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Study Reveals Female Chromosomes Resist Alzheimer’s More Than Males’

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It’s been known by the scientific community for a long time that women resist the symptoms of Alzheimer’s better than men. It was a groundbreaking discovery that opened a lot of doors for the research of the disease. At first, it wasn’t clear why this happened. However, recent advances in research have pointed to female chromosomes as the reason.

An August of 2020 report from researchers at the University of California San Francisco reveals that females might have a greater resistance to Alzheimer’s Disease–and generally live longer once they receive a diagnosis. This study concludes that this resistance stems from having an extra “X” chromosome.

In this article, you’ll learn what studies have revealed about female chromosome resistance to the disease and why they resist more than male chromosomes. First, you should know some basics about the disease to understand the information provided by the studies. Keep reading to find out more.

The Basics of Alzheimer’s Disease

This disease is a degenerative brain disease that causes severe memory loss and other cognitive functioning problems. It’s a form of dementia. Many people use the term with dementia interchangeably, but dementia is a term that describes the symptoms of a group of diseases. Think of dementia as the make and Alzheimer’s as the model.

Stages of the Disease

The disease can generally be separated into three stages:female chromosomes

  • Early-stage (mild) – the person may still lead an everyday life but may forget the location of objects, have trouble coming up with familiar words, have trouble with planning, or other simple memory-related problems.
  • Middle-stage (moderate) – the person may get words mixed up, have severe mood swings, display bizarre behavior like not wanting to bathe, have trouble with incontinence, and essentially need a greater level of care make it from day to day.
  • Late-stage(severe) – they will require around the clock care. The person has difficulty communicating, physical abilities may diminish, and they may be vulnerable to infections.

On average, women seem to resist the changes longer in the early and middle stages. Although the rate of progression in late stages speeds up for women, they still live longer than men because of the slow decline in the first two stages.

Statistics on Alzheimer’s

*These statistics are provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

  • Around 50 million people worldwide suffer from dementia-related diseases.
  • Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and makes up about 70% of cases.
  • By 2060, 14 million people are expected to suffer from the disease.
  • Symptoms appear after the age of 60 and get worse with age.
  • The disease is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States.
  • It is also the fifth leading cause of death for seniors ages 65 and older.

What Causes Alzheimer’s

Unfortunately, scientists have not yet discovered what causes the disease. There are several proposed risk factors, but scientists know for sure that age is a factor. As of now, it’s the primary factor. However, the disease is not a normal part of aging.

Genetics is another proposed risk factor as well as education, diet, and environment. There is a lot of speculation about risk factors and causes, but unfortunately, scientists don’t know a lot about the disease yet. However, as research has progressed, a few interesting findings have come about. One of them is the fact that female chromosomes resist the disease more than male chromosomes.

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Why Female Chromosomes Resists the Disease More Than Male Chromosomes

According to Dena Dubal, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of neurology at UCSF, more women than men develop the disease since women live longer. This longevity puts them more at risk since age is a primary factor in developing the disease.

However, women are much more resistant to the symptoms than men are, so they live longer with the disease. Research also shows that women remain in the first and second stages longer than men do, supporting the research that shows they live longer. While this seems to be great news for women, keep in mind that, genetically-speaking, this also means that you’re more likely to develop the disease from your mother rather than your father.

For a long time, it was unclear why this gender anomaly was true. Recent breakthroughs in the research revealed that female chromosomes held the answer.

The X Chromosome

Most people are familiar with male and female chromosomes, but here is a quick breakdown for people who may not be up to date on the science. Prepare yourself for a short science lesson.

At the time of fertilization, an embryo receives a chromosome from each parent. This chromosome determines the gender of the future child. If it’s a girl, she will get an X chromosome from each parent. If it’s a boy, he will get an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the father.

When you put all that together, you get:

  • Women have two X chromosomes.
  • Men have an X chromosome and a Y chromosome.

Some people say that because of this configuration, men determine the gender of the child. However, that’s another discussion for another article. This discussion will detail the significance of this as it relates to Alzheimer’s disease.

People often refer to the X chromosome as the female chromosome, although this is technically incorrect – as you can see, both men and women have an X chromosome. However, it’s referred to as such because if the embryo gets an X chromosome from the father, it will be a girl. Throughout the article, the X chromosome will continue to be referred to as the female chromosome for simplicity.

The KDM6A Gene

The X chromosome is the reason that women tend to resist the disease more than men. It’s because women have two X chromosomes and these chromosomes have genetic protection against the disease. In other words, women naturally have twice the protection that men have.

There is a gene in the X chromosome called KDM6A that produces a protein to protect against the disease. There are two “strengths” of KDM6A. Think of one as regular strength and the other as extra strength.

Research shows that 13 percent of women worldwide are lucky enough to have two different strengths, KDM6A genes, giving them even more protection. Seven percent of men have one extra strength, the KDM6A gene, but they still won’t have as much protection as women.

While there is still a lot more research to be done on this particular gene, and scientist don’t think that KDM6A is the key to stopping the disease in its tracks, it is an interesting development. It proves that research into the disease is going in the right direction.

Another Gene that Influences the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

There is another gene that is being researched as it relates to the disease. Scientists discovered a Colombian woman that proved to be a groundbreaking subject for a case study into the APOE gene, which is contained in chromosome 19.

If you aren’t sure about this, you get two of chromosome 19 – one from your mother and one from your father.

APOE is a gene that comes in three variants: APOE2 lowers the risk of the disease, APOE3 doesn’t have any effect; APOE4 increases the risk. Around half of people with Alzheimer’s have APOE4, although APOE4 only affects about 20% of the population. That means that 80% of the population has one of the other two versions. From this statistic, you can deduce that fewer women have the risky APOE4 version than men, which is a minor factor that could play into why they’re more resistant to the disease.

APOE4 seems to encourage the formation of sticky plaques of the protein beta-amyloid. This protein clogs the brain in people with the disease. However, scientists do not believe this is a cause of the disease, but rather a symptom.

Referring back to the Columbian woman in the case study, she had APOE3. Due to a genetic mutation that ran in her family, causing a disproportionate number of them to develop the disease in their early 40’s, she had that genetic mutation also. However, scientists were baffled because she didn’t start showing symptoms until after 70 years old.

Scientists discovered that the woman had plenty of beta-amyloid. However, she barely had any of the protein Tau, which is a hallmark protein of people suffering from the disease. This is what led researchers to look into the different versions of APOE more closely.

female chromosomesFinal Thoughts on the Female Chromosome Resistance to Alzheimer’s Disease

There is a lot more research to be done on this mentally debilitating disease. There are a lot of theories, but only a small amount of facts that researchers are trying to sort and link together. However, discoveries like that of the Columbian woman help lead to new breakthroughs.

It’s a fact that women are more resistant to the disease than men. Knowing about female chromosomes being more resistant to the disease than men’s is a groundbreaking discovery that will eventually open a lot of doors in the research. As it becomes more and more clear which genes play a role in this ravaging disease, the scientific community will get closer to a treatment and even an eventual cure.

Researchers Find a Link Between Less Brain Plasticity and Obesity

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Obesity is an ever-increasing concern in the United States. Besides being dangerous to your heart health, new research shows that obesity affects your brain’s ability to function. Here’s what researchers are saying about losing brain plasticity and being obese.

A September 24, 2020 article on Science Daily shares a study published in Brain Sciences. It concludes that obese people have less brain plasticity. This reduced brain functionality means that they are less likely to retain information and might take longer to master new concepts. But what does all that mean? Let’s take an even closer look at the several factors that contribute to obesity. Then, we’ll discuss brain plasticity and share new, healthier habits to boost brain health.

The definition of “obese.”

Approximately 42.5% of Americans are obese, which means that one in every three adults is thought to be overweight enough to be considered obese. Obesity is defined as being more than 20% over your ideal weight. Your perfect weight takes into consideration your height, age, build, and gender. The National Institute of Health says that this number means that your Body Mass Index (BMI) is above 30. You can gauge your BMI by getting your weight in kilograms and dividing it by the square number of your height in meters. There are many online BMI calculators available for easy checking of your BMI. The higher your BMI, the more chance you are of being considered obese.

What causes obesity?

brain plasticityObesity isn’t just an American problem, but according to some studies, obesity is something like a worldwide pandemic spreading rapidly and contributing to medical, economic, and social issues for many countries. If you’re obese, you’re at risk for some types of cancer, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and at a greater risk of getting dementia. So what causes obesity?

Poor diet

Being obese develops gradually over time. Eating an unhealthy diet is a significant contributor to obesity which includes

  • Eating processed or fast food: These foods are high in sugar and fat.
  • Dining out: You tend to eat more when you eat out. If you get an appetizer before your meal, it adds calories. Plus, restaurant foods are often higher in fat.
  • Eating large portions of food: It’s easy to overeat if you’re with friends, family, or at a restaurant. You may be surprised at what a normal portion is if you’re used to eating large amounts of food.
  • Drinking a lot of alcohol: Alcohol is high in calories and sugar, causing you to gain weight quickly.
  • Drinking sugary drinks: Sugary drinks can pack on the pounds.
  • Eating for comfort: If you’re sad or depressed, you may be tempted to overeat.

Interestingly, overeating runs in families. If your parents overate, you might have learned bad eating habits while growing up. It can be hard to break the cycle, but if you know your parents ate unhealthy foods like these, you can begin new eating habits.

Sedentary lifestyle

Lack of physical exercise contributes to obesity. Sitting at work all day, watching television, or playing computer games encourage weight gain. It’s recommended that adults get 150 minutes of somewhat intense activity, like walking fast or riding a bike weekly. If you are trying to lose weight, you must need to exercise more often.

Genes

Your genes can contribute to being obese. You may find it a bit more of a challenge to lose weight due to your genes, but it’s not an excuse. Obesity is due more to an unhealthy lifestyle and bad eating habits than genetics.

Medical problems

Sometimes medical problems contribute to being overweight. Diseases like hypothyroidism and Cushing disease make it more challenging to lose weight and keep it off.

  •  Hypothyroidism: Your thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones slowing down your metabolism, so you gain weight.
  •  Cushing’s disease: This rare disease causes your body to make too many steroids. Steroids increase your appetite and fluids in your body, making you weigh more.
  • Medications: Taking medications like corticosteroids, medicine for diabetes, or epilepsy also possibly cause weight gain. Also, antidepressants might cause weight gain.

What is brain plasticity?

Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity happens in the neurons of your brain. These are the nerve cells responsible as the building blocks of your brain’s nervous system. Your brain’s plasticity is its adaptability, its ability to change depending upon what’s going on.

Obesity puts you at risk as you age because you’re more at risk for disease or injuries. Having good brain plasticity helps your recovery. Researchers found that a healthy brain can rewire itself. Neuroplasticity not only means your mind can recover better, but you can have a good life afterward.

Besides controlling your weight, here are some other ways you can improve your brain’s plasticity.

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  1. Get enough sleep

You should get enough sleep to help your brain. Losing sleep prevents your brain’s ability to reset itself. Adults between 34 to 65 need approximately 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.

  1. Learn new things

Whether you learn a new language, take up dancing, or learn to play the piano, learning improves your brain’s plasticity. Any kind of learning activity strengthens your mind and give it more flexibility.

  1. Reduce your stress

Stress lowers your brain’s neuroplasticity. Find ways to reduce your stress, including

  • Exercise: Physical exercise relieves stress and improves your brain health.
  • Going for a walk outside: Nature is a natural cure for stress.
  • Mindfulness classes: Mindfulness teaches your brain to get in tune with sights, sounds and smells. Practicing mindfulness can help you relax.
  • Yoga: Stretching and breathing exercises in yoga relieve stress and help you feel calm.
  • Laughing more: Watch a read a funny book or watch a funny movie-anything to make yourself laugh. Laughing releases chemicals in your brain, making you feel happier and less stressed.

  1. Read fiction

Researchers suggest that you read fiction to help your brain’s connectivity. Indeed, they point to this activity as a way to maintain cognitive function throughout a lifetime. Reading is also relaxing, helping to lower your stress levels.

Brain plasticity info you should know

Here are some fun facts about how efficiently this amazing organ works.

  • Brainpower: If your brain was hooked up to a light bulb, it could power a low-wattage LED light, which is around 25 watts of electricity.
  • Alcohol: Drinking too much alcohol causes your brain to lose the ability to make memories.
  • Computer brain: Your brain can compute 10 to the 16th operations per second, meaning your mind can solve problems faster than a computer.
  • Speedy brain: Information moves through your brain quickly. The slowest speed that information travels inside your brain? 260 miles per hour!
  • Flying brain: Too much jet lag hinders your memory. When you’re jet-lagged, stress hormones get released, causing your memory to diminish.
  • The painless brain: Your brain has no pain receptors. That’s why surgeons can do brain surgery on patients while they’re awake.
  • Go ahead, daydream: Daydreaming is good for your brain. The regions of your brain that are the most active while you’re resting from tasks are in the place where daydreams are created.
  • Call me: Did you know that your brain is generally able to remember a maximum of 7 numbers at one time? That reason is why telephone numbers are seven digits long.
  • You can’t do it: Even though you think you can multi-task, researchers say it’s not possible. When you think you’re multitasking, you’re just quickly switching back and forth between two activities in your brain.
  • It is not heavy: An adult brain weighs 3 pounds, just 2% of your body’s weight.
  • Read aloud: When you read out loud, it encourages your brain’s function.
  • Yawn away: Yawning helps your brain cool off. When you are not getting sufficient hours of sleep at night, your brain temperature rises. So, yawn all you want and cool off your brain.

brain plasticityFinal Thoughts on Connecting Lowered Brain Plasticity to Obesity

Being excessively overweight is not only unhealthy for your body, but lowers your brain’s ability to adapt to changes. Brain plasticity improves your memory and the overall function of your brain. Obesity’s effect upon the mind is something researchers are just discovering. They’ve found that as obesity increases, so does low brain plasticity. The most significant contributors to obesity are poor eating and a sedentary lifestyle. Your genes and some medications you’re taking could also make it more difficult for you to lose weight.

Fortunately, you can improve your brain’s plasticity at any age by learning something new, lowering your stress, or reading a good novel. Of course, implementing a healthy diet, exercising, and limiting alcohol improves your brain health, too.  Your brain is worth protecting. If you’re struggling with being overweight, get help today so you can lose weight and preserve your brain’s plasticity now and in the future.

Psychologists Explain 4 Things That Make A Relationship Work

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We all want to make a relationship work–and ever better, for an entire lifetime! Sadly, the fact is that a lot of relationships don’t make it that far. You likely want to do everything you can to avoid having your partnership meet that fate!

Many strive to discover the secret to a happy relationship, and the answer is more complicated than just one be-all-end-all! Here’s how psychologists explain four things that make a relationship work.

1.    Positive Thinking Helps Make a Relationship Work

Positive thinking is a powerful thing, capable of completely changing your perception of any given situation. It’s also something you need to have if you want to keep a relationship healthy.

This has to be a mutual choice between both partners in the relationship, says Licensed Psychotherapist, author, and radio show host Barton Goldsmith. Both of you have to decide to control how you carry yourselves to promote more positive behavior and manage moods together as a team.

Here are some tips for developing positive thinking that can help make your relationship work:

·         Approach Problems With A Positive Mindset

When there’s a conflict or severe issue, pause and breathe before launching straight into combat mode. With positive motivation, problems are more likely to be solved through compromise and open-mindedness, says Monte Drenner, a licensed mental health counselor.

make a relationship work·         Share Positive Events In Your Life

When good things happen, seek out your partner and tell them about it. Numerous studies have found that sharing these positive points in your life – especially when you feel excited to tell your partner the great news – can facilitate a stronger bond.

·         Foster Good Self-Worth

Positive thinking applies to each partner, too. You must have healthy self-worth that isn’t attached to having a partner or how your partner makes you feel. If you rely too much on your partner for happiness, things will fall apart pretty quickly! You need to feel secure enough in yourself that other people’s opinions don’t damage your self-esteem, says School of Love NYC founder and dating coach Monika Parikh.

·         Reminisce On Times Of Laughter

Did you know that studies have shown that laughing together and then looking back on that laughter together is great for a relationship? Dr. Megan Stubbs, a relationship and intimacy expert, states that asking each other about your favorite happy memories together is a great way to begin reminiscing. The shared emotions and memories bring you together and can even make you think of the future to come.

2.    Communication Can Make a Relationship Work

There’s a reason that so many people say communication is the secret to a happy relationship. No human being can read minds, so you need to talk to your partner about different concerns you have or opinions you hold, says Goldsmith.

·         Share Your Downs

Being vulnerable can be scary, but it’s part of communication. Your partner can’t know how you feel if you don’t tell them. Licensed psychologist, Rapport Relationships founder, and dating coach, Dr. Jennifer B. Rhodes, even goes so far as to state that letting down your guard can be a huge part of intimacy as a whole.

·         Don’t Make Assumptions

No matter how well you believe, you know your partner, making assumptions is a surefire way to land yourself in confusing misunderstandings. Lasting Connections founder and psychologist Sameera Sullivan points out that mind reading in this manner can be dangerous and that it’s much better to ask instead of assuming to avoid hurting anyone in the process.

·         Talk About Boundaries

Knowing your limits is essential in a relationship, and many relationships will suffer from silence and ignoring these problems than they will ever suffer from violence, says Parikh. Don’t ignore your partner’s crossing of limits or things that hurt you. Talk about them and be direct and clear about where your boundaries are. Don’t become compliant. Avoiding a fight isn’t as positive as it sounds, and couples that fight healthily and regularly often have a stronger relationship. You should feel comfortable discussing these things with your partner; if not, that could be a huge red flag.

3.    Positive Reinforcement

Reinforcement is the act of continuing to make it clear that you love and appreciate your partner. It’s easy to accidentally fall out of the habit of being sweet and romantic to someone you’ve been in a relationship with for years and years.

But leaving the honeymoon phase doesn’t mean the sweetness should end, says Goldsmith. If anything, you need to continue working on your relationship forever, and you shouldn’t become complacent in the way you show your affection. Here are some ways to make sure positive reinforcement is still a part of your relationship:

moving in with your partner

·         Encourage And Support Your Partner

Offering words of encouragement shows that you think of your partner’s experiences and pay attention to what they’re going through. Expressing admiration at their improvements or successes and being supportive in more challenging times tells your partner that you care.

·         Surprise Your Partner Now And Then

These surprises show you’re thinking of your partner outside of the typical red-letter days. Clinical psychologist Joshua Klapow, Ph.D., also The Kurre and Klapow Show’s host, recommends tangible romantic gestures. Instead of sending emails or texts, buy tiny gifts, write small letters, or help them check something off their to-do list!

·         Schedule A Date Night

Date nights are a break from mundane, everyday life, states Maple Holistics Health and Wellness Expert Caleb Backe. You’re choosing to spend quality time with your partner outside of your daily life. They’re your partner in relaxation and the hustle and bustle. Plus, it’s fun to get that time to yourselves to hang out! It spices things up. You get to talk to each other and rekindle a spark. There’s no denying the positive effects these dates have, so make them a regular thing!

·         Hold Hands In Public

Klapow recommends that you and your partner hold hands in public – just like you did when you first began dating! This act is intimate but public, a display that you and your partner are together. It’s also a natural way to bond through touch while indicating that you are happily there for your partner, always!

·         Kiss Each Other More Often

When you first started courting your significant other, kissing was probably a highlight of your dates. As time goes on, in most relationships, make-out sessions are replaced by quick, chaste pecks on the lips or a kiss on the cheek. Sarah A. Intelligator, a Family Law lawyer and owner of the Law Offices of Sarah A. Intelligator, recommends that you never stop kissing each other as you did before. When you eliminate these heated shows of affection, you’re subconsciously sending the message that your partner is less desirable to you, and that can sour intimacy and fun.

·         Keep Romance Alive

Just because you’re comfortable with each other doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still flirt and be sappy partners in love! Keep buying flowers. Keep doing romantic things. Be embarrassingly romantic. Act like you’re still in the early “chase” stages of your relationship. You’d be surprised how much that can help keep the spark alive!

4.    Be Your People

When you’ve been with someone for a very long time, it’s easy to slip into a state where you don’t do anything without the other. You become almost interchangeable and, in the worst-case scenario, could get codependent.

This is very unhealthy because the common idea that a partnership is two halves making a whole is not accurate. A partnership is two whole people coming together out of love and appreciation. Your entire life shouldn’t be about your partner, and you shouldn’t be relying on them to give you everything you need. That’s too much pressure for anyone, and it’s blatantly unfair to yourself, too.

Here are some tips for being your own person while still being a unified couple in a relationship:

·         Give Each Other Space

Everyone needs alone time. Even the happiest couples need individual time to themselves, says Parikh. Learn to be comfortable and feel positive without your partner next to you at all times. Lead your own life! Have your own hobbies! Have your own me-time! And of course, respect that your partner also needs all of that, too.

·         Assess Yourself And Grow On Your Own

You need to be a strong person on your own, continually learning and growing with the years, to maintaining a healthy relationship. Your partner should be doing the same. That’s why you need to evaluate and assess yourself, says Amy Bishop, M.S., a couples therapist. There’s no denying that even the very best people can have negative or questionable behavior. We all have toxic or bad sides to us because we’re human and flawed. Your job is to continue learning from your mistakes and being aware of the things you need to work on. Put effort into growing and developing as a person, and your relationship will grow, mature, and become healthier with you. Don’t let your pride stop you from acknowledging your weaknesses!

·         Have Separate Friends

According to research, the least positive relationships most likely to fall apart are those where you have all the same mutual friends. Think about it – you have the same support group and have no social circles of your own, which is far from a positive factor. Worse still, if the relationship falls apart, the friend group is caught in an uncomfortable situation. Mutual friends are good, but have separate circles on top of that, too!

·         Take Care Of Yourself

You’re a grown adult, and you don’t need another human being to look out for you all the time. You get to decide what you want and need and how to spend your time. Yes, you should take your partner into account when your decisions or actions affect them. But if it’s just about you, then be independent! You don’t need your partner to help you with everything or be there for every second of your life, says Parikh. Having one person as your only go-to is toxic for them and for you. Besides, you can always tell your partner about your individual adventures later!

make a relationship workFinal Thoughts On Some Things That Make A Relationship Work

Making a relationship works takes effort. You need to stay positive, communicate well, make sure your partner knows you love them, and continue to work on yourself. It might not be easy, but if you love the person you’re dating or married to, it’s certainly worth it!

15 Quotes on Hard Work to Motivate Your Success

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Many quotes on hard work can help you become successful. They will help keep you motivated and remind you of what you have to do to reach your goals. These quotes on hard work are essential because the only way to the top is through hard work.

Success can’t be obtained for free, as great as that would be. It can still be enjoyable, however, as hard work leads to higher overall satisfaction.

It’s especially important to put in hard work when you would rather give up. Pouring your negative energy into something positive will help you get past the slump. So, the next time you need some motivation to propel you towards your goals, remember these quotes on hard work.

Quotes on Hard Work to Propel You to Success

1. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” – Vince Lombardi

Becoming successful isn’t easy, and you have to pay the price to reach it. This price is hard work, dedication, and determination, as Lombardi explains. Even if you don’t win or things don’t go as planned, if you have done your best, you have succeeded.

struggles in life2. “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope. You will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama

You can’t sit around waiting for good things to come to you. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, you have to get up and get started on all the hard work your goals require.

When you do this, you’ll be more hopeful, and those around you will be more hopeful, too. Each step you take and each task you finish will get you closer to where you want to be. Don’t hold up your goals by sitting idly and feeling hopeless.

3. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Being great at something isn’t what determines if you reach your goal. Instead, those that are consistent in their hard work are the ones who will get to the top. Even with all the talent in the world, if you aren’t working hard, you won’t be successful.

4. “Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing.” – William A. Ward

If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to do what others will not. This desire means you may have to miss sleep, pass on leisurely activities, and choose hard work over relaxation.

While everyone else seems to be enjoying life, they wish for success that they won’t reach. On the other hand, you will be working hard to accomplish your dreams. This dedication is what will set you apart from everyone else and allow you to become successful.

5. “A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” – Colin Powell

Becoming successful can’t magically happen, and it won’t happen overnight. You have to work hard and fight until you reach it. Stay determined and don’t let obstacles slow you down.

If things get hard, keep pushing through. Remind yourself that it is the only way you will become successful and that it will all be worth it.

6. “Without ambition, one starts nothing. Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing comes easily, and you will never get anything without working for it. You don’t get handed completed goals for free, so you have to be ambitious and keep working hard. Only then will you be able to achieve your goals and make yourself proud.

7. “When you do more than you’re paid for, eventually you’ll be paid for more than you do.” -Zig Ziglar

It can be hard to do more than you are paid for, but it will pay off in the end. When your extra work catches up with you, you will end up being paid more for less work. Keep this in mind as you think about the work you’re doing that you aren’t paid for.

quotes on hard work8. “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained in sudden flight but, they while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Becoming successful doesn’t come easily, and there will always be obstacles to overcome. It is never a straight shot, and things can’t always go as planned. Instead, keep fighting even as your rivals sleep or rest leisurely. Before you know it, you’ll have reached the level of success that they can only wish for.

9. “Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference.” – Lou Holtz

Those who reach the top enjoy hard work. They know that hard work is the only way to achieve their dreams and sustain them. So, they embrace it and think of it as a payment for their successes.

The people who don’t enjoy hard work, however, are the ones who will never reach the top. They think achievements should be handed to them, and they think of hard work as a bad thing.

10. “My success was due to good luck, hard work, and support and advice from friends and mentors. But most importantly, it depended on me to keep trying after I had failed.” – Mark Warner

Good luck, hard work, support, and advice are all great, but they will not help individually. You have to have all four to reach your goals and move to the top.

Plus, you have to be willing to try again when you have failed. Failure shouldn’t mark the end of your journey. Instead, it should just make the next path clearer before you begin. Always keep trying, and the rest will fall into place.

11. “Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. Most of all, other people can’t stop you. Only you can stop you.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

Unexpected issues and hardships can’t prevent you from reaching your goal. Only you can decide to stop trying or to give up on your dreams. Or, you can make the right decision and try again until the desired result is reached.

12. “I think the thing about that was I was always willing to work; I was not the fastest or biggest player, but I was determined to be the best football player I could be on the football field, and I think I was able to accomplish that through hard work.” – Jerry Rice

If you are willing to work hard, even when you don’t feel like it, you will be successful. You don’t have to be the most talented. You simply have to be the one willing to work the hardest. When you are putting in hard work, you’ll pass even those who are more talented than you are.

13. “You can’t cheat the grind. It knows how much you have invested, it won’t give you anything you haven’t worked for.” – Eric Thomas

There is no way around hard work. The universe won’t magically give you what you want or need. You’ll only get it when you have worked hard for it.

You have to determine your goal and figure out what you need to do to reach it. Then, don’t give up until you get what you wanted and dreamed of. You will only get back what you have invested in it.

14. “Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.” – Theodore Rubin

Easy work won’t make you happy. The thing that will make you happy is working hard to reach your goals. The satisfaction that Rubin explains can only come with hard work and determination to be successful.

15. “It’s not about money or connections – it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone.” – Mark Cuban

Some people think that having money and connections would make them luckier and more successful. While it may help, it isn’t the only way to reach your goals.

Money and connections aren’t even the best way to reach your goals. Those who work hard will end up passing those who used money and connections. Remember this the next time you think you’d already be where you want to be if you had those advantages.

quotes on hard workFinal Thoughts on Quotes on Hard Work to Propel You to Success

Reaching success isn’t supposed to be easy, but it is achievable through hard work and determination. Once you developing a hard-working routine, it’ll start to become something you enjoy. The hard work will leave you with satisfaction that nothing else can replace. You will have reached your goals and developed hard-working habits to help you maintain your role.

Even when hard work seems overwhelming, each second you devote to it will pay off. Remember these quotes on hard work when you feel like giving up, and they will motivate you to keep working hard.

10 Things That Cause Sneezing (And How to Stop It)

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How many times have you closed your eyes today as you randomly sneezed? Perhaps it was one rogue outburst, or you were gripped in a series of breathless events. What causes sneezing? And are there any remedies to combat this annoying issue?

Understanding Sneezing

Did you know that most people sneeze an average of four times a day? Sneezing, also called sternutation, is one of your body’s many automatic responses to invading microbes or stimuli. As bothersome as it can be, this cleansing serves your respiratory system well.

• Know Your Nose

Even if you don’t like the size and shape of your nose, you can appreciate the work it does for you. Not only does it provide your sense of smell, but it filters dust and microbes from the air you breathe. Its tiny hairs trap and filter any debris in the mucus lining, which is later sent to the stomach to neutralize.

The mucus lining in your nose and throat are sensitive and can be easily irritated by dust and germs. In response to the irritation, your body creates a sneeze to expel the offenders before the irritation turns into inflammation and infection. The response may take less than a second, but the mechanics of a sneeze are quite elaborate.

sneezing• Mechanics of A Sneeze

You would be amazed at the complex bodily process that’s involved in a sneeze. It’s a team effort with your nose, brain, diaphragm, and other muscles. At first, you feel a little tickle sensation in your nose and throat caused by dust or microbe irritation.

Your brain senses your discomforts and alerts your sneeze response in a fraction of a second. At your brain’s signal, your lungs quickly inflate with a deep breath, and you hold it. As your chest muscles expand and tighten, the air in your lungs is pressurized.

Immediately, your tongue presses against your palate, you close your eyes, and the compressed air is quickly blasted through your nostrils.

10 Things That Can Cause You to Sneeze

Some people have a more sensitive nose and respiratory system, so that causes them to sneeze more often. What are some of the things that send you into a stream of annoying sneezes? Here are the most common things.

1. Nasal Irritants

Perhaps the main reason people sneeze is because of irritants in the air, many of them microscopic. Dust, pet dander, sand, or any little particle that enters your nose can irritate the mucus lining and cause a sneeze. If your nasal passages are especially sensitive, you may experience multiple episodes.

2. Allergies

If you have allergies, you know all too well about how they contribute to sneezing and other discomforts. Allergy-induced sneezing is often observed by those who have seasonal issues, such as hay fever. You may have an allergic reaction to certain odors that make you sneeze too.

3. Viral Infections

Viruses are notorious invaders that often cause inflammation and diseases such as the common cold and flu. In response, you will have the usual additional symptoms of sniffles, coughing, and runny nose. All you can do is treat the symptoms because viruses do not respond to antibiotics.

4. Plucking Hairs

As if the price of beauty wasn’t painful enough, some of your beauty routines may cause you to sneeze. The next time you tweeze your eyebrows or a wily nose hair, notice that you will probably sneeze with each pluck. Science can’t explain the reason, but some researchers say it’s a nervous response.

5. Migraines

Although more research is needed, there is a positive correlation between migraines and sneezing. It could be a response to pain or inflammation. You know how excruciating it is to sneeze if you’ve ever battled a migraine.

6. Spicy Foods

That zesty taco or bowl of curry may be delicious, but the spice can cause a chain reaction. Spicy foods can irritate your throat and nose, causing instant inflammation, tears, coughing, and sneezing. Just the scent may cause you to sneeze.

7. Nasal Sprays with Corticosteroids

If you have severe allergies, you may be taking a prescribed nasal spray containing corticosteroids. These drugs help soothe your breathing passages and reduce inflammation. However, the first inhalations often make you sneeze.

8. Strong Emotions

Emotions can cause your body to react in unusual ways. When you are sad or angry, you often cry, get shaky, nauseated, and cough because of the rush of stress hormones. Your irritated nasal passages may respond with a sneeze or two.

9. Sunlight

Medical researchers are still at a loss at why you can see sunlight or another bright light, which triggers a sneeze. It’s a phenomenon called photic sneeze reflex. Try looking into a light and see if you don’t sneeze.

10. Drug Withdrawal

Specialists who work in substance addiction and recovery often report that sneezing is a common symptom during the withdrawal stages, especially from opioids. They believe it could be the body’s response to the stress of detoxifying.

harm your health

These eleven seemingly innocent habits might prove harmful to your health.

Fascinating Sneeze Facts

Many English people make the “achoo” sound effect. However, it is a cultural habit and has nothing to do with the rush of air that creates the reaction. Some articles reveal that people from different countries make different sound imitation, and deaf people usually make no noise at all.

• Saying “Bless You”

Have you ever wondered why many cultures say a quick blessing over those who sneeze? Many ancient cultures believed that people could blow their souls out when they sneezed, but a plea for divine blessing would prevent it.

The myth persisted during the scourge of the Black Plague when a sneeze was often its first symptoms. Not only did people want to bless the potential victim, but they wanted to bless themselves as a ward against the lethal disease.

• Be Still, My Heart

Don’t believe the old myth that your heart stops whenever you sneeze. Your heart isn’t involved in the reflex and continues beating. Nobody has ever “sneezed” himself to death on record, and you won’t die if you sneeze more than three times either.

• Speed

Did you know that when you sneeze, the sudden burst of air can travel at speeds up to 100 miles per hour? That’s as fast as an F1 tornado wind speed range.

• Spraying Power

With each burst, it’s possible to blow as many as 40,000 water droplets within a five-feet radius. No wonder you should always use a tissue or the inside of your elbow.

• About Your Eyes

Of course, you can sneeze with your eyes wide open. We often close our eyes from habit. Opening your eyes probably won’t stop the momentum, but it isn’t likely to cause more either.

How to Stop Your Sneezes

Are you tired of sneezing your head off? Although the action isn’t harmful to your body, it isn’t very pleasant. Try these ways to stop it the next time you feel a sneeze coming.

1. Know Your  Triggers

If you know what makes you sneeze, it’s easier to avoid the triggers. Whether it is dust, perfume, or spicy foods, avoid them as much as possible. You are more likely to sneeze less.

2. Blow Your Nose

Since an episode is often caused by irritants trapped in your nasal passages, it makes sense that blowing your nose can get rid of them quickly. It may work faster than waiting for the inevitable outburst.

3. Let Your Tongue Help

As soon as you feel that dreaded tickle in the back of your throat that comes before a sneeze, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth and rub it for a couple of seconds. It will usually do the trick to suppress it.

4. Take a Sip of Water

When your throat and nasal passages are irritated from coughing or a nasal attack, they will often feel dry and scratchy. Take a few sips of cool water to rehydrate your throat, and the symptoms may ease.

5. Give Your Nose a Pinch

This little trick often works before it happens. Pinch your nostrils together gently until the feeling fades. Please don’t do it while you sneeze because it can cause painful pressure in your ears.

6. Avoid Overeating

When you overeat, it creates a bevy of unpleasant symptoms for your body, like heartburn, indigestion, and obesity. Some people may sneeze several times, which remains without explanation, so avoid overindulging. It’s another good reason for healthy eating habits.

7. Avoid Bright Lights

Perhaps you are one of those people who sneeze when exposed to sunlight or another bright light source. If so, researchers suggest that you keep your sneezes stifled by wearing appropriate sunglasses when outdoors and avoid looking directly into bright light sources.

sneezingFinal Thoughts: Be Courteous of Others While Sneezing!

These natural remedies may help you stifle a sneeze. Be kind to those around you and use tissues or your elbow to cover your mouth to stop the spread of germs. While this body process is normal, it also can be an indication of a bigger problem like a virus.

10 Red Flags You Think Too Much (and How to Quit Overthinking)

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Do you find that you think too much? When you overthink, you analyze everything to the point of anxiety. If you think you may be doing this, check out these ten indicators of overthinking and how they can be harmful to you. Later, we will share some tips to combat the cycle of overthinking to help you rebalance your state of mind.

What is overthinking?

The tendency to overthink means you have an abundance of thoughts that never work out into real action. These overactive thoughts produce nothing but stress and worry. You may worry about what happened in the past or what’s going to happen in the future. Overthinking is usually about things you can’t control. Thinking too much can be paralyzing and lead to an anxiety disorder. Consider these ten red flags you may see in your life if you’re struggling with overthinking.

1 – Lack of focus due to racing thoughts.

think too muchWhen you’re continually examining your thoughts, actions, and conversations, your thoughts get in the way of your ability to concentrate on your daily activities. Your ideas may weigh so heavily upon you that you become distracted from real-life responsibilities. If your thoughts interfere with your daily life tasks, it’s a red flag. Step back and figure out how to let go of thoughts that prevent you from living your life.

2 – Your thoughts interfere with your work.

One study discovered that when athletes overthink, it disrupts their performance. It’s no wonder because when you overthink, you examine every action you make. This introspection causes you to second guess and doubts your ability to do things. A trained athlete relies on their mental and physical ability to perform. In the same way, if your mind is distracted, and you doubt your abilities, you won’t be able to do your work. This process can be disruptive to your job. This is a big red flag indicating that you’re overthinking things.

3 – Not paying attention to the people in your life.

Overthinking causes you to be caught up in your world most of the time. You aren’t fully there for others because of your all-consuming thoughts. Overthinking causes you to think more about yourself than others. When you’re with others, you may be distracted by views like this:

  • How do I feel right now?
  • Why do I feel like this?
  • Does this person like me?
  • They look sad. It’s probably because of me.
  • What did I do wrong?
  • Are they mad at me?

This rumination is a self-consuming way to live. You are not paying rapt attention to what others are saying or feeling. People may perceive you as uncaring or thoughtless, even though you aren’t. Overthinking is detrimental to your relationship with friends and family because it causes you to live in your head.

4 – What’s real?

Researchers found that overthinking interferes with your long term memory. As you rehearse things over and over, what happened gets rewritten in your mind.  Things begin to look worse than they were when you rehearse them in your mind. It is easy to put a negative spin on the past. So what happened seems utterly different from what really happened, yet you believe your version of the situation. It’s a twisted web that affects your thoughts and feelings.

5 – Feel nervous all the time

Overthinking can make you feel always nervous. Your thoughts feel out of control and overwhelming. Being consumed with these thoughts steals your ability to relax. Your nervousness is unhealthy and could make you sick. Taking control of your thoughts is critical to avoid feeling nervous all the time.

6 – Physical ailments

Overthinking can lead to an anxiety disorder. Researchers have found that some physical illnesses are caused by anxiety and stress. These ailments include

  • Headaches
  • Ulcers
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Strange aches and pains
  • Insomnia
  • High blood pressure
  • Chest pain
  • Panic attacks

If you’re having these physical problems and you think it could be related to your overthinking, be sure to speak with your doctor. They can diagnose the physical issues and help you find strategies to slow down your overactive thoughts.

7 – Fatigue

Your overthinking makes you feel as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders. This mental exhaustion leads to fatigue since your brain has no time to rest. Mental burnout causes extreme tiredness. All your introspection and constant thinking solve nothing, but it hurts you the most.

8 – Your rehash conversations

Rehashing your conversations with other people is a red flag indicating you’re overthinking.  Do you rehearse every word, every smile, or eyebrow that moved during your discussions? Do you feel that you must understand everything the person said in case you missed something?

This rehashing of conversations twists your brain and makes you feel emotionally draining. These thoughts are harmful to you and could lead to an anxiety disorder. If you find yourself doing this a lot, you may consider possibly speaking to a counselor to help you figure out why, precisely, you are doing this.

9 – Insomnia

Insomnia can be a side effect of an overly active brain. If you’re an overthinker, your mind may race, even at night. In fact, night time can exaggerate your fears. That’s when you’re most vulnerable to worry. When your sleep is interrupted nightly, it affects your ability to function, plus it clouds your thoughts even more.

10 – Overanalyzing everything

When you think too much, you probably tend to overanalyze people’s every action and word. If you walk past a friend who doesn’t look at you right away,  you assume they’re mad at you. You start to remember things you’ve said and wondered if you made them angry. You begin to worry that they’ll never speak to you again. Your snowballing thoughts run wild. It’s consuming and centers on what you did wrong.

pop quoteHow can you stop overthinking?

There are some helpful new habits you can try to break free from overthinking. When your thoughts start to run wild into all the possible things that could happen, stop, and ask yourself these questions.

  • Is what I’m thinking right now true?
  • Will these thoughts help me or make me feel bad?
  • How could I look at this situation in a positive way?
  • What are the chances that what I’m thinking could happen?

Here are some other helpful tools to break free from thinking too much.

 1 – Focus on what’s good

When you’re tempted to overthink and expect bad things, instead, turn your thoughts to what is right. Think of all the positive outcomes in life that could (and have) happened. Remember, you control your thoughts. Your thoughts don’t control you. Refuse to permit your mind to go to the scary what-if scenarios. Tell your thoughts who’s boss and focus on the good in your life.

 2 – Distract yourself

Having excess time on your hands isn’t helpful if you have a busy mind. Too much time allows time for your mind to run wild. Stay active, don’t let yourself idle time to just sit and think. Interact with people, go to events, or volunteer at your local library. Find ways to serve others, so you’re not focusing on yourself.

3 – Control is overrated

There are many scenarios in life that can’t be controlled, but there are things within your control. It’s part of life. Focusing on what you can’t control isn’t helpful, and it can lead to anxiety. Instead, focus on what outcomes you can control, like your attitude and your choices. Try to remember that you’re not the only one who feels like life gets out of control. Everyone has those moments. Many people find that having faith in God helps them. They believe they can trust God to help them through those uncontrollable situations. Take a deep breath and relax. Let go of what you can’t control.

4 – Loosen fear’s grip

Fear is a tyrant. It enables you to think too much about your failures or your potential failures. It’s easy to focus on all the ways you’ve messed up. But everyone fails. Failure is a big part of life. Let go of your fear of falling again or failing in the future. Refuse to let fear control your thoughts. See your failures as opportunities to have a new beginning.

5 – Journal writing helps you release your thoughts

Writing down all your thoughts is a great way to get your overthinking in control. Dumping those fearful, anxious thoughts on paper releases them from your brain. Tell yourself that once your opinions hit the paper, they stay there. No more thinking about them. If you want to reread the thoughts later, that’s okay, but don’t allow yourself to think about them again.

6 – Talk to a friend

Find a trusted friend or confidante to talk to about your overthinking. Explain to your friend when you’re prone to overthinking thinking. No doubt,  they’ve already noticed that you do this.  Just talking about overthinking with someone else can help you begin to let it go.

7 – Find community

Finding a good community can help you refocus. It keeps you busy being with and helping others instead of being alone with your thoughts. Find a church, yoga group, or running club where you can make good friends who share similar goals.

think too muchFinal Thoughts: Now That You Know You Think Too Much, Take Action

Everybody over thinks things once in a while, but if your brain is always on hyper-drive,  it could be harmful to your health. Overthinking can lead to anxiety disorders, which can affect your health. If you think too much, use these suggested tools to stop the progression of overthinking. Try a couple of these ideas at first and add more over time. Remember, you’re in control of your thoughts, not the other way around. Enjoy the freedom of letting go of those things you can’t control and enjoy your life without an overactive mind.

Research Reveals 10 Things That Cause Vivid Dreams

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Have you ever had vivid dreams? These are the dreams that are so real that you wake up feeling shaken or like you’re stuck in a fantasy realm. Some people try to interpret their dreams, and many think that the spirit world is trying to communicate with them in this realm.

While your higher power can communicate with you through dreams, there are also many other reasons why you might be having these vivid displays. To gain a better knowledge of why your eyelids become a movie screen at night, you must understand your sleep cycles.

The Five Stages of Sleep

During the first phase of sleep, you are in twilight or a light stage of rest. Though your brain frequency has slowed a bit, your muscles are still responsive. During the second phase, your body goes a bit deeper, and it’s more difficult to wake you.

Stage three is slow-wave sleep as an EEG of the brain shows that your brain waves are slowing down drastically. A noise of up to 100 decibels won’t disturb you during the third level. Delta waves are stage four, and it’s the last level before you head into REM sleep.

If you awaken in stage three or four, you will be quite groggy and may feel like you’re stuck in a sleep/wake realm. It will take you some time for your brain to reengage with being awake so that you may feel off for several minutes.

The fifth and final stage of sleep is REM. During this phase, your muscles don’t move, and your breathing becomes erratic and irregular. Your heart rate will increase a bit, but you won’t notice it.

You will also experience vivid dreams during this phase as your body is entirely under a brain induced state of muscle atonia. If your mind didn’t put you in a coma-like state, then you could hurt yourself or others.

When people experience disturbances during REM, they can have night terrors, sleepwalk, or act out things happening in their dreams. This is often caused by improper signals sent from the brain to the body.

10 Reasons Why You Have Vivid Dreams

vivid dreamsNow that you understand the sleep cycles, you can understand the time frame of when you will experience vivid dreams. However, you still don’t know what causes them. Numerous things can cause your dreams to be so real they are haunting, but here are the top ten.

1. Medications

Did you know that medications can alter your sleep and cause you to have vivid dreams? The most common medications that can affect your REM state are blood pressure drugs, antidepressants, smoking cessation medicines, and things used to treat Parkinson’s disease.

Even some herbal over-the-counter meds can negatively impact your sleep too. Melatonin is notorious for causing vivid dreams, even though it’s completely safe.

2. Stress or Anxiety

All the difficulties you have during the day can bother your subconscious at night. Significant events such as weddings, arguments with family members, divorce, or buying a new home can trigger vivid dreaming. For some, even engaging in activities like visiting an abs카지노 can bring about dreams reflecting the stress or excitement of those experiences. These dreams are your mind’s way of processing and coping with the emotions tied to these events.

Stress is inevitable, but the trauma of the day can affect you when you rest. Anxiety, sexual abuse, or a car accident can be relived time and time again in your REM sleep. When you have disturbing or intense nightmares, trauma is almost always to blame.

3. Substance Abuse

Using drugs for recreational use like heroin, meth, cocaine, and opiates can negatively impact your sleep. The most common time to experience such dreams is when you are trying to withdrawal from these drugs. The withdrawal period can be quite intense, and your brain is struggling to find a new normal.

4. Mental Health Disorders

Have you ever awakened from you a dream in a state of panic? Depression causes colorful dreams, and they can lead to panic attacks. However, these are not the only mental health issues that are a concern.

People with schizophrenia or a dissociative identity disorder can also have vivid dreams from their medications or when they stop taking drugs. Those who already experience hallucinations or delusions seem to slip into the lucid dreaming state with ease.

Of all the mental health issues, anxiety seems to be the problem that causes the most REM dreams. A person with anxiety is always in a state of angst, and this state is not alleviated by sleep for many.

5. Physical Illness

Many physical illnesses can cause you to dream more frequently. While you may not remember many of them, you can have some lurid encounters. If you have diabetes and your blood sugar drops to a low level, you can have some intense dreams.

6. Pregnancy

Colorful dreams and nightmares are commonplace during pregnancy. At times, the strain of arranging for the birth of the child contributes to these occurrences. Variations of hormones may also play a part in why women dream so much during pregnancy.

dream meanings

You will find these fifty dream meanings intriguing.

7. Alcohol

Many people drink alcohol because they feel it helps them get to sleep. While it may enhance your rest, it can suppress the REM or vital part of your slumber.

The vivid dreams are even more remarkable when a person stops drinking and tries to maintain sobriety. Thankfully, intense dreams will eventually pass.

8. Narcolepsy

Individuals with narcolepsy frequently say that they vividly dream. Sadly, many describe the encounters as strange or even disturbing. Narcolepsy is a disorder that confuses the barriers of slumber and alertness.

Folks with this ailment feel extraordinarily sleepy and exhausted during the day. Warning Signs include falling to sleep quickly and suffering an abrupt loss of muscle control. A person with narcolepsy will go into REM moments after falling asleep.

Even a small nap can cause the individual with narcolepsy to start having bright dreams. Also, lucid dreaming is not uncommon, so a person cannot distinguish between being awake or asleep.

9. Sleep Deprivation

Anytime you are short on rest, your body can experience crazy dreams. Part of the issue is that the body is so tired it skips over the four stages of sleep and goes right to REM. This is commonly observed in people who have insomnia, sleep apnea, or just haven’t got enough sleep.

10.Foods You Eat Specifically Spicy Ones

While there’s not a great deal of science behind this theory, it’s believed that spicy foods can mess with your sleep. When you eat anything filled with spices, it increases the body’s temperature slightly. The elevated temperature can disrupt your sleep.

A study was conducted at the Cleveland Clinic to test the theory of spicy foods and a poor night’s rest. They concluded that eating flaming hot dishes can cause bizarre dreams.

The body must work extra hard to digest these spicy foods, so it interferes with sleep. This is especially true if a person has heartburn that keeps them up.

If you’re going to eat things on the hot side, you must do it at least 2-3 hours before bed.

Understanding the Side Effects of Vivid Dreams

If you suffer from colorful dreams for several nights a week, it can cause all kinds of problems for you. The most common side effects of these dreams are:

•Daytime Sleepiness

•Suicidal Attempts or Thinking

•Resisting Sleep

•Mood Problems

When you don’t get the rest you need, then you cannot function properly. If insomnia is at the crux of your problem, then you need to find ways to combat this issue. A situation like narcolepsy is severe and requires medical intervention.

You can be quite troublesome to be around when you’re not getting enough sleep. Having problems with scary dreams that wake you up in a state of panic can affect your whole day and mood.

vivid dreamsFinal Thoughts on Getting Help for Your Vivid Dreams

It’s essential to pinpoint the cause of the dreams, especially if they are more like nightmares. You may be eating the wrong foods too close to bedtime, or you may have severe stress in your life that is causing significant issues.

Additionally, any substantial changes in your life, like death or divorce, can affect your rest.

The best way to combat the issues caused by stress is to use things like meditation, yoga, or counseling. Taking an herbal supplement like valerian root or melatonin to help you rest is advisable if you’re not getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night. You can quickly develop a sleep debt and have more significant issues than some wild dreams.

Try to avoid medications that induce sleep as they can often cause more harm than they do good. Many herbal things can induce sleep, which is perfectly safe. When you have issues with vivid dreams, you need to talk to someone professionally.

When they become more frequent and troubling, your therapist or mental health professional should be alerted to the issue. They can help you find a way to calm the occurrences and cope with them during this phase. Thankfully, these bright dreams won’t last forever, and soon things will be back to normal.

 Neurologists Discover That Parkinson’s is Actually Two Diseases

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Every year, around eight million people worldwide are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In the United States alone, it’s estimated that 60,000 people will be identified as having Parkinson’s this year. New research reveals that Parkinson’s disease can start in different places in your body, leading researchers to believe that it’s not one disease, but two. Here’s what neurologists are saying about why they think Parkinson’s is two diseases.

Now, Danish researchers at Aarhus University Hospital say Parkinson’s might actually be two diseases, not one as previously thought. This emerging information can help doctors craft more specialized and patient-centered treatments to meet the specific attack of the disease.

Researcher Per Borghammer says the following about their discovery:

“With the help of advanced scanning techniques, we’ve shown that Parkinson’s disease can be divided into two variants, which start in different places in the body. For some patients, the disease starts in the intestines and spreads from there to the brain through neural connections. For others, the disease starts in the brain and spreads to the intestines and other organs such as the heart.”

As the research continues, this groundbreaking news has the potential to offer more targeted therapies to slow the advancement of the disease.

What is Parkinson’s disease?

parkinson's diseaseParkinson’s is a disorder of the human nervous system. It grows worse over time, leading to cognitive decline. The nerve cells in your brain get weak, damaged, or die, causing stiffness, tremors, or imbalance.

Recent studies found that in some Parkinson’s patients, this disorder begins in the brain and spreads to the intestines, then to other organs. In other patients, it starts in the intestines, then spreads to the brain. This discovery is significant because it will help doctors know how to treat each patient depending upon where their disorder starts.

As Parkinson’s disease symptoms grow, you may have trouble walking, talking, and doing regular household tasks. There’s currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but with these new findings, researchers can determine if genetic factors affect both types of the disorder. They can also figure out how to best treat a patient’s intestines to prevent the spread of the disease to their brain. The difficulty though, is diagnosing the disorder soon enough since most patients are symptom-free until they have trouble walking or moving. By this time, the patient has already lost half of the dopamine system, the neurotransmitters that help your nervous system send messages to your nerve cells resulting in cognitive decline.

What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease?

The symptoms of Parkins begin slowly and get worse over time. Here’s a list of symptoms and signs you may experience if you have Parkinson’s disease.

Tremors

You may notice your hand, finger, or thumbs trembles while at rest. Some people experience tremors in their face, foot, or jaw. These tremors are typically only one side of your body. These tremors are a back-and-forth movement. It shows up mostly when you’re stressed or tired. When you move, the quake may go away until you stop and rest again.

 Trouble smelling

Another typical Parkinson’s symptom is the lack of smell. You may find that you can’t smell foods with a distinctive odor that you usually can smell like bananas, coffee, or dill pickles. This is often an unrecognized symptom that may go on for years before you’re diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

 Trouble sleeping

Trouble falling asleep, jerking movements while sleeping, or acting out dreams is another early sign of Parkinson’s disease. This is difficult because everyone has trouble sleeping once in a while. The most significant symptom, though, is the jerking movements of your body while sleeping. If you’re experiencing these symptoms, speak with your doctor. Several other diseases are linked to insomnia, so it’s worth getting checked out.

 Stiffness

Stiff arms, legs, or body can be a significant symptom of this disorder. You may notice that as you walk, your arms don’t swing naturally. The stiffness may go away as you move, then return when you’re resting. Some people say their hips and shoulders are incredibly stiff. They explain it as,  “my feet are stuck to the floor” type of symptom.

Changes in your voice

If people are telling you that your voice sounds different, it could be a symptom of Parkinson’s. Voice changes such as softness, hoarseness, mumbling, or breathiness are common symptoms. Ask your family or friends, especially about this. Do you have a cold or sinus infection? Some voice changes are the result of a thyroid disorder. Contact your doctor if these symptoms continue, since there are various disorders with these types of symptoms.

Changes in handwriting

Smaller handwriting than you used to have or a change in the way you write, such as crowded lettering or letter size changes, are all early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. These Parkinson’s symptoms occur because of changes in your brain that cause you to have a hard time controlling your hand movements. It affects your fine motor skills. Keep an eye on this symptom, since it could be the very early stages of neurological changes due to Parkinson’s disease.

Constipation

Constipation and straining in your bowel movements is another primary symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Like other common symptoms that people experience, this one gets overlooked by people. This symptom isn’t usually connected to Parkinson’s until the patient experiences motor control issues such as stiffness and tremors.

Slouching posture

If you’re starting to lean forward or have a slouching posture, you could be in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. If your friends or family mention that you appear stooped over, you may want to speak with your doctor. The physician can order tests to see if you, in fact, have Parkinson’s disease.

If you notice these symptoms in yourself or if someone you love has these symptoms, don’t hesitate to see your doctor. If possible, you can visit a neurologist who may have more experience with a neurological disease like Parkinson, so they can diagnose it quicker. Don’t overlook these symptoms or find excuses to ignore them, especially if they increase in frequency. The sooner you’re diagnosed, the sooner your specialist can find the best treatments to slow down your disease.

muhammad ali quoteStages of Parkinson’s disease

Not everyone has the same symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. They vary from person to person. But once you’re diagnosed,  you will generally see a progression of the disease in stages.

Stage 1

In this stage, you may have mild symptoms that don’t interrupt your daily life too much. You may have tremors or moving problems on one side of your body. Some patients complain of posture changes or body or facial stiffness.

Stage 2

Your tremors, movement problems, and rigidity are getting worse and on both sides of your body. You may experience walking difficulties and poor posture. Your daily tasks are more complicated by now, but you can still get around okay.

Stage 3

By the time you’re in this stage, you will have a loss of balance and slowness in your movement. You may fall, and by now, you’re growing in your dependence. You’ll need help to dress and eat. You may want to use a cane to walk, so you don’t fall.

Stage 4

At this stage, you are experiencing minimal movements. You must walk with a walker or sit in a wheelchair. It’s best if you don’t live alone because you’ll need help to dress, eat, and to get around.

Stage 5

This is a debilitating stage. Your stiffness is constant, so it might feel impossible to walk or move around. At this stage, you’re fully in a wheelchair. You may become bedridden soon. Some Parkison’s patients need a full-time nurse by this stage. You may experience hallucinations or delusions. Memory loss is also another common symptom due to your cognitive decline.

What the new research means to Parkinson’s Disease  patients

Until recently, researchers viewed Parkinson’s Disease as a well-defined disease based upon movement problems. But they were curious to know why there were so many symptoms experienced by patients. This new understanding of different origins of the disease could lead them to future discoveries for treatment and diagnosis.

The two types of Parkinson’s are called”body-first” and “brain-first.” The body-first Parkinson’s disease researchers are hoping to study bacteria in their intestines. Different bacteria or microbes in the intestines could be an indicator of the disease. They also wish to study genetic factors that could play into the two types. The brain-first variation of Parkinson’s disease may be harder to diagnose since the patient can be symptom-free for years until they begin to have tremors or walking problems.

Parkinson's diseaseFinal thoughts on Parkinson’s Disease being two separate entities.

New findings of Parkinson’s disease reveal the answer to the question researchers have been wondering about for years–why Parkinson’s patients experience so many varying symptoms. This research shows this is because there are not one, but two types of Parkinson’s disease as a neurological disorder. The brain-first type of the disease originates in your brain while the body-first starts in your body then travel to the brain and other organs such as the heart.

Researchers hope these distinctions of the two separate conditions will help diagnose and treat Parkinson’s patients sooner.  If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms of Parkinson’s, be sure to see your doctor. They will order tests to determine the cause. You’ll find comfort knowing exactly what’s going on in your body. And thanks to this new understanding of the disease, the future for Parkinson’s patients appears more promising.

5 Reasons to Throw Out Chemical Dryer Sheets + What to Use Instead

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Chemical dryer sheets are as popular as laundry detergent when it comes to washing clothes. They work well – they soften your clothes and eliminate static electricity. However, have you ever stopped to think about what’s in dryer sheets? After all, whatever is in them is getting melted all over your clothes every time you use them.

Chemical dryer sheets are not as safe as you think they are. Most people have never considered the vagueness of these sheets. The truth is that they could be harmful to you as well as the environment. Here are five reasons you should toss them out (plus alternatives you can use instead).

5 Reasons to Toss Out Dryer Sheets

Do you use these products when you do your laundry chores? Here are several reasons why you should stop!

1. There is no government regulation of dryer sheets.

dryer sheets

Agencies like the FDA or the USDA often regulate many products on the market to ensure their safety. However, dryer sheets aren’t regulated by any government agency in the United States. Manufacturers have total freedom to make their dryer sheets however they want to.

The reason for this is that dryer sheets aren’t meant for human consumption or for topical use (meaning on the skin). Since they’re technically meant for clothing, this means they don’t need to be regulated for human safety as far as the body is concerned.

This means that manufacturers can put anything in their dryer sheets that do not make them flammable. That’s a scary thought when there are so many dangerous substances on the market.

It would be nice to be able to trust the honor system. However, with the history of recalled products in this country, that doesn’t seem logical. Many manufacturers will use anything in their products that are cheap and helps them save money.

2. They contain unknown chemicals.

If you’ve ever taken the time to read the ingredients listed on a box of chemical dryer sheets? If you have, you probably found one of two things. Either the ingredients listed were some vague description that doesn’t really tell you what’s in them (like the synthetic fragrance or woven sheets) or the ingredients weren’t listed at all.

Since dryer sheets aren’t regulated, they aren’t required to list the ingredients that they use. However, a quick internet search can reveal the most common ingredients used in chemical dryer sheets. You may be shocked by what you find.

Believe it or not, the contents of the ingredients list are not the biggest problem. The problem with not listing ingredients is that some people may be allergic to them. How can they make the determination that a brand of dryer sheets is good for them if the ingredients aren’t listed on the box? They can’t.

3. They are harmful to the environment.

The benefits of recycling and biodegradable materials have been well established and taught. However, most chemical dryer sheets are not biodegradable. They are made of synthetic materials that will continue to pile up in landfills as more and more people use them.

There are a few biodegradable brands out there. However, they’re only slightly better than regular brands. They still don’t list their ingredients and they still aren’t regulated.

They can also still be bad for allergies. Synthetic fragrances are a big allergy trigger. They also emit volatile organic compounds that are harmful to people and the environment. Who knows what other triggers are in the sheets?

4. They can cause your dryer to malfunction.

These clothing softener products contain a meltable coating that gets all over your clothes as the dryer tumbles. The problem with this is that this coating also gets all over your dryer as well. It may take a while, but with every dryer sheet you use, you’re closer to making your dryer malfunction and even create a fire hazard.

For one, this coating will clog your lint trap. Even if you remove the lint after each dry, the coating is so thin that it will clog the fine mesh. You’ll need to perform extra cleaning, likely with a toothbrush or something similar, to ensure that the lint trap doesn’t clog.

There is a part inside your dryer called the electronic monitoring sensor. This part is what senses that your clothes are dry and turns your dryer off (if you have this feature). The coating from the dryer sheet can coat this sensor causing it to malfunction. This means your clothes could over-dry and your electric bill could increase for no reason.

dermaplaning5. There has been little research into the effects of the unknown chemicals.

Not only are these unregulated sheets made with unknown chemicals, but no one’s done much research into how these chemicals are affecting people or the environment. There aren’t any relevant clinical trials to review and there is no data to compare. The scientific community has just accepted dryer sheets as they are.

It could be because researching dryer sheets isn’t high on the list of research priorities. It’s true that there are plenty of other topics that need to be researched more – cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, GMO foods – but someone needs to shine a light on this unregulated industry. Dryer sheets could be doing serious harm and we wouldn’t know it until thousands or even millions have died.

There is a solution to this problem, but it involves you–the consumer. You could choose substitutes for dryer sheets. There are plenty of safe, natural substitutes that will give you the same or better results than those chemical-laced sheets. Keep reading to learn about some of them.

What You Can Use Instead

Here are several products to try instead of commercial products.

Wool Dryer Balls

Wool dryer balls are an excellent alternative. It’s an all-natural fabric (more about that below). They do everything that dryer sheets do, but they do it better. Plus, they’re long-lasting and inexpensive.

Wool dryer balls help your dryer dry your clothes up to 20% faster. Your energy costs will begin to decrease with the use of them. Unlike sheets, you’ll have to add several wool balls to the dryer, but you also get a lot more of them in the box.

Vinegar

Vinegar seems to always be a solution to everything. It just happens to be a great solution to finding a substitute for dryer sheets. White vinegar is best because it won’t leave any type of color stain on the clothes.

Vinegar will soften the fabric very well. You’ll also have the added benefit of it disinfecting your dryer. If you’re worried about your clothes having a vinegar smell after drying, you can tuck that worry away. Just air them out for a while and the vinegar scent will disappear.

Note: don’t go crazy with the white vinegar. A quarter of a cup will do the job. Simply soak a washcloth with it and toss it in with the rest of the laundry.

Baking Soda

Baking soda works like vinegar, but it’s better if you put it in the washing machine instead of the dryer. It has so many benefits for both your clothes and the washing machine. Not only will it soften your fabrics, but it will knock out odors, brighten colors, and clean the washing machine.

Note: if you decide to combine methods, do not combine vinegar and baking soda! You will have a volcanic-like eruption flowing out of your washing machine.

Aluminum Foil

Aluminum foil will get static electricity out of your clothes better than anything else you could use. It also helps to dry the clothes faster. Simple make some aluminum foil balls and toss them in with the laundry. Make sure you save them – they are reusable.

Natural Fabrics

You could cut out the need for dryer sheets, dryer balls, or dryer anything by wearing natural fabrics. These types of fabrics don’t collect static electricity, so you’ll have no need for a dryer aid. They’re also great for people who may have allergies since they don’t irritate the skin. Examples are cotton, bamboo, silk, and wool.

Reusable Dryer Sheets

While these are still dryer sheets, they are made from natural fabrics and contain no chemicals or synthetic fragrances. That means you these products aren’t harmful to the environment, they aren’t a fire hazard, and they’re safe for people with sensitive skin. Plus, you’ll cut back on waste since you won’t be constantly throwing them away. It’s a win-win situation.

dryer sheetsFinal Thoughts on Why You Should Throw Out Chemical Dryer Sheets

There are worse things in the world than chemical dryer sheets, but that still doesn’t mean you should keep buying them. Every little thing you can do to keep yourself and your family healthy, plus help the environment, is important. Getting rid of chemical dryer sheets is a simple way to do your part.

It’s easy to make the change because the alternatives that were presented are easy to implement. In fact, you probably have some of the supplies in your home already so what do you have to lose by giving them a try? You’ll likely be pleasantly surprised at the results of ditching those chemical-laced sheets.

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