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Oak Hill BLOG Exams, deadlines and colds Here's something from Robert Sapolsky's very readable book on stress and stress-related disorders, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers.
To quote:
Everybody knows that being stressed increases your chances of getting a cold. Just think back to being run down, frazzled, and sleep-deprived during final exams, and, sure enough, there's that cough and runny nose. Examine the records at university health services and you'll see the same thing--students succumbing to colds left and right around exam period. Many of us continue to see the same pattern decades later--burn the candle at both ends for a few days and, suddenly, there's that scratchy throat.
End of quote.
Now life is such that sometimes we have to go into overdrive and that's okay as long as we do it consciously. When I have to push, I work to balance it somewhat by eating simple but nutritious food , taking occasional short naps (10 to 20 min) and taking some herbal tinctures for support..
Then as soon as the push is over, I schedule some downtime to rest more and eat well.
In addition, if I notice some early signs of a cold, I increase my herbal support and tailor it to the signs and symptoms. So for example, if I feel more sensitive to cool or cold temperatures, am dull and have upper body and neck aches I combine the Chinese formulas of Ren Shen Bai Du with Gan Mao Ling and add another tincture made of echinacea augustifolia and purpurea.
On the other hand, if my throat is sore and I feel like a fever is coming, I use Yin Qiao Modified and Gan Mao Ling with the two echinaceas.
The secret is to notice the earliest possible signs and take the remedies then.
We have these herbal formulas among our more that 300 other formulas at the clinic. | My strawbale past revisited In 1996, I helped Bowerbird Construction build Sunset Canyon Pottery just west of the Austin. Still it is a thrill for me to pass by when taking Hwy 290W to Dripping Springs. I can still remember clearly when 50 folks gathered together for a weekend to raise the walls. We had a mighty fine time.
The site has a large strawbale building(~3000 sq. ft.) with a rainwater catchment system (40,000 gallon ferrocement tank).
Strawbales which are generally used for landscaping, erosion control and animal bedding can be used to build energy efficient, low maintenance beautiful buildings.
Although the building costs run slightly higher than standard lumber framed structures, these costs are easily paid for by the need for less maintenance and lower heating and cooling bills. In addition, when built properly, they offer excellent protection from wind, rain, and fire.
Here in Texas, our strawbales are 14 inches wide which means that a strawbale wall will have an insulating R factor of 40 to 45 which compares favorably with the standard R factor of 17 to 19 for 2 by 4 structures. With a highly insulated roof system with radiant barrier, Sunset Canyon Pottery was already ready 12 years ago for the new higher energy cost reality.
After participating in building over 20 strawbale structures of various sizes and shapes and having one of my own, I would recommend to anyone interested in “green building” to take a drive out 290W to Sunset Canyon Pottery.
Here’s a link for you:
http://www.sunsetcanyonpottery.com/building.html
And here’s a link to the contractor mainly responsible for the building and the rainwater collection system:
http://www.bowerbirdconstruction.com
| Tame a Child’s Cough With a Touch of Honey According to an article in the New York Times health section, honey is a more effective remedy for coughs than dextromethorphan the most common over-the-counter cough medicine.
This is certainly an easy remedy to try out on your or your child's cough.
Honey, the authors wrote in the December issue of The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, has well-established antioxidant and antimicrobial effects. In addition, it helps dissolve mucus and soothe the throat.
Here at the clinic, we frequently recommend eating pear, loquat, or lemon with honey to help reduce the frequency and severity of coughs.
For dry cough, pear juice is prescribed.
A more complex recipe is to take a chunk of white daikon radish about fist size and slice it thin, Then you can add honey to the slices , wait 30 to 60 minutes and then drink the fluids.
Of course, here at the clinic we have a range of formulas to help a wide range of coughs.
Here is a link to the NYT article which has a link to the original study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine:
Vital Signs: Nostrums: Tame a Child's Cough With a Touch of Honey
| Sleep during the late autumn and winter Patients have been commenting recently that they have been tireder and sleepier since the time change and since the weather has turned colder.
While we humans are not hibernators, we are affected by amount of sunshine and the temperature. The world was a very different place before the widespread use of electric lights.
At one time, long ago, I spent some time in a small rural Moroccan village which had no electricity. I was amazed at the difference. It was no problem going to sleep soon after the sunset and no problem waking with sunrise.
The availability of reliable lights for the nights is a very recent development and even in central Texas there were areas that did not have electricity until the 1940's and 50's.
While artificial lighting can help us extend our day, it is no substitute for sunshine and can lead to health problems. If we allow the stimulation of electric lights to keep us up late into the night, our biological rhythms can become disordered and cause insomnias and menstrual cycle irregularities.
We are biologically beings and our bodies automatically respond to light and temperature variations.
I do not have the research to prove it but I suspect that even SAD- "seasonal affective disorder" is strongly related to our biological need for more sleep when exposed to less light.
My response is to view my extra fatigue and sleepiness as a part of the natural cycle. I encourage my patients to allow themselves to sleep more so they will be ready to fully respond to the more active energies of the spring and summer seasons. | Research: Acupuncture Reduces Pain, Need For Opioids After Surgery Here is a link to a story from ScienceDaily on using acupuncture to reduce postoperative surgery.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071016181238.htm
Below I have copied the first two paragraphs from the article.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2007) — Using acupuncture before and during surgery significantly reduces the level of pain and the amount of potent painkillers needed by patients after the surgery is over, according to Duke University Medical Center anesthesiologists who combined data from 15 small randomized acupuncture clinical trials.
"While the amount of opioids needed for patients who received acupuncture was much lower than those who did not have acupuncture, the most important outcome for the patient is the reduction of the side effects associated with opioids," said Tong Joo (T.J.) Gan, M.D., a Duke anesthesiologist who presented the results of the analysis at the annual scientific conference of the American Society for Anesthesiology in San Francisco. "These side effects can negatively impact a patient's recovery from surgery and lengthen the time spent in the hospital." | How to avoid diarrhea after antibiotic use Probiotic Drink Helps Reduce Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea
Consuming a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus may help older hospitalized patients avoid antibiotic-associated diarrhea, according to a study published online in the British Medical Journal.
In the manufacturer-supported study, 135 hospitalized patients older than 50 who were prescribed antibiotics were randomized to consume a probiotic yogurt drink or a placebo milkshake. The drinks were consumed twice a day concurrent with antibiotic treatment and for a week afterward.
Significantly fewer intervention patients than controls developed antibiotic-associated diarrhea (12% vs. 34%). The number needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one case of antibiotic-associated diarrhea was 5. The NNT to prevent one case of C. difficile-associated diarrhea was 6.
The authors estimate that it would cost $120 to prevent one case of C. difficile-associated diarrhea, whereas it costs an average of $3700 to treat a case in the U.S. They conclude that the drink "has the potential to decrease morbidity, healthcare costs, and mortality if used routinely in patients aged over 50."
BMJ article (Free)
Do you think that this might also help people under 50 years of age? I suggest you do your own research after you or one of your family members take a course of antibiotics.
Yogurt with live culture is pretty cheap medicine and tastes good also.
 | A drug statistic for thinking Here is an interesting item from a site for the Commission for Certification for Geriatric Pharmacy: www.ccgp.org/consumer
The Journal of the American Medical Association recently stated that if adverse reactions to medications were classified as a distinct disease, it would rank as the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. The economic cost rivals that of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and other major diseases and conditions commonly affecting the elderly population. People over age 65 are especially vulnerable to medication-related problems, due to the number of medications they take and the biologic changes of aging and disease.
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