Pepto Bismol and Ulcers - h. pylori

According to Dr. Oz, "that pink stuff", Pepto Bismol, is good for ulcers because it kills the bacteria h. pylori. Pepto was used for years and years and it had doctors stumped, since it had nothing in it to help ulcers. It was finally discovered that it actually kills the bacteria, h pylori, that causes some ulcers.

Poison Ivy - home remedy

Sometimes my posts are precipitated by cleaning up my office or kitchen table and finding scraps pf paper with notes on them. This blog really gives me a good place to file notes. Today I found a note that said "Baking soda and white vinegar - Poison Ivy". I think what it meant was a a good remedy for poison ivy is, making paste of baking soda and white vinegar and putting it on poison ivy. I believe this is something I heard when watching NCIS. I'm happy to say, I have yet to try it. I'm hoping I never get to find out if it really works. However, if you've tried it, please comment and let me know.

Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy - Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers - thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I can't even express how thankful I am that Suzanne has been on a crusade to help menopausal women everywhere to understand what is going on with our bodies and what we need to do to get our lives back.

I happened to be watching Good Morning America and saw an ad that Suzanne Somers would be on Oprah talking about Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) and how it changed her life. After begging doctors for over a year to help me feel better without any success, I realized I'd better set my alarm so I wouldn't miss this. It changed my life. Watching Suzanne, I couldn't believe how I felt she was talking about me rather than herself. It took several months to get an appointment with a doctor to get the prescription (because not all doctors understand it and many think it's a bunch of crap).

Oprah has a synopsis of the show here: http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20090128_tows_suzannesomers

I think we've been misled to believe we are supposed to have hot flashes, memory problems, etc. NOT TRUE! Think about it...does it really make sense that our lives should be over at 50??? Check out the adrenal glands and what their function is. They should be taking over when we hit menopause to supply the necessary hormones. Stress can cause our adrenal glands to not work properly. Ever wonder why some women can't understand what the big deal is about menopause and say, "I didn't have any problems." That is more than likely because their bodies are functioning properly (the adrenal glands are working properly).

If our thyroid is not making enough thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), we gladly take a supplement - synthetic or natural. If the urinary tract is not working properly because of an infection we gladly take an antibiotic. If something, like the adrenal glands, isn't working correctly, why wouldn't we fix the problem if we have that option rather than letting a doctor convince us we just need anti-depressants?

I must wonder if the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) actually did us a disservice and left us with misleading information. Their study, as I understand it, included only synthetic hormones, not non-synthetic hormones such as bio-identical hormones.

This comes from the article on Oprah's site from the show with Suzanne Somers, "According to news reports, two of the main reasons doctors are hesitant to prescribe bio identical hormones are the lack of long-term studies about their safety and inconsistencies with how some of these hormones are made." Here's my question, "WHY HASN'T ANYONE DONE A LONG-TERM STUDY?!!!" Yes that was me yelling! Is it because bio-identicals can not be patented and there is less money to make on them? Because if one company does a study all pharmaceuticals will benefit?

I know I don't have enough money to fund a study, though I'd be happy to be included in one. I think I do know one woman who has plenty of money to fund a study. Did someone say Oprah?

Get as much information on bio-identical hormone replacement as possible - I'm glad I did!!! And Suzanne, thanks again!

Whole Grains

It seems there is a minconception about whole grains. Talk to anyone and they seem to think bagels are healthy to eat if they are called "made from multi-grain or made from whole grain". The healthy choice is to eat whole grains, NOT things that are made from whole grains and probably contain trace amounts of "whole grains". White flour, even though it has very little or no nutritional value, is made from whole grain.

I recently learned the difference between rolled and steel cut oats. I also learned rolled oats are not a whole grain. All these years I've thought they were. Steel cut oats are a whole grain. Rolled oats literally are rolled, which allows for the removal of the bran. I think if you eat rolled oats and oat bran it might equal a whole grain.

Hot Flashes and Menopause

I've long heard black cohosh is the answer to hot flashes. I had even used it myself and found it very helpful (along with LOTS of other nutritional supplements). I had never heard, however, of cimifuga. According to Dr. Mark Stengler, cimifuga is a Native American herb that has been used for hundreds of years and has been proven effective on not just hot flashes, but depression and insomnia. I'm using bio-identical hormone replacement therapy so I won't be trying this. I hope if you have tried it, you will leave a comment (either good or bad).