. Besides being one of the most effective in removing harmful impurities from the air, it's exotic looks adds character to any room.

It is important to note though that not all plants are good as indoor air cleaners and that some plants are poisonous and should be handled with care, or not at all if you have small children. Some examples of toxic plants include: Nightshade, Creeping Charlie, Foxglove, Oleander, Sago Plant, Privet, Rhododendron, Umbrella Plant, Ivy, Ripple ivy, Sweet Pea, Vinca, Spider Mum, and Poinsettia. Consumers looking for houseplants that purify air should probably steer away from the above named plants if they have young children and indoor pets, as these plants can sometimes be fatal if consumed.

Resources for more information:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/s...
http://www.ssc.nasa.gov/environment...
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/s...

Other sources included:

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4D...
www.cleanairgardening.com/houseplan...
http://www.zone10.com/technology/na...
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-...

Yoga for Integral health/Spirit/Mind/Body/Soul

(NaturalNews) Yoga is an effective way to enhance both physical and mental well-being. While yoga is becoming more popular in recent years, it is actually an ancient activity that focuses on connecting the mind, the body, and the spirit by performing specific poses, breathing, and meditation. The practice of yoga has many health benefits that can improve everyone's health. In fact, yoga is an inexpensive and effective way to improve all areas of one's life.

Some of the physical benefits include:

-Improved flexibility
-Improved joint mobility
-Muscle building, toning, and strengthening
-Posture correction
-Spine strengthening
-Lessening back pain
-Improving muscular-skeletal conditions
-Increasing strength and stamina
-Improving balance
-Stimulating the endocrine system
-Improving digestion and elimination
-Increasing circulation
-Improving heart conditions
-Improving breathing disorders
-Boosting the immune system
-Decreasing cholesterol and glucose levels
-Facilitating weight loss

Some mental benefits include:

-Increasing body awareness
-Relieving stress
-Relaxing the body by relieving muscle strain
-Sharpening concentration
-Freeing the spirit

Recent studies have shown that yoga can also be instrumental in relieving symptoms connected to:

-Arthritis
-Arteriosclerosis
-Chronic fatigue
-Diabetes
-AIDS
-Asthma
-Obesity
-Accelerated aging

Yoga has been touted as a nearly perfect fitness activity that is effective for almost anyone of any age and fitness level. Even children can benefit from learning yoga. If children learn yoga while they are young it will enable them to retain their natural flexibility as they age. Older people can greatly benefit from yoga exercises because it can enable them to increase their mobility and it may also help alleviate symptoms associated with arthritis and poor circulation.

Yoga helps develop balance and coordination. It is an invigorating activity that stretches and tones muscles and joints and directs blood and oxygen to internal organs, glands, and nerves. Learning yoga develops self-discipline and will improve concentration and memory. Yoga is different from conventional forms of exercise because the focus is on quality of movement instead of quantity.

Consistent yoga will quiet the mind, refresh the body and enable overall peace and happiness.
Yoga involves motion without incurring strain or imbalances within the body. When yoga is done correctly there are no negative effects whatsoever and it can be quite demanding and strenuous. It is not an aerobic exercise but it involves almost every muscle and challenges the body very effectively.

Limbs act as free weights and resistance is created by moving the body's center of gravity. This strength building activity creates endurance when the yoga poses are able to be held for longer periods of time as one progresses in skill and strength.

Yoga is also a good exercise choice during pregnancy. Yoga is beneficial for both the expectant mother and the unborn baby. Yoga can help with common pregnancy discomforts like backaches and yoga has also been shown to make labor shorter and easier.

Yoga is a good addition to other sports activities because most sports are contingent upon muscle strength and stamina. Yoga is effective for helping one's body and mind to function better together. A flexible body will be less prone to being injured. Yoga postures are the different positions that are held while coordinating breathing with stretching and strengthening. Practicing yoga will complement and enhance other activities such as running, bicycling, and strength training in particular because the postures involved in yoga work all of the major muscle groups. Not only does yoga improve all of the major and minor muscle groups, but it also helps to send oxygen to all of the cells in the body because of the conscious deep breathing and sustained stretching and contraction of the various muscle groups.

With a little time and effort, the positive effects of yoga will not only improve one's health, but also every area of one's life will become evident and abundant. Yoga works by making one feel good, strong, and peaceful.

Source: http://www.yogaforbeginners.com/htm...

Energy drinks linked to coffeine intoxication

(NaturalNews) The way that energy drinks are marketed and used places consumers at significant risk of caffeine intoxication, according to a study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

"The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a 10-fold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the caffeine amounts are unlabeled and few include warnings about potential health risks of caffeine intoxication," said study co-author Roland Griffiths.

The symptoms of caffeine intoxication include anxiety, nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, pacing, tremors, rapid heartbeat and digestive upset. In particularly high doses, caffeine can be fatal.

The researchers noted that because energy drinks are marketed as dietary supplements rather than food products, manufacturers are not required to disclose how much caffeine they contain. In addition, the FDA maximum of 71 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounces does not apply. The average 12 ounce cola contains approximately 35 milligrams of caffeine, while a six-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains anywhere from 80 to 150 mg. Yet some energy drinks may contain hundreds of milligrams of caffeine per can.

Part of what makes energy drinks dangerous is that companies mainly market them at teenagers and young adults, pushing them as performance enhancers without warning of potential side effects. As a consequence, many youths drink the products in large quantities throughout the day, like any other beverage.

"It's notable that over-the-counter caffeine-containing products require warning labels, yet energy drinks do not," co-author Chad Reissig said.

Also dangerous is the regular practice of mixing energy drinks with alcohol, which 27 percent of college students report doing at least once per month. Because caffeine is a stimulant and alcohol a depressant, people who mix the two tend to feel as if they are less intoxicated than they actually are.

Sources for this story include: latimesblogs.latimes.com.

Miso Soup...excelent for a healthy life

(NaturalNews) Miso is a delicious fermented food that has been eaten in China and Japan for many centuries. Today it is a favorite of health minded people in the West because of its many anti-aging benefits. Miso and other fermented foods and drinks help build up the inner ecosystem and assure the digestive tract is amply supplied with beneficial bacteria. These bacteria help digest, synthesize, and assimilate nutrients so necessary for good health and anti-aging. They also strengthen the immune system, keeping it at the ready to fight infection and cancer.

Miso can raise the nutritional value of many recipes

Miso is a fermented soybean paste with a salty taste, a buttery texture and a unique nutritional profile that make it a versatile condiment for a host of different recipes, and a foundation for traditional miso soup. In addition to soybeans, miso can include rice, barley or wheat.

Miso is made by adding a yeast mold known as koji to soybeans and other ingredients and allowing them to ferment for a period of time ranging from months to years, depending on the specific type of miso being produced. When the fermentation process is completed, the mixture is ground into a paste similar in texture to nut butter.

The color, taste, texture, and saltiness of miso depend on the exact ingredients used and the duration of the fermentation process. Miso can range in color from white to brown. The darker the coloring, the more robust the flavor and saltiness. The six popular types of miso are:

Hatcho miso (made from soybeans only)
Kome miso (made from white rice and soybeans)
Mugi miso (made from barley and soybeans)
Soba miso (made from buckwheat and soybeans)
Genmai miso (made from brown rice and soybeans)
Natto miso (made from ginger and soybeans)

Miso making is complex and is esteemed as an art form in Asia. In the U.S., interest in miso is increasing due to the growing interest in health and the popularity of Asian food culture stimulated by research suggesting it has numerous health benefits.

Prepared miso is widely available in the U.S.

Miso is available at health food stores and many traditional markets, particularly those that stock foods from around the world. Because the lighter colored misos have a more delicate flavor, they are better suited for soups, dressings and light sauces. The darker varieties go best with foods having pungent flavors. If stored in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container, miso can be kept for up to a year.

Certified organic miso made with sea salt is the best choice if available. Miso should ideally have a fermentation time of between six months and two years.

Miso is a versatile food

Miso-tahini sandwishes are delicious. Spread miso on a piece of bread and top with tahini. Sprinkle on slivered almonds or slivered radishes

Miso can be added to marinades for meat, fish, poultry or game. Use it in baked potatoes after they are cooked and spice them up with some herbs. Add miso and herbs to warm or cold rice dishes.

Combine miso with olive oil, ginger and garlic to make a delicious dressing that can be used on salads, cold grain dishes, or pasta.

Carry dried miso soup packets and use them at coffee break time.

Traditional miso soup is quick and easy to prepare. Its health benefits are legendary, making chicken soup pale in comparison.

Traditional Miso Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

5-inch strip wakame (sea vegetable), or 2 teaspoons dried wakame
1 large onion (about 1 cup)
4 cups purified water
2 to 8 Tablespoons light miso depending on the richness desired

Instructions:

Soak the wakame in water for 10 minutes and slice into 1.5 inch pieces.

Thinly slice onions.

Put water, onions and wakame in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10-20 minutes, until tender.

Remove 1.5 cups of broth from the saucepan and place in a bowl.

Allow water in the bowl to cool a bit and add the miso, mixing it into the water (the water should be cooled to a temperature of 105 degrees or lower so the beneficial microflora and enzymes in the miso remain in tact).

Turn off heat, allowing the remaining water in the saucepan to also cool to 105 degrees or below. When it has cooled, add the miso broth to the soup in the saucepan. Add chopped parsley, green onions, ginger or watercress for garnish.

This is a vegetarian version of miso soup. Dried bonito fish flakes found in Asian markets can be added to this soup to make a more substantial broth. Simmer one tablespoon of bonito flakes in the soup water for 10 minutes and strain.

Sip miso soup for your health

Many studies have shown the health benefits of miso on humans and animals. Benefits include reduced risks of breast, lung, prostate, and colon cancer, and protection from radiation. Researchers have found that consuming one bowl of miso soup per day, as do most residents of Japan, can drastically lower the risks of breast cancer.

Miso has a very alkalizing effect on the body and strengthens the immune system to combat infection. Its high antioxidant activity gives it anti-aging properties.

Miso helps the body maintain nutritional balance. It is loaded with other nutrients along with its beneficial bacteria and enzymes. Miso provides protein, vitamin B12, vitamin B2, vitamin E, vitamin K, choline, linoleic acid, lecithin, and dietary fiber. Its high content of the amino acid tryptophan makes miso a good choice right before bedtime. Tryptophan is nature's sleep inducer.

Miso helps preserve skin beauty through its content of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that helps skin stay soft and free of pigment.

Miso is a good choice for women with menopausal complaints because it is able to fill estrogen receptors and produce some of the actions of estrogen in the body.

The long, slow process of fermentation needed to break down soy requires more hardy bacteria than is used for other fermented products, contributing the special health benefits of miso. Dr. Hiro Watanabe, an expert in developmental biology and cancer prevention in Japan, conducted several animal and human studies using freeze dried rice miso. His goal was the understanding of how miso protects against cancer, radiation and other diseases.

Dr. Watanabe's studies showed that for cancers like those of the breast and prostate, the ideal length of fermentation was between 6 months and 2 years. He found that miso fermented for 180 days is typically a rich color and has plenty of healthy microflora.

According to Dr. Watanabe's studies, the sodium in miso did not produce adverse effects in people with salt sensitivity and hypertension. For cancer, Dr. Watanabe recommended 3 cups of miso a day. For high blood pressure, he recommended 2 cups, and for relief of menopausal symptoms, he recommended 1 to 3 cups per day. His maintenance amount is 1 cup per day. He noted the beneficial effects of replacing the salt used in food preparation with miso.

Sources:

Miso, The World's Healthiest Foods.

Miso Soup: A Delicious Bowl of Health and Anti-Aging Power, Body Ecology.

Scott Kessman, The Health Benefits of Miso Soup: Japanese Chicken Soup, www.associated content.

Watch...Goooogle !Hear ....GOOOOOOGLE EARTH!

(NaturalNews) Has the age of electronic stalking begun? Google has announced a new service called Latitude that triangulates the real-time position of any mobile phone user and displays their location online, in real time, for other people to see.

Google says it's a "100 percent opt in" service that only works if you sign up for it, but there's something fishy about all this they're not saying: How is it that Google has access to cell phone tower triangulation data in the first place?

A typical programmer (or even a company) can't simply announce they're creating an online mapping program and get access to cell phone tower triangulation data. This requires some sort of high-level data interchange between Google and telecommunications companies -- you know, the kind of data interchange normally reserved for the FBI or CIA. That Google now has this technology is downright spooky (and "spook" is the right word here...).

Technically, it means that Google engineers now have access to the physical location of virtually every mobile phone user in the country. Even if they're not making your location public, the point is they could if they wanted to.

There is a way to thwart this technology, of course: Remove the battery from your mobile phone if you don't want to be tracked. Turning it off isn't good enough, either: You actually have to physically remove the battery to be sure you're not being tracked.

Create a positive stress vs.the negative stress

(NaturalNews) Everyone has preferred oft-used methods for easing tension or stress. Sometimes these methods are productive and other times coping methods cause more problems than the original sources of stress. Some positive coping methods are meditation, exercise, deep breathing, journaling, and listening to music. Negative coping strategies include drinking alcohol to excess, smoking, using drugs and overeating. Stress-reduction methods that have positive long-term health benefits are the best choices. It is important to remember that stress is not nearly as critical as how it is dealt with. Here are some suggestions for positive coping methods.

Adjust Environment: Color, lighting and sound can either be soothing and comforting, or jarring and unhealthy.

*Light: Inadequate or artificial indoor lighting can cause stress that creates agitation, disorganized thinking, physical discomfort, and even disease. Conventional fluorescent lighting produces light that is deficient of some of the wavelengths that are contained in natural sunlight. Studies have shown that replacing this kind of lighting with full-spectrum fluorescent that more closely resembles sunlight can reduce stress levels.

*Sound: The sounds around us can either ease or contribute to stress. For this reason, it is important to become aware of how noise affects us.

*Color: Color can have both an emotional and physiological impact on stress levels. The impact of color comes from different vibrations inherent in different colors.

Seek Respite: A change of pace can enable one to find a new way to view a problem. Stop and find something else to do. Take a break. Take a nap. Force the mind to focus on something other than the source of stress.

Physical Activity: In the face of negative emotions such as sadness, anger, or pain, physical activity can help both emotionally and physically. Try physical activities like walking, hiking, stretching, jogging, running, or riding a bicycle to release pent-up energy associated with high stress levels. Even ten minutes of activity can be very effective for reducing stress levels.

Improve Time Management: Learning how to manage one's time will reduce stress and make one more effective at reaching daily goals. Use a daily planner or a "to do" list and learn how to minimize interruptions that consume precious time.

Learn How to Delegate: Delegating tasks not only reduces stress and creates more time; it also promotes trust in relationships.

Be Aware of Stress Symptoms: When under stress, the heart beats faster, muscles tighten, breathing becomes shallower, and often nausea or headache will result. When symptoms of stress appear, stop and take a break.

Get Adequate Sleep: Getting enough sleep will enable one to better handle stress. Sleeping environment is important as well. Make sure that nothing interferes with peaceful sleep.

Learn How to Laugh: Laughter is a great way to fight stress. Studies have shown that laughter causes a measurable decrease in stress and a measurable increase in the immune system. Laughter increases blood flow to the brain and at the same time endorphins are released into the body making one feel better.

Find Someone to Talk To: Stress can be reduced by talking it over with someone. Find someone who will listen without judgment and who will help find solutions. Seek out optimistic people because these people tend to have lower stress levels in their own lives.

Learn Affirmations: Find some positive phrases that fit, learn them, and repeat them often. Write uplifting notes to yourself.

Say No When Necessary: Having too many responsibilities creates stress. Know your limitations and stay within them. Be sure to say NO without feeling guilty!

Breathe Deeply: Stress promotes shallow, rapid breathing. This deprives the body of oxygen and further exacerbates stress. Consciously breathing slowly and deeply will help the body relax.

Eat a Nutritious Diet: Often stress leads people to eat unhealthy foods, but this will only worsen the stressful situation. Highly refined foods have a bad effect on blood sugar levels and this will contribute to feelings of stress. Eating whole foods will help the body stay regulated and within normal levels.

Count Those Blessings: Focusing on problems contributes to stress. Trying to dwell on the things that are right will encourage feelings of appreciation. Appreciation is a powerful stress-buster.

Get a Massage: A massage will increase blood flow, lower blood pressure, help one rest, and elevate mood.

When all else fails, take a day and give it to yourself. Make it a day that you do not put anyone else ahead of yourself for that period of time. Spend time in activities that will renew the spirit and reaffirm priorities. This should make it possible to return to regular life feeling refreshed and renewed with a better sense of purpose and direction.

Source: http://www.inspiredliving.com/stres...

Do it anyway ! Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.



If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.



If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Suggestions for success

1.Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2.Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.
3.Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4.Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5.Be forgiving of yourself and others
6.Be generous.
7.Have a grateful heart.
8.Persistence, persistence, persistence.
9.Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10.Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11.Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12.Commit yourself to quality.
13.Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
14.Be loyal.
15.Be honest.
16.Be a self-starter.
17.Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong.
18.Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19.Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
19.Take good care of those you love.



Don't Take Anything Personally

"Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering. " - Don Miguel Ruiz

Don’t Make Assumptions

Be aware of unconscious assumptions

ASSUMPTIONS ARE MADE SO AND UNCONSCIOUSLY MOST OF THE TIME BECAUSE WE HAVE AGREEMENTS TO COMMUNICATE THIS WAY. WE HAVE AGREED THAT IT IS NOT SAFE TO ASK QUESTIONS; WE HAVE AGREED THAT IF PEOPLE LOVE US, THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT WE WANT OR HOW WE FEEL.

“We have the tendency to make assumptions about everything. The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth. We could swear they are real. We make assumptions about what others are doing or thinking – we take it personally – then we blame them and react by sending emotional poison with our word. That is why whenever we make assumptions, we’re asking for problems. We make an assumption, we misunderstand, we take it personally, and we end up creating a whole big drama for nothing”

Unhappy marriages-higher risk for breast cancer

(NaturalNews) Are you in an unhappy marriage? If so, please take note - a recent study on women has found that problems in marriage result in poor outcomes for breast cancer sufferers.

Details and Findings of Study

The findings of this study, which was conducted at the Ohio State University, will be published in the journal Cancer. The study had looked at some 100 women who were either married or residing with a partner when the study commenced, and who remained in the relationship in the 5-year follow-up period. Of the 100 subjects, 72 reported being in good marriages, with the other 28 reporting marriages in distress.

The study found that women who were in distressed marriages underwent less physical activity, had higher levels of stress, were slower to recover and also suffered more signs and symptoms of sickness as compared to the women who were in happy marriages. And these findings applied even after the study team accounted for factors such as the female subjects' depression levels, stage of cancer, cancer treatment as well as other factors which could influence their state of wellbeing.

"The quality of the marital relationship may not be the first thing women worry about when they get a cancer diagnosis. But it may have a significant impact on how they cope physically and emotionally. Our results suggest that the increases in stress and other problems that come with a distressed marital relationship can have real health consequences and lead to poorer recovery from cancer," said Hae-Chung Yang, a research associate in psychology at Ohio State University and co-author of the study.

Women in happy marriages also suffer trauma arising from their diagnoses; significantly, they recover better

The study also revealed that even the women in the better marriages would initially go through a period of high stress levels after their cancer diagnoses, as high as those who were in unhappy marriages. But, the key thing was, those in the happy marriages would experience a steady decrease in such stress.

"When you're diagnosed, that's devastating for everyone, regardless of the quality of your marriage. But women in good marriages saw steady reductions in their cancer-related stress, while women in distressed marriages had a much slower recovery," added Yang.

Relationships do not seem to improve after diagnosis

Another sad thing for those in the reportedly bad marriages - even being hit with such a serious illness, most of them do not experience any improvement in the quality of their marriages, a finding which is consistent with those of previous studies. You would think that, perhaps the husbands of these women would become more loving or caring after their partners take ill, but apparently, that does not happen.

"Whether you have a good or bad relationship before being diagnosed with cancer, that is not likely to change afterwards," said Yang.

Bottom line

A holistically natural and healthy lifestyle goes beyond the physical elements of nutrition and exercise. The great natural healer Dr John Christopher was said to have once remarked that the best healing element is love. On the flip side, others have said that there is nothing more toxic than strained relationships. And, of course, profiling work done on cancer patients has revealed the frequent presence of underlying emotional issues.

"Clearly, marital distress is a risk factor for numerous poorer outcomes, and it is never too late to work to improve your marriage, not only for your emotional well-being but also for your health," added Yang.

Sounds like good advice to me.

Source

Marital Distress May Affect Breast Cancer Recovery (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...)

Optimism can reduce cancer pain; FEAR NOT TO FEAR Plato said

(NaturalNews) Monty Python, in his hit song, asks us to "always look on the bright side of life". Recent research in the United States has revealed a very tangible benefit of a bright outlook – reduced cancer pain and fatigue.

Cancer – A Feared Disease

There are many aspects of cancer which makes it such a frightening disease. For example, it often does not exhibit symptoms until the time when most people think it is "too late" to do anything. This makes it almost a silent killer.

It makes people feel helpless, and cancer sometimes spread very rapidly. It seems to afflict anyone, anywhere, too.

Then there is the little matter of the pain which cancer brings, in particular during its latter stages, and also for certain types of cancer, such as bone cancer, liver cancer and pancreatic cancer.

The pain and fatigue which cancer patients often suffer from can badly affect their quality of life as well as their ability to function, not just physically, but also mentally.

Many protocols and therapies, both conventional and "alternative", are used to reduce and manage pain and fatigue caused by cancer. Some of these include pain-killing drugs, foot reflexology, massage and acupuncture.

Now, research conducted by Dr Margot E Kurtz and her team of colleagues from the Michigan State University in East Lansing has found that cancer patients with more optimistic outlooks were better able to manage their cancer pain, while those patients who had a strong sense of mastery, or control over their environment, experienced less severe fatigue on top of being able to better manage their pain.

Details of Study

The study looked at the personality traits, such as dispositional optimism and mastery, of 214 cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy, to see how they affect the patients' ability to manage the severity of their cancer fatigue and pain.

Participants of the study were put through a 10-week symptom control intervention program, with the help of a nurse. They were interviewed three times – at the start of the study, after 10 weeks at the end of the intervention program, and again after 16 weeks, to get a sense of their emotional states.

Findings of Study

The study, which was published in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, found that those participants who had higher levels of mastery reported feeling less severe pain as well as lower levels of fatigue.

On top of that, participants who had a more optimistic outlook also experienced less severe pain, although in this case, higher levels of optimism did not translate to less severe fatigue.

These findings were adjusted for other important factors, such as age, gender, cancer location, stage of the disease, and other health issues which may be afflicting the participants.

Additional findings of the study include less severe cancer pain for those patients who were older and those with fewer health issues on top of their cancer diagnosis, while the latter group also reported lower levels of fatigue.

Further, the study team reported not much difference in the degree of optimism and mastery detected between patients whose cancers were detected early and those who were suffering from late stage disease. This is an important point as it rules out, to some degree, the possibility that optimistic attitudes may have been caused by less severe disease and pain, rather than vice versa.

Along similar lines, it was found that the number of additional health issues on top of cancer did not seem to influence the baseline levels of optimism and mastery of the subjects.

What Can Be Done

The study team suggested that clinicians could look out for such traits in cancer patients, and work with them to help them use these traits to better cope with their cancer symptoms.

"These findings underscore the need for physicians and nurses involved in the care of cancer patients to recognize, encourage, promote, and take advantage of these traits in their patients to help them more effectively manage their cancer care, so that they ultimately can achieve a better quality of life during the sequelae of the cancer experience," the study team concluded.

On a personal level, cancer patients and their loved ones need to do more to help improve the emotional outlooks of cancer sufferers. Read jokes, watch comedies, laugh, hang out with and talk to positive people, pray, meditate, go for counseling – do anything to raise one's levels of optimism and mastery.

According to the finds of this Michigan study, this can help one deal with cancer pain and fatigue. In addition, much as some factions of conventional medicine may disagree, there are many of us who actually believe that such an outlook can in fact improve one's chances of defeating the disease.

Main Source

Patient Optimism and Mastery -- Do They Play a Role in Cancer Patients` Management of Pain and Fatigue? (http://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S088...)00058-4/abstract)

Dogs more effective than Prozac !

Dogs More Effective Than Prozac

Friday, December 26, 2008 9:34 AM
By: Sylvia Booth Hubbard Article Font Size
http://www.newsmax.com/health/dogs_effecti.../26/165446.html


Want to cut down on doctor visits and be more active? Get a dog! University of British Columbia professor and author Stanley Coren says dogs work better at reducing stress than the antidepressant Prozac.


A recent study published in the journal “Psychosomatic Medicine” found that positive effects produced by dogs included several signs of reduced stress, including lowered blood pressure, slowed heart rate and more relaxed muscles. And those relaxing effects were attained much more rapidly than pills. Having a dog close by reduced stress in as little as five minutes, where prescription medications can take weeks before taking effect.


“The data is absolutely unambiguous,” Coren told Canada.com. “This actually works better than having a loved one next to you.”


Amazingly, research shows that dog owners visit their doctors less often and are more physically active than non-dog owners. And seniors who own dogs are four times less likely to be victims of depression.


“It’s quite an amazing statistic,” said Coren, author of several books on how humans interact with dogs including “How to Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication.”