Involuntary Insomnia …

Did you have so much fun at the party and now you are facing with insomnia? Well … that is the second BlogFest topic of the month by Susan –Today’s Working Woman -- http://todaysworkingwoman25.blogspot.com/2012/10/blogfest-2012-insomnia.html

If you have been reading my blogs, you should know by now that I don’t have any problem falling asleep, in fact I could even sleep while standing or simply putting my head down on my desk –Sleeping in Public http://journeyofmylifendestiny.blogspot.com/2012/09/sleeping-in-public.html

That doesn’t mean that I have never tasted the Insomnia before though. In fact –there was a time when I was awaken in the middle of the night and feeling sad. So sad that I tear-ed up … Why –you ask.

Something definitely had bothered me so much without me realizing it at that time and it actually seeped through deep inside my heart that I was jerked out of my sleep and feeling blue about it. A lot of times, it was due to the fact that I have heard something that heart-wrenching –mostly something that affect my love ones or my friends.

Having said that here is a little bit about Insomnia that I found reading Web MD. It was said that Insomnia was divided into two types:

• Primary Insomnia –mainly unable to fall asleep or waking up before time or in the middle of the night and its reason has nothing to do with health or any problems
• Secondary insomnia  --causes by medical, medicine effects or alcohol or caffeine drinks intake

Primary insomnia is also divided into two types: acute and chronic insomnia.

Acute is defined as difficulty in sleeping that lasts about 24 hour to a few weeks --short time whereas Chronic is defined to last three nights a week to a month or longer.

Well … what exactly have caused Insomnia? –Here is what WebMD has to say …

Causes of acute insomnia can include:

• Significant life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, divorce, moving)
• Illness
• Emotional or physical discomfort
• Environmental factors like noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep
• Some medications (for example those used to treat colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma) may interfere with sleep
• Interferences in normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift, for example)
  

Causes of chronic insomnia include:

• Depression and/or anxiety
• Chronic stress
• Pain or discomfort at night

Symptoms of Insomnia

Symptoms of insomnia can include:

• Sleepiness during the day
• General tiredness
• Irritability
• Problems with concentration or memory

Now that we know …. Here is what we can do to prevent Insomnia:

• Having a routine of sleeping and waking up at the same time would help and avoid napping if possible
• As you know caffeine, nicotine and alcohol intake late in the day can interfere with sleep quality
• Regular exercise is good but not before bedtime since it may stimulate us and causing difficulty in falling asleep. In fact expert is recommending if we choose to exercise, do it at least three hours before bed time.
• Having a heavy meal before time may interfere with falling asleep but having a light snack is good
• Best not having television in the room. Bedroom is supposed to be dark, quiet, perfect temperature (not too warm or too cold)
• Some routines may help like taking a bath, listening to music or reading a book
• Jotting down something that bothering us may help rather than having them sitting on our brains.

Hope you all find the above informative and …

Until next stop,

Journey of Life

Self-Help for Skeptics

Just when you thought that you are hopeless ... half empty is your life philosophy. Think again!
Recent article on the Wall Street Journal revealed that there is a hope to the pessimists. We are more than capable of training our brain to think positive even though we were wired otherwise.

Each time when you are about to think how dreadful your life is ... think about something that you are thankful for --for every one negative thought you have about yourself, think about five positive things that you are proud of.

In the articles, the author, Elizabeth Bernstein, mentions another method that helps is spending some of your time when you are down by helping others. The result is quite impressive, in fact, it is a method that is used by psychologist or psychotherapist to help depression patients to  regain their happiness. The author also mentioned that as part of the way to help lessen the negativity is to vent outs as well.

Property of the Wall Street Journal, illustrated by Jim Haynes

Another way is to keep track of your accomplishments and happy moments, when time needed, flip through those moments and in no time, you will find yourself back --the positive ones. She listed more examples, such as, a lady who celebrated her recovery from long depression by making herself valentine card. Each time when she looks at the card, it reminds her that she has pulled through a difficult moment in her life.

Some people even talk to themselves briefly --using the voice that was used to scold themselves when they were not doing their best, the very same voice would comfort them, just like a friend would do, giving support to friends in need..

Some people are collecting fan cards, letters and emails that were sent by clients or friends, and when difficult times hit, reading them would boost up their confidence and happiness.

Need more reasons? If we don't love ourselves, who else would! With that in mind, make sure to train our brains to think positive and when need be instead of being harsh on ourselves --self compassion is the way to go!

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Calcium: too much or too little?

"Unless you take in enough calcium, by mouth, every day, you have to keep borrowing it from your skeleton, so over your lifetime, you need to get enough," says Dr. Siris. "If you have low bone mass, or are at risk for fractures, you want to minimize any need to take calcium from the skeleton."--cited from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304708604577502660615577758.html

Phew! That sounds so scary and couple with confusion whether we are taking in enough calcium or not. Then there is this news about some research that suggest that some of us are maybe eating too much calcium which in turn can cause more harms than good --heart attack and kidney stone.

Now you ask... what else besides milk and cheese that we need to consume to get our calcium and how do we know the exact amount of calcium that we are taking in unless we are consuming some supplement?

Okay, in general just fyi,  8 ounces of milk or 6 ounces of yogurt has 300 mg of calcium, and one cup of spinach has 270 mg.  

For more complete list, try looking up on the following links that I have found:

• http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile68e.stm
• And for comparison:  http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/bone/bone_health/nutrition/

As many of you have already known that our bodies need the help of vitamin D to absorb calcium intake. In a nut shell, for most of us, consuming about 600 international units a day is sufficient It is also noted that it is quite cumbersome to get vitamin D from food source and --sun exposure is not the best choice since it is also the leading cause of skin cancer. That leaves vitamin D supplement as our ultimate choice.

Now back to the question, how much is enough? 

According to the experts, in general we should gobble up about 1000 - 1200 mg/day (maximum of 2000 mg/day) calcium from food sources which is easily accomplish (please refer to the list of food on the above links or any other source of information that you may encounter) instead of taking in calcium supplement. But, if you can't get enough from food, by all means, please consult with your doctor/nutritionist on how much supplement you should take in. 

I hope you find this stop visiting our health --whether we are taking enough calcium or not, useful. 

Until next stop,

Journey of Life

Yes. There is a Hope …

Researchers recently inserted a probe against palm oil and found surprising potential health benefits aside from its  infamous bad reputation. Palm oil, hard-shell red fruit, primary used for cheap cooking oil and congeals when cool-down makes it less appealing.   

Image from pinoypolitikas.blogspot.com

Palm oil contains tocotrienol, a form of Vitamin E, could help fight cancer and prevent strokes.  “Palm oil is the richest source of tocotrienol, says Pramod Khosla, an associate professor in the department of nutrition at Wayne State University in Detroit. He says numerous test-tube studies done over the past two decades in the U.S., Canada and Malaysia show tocotrienols are "very effective" in killing cancer cells. Now researchers worldwide are embarking on the critical next step: human clinical trials on cancer patients. "The reason the clinical trials are being done is because the preliminary findings are so promising," Khosla says.” – cited from http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2115331,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular

I’ve lost several people in my life due to cancer and strokes, including my father, my father-in-law and one of my childhood friends at a very young age.” I am hoping all of these findings can shed more lights to the cancer sufferers. And someday, perhaps some of us or perhaps our next generations would benefit from the studies.

Hope you enjoy this journey with me on palm oil and perhaps someday, we will find the palm oil like the fish oil supplements in our local stores/pharmacies.

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

The Vanishing Minds ...

Somehow, I have a certain passion when comes to Alzheimer's disease. Not sure why. In fact, I have written two blogs that related to Alzheimer's in the past.

1. I will be Your Memory or Not -- http://journeyofmylifendestiny.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-will-be-your-memory.html
2.  Alzheimer's Patients in Nursing Homes -- http://journeyofmylifendestiny.blogspot.com/2012/02/alzheimers-patients-in-nursing-homes.html

Today, I want to take you all on a journey to visit a remote mountain village that is located in Medellín, Colombia. Most people are originated from one Andes region, Antioquia. They called themselves paisas--countrymen. They are about 5000 people in one clan who have inherited a single genetic mutation guaranteeing that they will have Alzheimer's. In fact, it is a matter when not would or not.

"For generations, the illness has tormented these and thousands of others among a sprawling group of relatives: the world’s largest family to experience Alzheimer’s disease. Now, the Colombian clan is center stage in a potentially groundbreaking assault on Alzheimer’s, a plan to see if giving treatment before dementia starts can lead to preventing Alzheimer’s altogether." --cited from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/health/02alzheimers.html?pagewanted=all

Image cited  from alert.psychiatricnews.org

Intermarriages and large families have accelerated the illness and in some cases they have shown memory deteriorating at early as 40s, some even in their 30s, and by 47 they have developed the full blown Alzheimer's disease.

Now Scientists have started to conduct a study on the clan with the drug, Crenezumab, hoping to solve the mystery of Alzheimer's. "The drug, Crenezumab, attacks amyloid plaques in the brain. If it can forestall memory or cognitive problems, scientists will know that prevention or delay is possible and appears to lie in targeting amyloid years before dementia develops. Many, but not all, Alzheimer’s researchers believe amyloid is an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s." --http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/health/research/prevention-is-goal-of-alzheimers-drug-trial.html?pagewanted=1&ref=health

The study intends to prevent the Alzheimer's before it is fully developed. It is believed once the disease hit, the brain is damaged, it is almost impossible to cure it, at least at this point.

Seems like this glimpse of hope would shed some lights for the cure of Alzheimer's. This journey to find the hope to uncover the vanishing minds is indeed quite encouraging. Hope you would find this new discovery as encouraging as I am.

Come 'Like' Journey of Life page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelJourneyofLife

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Misophonia: “Hatred of Sound”

Do you ever find it is hard to tolerate everyday sounds such as  chewing, coughing, even breathing ? Most of us, would be able to tolerate even though we may find them annoying. Some of us don't even notice or care. But for those suffered rare and not curable disease called, Misophonia, --hatred of sound, can find this intolerable to the point of feeling anxious, distressed, and violent --according to abc.com

"For 19-year-old Emma Riehl, attending her college classes is a form of torture. But she doesn’t blame the subject matter or the homework." --Instead sounds such as sniffling and chewing. She find those sounds quite intrusive and make it hard for her to remain in the same room. "Unlike people who find these noises merely irritating, people with misophonia have an extreme reaction that often leads to lives of isolation."

Image from globeedia.blogspot.com

When I first heard about this in the radio yesterday morning, I thought to myself, this is weird... I never even thought about this. I wonder if this is a psychological thinking or actually a neurological defect. But according to researcher, though not enough evident yet, it is potentially a neurological defect.

I thought to share this finding with all of you and if you find yourself or any of your loved ones suffering from these sounds. Please watch “20/20″ Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

Any thought to share?

If you enjoy my blogs, would you come 'Like' me on my FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelJourneyofLife --Thank you!


Scratching my head,
Journey of Life

Nature walk ...

Time flies ... She decided to show up in my tummy one day and then presented herself as a gift on Mother's Day. Can you imagine the feeling that I had on that day? --A gift was sent to me on the day that I was 'born' as her mother! As she celebrated her birthday, it was mine too. I have always had a soft spot with her. Not sure because she is the youngest, or the fact that she is my Mother's Day gift, or perhaps the way she is... --cuddly, innocent, more like little stuffed human.

Each year for her BD, I have searched far and beyond on what things that would be fun for her. See, if my memory served me well ...We did parrot show, gymboree, Invited Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Snow White, Art-and Craft @ local art place, Horse riding, and series of in house custom parties with sleep-over. But the best was this time where we took the girls for the treasure hunt at the local open-space park. --Nature hunt.

Speaking of Nature, our family loves walking in the nature. Ever since our girls were young, we often take a walk nearby our neighborhood as we are lucky that our neighborhood still feel like the woods. We can still spot many deers especially during spring time where the fawns are wondering around with their mother. Occasionally we would sight some bucks as well. Or we would stray a few miles further where we could see some people are fishing at the reservoir. The trail nearby the reservoir and its park are quite a walk as it provided cooler feeling with its creek.

Image courtesy of flickr.com

In fact according to researchers that connecting with nature inducing both healthier mind and body. They also believe that getting in touch with nature will rejuvenate children's brains preparing them to be ready for the next challenge. When they are out in the nature, all the senses get triggered. They are involved in something grander then themselves. Nowadays between iPhone, iPad and computer screen, the kids have seemed to lost their senses.

Hope you enjoy this little visit with nature walk along with my girl's BD and be inspired to do your own nature walk with your children. According to Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, urges us to take a second look at getting our kids in touch with nature. 

If you enjoy my blogs, would you come 'Like' me on my FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelJourneyofLife --Thank you!


Have you walked in the nature lately?
Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Is Electrocution a Treatment to Autism?

In recent years, we have heard the term of Autism more than usual. In fact according to cdc.gov, 1 in 88 children has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). That is an increased of 23 percents since CDC’s last report from the year of 2009. 

What is Autism? If you may. According to www.cdc.gov, “Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.” Also noted that “Over all, boys were almost five times as likely as girls to get such a diagnosis — at a rate of one in 54, compared with one in 252 for girls.” –cited from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/health/rate-of-autism-diagnoses-has-climbed-study-finds.html

Here is a video for you to watch if you want to know more. It is about 3 and half minutes long. 

Now imagine yourself being an Autism child. You can’t seem to communicate well and you are probably being left out and looked differently by the world. And while other kids are playing hide and seek. What are you doing? It was said that Autism children are probably still learning how to speak, or probably found hiding under their beds or running away down the streets. “As many experts point out, autism is not simply "quirkiness" or an unusual personality trait, but a serious disorder capable of destroying families and children's futures.” –cited from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/health/rate-of-autism-diagnoses-has-climbed-study-finds.html

Out of devastation or hoping for better future for their children with Autism disorder, some families turn to a special Educational Center like, The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, Canton, Massachusetts. But, what they found could be shocking! In fact, I have received a personal email from www.change.org. titled, “Mass. school electrocutes blind girl." Here is what the email said, “A non-verbal nearly blind girl with cerebral palsy was shocked as part of her behavioral plan for making a moaning sound and for attempts to hold a staff’s hand (her attempts to communicate and to be loved .”-- My heart was pained, my eyes were misty and my voice was hoarse! Did I read it wrong? I read it over and over again, and my eyes and brain were telling me the same thing. –She was electrocuted!

In fact, she wasn’t the only one. It was if children were found closing their eyes for 15 seconds, or raising their hands for requesting bathroom breaks or even when they were scared seeing their classmates being electric shocked and showed their fears by yelling or crying or standing out of the seat. Guess what! Join the party! –They too were electrocuted! 

Are with me now? Can you feel the pain and anger? Want to make a difference? Please join the rest of us by signing the petition to stop this, You can find more information on http://www.change.org/petitions/judge-rotenberg-educational-center-please-stop-painful-electric-shocks-on-your-students#

And Here is the video where an 18 year old was shocked for hours at the JRC and by the time they stopped, a permanent damaged had been done to this boy! Where is justice when we need one? 

I hope you found this Journey as disturbing as I am and hopefully together we could do something to find justice for these Autism kids that need more love and attention than being cruelly tortured. 

If you enjoy my blogs, would you come 'Like' me on my FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelJourneyofLife --Thank you!

Dying to know what your thoughts are ...

Sad …

Journey of Life