Health Education Information

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, and numerous other sources, chronic inflammation is caused by an immune system that has run amok, and it leads to a host of illnesses and diseases. These include Alzheimer's, diabetes, and heart disease, to name a few of the usual suspects.

There is no hard and fast proof of this, but there is apparently enough evidence to convene a grand jury of health researchers. This evidence has researchers advising us to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, exercise, and reduce fat deposits that pump out the chemicals that drive the inflammation. Gee, eat right and exercise. Where have I heard this before?

In instances of an injury or wound or bug bite, inflammation is a good thing. It's what causes redness, swelling, and heat to surround the affected area. It's the body trying to heal itself.

There are many reasons for itching. Something is irritating your skin. It could be something you came in contact with or some waste product or toxin trying to work its way out of your body. There could be an infection in the skin. Many people itch when they get too stressed out or worn down. In response to such skin stressors your mast cells may release histamine (an irritant chemical), that magnifies the itching response. Maybe your immune system has gotten riled up, and IgE antibodies are locking in some sort of inflammatory skin problem that itches. Researchers have now identified an itch-specific gene signal in your spinal cord, and without it you don’t feel itching regardless of the irritant. Interestingly, too much of this gene signal is involved with cancer.

This is important health information for you. Sleep is one of the most important activities we can do each day. Yet, for many of us, there are times when sleep is elusive, just out of reach, either because we have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, tossing and turning or restless. Fortunately, there are simple techniques that we can incorporate in a daily routine to promote sleep.

While home remedies, habits and the set up of our bedrooms can be useful for promoting sleep, if you or someone you know as persistent insomnia, it is important to see your healthcare provider, as some serious conditions can affect sleep and it is important to rule out any complicating factors. For example, if someone has sleep apnea, a condition or situation where a person actually repeatedly stops breathing during the night, and the multiple occasions of breathlessness actually cause wakefulness. Someone with sleep apnea may rise in the morning feeling as though they haven’t had any sleep at all—even after lying in bed all night—due to the incessant periods of loss of breath that jars a person awake. Being overweight is one of the risk factors that can exacerbate sleep apnea.