Article # 167. How to have Succesful New Year resolution

WISH YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!

Hi Dear Friends,

I wish you all a year of health, wealth, happiness luck warmth. I wish you the best of everything…That you so well deserve.

Thanks for taking a moment to check out this New Year message! I am sharing this as I experienced successful resolution in my past. I thought to give few tips on how to have a successful New Year resolution as below. Spend your 5 min’s of valuable time to read this and share to your friends and families.

My success resolution testimony

New Year is the day where many people all over the world make the day as customary to make resolution; a promise in the New Year we will change for something better. Common resolutions are weight loss, regular exercise, smoke cessation, quitting alcohol, better money management, debt reduction and spending more time with family.

Even though so many of us make a resolution, it seems that a month later very few of us will still be on track. This is apparent by how many people join the gym in January and but have stopped coming by March. For successful resolution set a goal, decide how to reach it, track progress, be focused, keep the consistency in setting goals and once reached, enjoy it.

Set a Goal

Set a goal that is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time bound. Instead of a resolution of “losing weight” set a smart goal to lose 22 pounds (10 Kg) in 6 months by going to gym 5 to 6 days a week for at least 30 minutes to 45 minutes daily and by following healthy diet. A smart goal of “eating better” is to consume high in fiber foods and eliminating high cholesterol foods in your daily diet and drinking plenty of water in regular intervals. (Check my Diet chart specially posted for New Year 2013)

The reason so many resolutions fail is that people set unrealistic goals and expectations. A goal should be slightly out of reach of what you can realistically achieve. For example if you smoke a cigarette per hour and know you can go for an hour and half without one, set a goal of smoking every 3 hours instead and every week increase the time in between each till you no longer crave cigarette. (But focus to quit both smoking & Drinking – Both are killing you daily) Or if you can easily set aside Rupees 3000/- then set a goal of saving Rupees 5000/- a month instead. The goal should be challenging not so much to frustrate you.

Track Progress

Now that you know how to set a successful resolution, you need to track how you are doing. When you break your resolution in small steps you can easily track progress during the time frame. For the 22 pounds weight loss, break it down to a loss of 1 pound a week to easily measure progress. If the goals are being met reward yourself, and if not analyze what caused the derail to avoid in the future. Recognize that you might fall short, vow to do better and attempt again. Get back on track as soon as possible without dwelling on it for too long. When you reward yourself make sure the reward agrees with resolution in the first place. If the resolution was to lose weight, reward yourself with new shirt, jeans, bike or books but not food.

Rewire the Brain

Brain scientist Antonio Domasio and psychotherapist Stephen Hayes have discovered, though the MRIs, that habits are created by thinking patterns that create neural pathways and memories. Your response to a certain behavior will be based on these neural pathways, therefore, when you respond differently you are wiring the brain with a new behavior. To make it easier to form a routine, repeat it at same time every day until you don’t have to think about it anymore.  Once you have reached your resolution, you have successfully changed how you think.

Resolution Tips

To make sure that this year 2013 you have a successful resolution instead of a wish, have a work plan with deadlines. Focus on resolution rather than several, break your resolution in small steps and enlist the help of your family members or friends for support. Knowing you are accountable will keep you motivated. Stay on track even if you miss few days and celebrate success between milestones.

I once again wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have a Blast and fun with your friends and families!

Yours Always!

Guru Shankar!



Article # 166. Glucosamine Rich Rheumatoid Arthritis Diet

Glucosamine Rich Rheumatoid Arthritis Diet

Here is the list of foods that are glucosamine rich you can add into your daily meals to repair cartilage and improve your joint function.

Shrimps

Lobsters

Crabs

Sports drinks

Sweet Almond Oil

What is Glucosamine?

Other names: glucosamine sulfate, glucosamine sulphate, glucosamine hydrochloride, N-acetyl glucosamine, chitosamine

Glucosamine is a compound found naturally in the body, made from glucose and the amino acid glutamine. Glucosamine is needed to produce glycosaminoglycan, a molecule used in the formation and repair of cartilage and other body tissues. Production of glucosamine slows with age.

Glucosamine is available as a nutritional supplement in health food stores and many drug stores. Glucosamine supplements are manufactured in a laboratory from chitin, a substance found in the shells of shrimp, crab, lobster, and other sea creatures. In additional to nutritional supplements, glucosamine is also used in sports drinks and in cosmetics.

Glucosamine is often combined with chondroitin sulfate, a molecule naturally present in cartilage. Chondroitin gives cartilage elasticity and is believed to prevent the destruction of cartilage by enzymes. Glucosamine is sometimes combined with methylsulfonylmethane, or MSM, in nutritional supplements.

Why Do People Use Glucosamine?

Osteoarthritis

Glucosamine supplements are widely used for osteoarthritis, particularly knee osteoarthritis. In osteoarthritis, cartilage -- the rubbery material that cushions joints -- becomes stiff and loses its elasticity. This makes the joint prone to damage and may lead to pain, swelling, loss of movement, and further deterioration.

Since the body's natural glucosamine is used to make and repair joint cartilage, taking glucosamine as a nutritional supplement is thought to help repair damaged cartilage by augmenting the body's supply of glucosamine.

There is promising evidence that glucosamine may reduce pain symptoms of knee osteoarthritis and possibly slow the progression of osteoarthritis. For example, a study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine examined people with osteoarthritis over three years. Researchers assessed pain and structural improvements seen on x-ray. They gave 202 people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis 1,500 mg of glucosamine sulfate a day or a placebo.

At the end of the study, researchers found that glucosamine slowed the progression of knee osteoarthritis compared to the placebo. People in the glucosamine group had a significant reduction in pain and stiffness. On x-ray, there was no average change or narrowing of joint spaces in the knees (a sign of deterioration) of the glucosamine group. In contrast, joint spaces of participants taking the placebo narrowed over the three years.

Other Conditions

Other conditions for which glucosamine is used include rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), chronic venous insufficiency, and skin conditions, although further evidence is needed.

Side Effects and Safety of Glucosamine

Most studies involving humans have found that short-term use of glucosamine is well-tolerated. Side effects may include drowsiness, headache, insomnia, and mild and temporary digestive complaints such as abdominal pain, poor appetite, nausea, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, and vomiting. In rare human cases, the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin has been linked with temporarily elevated blood pressure and heart rate and palpitations.

Since glucosamine supplements may be made from shellfish, people with allergies to shellfish should avoid glucosamine unless it has been confirmed that it is from a non-shellfish source.

Theoretically, glucosamine may increase the risk of bleeding. People with bleeding disorders, those taking anti-clotting or anti-platelet medication, such as warfarin, clopidogrel, and Ticlid, or people taking supplements that may increase the risk of bleeding, such as garlic, ginkgo, vitamin E, or red clover, should not take glucosamine unless under the supervision of a healthcare provider.

Article # 165. List of Autoimmune and Autoimmune-Related Diseases

List of Autoimmune and Autoimmune-Related Diseases

1.      Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM)

2.      Acute necrotizing hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis

3.      Addison's disease

4.      Agammaglobulinemia

5.      Alopecia areata

6.      Amyloidosis

7.      Ankylosing spondylitis

8.      Anti-GBM/Anti-TBM nephritis

9.      Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)

10.  Autoimmune angioedema

11.  Autoimmune aplastic anemia

12.  Autoimmune dysautonomia

13.  Autoimmune hepatitis

14.  Autoimmune hyperlipidemia

15.  Autoimmune immunodeficiency

16.  Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED)

17.  Autoimmune myocarditis

18.  Autoimmune pancreatitis

19.  Autoimmune retinopathy

20.  Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP)

21.  Autoimmune thyroid disease

22.  Autoimmune urticaria

23.  Axonal & neuronal neuropathies

24.  Balo disease

25.  Behcet’s disease

26.  Bullous pemphigoid

27.  Cardiomyopathy

28.  Castleman disease

29.  Celiac disease

30.  Chagas disease

31.  Chronic fatigue syndrome**

32.  Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)

33.  Chronic recurrent multifocal ostomyelitis (CRMO) 

34.  Churg-Strauss syndrome

35.  Cicatricial pemphigoid/benign mucosal pemphigoid

36.  Crohn’s disease

37.  Cogans syndrome

38.  Cold agglutinin disease

39.  Congenital heart block

40.  Coxsackie myocarditis

41.  CREST disease

42.  Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia

43.  Demyelinating neuropathies

44.  Dermatitis herpetiformis 

45.  Dermatomyositis

46.  Devic's disease (neuromyelitis optica)

47.  Discoid lupus

48.  Dressler’s syndrome

49.  Endometriosis

50.  Eosinophilic esophagitis

51.  Eosinophilic fasciitis

52.  Erythema nodosum

53.  Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

54.  Evans syndrome

55.  Fibromyalgia**

56.  Fibrosing alveolitis

57.  Giant cell arteritis (temporal arteritis)

58.  Giant cell myocarditis

59.  Glomerulonephritis

60.  Goodpasture’s syndrome

61.  Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA) (formerly called Wegener's Granulomatosis)

62.  Graves' disease

63.  Guillain-Barre syndrome

64.  Hashimoto's encephalitis

65.  Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

66.  Hemolytic anemia

67.  Henoch-Schonlein purpura

68.  Herpes gestationis

69.  Hypogammaglobulinemia

70.  Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)

71.  IgA nephropathy

72.  IgG4-related sclerosing disease

73.  Immunoregulatory lipoproteins

74.  Inclusion body myositis

75.  Insulin-dependent diabetes (type1)

76.  Interstitial cystitis

77.  Juvenile arthritis

78.  Juvenile diabetes

79.  Kawasaki syndrome

80.  Lambert-Eaton syndrome

81.  Leukocytoclastic vasculitis

82.  Lichen planus

83.  Lichen sclerosus

84.  Ligneous conjunctivitis

85.  Linear IgA disease (LAD)

86.  Lupus (SLE)

87.  Lyme disease, chronic 

88.  Meniere’s disease

89.  Microscopic polyangiitis

90.  Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)

91.  Mooren’s ulcer

92.  Mucha-Habermann disease

93.  Multiple sclerosis

94.  Myasthenia gravis

95.  Myositis

96.  Narcolepsy

97.  Neuromyelitis optica (Devic's)

98.  Neutropenia

99.  Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid

100.                      Optic neuritis

101.                      Palindromic rheumatism

102.                      PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus)

103.                      Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration

104.                      Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)

105.                      Parry Romberg syndrome

106.                      Parsonnage-Turner syndrome

107.                      Pars planitis (peripheral uveitis)

108.                      Pemphigus

109.                      Peripheral neuropathy

110.                      Perivenous encephalomyelitis

111.                      Pernicious anemia

112.                      POEMS syndrome

113.                      Polyarteritis nodosa

114.                      Type I, II, & III autoimmune polyglandular syndromes

115.                      Polymyalgia rheumatica

116.                      Polymyositis

117.                      Postmyocardial infarction syndrome

118.                      Postpericardiotomy syndrome

119.                      Progesterone dermatitis

120.                      Primary biliary cirrhosis

121.                      Primary sclerosing cholangitis 

122.                      Psoriasis

123.                      Psoriatic arthritis

124.                      Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

125.                      Pyoderma gangrenosum

126.                      Pure red cell aplasia

127.                      Raynauds phenomenon

128.                      Reactive Arthritis

129.                      Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

130.                      Reiter’s syndrome

131.                      Relapsing polychondritis

132.                      Restless legs syndrome

133.                      Retroperitoneal fibrosis

134.                      Rheumatic fever

135.                      Rheumatoid arthritis

136.                      Sarcoidosis

137.                      Schmidt syndrome

138.                      Scleritis

139.                      Scleroderma

140.                      Sjogren's syndrome

141.                      Sperm & testicular autoimmunity

142.                      Stiff person syndrome

143.                      Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE)

144.                      Susac's syndrome

145.                      Sympathetic ophthalmia

146.                      Takayasu’s arteritis

147.                      Temporal arteritis/Giant cell arteritis

148.                      Thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)

149.                      Tolosa-Hunt syndrome

150.                      Transverse myelitis

151.                      Ulcerative colitis

152.                      Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD)

153.                      Uveitis

154.                      Vasculitis

155.                      Vesiculobullous dermatosis

156.                      Vitiligo

157.                      Wegener’s granulomatosis (now termed Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA)

**NOTE Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue are listed, not because they are autoimmune, but because many persons who suffer from them have associated autoimmune disease(s)