My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. This is a blog about women's issues, health & wellness, inspirational thoughts, and other stuff too. If you like this blog, you will love BlogHer.com where I am also a contributing editor for Health & Wellness.
Find out all the places I blog at by going to catherine-morgan.com.
Do you suffer from a chronic illness with no known cure? Like Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? If so, you probably wish every day that you could find a cure and finally be healthy and well.
Why is it that just about every illness without a medically proven cure, has loads of people “claiming” to know the cure? Not only is it disingenuous to promote cures to desperate people suffering with chronic illness, but it also minimizes the seriousness of these conditions.
For instance, I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and many people believe the cure for this condition is as simple as getting more sleep (and oddly enough, more exercise). Guess what? CFS has nothing to do with how much sleep someone gets, and exercise often exacerbates Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There is no cure for what I have, but the Internet is full of sites that claim to have “sell” the cure. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that there are many alternative modalities of healing that can benefit the symptoms of this disease, but they should not be mistaken for (or touted as) cures.
Anyone who copes with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Fibromyalgia (FM) knows there are people out there with all sorts of theories about what’s wrong with them. We’ve heard it all: You’re just depressed. If you’d exercise more, you’d feel better. The insulting “it’s all in your head.” And on and on.
The worst insult is probably: Everybody gets tired.
We know that! Before we got sick, we just got tired, too.
I’m not the only women suffering with chronic illness that is frustrated by false claims of cures.
Here is a quick video of what it is like to live with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome…
Apparently, I’m the voice of doom because I caution my fellow MSers to be wary of scams touting “cures“ for MS. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been offered the cure for MS, I could retire. Unfortunately, these scams are intended to make a buck off our hope. I don’t mean to rob anyone of hope. In fact, I’m filled with hope at recent medical breakthroughs. I stand by my advice… be wary of cures that land in your email inbox and always perform due diligence.
There is a LOT of information floating around the internet on miracle diet cures – and amazing detoxification methods that will supposedly ‘cure’ multiple sclerosis.
While it may be somewhat exciting and offer some much needed hope for people that live with this disease – I have to be honest and say that some of the things these people are touting are really quite scary and offers a very false sense of hope and expectation. I can assure you that if any one of the people actually had a true and viable cure for this disease – it would have a whole lot more attention than an occasional blip on an internet search engine! Additionally, they would be shouting their findings from the mountain top – eager to share it with everyone they could find – and not charge $29.95 for the ‘e-book’!
Quite honestly (if you can’t tell already) most of these people completely disgust me.
If someone proclaims they have the cure, they would be famous and everyone would be cured. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So…How do you protect yourself from false claims of medical cures? You can start by knowing the signs of false health claims…
To avoid becoming a victim of health fraud, consumers should learn how to evaluate health-related claims.
First, watch out for websites that offer quick and dramatic cures for serious diseases.
Consumers should be wary of statements that the product is a quick and effective cure-all or a diagnostic tool for a wide variety of ailments. For example, “Beneficial in treating cancer, ulcers, prostate problems, hepatitis, heart trouble and more…”
To be safe, avoid products that suggest the product can treat or cure diseases. “Shrinks tumors, cures impotency…”
Question promotions that use words like “scientific breakthrough,” “miraculous cure,” “secret ingredient” and “ancient remedy.”
Have you ever wondered how the foods we choose to eat each day effects our carbon footprint? You might be surprised to find out just how much it does.
But, do we all have to start growing our own food and become vegetarians to save our planet?
No. Even if we just make one or two changes in our eating and purchasing habits, we can each begin to make a positive impact on our environment. So…I’m going to give you several tips on little things we can all do to help us get on the path to greener eating.
Before we do that, lets take some time to address how our food choices are affecting our carbon footprint. Here is an interesting tool to help you calculate the carbon footprint of your diet…
Stalker Diet Detective Ambushes Overweight Women For Reality TV Show
Yes, you heard right. There is a new show on We-TV that has many women (including myself) up in arms – It’s called I Want To Save Your Life. But what could be so bad about a show that wants to save lives? Well, it gives the impression it is a kind of “intervention” type show…but it’s really an attack on women who are overweight.
This show is wrong on so many levels that I barely know where to start. Below is a promo clip of this pathetic excuse for reality tv.
I did happen to see this show last week, and it was quite shocking. I think the worst part about it is how family members (in the case I saw it was the husband), basically “rat out” the women and allow this guy to stalk them and then confront them about their weight and diet on reality tv. I don’t know who is worse, the stalker nutritionist or the husband who rats out his wife?
Kirstie Alley on Oprah Talking About Her Weight Gain
Did you see Kirstie Alley on Oprah? She was on to talk about her weight gain, and her desire to develop her own weight loss program. The interview wasn’t at all what I expected. She talked to Oprah about spending this past year researching weight loss (for her soon to be announced weight loss program), while gaining even more weight than she had lost on Jenny Craig. It was a bit odd.
One of the biggest questions I got from my post on Valerie Bertinelli’s recent weight loss, was about whether or not she will be able to keep it off once she stops the Jenny Craig diet. It seems that if Kirstie Alley is any example, the answer might be no.
What do you think?
I’ve known for a while now that Kirstie Alley had gained back all of the weight she lost on the Jenny Craig diet, and I have no judgment of her about that. After all, most of us spend a good portion of our lives gaining, losing, and gaining again. I’m no exception. I just don’t understand why she didn’t seem to make any attempt at all to maintain her weight loss? Even moving all of her high-end exercise equipment to her garage. Why? She obviously had the means to hire people to cook healthy meals for her, or trainers to work-out with her. Why didn’t she? I think I could understand a little better if she wasn’t also claiming to be developing her own weight loss program. I just don’t get it.
Understanding why we overeat is an important step on the road to making healthy food choices. And for many of us, our unhealthy emotions are contributing to our unhealthy eating.
It’s called being an emotional eater. Are you one of them? I can admit…I am. I think if we are being honest with ourselves, we all do this to some degree. And in small doses, emotional eating isn’t so bad. But many of us have gone way beyond minor emotional eating. Many of us are using food to avoid dealing with our true feelings…and not only doesn’t it work, but it also compounds are troubles with feelings of guilt and anger toward ourselves.
Spring Cleaning and De-Cluttering For Better Health
I should probably have called this post…Do as I say, not as I do. The clutter in my house has gotten totally out of control, and I really do think it affects the way I feel. But I also believe that cleaning out the clutter in our homes (and our lives) is helpful to our overall well being. So I plan on doing some serious spring cleaning and de-cluttering very soon.
I’m going to start by purging my closets of all the clothes that no longer fit or that I haven’t worn in the past year. I try to do that a couple times a year and donate them to our local Goodwill. I’m also planning on having a garage sale in a few weeks to get rid of a lot of stuff cluttering my house and my life.
Do you have any plans for de-cluttering? Do you find the clutter in your home affects your emotional or physical health?
I think if you work hard at it, it is possible to eat healthy at some fast food restaurants. But to do this you also have to find the willpower to see those giant pictures of burgers and fries all around, and still choose to buy the less attractive healthy item. It’s not always easy, and recently it’s become a real problem for me.
After doing well at making healthy food choices and even losing weight, a few weeks ago I fell off the wagon. It’s so bad that I am actually afraid to get on the scale to see the extent of the damage. The crazy thing is, I’m not a fast food junkie (or at least I never was), but something called an Angry Whopper is turning me into a total addict. Seriously, I feel totally out of control. The worst part is, it was just a whim that I even tried this stupid thing in the first place, and every day since I have been wishing I could turn back time and replay that decision.
I really need to get a handle on this, and even though I know it is sooooo bad for me to eat these things, something is just not clicking. Ironically, it was about two years ago that I developed a similar problem with a Natcho Cheese Chalupa at Taco Bell. I think the turning point for me with the Chalupa was when I actually looked up the nutritional value (or lack there of).
If you’re eating, you may want to pass on reading this post until a little later. If you’re easily sicked-out by bugs, you may want to pass on this one altogether.
It seems that infestations of bed bugs are on the rise, so much so that the EPA held a Bed Bug Summit this week. The purpose of the summit was to address the problem and work towards finding a solution.
Do bed bugs pose a health risk to you and your family? Probably not. But it’s gross to think that these things could be in our beds feeding off of our blood before we get up in the morning. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. Bed bugs are not a huge threat to your health, but bites can be irritating and some people may develop allergic reactions to them.
When you go to bed, are the bed bugs biting? If so, it might look like this…
Bed bugs aren’t very big, if you were to see them, they would appear to be very small brown or black specks. But if you could see them close up, they would look like this…
We all know that in order to be healthy (and happy) we need to get enough sleep. But still, most of us either don’t get enough sleep or our quality of sleep is lacking. Let face it, if you’re a mom you probably don’t get enough sleep. If you work you probably don’t get enough sleep. If you worry, you probably don’t get enough sleep. And if you’re a mom who works and also worries, you may have already forgotten what it means to get a good night’s sleep.
I don’t know about you, but I am tired all the time. I guess it doesn’t help that I stay up till all hours of the night doing my blog posts.
Would you like to live to 100 years and beyond? Dr. Oz and other medical experts believe that a calorie restriction diet can help people to live longer with a higher quality of life. The calorie restriction diet also focuses on consuming calories that provide a high nutritional value, not just low calorie.
Many claim that a Calorie Restriction Diet is the answer to living longer. Personally, I don’t get the whole “extreme life extension” thing – It’s just so the opposite of living in the moment and that’s really not for me. And it’s not just a diet, it’s literally a lifestyle, one that I’m just not that into. But I do admit, there are aspects of this lifestyle that could be helpful to anyone interested in making better food choices and generally living healthier.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today, and then I came across this interesting article on how reading can reduce stress. Since I love to read, and I also love anything that can help me reduce stress, I thought this would be a great post for today.
Are you stressed about the economy? Your job? Your kids? Politics? It’s no secret that life is very stressful these days. So…What can we do to reduce stress? Apparently, reading a book is one of the best ways to reduce stress.
Reading is the best way to relax and even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds or 68%.
New research by consultancy Mindlab International at the University of Sussex says reading works better and faster than other methods to calm frazzled nerves such as listening to music, going for a walk or settling down with a cup of tea.
Are you a reader? Does it help you relax and de-stress?
Last week I watched Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond on the Oprah Winfrey Show talking about their personal weight loss success stories, and I found both stories to be very inspirational. As most of you already know, I’ve been struggling with my weight for several years now. And for that reason, I find myself easily able to relate to these two women. After watching that show I felt more motivated then ever to continue eating healthy and losing weight. I don’t think I was alone, but as always, there was also a backlash.
Do you “feel” your age? What’s your age suppose to feel like anyway? I’m not sure how I am suppose to be feeling at forty-something, but I am feeling more and more like I’m “looking” my age.
The thing is…I don’t care enough about how I look to ever go under the knife and have plastic surgery, but I do care enough to wonder about other ways I might be able to maintain a youthful appearance as the years tick by.
Well, several weeks ago (January 1st to be exact), I decided to Google non-surgical face-lifts. Most of what came up on that search were remedies and treatments available at spas and cosmetic surgery offices. But I was really looking for something I could do myself and wouldn’t cost me a fortune to maintain. I ended up becoming interested in a micro-current devise called NuFace.
Just how does microcurrent facial toning work? To understand that, we first need to understand what causes our facial skin to wrinkle and sag. As we age, our muscles become accustomed to certain expressions and tend to “stick” in these positions. A great example of this is the furrow between the eyebrows that many people get. At the same time, other muscles in our face are hardly ever used, and they begin to atrophy, which leads to sagging. An example of this can often be seen around our jaw lines, chins and necks where we tend to develop sagging or loss of definition as we get older.
Microcurrent facial toning machines sends safe, painless impulses to the muscles in your face that help overly-tightened muscles to relax and helps under worked muscles to regain strength. In essence, microcurrent facial toning “re-educates” the facial muscles and restores them back almost to their original shape.
When this happens the visible results are quite dramatic and the face is lifted, firmed and toned back to a much more youthful appearance. At the same time, the microcurrents improve circulation to your face which stimulates production of collagen, improves tone and texture, and improves or eliminates fine lines.
The NuFace seemed very easy to use and compared to the cost of having this type of treatment done at a spa or doctors office, reasonably priced.
So…I contacted a representative at NuFace, and they were kind enough to send me the product to try. I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was very simple to use, there was no discomfort at all, and my face really did feel firmer after the first time I used it. Here are my before and after photos…
The BlogHer 2009 Good Health-A-Thon is coming to an end, but your good health choices can still continue. I hope we’ve been able to help you get on the right track to better health in 2009, I would love to hear how you’ve been doing in comments.
I thought I would take this opportunity to do a little wrap-up of our Good Health-A-Thon…
We started off talking about setting goals. Did you set any? Have you stuck to any of them?
So that’s a quick roundup of BlogHer’s 2009 Good Health A-Thon, you can check out all of the Good Health-A-Thon posts here. Did you have a favorite topic? Did you blog about good health? Are you on your way to better health? Let us know in comments.
Severe depression may silently break a seemingly healthy woman’s heart. Doctors have long known that depression is common after a heart attack or stroke, and worsens those people’s outcomes. Monday, Columbia University researchers reported new evidence that depression can lead to heart disease in the first place.
The scientists tracked 63,000 women from the long-running Nurses’ Health Study between 1992 and 2004. None had signs of heart disease when the study began, but nearly 8 percent had evidence of serious depression.
The depressed women were more than twice as likely to experience sudden cardiac death — death typically caused by an irregular heartbeat, concluded the 12-year study, published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. They also had a smaller increased risk of death from other forms of heart disease.
A strained marriage can lead to heart disease risks for women. A new study show the chances of developing depression, leading to metabolic syndrome and obesity is worse for women in strained marriages than for men. The result is increased heart disease risk for women who are in an unhappy marriage.
When you hear the word “yoga” what do you think of? You may think you know all there is to know about yoga, but there is a good chance that you don’t. Let’s take a look at some of what women are blogging on the topic of yoga.
Do you keep up with your annual checkups? We all know we should, but it’s easy to come up with reasons to avoid them. Instead of ignoring checkups, try understanding why they are so important. Even better, know the right questions you should ask your doctor, and how your doctor should be communicating with you.
I found a great resource by Merck that allows you to pick a topic and then gives you all the questions you should ask your doctor about that topic. It’s called MerckSource…
Going to see the doctor? Even the best physician can’t give you the right answers if you’re not asking the right questions. Our simple, structured, and easy to read “Questions to Ask Your Doctor” section helps put you in control of your healthcare.
All day yesterday there had been speculation about the condition of actress Natasha Richardson, after she suffered a head injury while skiing on Monday. Sadly, her death has been confirmed in a written statement by a spokesperson for her family…
“Liam Neeson, his sons (Micheal, 13, and 12-year-old Daniel), and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” the statement said. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
The statement did not give details on the cause of death for Richardson, who suffered a head injury and fell on a beginner’s trail during a private ski lesson at the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. Seemingly fine after the fall, about an hour later she complained that she didn’t feel well. -read full AP article here
It seems like a no-brainer that the key to weight loss is cutting calories, but many people swear by one diet or another as being best. It turns out that the most important part of any diet is your ability to reduce your calorie intake. This news verifies what I have always believed…The best diet is one that is tailored to you personally. A diet that you can stick to (and possibly enjoy) will make it easier to reduce your calories, and have the most benefits.
If you’re alive, you’re probably addicted to something. What are you addicted to?
So many addictions, so little time. What are you addicted to? Smoking? Coffee? Chocolate? Soda? Sugar? Food? Exercise? Blogging?
I haven’t based this on any scientific study, but it’s my observation that…
If you’re alive, you’re probably addicted to something.
What do you think? Is it just human nature to be addicted? Do you know of anyone who has no addictions in their life? Are some addictions acceptable and others not? Have you replaced one addiction with another? What is your addiction? Is there a 12 step program for it? Do you wish there was?
