Springtime is usually thought of as a time of cleansing for body, mind, spirit (and home) but watching the leaves start to fall this year has made me think of Autumn as a time of early renewal, when the old is released in order to make room for the new.   Just as the trees cannot unfurl their new leaves without shedding the old in the fall, we cannot make changes for the better without releasing something old or not working well in our lives, whether it be old habits, clutter from the home or relationships that are no longer beneficial for our well-being. 

As wintertime approaches, it helps me get through the colder months to remember that it takes months for the renewal and new energy that arrives with warmer weather in the spring to actually take place.  This is a good approach when feeling stuck or starting anything new, especially a health care program.  Change comes gradually.  There are so many times in my daily life that I want everything to come faster, go faster or just be over with! Realigning with the rhythm of the seasons can give you an outward signal of the progress of your life and that even when things are seemingly stagnant or unmoving, there are subtle changes happening everywhere.    

What can you release in your life this Fall to make room for in the future?

MONDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Children and adolescents are being bombarded by so many ads that medical experts now fear for their health.

Some 40,000 ads a year from television alone may be boosting obesity, poor nutrition and cigarette and alcohol use among U.S. youth, according to a revised statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The statement, which appears in the December issue of Pediatrics, calls for more media education to counter some of advertising's negative effects.

"We're pleading with pediatricians and parents to become aware that consumeristic tendencies are being fed right from birth," said Dr. Donald Shifrin, chairman of the AAP Committee on Communications, which issued the statement, and a pediatrician in private practice in Seattle. "We have to understand that youngsters under a certain age cannot differentiate between a commercial and a program. To them, it's real. There should be some effort on the part of parents to point out that this is a commercial."

Continue reading Ads Are Selling Kids Poor Health.

Last winter I was diagnosed with Shingles (a reactivation of the Herpes Zoster virus, Varicella Zoster). At first I dismissed the odd tingling followed by red, wildly itchy red patches on my side and back as an allergic reaction.  Caring for my active toddler distracted me into a sort of denial about my increasingly uncomfortable and itchy state.  It wasn't until my husband came home from work one night and I showed him the spreading rash on the left side of my abdomen and back that he said "I wonder if it's scabies?" SCABIES? I said. He said, "You know, what you get after you've already had chickenpox."  "Shingles!" And it was like a light went on in my brain and I dashed to the computer to type shingles into google.  I found pictures and a description that matched my symptoms perfectly.   Then the panic set in.  My son's chickenpox vaccination had for one reason or another been put off for months and now here I was, theoretically contagious to my baby.   I called the pediatrician and made an appointment for my son's varicella vaccination in the morning.  I planned on showing up at my Dr.'s office as soon as they opened to confirm my condition.

Continue reading Stress, Shingles and Caring for the Mother.