New Mothers – 10 Health Tips for Women After Delivery

I just found this health related video on YouTube … and thought you might enjoy it!

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This video features 10 health tips for new mothers. These recommendations are based on expert clinical guidelines published in UpToDate online version 19.3, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. This video was produced by Nicholas Cohen, MD in 2011.

Tell us what you think about this video in the comments below, or in the Battling For Health Community Forum!
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How My Skin Condition Devastated Me (And Created Me A New Life)

This is the first in a series of articles by Johnny Palmer of AbsRightNow.com. He talks about how his skin condition turned his life into bouts of depression, nothingness and how he has used this unfortunate illness to his advantage and how it has changed the way he lives for the better.

About ME

The ever increasing science of psychoneuroimmunology is finding out more and more about our brain and how it helps or hinders us in life.

We are also discovering how most dis-ease thought to be externally motivated is intrinsically internal.

There are numerous theories and case studies, but I have no interest in that – I want to know how it will effect ME.

In fact I have actually had the first hand experience of being able to look back and see how my own brain has helped guide me through depression, learn lessons, become a better person and then move on.

When I was born I was diagnosed with Eczema, or at least the doctors thought it was that. Ever since and up until just recently I have been plagued with chronic skin problems – which you might not define a “monster” illness, however the effects skin conditions can have are devestating.

Before you start thinking about how it is only a skin problem and I should be thankful I didn’t have cancer – yes I was very thankful it was only a skin condition, but I am a very proud person and being covered in an unsightly rash that appears on your face, arms, legs, chest and makes your skin look like sandpaper isn’t exactly enjoyable.

Especially not for an 18 year old guy who wants to go snowboarding with his friends, party, talk to pretty girls and enjoy life.

When you feel like you are ugly, you turn ugly.

When you feel like everyone is looking at you and talking about you, you hide.

This is exactly what I did.

I suspected I was allergic to something but no matter how many tests I had done no matter how many Doctor visits I racked up on my account, nobody had an answer.

They said it was Eczema and it will go away as you get older, but it might stay with you for life.

— WHAT?

Am I supposed to walk around with head to toe clothes and then move to India so I can cover my face too without looking out of place until I die?

The night was the worst time though.

Before getting into bed at night I would already be worried about waking up in the morning covered in dry, red, oozing skin, sheets smelling awful and looking like Freddy Kruger.

I would have a chamomile tea before bed, listen to soothing music and try to relax as much as possible. Even my lovely girlfriend would rub my back or chest to help relax me – which it did.

Sometimes I would fade off to sleep, sometimes I wouldn’t, but no matter what, I would wake up in the morning looking like the Devil had scorned me.

Some days I would be so bad I couldn’t go to work, at the times when I actually had a job – often my skin was so bad I couldn’t even bear to leave my bedroom and lived at my mums house.

Some days it wouldn’t be so bad and I would get a burst of confidence and make plans for the week, only to wake up the next morning to have to cancel them because I didn’t want to have to see my friends when I looked like a monster, let alone go to a job interview, appointment or a fun event.

I had specific things I couldn’t do such as:

• Couldn’t stay at anyone’s house
• Couldn’t have anyone sleep in my bed or room
• Could never sleep in a car or tent
• Had to make plans on the day depending on if I had an outburst or not

You might think I am just being dramatic, but unless you have actually had eczema on your face so bad that you scratch it until it is red every single night, you won’t understand.

This was the start of my depression.

I realized that there are starving people in the world, people with AIDS, diabetes, cancer and physically disabled, but I felt like those people were lucky because they still looked normal.

What do you do when you are stuck in your own prison of a mind and you can’t escape?

What do you do when you fool yourself into thinking everyone is laughing at you and you can’t go out into the outside world?

Do you sit in your bedroom and get really good at math, build websites, learn a language, build models or try to invent a new product?

In hindsight I should have done at least a couple of those, but I – did – nothing.

My mom said that one day she asked me to hang out the washing and I stood at the washing line for 35 minutes looking out over the hill our house faced.

Nothing wrong with sight seeing, but I was truly stuck in my own prison, and I didn’t even realize it.

Life seemed worthless if I was going to look like a freak the whole time.

Did you ever feel like that?

To be continued … the next part of this series will be up soon!

About The Author

Johnny Palmer runs absrightnow.com a website specially devoted to teaching you how to get abs and the best way to lose belly fat. Johnny has come from a wildly unhealthy lifestyle and out of shape to having a lean, ripped body and overcoming every obstacle that has been seemingly placed in his way as a test.

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How asthma protects (yes!) you from cancer

My family has a history of asthma. One of my sons is suffering from wheezing and eczema. How can I say that these are good things to have, that they are actually blessings in disguise.

But that is actually what this recent study by French Canadian researchers tells me. Their findings show that men who suffer from eczema had a lower risk for developing lung cancer. And those who suffer from asthma have a lower risk for developing stomach cancer.

But how can one health condition provide protection against another more serious condition? Study author Professor Marie-Claude Rousseau of the INRS–Institut Armand-Frappier explains:

“Asthma and eczema are allergies brought about by a hyper-reactive immune system – a state which might have enabled abnormal cells to have been eliminated more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of cancer.”

The researchers actually looked at exposures to occupation hazards and the risk for getting cancer. They checked 3000 male participants who have been diagnosed with cancer and compared to 512 people who did not have cancer. They specifically looked at the link between allergies and the incidence of the 8 of the most common types of cancer.

It is ironic to think that a bothersome condition such as allergy can have some benefits. Especially as both cancer rates and allergy rates are on the rise.

A recent estimate gives us the following figures: Allergy rates in the Western world in 1980 were 10%. Today it is 80%. Should this give us hope that our body is fighting back against cancer? It is really too soon to tell.

The study authors wrote:

These findings contribute important knowledge to population health and provide new research leads. Although the study did not allow to identify which specific factors related to asthma and eczema were responsible for reducing the risk of cancer, it offers new angles for research into the molecular and immunological mechanisms that are involved in immunostimulation, a potentially promising strategy for cancer prevention.

Eggs, milk and peanuts: how your allergies connect

Milk and egg allergies today, peanut allergy tomorrow? This could well be, according to findings reported in May issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The study was conducted by a group of researchers who are part of the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), a major food allergy research program supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The CoFAR reseachers studied more than 500 babies aged between 3 and 15 months who were allergic to milk or egg and followed up the participants until their 5^th birthday. The children are known to be allergic to egg and milk and as expected, tested positive for immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to these food items. However, none of the babies have known peanut allergy, yet many of these infants also surprising tested positive for allergic antibodies specific for peanuts. The researchers reported two unexpected observations:

“More of the infants have elevated levels of IgE antibody to peanuts than the investigators had anticipated, and some of these infants have such high levels that they may already be allergic to peanuts without their parents being aware of it.”

Aside from being positive to peanut-specific antibodies, many of the children also had moderate to severe eczema (atopic dermatitis).

Milk, eggs, and peanuts are the most common food allergies in children, as listed in a previous post. Gluten is also another common source of allergen. However, allergy to nuts, especially peanuts, presents a major concern due to the high likelihood of anaphylactic allergic reaction which can be life-threatening.

The results of the study suggest that milk and/or egg allergy, as well as eczema are major risk factors for developing peanut allergy later in life. The researchers recommend that parents of children with these risk factors should talk to a health professional before incorporating peanuts or peanut products into their child’s diet.

In addition, I would like to emphasize the importance of recognizing the symptoms of food allergy and knowing what to do about them. As reported previously, many parents may not know how to act appropriately when their children present with allergic reaction to certain food stuff. In the light of this latest report from CoFAR, I think it is worth giving our readers again some links to useful allergy resources:

Take the Food Allergy Screening Quiz.

Info on Anaphylaxis on Severe Allergic Reaction