Some of my favorite links:
Mike (my husband)
Happy Hannukah!
My sister sent us some cool photographic gifts. Mike got a book on photography and i got a framed pic of my mom, sis, and self, taken years ago in Boston. I have the original pics, so she took a scanned pic and printed it out and framed it. Neat.Today we are heading out to Bisbee, to check out the southern-most parts of AZ, the Copper Queen Mine, artist colonies, and maybe even Douglas and the border. We'll stay over a night or two... back in time for Christmas at home. A first!
Usually we are somewhere else for Christmas, but it gets tired being on the road at that time. Everything closes down!On another note, I just got a breakthrough in my search for links between digestive and menstrual cycle. Here is an article from the American Journal of Gastroenterology that unquestionably links cycle and symptoms, AND it has references to MORE articles! The Menstrual Cycle and Its Effect on Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Prevalence Study. Yes, they look at both IBS and IBD, and the references are equally divided between the two as well. This is good!
Where did I get this? My husband's listserve recently had a discussion about this very subject and one of the members sent it.
Hey Sheila! Check it out!I am psyched about this as it confirms, no it VALIDATES my intuition on this. Yahoo!
When we return, I will post some more info on this stuff, as well as on the premenopause links, 'cause that stuff is also important for many women. It seems that from our mid-thirties, as our bodies begin the 20 year journey toward the 'pause', we become more sensitive to all sorts of inputs and to what we have internalized as well. Our bodies fill up, essentially, and refuse to remain as containers for our mental and emotional and environmental stuff. We spill over, lose patience, start to speak up, and we get more exaggerated symptoms for all sorts of stuff, AND many get IBS at this time (or just tune in to long term patterns). WOW.
Later.
posted by LST 12/22/2000 07:46:49 AM
17.12.00
Here is some info from a web page I found:
The biopsychosocial model of IBS proposes that symptoms arise from the interaction of a host of biological, cultural, social, interpersonal, and psychological factors.
There are no structural or biochemical markers for IBS.
IBS symptoms often are non-specific and the course of illness is inconsistent.
The Rome II panel defines IBS as a clinical symptom complex comprising abdominal discomfort or pain linked to relief with defecation or associated with a change in the
frequency or consistency of stool.A patient’s psychosocial and medical history can provide important diagnostic clues in the planning of care.
Once a symptom-based diagnosis is made and the dominant symptom pattern established further evaluation should be conservative and undertaken only as appropriate.
Performing extensive laboratory, radiologic, or endoscopic procedures does not establish a diagnosis of IBS; it is unnecessary and may be harmful.
Physicians and patients benefit from the formation of an open, interactive, empathetic therapeutic partnership.
Positive physician-patient interactions yield improved outcomes.
Here is the link: CME Monograph II: Functional GI Disorders IBS at a Glance Diagnosis and Treatment
posted by LST 12/17/2000 07:40:03 AM
Those hormones rule pretty much everything; they are not just relegated to sex. Hormones regulate digestion, nervous, muscular, bone, and all the parts of our general operating system. Sex is but one small part of that. True, it is kinda important, or we wouldn't all be so hung up about it. Still, if something else isn't working right, there ain't gonna be any attention to the sex part - it is the first to go!
Think about it. If you are not feeling well, you aren't going to want to fool around.If our hormones become unbalanced for any reason, be it aging or impact by environmental factors (another huge impact on us), or too much exercise (which, for women of any age will affect their capacity to ovulate), the resulting imbalance messes up the overall operating system and can impact any of a variety of working parts, such as digestion.
Further, if one is sensitive to start (I qualify that - more sensitive than the average person), the imbalance can severely disrupt the system at an earlier age, and have long term consequences for managing one's life and health.I must amend what I said before about the aging and ovulation process; anovulation does not only occur with age. Too much exercise will prevent a woman from ovulating b/c the body sees that as too much stress, which is not hospitable to a pregnancy (thus it follows that women who are under a lot of stress, physical or other, will not ovulate.... this might be why women who cannot conceive "when they want to", then adopt, then become pregnant, are following a change in stress levels - just a hypothesis on my part here). Also, environmental impacts are important, such as 'xenohormones', which are estrogens mostly, and are found in the meats we eat, in plastics such as the containers we keep leftovers in and which we microwave how many times a week, and in many of the chemicals used to grow fruits and veggies, and in processed foods, and in cleansers, etc.
The point being that our industrialized society is negatively impacting our health. No wonder the incidence of such as IBS is on the rise!
posted by LST 12/17/2000 07:22:27 AM
Hiya.Between last Sunday and today, much has happened. In short, I ovulated this week. We know what that means - yep - blocked! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!
Sure, fiber helps, but sometimes it ain't enough. Sometimes my system cries out for water cleansing release!
Oh well.
Another thing; I am learning more about the intricate workings of hormones and my cycle. For instance, as we age, we have less propensity to actually ovulate. That doesn't mean missed menses, it means menses without an egg. It's called anovulation, and what happens is this: normally many eggs are preparing for the drop into the falliopian which will take one of them on the journey into the uterus in hopes of fertilization. The aging process eliminates quantity over time so only a few get ready, and sometimes none drop... if no egg, then no corpeus luteum, and if no corpeus luteum, no progesterone, and if no progesterone, the build up of estrogen in the uterus in prep for fertilization unbalances the system, throwing all sorts of things out of whack.
posted by LST 12/17/2000 07:10:48 AM