Why Men Have Only One Thing on Their Minds

Don't miss any of HealthyWoman from Bottom Line. Add our address, HealthyWomanfromBottomLine@news.bottomlinepublishing.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. July 7, 2011  Herbal Help for Chronic Lyme Disease No Plunger? No Problem. Secret to Unplugging Your Toilet Why Men Have Only One Thing on Their Minds New Treatment Reverses 82% of Deadly Cancers... Without Chemotherapy, Radiation or Surgery Surprise: Stress Might Not Interfere with Fertility Treatment Success   Herbal Help for Chronic Lyme Disease I live and work in Connecticut, the state with the dubious distinction of being "the birthplace of Lyme disease." But this nasty tickborne illness isn’t limited to the Northeast. It occurs in every state (with the possible exception of Hawaii), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prompt antibiotic treatment often cures the infection—but when it doesn’t, certain herbs can help get rid of the infection and its nasty symptoms. Frighteningly, experts now report that the deer tick bite can transmit not only the infamous spirochete (spiral-shaped bacterium) but also multiple infectious agents, I heard from Richard Horowitz, MD, a board-certified internist whose Hyde Park, New York, clinic has treated more than 12,000 Lyme disease patients in the past 20 years. Thus, the disease is more complicated to treat than had previously been understood. A PERSISTENT PROBLEM If acute Lyme disease goes untreated or if antibiotic treatment is unsuccessful, patients can develop an array of persistent symptoms in the following weeks and months. The CDC’s symptom list includes palsy (loss of muscle tone) on one or both sides of the face... severe headaches and neck stiffness due to meningitis (inflammation of membranes covering the brain and spinal cord)... heart palpitations... dizziness due to changes in heartbeat... severe joint pain and swelling... shooting pains, numbness or tingling of the hands and feet... irritability... and problems with concentration and memory. Though some patients have symptoms that last for years, chronic Lyme disease is a controversial issue. In fact, The Journal of Pediatrics recently reported that half of physicians surveyed question the existence of chronic Lyme disease—even though, as Dr. Horowitz pointed out, there are numerous scientific articles proving the existence of persistent infection despite both short-term and longer-term antibiotic use. The skepticism of some doctors can be incredibly frustrating for patients, as I know from my friend Sheryl, whose two teenagers were diagnosed with chronic Lyme that was not resolved with antibiotics alone. HERBS IN ACTION When I called Dr. Horowitz on Sheryl’s behalf, he told me that numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of including certain herbs in the treatment of chronic Lyme disease. Why do herbs help achieve what antibiotics alone cannot? Because chronic Lyme disease can involve not only the main spirochetal infection, but also multiple bacterial, viral and/or parasitic coinfections transmitted by the same tick bite, Dr. Horowitz said. Herbs typically prescribed for chronic Lyme are able to combat these various infections because they have antispirochetal, antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic and/or antimalarial properties. They also help reduce inflammation... protect the heart... support the liver... aid kidney function... provide antioxidants... and/or boost the immune system. Herbs to ask your doctor about: Herbal extracts usually are taken in capsule or tablet form. Among the herbs most commonly prescribed for chronic Lyme are... Andrographis paniculata Astralagus Banderol Polygonum cuspidatum Samento Sarsaparilla Dr. Horowitz emphasized that Lyme patients should take herbs only under the guidance of a health-care practitioner who knows their benefits, side effects and interactions... who can determine which of the various herbal protocols that have been developed for Lyme would be most appropriate for an individual patient... and who can prescribe the right dosages. Referrals: Visit www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org and click on "Dr. Referral." Note: Certain herbs should not be used by patients who have particular medical conditions (such as gallbladder disease), who take certain medications (such as cyclosporine, cortisone drugs or blood thinners), who are or plan to get pregnant, or who are breast-feeding. Some herbs initially can cause gastrointestinal side effects, such as constipation or nausea, so patients may start with a small dosage and increase gradually over several weeks... maintain the top dose for several months or so... then reduce the dosage incrementally as their chronic Lyme disease symptoms subside at last. Source: Richard Horowitz, MD, is a board-certified internist and medical director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center, an integrative medical center based in Hyde Park, New York, that specializes in the treatment of chronic Lyme disease and other tick-borne disorders. He is past president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation, and was recently awarded the Humanitarian of the Year award by the Turn the Corner Foundation. No Plunger? No Problem. Secret to Unplugging Your Toilet My toilet was stopped up. My guests were on their way. And I couldn’t find a plunger! Lucky for me, I’d learned the secret: Just squirt some liquid dish detergent, wait 15 minutes, and my home and guests were good to go. How often have you been caught in a situation like this—or any of thousands of other household mishaps? Spills, breaks, lost items—family heirlooms nearly ruined. Too often, right? Joan and Lydia Wilen, better known to TV viewers as "The Wilen Sisters," have the secret to saving the day on these and thousands of other potentially disastrous mishaps. Learn more... Why Men Have Only One Thing on Their Minds Does it seem like your man is always thinking about sex? That’s because he is, we heard from Louann Brizendine, MD, a neuropsychiatrist and author of The Male Brain. It all comes down to the primal urge to win at the mating game by getting his DNA and genes into succeeding generations—and to do that, he must be victorious over other males and deposit his sperm in as many women as possible. He’s not consciously thinking this, of course, Dr. Brizendine said—but that is the biological basis for his one-track mind. You can trace this trait to the testosterone a baby boy is swimming in before he is born, which "wires" his brain (assuming he is heterosexual) to be ready postpuberty to pursue fertile females at every opportunity. In fact, between the ages of nine and 15, a boy’s testosterone increases 20-fold—and this is the "fuel" that will run his brain’s sexual circuits henceforth. What’s more, Dr. Brizendine noted, part of a male’s hypothalamus—called the "area for sexual pursuit"—is 2.5 times larger than a female’s. Bottom line: If your man generally treats you with respect and makes you the object of his constant fantasies, there is no cause to feel overly objectified. He is being human! Source: Louann Brizendine, MD, is a neuropsychiatrist and author of The Male Brain (Three Rivers) and The Female Brain (Broadway). She also is a professor of clinical psychiatry and founder and director of The Female Brain Clinic, both at the University of California, San Francisco. New Treatment Reverses 82% of Deadly Cancers... Without Chemotherapy, Radiation or Surgery Lung cancer? Everybody knows that’s usually a death sentence. TV’s Peter Jennings died just a few months after announcing he had it. But you won’t hear that gloomy outlook from some very fortunate cancer patients. They were treated with a startling new medical cure that harnessed the cancer-killing power of their body’s T-cells. These warriors of your immune system usually ignore cancer. But researchers recently found a way to trick T-cells into destroying deadly cancers. How? With a dose of the patient’s own tumor cells! Read on... Surprise: Stress Might Not Interfere with Fertility Treatment Success "Just relax and you’ll get pregnant." That’s the advice that women who have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive often receive from well-intentioned friends, family members and even some doctors. But does stress really exacerbate infertility? Not according a new report in BMJ (British Medical Journal). Researchers analyzed 14 studies involving a total of 3,583 infertile women. Prior to treatment, participants’ levels of emotional distress (anxiety, depression) were measured using reliable standardized tests. Then the women underwent one cycle of infertility treatment, such as in vitro fertilization—and as a result, of course, some women got pregnant and some did not. When researchers compared the two groups, they found no significant differences in pretreatment stress scores between the women who had ended up conceiving and those who had not. Bottom line: It is natural to feel tension, worry and/or depression when having trouble getting pregnant, as an estimated 9% to 15% of childbearing-age women do. But the new finding—that stress is unlikely to further reduce the chances of conceiving with a cycle of infertility treatment—gives women one less thing to worry about. Source: Jacky Boivin, PhD, is a professor of health psychology with the Cardiff Fertility Studies Research Group, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK, and leader of an analysis of studies on infertility and stress.    Tamara Eberlein, the editor of HealthyWoman from Bottom Line, has been a health journalist for nearly three decades. An award-winning author or coauthor of four books, she is committed to helping other women in midlife and beyond live healthy, fulfilling lives. Her latest book is the updated, third edition of When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads (HarperCollins). She is also the "chief health adviser" to her husband of 26 years and three college-age children.    BOTTOMLINESECRETS.COM Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy About Us Contact US Bottom Line Publications | 281 Tresser Boulevard, 8th Floor | Stamford, CT 06901 You received this free E-letter because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. Or... a friend forwarded it to you. Click here to easily unsubscribe. To change your e-mail address click here. To update your e-mail preferences click here. © 2011 by Boardroom Inc. All Rights Reserved.