Thanks to Steven Slater, flight-attendants are back in the news again. It’s not clear at this point whether JetBlue will emerge from this with any credit. No matter how much it may pay its attendants, they frequently have to put up with difficult passengers. Working in cramped conditions, it’s easy to see why someone might crack under pressure and just feel the need to get away. Had they been in the air at the time, it might have been a different story with sudden loss of air pressure and Slater pulling on his parachute with a final enthusiasm for escape. As it is, the less dramatic, but equally effective, deployment of the emergency slide may see him installed as either a big idiot or a new working class hero. Make your decision. But also in the news is the announcement made by Turkish Airlines which has issued an ultimatum to 28 of its flight-attendants. They must lose weight or lose their jobs. To encourage them, this unfortunate group of 28 have been given six months unpaid leave to get in shape. Should they fail to reach their targets, they will be reassigned to work in the back office where their weight will no longer be an issue. For the record, the 28 split into 15 men and 13 women.

So how would this work in the US? Discrimination on the ground of weight is not formally included in any of the federal statutes. Even state laws are thin on the ground. It’s left up to grievance arbitration to challenge the employer’s actions. This usually falls into one of two categories. Either that the employer alleges you cannot perform the job safely or well enough, or your appearance does not match the requirements of the job – the so-called grooming requirements most commonly applied in the airline and entertainment industries. The majority of the initial grievances were denied where employees failed to stay within the employer’s weight limit or could not fit into a uniform. In the 1970s, all the US airlines had grooming requirements in place and routinely terminated employees for being even one pound overweight. The arbitrators tended to side with employers for maintaining an image through its employees. Customers think better of companies where the employees look good. More importantly, flight-attendants must be able to push heavy carts up and down the aisles, move and lift luggage, and quickly respond to any emergencies. Today, there’s a greater willingness to require employers to act reasonably in allowing time for an employee to lose weight or tailor the uniform to fit. Whether being obese should be a disability under the EEOC is controversial because, in theory, your body weight is under your control.

Given the patchy nature of any legal protection, we therefore come back to the general question. If put to the test by your employer, would you attempt to lose weight or quit? In this, remember Acomplia. Clinical trials consistently show participants losing an average of 10% of their body weight. So there you have it. Acomplia or the pink slip? Your choice.

The researchers who count things and people report the issue of more prescriptions for painkillers and muscle relaxants, and more people complaining of back pain. It’s possible, of course, we’ve become a nation of hypochondriacs, prepared to reach for medication at the first sign of trouble. But, with the cost of prescription drugs being so high and health plans getting more restrictive, it’s probable people really are injuring and damaging their backs more often these days. So what exactly is going wrong? Let’s start with traffic accidents, slips and falls. With your back held together with muscles, tendons and ligaments, it’s quite easy to strain or tear something vital. It may be the impact or twisting awkwardly has stretched or tweaked the vertebrae in an unfamiliar direction. If so, the first step is rest. A little ice will help reduce any swelling and, if you have pain, one of the over-the-counter anti-inflammatories will help. But if the pain is still with you after four days, it’s time to admit the injury may be more serious. The most usual cause is that, because you fear pain, you change the way you stand or move. This puts an extra strain on the other muscles to compensate and can end up giving you more pain. The longer you favor your back in this way, the worse the problem is going to get because you will have unlearn all these unnatural movements. If in doubt, going to see the doctor early is the best decision you can make. Anything else risks longer term pain.

What are the other causes of pain? Damage to the one or more discs supposed to act as a shock absorber between the vertebrae can put pressure on the column of nerves passing through the spine. As in sciatica, this can cause shooting pains in the buttocks and legs. It’s possible the disc will just “pop” back into place with a little manipulation but, if it has herniated, i.e. the outer skin of the disc has broken, then surgery may be required. The same is likely if you have developed spinal stenosis, small spurs of bone that form as we get older. Surgery is the best response. With osteoarthritis, another condition related to age, the cartilage between the discs and the joints starts to break down. This causes swelling, stiffness and pain as inflammation grows more intense. Osteoporosis is a loss of bone density which makes them more likely to fracture. Calcium and vitamins help slow the loss of density. With fibromyalgia causing pain in the soft tissues, muscle relaxants like Carisoprodol in combination with physical therapy and, sometimes, antidepressants are the best responses.

So Carisoprodol is useful in all cases of physical injury from accidents and overexercise, and in cases of fibromyalgia. The plan is, first, to rest for a very short period of time and then resume movement. If you give into injury, your back will stiffen and cause more pain. With muscle relaxants to help and, more importantly, to reduce the risk of muscle spasms, guided exercise programs are the fastest route to a long-term cure.

Everybody knows what migraine headaches are, or know someone that suffers from them. The fact is that while we may have a general idea on just how debilitating this condition can be, we don’t know the actual facts. Would you believe that one in four Americans, mostly women, are suffering from a migraine headache right now? The effects of migraines are not just seen in your quality of life, the entire country is feeling it. Migraines cost this country 112 million work days a year, and employers over $13 billion dollars annually in sick days and work health care costs. This is because the average migraine sufferer experiences 35 attacks annually, and it just knocks them right out. So if you can’t afford to miss any more work because of those nasty headaches, read on to find out more about your headache, and how to treat it effectively.

Most migraine sufferers know of what they refer to as a “trigger”. This could be anything from an extreme weather change, to red wine, chocolate, fatigue, stress, or any number of factors. What happens when you come across one of your headache triggers is a change in circulation in your brain. A migraine is caused by the enlarging of the blood vessels in your head whenever you have one of those trigger moments. When your blood vessels enlarge, your brain will release neurochemicals that will then coil around the larger arteries in your brain. The end result is inflammation, pain, increased artery size, and a big ol’ headache. If you are a migraine sufferer, staying away from your trigger points will be a key element in prevention. But if one of those trigger points is extreme weather or a lifestyle factor, more often than not you just won’t be able to avoid it.

Typically migraine headaches last up to 72 hours, and even longer for some people. Typically treatment involves with migraine medication that will target those blood vessels and allow for constriction to relieve the pressure in your head. Unfortunately some meds will work and some won’t, and they can be very expensive. Very often the treatment of choice for migraine sufferers is pain management medication with over the counter migraine medication, narcotic pain medication, or treatments such as Ultram. Those that don’t find too much disruption in life with their headaches will be able to use over the counter analgesics and anti-inflammatories to target the blood vessels in their brain. When quality of life is impacted severely, the stronger prescriptions are recommended in order to get you back to work and life as soon as possible.

For millions of Americans narcotic pain medication has become the treatment of choice for migraine headaches. This method is effectively treating the condition, but is not doing much for the work force statistics, and is also creating another epidemic – addiction. If you are looking for a well tolerated, non addictive medication for your migraines, you will find treatment such as Ultram extremely effective in maintaining the quality of life you need, that is pain free.

You may also want to examine alternative methods or non medicinal routes of treatment in conjunction with your migraine medication or Ultram treatment. Relaxation methods such as yoga or meditation are very effective while you are resting on medication, lighting a calming scented candle, and using hot or cold packs (depending on your preference) will also be an additional soothing resource when you are suffering from migraines. No matter what treatment method you choose, what you need to know is that your life does not need to be put on hold. Migraine relief is closer than you think!

There are a lot of myths about acne that patients seriously believe and ask their doctors about. To clear things out a bit and help you look like a serious person with your physician, here are some of the most common myths that people believe about acne:

Myth 1 – The more often you wash your face the faster you’ll get rid of acne

Despite what commercials made you believe, acne is not caused by any dirt that gets accumulated in pores. The process of inflammation starts from deep inside the pore where bacterias start multiplying. By washing your face too often you will only irritate the skin raising the chance of having acne in other areas too. Do not wash your face more than twice a day, use a mild soap or water only and gently soak it with a towel after you’re done.

Myth 2 – Acne is caused by stress

Of course, excessive stress may cause hormonal imbalance that will theoretically lead to acne. However, instead of trying to minimize your stress it would be much better if you’d go to a doctor to define the real cause and get a real treatment for acne. There’s more sense in that.

Myth 3 – Sex and masturbation help form acne

This myth goes way back to the 17th century when doctors used such misinformation in order to keep the morals intact and prevent young people from such ungodly things as premarital sex or masturbation. There’s no actual scientific base to this belief, however people tend to take it as true even in the 21st century.

Myth 4 – The sun helps eliminate acne

The sun has more of a cosmetic effect rather than treating the acne. Tanned skin has a similar tone with acne and they are not observed as easily as without a tan. However, excessive sun exposure dries up the skin and can cause more acne breakouts later. Besides, too much tanning is known to cause rapid skin aging and skin cancer. So it’s definitely not a solution for treating acne.

Myth 5 – Acne is caused by poor diet

Despite the fact that the link between diet and acne is purely theoretical, many people tend to believe that it’s poor diet that causes acne. Of course, eating too much fats and sugar is never good for your health, but there’s no direct relation to any substance that we get with food that might be causing acne.

Myth 6 – Pop the pimple to make it go away faster

Popping pimples may have a temporary effect, but instead you will cause more irritation and skin damage that will ultimately cause acne scars.

Myth 7 – Acne is a cosmetic problem, not more

Of course, acne is an external problem that doesn’t have any profound impact on the function within the body. Still, acne can cause serious psychological problems and lower self-esteem because a person with acne usually believes that the problem is very noticeable. People with acne tend to avoid socialization and communication, and that alone can be a serious problem.

Myth 8 – You have to let the acne alone and it will wear off with time

You can surely leave the acne alone, but why suffering from it when there are effective remedies such as Accutane and other similar drugs? The psychological implications of acne can be quite unpleasant, especially for a teenager or young adult. So why leaving the problem as it is when you can use Accutane and get rid of the most severe types of acne?

Phobia is defined as an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations. It also may just refer to the extreme and irrational fear itself. Many people experience them in everyday life. Just about everyone has some phobia or another. Spiders, airplanes, heights, or those creepy little nocturnal minions of the devil known as owls.

Most of the time, this isn’t a big problem, but what if you have to fly for business? What if you are traveling in Japan where they don’t kill spiders, so they are everywhere? What if you live alone and one is on your bed!?

Phobias are actually a pretty big deal. Luckily, there are plenty of different ways to treat Phobia. First, we have to understand how they come about.

Cause of Phobia

There are a number of good and bad theories, but professionals agree that these are the most likely explanations of their origins.

The Genetic/Evolution Theory – This argument says that due to the circumstances of evolution, certain phobias are with us because they would have saved the humans who had them from dying and, as the survivors reproduced, these traits that allowed for the phobias would have been passed on and reinforced through generations. Basically, phobias are an advantage.

You can see the logic here. If people knew to be afraid of spiders without being told they might be poisonous, they are more likely to survive.

The Child/Trauma Theory – This theory suggests that at some point in earlier life, usually childhood, a traumatic event happens and the experience becomes deeply engrained in the mind. So, whenever we are reminded of this event, that fear is reproduced. In this way, it is similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, though not the same.

As the phobia is with us from childhood, it is really hard to shake.

Conditioning (and Two Process Conditioning) – This is a sort of combined interpretation. Conditioning says that when there is a certain stimulus or event and we have a good or bad reaction, from there on in we will have a positive or negative association. This happens somewhere in the unconscious mind. Two Process Conditioning suggests that this is true, but it works within some sort of genetic framework that is hard-wired into the brain.

Some Common Phobias

• Arachnophobia – The fear of spiders
• Ophidiophobia – Fear of snakes. Supports Genetic/Evolutionary Theory of Phobias.
• Acrophobia – Fear of heights.
• Agoraphobia – Fear of anywhere from which it would be difficult to escape
• Cynophobia – Fear of dogs. Supports Trauma Theory.
• Trypanophobia – Fear of needles or injections.
• Pteromerhanophobia – Fear of flying.
• Mysophobia – The fear of germs.

There are lots of weird ones too:

• Chronomentrophobia – Fear of clocks
• Dendrophobia – Fear of trees
• Papyrophobia – Fear of paper
• Sitophobia – Fear of food

Treatment

There are many effective ways to treat: Counter Therapy, Hypnosis, Behavioral Therapy, and Neurolinguistic Therapy, but for all the things that really don’t get in the way of life, you can just take Xanax when you DO have to deal with it. Plane flights for example. Talk to a doctor about taking Xanax. Xanax is intended for short-term use.

The 20th and 21st centuries have seen increases in the number of people suffering from insomnia, even as our understanding of the condition, sleep, our brains, and treatment have steadily improved. Can we hold modern life responsible?

CULTURE

The first culprit is our culture. This is the largest contributor by far. Merriam-Webster.com defines culture as “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; the characteristic features of everyday existence.”

What characterizes our society?

• Overworked
• A lack of emphasis on the importance of sleep
• Hard partying (think energy drinks)
• Nighttime=Fun time
• Noisy

OVERWORKED

Nobody works longer hours than Americans, but just about every modern nation is overworked. The earliest civilizations, worked an average of 5 hours a day gathering food, and chipping in on community projects, such as a bridge building or irrigating. The work gave them plenty of exercise, which doctors say is good for our mental health and sleep. Most jobs today do not involve very much physical stimulation; we simply sit at desks all day. They also got to spend more time socializing during the day, likely leaving them more satisfied and ready for sleep.

Not that everything was great in ancient times! This simply shows precisely how much work we are doing and what we are missing.

PRIORITIZING

Because there is so much work to do and so little time to do it, sleep is a low priority. In fact, for many it feels like just another odious task they have to do. In reality, if we were satisfied with our day, sleep would feel like a natural finish-we would be excited to do it and get to the next day! For many, all sleepytime means is that the next day, which they dread, is that much closer. This can create anxiety, which prevents them from being able to fall asleep.

NIGHTTIME, PARTYING, NOISE

When you work all day, you want to cut lose at night. Ours is a hard partying culture. We save our social lives for the nighttime, and couple it with alcohol and energy drinks. As far as a normal sleep cycle goes, this is a disaster. Healthy sleep is based off of a regular routine, and disrupting that routine with late nights and drugs like alcohol and caffeine makes it really hard for that to function.

For the people who are trying to sleep, your neighbors or the streets can be too noisy. Even the people who choose not to participate in the merrymaking in favor of sawing logs are affected.

TECHNOLOGIES

Many people spend their work days staring at computer screens. And when they get home, they stare at televisions.

Unfortunately, the artificial light from these devices leads to restlessness and insomnia. If the TV helps you get to sleep, good. However, the light still ruins sleep quality. To improve your sleep quality, ditch the night light and invest in some serious window shades.

It’s no wonder that many turn to Ambien for sleep. Ambien puts you to bed quickly, and keeps you under until morning. It’s hard to change the culture; it’s easy to take Ambien.