Magic is such a nebulous term. I believe everyone possesses their own unique ability to create “magic” in everything they endeavor to do. One may “cast spells”, use guided imagery, meditate, or engage in other numerous activities that all in my opinion qualify as “magic”. I feel that magic is the essence of making things happen, making changes. In the art of perfumery too, magic plays no less a part. I would like to quote one of my favorite texts here on this point,The Magical and Ritual Use of Perfumes. “The essence of magic lies in psychosensory evocation or stimulation of the mind and body in a highly specified manner. The magicians use of ritual and an elaborate correspondance system is actually a form of communication with higher levels of being.”(1)

One day I was approached (rather confronted!) by a self-proclaimed high priestess of one order or other which I can’t recall. She outright told me that unless I ascribed to some set of beliefs or approved path of discipline I would fail in any purported “magical” undertaking. She then suggested a series of books that I could read to set me straight so to speak, and she proceeded to point them all out to me as I was browsing through the esoteric bookstore which I learned she was the owner of. Well, I thanked her for her recommendations and I did buy some of the books and promptly left.

After I had read through them, I found only further confirmation of my view that indeed, magic of itself is not based on a belief system, but is a personal experience based upon practice and applications. Unbeknownced to her, she had succeeded in affirming for me my own intuited understandings. ( I suspect her goal was the exact opposite!) Needless to say, I am indebted to this person for bringing forth the circumstance that enabled me to trust my own inner guidance. To this day I proudly maintain a most “bohemian” approach toward this subject!

I have found that intuition plays a major role in the perfume arts and the application of scents. Why? To my view, scent is the invisible key to the doorways of higher consciousness and greater awareness. They are as an etheric catylist for creating a new energy and vibration in any endeavor and help one to attain their objective. Scent by nature of our perception of it, has the ability to transform one’s environment, and even ones own inner psyche. “Odours are potent in their influence because they operate on us at a subconscious or subliminal level. Thus, their influence on our emotional nature bypasses the critical mind“(2)

I find this critical or analytic mind to be most demanding, and it permeates every area of our life when we are unaware of it. The critical mind is always exacting from us “qualifications”, comparisons for judgments; and it expects logic and reason to rule. It is forever seeking validations before it will allow us to open to new possibilities. I believe this quality of our mind is the most detrimental one and in regards to magical practices of any kind, it is quick to dismiss them as mere fanciful imaginings that have no merit.

With respect to the preparation of perfumes, it is most helpful if one can get beyond the boundaries of their own mind. At least this is what my experience has shown me. Didn’t you ever notice that smells affect how you feel and perceive things? I recall taking vivid note of this phenomena even as a child. I believe all people have had the same experiences also. Perhaps walking into a room where a scent evokes a remembrance of a time, a place, a person. I find scent evokes memory. Not only that, it also evokes in that memory a sort of re-experiencing of the recalled event. This is a different thing altogether than visualizing things. In visualizations, there is an element of abstraction…where one is removed and observing an idea or picture in their mind. I find that the affect of scent however does not possess this element. When a memory is recalled via the olfactory senses it seems to almost take on a life of its own, it seems more real, more personal. If you use these simple insights as a tool for working with scents, you will find many ways to create useful combinations of them all on your own.

About Employing Scent for
Ritual Purposes

What is a ritual? Well you could look it up in the dictionary I suppose, but to me a ritual is a much more personal thing. I believe a ritual can be any activity repeatedly carried out with a particular intent behind it. To refer again to my favorite text on this subject, “In ritual you are trying to align yourself with some higher quality or resource you seek to infuse into your personality…it is a very potent tool for changing yourself in a prearranged direction…that can be quite useful in your daily life…scents in particular open up direct access to the emotional part of the brain, which has the greatest impact on the autonomic nervous system and the subconscious mind.”(3)

I find that in the application of scent it is the scent itself that becomes the carrier for the experience one is seeking. In gaining familiarity with the quality of a particular essence, one becomes adept at employing it for creative purposes. Scents evoke memory, and each scent carries its own vibration. By using scents in combination specific environments can be facilitated. “Each item in the repertoire of perfumery materials has specific properties that come from their odiferous molecules or volatile oils. A property can be defined as an effect that a material object or substance has on another object or one or more of the senses of an observer. Clearly, the most important biological property of an oderant is that it has an odor that effects the human sense of smell.”(4)

DALLAS, John Rutherford, diagnosed with prostate cancer this spring, went in to have his prostate removed at Zale Lipshy University Hospital on a Friday afternoon. By Sunday afternoon, he was back at home.

A UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas surgeon removed his cancerous prostate using only a few small incisions and a tiny video camera. The new procedure, called laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, reduced Rutherford’s pain and recovery time and made his hospital visit as short as a weekend getaway.

A retired maintenance supervisor, Rutherford, 69, enjoys fishing and spending time on land he owns in West Texas. A lengthy hospital stay and recovery weren’t part of his retirement plans.

“I read about the laparoscopic procedure, and I found a doctor doing it,” he said. “My health is my top priority, but if I can make surgery easier I will.”

Only a few physicians in the state do laparoscopic radical prostatectomies. Doctors performing the surgery at UT Southwestern received special training to perform the procedure, which was developed in France.

Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu, Rutherford’s surgeon, says the procedure eliminates much of the pain and recovery time commonly associated with prostate removal.

“In the laparoscopic procedure, only a few small incisions are necessary,” said Cadeddu, assistant professor of urology. “A traditional prostatectomy requires a long incision in the abdomen and much more pain for the patient.”

Recovery time for a traditional prostatectomy can last up to eight weeks, and patients spend two or three days in the hospital

In the laparoscopic procedure, a tiny video camera is inserted in one incision, and the prostate is removed through the other incisions while the surgeon is guided by use of a video monitor. Patients are back to normal activities in two to four weeks and typically spend less than two days in the hospital.

Ultimately, Cadeddu said, the laparoscopic procedure could become the surgery of choice for prostate cancer patients.

For Rutherford, the surgery was a total success.

“I could have driven home myself on Sunday afternoon if they’d let me,” the Fort Worth resident said. “Everything went just as I’d hoped.”

And with his prostate now gone, the cancer should be gone as well.

One in six men develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. It is the most common form of cancer in American men, only to skin cancer, and it is the leading cause of cancer death in American men behind lung cancer.

Prostate cancer, however, is a highly treatable disease. With early detection facilitated by yearly checks of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) level in the blood, almost 75 percent of prostate cancers are discovered while still confined to the prostate. The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer caught while still confined to the prostate, like Rutherford’s, is almost 100 percent.

I’ve dabbled a bit in energy bars in the past, and for a while was on a real Powerbar kick. When you’re running a lot, there’s no denying they give you at least a psychological boost. But these days there are so many competing energy bars, making a variety of claims. I decided to test a few and see what they were made of. I have to be truthful here and say that my survery is completely unscientific. While I can read each bar’s label to ascertain the ingredients, there’s no way I can say that one or another boosted my running performance. There are simply too may other factors that go into running to be able to trace results to one component. Thus, I have to admit, when rating the energy bars, my main criterion boiled down to taste. After all, I reasoned, what good is the most nutritious item in the world if it tastes so horrible you won’t eat it? Here then, is my unscientific, subjective rating of 6 popular and easy to find energy bars (all were purchased at Target):
Clif Luna Bar (S’mores Flavor)

* Nutrition: Good
* Texture: Very Good
* Calories: 180
* Overall Taste: Excellent

The Clif Luna bars are marketed toward (and, allegedly designed for) women, and to that end, the Luna contains 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for folate, and 35% of the RDA for calcium. Nutritionally, I think it should have even more calcium- most women don’t get nearly enough. Likewise, the 35% of the RDA for iron could also be higher, in my opinion- exercising women are often anemic. The Clif Luna is also high in lots of other minerals and vitamins as well as soy protein. Best of all, the taste is quite good. It reminded me of a Rice Krispy bar, and unlike many energy bars, I wasn’t that aware that I was eating something stuffed with supplements. Added bonus: a portion (they don’t say how much) of the proceeds will go to breast cancer research.
TwinLab Ironman Triathlon (Yogurt Berry Flavor)

* Nutrition: Pretty Good
* Texture: Horrible
* Calories: 230
* Overall Taste: Awful

This is a balanced bar- 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat. All I can say is 100% yuck! I couldn’t even choke it down. The texture is really disgusting- an orange-brown colored chewy cake-like substance. You can really taste the minerals. The main ingredient in the bar is “Special Ironman Protein” – mostly soy protein and whey protein. The bar is fortified with lots of vitamins and minerals- most of them providing 50% of your RDA. But if you’re like me and can’t eat more than a bite or two of the dreadful thing, they won’t do you much good.
Balance Outdoor All Natural Energy Bar (Crunchy Peanut Flavor)

* Nutrition: Fair
* Texture: Very Good
* Calories: 200
* Overall Taste: Good

This was one of the better bars I tasted. It’s small and relatively low in calories, and quite tasty. It had a nice peanutty flavor, but was not (as I had feared) too sweet. Unfortunately, the nutrition does not match the flavor. The bar provides only 8% of the RDA in calcium and iron, and nothing else. It is a 40/30/30 balanced bar, and is made with organic, unrefined ingredients.
PowerBar (Vanilla Crisp Flavor)

* Nutrition: Very Good
* Texture: Good
* Calories: 230
* Overall Taste: Good

This is the closest any of my selections came to the original PowerBar series, which essentially spawned the whole energy bar field. It doesn’t have too many bells and whistles, but is chock full of vitamins and minerals, including 100% of the RDA for Vitamins C, E, B6, B12, Folate, Riboflavin and others. Though it’s relatively high in calories, it only gets 25 of its calories from fat, and the bar is quite large, unlike some of the others discussed here (such as the 2 Balance bars). The taste of the Vanilla Crisp was quite nice, with the “Crisp” part coming from rice crisps. Overall, this was one of the better bars on the list.
PowerBar Protein Plus (Chocolate Peanut Butter Flavor)

* Nutrition: Very Good
* Texture: Awful
* Calories: 290
* Overall Taste: Really Bad

And so here we go. It is time to credit bands that are not always accorded their due. In the spirit of looking back over time and thinking about those things that have brought us happiness, five in no particular order.

1. The Bats
In my mind, The Bats consistently put out some of the best pure pop records over the course of the 90s. Their albums have the kind of raw beauty that sticks with you for days and days, coming back at odd times like schoolchildren whistling far off. I know of nobody the Bats sound particularly like. They do not look to the past, they do not look forward, they strike me like the Nick Drake albums of the early 70s, almost ethereal and yet a constant source of reassurance.
2. Royal Trux
So much of the literature on the Trux has missed the point woefully. To me, the apt metaphor, which they have occasionally used, is the sea. I think RT has followed their own compass unyieldingly. They have done so not to make a point about the evils of commercialism, but because they are staying true to what is inside. I adore the brashness of the songs, and I cherish the moments of vitriol and the moments of lyricism. They did their own thing, they did it well, and nobody else really tried.
3. Terry Riley
I have only begun my exploration of Terry Riley’s work, but I love what I know of it. It is not for everyone, and it will never be popular. Riley and Steve Reich both employed tape delay effects early in their careers, and both exhibit a fascination with phasing. Listening to some of Riley’s work can be a bit of an intellectual exercise, but it can also be an exhilirating experience. It feels like tossing large pebbles into water and watching the waves interfere with one another. Tranquil and mesmerizing in places.
4. The Magnetic Fields
From the Susan Amway vocals on the early single “100,000 Fireflies” to the sarcastic, sneering cabaret of 69 Love Songs, The Magnetic Fields have put out a fine body of work. I don’t always agree with Mr. Merritt’s choice of material, and I almost never agree with the critical reaction to his work, but he is virtually matchless when his stuff works. Nobody else writes the way he does, and it has been some time since Phil Spector was reinvented nearly as well.
5. Pole
One day in the future somebody will talk about Pole as a turning point in electronica and all the quaint subgenres surrounding it. He is the voice of tomorrow, slapping us silly with his exquisite albums. He is using technology in the larger pursuit of writing music. Departing from the pervasive bullshit that gets passed off as electronica nowadays, Pole is crafting fine albums, one after another. Dig.

The fact is that more and more people are living to be a ripe old age and we are not all that healthy.

Playing tennis at 90? Golf at 95? I don’t think so. For every one healthy individual over 75 there are many who are in need of assistance with their activities of daily living.. their washing, bedding, eating, and mobilization.

Medicare has changed the way it pays for home health care since the passing of the Balanced Budget Act by President Clinton. Now, agencies are paid on an aggregate and not on a per visit episode. This creates an atmosphere of holding back visits whenever possible. It was designed to cut back on wasteful spending. Assisting a 95 year old that cannot get out of bed himself with no other acute needs was considered wasteful by Medicare standards. The home healthcare benefit was initially set up for acute needs. The impeding needs of our elders has changed. The home health care benefit under Medicare was accommodating the needs in some ways until the law took affect in 1999.

What do we do with all of the chronically ill patients out there? How do we administer custodial care when the patient does not have a skilled need (that REQUIRES the service of a registered nurse or therapist)(the only way Medicare will pay for home health care for a limited amount of time)? What about younger patients not on Medicare? Other insurances, especially HMO’s are very frugal with home health care allowances.

For many, it is a matter of paying for the services themselves. At $14-$21 dollars an hour the weekly bill for a patient receiving just 4 hours of serves a day, 5 days a week at $16./hr. = $320.00. That’s $1280.00 a month. Many elders can afford this and many cannot. There are also those that need many more than 4 hours a day. There are a few solutions.

First, you MUST plan. Your children &/or caretakers are going to decide on your long term care if you have not planned for it. This can be overly stressful for them and for you.

Your choices consist of (1) private pay home health aide care in you home, (2) long term care insurance (very fair and generous)paid home health care services, (3) nursing home services (both privately paid and paid by Medicaid)(care varies widely and admission is sometimes delayed for months creating a home health care need during this lag time), (4) assistance from city/county aging corporations (in Philadelphia there is Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging that has programs for those that are financially needy (or not, at times) but the waiting list can be up to 4 years long….PLAN AHEAD! CALL AS SOON AS THE NEED IS ARISING. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE).

The other issue with care in your home is finding the right caregiver. Home health aides vary. There are many who are excellent and then there are those who are not so good. There are agencies that are more experienced with a certain type of patient (pediatrics, cancer/hospice , Alzheimer’s disease). This is a matter of trial and error and can be very frustrating. Be patient. Call the agency to discuss your concerns early on and remember even the best situations aren’t perfect. Try to be flexible. Your foremost concern should be safety. I think the second concern is the quality of care provided (not if the aide has a nose ring, long nails or has the wrong color hair)(unless their is a health concern). Is the patient safe at home when there is no caregiver there? Address issues. Medic-alert bracelets/necklaces are a help, neighbors, frequent visits by family & friends, meal-on-wheels and even sitters to fill in between aide services all help.

Description:Pumpkin is in the squash family of watermelons, cucumbers, and gourds. Sylvia A. Johnson, author, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn, and Beans says that “Native Americans cooked pumpkins whole in the ashes of a fire, scooped out the soft flesh, and ate it sweetened with maple syrup. Europen settlers in North America at first used this same cooking method and later combined pumpkin with milk, eggs, and molasses to make a filling for a European-style pie.” Pumpkins are used for Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns for centuries which is a story in itself.

Nutrient content Contains vitamins A and C, some B vitamins, potassium, iron and calcium. A cup of pumpkin contains 40 calories. Pumpkins, like carrots, are rich in the antioxidant, beta-carotene which offers protection against heart disease, other diseases, and other degenerative aspects of aging.

Peak season: Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply is available in October. A few can be found in September and November.

Selection: Look for firm pumpkins and heavy for its size. Skin should be a bright orange, glossy color and not dull in appearance. Avoid any blemishes or soft spots. Look for pumpkins with 1 to 2 inch stems. A stem less than that size could indicate decay. One pound of raw pumpkin will yield a cup of pumpkin puree.

Storage: Store in cool, dry area. Possible to keep for several months if stem is attached.

Preparation: Methods include boiling, steaming, baking and microwaving.

TAKE A MINUTE FOR YOU

SOME TIME FOR YOU

In the middle of all this stress, we have to find ways for life after…We have daily responsibilities. With fragmented focus, broken hearts, and tangled thoughts, we still have to work, our families need attention, and the laundry must be done.

Often in such confusing, continuous stress we forget to pay attention to our own needs. Each of us, for our own reasons, is afraid. Our body and mind stay alert and ready for the next episode of stress.

Many times we believe we are uncaring if we do our daily routines: How can we think of cooking when awful things have happened to someone else, especially thousands of someone else’s. Day to day activities may have less meaning than they did a week ago. We just can’t stay focused, and time slips away.

Last of all, some part of us gets used to the adrenaline and intensity of feelings. Primary emotions like fear, anger, and sadness are more acute. Feelings like hunger, thirst, and fatigue are numbed. We forget to take care of ourselves, and the usual signals are dulled.

This means we have to remember ourselves. Strange as it might sound, write yourself a note for your desk or refrigerator or mirror. Set a timer to ring each hour. Remind yourself to check about your needs. Do we need water, food, a shower, fresh air, exercise, rest, a friend?

During times when we cannot change or lessen the external stresses, we can create a balance inside by adding more peace to our lives. Did you know one of the fastest ways to add peace is to focus on something of beauty?

As they say, beauty is in the beholder. So, maybe take a minute right now. What is beautiful to you? windchimes, a guitar chord, a slice of star fruit,someone’s eyes, a new tennis racket,your nail polish, river water, the silence of your child in bed. What is beautiful to you?

If you are willing, you can take this time of stress, uncertainty, and grief and use it any way you want. You can create a space for peace, hope, and compassion. Let this space begin with you. Treat yourself to some kindness.

Take a news break. Take a walk: in the woods, at the beach, to a Japanese garden, under a tree in your backyard; somewhere you can regain the presence of peace. Encourage yourself to find one small, simple part of this space and focus on it. Maybe a leaf, a pelican, an orange koi fish, a dog running, the shadow of a branch, the center of a flower, a rock on the ground, a bird calling. Breathe and sink into that simple touch, sight, or feel.

A FEW MINUTES MORE

Here is something else you can do to ease some of the stress and take care of yourself:

1. Turn off the radio, television, and telephone. (All the news will be repeated and callers will leave a message.)

2. Drink a glass of cool water, maybe add lemon or lime.

3. If you have music that you have found relaxing in the past, please play that now. (Let it be music without words.).

4. Find a place that is quiet. This is just for you. There is no where you have to go. Nothing you have to do. These minutes are your appreciation to yourself for someone who cares about others.

You may notice feeling anxious, that you can’t sit still, and maybe your mind races all over the place. Those are sign of the stress inside. Notice these feelings and let it is okay to sit even if you aren’t 100% willing.

5. Now comes the breathing part. (You expected that, right?) Well, did you know that the only way to let your body know that you are okay is by relaxed breathing? Breathing will help your body be more willing to sit still. Although breathing is automatic in the survival sense, we can practice for using it as a tool for more peace.

During stress our bodies increase adrenaline so we are prepared to run or stay and fight. By asking you to sit still and breathe, I am asking you to find a quiet and peace in the center of the stress. At first this may seem impossible. The key is to lightly notice the stress symptoms and stay sitting and breathing.

After some time you will notice a shift. You may feel yourself give one really deep, slow inhalation and a deep, slow exhalation— involuntarily. It will simply happen. This is your signal that you have released the tension of your stress. You’ll really like that part.

Ready?

6. If you feel comfortable to close your eyes, then please do. If not, open eyes are fine. The most important thing is let your self breathe.

7. Okay, now. Slowly…inhale. Gently hold the breath in. Then slowly, slowly…exhale. Again, slowly inhale; very slowly exhale. Feel the air come into your body. Let the fresh oxygen relax and replenish your body. Again, inhale…and exhale.

If at some point your mind wanders to a peaceful place, then enjoy and keep breathing. If your mind does not go to a peaceful place, that is okay. The important part is breathing.

Now if you are willing, keep breathing. At some time during your breathing, you will feel your body release the tension. Continue breathing until you do.

Congratulations for taking time to honor and care for yourself. You deserve special attention. You are valuable to the world.

Tapeworm egg infestation occurs from consuming inadequately prepared meats like beef, pork or fish. The eggs move through the digestive system ultimately reaching the intestinal tract. After their eggs are hatched, the offspring consume the food taken in by their host and become larger.

Different treatments can be tried for a tapeworm infestation, varying from prescription medications to alternative remedies. But these remedies are not advised to be combined, since there could be a risk of interaction.

Prescription Medication

With prescription medications, it is possible to treat tapeworms in people successfully. You can’t buy OTC drugs, because tapeworms are treated differently based on the species. Medication is administered by mouth since it must directly contact tapeworms inside the intestinal tract. A tapeworm has a protective coating which is destroyed when these drugs are used, then the intestine digests it and gets rid of it through elimination. But, this method is missing something, since it only destroys the adult worm, and not the larvae or eggs. Once the next batch of eggs is hatched, the victim can suffer with a re-infestation.

Always keep in mind that since tapeworms aren’t bacterial in nature, antibiotics are ineffective. Antibiotics can hurt you more than they can help you by diminishing the good bacteria in the intestine, which assists your immune system to shield infections.

Diets Changes

A restricted diet may prevent a tapeworm from receiving the nutrients it requires to live, however this is challenging and should be used at the same time as another treatment. Make sure that you eat lots of uncooked carrots along with pumpkin seeds with your meals when possible. The tapeworm won’t receive any nutrients and the outside skin will be damaged and weakened because these foods are anti-parasitic.

Consuming leafy green veggie items is helpful too. Eliminate processed sugar, flour and other foodstuffs altogether, since tapeworms flourish when they are consumed. Eat fruit items sparingly, since their natural glucose is something tapeworms thrive on. Something else to do — avoid frosty drinks and don’t eat cold foods, since this will make the intestines contract, which is painful and withholds toxins.

Herbal Treatments

There are a number of herbs which will help get rid of tapeworms. Wormwood is the most widely known and is actually named for its worm-fighting property. The common methods of using wormwood are tinctures, and it is simple to make tea using wormwood leaves. You make this with a couple of tablespoons fresh or a single spoon of dry wormwood for every cup of boiled water. Wait 5 or 10 minutes while it sits there. You can try blending additional herbs like cinnamon and ginger to improve the taste.

There are additional herbs that might be useful like garlic, oregano, thyme, cloves or grapefruit seed. They can be combined with meals of any type, but garlic needs to be uncooked in order to work as a medicine. Combining these herbal substances aids in eliminating these creatures and their offspring from the body.

Homeopathy

Homeopathic methods can be used in some cases, for instance when tapeworms originate in certain meats. When you continue to itch, throw up, experience delirium and have hallucinations along with imaginary symptoms, Sabadilla is good for this. To expel tapeworms when you have stomach discomfort, you can use Granatum, and if you have a decreased uneven pulse you can use Kuosso. More homeopathic remedies might help tapeworms, but a thorough examination by a homeopath is needed to use these remedies the right way.

Surgery

Operations are seldom performed for tapeworms but the worst cases might require it. Tapeworms can attain sufficient size to obstruct intestines or even harm internal organs. This could lead to grave complications or even fatality. Physicians often consider surgical procedures as only a last resort.

Finally, most of the time tapeworms usually won’t kill you or put your life in danger. After they are detected, it is possible in many cases to treat them yourself rather easily. But, don’t presume that you have eliminated them completely with a home treatment, particularly when a child is involved. Be reassured that the infestation is gone, either by a doctor’s examination or help from a licensed naturopath.

You must remember that commercials seen on TV and online for weight loss items are not researched or verified. You must be extremely careful when deciding whether or not to use diet pills. Your problem with weight might not be solved by the use of these diet pills.

The diet pills will assist with short term weight loss, however the struggle will be keeping the weight off. You should eat healthily and exercise regularly even if you opt to use these diet pills. Diet pills are effective in supporting your weight loss, but they don’t work magic. So if you make the decision that these diet pills are what you need, be sure to use them combined with a good diet and exercise.

Consumers can find a large variety of diet pills on the market. There are three main kinds of diet pills, which are prescribed medications, OTC medicines and herb supplements.

You can only receive prescription diet pills from your doctor. Your physician will also watch how you are doing with your weight loss and your health when you are using these diet pills.

OTC diet pills can be found at your town chemist, grocery store or on the Internet. The FDA monitors these pills. Their effectiveness is carefully watched as well as the allegations about the items. Nearly all of these pills function by raising your metabolism and making you have more energy.

The third kind are herbal diet pills which you can find in health food and nutrition shops. It’s easier to get these pills, as a prescription is not needed. Herbal diet pills contain several substances that are extremely potent and, if used the right way, can do more than prescription diet pills can.

So if you desire to lose weight and be thin, you can make the effort and try these amazing pills. It is vital that you do some research to make sure that you choose the one that is best for you. Prior to beginning use of a diet pill, you should see your physician.

Colds

The most widespread infection in the United States is the common cold. When a virus attacks the lining of your nasal passages or throat, cold symptoms are triggered. If your immune system is functioning properly, it will react by attacking the germ with white blood cells called neutrophils.

When your immune system cannot identify the virus, it will have a “nonspecific” response. This means that your body will produce more neutrophils, than are needed. This circulates them to infected areas. The attack will not affect the 200 or more viruses that cause colds. All the extra neutrophils clump together in infected areas, which is the cause of inflammation and the achiness you feel during a cold. It is also accompanied by large amounts mucus in the nose and throat.

It takes between one to four days for cold symptoms to settle in. Even though at this stage, the worst is over, you still may be congested for a week or so. You are in the contagious stage, during the first three days of symptoms, so you should take precautions, to avoid infecting others.

Children catch colds more often than adults. During cold season is when cold infections are most common. In the Unites States, cold season begins in late fall through the spring. Closer contact with others, especially during this time, puts you at greater risk of contracting contagious viruses. Hot and dry air also contributes to viral infection. Colds are not considered to be a dangerous health threat, unless it is in a newborn. You should be fine in a week or so, even if you use no special medicine.

Taking an herbal approach to cold symptoms just may be your answer to preventing it from becoming a full-fledged infection. At the first sign of cold symptoms, taking enchinacea reduces the colds intensity and strengthens the immune system. You may take it in capsules or a tea.

To prepare the tea, add two teaspoons, of enchinacea root to one cup of water. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes and drink it three times a day.

To help clear the mucus from the throat, goldenseal is a great herbal remedy. It contains a natural antibiotic, called berberine, which helps to prevent bacterial infections, associated with colds.

To prepare in a tea, steep a half-teaspoon to one teaspoon of goldenseal in one cup of boiling water, for 10 to 15 minutes. Drink this three times a day. If you prefer cold tea, mix equal parts elder (Sambacus nigra), peppermint (mentha piperita) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Steep one or two teaspoons of this mixture in one cup of hot water, chill and drink three times a days.

To shorten the duration or severity of a cold, garlic is an excellent choice. Any form of garlic should work fine. You may take the tablets, capsules, oil rubbed on the skin or whole garlic roasted or cooked in food. If you prefer capsules, take three, three times a day, until the symptoms disappear.

Flu’s

Unlike the common cold, the flu is much more severe. It is a highly contagious, viral disease and it usually attacks in the early spring and winter. Influenza, better known as the “flu” for short, can be potentially dangerous to your health. It spreads through the upper respiratory tract and can go into your lungs. This disease can spread through huge groups of people, who share indoor space. Although the flu usually occurs in school-age children, it is most severe in the elderly, people with chronic ailments and infants.

Even though there has been advancement in treatment for this disease, the flu and its complications is still fatal to around 20,000 people in the United States annually. Injecting an antibody contained in flu vaccine can prevent strains of the illness, but if this viral infection has already started, it cannot be cured and it will have to run its course.

When droplets in the air are inhaled, that contain the flu virus or if items are handled, contaminated by an infected person, the flu symptoms will begin developing in one to four days afterward.

The influenza virus is divided up into three categories, type A, B and C. All three types can mutate, but type A mutates constantly, which can yield new strains of the virus every few years. In this case, you can never build a total immunity to the flu. This means, even if you develop antibodies against the flu one year, that does not guarantee protection against the virus in the next.

Types B and C result in local outbreaks. These two types are milder and less common. Type B of the virus has been linked to developing Reye’s Syndrome, which is a potentially fatal complication. Influenza in humans seems to originate from Asia.

The symptoms of the flu are basically the same as in the common cold, headache and cough. Your doctor will usually do a blood test or take a throat culture, to identify the illness.

No matter how you treat the flu, it will still run its course. If you are in good health, the virus will most likely pass without complications. A week or so of bed rest and self-care should do the trick.

An herbal approach to this would be to stimulate your immune system. To do this try taking a half-teaspoon of tincture of goldenseal (Hydrates canadensis) and echinacea (Echinacea spp.) two times a day. If flu symptoms appear, chew a clove of raw garlic (Allium sativum), because it contains anti-viral properties, but do not eat it on an empty stomach.

Taking an infusion of boneset (Eupatoruim peroliatum) may relieve fever, aches and clear up congestion. To prepare this mixture at home, simmer one cup of boiling water with two teaspoons of the herb, for 10 to 15 minutes. Drink a cup full every hour as hot as you can take it. Do this up to four to six hours.

Remember, you can only have one body, why not do it good!