Sleep, Stress and Anxiety

Anxiety
Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but some people have frightening episodes called panic attacks, or are profoundly uneasy so often that anxiety interferes with their normal lives. Taking B vitamins, certain minerals and calming herbs may help.
What is it?
When you're in a potentially dangerous situation - facing a large barking dog, for example - anxiety is a healthy response. Your brain, sensing the danger, signals for the release of hormones to prepare your body to defend itself. Muscles tense, heartbeat and breathing rate increase, and the blood even becomes more likely to clot (in the event of injury). In some people, however, this response is set in motion even when there is no obvious threat. Such a reaction can be bad for your health, causing exhaustion, poor concentration, a sense of detachment from yourself or your surroundings, headaches, stomach problems and an increase in blood pressure.

Cigarette Smoking – Quitting
It's never too late to stop smoking, but unfortunately a tobacco addiction is one of the most difficult habits to overcome. A number of natural supplements can boost your chances of success by helping you cope with cravings and reducing the anxiety that often accompanies giving up.
What is it?
Though not considered an illness per se, smoking is a habit with serious health consequences. Within minutes of lighting a cigarette or cigar, the blood pressure and pulse rate rise and oxygen levels in the blood drop. After several months of smoking, cough, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath and other symptoms can appear. Over the long term, smoking can lead to cancer, chronic lung disorders, heart disease and stroke.

Colds & Flu
Sooner or later, just about everyone comes down with a miserable cold or a dose of flu - and some unfortunate people seem to get infected again and again. Vitamin C is probably the most familiar natural remedy for these viruses, but it's not the only one.
What is it?
Because the common cold and flu are both respiratory tract infections, determining which you have may be difficult. Generally speaking, a cold comes on gradually, whereas flu strikes suddenly - you can feel fine in the morning and terrible by afternoon. The classic cold symptoms - congestion, sore throat and sneezing - are usually less severe than flu symptoms, which often include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches and headaches.

Depression
Depression is much more than just feeling blue: it is a devastating illness that affects every aspect of a person’s life – physical, mental and emotional.
It has been estimted that as many as 30% of people suffer from this prevalent but little understood illness. Now, with the realisation that drug anti-depressants are no more effective than placebo’s, the medical world is now turning to natural medicine to help prevent and treat this dangerous disease.

Insomnia
Although you might feel as if you're the only one who can't get a good night's sleep, the truth is that one in every three people complains about insomnia. Fortunately, there are a variety of safe, natural 'lullabies' that can ease you into dreamland - without the risk of side effects.
What is it?
Though many people think of insomnia as the inability to fall asleep, it also involves not beign able to stay asleep or continually waking up earlier than planned. Sleep problems that last just a couple of nights or a few weeks are often ralted to stress or to excitement. But insomnia can become chronic, lasting for months or even years.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Though the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are very real, tests often show no abnormalities. But doctors who once said 'It's all in your head' now have a better understanding of this frustrating disease, which affects 15-20% of adults.
What is it?
Normally, food is propelled through the digestive tract by rhythmic contractions of the intestinal muscles, a process called peristalsis. In irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), these muscles go into spasm, and the contractions become uncoordinated. This disturbance can cause the intestine's contents to move too fast or too slow, leading to abdominal pain and either diarrhoea or constipation. An older term for IBS is 'spastic colon'.

Mouth Ulcers
Given their diminutive size, it's hard to fathom how mouth ulcers can hurt as much as they do. Commonsense self-care measures can assist you in avoiding these painful ulcers, and supplements may help you reduce their frequency and speed their healing.
What is it?
Though not serious, mouth ulcers can be so trouble-some that they can cause intense pain when talking, kissing, drinking and eating. Affecting women more often than men, these shallow, ulcerated areas often appear singly or in small clusters inside the mouth, and range in size from as tiny as a pinhead to as large as a five-cent coin. Mouth ulcers emerge fairly suddenly and usually go away within one to three weeks. Fortunately, it is possible to ease the discomfort they cause.

Pre-Menstrual Syndrome
Many women are all too familiar with the often unpleasant symptoms of PMS. Affecting both body and emotions, this condition can be difficult to diagnose - except that it begins the weeks or so before menstruation and then disappears.
What is it?
Before their period, many women experience fits of crying, cravings for sweets and outbursts of anger. These, as well as some 200 other symptoms, including fatigue, depression, bloating, headaches, and breast pain, characterise the condition known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Typically, these monthly symptoms vary in number and severity. Most women experience few of them or are only mildly inconvenienced by them. For 5-10% of women, however, PMS can be so severe that it interferes with their ability to live a full and rich life.

Stomach Ulcer
One in ten people will develop an ulcer during his or her lifetime. These painful and occasionally life-threatening erosions in the lining of the stomach or intestine can often be quickly and effectively treated with both conventional drug and a number of useful natural remedies.
What is it?
An ulcer is a crater-like erosion in the protective lining of the stomach or duodenum, a part of the small intestine. Normally, glands in the stomach secrete substances that promote digestion, including acids and the enzyme pepsin. At the same time, the stomach and duodenum secrete mucus, which promotes the stomach lining from damage by these digestive juices. An ulcer forms when this balance breaks down, causing the juices to begin literally digesting the stomach or the intestinal lining.

Stress
An inevitable part of modern life, stress can exhaust natural defences, leaving the body susceptible to a wide range of health problems. Certain nutrients can help you cope, and various herbs and other nutritional supplements can calm the mind and restore equanimity.
What is it?
Stress is simply an individuals' response to taxing physical, emotional or environmental demands. Though the body is equipped to deal with brief episodes of stress, sustained high-level stress can eventually take a heavy toll on your physical and mental health.