16 Thursday, March 20, 2014
Coastal View News • Carpinteria, California
Suicide increases in the spring. Learn the risk factors and warning signs. Understand how suicide occurs and how to help someone you care about.
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY TOOL BOX ABCs OF SUICIDE PREVENTION
“JUST IN CASE”
Wed., March 26, 7-9 pm Carpinteria Woman’s Club 1059 Vallecito Road
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Learn how to make a safety plan for at-risk family, friends, coworkers and classmates. Lisa Fir estone. Ph.D. T he Glendon Assn Inter national authority on suicide pr e vention.
For more information email: HopeNetofCarp@gmail.com (805) 570-3068
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Amrit Joy’s Hints for Healthy & Happy Living Open to the universe
Sit up nice and straight. Imagine an invisible gold thread coming out of the top of your head, gently lifting you. Bring your arms out extended from the sides of your body, as if you are making a “V.” The palms face upwards with all the fingers together, including the thumbs. If the straight arms are not comfortable, just bring the elbows close to the body and still allow the hands to face upwards. Do long deep breathing as you allow yourself to open up the universe. Let the greater plan unfold. Surrender to the Higher Power. The mind will begin to quiet as you deep breathe. You are now opening up to love, kindness, sweetness, compassion, peace, serenity, healing and the perfect plan for you. As you do this, allow yourself to become freer, happier, more relaxed. Just a few minutes can help you to shift your energy and receive the blessing of serenity and gratitude from the universe. Now just drop your arms and relax deeply. Amrit Joy is a certified Hatha and Kundalini Yoga instructor. She has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1976. Amrit offers ongoing group yoga classes open to all levels here in Carpinteria. Private instruction in yoga and meditation is also available by appointment. For more information, call Amrit Joy at 745-1707 or visit www.amritjoy.com.
Spring into action for the health of it! ALI JAVANBAKHT, MD Spring is in the air. The signs are all around us: the sun carves a higher arc across the sky, cats in heat make that incredibly human-baby-like sound, and the small print under March 20 on the calendar reads, “vernal equinox.” An “equinox” is when the sun passes over the intersection of the ecliptic and celestial equators. We get two of them a year. One marks the beginning of spring and the other the beginning of fall. This is not to be confused with “Hardnox,” which is where all the gold in the country is kept. Naturally, it is heavily fortified. In fact, the name comes from the action needed to get anyone’s attention in that place. The place where people get trained to watch over all the gold in the country is called “the School of Hardnox.” But I digress. As the days get longer (thanks in part to the new-and-improved-three-weeksearlier Daylight Savings Time), people spend more time outdoors admiring nature in bloom, the turning of the seasons, and the rebirth of various animals. But nature also has its naughty side. Yes, it beckons us with fragrances and colors but pokes us with thorns and makes us itch with poison oak. Most people know that poison oak has “leaves of three” and therefore it is wise to “leave them be” (to which the great philosopher Homer (Simpson) replied, “Leaves of four, eat some more.”) Most people also have their own recipe for dealing with potential exposure to poison oak. Some take a cold shower right afterwards. Some scrub with Ajax. Personally, I like to indulge in a big bowl of chocolate ice cream. After all, if I’m going to itch, I might as well enjoy things while I can. What makes poison oak “poisonous” is the oil. When the plant’s oil gets on the skin, it starts an allergic reaction. But this is not a typical allergic reaction; it’s a delayed one, meaning that the reaction doesn’t start until a day or two after exposure. It’s not unlike that incredibly witty comeback one thinks of two days after someone has made a snide remark at a dinner party. Some people are more sensitive to this oil than others. There are tales of brave souls who have rolled around in poison oak trying to prove that they’re “immune” to it, which turns out to be a good example of “famous last words.” That’s where nature is its trickiest: the more someone is exposed to something, the more allergic they can become that substance. In other words, every repeated exposure to poison oak can bring about a stronger reaction.
Washing the skin as soon as possible after exposure can help minimize the reaction. Once the oil is washed off, it can no longer spread. However, since it is a delayed reaction, new spots can appear over time. Poison oak rash tends to consist of itchy red lines on the exposed areas of the skin. Sometimes blisters develop. The fluid in these blisters is what the body has made as a result of the allergic reaction. Since the body makes this fluid, it has no poison oak in it and thus is incapable of spreading the rash. Typically, medical intervention is needed for a poison oak rash to go away. For small patches of relatively mild reaction, a prescription steroid cream can help. For stronger or more widespread reactions, steroid pills can be helpful. As with most things, 30 ml of prevention is worth 0.45 kg of cure. So wearing long sleeved shirts and pants and avoiding contact with suspicious plants is helpful. So let’s enjoy this spectacular display that nature has put on for us. Let’s spring like a spring over a spring in spring, all the while keeping a respectable distance from the surrounding foliage. Enjoying nature is like petting a cat: pet the soft furry side, beware the sharp, clawy side. (Author’s note: cats in heat should be considered sharp and clawy all around.) This article was printed in a prior edition of CVN. Dr. Javanbakht is a Board Certified Family Physician practicing at the Carpinteria Branch of Sansum Clinic. His column won second place for best original writing at the 2010 AFCP awards. A collection of his columns has been compiled into a book entitled, “For the Health of It!” available at Xlibris. com. Read more of his work at his website, healthcrap.com.