Skin absorption - Validation

"... whatever you apply to your skin is absorbed and goes into your blood and goes thru your entire body. ... A lot of medications are given by patch thru the skin now. Everything from birth control to narcotics. All women should remember that when purchasing cosmetics."


My friend Sizzzle, Biology major - comment at Zannel.com, validating my research and postings. Not only beautiful, but smart too...


Be good and be healthy!


Vanessa

Mens Sana - New Year's Resolution

Oops - the year is almost over and I haven't determined my New Year's resolution (NYR) yet.

In order to to simplify things, I decided to choose among few things for this upcoming year.

1. Working towards some causes, such as AIDS, vascular diseases, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, work in the community as a volunteer, green, and recycling efforts;

2. Personal achievements, such as making my cosmetics business successful yet ethical, be punctual, go out more often with my husband and friends, be more social, and periodically contact family and friends - even if they live far from me

3. Finally, to practice the idea of Mens sana in corpore sano... "Mens sana in corpore sano " is a famous Latin quotation that translates as "A sound mind in a sound body." This is one of my favorite phrase - and often use it as my motto. In this case, routinelly work-out and as often as possible bring friends along.

I am still in the final process in determining all the NYR - but am really taking it seriously this time - at least we will see in the third Month of the next year... What is your NYR?

Be good and be healthy.

Vanessa

Condition - Doctor's Advice Needed

You have symptoms that make you believe that something is wrong - let's call it a condition. The mosaic of symptoms and its specific treatment work as a puzzle. The Doctor will collect all data and provide his expertise - resolving the puzzle - followed by his/her advice on what treatment course to take - ultimately, you are going to decide what to do next.

Condition Plan of Action:

1. Keep track of all signs/symptoms - even if you are not sure if it's relevant
2. Ask what the Doctor says the condition is - write down the name
3. Ask what the options are for the treatment
4. Ask how long the treatment usually takes
5. Ask what the side effects of the therapy are
6. Ask what can happen if you discontinue the treatment
7. Ask what is the expected time frame for the healing process - and what is the worst case scenario

Understanding and probing the reasons why your Doctor is choosing a therapy is a good way to face the problem towards a solution. In case you are not comfortable with one Doctor's positioning, get a second opinion - and avoid delaying the treatment. Some conditions should not have the treatment delayed with the risk of worsening it - sometimes with irreversible consequences.

Alternative & Natural ways can be considered, depending on what the condition is - but with a risk to delay the treatment if it's not effective.

A good and positive attitude is proven to help the healing process. Connect, send messages to your family/friends and enjoy the Holiday season.

Be good and be healthy.

Vanessa

Allergy

People has different reactions to some substances, and an adverse reaction can be allergy - such as reaction to polen, insect bites, allergy to some types of food, and cosmetics, etc.

What is allergy
Allergy is a defensive immune response to some substances when the body does not recognize those. The purpose of this reaction is to inactivate this foreign substance and to protect against a potential harm to the body.

Mechanism

Allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction that needs an initial exposure to the substance that causes allergy (allergen). The allergen next stimulates specialized cells (lymphocites) to produce antibody (IgE) that is specific for this allergen. The IgE is released and attached to the surface of another specialized group of cells called mast cells, present in various tissues in the body.

The next time the person is exposed to the allergen, they will specifically attach to the IgE on the surface of the mast cells and prompt these cells to release chemicals, such as histamine. Histamine will cause some of the allergy symptoms - that's why medications for allergy include anti-histamine.

Extreme Allergy cases
Allergic reaction can be life-threatening. Mast cells activation, specially when the allergen is injected - injectable drugs and insects bites - can cause a potentially fatal syndrome called anaphylactic shock. Symptoms include 1. increase in vascular permeability causing a dramatic drop on the blood pressure; 2. airways constrict, causing difficulty in breathing; and 3. swelling of the epiglottis that can cause suffocation in susceptible individuals. The timely injection of epinephrine relaxes the smooth muscle and reverses the scenario.

Anything can be an allergen responsible to trigger allergies – food, cosmetics additives, preservatives, fragrances and other substances. In case of an initial reaction, probe what might have caused the reaction and avoid products that contain such substances.

Happy Holidays and a Healthy 2008!

Vanessa