Health

stressed

at work?

Feeling stressed at work? If so, you’re not alone. A recent Gallup Poll revealed that 55% of Americans said they experienced stress “a lot” during the day, up from 46% in 2006.

In the workplace, stress can affect your attitude, relationships with your colleagues, and your work performance. Although a modest amount of stress is normal, high levels of stress can be dangerous to your health and may contribute to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety and depression.

Fortunately, there are ways to help manage stress. Ann Marie O’Brien, R.N., national director of health strategies, UnitedHealthcare, shares the following tips to consider that may reduce your workplace stress and get you back on a healthy track performing at your usual best. Try these 5 strategies

1) Talk to your boss. Consider having an open discussion with your boss about the stressors associated with your work responsibilities. Ask if there is an opportunity for additional skills training, or possibly even restructure your job to make it more manageable and better aligned with your interests and skills. Also, check if your company has an employee assistance program (EAP), which may provide available counseling and online resources.

2) Brush up on your time-manage-

ment skills. We’ve all had days when it seems impossible to get everything done. In some cases, poor time management is the reason we feel this way which then may trigger stress. For your next work assignment, talk with your supervisor before getting started to plan realistic goals, priorities and deadlines.

3) Take advantage of workplace

well-being programs. An increasing number of employers are offering well-being programs through their health plan and are making healthier food options available in the workplace. Some employers offer gym reimbursement programs such as UnitedHealthcare’s Gym Check-In, have onsite workout rooms, offer stand-up desks, and encourage walking meetings and well-being challenges like “taking the stairs.” Remember, it’s important for your physical and mental health to combine exercise with a well-balanced diet.

4) Grow your support network. If you have a close colleague at work, talk with that person and explain your work stressors and brainstorm possible solutions. If you don’t, then reach out to friends and loved ones. It’s important that you don’t isolate yourself after a stressful event.

5) Focus on yourself. If you’re feeling stress, a simple treat such as going to a movie, enjoying your favorite meal, or just getting away to take a brief walk can give you time to unwind and recharge. If you cannot get a handle on your stress, talk to your doctor. He or she may recommend a counselor who could help you find other ways to help reduce or manage the unhealthy stress in your life.

Cu ltivating the Communit y with YOGA

It should be noted that a lot of people from all over the world give preference to yoga. For many people yoga can be considered as lifestyle. It is important to know that people of different ages do yoga. There are many places to practice yoga within a 50 mile radius of Salisbury but one place that stands or maybe stretches above the rest is Union of Body, Mind & Soul in Milton, DE.

The expert Yoga instructor, Yvette Quinones develops the yoga session to create a safe, nurturing and fun space for practitioners. The class is led by Mrs. Quinones as she demonstrates and guides the practitioner through a series of breathing techniques and asanas (poses). Yvette became certified in 2015 and teaching yoga for the past three years and her own personal yoga practice started in 2009. Mrs. Quinones plans to continue to continue building her personal practice, remaining a student (earning additional certifications) and teaching Gentle & Restorative Yoga classes.

It is necessary to note that there are different types of yoga. For instance, there are hatha yoga technique and kundalini yoga. There is yoga for weight loss and different peculiarities. Depending on tasks, which you would like to achieve while doing yoga and features of your character you can choose the category of yoga that suits your needs in the best possible way. Yoga

Yoga is a universal sport activity. It doesn’t matter how old you are and how much time you have been doing yoga.

continued from pg 2 has a good impact on health of people and positively improve the mood, increased blood circulation and relaxation of each person that practices yoga. Despite the great benefits of the art, some people just prefer to do yoga just to relax after a long working day. Yoga classes provides people with energy that is required for normal functioning of human organism. Yoga allows people to avoid stresses and those with excess weight can try to get rid of it through yoga. As you can see, yoga gives a lot of significant advantages to people.

Yoga has a positive impact on the mental health or behavior. When an individual practices yoga they take the time to look inward. Yoga helps them to cultivate a more gentle or nonjudgmental relationship with one first. Naturally, there’s a shift in the mind and behaviors regarding health, relationships, and other areas in our lives. Effects of yoga are so positive and freeing!

Yoga is a universal sport activity. It doesn’t matter how old you are and how much time you have been doing yoga. Thus, you can begin classes at any age. Even if you are a beginner it is not a problem. People can practice yoga at home, in fitness center or even in office. Also, it is very easy to start doing yoga. You can attend yoga classes, hire professional instructor , buy good books or select yoga videos.

Mrs. Quinones teaches a Gentle Yoga class on Monday evenings from 5:30 - 6:30 pm at Union of Body, Mind & Soul located in Milton, DE. Feel free to contact her via my email address which is, yvette@joyflowyogi. com . Also, visit the studio website at www.unionofbodymindsoul.com for upcoming events.

GettinG a Good niGht ’ s sleep

Many people have trouble falling asleep, and there are many sleep supplement products available to help. However, only certain products are truly effective at promoting the deepest, most restful sleep needed for no morning drowsiness. The deeper the sleep, the better for the restoration of your mind and body.

During sleep, your brain goes through five stages that repeat in approximately 90-minute cycles. These stages are divided into non-REM and REM sleep. Non-REM: The first stage of non-REM (non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep starts when you first fall asleep (stage 1) and progresses through stage 2 of light sleep. Stages 3 and 4 are the deepest and most restorative times of sleep, when your heart rate slows, your muscles and skin heal and grow, and your immune system recharges. REM: REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, is the shallow sleep that occurs as the fifth and last stage of a sleep cycle. REM sleep is associated with dreams, learning, and memory.

Some sleep aid products, such as Melatonin, focus on sleep quantity. While these types of products can make you sleepy, many people who have trouble sleeping can’t relax their brains into deep sleep. Certain amino acids, however, such as glycine, can help. Glysom is a unique dietary supplement that contains glycine. Unlike some other glycine supplements on the market, Glysom has been well studied as a sleep supplement to show that it is effective, helping the brain to relax into the deep sleep cycle. Data on Glysom has shown that the product can help promote deeper and more restful nonREM sleep without such side effects as daytime sleepiness. Glysom is not an injection or pill; it is available in small packets as a lemon-flavored powder to help make it easy to take. For more than a decade, Glysom was only available from health care professionals, but it is now available directly to consumers. Glysom is produced by Ajinomoto, a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of amino acid products. For more information about Glysom and how to improve sleep quality, visit glysom.com.

Understanding Lupus

Lupus is a complicated disease. Whether it has been suggested you may have lupus, or you have a definitive diagnosis, you should know these basic facts about lupus. What Is Lupus? Lupus is an autoimmune disorder which affects organ systems, skin, joints, and internal organs. Lupus basically is a Latin word that literally means “wolf”. Lupus is a disease that often induces a facial rash that causes its victims to have the appearance of a wolf. Individuals with lupus will generate antibodies to their own body tissues. The consequential soreness can cause damage in many organs of the body including kidney, joints, blood vessels, heart and lungs.

Who Can Suffer From Lupus?

Both men and women can get affected by Lupus, but it is eight times as likely in women. It can also occur at any age, but the typical age range for someone to get Lupus is ten to fifty. It is normally more common in African American people as well as Asian people. This is a disease that is usually hereditary, but in some cases there is no family history of Lupus.

What Causes Lupus?

Lupus is a disease that turns the defenses of the body against the body itself. Lupus occurs when antibodies attack the healthy cells in the body. Certain drugs can cause Lupus as well. A number of cases have some family background to them, but in a few cases there is no obvious cause for the disease. The disease has been greatly researched and has been associated to other disorders, but only in theory.

What Are The Symptoms?

Symptoms can differ in a wide range of areas in the body. In the musculoskeletal area, the joints are affected and it causes mild to severe joint pain. Lupus is known to cause arthritis in the hands. The skin is affected by rashes, skin cuts, and painful nodules that appear to be raised bruises. Kidneys produce protein deposits and can have renal failure, leading to dialysis. The Nervous System can cause mental dysfunction, seizures, psychosis, and severe headaches. Blood clots can occur as well as pulmonary embolism. The heart could produce chest pain. The symptoms in the heart could also be associated with the effects Lu-

“There is no cure for the disease itself, so easing the symptoms is all a person can do.”

pus has in the blood, with the clotting that can occur. Shortness of breath and even pleurisy can occur within the lungs due to Lupus.

Treatment - Forms of treatment for Lupus have to concentrate on its side effects. There is no cure for the disease itself, so easing the symptoms is all a person can do. Anti-inflammatory medication is given for arthritis pain as well as the pleurisy. Skin rashes can be helped with corticosteroids, which typically comes in a cream form or lotion to not only clear up the rash, but to also sooth it. Relentless symptoms need to be checked by a specialist. Changing lifestyles to healthy habits, such as eating balanced meals and getting minimal exercise will help. Having a stress free environment also helps enormously.

Aperson is said to have physical opioid dependence if they have high ‘tolerance’ of opioids, meaning they need more of the opioid to get the desired effect. Opioid withdrawal symptoms occur when the substance is stopped. Most patients who seek treatment for opioid addiction also have some degree of physical dependence. However, physical opioid dependence alone is not sufficient to make a diagnosis of addiction. A person can be physically dependent - like a cancer patient might be when prescribed opioids for severe pain - and not be addicted. The term ‘addiction’ refers to certain behaviors.

What are the Symptoms of Opioid Withdrawal?

Opioid withdrawal can occur in both the addicted patient and the patient who has opioid dependence but is not experiencing total opioid addiction. When an opioid is stopped or the dose is suddenly reduced, both types of patients experience withdrawal symptoms - sweating, chills, muscle and joint pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness and insomnia. ‘Goosebumps’, which commonly occur during opioid withdrawal, give rise to the term ‘cold turkey’. Fear of these unpleasant and painful opioid withdrawal symptoms makes it difficult for the addict to stop using and begin the recovery process.

Who is Prone to Develop Opioid Dependence?

Although the specific causes vary from person to person, scientists believe that our heredity (our DNA) is the major factor in an individual’s susceptibility to the development of the disease of addiction. We also know that psychological factors (feeling stressed, anxious or depressed) and our social environment also play important roles in the development of opioid addiction. The unpleasant effects of opioid withdrawal lead many users to continue abusing prescription or illegal opioids, leading to prolonged dependence.

Opioid abuse has risen dramatically in the United States over the past ten years. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that more than 5.2 million Americans misused a prescription painkiller in 2008 for non-medical reasons. Approximately 1 million people in the U.S. are addicted to heroin today. About 1 out of 8 people (13% of the population) who are exposed to a mood-altering substance that can cause an intense euphoric effect (like alcohol, opioids and other drugs of abuse) are prone to develop the behaviors of addiction with repeated use.

What Happens to the Brain in Addiction?

Opioid addiction is a disease of the brain. Repeated use of an opioid leading to opioid dependence causes long-term changes in both the structure (the architecture of the brain) and the way the brain functions (the biochemistry of the brain).

The most important structural or architectural change takes place in the circuitry of the brain - particularly in the wiring of the re-

ward pathway. Our brains are wired to ensure that we will repeat life-sustaining activities - such as drinking water and eating food - by associating those activities with pleasure or reward. Whenever this reward circuit is activated, the brain records that experience making us likely to do it again. Memories that have an intense emotional component (like pleasure) may be permanently ‘hard-wired’.

In the person with opioid dependence who is prone to opioid addiction, the excessive stimulation of the reward pathway by an opioid ‘tricks’ the brain into believing that an opioid is as necessary for survival as food and water. The effect of such a powerful reward motivates people to repeat that behavior again and again, even when it is clearly harmful to do so. This is why drug abuse is something the person prone to opioid addiction can learn to do very, very well.

Chemical changes also take place in the brain as it tries to adapt to the excessive stimulation of the reward pathway. During opioid dependence and opioid addiction, the brain tries to ‘turn down the volume’ and compensate for the vicious highs and lows that occur during repeated opioid use and opioid withdrawal by reducing the number of opioid receptors in the brain. This is what leads to tolerance in people with opioid addiction - more and more of the opioid is needed to achieve the same effect. The result is that eventually the addict may feel lifeless, depressed, and may be unable to enjoy activities that usually bring them pleasure. By the time most opioid addicts seek treatment they no longer get a euphoric effect from taking an opioid - they are taking opioids just to function normally.

To complicate matters further, the repeated use of an opioid has a profound impact on the intellectual portion of the human brain that is involved in judgment and decision making. Since this part of the brain is still developing in adolescence, opioid dependence leading to addiction which begins during the teen years is often more severe and more resistant to treatment. Unfortunately, the impairment in the thinking part of the brain - the part that serves as the ‘brake pedal’ for addiction - is so severe that the addict may flatly deny that they have a drug problem, try to justify their use to family and friends, or minimize the consequences of their behavior. A person with opioid addiction (and less often, opioid dependence) can find themselves saying or doing things they would never have believed themselves capable of -

“The need to satisfy cravings can be so intense that even people who try as hard as they can to remain abstinent find it difficult ” or impossible to do on their own.

continued on pg 9

continued from pg 8 including lying to family members, stealing from loved ones, or even committing criminal acts - all in pursuit of the drug their brains are telling them they must have.

As a result of opioid dependence or opioid addiction, these changes in the structure and function of the brain result in powerful and long-lasting cravings for opioids. Cravings can last for months and even years after an addict has stopped using opioids, and has gone through the initial opioid withdrawal period. Persistent cravings explain why the relapse rate is so high with this disease. The need to satisfy cravings can be so intense that even people who try as hard as they can to remain abstinent find it difficult or impossible to do on their own.

Is Opioid Addiction Really a Disease?

Yes, opioid dependence can lead to opioid addiction, which is a chronic and progressive disease if untreated--just like heart disease, asthma and diabetes. These diseases have a lot in common with addiction--they are seen more frequently in those with a family history of the disease, they cause changes in the structure and function of a major organ system, they improve with behavior modification, they can be treated with medication, and they all require daily management. And like these other diseases, addiction is chronic - a condition for life, as there is no known cure. Fortunately, addiction can be managed, and a person suffering with opioid addiction can regain a healthy, productive life by seeking assistance with managed opioid withdrawal in an addiction treatment program.

The myth is that opioid addiction or opioid dependence is a result of poor will-power, a lack of self-control, or low moral standards. In reality, if it was that straightforward most people who are addicted would be able to stop using on their own. The changes in the structure and function of the brain are so powerful that stopping and remaining abstinent usually requires professional help.

How Serious is Opioid Dependence?

withdrawal is an unpleasant experience, and many individuals continue to use opioids to avoid the negative physical effects. Individuals who use heroin intravenously are about 7 to 10 times more likely to die on any given day than someone of similar age who is not a user. Accidental overdoses are on the rise because the potency of street drugs like heroin are unpredictable from one dose to the next, and the potency continues to climb (7% purity in 1980 to 75% today). Overall , patients with opioid dependence die at a much higher rate than non-users from a number of medical complications. The incidence of Hepatitis C is on the rise due to the sharing of needles – even those that are supposedly ‘recycled’ and ‘clean’. About 2% of those who are opioid-dependent die each year because they don’t seek treatment or assistance for opioid withdrawal. The message here is that there is a good explanation for why we don’t see a lot of old opioid addicts walking around.