My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. This is a blog about women's issues, health & wellness, and inspirational thoughts. If you like this blog, you will love BlogHer.com where I am also a contributing editor.
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Find out all the places I blog at Catherine Blogs.
Stressing Over Money Can Make You Sick — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
Do you stress over money? I do. With the way the economy is going, if you’re not stressing over money now, you sure could be in the near future. Gas prices are going up, home values are going down, and what money we do have is buying less and less. The thing about stressing over money is…It doesn’t pay the bills. What it can do is make you sick.
Yes, stressing over money (or anything for that matter) can and does make you sick. How sick? Here is an excerpt from an article at About.com, that addresses Health Problems Associated With Stress…
Science is constantly learning about the impact that stress has on your overall health. Stress is or may be a contributing factor in everything from backaches and insomnia to cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (many people believe that CFS and fibromyalgia are the same illness).
Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. High blood pressure, heart attacks, heart palpitations, and stroke may be stress related cardiovascular conditions. Some women experience changes in their sexuality and encounter various sexual dysfunctions such as loss of desire and vaginal dryness as a result of stress.
Often people feel the effects of stress as fatigue, various aches and pains, headaches, or as emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Stress affects others by causing gastrointestinal disorders such as ulcers, lower abdominal cramps, colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Frequently people under the effects of over stress will have more colds and infections due to lowered immune system responses. Stress can initiate dermatological conditions such as itchy skin and rashes.
Wow. That’s a lot of problems. So, what is a person to do? Well, learning to control the things we can control, and letting go of the rest, is a good first step…and potentially, the hardest step. Maybe we can find something that will help…
Everyone feels stressed these days. But do you really know what that means? Do you understand what daily stress does to your body, mind and spirit? Over the next four weeks, you’ll learn to identify exactly what causes you stress. Equally important, you’ll find out how to manage your stress and become more relaxed.
If you stress about money, you’re not alone: a significant amount of Americans are deeply in debt, living beyond their means, don’t have a clear plan to solve their financial problems, and stress about it quite a bit. The fear, stress and conflict associated with money issues can also impact your personal happiness. The following resources can help you to create a plan for yourself to get out of debt, if necessary, make your money go further, and plan for your future. Once you have a plan, you should feel significantly less stressed about money. When money is less of an issue, rather than being enslaved by it, you can use it to do the things that make you truly happy.
Today is Blog Day for The MOTHERS Act. See how you can help…
Thank you for taking time to participate in this LIFE SAVING legislative initiative which will help to end the suffering of thousands of mothers, infants and families, while offering education, research and training to those who are charged with their care. Together, we are a powerful force to support the promotion of The MOTHERS Act until it becomes federal law. The implementation of this pivotal prosocial supportive legislation will offer crucial safeguards to women, children and families.
PLEASE LET OUR NATION AND LEGISLATORS KNOW YOU WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS ISSUE TO BE IGNORED ANY LONGER. Below you will find a complete listing of U.S. Senators and their Washington DC telephone numbers. This is a bipartisan issue that BOTH Democratic and Republican state senators need to support. Just PICK UP THE PHONE and CALL!! If the line is busy, call back or leave your message.
It seem that Oprah has ruffled a few feathers while explaining her recent bout with thyroid problems. Some are saying that she is just using a thyroid problem as an excuse for a recent 20 pound weight gain. Others find her method of treatment [a one month trip to her Hawaii estate for total relaxation and healthy eating] to be a bit grandiose, and not exactly a treatment available to the average woman with thyroid disease. And then others are a bit taken back by her “expert” Dr. Northrup, and her attempt to blame the patients (mostly women) for their thyroid disease.
See what I mean at Oprah’s Thyroid Club (with 85 comments) —From The New York Times
…The downside is that the talk show host has been vague about her diagnosis and treatment and even suggested that her body’s imbalance of thyroid hormones was the result of working too hard and not relaxing enough. Her main “treatment” approach seemed to be quitting work for a month and eating only fresh food at her tropical Hawaiian estate.
“While good nutrition, exercise, and self-care are certainly part of overall good health, they are not likely to cure your thyroid condition,’’ writes Mary Shoman, founder of a well-known thyroid disease Web site and the author of several books on the topic. “It may have worked for Oprah, but …I doubt most of us could ever aspire to such a luxurious recuperation.”
Ms. Winfrey hasn’t detailed her specific diagnosis, but Ms. Shoman says the description sounds like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that is characterized by the thyroid’s gradual decline into hypothyroidism, interspersed with periods “when the thyroid sputters to life and becomes temporarily overactive.” Avoiding medical treatment is only an option for those with very mild thyroid problems, notes Ms. Shoman, who worries some women may try to self-treat rather than consulting a doctor about their symptoms…
“In many women thyroid dysfunction develops because of an energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of ’swallowing’ words one is aching to say. In the name of preserving harmony, or because these women have learned to live as relatively helpless members of their families or social groups, they have learned to stifle their self-expression….It’s no coincidence that so many more women than men have thyroid problems. Thyroid disease is related to expressing your feelings…”"
For me, there is no doubt that some degree of a mind/body connection exists. Personally, I know that when under great stress or anxiety, that my medical problems will often become worse. However, there is a thin line between “connection” and “blame”…and it seems this Dr. Northrup may have just crossed that line.
This is what she had to say…
Dr. Northrup says your health depends on what’s going on with your mind, body and soul, and your symptoms are actually your soul’s way of bringing deeper issues to your attention. “You’re in labor with yourself because everything that no longer serves your highest purpose and your optimal health starts to go away and your body gives you signals—’Hey, you’ve been putting too much stuff under the carpet emotionally, nutritionally, not exercising … putting everyone else first. The kids, the husband, the job, whatever,’” Dr. Northrup says. “And your soul is saying, ‘What about me? What about me?’ And your body will start getting symptoms to hit you over the head with till you wake up.”
Well, that just doesn’t make much sense…There are plenty of depressed people that don’t have a single medical problem wrong with them, as there are plenty of people who suffer with numerous medical issues that are not in the least bit depressed.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all just go to our “happy place” and will our medical problems away? Yes, it sure would be…But, in “reality” medical problems happen…regardless of your state of mind. So all of this talk about Thyroid disease stemming from an underlying emotional problem…well, no wonder why people are getting a bit upset. Oprah may be spotlighting thyroid disease, but the medical community blaming the patient for their health problems is not new at all. Just ask anyone who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowl Syndrome, just to name a few. And actually, Dr. Northrup names many more…
The first thing Dr. Northrup wants Rachel to do is to make a list of five things she wants to do—and then do them! The five things Rachel chooses to do may help improve her health in the long run. “When you do those, they decrease cellular inflammation. This isn’t just some kind of pop psychology. They decrease inflammation in your cells and cellular inflammation is the beginning of all chronic degenerative disease,” she says. “So headaches, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, it all begins with cellular inflammation. Things that bring you joy quell stress hormones in the body and decrease cellular inflammation.”
I imagine Dr. Northrup doesn’t actually suffer from any of these pesky “cellular inflammations”, otherwise how could she even say any of this with a straight face. She is basically saying that people with cancer, thyroid disease, and many other chronic illnesses, have brought this all on themselves. When someone suffering hears this kind of crazy talk, they actually begin to believe that their illness is their own fault. And that’s not even the worst thing. What is worse, is when that person believes that if they could just emotionally “fix” themselves, they could make themselves better [in this case, just like Oprah]. And when they don’t get better…again, they will feel it is their own fault.
And when she finally has a program which somewhat addresses the thyroid issue this week, she allows her hallowed guest, Dr. Christiane Northrup, to state “your symptoms are actually your soul’s way of bringing deeper issues to your attention.” Hogwash! And thyroid patient Mary Shoman has rightly proclaimed that “thyroid disease is NOT your fault, despite what Dr. Northrup says.”
How do you feel about these comments by Dr. Northrup?
Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that more than 80% of fourth-grade girls have been on some form of fad diet? Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance? — go to Love You Body
92% of girls want to change at least one aspect of their appearance. Dove believes all girls deserve to see how beautiful they really are and is committed to raising self-esteem in girls everywhere. That’s why we created the Dove Self-Esteem Fund.” — above image is from Dove campaign
Sussane Reisman, BlogHer contributing editor, did a great post on body image a few weeks ago.
Just look at some of these ads that are offensive to women. No wonder women can’t be happy with their bodies, the images of what they “think” they should look like are based 100% on men’s fantasies (not reality).
So, what can be done? Will this ever change?
Today is LOVE YOUR BODY DAY - You can learn more about it here.
On a more positive note, I received this in my email today…
I decided to post on some of the interesting health and wellness issues that have been in the news this week…
Starting with the Autism Speaks website…They now have video examples of children with autism, compared to children without, in the hopes of helping parents recognize early signs of the disease. Also, a new study shows that the United States is lagging behind in maternal health, and the House urges health agencies to expand research into Postpartum Depression.
With 1 in every 150 children having some degree of Autism, knowing the symptoms and being diagnosed early is critical. This week Autism Speaks is helping parents learn what is common behavior for most children, as compared to what is common in an Autistic child, with the use of videos.
Please keep in mind that there are many presenting features associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that are depicted in the video clips you are about to see. However, most children do not show all of the features all of the time. Instead, many children have some of the features some of the time. Awareness of these common presenting features may help to heighten your index of suspicion. Individually, they may not indicate a problem; however, in combination, they may indicate a need to conduct a screening or a diagnostic evaluation. Not all signs and features need be present for ASD to be diagnosed.
By viewing these videos of symptoms found in Autism, parents can help recognize a potential problem early, and bring it to the attention of their child’s pediatrician.
As always, there are critics of this idea who believe that these videos may cause unnecessary worry for parents. However, as both a nurse and a mother, I would say that the potential benefits to parents viewing these videos, far outweighs any potential risk of undue worry.
In spite of all the controversy over the treatment and the politics of Autism, I think one thing everyone can agree on, is the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. With such a short amount of time that a child will actually spend with their doctor, parents are the first line of defense when it comes to recognizing the symptoms their children are exhibiting.
Then there is a new study showing that the United States is lagging behind in maternal health, this also happens to be a topic that is being addressed by the BlogHer community, through BlogHer Acts. I found the statistics on this quite disturbing, and shocking. We do still live in the richest country in the world, right?
The United States has a far higher death rate than the European average, the report shows, with one in 4,800 U.S. women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth, the same as Belarus and just slightly better than Serbia’s rate of one in 4,500.
Just one out of 47,600 women in Ireland die during or just after childbirth, the report found. Bosnia had the second-lowest rate, with 1 in 29,000 women dying during pregnancy and childbirth. — read full article here
The United States is ranked 41st in the world for maternal mortality, with 1 in 4,800 women dying from pregnancy complications.This is what they are saying at Chrone Speaks…
While the BBC article uses a graph from the Lancet, showing the rise or drop in maternal mortality around the world, I’d like to point out that the US is lumped in with other developing nations.
Causes of the rising maternal mortality rates for the US can be listed in a few short words:
abstinence only education
closing women’s clinics
laws restricting (safe) abortions
I hope the anti-abortionist take note of this — they are the principle reason why women are dying untimely deaths — the rate of unsafe abortions has not changed since 1995.
They make a pretty good point…Look what is happening in Aurora, with the attempt to stop the opening of a Planned Parenthood there. If one truly cares about life, then one should care about all life, including women and mothers. It seems to me there is a degree of rational thought that is sometimes being excluded from many people’s biblical interpretation of life. And ignoring that only results in more lives lost…When will the Pro-Life Movement start being Pro-”All Life”???
Also in the news…The House urges health agencies to expand research into postpartum depression. This is another issue that the BlogHer community is passionate about. This cause is being led by Katherine Stone…
Katherine Stone suffered postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder with the birth of her son in 2001. She is now an advocate for women with postpartum mood disorders, primarily through her blog Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog in the United States on these illnesses, which include postpartum depression, postpartum OCD and postpartum psychosis. — read more about Katherine here
The bill cites studies that up to 80 percent of new mothers experience “baby blues,” characterized by mood swings, feelings of being overwhelmed and irritability.
It said more serious postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, which can occur during pregnancy and anytime within the first year of the infant’s birth, impair between 10 and 20 percent of new mothers.
Postpartum psychosis, striking one in 1,000 new mothers, may entail losing touch with reality, delusions, auditory hallucinations, paranoia and hyperactivity.
It notes that while the causes of postpartum depression are unknown, theories include a steep and rapid drop in hormone levels after childbirth, difficulty during labor or pregnancy and external factors such as a lack of support from one’s spouse, stressful events such as the death of a loved one or a previous history of depression.
Rush said 90 percent of depression cases are treatable, but that only 15 percent of women with postpartum depression receive treatment.
So these are some of the health issues in the news this week…Are you or your family being affected by any of these issues?
For decades, there has been compelling evidence that biological sex differences are responsible for tremendous differences in the incidence, presentation, diagnosis and treatment of disease. This goes far beyond reproductive health, the areas of most obvious difference between the sexes. It affects cancer, heart disease, mental health, obesity – just about every major area of health. — read full post from Well Soul
This was a great opportunity for each of us to address questions about women’s health issues important to our readers.
I personally asked about how bloggers can convey information to their readers, such as on hormone therapy, when what is “right” seems to change constantly, and about priorities for research and how level or decreased funding at the National Institutes of Health will affect those priorities across the board. — read full post by Rachel at Women’s Health News
Some of the topics discussed with Dr. Sherry Marts were; medications prescribed to women that have not necessarily been tested on women, the confusion over hormone therapy, the connection between a woman’s menstrual cycle and chronic pain, government funding for women’s health, the HPV vaccine, and HIV medications for women. A lot of ground was covered under the direction of Cynthia Samuels, who did such a great job organizing this event for Revolution Health.
My first question was about women being prescribed medications that may not (probably not) have been tested ON women before they were approved. It wasn’t until like 1993 that the FDA mandated drugs be tested ON women. So those drugs you’re taking… well… you figure it out. read Denise’s full post
These are the questions I was interested in getting more insight on from Dr. Marts…
UPDATE: Dr. Larry Norton (on the View today) – DO NOT USE ANY PRODUCT WITH ESTROGEN to treat symptoms of menopause — That includes natural products that stimulate the estrogen receptors. If you are on prescription of Estrogen, talk to your doctor before you discontinue…..there are many other medications that do not have estrogen that you doctor can prescribe for symptoms of menopause.
HOW WE CAN CREATE PEACE AND LOVE IN OUR LIVES - BY LETTING GO OF ANGER AND HATE - by Catherine Morgan
If we wish peace for ourselves, me must first wish peace for others. How do we do that? I think a good place to start is to take “hate” out of our thoughts and mind. It’s easy to say you’re not a hater, but to truly live a life without hating is not that easy. Here are a few suggestions….
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Iron deficiency, even to a moderate degree, can hinder women’s memory and learning — but iron supplements can turn those problems around, a study has found.
Iron is essential for delivering oxygen to cells throughout the body, and iron deficiency is known to impair brain development and learning in babies and children. But women of childbearing age are also at elevated risk of low iron stores, and less is known about the possible cognitive effects in them.
COLORFUL MEDITATION - For meditation and stress reduction is 6 mins of continuous highly complex computer generated kaleidoscopic imagery with an original New Age ambient music soundtrack….from www.cinemandala.com
Are You Happy With Your Doctor? — by Catherine Morgan
As patients, we all know that we are not always treated with the respect and dignity that we deserve. There is a site called RateMDs.com, and I recommend that EVERYONE (whether you are sick or not) go to this site and rate both your good and your bad doctors. It is very easy to do, and it is the only way that doctors will begin to realize that they can’t just treat us as numbers and dollars, we are human beings, and they work for us. And if they do a bad job, we are going to tell. It is also a good place to check and see if a doctor you are considering going to has a good rating or not.
I can not recommend this activity enough, the internet is a great tool for consumers, and a great way for patients to take their power back. So, go to RateMDs.comand give your good doctors the credit they deserve…..and “tattle” on all those bad doctors who have mistreated and been disrespectful to you. And then pass this information on to your friends and family.
I found this video, and I thought it would make a good post. I hope you like it.
If you liked this video, you should also check out what I put up on my other site…..It is a video of inspirational quotes set to the song “Starry Starry Night”. It is really beautiful. You can see it at BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN YOURSELF
If you or someone you know is in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship, there is a lot of information available and people that can help. Below is an article and links to help you understand domestic violence and abuse, and to find help. You are not alone.
