Natural Health and Herbal Remedies Blog – information on herbal medicine

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. More than 400,000 deaths every year (in fact, about 1,200 per day) in the United States are attributed to smoking. At least one-third of these are related to cardiovascular disease. Smoking kills more people each year than AIDS, alcohol (including drunk driving), cocaine, other forms of drug abuse, and accidents combined. Indeed, almost 20 percent of all deaths in the United States are related to smoking, according to the Surgeon General.The toll of this human tragedy is compounded by the immense expense borne by all members of society, smokers and nonsmokers alike, in terms of higher health insurance costs, lower productivity, and higher taxes. Analysis has shown that the cost to each American—every man, woman, and child, whether they smoke or not—is $221 to cover the consequences of smoking in terms of increased health care and insurance and lost productivity. A national financial burden of $37 billion to $50 billion per year suggests that the incentive to reduce tobacco use should be very high on an individual and national basis.*228\252\8*

Sometimes clotting of blood (thrombosis) inside an artery results in a blockage. A blood clot that forms and stays at its place of origin inside a blood vessel (or the heart) is called a thrombus. A thrombus can partially or totally obstruct the artery and prevent sufficient blood flow.When a blood clot forms in one place but breaks off and travels through the blood vessels to another point in the circulation where it lodges, the resulting problem is referred to as thromboembolism. The actual blood clot is a thromboembolus. A thromboembolus is often referred to simply as an embolus. Emboli can also originate from cancer cells in the circulation (septic emboli), from cancer cells that enter the circulation (tumor emboli), or from fat cells that enter the bloodstream, especially after major bone fractures (fat emboli).A sudden blockage (occlusion)) may occur when an embolus lodges in one of your arteries. Blood clots can originate from the chambers of the heart or can develop in large arteries and lodge in smaller arteries after they break loose. This process often occurs where arteries branch or divide.*193\252\8*

Normal sexual responses to a gynecological cancer include:•    Post-treatment obsession with body image and self- acceptance as a sexual being•    Inability-to accept that the surgical scar is a badge of ‘survival•    Concern that you will never have another orgasm. You will – all orgasms start in the mind!•    Difficulties in discussing intimacy and other issues with your partner•    Grieving over loss of fertility•    Extreme tiredness and loss of interest in sex in the early stages, and even after treatment•    Pain with penetrative intercourse, especially after surgery and radiation . . . medication and lubricants can help overcome this•    Early onset of menopause•   Anxiety over resuming sex, or discussing sexual concerns•    Fear of infection especially with decreased blood counts•    Fear of pain•    Fear that having intercourse will flare up cervical cancer, because symptoms often first appear with intercourse.Most concerns resolve themselves with time, patience, understanding, open honest communication and sometimes medical and psychological intervention.These concerns become abnormal when it creates depression and an inability to resume intimate activities of any type. Make sure you talk with your doctor right from the start.*36/144/5*