HALLELUJAH FINALLY IT'S SINKING IN WHAT AGES A WOMAN'S SKIN

Hallelujah haven't I been saying this for years.


THIS ISN'T A CONVENTIONAL BEAUTY BLOG SO I AM NOT GOING INTO PRODUCTS OR EVEN ROUTINES BUT RATHER TACKLING THE INNER CORE AND DEALING WITH THE REAL CAUSES OF SKIN DAMAGE

THE BASICS: UNDERSTANDING HOW THE ENVIRONMENT AND STRESS AFFECTS THE SKIN

Under the 'Stress section' I talked about how stress hormones such as Adrenalin and Cortisone affect the skin, if you recall Adrenalin reduces the nourishment delivered by the blood stream by directing the blood flow away from the extremities to the heart, lungs and muscles, so the skin and hair wont be so well nourished. Cortisone damages the fibrocytes, these are specialised cells within the Dermis that produce collagen and elastin and it is collagen and elastin that provides support and elasticity within the skin, akin to the foam and springs in a mattress. When we are young our skin is plump and elastic but through use from normal facial movements, the downward pull of gravity, the collagen and elastin tends to bunch together just like the stuffing in a well used mattress. Now if we undergo stress for a considerable period as these fibrocytes become damaged due to the action of Cortisol so the skin will loose its support structure, its elasticity will suffer and it wont spring back to shape like it used to, like spent elastic. Cell renewal will suffer due to the reduced blood supply there wont be adequate nourishment and the skin will take on a greyer pallor and it will loose its healthy rosy glow.

Now there is another aspect to this equation, the action of Ultra Violet Light from the sun and of course sunbeds. The sun produces three types of UV Light UVA UVB and UVC. The Earth's ozone layer blocks 97-99% of this UV radiation from penetrating through the atmosphere. Of the ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth's surface, 98.7% is UVA (UVC and more energetic radiation is responsible for the generation of the ozone layer, and formation of the ozone there). Now I don't want to get to technical here and want to focus on UVA and UVB. UVB can only penetrate down through the skin to the dermis and is responsible for burning but UVA is able to penetrate down through the dermis and like Cortisol damages the Fibrocytes, those little cells that plump up our skin and give it elasticity.

One of the best places on our bodies to see the affects of gravity and demishing collagen and elastin especially on women is on the thighs often referred to as 'Cellulite'.

Because we are composed of 70% water, water is an important component of the skin, therefore it important we drink adequate water to keep ourselves hydrated. Don't wait until you feel thirsty before you reach for that drink, it is much better to sip water at regular intervals as we are constantly loosing water through bodily processes.


THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL, SMOKING AND DRUGS ON THE SKIN



TYPICAL SMOKERS SKIN (NOTE THE PURSE LINES)

Everything in moderation is something to bear in mind when it comes to food and drink and that includes alcohol, but alcohol is a toxin and the liver has to work hard to break it down. The occasional drink is not going to have too much effect on the skin but it does cause the peripheral circulation to dilate and one of the characteristic signs of too much alcohol is the appearance of broken capillaries across the face, There are other causes of broken capillaries, sometimes, it's hereditary but often caused by sudden changes in temperature i.e. going from very warm central heated homes to going outdoors without protecting the skin or driving in cars with the heater blasting against the face. Squeezing spots is another cause. Too much alcohol is a depressant too, so you may feel rather jolly at the time but you are sure to come back down to earth with a bump.

Many common prescribed drugs have an effect on the skin its something to be aware of many drugs such as diuretics will cause a loss of moisture so forewarned you take extra care to apply a good moisturiser to help counteract this effect.

Recreational drugs obviously will have an effect on the skin too with many of them toxic to the body and anything that diverts the body to spend time detoxifying obviously takes energy away from repairing and maintaining the body. This is not a blog that discusses drugs I am sure readers will already know the dangers of such substances.



HEALTHY LUNGS


Smoking is one of the worst abuses you can do to your body, firstly because of its direct effect affect on the lungs, it impairs the uptake and absorption of oxygen and of course all cells in the body require oxygen in order to function normally. The nicotine as well as being addictive is a powerful vasoconstrictor therefore it reduces blood flow to the peripheral circulation so the skin and hair are going to suffer. So as well as impairing oxygen uptake and reducing blood flow to the skin, the body is also having to use its resources dealing with all the toxins also inhaled. Poorly nourished skin means it cannot repair itself adequately. Smoking also leads to more wrinkling, those little purse string lines around the mouth and crows feet caused by the smoke further research has proven that smoking causes the skin to age ten years.


ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MAIL BELOW

How sunbeds, smoking and not eating enough fruit can age a woman's skin by TEN YEARS

• 'Lifestyle choices' account for 33 per cent of how old a woman looks
• Researchers carried out study on 585 woman in UK, China and Spain
• Team asked women a series of questions about their lifestyles

A new study has found lifestyle choices can account for as much as 33 per cent of how old a woman looks

Living an unhealthy lifestyle can age a woman’s skin by over ten years, an in-depth international study has revealed.
The true damage caused by sun beds, smoking and a lack of fruit and moisturisation in accelerating the ageing process emerged following research on 585 women in the UK, China and Spain.
The study, published yesterday, showed the factors influencing their skin were the same even taking into account the backgrounds and skin type of the women involved.
It also emerged 'lifestyle choices' often account for as much as 33 per cent of how old a woman looks.
Dr Andrew Mayes, who led the study for Simple skincare, said: 'We already knew genetics accounted for about 50 per cent of how old people look, but we didn’t know how much would be accounted for by their lifestyles.
'Even we were surprised by just how much it was; both in terms of the number of years and the percentage.'
The study which was carried out over the last eight years involved women aged 45 to 75 in the UK, 30 to 70 in Spain and 25 to 70 in China.
Study sites with controlled laboratory conditions were established in Bedford in the UK, Madrid in Spain and Shanghai in China.
Those who took part were asked a string of questions about their lifestyles including whether or not they liked to sun tan and if they were smokers or non-smokers.
Other questions included how often the women moisturised, whether they eat fruit and veg, whether they brush their teeth and if they have all their own teeth.
The research team also took digital images of the women which were then assessed for how old they looked to identify their perceived age and whether they looked younger or older than their actual age.

The study, which was carried out over the last eight years, asked women questions about their lifestyle, including whether or not they smoked

Those taking part in the research were also asked whether or not they liked to sun tan and how often they moisturised

The research team, led by Dr Mayes, then compared the perceived ages of those with good versus bad lifestyles.
They concluded the difference was 10.4 years.

'We already knew genetics accounted for about 50 per cent of how old people look, but we didn’t know how much would be accounted for by their lifestyles'
- Dr Andrew Mayes

Dr Mayes added: 'The number of years' difference was most staggering - we had just seen some data out of a group of plastic surgeons in the US and Canada suggesting that a face and neck lift (together with eyelid and forehead modifications) could take an average of about 8.5 years off your facial age.
'Then we got our data through demonstrating a saving of over 10 years. It’s fair to say at first we couldn’t quite believe it.
'But the evidence was there in front of us - women with a healthy lifestyle looked much younger than those with an unhealthy lifestyle.
'Simply put; good skin health is about more than fancy creams and lotions - it’s about how we live our lives and how we treat our bodies and the steps we need to take do not need to be extreme.
'They can be small and steady and the effects will be seen over time without the need for plastic surgery.'

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LEECH THERAPY

Since this is a holistic website I thought I would post this article from the Daily Mail. 

The European medical leech Hirudo medicinalis and some congeners, as well as some other species, have been used for clinical bloodletting for thousands of years. The use of leeches in medicine dates as far back as 2,500 years ago, when they were used for bloodletting in ancient India. Leech therapy is explained in ancient Ayurvedic texts. Many ancient civilizations practiced bloodletting, including Indian and Greek civilizations. In ancient Greek history, bloodletting was practiced according to the humoral theory, which proposed that, when the four humors, blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile in the human body were in balance, good health was guaranteed. An imbalance in the proportions of these humors was believed to be the cause of ill health. Records of this theory were found in the Greek philosopher Hippocrates' collection in the fifth century BC. Bloodletting using leeches was one method used by physicians to balance the humors and to rid the body of the plethora.

The use of leeches in modern medicine made its comeback in the 1980s after years of decline, with the advent of microsurgeries, such as plastic and reconstructive surgeries. In operations such as these, problematic venous congestion can arise due to inefficient venous drainage. Sometimes, because of the technical difficulties in forming an anastomosis of a vein, no attempt is made to reattach a venous supply to a flap at all. This condition is known as venous insufficiency. If this congestion is not cleared up quickly, the blood will clot, arteries that bring the tissues their necessary nourishment will become plugged, and the tissues will die. To prevent this, leeches are applied to a congested flap, and a certain amount of excess blood is consumed before the leech falls away. The wound will also continue to bleed for a while due to the anticoagulant hirudin in the leeches' saliva. The combined effect is to reduce the swelling in the tissues and to promote healing by allowing fresh, oxygenated blood to reach the area.

The active anticoagulant component of leech saliva is a small protein, hirudin. Discovery and isolation of this protein led to a method of producing it by recombinant technology. Recombinant hirudin is available to physicians as an intravenous anticoagulant preparation for injection, particularly useful for patients who are allergic to or cannot tolerate heparin.

Gruesome, medieval and utterly bizarre... but leeches freed me from awful migraines

• Writer Emma Parker Bowles cures her headaches with leeches
• Leech therapy, or hirudotherapy, involves having leeches such your blood
• Leeches have been used for medicinal purposes for over 3,000 year

This sucks: Emma Parker Bowles tries leech therapy in the hope that it will cure her migranes

They undulate through the water in their glass bowl, the shiny black shapes glinting as they catch the light. 

And when I peer closely at the leeches, I am sure they writhe and wriggle faster – excited as they sense me, their next meal. 

These bloodsuckers are about to be put on my face.

Their ‘keeper’, Alicja Kolyszko, puts her tweezers in the water to catch one.

‘They are very hungry,’ she says in her jolly Eastern European accent. ‘You are going to be their last supper!’

I am drawn to things dark and gruesome. And it doesn’t get much more gruesome than having bloodsuckers attached to your personage.

Dear Lord, what have I let myself in for?

As Alicja advances towards me, with a long black slimy creature wriggling in the grip of her tweezers, I remind myself just how bad my migraines are, and how I would go to any lengths to get rid of them.

The word headache doesn’t even begin to describe them – as the eight million Britons who suffer from migraines will no doubt agree. 

Migraines are miserable with bells on – actually, the idea of listening to the sound of a bell with a migraine brings me out in a sweat. When I am suffering with one, I can’t even stand the sound of my sheets rustling.

Apart from the intense throbbing, all-encompassing pain in my head, I also feel extremely nauseous and sensitive to light. I feel as if I am a vampire – a small sliver of daylight and POOF: I will spontaneously combust.

But don’t just take my word for it: severe migraine attacks are classified by the World Health Organisation as among the most disabling illnesses, comparable to dementia, quadriplegia and psychosis.

I had my first migraine at boarding school when I was 15. It was a hot summer, and when the school gardener got going with his lawnmower outside my window, I literally wanted to die.

Oddly, I didn’t have another one until my 20s and since then they have struck sporadically – I could go for six months without suffering, then there would be a whole week of agony.

Say hello to my little friend: ¿Hirudotherapist¿ Alicja shows Emma the leeches which are about to be places on her face to feast on her blood

Some find there are triggers: hormonal cycles, stress, red wine. But mine hit me without rhyme or reason.

Which is why I decided to give leech therapy, or hirudotherapy – to give the treatment its correct medical term – a go.

As a believer in alternative medicine, I wanted to try something natural and holistic that didn’t involve days spent downing industrial-strength analgesics.

I remembered reading about Demi Moore having leech therapy at a clinic in Austria last year. The actress had the treatment to ‘detoxify her blood’ as part of an alternative beauty therapy. 

‘I have always been somebody looking for the cutting edge of things that are optimising your health and healing,’ she said afterwards. If it’s good enough for Demi, it’s good enough for me, I thought.

Living in Los Angeles now, I have seen Demi in the flesh. Up close, believe it or not, she is a natural beauty, very un-Hollywood. No fillers or collagen that I could detect.

So if the leeches could do things for my appearance as well as my health, then all the better.

And before you put me and Demi in a box marked ‘Complete loons’, it seems modern medicine is also looking to this rather medieval practice as a solution for a host of ailments.

Vampire weekend: Alicija careful places the leaches on Emma's face to start the migrane treatment

In the 1980s, leeches began to be used by reconstructive plastic surgeons needing to remove stagnant blood from reattached limbs, to stave off gangrene.

But now there are numerous studies into medical uses for leeches. One found that a single session of leeching – the medical application of bloodsucking leeches – can significantly reduce knee pain caused by arthritis for at least two months.

Researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany claimed improvement levels were comparable to those achieved with daily moderate doses of painkillers such as ibuprofen. And before you say you’d probably rather pop a pill, consider the damage regularly taking painkillers can do to the stomach.

AT THE BLEEDING EDGE OF MEDICINE - FOR 3,000 YEARS

Bloodletting is the withdrawal  of quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease.

Evidence of the practice dates back 3,000 years to Ancient Egypt. It was widespread in mid-19th Century Britain, when six million leeches were imported each year for this purpose.

Though doctors recommended it – fevers, apoplexy and headaches were thought to be caused by ‘too much blood’ – barbers carried out the procedure. 

Leeches – parasitic worms that feed on blood – were used as an alternative to just cutting the patient’s arm to release blood.

The withdrawal of enough blood to induce syncope (fainting) was considered beneficial, and many sessions would end only when the patient began to swoon.

Bloodletting was discredited at the end of the 19th Century as doctors felt it left patients weak and prone to infection, but it has had a recent resurgence, with a wave of celebrities trying it.

Another clinical trial at the university is investigating whether nerve pain caused by shingles could also be remedied by leeching.

The secret is in the leeches’ saliva: it apparently contains a large number of analgesic, anaesthetic, and blood-thinning compounds that tackle pain and inflammation, say the researchers.

Google led me to Alicja, a Russian/Polish hirudotherapist with ten years’ experience. She is based in Las Vegas and New York but she has clients from all around the world.

Her passion for natural medicine goes back to her childhood in 1960s Poland, where leeches were used as a popular ‘country healing method’ to cure various health problems. 

Back then, Kolyszko reminisces, leeches were sold at many pharmacies. Her grandmother would bring one home whenever any family member got sick, pop it on for an hour, and everything would be better.

I called her and within five minutes I was swept away by her passion for leeches, or ‘black pearls’, as she describes them.

These aren’t your common-or- garden leeches (there are more than 700 species that live wild in freshwater and marine environments – one once attached itself to my buttock while I was bathing in the Mekong river in Cambodia). 

Medicinal leeches are specially cultivated in a sterile environment. The largest leech farm in the world – Biopharm in Hendy, South Wales – was established in 1812, moving to its current base in 1984.

Alicja has treated people with all sorts of conditions and illnesses, from infertility to heart conditions to alopecia, and even runs a hirudotherapy training school.

She says the secretions from leeches’ saliva can be used to treat the entire spectrum of physiology: blood-clotting, digestion, connective tissue, disease, pain, inhibition of enzymes, and as a treatment for inflammation.

Go with the flow: An illustration showing a doctor performing bloodletting on a man

Armed with this information, and her assurance that she had helped many migraine patients live pain-free, I find myself reclining on my living-room sofa waiting for a leech to bite into me for the first time. It is – how can I put it politely? – an unusual experience.

For a start, when they sense (I am told, smell) flesh, they wiggle and crane their heads toward you. But the worst part is the anticipation. It’s like getting an injection – the sensible thing is not to look at the needle, though I find it impossible not to. And so it is with the wriggling leech.

Just before it bit into me, I could feel its cold and slimy body against my temple. But once it actually did, I was relieved that it felt like no more than a mild sting – the leech secretes an anaesthetic that numbs the skin, otherwise the pain would be unbearable. Botox is a million times worse.

Once Alicja is sure the leech has got to work, then it’s time for the next one, and the one after that, until you have four attached to you. You can definitely feel them working – it is a mild tugging sensation.

I know this sounds extraordinary, but I felt incredibly relaxed. The treatment takes about 40 minutes, until the leech is full and falls off, leaving a mark in the shape of a peace sign. They swell to about four times their normal size, as they become gorged with blood.

Once the leeches have done their job, Alicja sends them off to leech heaven by putting them in alcohol (she says it upsets her every time) as reusing them would risk cross-infections. The few hours after the treatment are not for the squeamish – as you do continue to bleed. The next day, I felt exhausted but wonderful. Within a few days, the wounds scab and disappear.

To get the most out of hirudotherapy, you need about three sessions within weeks of each other. I have not had a migraine since that first session. More than that, I feel rejuvenated.

Leeches really are miracle workers. I am a total convert.

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WORTH TRYING! IF PROBIOTICS CAN POSSIBLY HELP DEPRESSION

Anything that might help this debilitating problem is definitely worth trying and I can see how possibly this might work. In holistic terms the body works as a whole, for too long orthodox medicine has pigeon holed ailments and for certain complaints, particularly  chronic ones this has not effected a cure. Interesting study and I would like to see further research on this.

Could eating yoghurt help treat depression? Study finds probiotics affect areas of the brain related to emotions and reasoning

• U.S. researchers found that eating yoghurt twice daily reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and pain
• But there was increased activity in areas associated with decision-making
• Mechanisms behind changes are unclear but it is clear that gut bacteria send signals to the brain that can change over time depending on diet
• Scientists hope that a probiotic therapy may one day be available for  conditions including anxiety, depression and even autism and Alzheimer's
• 
  

Probiotics found in natural yogurt could help boost a person’s mood because they affect brain function, according to new research.

Previous studies had shown that beneficial bacteria affected the brains of rats but no research has confirmed that the same occurred in human brains.

The study found that those who ate probiotic yoghurt twice daily for a month showed altered brain function, both in resting brain activity and in response to an 'emotional attention task', which was designed to monitor how the brain responded to certain emotions.

Dairy goodness: Scientists discovered that eating probiotic yogurt twice a day for a month reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and pain

It has been known for some time that symbiotic gut bacteria, the complex ecosystem of microorganisms that live in the human digestive system, promote health by boosting immunity, aiding digestion, as well as maintain a healthy weight and blood pressure.

It has also been known that the brain sends signals to the gut, which is why stress and other emotions can contribute to gastrointestinal symptoms. This study shows that signals travel the opposite way as well.

‘Our findings indicate that some of the contents of yogurt may actually change the way our brain responds to the environment. 

‘When we consider the implications of this work, the old sayings "you are what you eat" and "gut feelings'" take on new meaning,’ said Dr. Kirsten Tillisch of UCLA's School of Medicine, who led the study.

Beneficial bacteria found in fermented products such a yoghurt have long been known to boost immunity

‘Time and time again we hear from patients that they never felt depressed or anxious until they started experiencing problems with their gut. 

‘Our study shows that the gut-brain connection is a two-way street,’ she added.

Tillisch's team recruited 36 women of a healthy weight aged between 18 and 53.

They were assigned to one of three groups. One group ate a yogurt with live bacterial cultures  containing probiotic strains such as Bifidobacterium animalis, Streptococcus thermophiles, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus twice a day for one month.

Another ate a dairy product which contained no living bacteria, and another was given no dairy products at all.

Before and after the one-month study period, the researchers conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans on the women. 

In each session, they started with a five-minute scan of the brain at rest, while the women lay still with their eyes closed.

Afterwards, the participants were asked to perform an ‘emotional faces attention task’, in which their brains were scanned while they matched a series of angry or fearful faces on a computer screen to other faces that appeared.

The results showed that during the emotional task, women who ate the probiotic yogurt had reduced activity in a brain network that included the somatosensory cortex - which receives sensory information - and the insula, a brain region that integrates sensory feedback from internal parts of the body including the gut. 

You are what you eat?: Probiotic yoghurts are already very popular in the UK. The findings show that nutritional therapy could one day play a vital role in treating patients with disorders that cause pain and emotional upset

They also had reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, precuneus, and basal ganglia, which handle aspects of cognition and emotion.

The women who ate non-probiotic yogurt or no dairy showed either no change, or an increase of activity in this network over time.

In the resting state, the brain scans of the women who ate probiotic yogurt showed stronger connectivity in a neural network which connects the periaqueductal grey (PAG) &mdash a region of the brainstem involved in responding to pain and emotional stimuli — to areas of the prefrontal cortex related to aspects of cognition like decision-making.

Experts hope that one day probiotics may provide a therapy for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's

The women who ate no dairy, however, had stronger connectivity of the PAG to sensory and emotion-related parts of the brain, like the insula, somatosensory cortex, and amygdala.

The mechanisms behind these changes are unclear, wrote the researchers, but it's clear that gut bacteria send molecular signals to the brain that can change over time.

Dr. Emeran Mayer, who also worked on the study, said that what we eat alters the way our gut bacteria breaks down food. 

While diets high in vegetables and fibre promote healthy gut bacteria, the typical Western diet full of fats, sugars, and carbohydrates, can do the opposite.

The research team hopes to identify which signals from the gut bacteria lead to a shift in brain activity. 

People with digestive conditions linked to gut dysbiosis (an imbalances in gut bacteria) such as irritable bowel syndrome, might show such shifts in brain response if they are treated with probiotics.

Dr Mayer also suggested that specific probiotic strains in yogurt could have health benefits such as relieving anxiety, stress, and other mood symptoms over time.

As tests to analyse bacteria growth in individuals become more readily available, it will become easier to see how someone's gut bacteria makeup influences factors like brain development, stress, and pain sensitivity.

It is possible that changing the composition of gut bacteria could lead to treatments for chronic pain disorders, he said, as well as symptoms of brain conditions like autism, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease.

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HOW TO EASE A BROKEN HEART

 

For those of you who have been in a long relationship, that has suddenly been broken up, its not uncommon to feel part of you is missing, like you have a hole in your head, like you feel empty, like you have lost an arm or leg, this is because in effect you have, for when we become very close to someone our auric field, part of it, reaches out to the aura of the other person, this happens with every close relationship, be it a member of out family or a lover. If the other person suddenly breaks the relationship off, well part of our aura is missing hence creating that 'empty feeling.
In holistic medicine disease begins in the 'spirit' first, how we feel in ourselves, that then affects the mental and emotional aspects of us, 'the mind' and this in turn affects the body. The belief in holistic medicine is if we work on the 'spirit' we can prevent disease taking root in the physical body. Holistic medicine treats the whole of the person and not a pigeon holed part of the body.
Stress, especially long term stress affects the physical body, it depletes the immune system by raising levels of damaging stress hormones, such as corticotrophic hormones and adrenaline. These hormones are fine for what they are designed for, as part of a survival mechanism for emergences only, they were never designed for long term use. More details on this can be found on the tab at the top of the page here on stress.*(STRESS AND HEALTH)

This exercise really does work as I have had excellent feedback on it

CUTTING TIES RITUAL

If you have ever experienced a broken relationship you will understand when I say it feels as if part of you is missing, this is because in effect is what has happened. When you have deep feelings for someone your auric field reaches out to that other person like a tentacle to be with them. People who are deeply in love will often say that their loved one is with them. However when that relationship breaks up suddenly it does literally, create this sensation that part of you is missing. 

This is not the same as when a relationship ends due to the other person passing over in death so do not try this ritual to get over a bereavement. Grieving is a natural process.

 

CUTTING TIES RITUAL WHEN A RELATIONSHIP HAS ENDED

There are several rituals this is the one I have used and recommend.

It is done through visualisation and can be performed as much as necessary in the passing of time, you will find you wont feel you have the need to do it.

Visualise you are standing opposite the one you wish to cut ties with

And visualise a ribbon of each associated colour with each chakra  for example red for base, orange for sacral, yellow for solar plexus, green or pink for the heart, blue for throat, indigo for third eye and purple for crown. These coloured ribbons join each of you together.

As you face one another smile and send love. at the same time visualise a pink cloud surrounding both you feet, pink is associated with love.

Now visualise a pair of ornate golden scissors cutting each ribbon in turn starting at the base chakra, as you cut each ribbon each end curls back to each person and at the same time the pink cloud rises up to obscure the other.

All the time smiling and sending them love to see them on their way. Gradually as you cut you will obscure the person you are cutting ties with and with the final tie complete you have sent them away with love to live their own life and yours.

You will have to do this a few times and every time you think of them do this visualisation, You will notice as time passes you wont think of them so much and you will be able to do the ritual quicker and easier and it will no longer hurt if your thoughts do turn to the person you are cutting ties with.

Do not do this ritual after a bereavement or when you are in an actual relationship with someone. It should only be used when the relationship is over and no longer serves a purpose. To allow you both to move on, one neither hating the other, that is why you smile and send love as you send them on their way.

 

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RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS

This is not a new story concern over antibiotics has been going for years, yet they are often still over prescribed. In the UK antibiotics are prescription  only yet elsewhere in Europe you can go into any pharmacy and buy them, this alone has contributed to antibiotic resistance. We still have people going to their doctors and demanding antibiotics for colds and flu, these are viruses and antibiotics have no effect on a virus, what that does helps sensitise people to antibiotics and fuels resistance. Then we have the patients who do not finish their prescribed course of medication, so the bacteria is not fully eradicated and develops resistance. When I was a young nurse, we had to gown up, wear a mask and gloves to give antibiotic injections to prevent sensitisation, that practise doesn't happen these days. Antibiotics enter the food chain, as they are given routinely to raise livestock, which humans ingest, that is not why these drugs were invented. Sadly like a lot of things antibiotics are taken for granted. Because of bad practise we have a situation where we have fewer antibiotics available and one day antibiotics maybe totally useless against any bacteria. Bacterial infections used to be a huge cause of death prior to the 1940's, unless action is taken now, we will go back to that time again.

ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MAIL BELOW

______________________________________________

Government's chief medical officer warns resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to modern health

• Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned there are 'few' public health issues of greater importance
• Today the Government's chief medical officer, Sally Davies, will address the World Health Assembly in Switzerland
• She will warn resistance to antibiotics will be a step back to the 19th century
• The Government is preparing a five-year plan to ensure antibiotics are prescribed properly

The Government's chief medical officer will warn today that resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats to modern health.
It comes a day after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there are 'few' public health issues of greater importance than antimicrobial resistance.
Medical experts from around the globe need to work together to try to tackle the 'catastrophic threat' of antibiotic resistance, he said. 

Dame Sally Davies (left) and Jeremy Hunt have both warned of the 'catastrophic threat' of antibiotic resistance

Addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, Dame Sally is expected to say: 'If we don't take action, in 20 years' time we could be back in the 19th century where infections kill us as a result of routine operations.'
Many of the drugs are being used unnecessarily for mild infections or illnesses which should not be treated with antibiotics - which is helping to create resistance, Professor Dame Sally Davies will say.
The Government is now preparing a five-year plan to make sure antibiotics are prescribed responsibly.
Dr Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation, told The Daily Telegraph:
'Health care cannot afford a setback of this magnitude. We must recognise, and respon to, the very seirous threat of antimicrobial resistance.'
According to Dame Sally, there are two reasons for the problem.
The first is that we are massively overusing antibiotic drugs, which effectively teaches bacteria how to resist them.
The second is that pharmaceutical companies are not working hard to produce any new antibiotics because they are not seen as profitable.

Professor Dame Sally said many of the drugs are being used unnecessarily for mild infections or illnesses which should not be treated with antibiotics

Earlier this year she said: ‘We haven’t had a new class of antibiotics since the late Eighties, and there are very few antibiotics in the pipeline of the big pharmaceutical companies.
British doctors say there are two particularly pressing dangers: the lung disease tuberculosis and the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea.
In January, for example, experts from London University tested samples taken from 18 lavatories in public buildings in the capital.

The Government is now preparing a five-year plan to make sure antibiotics are prescribed responsibly

Scientific tests, reported in the respected journal PloS One, found high levels of the potentially lethal Staphylococcus bacteria — and more than a third of these were resistant to commonly used antibiotics.
The study reinforces previous scientific research which warns that drug-resistant forms of bacteria are building up in the environment, largely because of the fact that we are consuming so many antibiotics at home and in hospital, then flushing them into our water systems.
There, bacteria can ‘learn’ how to become immune to them.
But worse still, bacteria are also ‘learning’ how to resist drugs while they are inside our bodies because of the over-prescription of drugs.
In February researchers in the British Medical Journal estimated that nearly one in 20 prescriptions for antibiotics is actually unnecessary.
Doctors are handing out 1.6 million needless courses every year.
Experts place much of the blame for this problem on pushy parents.
And patients frequently insist on antibiotics to treat colds and flu, despite the fact that these illnesses are caused by viruses and not bacteria.
Last November, the ECDC wrote to all family doctors to warn them of the implications of routinely giving patients  antibiotics because every single unnecessary prescription increases the risk of bacteria becoming resistant to treatment.
China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of antibiotics in the world, with at least 46 per cent of antibiotics being used in livestock
Rapid global transport systems means that any of these new super-infections can travel the world in days.

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CAN COLOURS AFFECT US?

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COLOUR THERAPY

Colour Therapy aims to balance and enhance our body's energy centres/chakras by using the seven colours of the light spectrum, which can help to stimulate our body's own healing process.

Each of the seven colours resonates with one of the main seven chakras.

The ancient Egyptians have been recorded to have been using colour for cures and ailments.

They worshipped the sun, knowing that without light there can be no life. They looked at nature and copied it in many aspects of their lives. The floors of their temples were often green - as the grass which then grew alongside their river, the Nile. Blue was a very important colour to the Egyptians too; the colour of the sky. They built temples for healing and used gems (crystals) through which the sunlight shone. They would have different rooms for different colours. We could perhaps relate our present methods of colour/light therapy to this ancient practice.

There are lists on papyrus dating back to 1550 BC of colour "cures". Their deep knowledge and understanding of the healing powers of the colour rays was so nearly lost when, later on in history, the Greeks considered colour only as a science. Hippocrates, amongst others, abandoned the metaphysical side of colour, concentrating only on the scientific aspect. Fortunately, despite this, the knowledge and philosophy of colour was handed down through the ages by a few. 

The Chinese also apparently practiced Colour Healing. The Nei/ching, 2000 years old, records colour diagnoses.

 

In holistic therapies different colours are associated with different moods and qualities and influence.

 

• Red is stimulating and energetic found in the aura it is often associated with anger and restlessness
• Orange is stimlating and enquiring especially the mind and seeking knowledge
• Yellow is good for stimulating learning
• Green/Pink soothing and healing especially for affairs of the heart
• Blue is healing, calming and aids communication
• Indigo is good for inner peace, tranquility and healing
• Violet is deeply spiritual and enlightening and healing

So it's not unusual how the colour of a room can influence our mood which leads to the article below from the DAILY MAIL

Want a good night's sleep? Find out which colours you should use in the bedroom (and avoid) for a decent kip

• Blue is thought to slow the heart rate and even reduce blood pressure
• People sleeping in a blue room get seven hours 52 minutes sleep per night
• Purple rooms can stimulate the brain, making it difficult to nod off

Feeling blue may not be all bad when it comes to enjoying a good night’s sleep.
Those with bedrooms this colour tend to get the best rest – nearly eight hours a night – and wake feeling happy and positive.
According to a survey, it is linked to calm, soothing feelings and is thought to slow the heart rate and even reduce blood pressure.

Calming: People with a blue bedroom manage to get the most sleep per night

Green and yellow are also winners, with those choosing these colours clocking up roughly seven hours and 40 minutes of sleep.

However, it’s best to avoid purple, which is too stimulating and can cut nightly hours of rest to less than six. Grey and brown get the thumbs-down for being too dreary and depressing.
The study, carried out by Travelodge, looked into 2,000 homes across the country to investigate the influence of colour on quality of sleep.
They found that people sleeping in rooms decorated in calm colours, such as yellow, blue or green, received the best night’s sleep.
Chris Idzikowski, Sleep Expert from the Edinburgh Sleep Centre said: ‘This is an amazing result, as there are specialised receptors called ganglion cells in the retina part of our eyes, which are most sensitive to the colour blue. 
‘These receptors feed information into an area deep in our brain that controls 24 hour rhythms, and affects how we perform and feel during the day. That interaction between light, sleep and wakefulness is supremely important.’

Stimulating: But bedrooms that are painted purple could encourage creativity and stop the brain from relaxing

The study also found that Britons who sleep in a purple bedroom are, on average, only getting five hours and fifty six minutes sleep per night.
They say that the reason for this could be that the colour purple is mentally stimulating which makes it difficult to switch off after a busy day. 
The other two least favoured colour schemes are brown, where sleepers obtain on average six hours and five minutes sleep per night and a grey colour scheme which results in individuals getting on average six hours and twelve minutes sleep per night. 
Colour Therapy & Holistic Interior Design consultant, Suzy Chiazzari, said: ‘Your bedroom décor can certainly impact upon your quality and quantity of sleep per night. 

HOW MUCH SLEEP DOES EACH COLOUR GIVE?

Blue	7 hrs 52mins
Yellow	7 hrs 40mins
Green	7 hrs 36 mins
Silver	7 hrs 33 mins
Orange	7 hrs 28 mins
Red	6 hrs 58 mins
Gold	6 hrs 43 mins
Grey	6 hrs 12 mins
Brown	6 hrs 05 mins
Purple	5 hrs 56 mins

‘Although many people think purple creates a sense of luxury in the bedroom, this colour can reduce the number of hours of sleep you attain. 
‘Purple has a strong connection with the more artistic community being a colour reported to stimulate creativity and the unconscious mind. Therefore sleeping in a purple room is more likely to promote vivid dreams or even nightmares; resulting in you feeling tired in the morning.’
The study also found that colour affects other bedroom activities. Couples who sleep in a bedroom that is decorated in a caramel make love on average three times per week. But those who sleep in a red bedroom make love just once a week.   
Britons who have a grey themed bedroom are the ones spend the most time shopping online in bed, while a fifth of Britons who have a silver décor in their bedroom reported they are more motivated to exercise in their bedroom. 

Frances Whitley, Travelodge In-house Interior Designer said: ‘Room colour does influence your mood and set the tone for your living environment. Therefore it’s important to choose a bedroom décor that will help you relax and induce sleep.
‘I have spent the last 12 months working with our customers to create a purpose built room for them. In today’s modern world, Britons want a high level of co-ordination between colours, shades, patterns and features.
'They are no longer happy with everything being the same colour. Tastes are also moving away from dark shades; today hotel users want a clean, fresh and calming colour scheme.’ 

Gilded: People who have luxurious gold rooms do not get a proper full night of sleep, with only 6 hours 43 minutes