It has been reported that fear of breast cancer is severe than that of heart disease. Obviously enough, the diagnosis of breast cancer given by experts is shocking to the women. There is no wonder she and her family members seek second opinion about the diagnosis. It has also been estimated that breast cancer recovery is slower in women who are exceedingly depressed after the diagnosis that those who face the situation bravely. All these things point to a single fact that breast cancer has lot of implications on mind, before and after diagnosis.

Yes, we are saying before diagnosis, because breast cancer or any other cancer is reported to have a close relation with the psychological makeup of an individual. People who are psychologically vulnerable and have many depressive spells during earlier life are reported to have suffered from cancers more than those who have positive outlook towards life. That is why the cancers and especially the breast cancer are also referred to as psychosomatic diseases.

The emotional vulnerability of breast cancer patients is seen in following manner

* Excessive stress leading to marked irritability.
* Fear and shock
* Sadness leading to loneliness and socially withdrawn attitude.
* Anger and self pity leading to fluctuations in blood pressure, thus causing palpitations.
* Excess depression leading to fatigue, crying, and melancholic mood.
* When the patient does not express her emotions to anyone, this further adds to her woes and she may further suffer from frustration, hopelessness, etc.

The above things clearly indicate that the emotional sphere of the sufferer has to be kept alive and positive in order to get positive feedback during treatments. Not only the diagnosis but the treatment of cancer poses lot of emotional stress to the patient. If she has to undergo breast removal surgery, she may have to face further emotional dilemmas as follows:

* Loss of attractiveness because of which she fears losing love of her husband.
* Sexual problems pertaining to emotional disturbances.
* Because the fear of recurrence is so inbred, she may suffer from further depressive spells.

It has been stressed by the experts that emotional help to the concerned patients can prove immensely beneficial for their recovery or cure depending upon the stage of the cancer. The person with positive outlook and firm emotional support can revert back even from advanced stage and a depressed woman may succumb in the first stage of the disease itself. Let’s see how a woman can establish her emotional balance during such vulnerable situations.

Secure emotional balance

* First and the foremost thing to be remembered in any cancer case is, one should shed the ego and ask for emotional help from the person whom you are close to. It is not an act of bravery to suffer in silence.
* Remember the study that revealed that suppressing emotions led to earlier deaths in women with breast cancer. On the other hand the woman who expresses every concern has more days to enjoy life.
* Your physical health will get amazing boost if your emotional health is normal.
* Communicate with family and friends as frequently as you can. Keep your conversation easy and free-flowing and never hesitate to seek suggestions.
* Don’t fret the intimacy with your partner.
* Keep a close check of your physical symptoms and report them to your close family members as well as to the medical team.
* Prepare an exercise plan for yourself with the help of an expert.
* Joining a support group or visiting a counselor can be very helpful to boost your morale.
* Finally make an attempt to educate patients of breast cancer in your group. This will immensely benefit to raise your confidence and your feel-good factor!

Erectile Dysfunction and reasons of ED

Erectile Dysfunction, also known as Impotence, is a condition which effects many men worldwide with recent figures indicating that the condition can effect as many as 1 out of every 10 men at any given time throughout the course of their lives. As with most medical conditions or ailments, there is not one conclusive underlying cause of the condition but many possible reasons why sexual dysfunction amongst men can occur. The more common of these reasons, which can be both physical and psychological, will be explained below in this article and may be able to provide some much needed explanation of why this condition can occur.

Vascular Disease:

This condition, which is scientifically known as Arteriosclerosis, is a process defined by the hardening of a person’s arteries which can often lead to erectile dysfunction. There are many attributing factors to the developing of this condition such as diet, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and lifestyle choices like smoking, which over a number of years can cause this hardening to take place. Vascular disease is often associated with age and can account for as many as 65% of all erectile dysfunction cases in men over the age of 60.

Prescription Medication:

At present there are well over 200 prescription treatments which are known to cause or at least contribute to the development of erectile dysfunction. These commonly prescribed medications (viagra, cialis, levitra) can include treatments for depression, hypertension, cardiovascular conditions as well as sedatives and tranquilizers. In addition to these treatments there are a number of other substances, such as prohibited recreational drugs which are also known to be responsible for the development of this condition.

Diabetes:

Diabetes is a condition which is caused by high levels of sugar within the blood, which over a number of years can cause substantial damage to both the nerves and blood vessels found throughout the body. This condition is one of if not the single highest physical cause of erectile dysfunction cases with as many as 60% of men with ED as a direct result of Diabetes.

Peryonie’s Disease:

This condition is extremely rare and is more frequent in men who are advancing in age. It is an inflammatory condition, which causes considerable scarring of the tissue found within the penis which causes abnormal curvature of a man’s penis. This condition can often interfere with the sexual function of its sufferers as well as causing erections to be considerably painful.

Venous Leak:

Venous Leak is a condition where by the veins found within the penis are unable to prevent blood from flowing out, causing an erection to be lost. This condition can be occur for a number of different including disease, injury or other general damage to the veins which are located within the penis.

Hormone Disorders:

It is possible for erectile dysfunction to be caused by a deficiency in the amount of sex hormones, such as testosterone, found within the body. This physical accounts for less than 5% of all impotence cases and can not only make achieving an erection difficult but these disorders may also cause a decrease in sex drive and libido amongst men. This may two causes for the development of a hormone disorder such as this are an excess amount of a hormone called prolactin, often caused by a tumor of the pituitary gland, or from liver or kidney disease which can cause an imbalance of these hormones within the body.

Neurologic Conditions:

Another cause of impotence can be neurologic conditions, including brain or spinal cord injuries such as stroke, paraplegia, etc. These can also be accompanied by a number of nerve disorders including the likes of parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis commonly known as MS.

Psychological Conditions:

In addition to the numerous physical causes of this condition there are also a number of psychological reasons why erectile dysfunction can occur. These reasons, which usually bring about the condition temporarily, include depression, stress, anxiety, guilt and a whole host of different forms of psychiatric ailments. These conditions often also lower a patients want or desire for sex as well as directly inhibiting the erection process.

A lot of books make it seem like it’s so easy to get going with a weight loss program. While it’s not so hard to start a program, sticking with it until the end is another story altogether.

Most weight loss programs will give almost immediate results. Because of the changes to your diet or lifestyle, your body (and your weighing scale) will start showing the fruits of your labors almost immediately. After the period of quick weight loss, though, you’ll notice that the process begins slowing down. After a while, you’ll notice the weight loss coming in at a dead crawl.

It is usually at that slow point when a good number of dieters and weight loss program adherents ‘lose faith,’ so to speak. The plateau, as it’s called, is a point in time or period wherein the standard program stops giving you the results it once did. Plateaus are potentially dangerous to your weight loss program because it’s a very demoralizing time, and it’s when the most number of people drop their diets altogether.

You’ll experience the same thing if you work out regularly at the gym. You’ll feel that your workouts simply aren’t as effective or exciting as they once were. It’s a problem that’s both mental and physical. The mental aspect comes from boredom, plain and simple. Exercises and diets are both repetitive by nature and, done for a long enough span of time, it seems twice as difficult to do the same amount of work because of the tedium.

At the same time, it’s also a physical issue. Remember that the human body is very quick to adapt and grow. Once it gets used to the load or weight of a workout, or to the reduced nutrition of a diet, it begins adjusting operations to suit those activities, effectively negating their effects.

Stay tuned and watch out for the next post for tips on how to deal with plateaus in your weight loss program.