An Article About How Effective Acupuncture is in Treating Hot Flashes

http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20091231/acupuncture-may-help-ease-hot-flashes?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Acupuncture May Help Ease Hot Flashes

Study Shows Acupuncture Offers Relief to Breast Cancer Patients With Hot Flashes

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 31, 2009 -- Acupuncture not only cools hot flashes that occur as a result ofbreast cancer treatment but may offer a host of other benefits to boost women's well-being.

A new study shows acupuncture was as good as drug therapy with Effexor (venlafaxine) at easing hot flashes in breast cancer patients, but it also improved sex drive, energy levels, and clarity of thought.

"Acupuncture offers patients a safe, effective and durable treatment option for hot flashes, something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors. Compared to drug therapy, acupuncture actually has benefits, as opposed to more side effects," researcher Eleanor Walker, MD, division director of breast services in the department of radiation oncology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, says in a news release.

According to the National Cancer Institute, one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Typical treatment for breast cancer involves chemotherapy and five years of hormone therapy that often causes unpleasant side effects, such as hot flashes, night sweats, and decreased sex drive and energy levels.

Researchers say these side effects of breast cancer treatment significantly decrease a woman's quality of life and may cause some women to discontinue treatment.

Acupuncture has already been shown to reduce hot flashes in menopausal women, but researchers say this is the first study to compare acupuncture to drug treatment in easing hot flashes in breast cancer patients. The results appear in theJournal of Clinical Oncology.

Fifty breast cancer patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or drug treatment for 12 weeks. The acupuncture group received acupuncture treatments twice per week for the first four weeks and then once a week for the remaining eight weeks; the drug group received 37.5 milligrams of Effexor each night for the first week and then 75 milligrams per night for the remaining 11 weeks.

All participants stopped their treatment after 12 weeks and kept a diary to record the number and severity of hot flashes; they were surveyed about their overall physical and mental health for one year.

Both groups experienced a 50% decline in hot flashes and symptoms of depression, but the acupuncture treatment appeared to have more lasting effects with fewer side effects.

For example, two weeks after the treatments stopped, the drug therapy group experienced an increase in hot flashes; the acupuncture group did not experience any increase in the frequency of their hot flashes until three months after treatment.

In addition, the Effexor group reported 18 instances of negative side effects, including nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, and anxiety, compared with no adverse side effects reported among the acupuncture group.

Most breast cancer patients treated with acupuncture also reported an improvement in their energy, clarity of thought, and sense of well-being. About 25% of women in the acupuncture group also reported an increase in their sex drive.

Anti-cancer drug to be added to junk food?

What do you think about Health Canada's thoughts to add an anti-cancer drug to junk foods that are carcinogenic?

a) Great idea. Try to prevent some self-induced diseases.

b) Do we really know what we're doing? Is this safe?

c) Why do we make excuses to live poorly? Why not just limit our junk foods and eat more healthy foods?

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091222/junk_091222/20091222/?hub=TorontoNewHome

From my friend Desiree

I liked what she wrote in her first newsletter, so I've copied and pasted it here. This is all part of staying healthy!

My Three Sixty

The way I see it, our lives are becoming too serious. Our daily routines are full of tasks that need to be done and we move mindlessly through each one, just to get it done so we can move right onto the next. Before we know it, we pass through days, then weeks and months, until an entire year has blown right by us. Have you ever heard someone say “This year has gone by so fast!”? Of course, we all say it. We are too busy moving onto the next item on our list rather than being present and enjoying each moment.

I say it’s time to bring back the FUN. We all have tasks, projects, meetings, and work that needs to get done, so why not make them fun? Next time you are in a meeting, tell a joke or a funny story, introduce a bit of laughter and watch your colleagues loosen up. The meeting will be much more enjoyable. Next time you are grocery shopping, make a game out of it: time yourself and see how fast you can get it done. Or if you have time, strike up a conversation with the person picking grapes beside you – why not? Most importantly SMILE at the cashier; take time to speak with them and see how their day is going, I bet it will make you both feel better.

We will all get a lot more work done, teams will be more efficient/productive, and people will be happier if we are having fun. Life is short – take time to make it enjoyable!

A smile is very powerful – it’s even been known to break ice

Desirée Dupuis
778 245 2262
www.threesixtyfg.ca
VP BNI Morning City
www.twitter.com/threesixtyfg

It's your world, let us protect it.

Remember this...

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."
Chinese Proverb.

Humour is good for you...

My favourite quote of the day:
"Follow your dreams. Except for the one where you fly. That never ends well."

From the Georgia Straight...

An article worth reading with info from those in the know about H1N1 vaccinations and vaccinations in general...http://www.straight.com/article-270843/vancouver/whats-your-vaccine

Herbal Flu Prevention

The department of public health of Shenzen, China recently announced herbal formulas to help prevent H1N1. These are their equivalent of flu vaccines. I'm not saying that they are the same as the shots, but these herbs do help boost immune function. There are two formulations. One is for those with a strong constitution and the other is for those with a weak constitution, the elderly, and children. The herbal formulae are consumed as a tea twice a day for at least three consecutive days. All of our Chinese herbs are rigorously tested for quality and safety, and yes they do taste awful. But, you know what Buckley's cough syrup says, "It tastes bad and it works".

Just because this is amazing!

Check out this video of a National Geographic photographer and an enormous leopard seal:

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/video.aspx?cp-documentid=c023c28f-0156-483e-8eba-98f84ae32a58,e45b0157-8e3f-45b6-b34e-92a09158b836

Junk Food to be Exempt from HST

Ontario's finance minister is expected to announce that fast food and beverages cheaper than $4 will be exempt from the new HST. BC, as far as I can see, has not yet made this exemption, but I wonder if they'll follow suit. (http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/harmonizedsalestax/article/724751--fast-food-coffee-to-escape-new-blended-tax)

Please tell me...why does the government think that we should be more heavily taxing, through the HST, healthy (or at least healthier) food bought at a restaurant, but make junk food less than $4 exempt?

I think it's crazy that unprocessed food is generally more expensive than processed junk food. Why are we encouraging people, particularly low income, to make poor food choices? Why are we encouraging people to increase their risk for diabetes and other chronic illnesses?

My idea would be to more heavily tax junk food and apply that directly to subsidize healthy, whole food to make it more affordable and attractive to all consumers. I recognize that that is unlikely to happen, but this move is the exact opposite of that and a big step in the wrong direction.

We're more heavily taxing people wanting to take care of their health using registered massage therapists and registered acupuncturists/Dr.TCM, but we're making it easier for people to slowly poison themselves with trans fats, too much sugar, and too little nutrition. Hmmm...what?!

What do you think?

Sensible advice about food choices

Copied and pasted from this site: http://lifestyle.ca.msn.com/health-fitness/diet/ee-article.aspx?cp-documentid=22549573

Healthy new grocery products

Rosie Schwartz has a sneak peek of some healthy new grocery products - and healthy imposters

Shopping for food used to be simple. A basic assortment of breads, produce, meat and dairy products were among the available options at the local store. Nowadays, supermarket shelves offer thousands upon thousands of choices. And the numbers seeming to grow every year.

Just how much is new was evident at the recent 2009 Grocery Innovations Canada, a major grocery industry trade exposition in Toronto.

According to the 2009 Tracking Nutrition Trends 20-year Report, a survey conducted by the Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition Health, nutrition continues to be a driver in consumers' grocery selections. Eighty-seven percent of Canadians are somewhat or very influenced by their desire to maintain good health. This greater desire for more wholesome fare was definitely evident at the Grocery Innovations Canada show.

To avoid being tempted (and overwhelmed!) promoters of healthy eating often suggest shopping only in the outside aisles of the grocery store, where fresh foods abound. The centre aisles have traditionally been a haven for less nutritious packaged and processed food. But as Grocery Innovations' sneak peek into new products and trends reveals, there are healthy eats to be found in the centre of the store - though it may take some scrutiny to find them.

Sometimes what is perceived to be a smart choice in terms of nutrition is not necessarily the case, as was demonstrated by my first conversation at the exhibition. For example, when I enquired as to where the healthier fare was being shown, I was told to head to a vitamin water display. Water, sugar and some added vitamins are what make up this beverage. One a day, at around 120 calories per bottle, will yield 43,800 calories per year. That's about 12.5 pounds. You may want to consider a vitamin pill and a glass of water instead.

Juices also seemed to be a hot commodity with many new products being chock full of superfruits like pomegranate and acai. But drinking lots of sugary beverages, whether made of natural or refined sugar, can send waist measures soaring as they don't satisfy hunger the way eating the whole fruit does.

Multi-grain was also a buzzword at the show. Though there were quite a few multi-grain products, closer scrutiny revealed that while they contained a variety of grains, not all were whole grain.

Reading ingredient lists is essential to separate refined from whole grain offerings. While it was a pleasant surprise to see multi-grain perogies, the ingredient list revealed that enriched wheat flour - a.k.a. white flour - was the first ingredient. Another ready-to-bake bread product was also touted as a multi-grain. But again, white flour was first on the list. As ingredients are listed in descending order by amount, from the most to the least, look for the words whole grain as the first ingredient if you're seeking whole grains. Whole grain bars and squares such as Dempster's Healthy Way Fresh Squares, though, offered fibre-packed convenience and taste along with a variety of seeds like pumpkin, sunflower and sesame.