Depression Lowdown

Depression affects more than 18 million Americans each year, and is more than having sad thoughts after a negative event.  It can also be triggered by certain illnesses, medications, family history, a brain chemical imbalance or sometimes for no apparent reason at all.

Depression Symptoms according to the Mental Health America (MHA) include:

• Sadness that lasts past two weeks and does not get better
• Irregular feelings of guilt or hopelessness
• Thoughts or attempts of suicide
• Muscle pains on a daily basis 

Depression is not normal no matter what your age, gender or health condition. Recent surveys showed that one in five teenagers are affected by depression. It is a health problem that needs immediate medical treatment. and more than 80 percent of people who seek treatment show improvement. We all go through periods where we may feel discouraged or saddened by events, and if you feel like it becomes more than you can handle, please seek help.

The two mujeres love reading The Daily Love for inspiration. Here is a great recent post on Bummed - 12 tips to bounce back.

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May is Mental Health Month!!

Take a Break and Slim Down Your Waist

We all know that having a weekly exercise routine is beneficial to our health, yet more and more we tend to sit around all day. A new study suggests that if we were to take one minute breaks throughout the day we would improve our waists along with our hearts.

The study, led by Genevieve Healy, MD, from the University of Queensland, found that even if you exercise 30 - 60 minutes a day, what you do the remainder of the day also counts towards your overall cardiovascular health. When we remain sitting for long periods of time at work (furiously typing at our keyboards) we may increase our risk for heart disease. This inactivity often leads to many things including having a higher blood pressure, increased body inflammation and waist circumference. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute high-risk waist circumferences are those:

• Over 40 inches for men.                             
  
• Over 35 inches for women.   

The study suggests that even small changes could help our cardiovascular health, including standing up to take phone calls, walking to see a colleague rather than phoning or emailing, and centralizing trash cans and printers so you have to walk to them. It is the sum total of all these little "breaks" of moving throughout the day, that can make positive changes not only for our waistline but towards our overall health. A couple of weeks ago, one of the mujeres was fortunate to hear  Kris Carr, a motivational speaker and New York Times best-selling author of Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips, Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor, and Crazy Sexy Diet speak and she suggested that if we were to dance just one song from you Ipod every day, that would make a difference. As Dr. Healy states "stand up, move more, more often".  

So Lets Get Moving People!!!!!

Here in New York, the Department of Parks & Recreation also offers free exercise classes in the summer, find out more here nycgovparks.

Immunizations: Choice for Life

On behalf of The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to “raising the bar” in healthcare, we have been asked to share the launch of the campaign, “Immunizations: Choice for Life,” which is using social networking to heighten awareness of the need for immunizations for Hispanic adolescents. 

Through this awareness program, Spanish language resources and information will be featured with links to up–to-date information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Immunization Action Coalition. Why the need for such awareness? The U.S. Office of Minority Health notes that Hispanic adolescents have lower rates of immunization than do their Caucasian counterparts against hepatitis B, influenza, pertussis, human papillomavirus (HPV), and measles/mumps/rubella (MMR). Immunizations are well recognized as a way to prevent needless suffering, illness, and deaths and are safe and effective for adolescents. They not only protect the immunized adolescents but also help prevent the spread of infectious diseases to teens’ family members and friends too.

Immunizations for adolescents include:

1. the hepatitis B vaccine,

2. the HPV vaccine

3. the meningococcal vaccine,

4. And catch-up vaccines for childhood immunizations missed, including those protecting against mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR), chicken pox (varicella), pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, diphtheria, and polio. 

“Healthy People 2010” waged an active campaign to increase adolescent immunization rates and it did make a difference!  Now it’s our turn to continue the trend with the “Immunizations: Choice for Life” program.

More information about this mission can be found by visiting these two resources:

www.westglen.com/online/18594.html

www.nphealthcarefoundation.org

Asthma & Allergy Awareness Month

credit: mindware.com/blog

Did you know that May is also Asthma & Allergy Awareness Month? If you are like us, you have been sneezing and rubbing your poor eyes and nariz (nose) a lot this season! What exactly is asthma and allergies? According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America asthma, affecting some 20 million people, is a chronic disease of the lungs in which the airways become blocked or narrowed causing breathing difficulty. There are also two types, allergic (extrinsic) and non-allergic (intrinsic). Allergies are categorized by what triggers them, the time of year or the symptoms that appear on your body and are diseases of the immune system that overreact to "allergens". 

credit: US Environmental Protection Agency

Since asthma symptoms come and go, many people actually do not know they have it. Many people complain of having persistent coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. Your doctor is the only one who can diagnose you with asthma, so if you suspect you may have it, schedule your appointment right away so they can do the appropriate testing to rule out other diagnoses like heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

While there is no cure for asthma along with an appropriate diagnosis, it can be controlled with medical treatment and also being aware of any potential environmental triggers. The United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends spending the time to eliminate potential triggers including secondhand smoke, mold, and chemical irritants. Together with your doctor, you can make up a treatment plan so that you can breathe easily indoors and outdoors. Here are some great recommendations from the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology:

• Make sure you are taking the right medicine at the right time. Ask your doctor if your medication is up to date.
• Limit time outside when the temperature and pollen counts are high
• Keep windows closed and use air conditioning.
• Take the asthma medication as prescribed. If your asthma is not under control ask your doctor about changing dosage or medication.

 In recognition of this month, the American College of Asthma, Allergies and Immunology is offering free asthma screenings. For a list of free screenings during the month of May, visit www.AsthmaAndAllergyRelief.org

National Women's Health Week May 8 - 14, 2011 "It's Your Time"

A week long observance beginning on Mother's Day every year, this year's theme is It's your Time. Yes! mujeres this year let's make sure that you take the time to make your health a priority. Empower yourself and the other mujeres and amigas around you and take the appropriate steps today to make the necessary changes needed to improve your life.

As President Barack Obama stated in his proclamation for Women's Health Week, "Women are a foundation of our families, and their health affects the well-being of our communities and our country. They often make health care decisions for their families as well as themselves. However, American women have not always had access to the health care they need, or the freedom to make the best health choices for their loved ones. As a Nation, we must ensure our mothers, daughters, friends, and colleagues receive fair treatment and access to resources they need to live healthy, happy lives."


We, the two Mujeres, encourage you all to lower your risks of certain illnesses that are preventable including heart disease, diabetes and cervical cancer by taking a pledge to stop putting off your doctors appointments, starting that new exercise regimen, making sure to treat your body like the temple it is and respecting it by putting food that nourishes you and treating yourself to some well-deserved alone time for meditation and relaxation.

Together we have the power to save lives TODAY thorough prevention and early detection. Women be your lifetime health advocate.

Tell us what are YOU going to do for Women's Health Week?
                                         

                                                                               
To find an event in your area click here 

Women are like teabags, we do not know our own strength until we are in hot water.  Eleanor Roosevelt  

Tumors Suck! May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month

Please welcome guest blogger and founder of mAssKickers, Eric Galvez.

I’m very honored to write a blog post for Patti and Helen's cervical cancer/women's health blog. I met them in NYC last month at the OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults, and we all immediately hit it off! Personally, I think that there needs to be more unity between the different tumor/cancer diagnoses so TOGETHER we can fight back against ALL forms of these diseases. When all the fingers in a hand come together to form a FIST, it becomes a more powerful strike than a single flick of finger. To me it makes more sense to collaborate and promote the activities and causes of other organizations rather than try to “change the world” by yourself. 

My journey to young adult survivorship is very unique. I graduated from physical therapy school from the University of Michigan-Flint in December 2003 with my Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree. On a whim, I moved to San Diego CA knowing only 2 people there. I got my first job straight out of school in a large hospital system in San Diego that had plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. On October 25 2005, almost 2 years since I got my degree, I had an 8-hour brain surgery to remove a golf-ball sized brain tumor located in a very dangerous spot between my brain stem and cerebellum. To make things even more interesting, I had surgery and rehab where I used to work, so many of my colleagues were now treating me as a patient! I was very stubborn and wanted to return to work as a physical therapist as soon as I could, but unfortunately my post-surgery physical impairments prevented me from returning to the career I had worked so hard to establish. It still is a tough pill to swallow because so much time, energy and tuition was spent on a career that I was just starting to enjoy. I have found though, that when one door shuts, another door opens. You just have to find it.  

I wrote a book called Reversal where I speak about my experiences as a young healthcare professional turned patient at physical rehabilitation educational programs across the country. I have also started a unique nonprofit geared towards newly diagnosed patients and their loved ones.  Please check out mAss Kickers Foundation at www.mAssKickers.org. Our goals are to use Knowledge to educate all about tumors/cancer, promote Unity among those touched by these horrible diseases, support tumor/cancer related Research, and Empower the newly diagnosed patient and their loved ones with an strategy to combat an intimidating tumor/cancer diagnosis (Use the K.U.R.E.)

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month so we would like to take this opportunity to share a few important brain tumor facts from the American Brain Tumor Association: 

• There are more than 120 different types of brain tumors; some are malignant (cancer), many are benign (non-cancerous). 
• An estimated 64,530 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2011.   
• Primary brain tumors are those that begin in the brain and tend to stay in the brain. Metastatic brain tumors begin as a cancer elsewhere in the body and migrate, or metastasize, to the brain.  
• Brain tumor prevalence refers to the total number of people who have a brain tumor. It is estimated that more than 600,000 people in the United States are living with the diagnosis of a primary brain tumor.  
• Brain tumors are difficult to diagnose; their symptoms often mimic other diseases.  
• Brain tumors are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20.

For more information, here is a link to specific facts from the Brain Science Foundation:
www.brainsciencefoundation.org


Collaboration is key in fighting these horrible diseases. Please pass on this message so others are more aware of the facts of brain tumors.

Eric Galvez PT, DPT, CSCS

Founder and President of mAssKickers

www.mAssKickers.org

For more information and to connect with Eric, you can also find him on:


Bio:About.me/eric.galvez
Facebook: facebook.com/mAssKickers
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/MKFvideos
Photos on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/mightyg/
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ericgalvez

Thank you Eric!