I’m sorry to hear of your chronic constipation.

Some people with IBS suffer from constipation, others from diarrhea and some alternate between diarrhea and constipation. (I can only imagine how awful that would be)

It is estimated that about 1 out of 5 adults suffer from IBS, also known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  That is about 20% of the adult population. Woman tend to experience IBS at a rate about 3 times that of men. That data may be skewed as men may not seek treatment for IBS as often as women.

Here are two documents that can help you to understand IBS better:

1. IBS report (28 pages)

2. IBS report (8 pages)

If you have IBS you should visit your doctor as she has tools available to evaluate and treat your symptoms. Doctors are not able to cure IBS per say but they can utilize certain medications to alleviate your symptoms. They may also be able to suggest dietary changes after examining your diet.Â

A doctor will also be able to rule out the possibility that there is a disease responsible for you condition rather than IBS (which is a non-disease condition).

The doctor will perform tests, such as blood test and a colonoscopy (where they look at the inside of your large intestine) or barium x-ray test.

Much IBS may be sub clinical, meaning that a person may experience bowel pain but might not think it is important enough to seek treatment for.

IBS is classified as a syndrome, meaning that it generally is not considered a disease, though Doctors often have varying opinions about IBS. A syndrome is a collection of symptoms.

Resist the temptation to take IBS lightly. One woman’s account was that it felt like giving birth over and over again. Another person said that she has it so bad and so often that she had to buy a van with facilities that she could retreat to when she had an attack. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to venture out into the world. (that’s a pretty drastic measure to have to take)Â IBS is not to be taken lightly.

The good news is that IBS has not been shown to cause any permanent damage to your large intestine, nor has it been found to lead to any diseases.

So what does it mean that IBS is classified as a syndrome? Basically, a syndrome is a collection of symptoms that don’t actually amount to a disease condition. (that doesn’t mean it can’t be extremely painful or uncomfortable though)

The symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome are diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain and discomfort, cramping, bloating and gas among others. One person suffering from IBS said that after a bout of IBS, his insides feel like they were beaten with a baseball bat for the next several days.

What causes IBS?

We can’t say that these items cause IBS, but we can say they may trigger an episode of IBS. If you suffer from IBS it is a good idea to keep a log of what you eat so that you can determine what food (if any) triggered an attack.

Stress – the brain is connected to our gut, and since we are talking about the large intestine or the bowel, we need to realize that there is a connection there. Our autonomic system regulates many things in our body without our conscious knowledge.

If stress is contributing to IBS attacks for you, hypnosis, therapy or relaxation techniques could be helpful in preventing a bout of IBS.

Caffeine – has been seen to trigger IBS episodes. Staying away from coffee and other caffeinated beverages may help you avoid an IBS episode.

Alcohol can trigger an IBS attack, but you knew you shouldn’t drink anyway, didn’t you?

Dairy products like cheese or ice cream may cause an episode. Try a replacement such as tofu or yogurt.

Carbonated soft drinks have been known to trigger an IBS attack.

Chocolate also has been isolated as a trouble food.

Overeating, even if it doesn’t contain one of your trigger foods, can also irritate the bowel and bring on IBS.

What can you do? First, make sure you visit your doctor, to rule out any kind of disease as the source of your symptoms. The doctor may use a checklist and compare your answers to see if you fall into the category of IBS sufferer.

One of the common criteria is to have experienced 12 weeks or more of IBS symptoms over the past 12 months.

Eating more fiber has proven helpful to many suffering from IBS, however some have reported additional abdominal bloating and gas from taking in more fiber. These additional problems seem to subside after a couple of weeks.

It is suggested that you increase your daily fiber intake by 2 to 3 grams per day, instead of adding a lot of fiber at once, in order to avoid the additional abdominal bloating and gas.

Keep a log of what you eat and when your attacks happen. Try to figure out what food may have triggered the attack and take steps to eliminate that food from your diet. Determing the trigger may be hard to do as it appears that some foods can trigger IBS up to two days later.

Seek the help of your doctor, both to rule out disease and to help you identify culprit foods and work on adding more fiber to your diet. If your symptoms are really bad, your doctor may prescribe drugs for constipation or diarrhea ,depending on which you have. He may also prescribe antidepressant medication to keep stress from triggering an attack.

IBS is a complex problem, seldom is there any one cause. You’ll need to investigate what foods are triggering your attacks and also determine if stress is contributing to your IBS. then take steps accordingly. Your doctor can help you by tailoring your treatment to suite your particular problem.

Just like with anything else associated with the human body, no two people are alike. A combination of treatments may work for one person, while a different combination may work better for someone else. The same foods don’t always trigger IBS in different people.

I also found this alternative information on IBS [AFF]. I have not investigated it myself, but I thought it might be useful to your or someone else with IBS.

Here is an herbal supplement that you can investigate after discussing with your doctor: [Aff] Get More Info on Natural Moves for Natural Constipation Relief [AFF]

Tags: IBS, irritable bowel syndrome

Aside from some really obscure and dangerous conditions and diseases that have the side effect of bad breath, there isn’t a whole lot of worthwhile information out there. I was hard pressed to find much information about ‘regular’ bad breath from ‘official sources’.

These government sources said things like brush your teeth and tongue,use a fluoride toothpaste, floss and don’t smoke. Also there was some mention of using fresh parsley or a strong mint to temporarily freshen the breath.

One thing they did mention was that mouthwashes do not treat the underlying problem. (That’s for sure)

All of this is generally good (and obvious) advice, but if any of that worked for everyone on more than a temporary basis, there would be very little bad breath to suffer in the world.

And we know that isn’t the case, don’t we? In fact, a lot of people suffer with bad breath.

Many mouthwash companies target bad breath directly and they wouldn’t be doing that if there wasn’t a market for it.

Don’t think that it has to do with how well you take care of your mouth. For most people, that is not the case.

You can brush and floss all day long, but if you do nothing to get at the root of the problem, those things won’t help much. It is not a question of impeccable oral hygiene. (although that can definitely help a lot.)

Unfortunately, many of the products for sale may not be all that good for fighting or stopping bad breath. Some could possibly make it worse.

Since official documentation was quite lacking, the best information I could find on bad breath was from Dr. Harold Katz of the California Breath Clinics.

He offers a free 47 page ebook on bad breath

Doctor Katz says that bad breath is due to anaerobic (can’t live well with oxygen around) bacteria that live in the folds of the tongue, back of the throat and in between the papillae of the tongue. (Areas that don’t have a lot of oxygen)

He also says or implies that these little critters naturally exist in your mouth and you won’t be able to completely get rid of them. However, when they multiply out of control, they produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) that are responsible for foul smelling breath.

Things like smoking, coffee, alcohol, dry mouth, snoring and mouth breathing are all factors that can make breath worse.‚ Oh and regular toothpaste that contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfates (soap) can dry out the mouth tissue, contributing to more bad breath.

Click Here to Read more about Doctor Katz’s products.

I also have a resource page for bad breath products and resources that may be more useful than the typical fare.

Saliva naturally contains oxygen which works to keep the little critters or anaerobic bacteria down to a minimum.

However, if the mouth dries, there is less oxygen around. With less oxygen, the bacteria thrive more. With more bacteria, there will be more volatile sulfur compounds hanging out.

When the VSC levels reach a certain point, you will have noticeable bad breath.

Drinks like coffee and fruit juices increase the acidity of the mouth which also causes the anaerobes to reproduce more quickly.‚ (they like a more acidic environment.) Of course, sugar helps them as well.

So what is the solution according to Dr. Katz? Naturally, he has a product line for bad breath. The unique feature of his product line is that they contain OxyD8 – a patented oxygen containing compound that is safe for the mouth but packs enough wallop to knock the little guys silly.

I’ve used his products for a different purpose, fighting gingivitis, and I have to say they have been very helpful.

Almost everyone experiences bad breath at some point, but about 30% (according to Dr. Katz) have chronic bad breath. (it doesn’t go away very often)‚ His commercial site, Therabreath is full of testimonials about people who have benefited from his products.

There is another 30% – the lucky ones, who very, very rarely experience their own bad breath. (except perhaps in the morning)

If you have bought any of about 85% of the bad breath solutions on the commercial market including mints, breath spray and mouthwashes, you have ended up disappointed or with very temporary results. Breath mints don’t work for very long, nor do they get to the root cause of the problem.

Some products can actually cause you to suffer even greater bad breath after they wear off. For example, products that contain alcohol (one product in particular contains a very large percentage of it) can dry the mucosa (tissues in the mouth). This drying leads to a decrease in saliva and can actually aid the growth of anaerobic, bad breath causing bacteria.

If I were trying to get rid of bad breath, I would use Dr. Katz’s stuff. I don’t think there is much else out there that will do the job without a lot of undesirable side effects or short term results.

Click Here to Read more about Doctor Katz’s products.

Remember not to take this as advice. If you have a health condition, including bad breath, be sure to consult your doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.

First, What is Acne? – The skin’s hair follicles and oil glands get clogged with body cells, oil and bacteria. When this happens there is a reaction wherein the body sends white blood cells to fight the infection. This leads to dreaded pimples and other manifestations of acne such as small bumps that are tender to the touch, larger solidified nodules that are deep in the skin and scar forming cysts.

What Causes Acne? – There is no definitive item that is believed to cause acne. Generally it is believed that factors like hormones, some types of cosmetics, use of drugs such as lithium, family history, pressure from outside influence on the skin (like sports equipment) and a number of other factors contribute to acne forming. Can’t put the blame on any one thing in particular though.

Here is a nifty, online multimedia tutorial about acne. (just choose the tutorial on acne) It can help you get a very basic but necessary understanding about acne, it contains 75 pages of free information.

In case you were wondering, dirty skin, chocolate and deep fried foods have not been proven to cause acne. But, just because something isn’t proven, doesn’t make it not true. You could say that it hasn’t been proven to be untrue either.

Here is a more in depth page with acne articles and treatment resources that you might find helpful. You’ll find quite a few articles and almost a dozen resources that may be of use to answer your questions on acne or to help you get rid of acne.

Some people have had good luck with using medications like Accutane to get rid of acne, but the side effects are often unpleasant. I read a story about one lady who experienced extreme dryness with her nasal passages and eyes. In addition, this particular medication causes birth defects, so don’t take this medication when pregnant and don’t get pregnant while taking it.

A dermatologist is the kind of medical specialist that you would visit to help you get rid of acne.

Today I participated in the Kansas City Holistic Health Fair at UMKC (University of Missouri in Kansas City).

I facilitated or convened a session for people who were interested in learning the beautiful, peaceful, energizing and health sustaining exercises of Falun Dafa.

I’ve been practicing these exercises for over seven years now. They form the very cornerstone of my personal health regimen and I would not want to be without them.

I don’t have any pictures from the fair today, but you can see me doing one of the exercises (this is the sitting meditation, the other exercises are all standing) in a picture that is now a few years old.

 

I’ll see if I can get any pictures from today on the blog. My friend had his camera, but I don’t know if he took any pictures. If he did and he is kind enough to send them to me, I’ll add them here in the future.

So what are these exercises good for? In my case, they relieved my body of chronic back pain that nothing else I tried could get rid of.

Two months (or less) after I learned them, I stopped going to the chiropractor because my back no longer hurt. Over seven years, you can imagine how much money, hassle, time, frustration and grief that has saved me.

I’ve met quite a few people who were in far worse shape than me that claim they became healthier from practicing these gentle, energizing and peaceful exercises along with reading the texts of Falun Dafa, namely Zhuan Falun.

You can read their stories in this book which was coauthored by two medical doctors. (tell me that times are not changing!) :

 

You can also read the short but sweet story of my friend Cat, who lives in a city about 30 miles from here. Her story has a happy ending.

I can also say that I have met people that have claimed they got rid of cancer or other serious illness from practicing Falun Gong.

Is it true? I believe them, as they are credible, sincere people.

Of course, if you have something as terrible as cancer, you’d better go seek the help of your doctor.

Teaching the class on Falun Gong exercises at the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City

This was the highlight of the day for me. I really enjoy helping other people find out about the Falun Gong exercises.

I started out by explaining that even though we were going to spend our time learning the exercises of Falun Gong, the real power of the practice is in reading the book Zhuan Falun.

 

Zhuan Falun is full of profound insight that I believe can make anyone’s life happier and more well adjusted.

I remember the first time that I read it. The book resonated so deeply with me that I believe it changed my focus and outlook on life into a far better direction than I would have even understood to be possible previous to encountering it.

I would go so far as to say that this book has become a best friend. It has brought me a peace and comfort that few will get to experience in the course of their lives. (sadly enough)

After explaining that the book was the most important factor of the practice, I went on to help them all learn the five easy to do and gentle exercises.

45 minutes goes by very quickly when teaching the exercises.

What else was at the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City?

There were many, many interesting people and exhibits at the KC fair.
I noticed there were booths on everything from neti pots to exotic health care products to chiropractic and biomechanics.

I think what struck me was how interesting the people were. Everyone there had a bend towards natural health of course. However, I found that the thinking of the people there was similar to my own and whenever I get in an environment like that, I feel like I’m in my element.

I couldn’t really sit still, I had to go and see what everyone was up to.
Yet, time is always a factor and it wasn’t possible for me to get to everyone’s booth or even have a conversation with each and every person. There were probably 3 dozen or more exhibits there.

One exhibit I found particularly interesting was a center for a group of holistic health care practitioners. The chiropractor among them, who was not at the fair, did not practice ‘regular’ chiropractic. She had an interesting practice that involved realignment of the spine that lead to a more permanent solution.

In other words, patients would NOT need to keep coming back for treatment the rest of their lives. Her assistant was there, and told me that it was more like a retraining of the body. She used ‘head forward posture’ as an example.

Many people in the modern world have ‘head forward posture’ to varying degrees. I’ve known this for a long time, eversince I was a student in chiro school.

Anyway, using ‘head forward posture’ as an example, she explained how they would go about correcting such a situation and ‘retraining’ the patients body to correct the ‘head forward posture’.

Over time, ‘head forward posture’ can lead to a hunched back as the body ‘grows’ to meet the demands of having the head lean too far forward from optimum posture.

This may not seem to be a problem for a lot of people in the early stages, but as I mentioned over the course of decades it can lead to rounded shoulders and an eventual hunchback.

I don’t think anyone would want a hunchback so sit up straight and keep an eye on the alignment of your neck and head to the rest of your body.

This is especially true for people who do a lot of desk / computer work, like me. ( I am seeing this problem of head forward posture in myself as well).

Anyway through special instruments, exercises and a home care kit, they would help the patient to realign and stay realigned. I would be interested to see what the home self-maintenance kit had in it but she didn’t have one there to show me.

[On a side note: Here is a quick reference of chiropractic jargon that I recently found doing a google search. It is by no means comprehensive, but it is interesting all the same. ]

Purchase of products

While attending the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City, I purchased some shaving cream, after shave balm and deodorant that promised to be made from all natural ingredients.

Truth be told, these products seemed a bit overpriced. I don’t know much about them but if they are of any noteworthiness I’ll let you know on this blog.

If I’m going to be honest, I bought them primarily because of my interest in the woman who was selling them. Such is the power of attraction. I’m not quite free of the influence that such sentimentality can wield over me or any other human being for that matter.

Vegan Dinner

To round out the day, after the Holistic Health Fair was over, I went to a vegan dinner sponsored by a local group.

I’m not a vegan, nor am I likely to become one. However the food was very good. Again, no pictures to share on this.

I think I’m just adding this to give you a sense of the fullness of the day.

Be healthy and well!