Over 15% of adults experience headaches on a daily basis, and a staggering 90% say they get dizzy at least once a week. To most people, this doesn’t come as a surprise, as the burdens of daily life seem to steal some much-needed downtime and rest. However, taking care of your brain health is more important than you might imagine; what is more, ignoring these seemingly harmless symptoms can lead to serious complications, like a stroke. So, how can you tell if you’re having a stroke or just experiencing a routine headache. 

Identifying symptoms of a stroke

At first, one might feel severe pain in a particular part of the brain, followed by:

• Slurred speech

• Weakness in the arms

• Facial paralysis

These 3 signs are a sure giveaway that one is having a stroke, and it’s time to take action. During this period, time is of the essence; the faster one can get medical attention, the smaller the chances are of permanent brain damage. [Read more…]

Meditation is the practice of training your mind. There are many meditation techniques. Some styles are based on concentration of thoughts while others are based on observation of the workings of your mind. Meditation can be used to improve awareness, to help you get a positive outlook and to streamline your sleeping patterns.

Benefits of meditation

Meditation has several health benefits. It is largely popular because of its ability to reduce stress.  Stress may cause depression and increased blood pressure levels. Meditation offers relaxation, which may also reduce the effects of stress and stress-related medical problems.

Meditation may also reduce the effects of anxiety. People who meditate are less likely to experience social anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorders, phobias, panic disorders and generalized anxiety disorders. [Read more…]

Parents constantly worry about their children. The fact that there are so many things out there that can harm children are the main reason that parents worry so much. Ongoing substance abuse, which is more common in teens than most parents want to admit, can cause serious problems if it not promptly treated.

Fortunately, if you recognize the signs of drug use in teens early, then it will be easier for them to get the proper help. While addiction treatment should not be considered the end of the problem, it is the beginning of the end of a teen drug or alcohol problem.

Signs of Teen Drug Use

You may notice physical changes in your teen if they are abusing drugs. They may have dilated pupils, bloodshot eyes, seizures, extreme weight changes, and bad breath. It is also important to note that the type of drug that your teen is using will also determine the physical effects that they experience.

For example, if a teen is using inhalants, then they develop a runny nose. They may also have frequent nosebleeds. Drug abuse can also cause emotional changes. Drugs can change brain chemistry and cause extreme mood swings, lethargy, and anxiety.

Additionally, you may notice social changes in your child. They may withdraw from their family and friends. They may also skip classes and get in trouble at school. [Read more…]

Since the ancient times, people have been taking care of their teeth. Many herbs and pastes were applied that were believed to make the teeth stronger. Guava leaves, wild betel leaves and liquorice root were some examples of plants that were used. Other societies even used bone and stone to clean their teeth. As these were used for chewing and a kind of makeshift weapon, people took great care of it in whatever way they could. There are even some evidences which states that tooth decay was not a very prevalent problem in the ancient world. However, as the society developed and advanced, humans moved slightly away from this and focused a little more on the aesthetic of the teeth. This is where modern dentistry comes in.

Dentistry is one of the oldest branches of science. It was even thought that this was the first medical specialization as evidences of its practice dates back to the birth of humanity itself. Its development, however, was a slow pace. It was not even until around 1700’s when it was fully developed as a medical science. The first school of dentistry was not even established in 1828 by Dr. John M. Harris in Bainbridge, Ohio, USA. Today, many people regard this as a true medical science. There is even a theory that states that improper oral hygiene increases the risk of other non-oral diseases (see why). [Read more…]

Neuropathy is a complicated condition, one that is hard to diagnose, even harder to treat and worst of all, hard to live with. Neuropathy is caused by nerves in your peripheral nervous system getting damaged, the part of our nervous system that is responsible for motor functions and our senses. People who suffer from neuropathy face complications with their senses, with their ability to move around and in most cases, these symptoms are accompanied by agonizing pain.

Neuropathy is commonly thought of as a terminal condition, one that will only worsen with time, doctors and physicians assign a mixture of medication and exercises to patients and help them adjust their lifestyles according to their condition, but all this does is slow down the inevitable decline in one’s physical health. Most people who have been suffering from neuropathy for a long time end up completely giving up on trying to cure themselves, they are hardly ever ready to believe that there are supplements out there that can heal them.

Herbal and vitamin based supplements tend to get a bad name since they are often unable to provide consistent results, however, people often tend to give more weight to the bad reviews and turn a blind eye towards reviews made by users who have benefitted thanks to these supplements. Nerve Renew is an herbal and vitamin based supplement that is designed to strengthen one’s nervous system by providing the body with relevant nourishment and a variety of vitamins that are great for nerve health. [Read more…]

Most people do not think about it, but perfumes are one of those things that we cannot live without. We use these fragrances on a daily basis as we naturally want to smell good throughout the day. However, you may recall a situation wherein you bring in a new scent and tell yourself “no way this smells natural”? Well, that is probably because it isn’t — most perfumes out there in the market are made synthetically using all sorts of chemicals that we can barely pronounce.

The problem with synthetic fragrances

Now you might be thinking — so what if the perfume I am using is not organic? Should it not matter as long as I smell good? What most people do not realize is that synthetic fragrances on the market are loaded with chemical ingredients sourced from a variety of petrochemicals (as high as 95%). The problem with these ingredients is that many of them have been found by recent medical studies to be a contributing factor to a wide range of health problems from allergies, asthma and hormonal imbalance to nerve-related disorders, neurotoxicity, congenital disabilities and even cancer. [Read more…]

By Jillian Payne

More than 1,900 newborns across the state of Pennsylvania were born suffering from drug withdrawal in 2017.¹ The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council recently shared data that looked at each county throughout Pennsylvania and analyzed the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) per 1000 newborns.

Geographically, Western Pennsylvania assumes much of this burden. Allegheny County has a rate of 15.6 per 1,000 babies born with NAS, which is close to the statewide average. Other western counties such as Greene reports 76 babies per 1,000 who are born suffering from withdrawal symptoms.¹

Maternal use of both licit and illicit drugs during pregnancy can result in the newborn experiencing NAS, which occurs when a pregnant women passes a drug addiction to the fetus, who will then experiences withdrawal symptoms upon birth. These babies are most often born prematurely, underweight, and showing signs of respiratory depression, or trouble breathing.

They tend to stay in the hospital five times longer than the average newborn and can be in so much pain that they cannot be touched. Excessive or high-pitched crying, irritability, poor feeding, sleep problems, slow weight gain and seizures are all characteristics of a baby with NAS.² [Read more…]

In 1961, mathematician Edward Norton Lorenz made a discovery that subsequently led to the modern studies of Chaos theory. He found that small differences in a single variable can have profound effects on later history that are impossible to predict. Lorenz used the example of a butterfly flapping its wings, creating tiny changes in the atmosphere that could cause a chain of events and lead to extreme weather conditions elsewhere. This significant breakthrough became known as the “butterfly effect”.

The corollary of the butterfly effect is that tiny alterations in a larger system can make a big difference. When applied to the wider concept of society, it’s easy to see why the butterfly effect is regularly used as a way of galvanizing individuals into taking action for the greater good. Of course, the notion that, as individuals, we are too small to make a difference has been challenged repeatedly throughout history, particularly in the concept often attributed to Gandhi: “be the change you wish to see in the world”.  [Read more…]

By Thomas Handerhan

Marijuana has been extensively covered in the news recently, both nationally, as well as here in Pennsylvania. Currently, nine states (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts) have legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older.

Sales of medical marijuana in the U.S. were estimated to be around $3 billion in 2017 and are expected to rise.¹ States like Pennsylvania (and 28 others, as of current date) have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons, with different guidelines in each jurisdiction. February 15th, 2018, marked the opening of the Commonwealth’s first medical marijuana dispensary. In an effort to ease public confusion, it is important to understand the legalities around these dispensaries and the patient process of receiving medical marijuana. Notably, this article is not a discussion of the pros/cons of marijuana.

The first question that comes to many people’s minds is, “Is medical marijuana really legal?”. The answer is a bit nuanced. In Pennsylvania, the Medical Marijuana Program (Act 16 of 2016) was signed into law in on April 17th, 2016, but from the federal perspective, marijuana is still technically illegal, with prohibition stemming back approximately 80 years. Therefore, in the Commonwealth, patients possessing and using medical marijuana, as well as the prescribing doctor, grower and dispensers run the risk of federal civil and criminal penalties. [Read more…]