What is Erectile Dysfunction?

Some men with diabetes have impotence, also called erectile dysfunction or ED. ED is when a man can no longer have or keep an erection.

What Causes ED?

Over time, blood vessels and nerves in the penis can become damaged. ED can also be caused by other conditions, such as prostate or bladder surgery. Certain medicines, such as some pills for high blood pressure or depression, may cause ED. Pills for stomach ulcers or heartburn may also cause it. Ask your health care provider if ED is a side effect of any of your medicines. There may be other pills you can take. Remember, talk with your health care provider or diabetes educator before trying any treatment for ED or before stopping any of your medicines.

Lifestyle choices that contribute to heart disease and vascular problems also increase the chances of ED. Smoking, being overweight, and being inactive can contribute to ED. Experts believe that psychological factors such as stress, anxiety, guilt, depression, low self-esteem, and fear of sexual failure cause 10 to 20 percent of ED cases.

Talk about it!

It’s not easy to accept that you have ED. And it can be even harder to talk about it. Talking about ED is the only way to learn about treatments and get the help you need. It’s normal to feel embarrassed discussing such an intimate and personal issue, but your health care provider is a professional who is there to help you, not judge you.

• Explain to your health care provider the symptoms you have been experiencing
• Tell your health care provider your concerns and ask him if it could be ED or another sexual disorder
• Inform your health care provider of any other emotional or physical changes you have experienced
• Review with your health care provider any medications you may be taking which may be causing these symptoms
• Ask your health care provider about treatment options and which he recommends to fit your needs

How does menopause affect women with type 2 diabetes? Find out about the extra care needed to help you sail through this transition.

Menopause is a topic that often generates a lot of opinions from women — those who welcome it and those who dread it. There’s also a lot of discussion about whether it’s something that should be “treated” or left to occur naturally, without any medications.

For some women, menopause is more than just the end of their child-bearing years. It can have a profound effect on chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes. Women with diabetes often have to be more aware of the changes than most other women.

Changes Within “the Change”

If you usually ovulate every 28 days or so, you may have wide variations as you approach menopause. You may have cycles that go 40 days or longer between periods and at other times find that your periods come only a couple of weeks apart. While this is happening, the levels of your hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are changing quite a bit, too. These hormonal changes can affect your blood glucose levels, which for women with type 2 diabetes could cause problems.

To avoid complications from type 2 diabetes, it’s essential to keep your blood glucose levels as even as possible — something that can be tricky during menopause.

Recognizing Menopause Symptoms

Some symptoms of menopause could be confused with signs of too high or too low blood glucose, including dizziness, sweating, and irritability. With symptoms being so similar, it may be hard for a woman to tell which is which. Rather than guessing, you should check your blood glucose levels when you’re experiencing these signs. If the symptoms persist or get more uncomfortable, try talking to your doctor about treatment options.

Women with type 2 diabetes who are overweight may undergo menopause later than their type 1 diabetes peers. It’s been found that estrogen levels in women who are overweight drop more slowly than those who are underweight or of normal weight.

At the Onset

Menopause is also a time when women who didn’t know they had type 2 diabetes may first be diagnosed with it. Brian Tulloch, MD, an endocrinologist at Park Plaza Hospital and Medical Center and clinical associate professor at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, explains, “The biggest issue here is with certain minorities who have a three- to five-fold higher chances of having type 2 diabetes.” Hispanics, for example, have a higher rate of diabetes than whites, he says. Add to this higher genetic risk the frequency of obesity and the decline of physical activity, and you see why so many women are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as they begin the onset of menopause.

Health Complications

Women with type 2 diabetes who have gone through menopause may no longer have wild hormonal swings affecting blood glucose levels, but they do have other health issues to keep in mind. They are at higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, the hardening and thickening of the artery walls that can lead to stroke or heart attack. Weight gain after menopause isn’t unusual, but it seems to be more common among women with type 2 diabetes. This adds to the risk of heart disease.

With menopause and a more sedentary lifestyle comes another risk: osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease. While women with type 2 diabetes aren’t at as high a risk of osteoporosis as those with type 1 diabetes, they do have a higher risk of breaking bones than a menopausal woman who does not have diabetes.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or hormone therapy, after menopause remains a controversial topic, but could be an option for women with type 2 diabetes who are experiencing difficult menopause signs and having trouble keeping their blood glucose under control.

Studies on HRT safety after menopause have conflicting results, but some doctors seem to be coming around to favoring hormone use again, albeit in a more careful manner. Says Dr. Tulloch, “There’s now a tendency to go against what was believed five years ago, when [the Women’s Health Initiative study of post-menopausal hormone use] suggested post-menopausal estrogen wasn’t such a good idea. I think the pendulum has swung back the other way.”

However, not all doctors agree with this. The general consensus is that a woman should begin HRT only if her symptoms, such as hot flashes, are severe and can’t be managed any other way. If a woman chooses not to go on HRT, she should discuss her diabetes medication with her doctor, as she may need a lower dose than she was on before menopause. Be sure to discuss your individual situation with your own doctor to come to the best course for your well-being.

Menopause involves change for every woman; working with your medical team at this important life passage will help you make the healthiest transition.

This section created and produced exclusively by the editorial staff of EverydayHealth.com. © 2011 EverydayHealth.com; all rights reserved.

Read the original article “Menopause and Type 2 Diabetes” at everydayhealth.com

It’s quite common for couples in long-term committed relationships to find themselves at a point where one partner wants sex more, or less, than another, often referred to as differences in sex drive. There may be many reasons for discrepancies in sex drive and finding a way through the situation often means opening up discussion about your whole relationship, not just the sex part. It also means that cookie cutter solutions offered in the form of five-step plans don’t always work. The ideas below aren’t meant as a one-size-fits-all solution, but if you and your partner have very different levels of interest in sex and you’re not sure where to start to work on the problem, you may find this information helpful in opening up new thinking about a very old and very common dilemma.

Sex Drive Reality Check

Sexual desire or sex drive isn’t a static experience. Our sex drive may change over the course of a day, week, or month, and will change many times across our lifespan. If one of you doesn’t want as much sex as the other it might be a long-term situation, but it might not.

Long-term committed relationships require negotiation and compromise and that includes sex. It’s unrealistic to think that you will get everything you want, especially if you’re expecting it all from one person.

Change is always a possibility, if not always possible. Any kind of change is possible, and people’s ability to change can be unpredictable. At the same time there is no guarantee that any amount of thinking, feeling, and talking about your relationship will result in the change you want.

Avoid quantification and comparison. No good will come from one or both of you feeling pressure to perform or measure up in a way that matches what you think other people are doing. Sexual desire is an exquisitely unique expression of our individuality, and comparisons serve no one.

It might not be the first thing you do, but at some point you’re going to have to talk with your partner about these issue

Start with yourself. It’s easy to blame your partner for problems in your relationship without considering what role you play in developing and maintaining the problem. This is particularly true when, on the surface, one partner is asking for more sex and the other is satisfied with the amount of sex in the relationship. It’s rare that one partner in a relationship completely satisfied while the other is not. Even if you think the problems all lie with your partner, ask yourself some questions about the situation to clarify your own needs:

• When did you become aware of a difference in sex drive?
• Do you know how much sex you’d like to have?
• If you’re satisfied with your sex life as it is, how do you feel when you hear your partner isn’t satisfied?
• If you’re dissatisfied with your sex life can you describe how without talking about the quantity?
• When you say you want sex what does that mean to you?
• When your partner asks for sex, what is it that you imagine they are asking for?
• Without putting all the responsibility on your partner, what do you think are some of the causes of the difference in sexual interest or desire?

These are only a few questions, but taking time for yourself to answer these can be good preparation for talking with your partner.

Talk to your partner. This one might seem obvious, but if you’ve been struggling with difference in sex drive for a while you may be at a point where you feel like you can’t talk about it anymore. When you get to that point it can often be helpful to seek out a counselor or therapist.

Ultimately you need to be able to communicate with your partner in a way that isn’t about blaming each other. Try to remember that you’re in this together and the reason you’re struggling (presumably) is because you want to stay together. One way to change up the dynamic is to write a letter to your partner about how you’re feeling and ask them to respond by writing you a letter. Moving from talking to writing opens up many possibilities and can shake up old patterns that you both fall into when you talk about these issues.

Find a counselor or therapist. Some issues in relationships are so complicated and touch us so deeply that having a third party, someone who is there not for one partner or the other, but for the relationship, can be incredibly helpful. While therapy isn’t financially an option for everyone, if you can access affordable couples therapy or counseling you also benefit from the experience of other couples struggles with this very common problem. You don’t need to find a sex therapist as long as it’s a therapist who works with couples and is comfortable talking about sex (many aren’t!).

Finding self-help resources. There are dozens of books specifically about dealing with sex drive discrepancies in long term relationships. Often these books use the terminology of the “sexless marriage.” Finding a self-help book that works for you is always a matter of trial and error, and unless you have a limitless budget, going to the library and taking some time to flip through a few titles is a good way to get a feel for the tone of the book, what sorts of direct suggestions or help the book offers, and whether or not you feel the book is speaking to you.

Explore sexual compromises. Just as you compromise with your partner on which movies you see, what you have for dinner, and maybe even where you end up living, long-term sexual relationships require sexual compromise. This doesn’t mean doing things you aren’t comfortable with, but it does mean having an open mind and being able to talk about your sexual preferences and desires honestly. Finding sexual compromise is much easier when all your sexual options are made visible. Often our sexual options seem narrow because we don’t really know what our partner desires. When we keep our desires secret it can appear as if we don’t have any, or only have the ones we are comfortable showing our partner on a regular basis. Uncomfortable though it might be, revealing our desires that we have kept hidden can be a crucial part of working through differences in sexual desire.

By: Corey Silverberg
About.com Guide

Definition:
The term sex drive was first widely adopted following the introduction of the concept by Sigmund Freud in his writings about sexuality and personality development. Freud used the term sex drive as well as the more specific term libido to refer to what he initially conceived as the human biological sexual instincts. In this context, sex drive or libido was a source of human motivation and action throughout the developmental process. Later, Freud expanded his definition of libido to refer to a life energy that drove both the sexual instincts but also other human drives.

Today, the term sex drive isn’t used much by researchers or sexologists (they favor libido). But, in popular culture it has become synonymous with sexual desire or an individual’s interest in engaging in sex with a partner. If someone doesn’t want to have as much sex as you do, you might say their sex drive is low.

That said, there is no measurement of sex drive and no definition of what a healthy sex drive is like. While research into sex drive usually focuses on a single aspect, most researchers would agree that there are biological, psychological, and social components to sex drive. Biological research has focused on testosterone, which is thought to be related to the sex drive, although the exact nature of the relationship is still under investigation. Social science researchers have also explored the relationship between both sex drive and social factors, like work and family, as well as internal psychological factors, like personality and stress
What Causes Different Sex Drives in Relationships?
Reasons for Discrepancies in Sex Drive in Long Term Committed Relationships

It is common for couples in long-term, committed relationships to get to a point when they don’t have the same level of or desire to have sex. Discrepancies in sexual drive or sexual desire in a long-term, committed relationship might be the result of a range of factors. Here are just a few possibilities:

Conflict in other parts of your relationship play out in your sex life. So, you might really be fighting about money or family or work/life obstacles, but you end up playing out the fight in your sex life. Sometimes, one partner is blamed for doing this and told he is “withholding” sex out of spite. This may be the case, but the accusation can also be used as a cop out. If one of you is feeling genuinely angry or hurt or isolated, not wanting to have sex seems like a reasonable response, and not simply something done out of spite.

Lack of information or education about sex. If one or both of you were raised with little or no information about sex or with negative messages about your right to experience sexual pleasure, that history may get in the way of you taking your sex life to a more creative or deeper level. This isn’t about finding the right sex position or the perfect vibrator. But, a lack of sexual creativity can be sexually stifling, and this can lead to frustration and eventually a feeling of inevitability that your sex life won’t ever change.

Psychological issues unrelated to your partner. We all come to relationships with our histories and these histories become part of our relationships. One or both of you might be struggling with issues related to any number of factors (such as sexual identity, orientation, problems with physical or mental health, medical or recreational drug use, previous trauma, etc…) and these struggles can leave us without energy or interest in sex.

Difference in baseline sex drives. While our sexual desire and drive isn’t a fixed quantity, at any given time we all have our baseline interest in sex and a sense of how important sex is in our life. You and your partner may simply have different baseline sex drives and/or may prioritize sex differently. This difference may not reflect some deeper issue or difference; it might just be what it is.

Too much intimacy, not enough passion. Another important possibility, one that is the focus of therapist Esther Perel’s excellent book Mating in Captivity, is that the intimacy you have developed in your loving relationship is actually putting out the fire of eroticism that fuels your sexual relationship. Perel suggests that the pressures and expectations we put on our intimate romantic relationships can directly work against maintaining passionate and erotic sexual relationships.

Problems with discrepancies in sex drive can also be the result of many factors. Instead of considering the above possibilities a point of comparison, try to use them as a starting point to think about your own relationship and what you think might be going on. You can also share this article with your partner and see how they feel about it.

How To Talk About Differences in Sex Drive

How do I know if I have Erectile Dysfunction (ED)?

If you are unable to attain or maintain an erection suitable for intercourse, you could have some form of Erectile Dysfunction (ED).

If I have tried injection therapy or Viagra and they didn’t work, will Vacuum Therapy work for me?

Yes! Vacuum Therapy can work for you. Several medical studies have shown that Vacuum Therapy is a success for over 90% of men with Erectile Dysfunction and will produce an erection sufficient for intercourse.  

Will Vacuum Therapy work for me if I am a Diabetic?

In most cases yes it will. Erectile Dysfunction is very common among males that are diabetic, up to 66% of men with diabetes will show some form of Impotence. Vacuum Therapy is safe to use for diabetics and is an excellent treatment option since ED medications such as Levitra, Cialis or Viagra are proven to be less effective for men with diabetes.

Will vacuum therapy work if I have had Prostate Cancer Surgery?

Vacuum Therapy is often used by Urologists as a proven therapy to restore potency following Radical Prostatectomy Surgery.

Will this system work if I have heart problems or if I am on blood thinning medication?

Yes, using vacuum therapy does not affect the heart rate like some medications do. Vacuum therapy systems will work for almost all users that need it.

How does Vacuum Therapy work?

Vacuum Therapy works by creating a vacuum seal that effectively creates the necessary blood flow in the penis to create a satisfactory erection. It takes 30 seconds to 1 minute to effectively create an erection. After an erection is achieved, a retaining ring is placed at the base of the penis to hold the blood in the corpus cavernosa, the area that fills with blood, maintaining the erection.

How long do you wear the Retaining Ring?

The Retaining Ring should be worn for no more than 30 minutes. After the ring is removed, please wait 1 hour before creating another erection.

What if I’m not able to achieve a full erection the first time I use a VTD?

Practice sessions may be necessary to achieve a satisfactory erection if it has been awhile since you have good potency.

Is there an age limit to using Vacuum Therapy?

No, there is no age limit as Vacuum Therapy work  regardless of your age.

What is the benefit of the Penile Foam Sleeve?

It improves the comfort level while using the pump. Plus the constriction rings are easier to remove. The flattened base of the sleeve is positioned against the users body, providing an excellent seal. It can be worn during intercourse with no discomfort to the male or female partner.

What is the PRELUDE?

The prelude is a simple effective device for the exercising the penis which empowers the user to participate in his recovery and restoration of penile function. Consider that the penis is like every part of the human body, requires exercise to stay healthy and preform the intercourse. Men losing erectile function due to surgery, disease, diabetes, or medication often experience loss of penile length. The PRELUDE is a therapeutic device and NOT designed to create an erect penis capable of penetration for intercourse.

What is a penile sleeve?

Our penile sleeves are made from high quality foam that can be used with with just about every vacuum therapy device. They come in three different sizes and and two color options as well as the standard and extended sleeve.

Why would I use a penile foam sleeve?

A penile foam sleeve can provide a consistent and quality seal for vacuum therapy devices. The soft foam sleeve is worn during intercourse with no discomfort to either partner. With the sleeves  most feel a higher comfort level while using tension rings.

According to 2011 National Center for Health Data statistics, almost one in three Americans has vitamin D blood levels below 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), the threshold that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) says is needed for good bone health. Some experts say even higher levels are needed.

Figuring out all the factors that can affect a person’s vitamin D levels is complicated. You can get the vitamin from food (mainly because it’s been added; few foods are natural sources of vitamin D) and by taking supplements (many doctors recommend taking 800 IU of vitamin D3 a day).

But vitamin D is also produced by the body in a complex process that starts when rays in the invisible ultraviolet B (UVB) part of the light spectrum are absorbed by the skin. The liver, and then the kidneys, are involved in the steps that eventually result in a bioavailable form of the vitamin that the body can use.

A review paper about the many factors influencing a person’s vitamin D levels appeared in 2011 in Acta Dermato-Venerologica, a Swedish medical journal. Here are nine interesting factors identified in the paper:

1. The latitude where you live. At higher latitudes, the amount of vitamin D–producing UVB light reaching the earth’s surface goes down in the winter because of the low angle of the sun. In Boston, for example, little if any of the vitamin is produced in people’s skin tissue from November through February. Short days and clothing that covers legs and arms also limit UVB exposure.

2. The air pollution where you live. Carbon particulates in the air from the burning of fossil fuels, wood, and other materials scatter and absorb UVB rays. Ozone absorbs UVB radiation, so holes in the ozone layer could be a pollution problem that winds up enhancing vitamin D levels.

3. Your use of sunscreen — in theory. Sunscreen prevents sunburn by blocking UVB light, so theoretically, sunscreen use lowers vitamin D levels. But as a practical matter, very few people put on enough sunscreen to block all UVB light, or they use sunscreen irregularly, so sunscreen’s effects on our vitamin D levels might not be that important. An Australian study that’s often cited showed no difference in vitamin D between adults randomly assigned to use sunscreen one summer and those assigned a placebo cream.

4. The color of your skin. Melanin is the substance in skin that makes it dark. It “competes” for UVB with the substance in the skin that kick-starts the body’s vitamin D production. As a result, dark-skinned people tend to require more UVB exposure than light-skinned people to generate the same amount of vitamin D.

5. The temperature of your skin. Warm skin is a more efficient producer of vitamin D than cool skin. So, on a sunny, hot summer day, you’ll make more vitamin D than on a cool one.

6. Your weight. Fat tissue sops up vitamin D, so it’s been proposed that it might be a vitamin D rainy-day fund: a source of the vitamin when intake is low or production is reduced. But studies have also shown that being obese is correlated with low vitamin D levels and that being overweight may affect the bioavailability of vitamin D.

7. Your age. Compared with younger people, older people have lower levels of the substance in the skin that UVB light converts into the vitamin D precursor, and there’s experimental evidence that older people are less efficient vitamin D producers than younger people. Yet the National Center for Health Statistics data on vitamin D levels fly in the face of the conventional wisdom that vitamin D inadequacy is a big problem among older people. They don’t show a major drop-off in levels between middle-aged people and older folks.

8. The health of your gut. The vitamin D that is consumed in food or as a supplement is absorbed in the part of the small intestine immediately downstream from the stomach. Stomach juices, pancreatic secretions, bile from the liver, the integrity of the wall of the intestine — they all have some influence on how much of the vitamin is absorbed. Therefore, conditions that affect the gut and digestion, like celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn’s disease, and cystic fibrosis, can reduce vitamin D absorption.

9. The health of your liver and kidneys. Some types of liver disease can reduce absorption of vitamin D because the ailing liver isn’t producing normal amounts of bile. With other types, steps essential to vitamin D metabolism can’t occur — or occur incompletely. Levels of the bioactive form of vitamin D tend to track with the health of the kidneys, so in someone with kidney disease, bioactive vitamin D levels decrease as the disease gets worse, and in end-stage kidney disease, the level is undetectable.

Sulforaphane, one of the primary phytochemicals in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables that helps them prevent cancer, has been shown for the first time to selectively target and kill cancer cells while leaving normal prostate cells healthy and unaffected.

The findings, made by scientists in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, are another important step forward for the potential use of sulforaphane in cancer prevention and treatment. Clinical prevention trials are already under way for its use in these areas, particularly prostate and breast cancer.

It appears that sulforaphane, which is found at fairly high levels in broccoli, cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables, is an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, or HDAC enzymes. HDAC inhibition is one of the more promising fields of cancer treatment and is being targeted from both a pharmaceutical and dietary approach, scientists say.

“It’s important to demonstrate that sulforaphane is safe if we propose to use it in cancer prevention or therapies,” said Emily Ho, a principal investigator in the Linus Pauling Institute, lead author on the study and associate professor in the OSU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences.

“Just because a phytochemical or nutrient is found in food doesn’t always mean its safe, and a lot can also depend on the form or levels consumed,” Ho said. “But this does appear to be a phytochemical that can selectively kill cancer cells, and that’s always what you look for in cancer therapies.”

The findings were published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, a professional journal. Research was supported by the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the OSU Agricultural Experiment Station.

The Linus Pauling Institute has conducted some of the leading studies on sulforaphane’s role as an HDAC inhibitor – one, but not all, of the mechanisms by which it may help prevent cancer. HDACs are a family of enzymes that, among other things, affect access to DNA and play a role in whether certain genes are expressed or not, such as tumor suppressor genes.

Some of the mechanisms that help prevent inappropriate cell growth – the hallmark of cancer – are circumvented in cancer cells. HDAC inhibitors can help “turn on” these silenced genes and restore normal cellular function.

Previous OSU studies done with mouse models showed that prostate tumor growth was slowed by a diet containing sulforaphane.

“It is well documented that sulforaphane can target cancer cells through multiple chemopreventive mechanisms,” the researchers wrote in their study. “Here we show for the first time that sulforaphane selectively targets benign hyperplasia cells and cancerous prostate cells while leaving the normal prostate cells unaffected.”

“These findings regarding the relative safety of sulforaphane to normal tissues have significant clinical relevance as the use of sulforaphane moves towards use in human clinical trials,” they said.

The results also suggest that consumption of sulforaphane-rich foods should be non-toxic, safe, simple and affordable.

In a surprising finding, vitamin C is found to prolong proper functioning of retinal cells

Portland, Ore. — Nerve cells in the eye require vitamin C in order to function properly — a surprising discovery that may mean vitamin C is required elsewhere in the brain for its proper functioning, according to a study by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience

“We found that cells in the retina need to be ‘bathed’ in relatively high doses of vitamin C, inside and out, to function properly,” said Henrique von Gersdorff, Ph.D., a senior scientist at OHSU’s Vollum Institute and a co-author of the study. “Because the retina is part of the central nervous system, this suggests there’s likely an important role for vitamin C throughout our brains, to a degree we had not realized before.”

The brain has special receptors, called GABA-type receptors, that help modulate the rapid communication between cells in the brain. GABA receptors in the brain act as an inhibitory “brake” on excitatory neurons in the brain. The OHSU researchers found that these GABA-type receptors in the retinal cells stopped functioning properly when vitamin C was removed.

Because retinal cells are a kind of very accessible brain cell, it’s likely that GABA receptors elsewhere in the brain also require vitamin C to function properly, von Gersdorff said. And because vitamin C is a major natural antioxidant, it may be that it essentially ‘preserves’ the receptors and cells from premature breakdown, von Gersdorff said.

The function of vitamin C in the brain is not well understood. In fact, when the human body is deprived of vitamin C, the vitamin stays in the brain longer than anyplace else in the body. “Perhaps the brain is the last place you want to lose vitamin C,” von Gersdorff said. The findings also may offer a clue as to why scurvy — which results from a severe lack of vitamin C — acts the way it does, von Gersdorff said. One of the common symptoms of scurvy is depression, and that may come from the lack of vitamin C in the brain.

The findings could have implications for other diseases, like glaucoma and epilepsy. Both conditions are caused by the dysfunction of nerve cells in the retina and brain that become over excited in part because GABA receptors may not be functioning properly.

“For example, maybe a vitamin C-rich diet could be neuroprotective for the retina — for people who are especially prone to glaucoma,” von Gersdorff said. “This is speculative and there is much to learn. But this research provides some important insights and will lead to the generation of new hypotheses and potential treatment strategies.”

Is Nutraceuticals just a fancy name for the same vitamins you can buy at the discount stores? No—and let me explain why.

Your body uses vitamins for a variety of biological processes, including growth, digestion and nerve function. There are 13 vitamins that the body absolutely needs: vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate).

There are two categories of vitamins.

• Water-soluble vitamins are easily absorbed by the body, which doesn’t store large amounts. The kidneys remove those vitamins that are not needed.
• Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed into the body with the use of bile acids, which are fluids used to absorb fat. The body stores these for use as needed.

Let’s talk about the word vitamin. Derived from the Latin word for life, vitamins are vital for our bodies to function properly—that’s what the term essential vitamins and minerals means. Many  people believe that all the vitamins we need can be obtained in food. While this could theoretically happen, most meals we eat would have to be altered dramatically by adding many, many more healthy vegetables, fruits and fiber and many fewer poor food choices, like sugar in any form, trans-fats, empty-calorie foods, etc.

With the evolution of agriculture, many studies have proven that the vitamin and mineral content in our food chain has decreased. The veggies we have today are not of the same quality that our great-grandparents enjoyed.

So now that our bodies need supplements for better health, we need to figure out how the body can best use the tools we give  it to maximize its function.

Fox example, there’s iron:

And then there’s iron:

Which form will be the highest and best for the body to assimilate? Your body has to recognize what it takes in as food. Minerals are particularly hard to absorb, so the intestine must know that what you are consuming is actually a usable form of food. This is the definition of Nutraceuticals, vitamins developed under the guidelines of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices as defined by the FDA) and designed to be used most effectively by the body, with no fillers or additives that the body can’t process.

You are not only getting the highest pharmaceutical grade of dietary supplements, but you know that the body is getting to use every bit of the essential vitamin or mineral that you are taking. In the long run, this can be the most cost effective way to help you reach your health and wellness goals. 



Hope this helps.

What you eat, what you wear, and even how much you sleep can lead to a yeast infection.

Want to cut your chances of developing a yeast infection? Doctors say modifying some everyday habits can alleviate yeast infection symptoms and reduce the odds you will have a vaginal infection. “Many women don’t realize they have the ability to reduce their chances of developing a yeast infection,” says Robert Goldfarb, MD, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in West Bloomfield, Mich.

If you’ve had more than two yeast infections in a year, consider making a few of these lifestyle changes to cut your chances of developing another one.

Control Your Sweet Tooth

A diet rich in refined carbohydrates, such as white sugar, white flour, and white rice, including bagels, sugary sweets like cookies, cakes,  candy, and alcohol, which has a lot of sugar in it, has led some women to experience vaginal itching, odor, and other classic symptoms of a yeast infection.

The exact link between a sugar-filled diet and a yeast infection is unclear, but one theory is that elevated glucose levels in the blood make it easier for the yeast organism Candida albicans to “stick” to the vaginal cells. “Another theory is that elevated glucose levels affect the immune response of the vagina so it can’t fight off the yeast as well as it should,” says Saul Weinreb, MD, a gynecologist at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore.

Clean Out Your Closet

Tight jeans, thongs, and underwear not made from cotton don’t allow air to circulate around your vagina. “Yeast thrives on moist, dark environments,” says Dr. Goldfarb. “And the increased moisture caused by these clothes creates the perfect environment for yeast to grow.”

If you have recurrent yeast infections, switch to cotton underwear and alternate between jeans and clothes that allow better air flow. In addition, Goldfarb suggests changing out of damp clothes immediately after working out. “And don’t spend hours in a wet or damp bathing suit after swimming,” he adds.

Sleep Soundly

Tossing and turning all night long or not getting a full eight hours of sleep can lead to a weakened immune system. “Getting a restful sleep helps your body repair itself and maintain optimal health,” says Goldfarb.

A weakened immune system can lead to higher levels of naturally occurring vaginal acidity, which lowers your vagina’s pH level, creating an environment that allows vaginal yeast to grow. “Some women aren’t able to naturally fight off yeast when their vaginal pH dips low,” says Goldfarb. “And they develop a yeast infection.”

Say Goodbye to Stress

Stress compromises your immune system. That’s why many women develop a yeast infection when they’re going through stressful, major life changes like planning a wedding, getting a divorce, facing unemployment, or moving.

To cut down your chances of a yeast infection, consider stress-reduction techniques, such as meditation, yoga, and regular exercise.

Forgo Feminine Sprays

Whether they’re scented or unscented, feminine wipes and sprays strip your vagina of bacteria — and not all bacteria need to be cleaned away. “Altering the vaginal environment with feminine sprays may cause yeast to grow because these products reduce the body’s natural bacteria that help fight yeast growth,” says Dr. Weinreb. “These products can be very irritating to the skin around the vagina, too.”

To freshen up, Goldfarb recommends skipping feminine wipes and sprays, instead opting for washing with a mild soap and warm water. “Always use a clean washcloth,” he adds.

Monitor Your Medications

A yeast infection is one of the most common side effects women experience as a result of taking certain prescription medications, including oral contraceptives, antibiotics, and steroids.

The reason birth control pills lead to women developing a yeast infection is that they increase estrogen levels in a woman’s body. “Those increased estrogen levels can increase a woman’s susceptibility to vaginal yeast,” says Weinreb. And some women are more susceptible to that excess yeast growth. While antibiotics kill bacteria that may be causing disease, they also kill “friendly” bacteria, which have antifungal properties, giving more space for yeast to grow. Steroids can lead to yeast infections because they dampen the body’s natural immune defenses.

If you develop a yeast infection while taking a certain medication, talk to your gynecologist or primary care doctor. Your doctor may be able to switch you to another medication.

Not all women will develop a yeast infection as a result of these habits. “But for women who are predisposed to yeast infections,” Goldfarb says, “making some lifestyle adjustments can greatly reduce the number of yeast infections they experience in their lifetime.”

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