Healthy Update is a bi-monthly electronic newsletter from HealthWorld Online providing you the latest information, news and resources from the world of natural health. All summaries in Healthy Update link to full articles or expanded resources and services in HealthWorld Online: http://www.healthy.net

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Play Away Your Stress! HealthWorld Online Launches Rainbow Stress Reduction
Would you like to be able to "play your stress away" and enjoy more "peace of mind?" If so, the games in the new online version of Rainbow Stress Reduction is just for you. These interactive games developed by HealthWorld Online from the award-winning book, Rainbow Stress Reduction: Play Your Stress Away with Colorful Healing Art and Stress Reducing Games by Venu. The games can awaken your sense of self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-love, thereby contributing to a sense of well-being, inner peace and peace of mind.

The playful stress-reducing games and colorful healing visionary art capture the magic and essence of your own ability to play your stress away. Rainbow Stress Reduction shows you how to play with color, sound, breath, visualization and meditation to balance the energy centers/chakras in your body and to help reduce your level of stress. These tools help stimulate your own personal healing process, allowing you to transform your stress into creativity and love. Come online and play!

Doctors Can Learn From Alternative Practitioners
In a fascinating commentary from Medical Tribune News Service, Dr. Eric Anderson explains how and why conventional doctors can learn from "alternative" practitioners.

"Maybe we need to look at those "healers," and compare them to today's harassed physicians. How do they differ from us?", inquires Anderson. "Well for one thing they're upbeat. They're not grumbling about their accounts receivable or whining all the time about managed care. Yet, they're not grinning like Cheshire cats just because their patients pay promptly--and with a smile. They're enjoying their work for other reasons. It's fun. They feel like explorers re-discovering the Old World--and they usually take the time to make their patients ship mates."

"In many situations, if patients are cared for by alternative practitioners anxious to prove the validity of their services--with more sympathy, patient involvement and "style" than what patients get from today's stressed out, running scared doctors--it shouldn't be a surprise to find patients without critical illness bailing out from orthodox medicine."

Breast-Feeding May Boost Academic Performance
New research offers more support for breast-feeding: teenagers who were breast-fed for at least eight months during infancy tended to perform better academically than other adolescents. Of more than 1,000 teens studied, those who were breast-fed the longest scored highest on standardized tests and I.Q. exams, researchers reported in the January edition of Pediatrics electronic pages, the on-line version of the journal Pediatrics.

Classic Introduction to Chinese Medicine Now Online in HealthWorld
A classic introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) from two pioneers of TCM in America, Harriet Beinfield,L.Ac. & Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., authors of the bestselling book, Between Heaven And Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine, is now available in HealthWorld Online. In Chinese Medicine: How it Works, Benfield and Korngold describe the basic mindset of Chinese medicine and how it differs from Western medicine, body constituents and organ networks according to Chinese medicine, as well as diagnosis and treatment in Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbal medicine. A clear an incisive introduction to anyone desiring to better understand this traditional healing art.

Dr. Galland's Integrated Medicine
Fibre is the term that describes remnants of plant cells that are resistant to human digestion. The usual sources are vegetables, cereals, bread, nuts, seeds and fruits. Although medical researchers have been recommending high fibre diets for about twenty years, and sales of metamucil and other bulk laxatives have gone up, there has been no significant increase in fibre consumption from food and the fibre intake of Americans is far below recommended levels. This is unfortunate, because the fibre found in food is far more complex than the purified powders sold in drug stores. In this column Understanding Dietary Fibre, Dr. Galland discusses the need for both soluble and insoluble fibre in the diet and that the best source is from foods.

News from the Village

Children's Health Update
An allergy is a hypersensitive reaction to a normally harmless substance. About one in every six children in the United States is allergic to one or more substances. There are a variety of substances, termed allergens, that may trouble your child. Common allergens include pollen, animal dander, house dust, feathers, mites, chemicals, and a variety of foods. Food allergies can contribute to chronic health problems, such as acne, asthma, bedwetting, diarrhea, ear infections, eczema, fatigue, hay fever, headache, irritability, chronic runny nose, and even difficulty maintaining concentration (attention deficit disorder, or hyperactivity). The most common foods that cause allergic reactions in children are wheat, milk and other dairy products, eggs, fish and seafood, chocolate, citrus fruits, soy products, corn, nuts, and berries. Many children also are allergic to sulfites, which are found in some frozen foods and dried fruits, as well as in medications

In her article "Food Allergies," excerpted from her book, Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child, Dr. Janet Zand outlines a comprehensive program for helping to deal with your child's food allergies, including guidelines for conventional treatment, as well as dietary guidelines, recommended nutritional supplements, herbs, and homeopathic remedies.

Women's Health Update
The word anxiety means "a state of being uneasy, apprehensive, or worried about what may happen." It is also described as a "feeling of being powerless and unable to cope with threatening events . . . [characterized] by physical tension." Though this is a dictionary definition, it certainly fits the way that many women feel about their lives today. According to Dr. Susan Lark, the frequency with which women feel anxiety is reflected in her medical practice: Her patients complain about anxiety and other emotional symptoms more than anything else, whether they are seeking help for primarily psychological or physical ailments. In her article What is Anxiety?, excerpted from her Anxiety & Stress Self Help Book Dr. Lark discusses the emotions and physiology of anxiety, the common causes of anxiety, types of anxiety disorder, risk factors,as well as anxiety due to endocrine and immune system imbalances or cardiovascular disorders.

Fitness Update
The benefits of flexibility are rarely disputed. After all, most of us need to be more flexible--or at least as flextime as we can be within our genetic limitations. If we are at our optimum flexibility, we are less prone to suffer an injury when pushing our physical limitations, such as on the volleyball or basketball court or, more specifically, at a burning structure.

So, pushing for maximum flexibility should be our constant goal, right? Not necessarily. There is a particular period of time when attempting to train our muscle tissue for maximum elongation can be a bad idea. This time generally consists of the first 24 to 72 hours following muscular or tendonous trauma. In his article When Not to Stretch, fitness trainer and exercise physiologist Greg Welch M.S., ATC, explains when stretching may be detrimental to athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

Natural Medicine Research Update with Ray Sahelian, M.D.
As we all know, our heart rate and blood pressure are generally reduced throughout the night when we are in a deep sleep. There are probably multiple factors involved in slowing down our metabolism but it appears that melatonin may play a role. In this Natural Medicine Research Update, The Influence of Melatonin on the Cardiovascular System, we learn of a study conducted at the University of Cagliari in Italy, demonstrated that the administration of melatonin reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as heart rate within 90 minutes, in comparison to those who received a placebo.

New Releases in our Bookstore
Pioneering physicist Russell Targ and spiritual healer Jane Katra examine how our mind’s ability to transcend the limits of space and time is linked to our capacity for healing in their new book Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and Spiritual Healing, an inspiring exploration of the mind’s power.

The authors’ fascinating collaboration began when Dr. Katra helped Targ - a leading scientist in the investigation of psychic abilities - cure himself of what was diagnosed as metastatic cancer. From this beginning, the authors weave together compelling scientific evidence, ancient spiritual teachings, and dramatic personal stories - from witnessing mysterious folk healers in the Philippines to performing psychic experiments between Moscow and San Francisco - while exploring the potential of our "nonlocal" mind. The authors combine the perspectives of physicist and mystic to reveal the fascinating possibilities for mind-to-mind connections in a "community of spirit." Their conclusions are startling, exciting, and offer hope for the future - for scientists, healers, and general readers alike.

Global Health Calendar -- Hot Picks
"From Pushing the Envelope, To Embracing the Gentle Edge: Five Day Down Hill Skiing & Body Wisdom Seminar with Christiane Northrup, M.D. (a former reluctant skier) & her sister, Penny Kirk, Alpine Ski Champion", Steamboat Springs, CO USA, March 15-19, 1998. Contact: Full Circle - (970) 870-3473

Association Network -- Hot Pick
The California Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CAAOM) is a professional organization of Licensed Acupuncturists and supporters of Oriental Medicine dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the practice of Oriental Medicine in a caring and ethical manner in order to enhance the health and well-being of the general public.

Visit California Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

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