Healthy Things

Carrots aren't the only way to find your way around better in the dark. Zinc plays an important role in eyesight and night vision as well as vitamin A.

Zinc is very easily accessed for the meat eater. It is readily available in red meats, the dark meat of chicken and is present in all human tissue and secretions.

It plays an important role in immunity and metabolism, and is a catalyst in over 200 enzymatic functions involving energy production and protein metabolism. Most foods high in protein are high in zinc.

If you are not a red meat eater, or you are a vegetarian, it is important to be sure to add zinc to your diet. The zinc found in plants is not as bio-available as from sources of meat.

Zinc plays a role in the sense of taste and smell and is beneficial to help regulate the appetite. In decreased appetite zinc supplementation can help to increase it. If you putting in some overtime on the human forklift (over eating), it may may be beneficial in regulating your over eating. In clinical settings, it has been beneficial in decreasing appetite in the elderly and increasing appetite in anorexics.

Zinc plays a role in immune function and is absorbed in the small intestine. If you are planning a family, it will play a role in the healthy development of the father's sperm and testosterone levels. If you are pregnant or lactating, you may need to supplement zinc, but only 15mg per day. Seek advice from your doctor.

Zinc helps with would healing and is present in red blood cells and human membranes. The majority of the bodys zinc can be found in bone and muscle, and is bound to cell proteins within and in cell membranes. Zinc important in insulin regulation.

Like many essential vitamins and minerals, zinc is optimal when taken under certain circumstances, i.e.. in the presence or absence of some other vitamin or mineral. If you are using calcium supplements or eating calcium rich foods, do not take zinc along with them as the absorption of zinc will be decreased. Take zinc later on or before hand (about 40 minutes to one hour).

Do not take zinc right away when eating foods high in oxalates or phytates or high in tannins such as tea, carob or tamarind. This applies to many vitamins. It is recommended that phytates, and tannin containing foods, be taken between meals.

When supplementing zinc, if you are already taking in enough zinc in your diet, the benefits of zinc will not likely be increased. Taking more than 30mg of zinc per day is not recommended and adverse affects may be realized. Excessive amounts of zinc may decrease copper intake.

Balance Is Key
As with all foods and supplements, the key is balance. Knowledge of a supplement or food chemical should help us to be aware when there is an imbalance. Overdoing it can lead to imbalance as well as under doing it. Moderation is important.

As always, when supplementing you diet, seek the advice from your physician before hand for drug interactions, and what is the right dose for you at one time or another. We have different needs at different times in our lives, according to our present state of health--what medications we are taking.

Many antibiotics such as penicillin, tetracycline, can decrease the absorption and effectiveness of both zinc and the antibiotic when taken at the same time.

Why are so many public places sooooo cold?
Are we setting the thermostat too low?
Does this limit access for many?
Is this a public health issue, that may never be addressed?
How to take the chill off?

See video:
Thermal Comfort Video

More to come.

Sickle cell anemia, like any other disease can be a very individual experience. Managing it can be also. What applies to one may not apply to the other. As diseases go, sickle cell is so diverse in its clinical manifestation. There are so many types and all do not respond as well to treatment as others.

If you are a working person with sickle cell anemia, you like to think that you will not be discriminated against. Applying for a new position, a raise or more responsibility should not be hindered by someone doubting your capabilities because of a chronic illness. On the other hand, there are those who would not approach the responsibility or who cannot enter, continue in, or return to the work force.

Our ability to perform a task can change at different stages in our lives. It may not be so much performing the task, as how long we are able to, or what effect it will have on us later. Youth is a factor. In youth we may have more stamina, be in better shape and more resilient.  For some, youth is the time more complications are experienced.

While we are busy proving we can-do, we must temper our can-do with 'how long can we?' If not, we miss important preparing for a future that may be different from our present. Also, we send a message that because we can, all others should be able to.

Kudos are due to those who work despite the pain, the aches and the discomfort and who trudge through their day to make their wages. I have been there. While I was there I knew change had to come. Sometimes change came in the form of trying a different field of work, sometimes it came from taking a hiatus. Sometimes it comes through deciding one of the most difficult things--not working.

For some, working with a chronic illness can bring about indebtedness and a large deficit. Going to work to afford the doctor, who helps you go to work, which makes you need the doctor, more. In the cycle of your expenditures your hematologist, e.r. physician, internal medicine doctors figure prominently. Rent? You may have to live with others or cut your losses soon.

This is not to say that finances are a reason to leave the work force. The issue is the toll on health and impending demise. Quality of life is important. When life approaches this state, there is that interim where one has to figure it out, take a gamble and try anyway, work sick and over medicated (until others assume a drug problem) or leave before you need that much pain relief to work and the rumor mill begins. Save your liver and your reputation.

Then, when the bills stack up and future employers run credit checks, the choice is already made. You are a liability. Outstanding medical bill here, another there, more yet somewhere else.

The solution. While we may not be able to solve the problems in our immediate, we can pave the way for others. A healthy practice is to be realistic when we are raising awareness of our disease. What applies to me does not necessarily apply for others. If we are too busy proving we all can do, we make it difficult for those who cannot, or who need help. Your path is ineluctably activism. If not in the physical, then in teaching, talking.

Social marketing sickle cell anemia involves the whole picture. For those of us working, we need a plan and the acknowledgment from our government, such that we are underwritten with funding and our futures are secured for the times when we cannot work, even if periodic.

We need acknowledgment that one does not have to be tied to an IV pole all day or transfused weekly to be supported by programs we and our parents put monies into when we were working.

We need business investors, such as social businesses, to set up self help programs especially tailored to our community. We need other business strategies that are supported by agencies and organizations who help those with sickle cell anemia. Lifestyle education and awareness that focuses not only on the immediate but the future for those of us who will see it.

Our social agencies need more corporate and business, economic - patient centered strategies to really be effective. Partnering with the business community not only to provide medical care, but for investors who can ensure a financial future for patients with sickle cell anemia. The current consensus appears to be that we will not survive long enough for planning. This is short changing a lot of people and a very pessimistic outlook.

Until such a time, if you are a parent of a child with sickle cell this may mean, buckling down and setting up a trust fund for your child's future. Being savvy about investing can do the both of you good. If you are the person with sickle cell, it may mean heavily investing during your youth, planning a smaller or no family, or preparing for or setting up a business strategy for the future.

Here is your challenge. Go forth.

This was originally devised for the sickle cell patient but can apply to anyone needing to document their health.

When setting up your health journal, you can pen it in a favorite hard cover, a spiral notebook, or you can tape it in a recorder you keep on your person, in your purse, your suit coat pocket. You can record it in a video diary, or a computer application, such as an electronic journal.

Which ever way you choose, being organized and thinking ahead are very important. For sickle cell patient this mostly involves documenting pain,  along with activities, diet and treatment.  For pain:

• How long?
• How intense?
• What type of pain, needling, shooting, prickly, throbbing
• Where the pain is
• What activities you were doing
• How active or stressful was your day, your week, the month.
• Dietary changes
• Water intake and physical environment
• What helped?
• Side effects

Make sure to provide adequate pages for  medications scheduling with the date and time each on each page. Setting up a schedule ahead of time and making a chart will allow you to merely place a check mark next to the drug you are taking.

For example, if you take a medicine 3 times per day, every six hours,  include in your table or chart, three boxes for that medicine. Make an 8:00 a.m., a 2:00 p.m., and an 8:00 p.m. box that you can check off, when the medicine is taken.

Your sense of time can be a little distorted when we are in severe pain, or sleeping while in crisis. This will ensure you do not forget whether you took your Vicodin at 10:00 a.m., or 1:00 p.m., or not at all. It will also help to ensure you do not overdose.

Frequency
Try recording in your diary every day if possible. If you are having a good week you may not have to, but you might want to at the end of each week.

Diet
Remembering your diet may be difficult if you are not tied to a regimen. To get an idea of what you may have eaten you may want to save your grocery receipts and take a look at your food purchases to get an idea of what your diet included.

This is good for a longitudinal assessment of your diet. You can look over it and maybe make a correlation between certain dietary habits or inclusions and how well you have been.

Medication notes
You may include a pages with the title 'notes on medicines' where you can jot a few things you noticed good or bad about medicines you are taking, new medicines or for a comparison.

Overview
The set-up of your journal will probably be like making a monthly planner.
Some area to write notes on a daily basis, a place for a weekly summary and a place for a monthly summary.

Goals
Make a place to set goals to continue the good work or vow to include something valuable in your regimen.

Tests & Doctors Appointments
Don't forget to include a section for medical tests taken, doctors appointments made and results or advice from your doctor. Add tabs for easy access to specific areas.

Helpful Software
If you are using software here are a few tools that work well for journals
Idea Knot
Osoom
ejournal
PCjournal 1.0
MyJournal 2.0
Alpha Journal
Diary Book 1

Many of these these applications allow printing out of your notes.
Idea Knot allows you to create groups or categories, then add individual ideas to these categories. There is a very creative application (Cocoa Booklet)  for the mac, that may be dated soon because it contains Cocoa application resources that allows you to make a booklet of your page that is set up like a day planner. Others include a calendar and allow scheduling and the setting of reminders.

Whatever you use remember the important areas are:

1. Symptoms
2. Medications
3. Doctor Visits
4. Diet and Activity
5. A Weekly Section for recapping
6. A Monthly Section for recapping
7. A Goals Section

 
We may not be able to eliminate all of the discomfort from estrogen withdrawal a.k.a. menopause. (Thinking of it as a withdrawal does have some benefits). It explains why you are having chills, are sweaty and it reminds you to treat your body theraputically.

When the sweating begins, you may reach for the popular herbal supplements such as blue or black cohosh, wild yam extract, evening primrose oil, estrovan or plant derived estrogens. Sage tea helps with hot flashes, but you may want to drink a cool version of this. Lemon balm and chamoile's calming effect may help with the stress component. Licorice is said to help with hot flashes, but remember during menopause you may experience palpitations and licorice in excess can cause palpitations.

If you are not trusting of supplements an important dietary change is to increase omega 3 fatty acids in your diet. Adding seeds such as sunflower seeds, nuts, avocado and olive oil to your diet affords you good plant sources of fats as opposed to those derived from animal fats or fats from junk foods.

Some doctors recommend the addition of eggs to the diet to increase protein intake. If you are concerned about cholesterol use the whites only. The ever popular soy bean, soy derived foods with beneficial isoflavones, can be experienced easily in a broth of miso.
Convenient individual packets can allow you to take them on the go.

Vitamin E helps to relieve menopausal symptoms as well. Some good sources are sunflower seeds, safflower oil, spinach, wheat germ and whole grains. Eating smaller meals and avoiding highly spiced foods will help.

Keep hydrated (ahead of time rather than drinking only when you become thirsty).
Keep the room temperature a comfortable cool.  With the excess perspiration you will need to make an extra effort maintain your calcium, magnesium and zinc levels in your diet to keep your electrolytes balanced.

Relief may also be realized in the clothing you wear, how fast you move (take it slower, plan ahead so as not to rush and get over heated). Wear layered clothing that can be removed when you are feeling warm.

Use body splashes to freshen up during the day. Carry 'handi-wipe' packets to keep fresh and dry excess perspiration. A small battery operated personal fan can keep your face and neck area cool. Keeping rose water, in a purse sized spray bottle or mineral water with magnesium can keep you fresh and  your skin soft.

You may want to keep perineal cleaneser  (moist wipes may suffice or a non aerosal spray such as Perifresh (used in hospitals having the same ingredients as your 'handi-wipes'). These products are available at many drug stores and some department stores and are more economical.

You can make your own using fresh leaves of sage, as a deodorant and freshener, steeped in boiling water then cooled. Use as a feminine spritz.

Below are over the counter suggested products and their descriptions as taken from their advertised product descriptions. They are listed in the order or recommendation. Perifresh is a more gentle no rinse, no- irritating cleanser.

   
PeriFresh Fresh-Fruit Fragrance Perineal Cleanser Deodorizer for Incontinent Care - 8 Oz

    •    It help to eliminate stripping of the skin and leave the patient feeling clean & refreshed.
    •    It is economical non-irritating cleanser contains Aloe Vera and has remoisturizing properties.
    •    PeriFresh is quick, gentle and easy to use.
    •    PeriFresh is used for Incontinence Care in Hospitals, Nursing Homes. "
       
Perigiene Perineal Cleanser, 7.5 oz. Spray
       
    •       Antimicrobial non rinse personal cleanser for the perineal area.
    •    Dye-Free, Fragrance-Free and non-irritating.
    •    pH balanced.
    •    eliminates odors.
    •    7.5 oz. Spray Bottle."

Derma Health Antiseptic Perineal Cleanser

(This example of an antiseptic. This is not recommended simply to keep fresh. It is better to use the two examples above it, which are ph balanced and milder. Medicinal cleansers are not recommended under ordinary circumstances. )
Derma Health Antiseptic Perineal Cleanser
    •    8 fl oz
    •    Decreases bacteria on skin
    •    Gently cleans and reduces odor
       
Ingredients: Active Ingredient: Benzethonium Chloride 0.1% (Antiseptic). Inactive: Allantoin, Butylparaben, Cetrimonium Laureth-12 Succinate, Citric Acid, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Glucoside, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Methylparaben

Staying cool during menopause. Remedies to keep dry and fresh

Keeping Your Medical Diary

I try not to promote products on this website, but can't help mentioning a smart idea. Comparing milk substitutes one company has hit upon a very smart idea. I wish other companies had thought of this earlier or would jump on the band wagon.

Silk has a really impressive product line. They have been in the refrigerated sections for some years but finally, offer a product that is not soy based. Refrigerated. I prefer almond milk to all other milk substitutes, and have made my own on occasions. I was pleasantly surprised earlier this year when my neighborhood grocer (with the most helpful staff, I might mention) started carrying Silk Pure Almond.

When I saw it I was elated, but really thought, it won't last long. Anything I seem to like doesn't stay on the grocer's buying list for long. I like things that are not popular in my neighborhood. I would not like to risk saying my neighborhood is not progressive. Perhaps all the progressive folks shop elsewhere for their progressive food stuffs.

A few return trips later, it was still there. Unbelievable. Why? How? What changed? I knew very well what changed. Marketing. It is placed where one would find milk, is packaged in a carton like milk, and has a picture of the product that looks like milk.

Who but health nuts or some of us who will try many if not anything(s) would want to purchase something to accompany the morning cereal, off a shelf next to beans or dry grains? Once such a product made its way to the cooler, walking, talking acting like milk, for all practical purposes, it was milk. People are buying it. My grocer continues to order it.

That's the type of smart idea that keeps folks like me happy and free me from searching hither and yon for things I use on a regular basis. Perhaps I should throw out some similar ideas to manufactures of those foods, that have no staying power at my local grocery. Recently, more companies are catching the refrigerated idea and their product lines can be seen located in the milk section, packaged in milk type cartons.


More Information on milk substitutes:

I have used milk substitutes on and off over a few decades. I began using rice based substitutes. Many of these have added sodium. In some of these products the sodium can be tasted and some do actually taste like liquid card board. Among milk substitutes the offerings are rice based products, soy, hemp, almond and hazelnut. The newest I have encountered is coconut milk which does come in a milk carton, does not have the fat of regular coconut milk and is low calorie. More companies are adding calcium, vitamin D and vitamins to their products lines.

FAQ's

Can I still get calcium and vitamin D?
Yes. Some have comparable amounts of calcium and vitamin D per serving.

What about fat and calories
Depending on the brand you can do better calorie wise than milk with no cholesterol

How does it taste?
That depends upon your tastes. Soy and Almond products seem to have the best tastes and many have variousflavors. Experiment for yourself.

What about sugar content?
My preferred brand has less sugar and fat than whole and lowfat milk.

What about price?
A little less than lactose free milk, which I would otherwise be using.

Other vitamins and minerals
Some have vitamin B12, and vitamin E

Unless you are simply looking for a change of pace compare labels, read ingredients. A substitute should be as good or better than the original product, if chosen for health reasons. Look for products with no trans fats, low or no saturated fats, with low sugar, no or very low sodium, that are low in fat. Consider products that come with calcium and vitamin D and other vitamins, unless you are satisfied with your vitamin and mineral intake from other sources.

If you are just getting started here are few major brands to consider or to perform an internet search on:

1. Edensoy (soy milk and a blend that is rice based containing sea salk and seaweed)
2. Silk (soy, almond and based products)
   
3. Dream products (Rice Dream, Almond Dream, Soy Dream )
4. Blue Diamond Growers, Almond Breeze [now available refrigerated in a carton like milk as well as shelf stable (not refrigerated)]
5. Pacific Natural Foods (soy,almond, hazelnut, oat and hemp based products)

If your'e such a smarty pants, then do it yourself!

How many times have you encountered this type of statement, spoken or implied? Everyone needs some assistance at some time or other. You may be applying for a loan, medical assistance, a scholarship, insurance or some other form of assistance.

You make the mistake of asking one simple question about a form or policy. Have you been there before? If so, you wonder why any above board helping agency, or organization that was created for your benefit (barring profit) is so afraid of a simple innocent question.

It is usually centered around something where an explanation of a policy or statement is not given ahead of time. You are expected to agree or comply without question. It's as if the underwriter, the legal department or management has totally assumed you would be oblivious of such issues, simply because you are on the receiving end. It's a very common form of and area of profiling.

Those on the receiving end are less than, or other, and therefore cannot possibly have the normal jurisprudence of anyone with average intellect. You are in need because you are inferior and less astute, seems to be the message they are conveying.

I filed an application recently. On the form was a statement implying that I would be giving up my rights of privacy. How or why they did not say. I was simply supposed to sign the form without question. I didn't. I asked a question. "What does this mean?"  The information I am giving you may be republished and no longer protected by law.

The explanation given was that it could be sent back to the government, the agency that my middle man was submitting the application to, on my behalf. So why didn't the company bother to place this explanation on their form? How can this be so, for any agency used in this process, especially a government agency would be governed by the laws of HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act). How could I be forfeiting my rights to privacy?

I didn't mention this, I only asked what does this mean. I added, "Can this be expressed in writing on the form?  Given that this is a legal document, we know that only what is on the form can be agreed to or legally upheld. Your explanation is not on the form, so it cannot be proved that this is what I am agreeing to."

The agent retorted quickly, "If you do not wish to sign then you can apply on your own." Another page in the packet states that I can still be represented, whether or not I agree to this. So WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

My characteristic lecture, monologue, manifesto began. I asked why do helping agencies have such a hard time with informed consent? It seems across the board, any agency you ask a simple question of, wants to pack up and go home. It's as if they are doing something wrong and will be found out.

I assumed it is not the case here, so why the secrecy and lack of willingness to explain areas that are unclear? I further volunteered my feelings that if the person being helped seems to have any awareness, is astute or educated, or even asks an educated question about a policy, they are ready to back out. The statement on the form seems to imply I am giving up protection of HIPPA.

The agent informed me that I did not have to agree to that part. She further replied, [if there is something in your files you do not want us to have, than I suggest you go through them and leave that out]. I informed her, "I have nothing in my files to hide. This is about sovereignty. We finally have the benefit of HIPAA and you are asking me to give that up just to file an application? If I had a toe nail removed it's not the world's business, it's my business. It is not to be made available for public inspection."

We both know that such forms cannot be altered by the signee with those amendments being legally considered. All concerned parties are interested in, is if the form was signed. If the designated decision maker has not made those changes, or someone with authority to do so, the signed form will be accepted as though all parts are agreed to. Fortunately, I have another page in the packet that allows me a loophole.

In summary, there is no substitute for giving those you are helping respect. Help is only half as good, or of no use without humility, dignity and careful foresight. A most important ingredient in helping is respecting the party you are helping as intelligent as you, or deserving of the same rights and considerations that you would expect for yourself. If you are not astute or have lower standards, don't expect the same of everyone you encounter.

For those of us on the receiving end, we must make our way up the chain of command and demand clearer forms, explanations in writing and make it known that anything less is not acceptable. Until we do this en masse, we will be continually expected to be as cattle herded in any direction those we depend upon steer us.

For those on the giving end, know that anything given for free, is subject to the scrutiny of the receiver. So few seem to respect or anticipate this reality. Just as potential employers never seem to have the clue that you may be scrutinizing them more than they are you--that their actions, behaviors and statements are as important to you (for any new job can be a crucial to our future), as how firmly you shook their hands, made eye contact, or your promptness.

It's like the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". I have further suggested the platinum rule for those who may have not considered the total picture or tend toward passivity, treat the other fellow better than you treat yourself.
If not, at least take the time to listen to another perspective. You may broaden your horizons and learn something. It may raise a real issue you had never considered.

Like any other office, the pharmacy can be a source of hell for the patient on more than one front.

Here as in other areas of medicine gone wrong, the system can always find a way to overlook the needs of the patient. When health care is gone wrong, the complexity of rules and their limitations seem to be the reason the system exists in the first place. There is no room for humility, considerateness or concern for the delivery of services. When delivery of services becomes only the how (as  in a series of don'ts), it can become more important than whether services were actually delivered to the patient.

 Enter the new over the counter drug restrictions. Walk through your local pharmacy or big chain and notice what you see in some isles. Over the counter drugs that were once shelved free, are now under lock and key. If you want Zantac, Cimetidine or some other antacid you make have to go on a hunt for the guy with the key.  As illicit drug manufacturers adopt more common, easily accessed ingredients for their product, more restrictions are placed on how or wheter the consumer can readily buy them. A new law may make some over the counter medicines prescription only. This is not on the merits of the safety of the drug, but because of how others use it. That is unfair and not good problem solving. Making the consumer pay is blame shifting and will never solve the problem. Patients are losing ground on health services when the must pay for the policing of others actions. Lawmakers need to know what the health care community knows. The reason health services and access to care exists is to ameliorate the health of a person in immediate need. To do so, one must aid the patient without further complicating their condition with stress.


Who Wins? Who Loses?

Indiana is pushing to make the drug pseudoepinepherine available by prescription only.While this may make it harder for those pushing meth to easily access a key ingredient, such laws do not consider the poor or the needs of the average citizen. Making innocents pay for the deeds of those unconcerned for the law will only create a prison for the average citizen. Something of our freedom is loss each someone does something illegal. We suffer with one restriction piled on top of another while the lawless keep doing what they are doing. If I am poor and have no doctor what about me? Such laws assume that every person has a good health plan, like those who created the laws.

Making pseudoepinepherine prescrition only would cause a cold to be a doctor appointment only treatment, with fewer choices for effective pre-treatment. Most times we need something to tide us over until we can see the doctor. In other cases this is an effective treatment alone until your cold runs its course.

Prescription Hell: How to Kill A Patient (if the illness doesn't) Without Really Trying

After the miracle of healing, the elation, the thankfullness to all those dedicated health care workers, scores of healing prayers, one can be shocked to realize the battle has only just begun.

A patient gets prescription at her doctors office where the cost is low at its associated pharmacy which we will call Pharmacy Two. The patient needs prescription filled immediately and goes to local pharmacist close to home. Only the medications that are needed immediately are filled that day. There are refills. The pharmacist marks off the prescription as though there are no refills. He does not append form to reflect only one prescription has been filled.

The patient inquires of pharmacist if the original prescription will be honored at the place where it originated. The pharmacist assures the patient it will be. Patient asks pharmacist to append the prescription to reflect that 2 refills are availabe. The pharmacist tells patient to have Pharmacy 2 call. Patient attempts to fill a refill prescription at Pharmacy Two and asks if they can call pharmacy where it was first filled.

It is not Pharmacy Twos policy to call. The patient asks, "Then how can I get this filled? "have run out and must rely upon others to bring me here. I will have no more medicine? I am sick and weak."  Pharmacy Two suggests having pharmacy one call them.

The patient calls pharmacy one (there's practically one on every corner) not the store where she had it filled but the number to the location that she remembers by heart, which is on the other corner.  She talks to several people until she is able to speak with pharmacist. The pharmacist says since the prescription was filled at another location within their chain, -- we usually do not ... (what happened to access to all pharmacies in the chain from whatever location you go to)?  The pharmacist agrees to call Pharmacy Two. The pharmacist calls. Pharmacy Two who denies prescription anyway.

The patient now is very upset, her condition aggravated, she has waited longer than she should have, has been out of the house away from her breathing treatment longer than she should have and has no rescue inhaler, which she informs the pharmacist of. The stress is causing her bronchials to constrict and she is repeatedly asked to tell her story over and over again to several people. The patient inquires as to why it was suggested she call pharmacy one if they were going to deny it and why her time was wasted. The larger question is the passing of the buck and being totally oblivious to what is at stake. The patient calls administration several times and is waiting until after closing. Eventually the prescription is filled.  That patient was me, after a bout of pneumonia. This situation could have ended up in another emergency.

I am beginning to believe that pharmacists should come complete with social workers or a social services department. For some, the more patients and stories those working in health care encounter, the less sensitive they become to their clients. Without the medicine the patient can have a serious emergency. Healing does not end with going home. It must continue by other services working well in conjunction with what comes out of our doctors offices and hospitals.

Redirecting and resensitizing should be on every such organization's menu in the form of in-services, seminars and other forms of training to jar the memory of those who set out in the helping profession with a mission. Perhaps this would serve as orientation to those who never had one.

Thank you to all of the doctors, nurses and health care workers who gave their skill, dedication, and true concern during my recovery from pneumonia. A special thanks to a real smart pretty M.D. Dr. N. Dr. Micheal G (your invaluable consult)

Thank you to all of my friends and family for their love and restorative prayer and support to my family. Most importantly thank God from whence all healing, knowledge and skill come. Thank you aunt Charlene and to Johns Hopkins for the consult.

World Health Day for Sickle Cell Anemia will be on June 19th. What are you doing to support sickle cell anemia? Here are a few suggestions.

Call any local organization that has a marquis and request that they post that June 19th is World Health Day for Sickle Cell Anemia. I have begun by addressing a chain of pharmacies in my area so they can put this on their marquis. You can too. Churches, Civic Centers, High Schools, Village Halls are all good places to put the word out. Make sure you address them in advance, so that they can put the word out early. I am also making a few t-shirts to wear and why not a few buttons to sport regularly, leading up to this event?

What to do: If you feel it is too late to plan an event, make an announcement at other organizational meetings and get permission to hand out literature. Print out or request literature from national or local organizations and distribute it. Distribute info at family gatherings, city hall meetings, or make a presentation of free items such as buttons t-shirts, greeting cards you make from your computer that can list resources on the back.

Perhaps your alderman/ alderlady can aid you in the give away. Visit the World Health Organization for more information. 5:00PM Revision

You may also want to start a 'Ring A Bell For Sickle Cell' campaign. I had created this idea some years ago and sat on it. Ring A Bell for Sickle Cell acknowledges those who have it, who passed of it and those working for the cause with a bell ringing ceremony. Perhaps a local church that has a bell tower can become involved. You may play appropriate, canned music with a bell theme if you don't have the benefit of the a bell tower. Some source of a bell sound each time a name is called should suffice.

Artisans and regular folk alike may want to design or purchase a bell to give away or present as a promotional item or award. Present it to someone who had done a lot of work for sickle cell anemia, or who has overcome challenges of it. It can also commemorate a friend or loved one who has passed. It should bear a small plaque or name plate or some area where a name can be placed along with the date and the title Ring A Bell for Sickle Cell.

My idea for the bell is a ceramic bell that bears the persons name on it, or a bell shaped plaque. Perhaps a local potter or ceramic shop may have bells that you may purchase and decorate.

There is a proverb that states that a close neighbor is better than a family member far away. The same is true in health care. I realized this when I was feeling a little remiss in making my mark in the Sickle Cell Anemia world.

It just doesn't seem to be in the hearts and minds of the masses, as it was in its heyday of marketing. Did we tire out, or get comfortable? I think neither. We are being nudged and pushed to the back burner for other issues, that our government has decided must take priority.

Diabetes and heart disease as well as obesity are on the rise. The rise is disparate in the African American community. This is the direction in which funding must move. So they say. Saying we cannot walk and chew gum at the same time is just not a cogent argument for me. Does there have to be this competition and must we have a medical Messiah in order to be heard?

A few conversations after the beginning of this wave of despondency, tell me no. How can we all be heard? Think about familiar twosomes: Peaches and Herb, horse and carriage, peas and carrots, baseball and hot dogs and there is your answer. In communicating health as teachers, lecturers and peer facilitators, we can use the contrast and compare approach and broaden the horizons of our target audience / market without, the other stealing our spotlight.

Whether or not we realize or acknowledge it, many diseases fall into the same classes. Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder, a circulatory disorder, a blood disorder and has a few other labels besides. If we searched for information on this disorder, these are classifications under which we would find information. We would also realize that organizations not specific to sickle cell anemia, also fund this disorder as it falls into appropriate classes of disorders that they support.

Just as we encourage students to embrace global thinking, we should want to know something about the other fellow. This comparison can be invaluable for your audience. It helps us think outside of the box and see how other groups have handled the same challenges. It can give us a fresh perspective and helps us to find common ground.

Our close neighbor in health care in terms of support, can be someone with another disorder. Many diseases can have manifestations similar to other diseases. Like diabetes, sickle cell involves vascular issues, may cause leg ulcers, and may cause conditions of the retina and veins in the eye. Like arthritis (and many have arthritis secondary to sickle cell anemia) sickle cell involves joint and bursa pain, and has rheumatoid manifestations.

We can address these similarities, as a simple inclusion of 'others like me' (and if I could conduct such I a campaign I would call it just that, "Just Like Me") This can do a world of good for keeping the flame alive for others, while learning more about our own conditions. It is empowering.

Remembering to contrast and compare when communicating health, helps us to stop compartmentalizing and isolating. There are times when isolating is appropriate and times when inclusion or comparison can broaden understanding. Just as suggestive selling works in retail, we can broaden our audience's horizons, and stretch our health funding a bit further. Every little bit helps.

Here's a healthy dose of procrastination. Necessity gives birth to another creative solution for your health. It's not exactly procrastination; maybe its an online salvo for those worrisome gaps in healthcare. You can put your health on the layaway and just about anything else you can think of, with an online solution by Elayaway.com.

Here is where savvy consumers and wise patients, can potentially finance healthcare in advance. While you pay, you can build your credit score. Elayawayhealth.com part of Elayaway.com, allows anyone of age with a bank account, to make advance payments for medical care. You can choose from providers, or encourage your current provider to sign up.

Here's how it is supposed to work. Register securely online. You may choose your own provider, or browse their list of affiliates. If your provider is not an affiliate, a number and information are provided for you to forward to that provider, or a provider from whom you would like to seek services. There is also a section where providers may register to become affiliates.

Payments are deducted from your bank account; you may want to set up a special account with you bank, for these purposes. You can customize your payment schedule to the date, using their online calculator.

Elayaway.com boasts it does not charge excessive merchant fees, which makes a good incentive for its affiliates to use its services. Excessive fees are not charged to you, making it a better choice over financing with credit cards. If you cancel your e-layaway, you will be charged $25.00. This is not much over what current stores are charging for layaway cancellation fees; usually $15.00, or 15%.

I perused this website, visited the terms and looked around at other areas. Concentrating on health care, I could not find many providers listed. E-layaway only has one true healthcare provider listed among its affiliates. That provider is an othropedic practice, with centers located throughout Indiana. What's left among the offerings under health, are companies selling health and wellness products.

Conceptually, Elayaway.com is a very good idea, but why are no other practitioners listed? Whether the incentives are not lucrative enough, or practioners just don't want to be bothered, is an interesting question to pursue. It may be a marketing issue or lack of awareness.

Elayaway.com is a member of the Better Business Bureau and has a secure internet process for registration. If you are not sold on the idea for health, it offers other products and has affiliates such as Best Buy, Loewes, and other major retailers among its affiliates.

Can't grown an orange where you live? Need extra vitamin C? A source may be as near as your flower garden. Consider the rose hip. Provided that you have not sprayed them with pesticides, after wilting, your lovely roses can provide you with a rich source of vitamin C. In fact, rose hips are one of the richest sources of vitamin C. They are a good source of antioxidants, also containing vitamins A, B, D along with Zinc.

Although you may have rose bushes available to harvest hips, the best rose bush for harvesting rose hips is the Dog rose. Allow the flowers to wilt and remain on the stem for the hips to form. Cut off the hips and use them fresh or dried. Rose hips can be boiled and used to make jellies, tea, and rose water (from rose petals) is an excellent mild facial toner.

Finally, the final part of the healing garden, sort of.

My picks for the garden:

In a small 10x8 garden I have managed to plant all of the plants listed below. Think of gardening by the square foot and you can fit in a lot more than you expect. In previous years I had gardened in containers but was not satisfied with the yield as much. For all of the plants I needed, planting in the right sized container was cost prohibitive. Pottery can take up more space sometimesm if you are planting single items per planter. A large planter that can accommodate three herbsm makes for a good show and does not appear as cluttered as multiple small planters. If you are singlem the yield can be okay for use in cooking. The ground is bestm unless you are using a premium mix and fertilize well. For making decoctions and tinctures for future use, you will need a little more than what can be grown in the confines of a pot. Edibles:

Note that all of the plants growing are edible except for just a few. I grew swiss chard in a wash tube last year and was satisfied, because I chose to pick the leaves at their tender stage. Dill is best in the ground. Chives can be in a medium sized or quart planter. I prefer to give my basil a gallon size container at least. Peppers in a window sill size planter are okaym when planting sweet pimento or banana type. Lettuce is happy in a planter as well.

In my garden (planted in the ground except where indicated:

Bee Balm:
didyma
hybrid blue stocking

Basil:
tai, common basil, spicey globe

arugula, pak choi, brussel sprouts, cress

lettuce; loose iceburg type, romaine, mesculin (in a 2 gallon container)

Carrots: multicolored, short and sweet,

Tomatoes, both heirloom: Mr. Stripey, multicolored,

sweet marjoram, hyssop, orange thyme,

Mints: apple, chocolate, orange,

Lemon Balm, Fennel, Dill, Cilantro,

Asian radish (white icicle), Brussle Sprouts, French Lavender, Tarragon, Oregano, Eucolyptus, Leeks, Lemon Cucumber, Birdhouse gourd (for fun and crafts)

Chard: regular Swiss, Rainbow

Sage, Strawberries, Raspberries (in a gallon container), Blueberries, Blackberries

Nasturtiums

Corn Red Sweet, Yellow Sweet (early)

Chives: onion chives, garlic garlic chives

Orange sweet peppers

All of the plants mentioned above require full sun to part shade. Bee balm can tolerate part shade. Although many require a well drained soil, my clay soil which has the addition of mulch and peat serves my plants well. I fertilize with chicken manure and the plants seem to like this.

The lettuce can tolerate some shade and may prefer it. Planting early allows me to plant in full sun. The temperature has not remained high consistantly and there are many overcast days.

I have included some plants for mealtime (and a flower or two). If you will revisit the list of plant properties in the earlier article, you will see many plants do double and triple duty serving as a beverage, a tonic as well as aid to digestion, for first aid and food seasoning. Ideas on how to use them coming up.

So, you have found the plants that you need to benefit you healthwise or medicinally. Now, where to plant them and what to do with them?

Internal use: as a tea or tisane, raw or cooked in foods, oils for cooking, in salads, as a tincture (use only a few drops)

External use: as compresses / poultices, linaments, massage oils and rubs, in bath water, facial tonics and hair rinses, lotions.

What's a good replacement for your favorite food? Where's the best place to find it? Based upon my ongoing multi-year quest for food alternatives, it's in the international market. When discussing this market, what concerns most people is food safety. Do their manufacturers meet our standards in America?

It may be difficult to research, but you can always ask the grocer. Your grocer can aid you in this quest if they are familiar with their product. The international market may be a spot in a large chain grocery, or a small neighborhood ethnic store.

I prefer the small neighborhood ethnic store, because the owners are more accessible and can tell you something about the product. They carry the product to fill a need that large chain grocers may not be able to substantially fill: providing people of certain nationalities with the foods they are familiar with. This is your starting point.

Find a neighborhood store, be it Caribbean, African, Mexican or Asian. Browse the shelves. Many of these foods are labeled in the native language, but are labeled in english as well, so you can read the ingredients and know what kind of product you are viewing.

Once you find something interesting, a helpful merchant may be able to tell you something more about the product. You will be delightfully surprised, given the different types of foods you may find, especially in the snack isle. Some may be interesting others may seem out of the question. In an Asian store I visit from time to time, I can find things such as chestnut chips, fish crackers, shrimp crackers that taste like pork rinds (I don't eat pork) and are but puffed.

Who wants a shrimp flavored cracker? What does it go with? One of our ingredients toward successful alternatives is finding the right application. Every food has its place or application. If your taste buds are not suited to eating shrimp crackers as is, there's a nice shrimp noodle dish or scampi that this may fit right in with. To boot you can expect fewer calories from this snack.

This bag of shrimp crackers is low cal, low fat and not deep fried. Half of the package is only 150 calories and is supposed to be one serving size. I would suggest eating a little less than half the bag.

Another skins substitute can be found in the Mexican stores as puffed wheat, seasoned with traditional skins seasoning. This product can be found in both a generic and a major brand under the name Sobritos. I see that many Mexican food stores also carry Carribean products. My tomato substitute is a tomatillo. It doesn't seem to raise my digestive acid, the way regular tomatoes do. Perhaps my stomach acid is simply on its down cycle.

The international market is also where I found my beloved buckwheat noodles. These are thin, like angel hair pasta. In the local African store by both browsing and merchant comments, it is obvious that sugar is not the major seller.

The snacks you see here are different. I can't say they are all better for you, but what I see in the packaging is smaller serving sizes, as in chin-chin cookies (a simple butter cookie served in cubes), plantain (unfortunately this is fried too) but you don't see a lot of sweet products. Here is where I find pounded or fresh yam. Yam is my American white potato substitute. No threat of a raised glycemic index as with white potatoes. You don't have to be diabetic to want to avoid products that raise your glycemic index.

A visit to your local ethnic retail, can open your eyes to alternatives that exist, and perhaps be the pilot to spark a flame with American food manufacturers. Research shows that many groups who do not experience the large scale health risks that Americans are vulnerable to, begin to experience them, once they become American citizens and adopt American eating habits. You can learn a little something beneficial about dietary differences, by visiting some of these stores and comparing foods available there, to what's in your local grocery.

Footnote: Concerning food safety, you can always visit the FDA website for food safety alerts and guidance, or add this CDC link to your web or rss browser.

Alerts and recalls:
feed://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/createrss.asp?c=146

Food Safety and Inspection Service on safety of imported meat, poultry and egg products:

"So whether the issue is avian flu or determining whether another country's inspection system is equivalent to the U.S. system, Americans who consume imported beef, poultry and egg products can be confident that the products are safe, regardless of their origin. Likewise FSIS, working with global partners on Codex issues, will remain engaged in a dialogue that will ensure the safety of meat, poultry and egg products imported from other countries. "

Read the article: "FDA's International Posts: Improving the Safety of Imported Food and Medical Products."

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm185769.htm

For your healing garden, here is a list of herbs and their properties. Notice that many herbs do have similar actions. This affords you to economize if your space is limited and use those multifunction herbs instead of many that only provide specific actions. There is a recipe further down to get you started.

View the heading under digestion and you will find just how many herbs there are that relieve digestive symptoms. Many are common herbs we use everyday, to season our foods.

Cold symptoms? There are plenty to choose from in this category. Please note that some digestive herbs and cold herbs are more specific than others, e.g., some relieve acid while others sooth a stomach ache, some are used as gargles and some simply freshen breath. Since this is not a text book, but a guide to get you started, begin here and do a little further research on the specific properties of the herbs that interest you.

I will in the next article, give some insights on what sun and soil needs of these herbs are. The third part will talk about how to maximize the use of these herbs for healing.

In addition to that, I will show when to use internally versus externally. A rule of thumb those used for sore muscles or bruises are to be used externally, such as in a compress as well as those for wounds.

Those for skin, eyes, are to be used externally. Some for inflammation can be used externally but all of the herbs I have listed are ingestible. I have added meadow sweet, lady's mantle to this list. If you do not trust it ignore it. I have never used the two myself but an informing you of their properties. Marsh mallow root once was used to make marsh mallows. It can be used to make lozenges. The lady's mantle is the only herb that is questionable, but I have listed it.

I have tried not to list anything that will be toxic. Women please note those herbs that act on your monthly cycle or ease menstrual or hormonal distress, should not be used during pregnancy. If you are taking a diuretic talk to your doctor before using those that regulate your water such as dill, cilantro, fennel, parsley. Normal amounts of these in the diet are usually okay if you are not on water pills or diabetic. Taking large amounts which I will not be reconmending is probably not good for anybody.

Also, licorice which we are mostly all familiar with and horehound should be used in moderation. Licorice root is used in a lot of teas but it can be stimulating and along with horehound, excessive use can cause palpitations or irregular heart beat. Some people don't have trouble with this. I have used it as a child for lozenges and some popular brand of cough drops (swiss I believe use this as an ingredient). Note: tumeric is good for inflammation, but if you have gall stones or gall bladder issues do not take this medicinally. A little in your food (for example as part of curry seasoning should not affect you adversely).

As I mentioned in the last article, always consult with your doctor before medicinal use of any of the herbs below. And it is a good idea to consult with your doctor before using herbs we are not familiar with if we are on medications.

I am not diabetic, but sometimes consume a lot of cilantro and will cut back when I am eating a lot. The same applies to fennel.

Here's a recipe I created (one such recipe may exist somewhere in this world, but my creation of it is the first I have ever eaten). I love the taste of fennel with apple and often make a side dish of it with carrots that I simmer on the stove top.

Bridget's Raspberry, Fennel, Avocado & Apple Salad

Fresh Fennel (bulb and frond) 1 Golden Apple cubed 1/2 small to med Avocado Raspberry Vinegrette Dressing (preferably one not to acidic and not containing too much vinegar such as Grandessa) Romaine Lettuce 1/2 head 1/4 tsp Anise Seeds

Cut lettuce or tear into bite size portions Finely chop the fronds of one stalk of fennel do not use stalk Cut away and mince one inner layer of fennel bulb (important otherwise it will be tough to chew) Cube half Avocado Toss and sprinkle with anise seeds (regular, not star anise) Dress with rasppberry vinegrette dressing (shake vigorously to mix very well before pouring so the oil and vinegar ratio is balanced).

Eat and enjoy. Yes, avocado and apples go well together!

The Herbs and Their Properties (if I have listed a few categories twice, so much the better for remembering). Sorry, not in best alphabetical order.

What is your chief complaint?

• Inflammation?
• Arthritis?
• Pain?
• Memory Loss?
• Indigestion, stomache ache?
• Flatulence (gas)
• Constipation?
• Infection (sore throat, cold)?
• Halitosis?
• Sore musles?
• Cramps, spasms?
• Anemia?
• Blood clotting issues?
• Rashes, eczema, acne?
• Fungal infections, dandruff?
• Excess menstrual bleeding, hormonal balance?
• Lack of appetite?

You can put your hands together and grow what makes you feel better. Your relief is on its way, when you plant a healing garden that is beautiful, aromatic and functional. The ground is your resource, to soothe and relieve all of what ails you. Don't worry about being a green thumb. Herbs can be the easiest and most rewarding plants to grow. If you follow some basic rules and use proper lighting, you can become a successful gardener. The better part of gardening, is choosing the right plant that fits your availability and lifestyle. This is how gardening success can be realized.

Your harvest can be dried and stored long term, or used immediately as ingredients in extracts, linaments, tonics or lotions. Properly stored, they can be used throughout the year. They can be applied topically without any, or with minimal processing. Personalizing your garden to benefit your specific needs, is not difficult.

Many herbs are medicinal and can be used for multiple purposes beyond chicken soup or flavoring value. What is in an herb besides flavor? Phytochemicals. Phtyochemicals are resources within a plant designed to function in certain ways that can be restorative, soothing or curative in our bodies. Since so many plants share some of the same phytochemicals, we can choose among many that fit our gardening situation. The second element we would like to consider is what their value can be to us as individuals. Sections of your garden can be personalized to benefit yours and members of your family's specific conditions.

Many herbs herbs are good perennial friends and many will come back to visit you, year after year. Your only concern for the next gardening season, will be thinning existing plants (if desired or necessary), or making new additions to your garden. Some herbs such as rosemary, despite being a shrub and perennial, will behave as an annual plant, if you reside in a colder weather zone. You will have to replant each year, or overwinter the plant indoors.

One good thing about herbs is, many don't require planting in the best soil. Some are drought tolerant, or drought resistant. Many are resistant to pests. If you have a busy lifestyle and can't command the water hose each day, choose the herb that fits.

One of the least fussy herbs in my experience is oregano. Give it space and it will become massive. It won't overrun the garden the way mints can. Oregano has many antimicrobial properties and can be used as a mouthwash and gargle.

Mints love to grow and grow everywhere. You can recognize plants in the mint family by their square stems. Mints soothe the stomach.

Rosemary is good for dandruff, maybe even Alzheirmers and can be used in a shampoo. It is thought to cross the blood brain barrier, so if you shampoo with it, it can benefit memory without being ingested. Chives don't seem to care to be watered often and multiply but remain compact. They are easily divided to share or plant in other spots. They come back easily if dried out.

Don't forget to include fruiting shrubs or bushes in your healing garden. Blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes have many benefits from digestive to providing antoxidants.

Some herbs make nice flowering plants are are easy to grow as well. Flax are petite, delicate blue flowers and bear the seeds that are rich in omega-3 oils. Grind the seeds and sprinkle in cereal, or bake them whole in breads, sweet breads or snacks.

Before planning your garden, discuss it with your doctor to make sure that no herbs are proscribed for your health condition, or medicine regimen. Use of certain herbs may interfere with a drugs ability to be effective and thereby compound your problems. If you are taking certain medications, some herbs are to be avoided. For example, some people using blood thinners, should avoid plants that are rich in vitamin K, (such as kale) or that tend to thin the blood. Knowledge of what you are using, is your best defence in the war against poor health or complications.

Next week we will cover a few of the chief complaints, and suggest herbs that apply to them. Until then find a good location to till, or to stake a few nice planters.