Archive for June 26th, 2006
The three basic steps in caring for the skin on your face, plus suggestions for additional treatments that may be appropriate for specific skin types.
A basic skin care routine for the face is a lifelong undertaking, but
should begin no later than the onset of puberty with its accompanying increase in oil production and tendency towards sensitivities and breakouts. Despite what the major cosmetic companies and marketing firms might have you believe, caring for the skin on your face is actually quite simple, consisting of three basic steps: 1) cleansing, 2) toning, and 3) moisturizing. Certainly, this basic routine can be enhanced and elaborated upon, but in the case of caring for your skin, simpler is often better.
The first step of the basic skin care routine is cleansing, or removing the dirt, makeup, oil, and general daily grime from your face. This can be done with a bar of soap, a liquid cleanser, or even a specially formulated cream (more appropriate for dry and sensitive skin types). Simply wash your face, using your choice of product and following the manufacturer’s instructions, being sure to clean all areas, and rinse well with water. Using a washcloth or special cleansing pad is an option, though the opportunity for bacterial growth on such a product leads me to encourage you to use your clean hands alone for cleansing. After thoroughly rinsing your face (splashing your face 5-10 times with warm water), pat dry with a clean, soft cloth or towel.
The second step of the routine is toning — that is, using a specially formulated toner or astringent applied to a cotton pad or ball to remove any last traces of soap, makeup, oil, and grime. Although some consider this an optional step, the evidence on the cotton pad after use convinces me that this step is effective and necessary. It is very important to choose a product that is well suited to your skin, as there is a much wider range of strengths in toners than there is in cleansers. Pay particular attention to the amount of alcohol in a toner, keeping in mind that certain types of alcohol can be very drying to the skin and are generally recommended only in products for combination or oily skin types.
The third step of the routine is moisturizing, or replenishing the natural moisture that your skin loses through cleansing and daily life. Again, different skin types will require different types of moisturizers, but even oily skin types will benefit from the use of such a product. (Keep in mind that oil and water are not the same thing, and look for an oil-free or oil-control moisturizer if your skin is oily.) Dot on cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead, and blend gently and thoroughly, taking care not to pull or tug at the skin.
This basic three-step skin care routine should be followed twice a day, once upon waking up and once before going to bed. Extremely oily skin types may benefit from an additional gentle cleansing midday, but beware that overcleaning oily skin may result in even greater oil production. As remarkable and durable a human organ as it is, the skin is delicate in its own way, and if abused, will react with breakouts, rashes, and other signs that it’s being mistreated.
Additional treatments may be appropriate depending upon your skin type. Scrubs or other exfoliants, which can be used anywhere from once a week up to once a day as long as the product is not too abrasive and the application is gentle, serve to slough off dead skin cells, thereby making skin clearer, with less of a tendency towards breakouts and blotchiness.
Masks, which may be used as frequently as a couple of times a week or as infrequently as once every month or two, are formulated to treat everything from very dry to very oily skin. They may provide an intensive moisture treatment, a deep cleansing experience, or simply a gentle, aromatherapeutic cleansing boost.
Eye creams, which are available in very light and sheer or very thick and creamy formulas, are appropriate for even the dry skinned teenager, but find their most appreciative audience in those age 30 and older.
Topical, over the counter acne treatments, such as those containing benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid, can be highly effective in reducing the duration and redness of a pimple or blemish, though they must be used strictly according to the manufacturer’s or your dermatologist’s directions.
An additional treatment product necessary for those of all ages and skin types is sunscreen. For the face, an SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 15 is generally considered the minimum required to guard against risk of sun damage, skin cancer, premature aging, and wrinkling. And it is important to find a sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays, as each type does its own damage. Often, facial moisturizers include sunscreens of SPF 15 and above, but if your particular brand of moisturizer does not, simply apply your sunscreen separately.
While this article is intended to give an overview of a typical basic skin care routine, individuals should consult their doctors or dermatologists for product suggestions and treatments specific to their own situations and skin types.
June 26th, 2006
By: Werner Boersch
Personally I belief that it is possible for anyone to live a life of happiness,inner peace, and outward success, no matter what their present or past circumstances.
There are very real methods anyone can use to achieve these things-if they are willing to make the necessary changes in how they see
themselves and their relationship to the rest of the world, and take the necessary actions.
All traditions of meditation flow from one premise: that the entire universe is made of one all-encompassing energy, intelligent and aware, existing forever as the source of everything. Because there is nothing outside of it, say the mystics, because of its completeness, this energy has nothing to get or need, nothing to fear. Simply because it is its nature to do so, this one energy continually spins itself out as the entire, infinite universe. The very nature of this energy, it is said, is contentment, love, peace, happiness, and perfection.
The totality of this energy, say the mystics, is who you really are; your seeming separateness, an illusion. Saints and sages have for centuries attempted to describe to humankind a state of awareness where this feeling of oneness with everything in the universe is the predominant experience.
For thousands of years, curious seekers have responded to these explanations by asking, “If I am this one, infinite energy, the beginning less and endless totality of everything, if I really am Love itself, then why do I feel so bad? Why do I have so many problems? Why don’t I feel the peace and happiness you say is my true nature?”
And the mystic invariably would answer, “You do not experience your true nature because of your mind. Your mind keeps you from the experience of what truly is.”
These explanations state that the one energy of reality, at the moment of creation, polarized itself into a seeming duality-good and evil, male and female, up and down, here and there and all other pairs of seeming opposites. This duality, however, is more apparent than real. In each pair of opposites, each part is dependent on the other for its existence, like two sides of the same coin. “Cold” is meaningless without “hot”; “good” makes no sense without “bad”. According to the mystical philosophies of the East, it is the tension between these pairs of opposites, in your mind, that actually causes the universe to manifest.
This tension between opposites is also reflected in the human brain. The brain, divided into two hemispheres, right and left, has the same dual structure-made more acute by the fact that in virtually all people the two hemispheres are unbalanced, a state called brain lateralization. Since the brain filters our reality in this split-brain way, we tend to see things in terms of duality rather than the oneness spoken of by mystics.
Of course, today we know that this is true-the mind does indeed act as a filter, coloring our view of reality just as colored glasses give an illusory tint to what we see. As we grow up, our brain is programmed that some things cause pain and should be avoided, while others bring pleasure and should be sought.
Our brain will always filter reality to confirm that its predominant beliefs and associations are the truth. No wonder we don’t see the universe of love and harmony described by saints and mystics! If the brain could somehow learn to operate in a more coherent, holistic manner, if the two sides of the brain could somehow balance, interact more, and function, as one, then possibly our experience of reality would be different. The more lateralization in the brain (in other words, the more tension between polar opposites) the more feelings of separation, fear, anxiety, and isolation. In fact, as we shall see, only a lateralized brain can continue to entertain the types of beliefs that result in dysfunctional and addictive behaviors and the painful feelings that accompany them.
But our brain should not be considered like an organ what produces our consciousness, we should consider it instead like the product of our consciousness. The connections between the cells in our brain become created following the necessities of our consciousness. In this way, our brain evolves and produces his self and our implicit consciousness. Therefore, must our mind be seen as a potentiality.
Modern brain research indicates that long-term meditation does in fact balance the brain, creating a synchrony between the two hemispheres. They discovered that electrical brain wave patterns of meditators changed, in periods of deep meditation, to a single, coherent pattern, indicating that both sides of the brain - ordinarily out of phase - were working together in a balanced, synchronous manner. This and other research has demonstrated that this balancing, or synchronization, of the hemispheres of the brain happens in all forms of meditation. The degree of hemispheric synchronization can be very precisely determined by measuring the meditator’s brain wave patterns with an electroencephalograph (EEG) machine. Any kind of focusing will bring about a degree of brain synchronization (i.e. meditation). The greater the focus, the greater the synchronization (and the deeper the meditative state). The mystic, then, sitting to meditate, balances the brain through some form of focusing, whether by repeating a prayer or mantra, keeping the attention on the flow of the breath, staring at a candle flame, or by using one of many other techniques. Whatever the technique, the effect on the brain is substantially the same-brain synchronization, and after much practice, transcendental experience.
So just what is this transcendental awareness? Is it becoming some kind of a blob of undifferentiated guru that wants to sit and stare at its navel instead of going to work in the morning, or some kind of robed, smiling person handing out flowers in the airport? Contrary to common Western mythology about such things, persons operating continually in this type of awareness (a kind of 24-hour-a-day state of meditative alertness sometimes referred to as “the awakened mind”) are more productive, happier, and capable of more intimacy, more creativity, and more wholeness. Since the filter through which they view reality does not split everything in to categories based on arbitrary early life programming, they see life more objectively, without fear and judgment, without a need to manipulate others, without need for approval-in short, without the limitations of mental programming. This is, in fact, a state of peak performance. And, when the brain is in this highly synchronous and coherent state, it produces large quantities of pleasure-causing petrochemicals called endorphins, making the whole experience very pleasurable.
In order to accelerate the personal growth process, can you take advantage from the results of modern brain research and use the combined method between meditation and brain wave stimulation with scientifically developed meditation music, what stimulates your brain in a more effective and faster way than traditional meditation. By doing that you’ll exclude any upcoming difficulties regarding focusing your mind and concentration. Music is harmony; start practicing your meditation with harmoniously meditation music.
June 26th, 2006
By: JAMA
The skin cancer melanoma has become increasingly more common, with incidence rates increasing 2.4 percent annually in the United States over the past decade, according to background information in the article.
Because light-skinned individuals are at higher risk for melanoma, much of the prevention and early detection efforts have targeted white
populations; this may help explain improving survival rates (up to 92 percent from 68 percent in the 1970s) among whites. However, similar progress has not been seen among black and Hispanic populations.
Shasa Hu, M.D., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues reviewed 1,690 melanoma cases reported in Miami-Dade County between 1997 and 2002. Of those, 1,176 occurred in white patients, 485 in Hispanic patients and 29 in non-Hispanic black patients.
Hispanic and black patients were both more likely to have advanced-stage melanomas than white patients. Of the melanoma patients, 16 percent of Hispanics and 31 percent of blacks had cancer that had already metastasized (spread to other organs and tissues) at the time it was diagnosed, compared with 9 percent of whites. Black patients had the highest rate, 52 percent, of regional- or distant-stage melanoma, the two most severe stages that indicate the cancer has spread to other lymph nodes or organs; this compares to 26 percent for Hispanics and 16 percent for whites. White patients were more likely to be diagnosed with earlier stages of melanoma, including melanoma in situ, or cases in which the cancer cells are found only in the outer layer of skin, and local melanoma, in which cancer has spread to the lower layers of skin but not to the surrounding lymph nodes. Twenty-seven percent of white patients, 10 percent of black patients and 22 percent of Hispanic patients were diagnosed with melanoma in situ; 57 percent of white, 38 percent of black and 52 percent of Hispanic cases were diagnosed at the local stage.
This disparity in stage at diagnosis may contribute to lower survival rates among blacks and Hispanics, the authors write. According to previously published studies, the five-year survival rate for melanoma diagnosed in the local stage is 98 percent. The rate drops to 64 percent for regional stage melanoma and 16 percent for distant stage.
“Evidence suggests that secondary prevention efforts such as skin cancer examination are suboptimal in Hispanic and black populations,” the authors conclude. “Although varying cultural values may account for some differences in health care use, public education regarding melanoma risk in black and Hispanic persons and delivery of skin cancer screening and examinations represent the main potential areas of intervention to improve the stage at diagnosis of melanoma in these populations. We hope that earlier diagnosis of melanoma at a more favorable stage will ultimately improve melanoma survival rates in minority populations.” (Arch Dermatol. 2006;142:704-708)
June 26th, 2006
By: University College London
The neurological basis for poor witness statements and hallucinations has been found by scientists at UCL (University College London).
In over a fifth of cases, people wrongly remembered whether they actually witnessed an event or just imagined it, according to a paper published in NeuroImage this week.
Dr Jon Simons and Dr Paul Burgess led the study at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr Burgess said: “In our tests volunteers either thought they had imagined words which they had actually been shown or said they had seen words which in fact they had just imagined - in over 20 per cent of cases. That is quite a lot of mistakes to be making, and shows how fallible our memory is - or perhaps, how slim our grip on reality is.
“Our work has implications for the validity of witness statements and agrees with other studies that show that our mind sometimes fills in memory gaps for us, and we confuse what we imagined occurred in a situation - which is related to what we expect to happen or what usually happens - with what actually happened.
“Most of us, though, have a critical reality monitoring function so that we are able to distinguish well enough between what is real and what is imagined and our imagination does not have too great an impact on our lives - unless the reality check system breaks down such as after stroke or in cases of schizophrenia.”
The study found that the areas that were activated while remembering whether an event really happened or was imagined in healthy subjects are the very same areas that are dysfunctional in people who experience hallucinations.
Dr Burgess said: “We believe that hallucinations are caused by a difficulty in discriminating information present in the outside world from information that is imagined. In schizophrenia the difficulty you have in separating reality from imagined events becomes exaggerated so some people have hallucinations and hear voices that simply aren’t there.” These results indicate a link between the brain areas implicated in schizophrenia and the regions that support the ability to discriminate between perceived and imagined information.
In the tests, healthy subjects were shown 96 well-known word pairs from pop culture such as ‘Laurel and Hardy’, ‘bacon and eggs’, and ‘rock and roll’. The participants were asked to count the number of letters in the second word of the pair. Often the second word wasn’t actually shown and the subject had to imagine the word – such as ‘Laurel and ?’.
Participants were then asked which of the second words they had actually seen on screen and which ones they had only imagined. The subjects’ brain activity was observed using fMRI scans while they remembered whether words had been imagined or seen on screen.
When people accurately remembered whether they had actually seen a word or just imagined it brain activity in the key areas increased - many of which are found in brain area 10, which is involved in imagination and reality checking, develops last in the brain and is twice as big in humans as in other animals. In the people who did not remember correctly, activation in brain area 10 was reduced.
June 26th, 2006
Depression and Women’s Health: Depression Through the Ages & Stages of a Woman’s Life provides you with information about depression throughout your life.
This guide discusses the different life stages and situations that could trigger depression.
Special emphasis is placed on the changing role of supportive networks, as well as tips on whom women can turn to at each stage of their lives. Key chapters include:
• Young Women and Depression (20s-early 40s)
• The Menopause Transition (mid-40s-50s)
• Older Women and Depression (60-69)
Depression and Women’s Health: Depression Through the Ages & Stages of a Woman’s Life is an offering of Support Partners, an educational program that offers a step-by-step approach to building partnerships between people living with depression and those who want to help them. For more information, visit www.SupportPartnersProgram.com.
June 26th, 2006