At Home Treatments for Chicken Pox / Varicella-Zoster Infection

At-Home Treatments for Chickenpox / Varicella-Zoster In this article, we provide a basic overview of at home treatments for chicken pox.  Chickenpox / Varicella-Zoster is caused by a herpes virus. Like other herpes viruses, it can and often does take up residence in the body. Later, if a person experiences immune system issues or major stress, the virus that causes chickenpox may then cause Herpes-Zoster, also known as shingles.  Important Facts Incubation Period: 4-21 days (average incubation period is 2 weeks) Duration of Symptoms: 5-7 days (with full resolution within 2-4 weeks) How is chickenpox spread? Inhalation of infected aerosolized droplets. Patients are contagious starting 1-2 days prior to the development of the rash. The initial infection happens in th...

Fast Food Addiction: Dealing with Time Constraints and Budgetary Conflicts

Time and Money Costs of Fast Food Addiction One of the arguments against stopping a fast food addiction has to do with money, finances and time-savings. So it’s important to address this facet of fast food addiction head-on with real facts. We are what we eat, as they say, and if we eat fast food, that means that our bodies suffer health-wise, so in order to speak about the cost of eating fast food versus the cost of eating healthy food, we have to consider the cost of healthcare and how our healthcare expenditures in terms of time and money are affected by an addiction to fast food.  The Real Cost of Fast Food Addiction Fast food recipes vary from country to country depending on the laws in each of those places. For example, bromide in foods and drinks is outlawed in most developed...

Skullcap (Scutellaria spp.): Herbal Remedy for Epilepsy, Teething, Cancer, and More...

Scutellaria: A Multipurpose Plant for People of All Ages NOTE: Skullcap should generally be avoided during pregnancy because it has been known to cause miscarriage, especially during the early stages of pregnancy. Skullcap can inhibit pituitary and chorionic gonadotropin hormones during pregnancy. Women who are breastfeeding should use this herb with caution since it has been known to lower prolactin levels in some cases, thus potentially lowering milk supply. There are a few different medicinal varieties of skullcap, but the two most popular are Scutellaria baicalensis (Chinese skullcap/Huang Qin) and Scutellaria lateriflora (American skullcap). It’s important to note that although these two plants are closely related, they are different plants with some distinct differences. Th...

Mental Health, Fast Food Addiction, and How They're Connected

The Close Connection Between Mental Illness and Fast Food Addiction... It’s a proven fact that fast food consumption impacts emotional well-being or lack of well-being. But what does the science have to say about mental health and fast food addiction? For starters, research consistently links mood, food, and obesity as three things that have an impact on one another. The field of nutritional psychology is relatively new. It was developed by Dr. Bonnie J. Kaplan in the 1990s in response to research showing that ADHD could be treated using vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Since that time nutritional psychology has been able to solve some serious mental health issues with nutrients including emotional and behavior problems in children, emotional control issues in adults with trauma...