Suicide in Middle Aged Individuals Is on the Increase

After a decade of declining suicide rates in the United States, suicide levels in middle-aged individuals have begun to increase.

According to findings in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Caucasian individuals, ranging from 40 to 64, have suddenly become the new high risk group for suicide.

Between 1999 and 2005, suicides increased around 3% each year, in middle-aged white men, and about 4%, in middle aged white women.

In this country, the suicide rate had been on the decline from 1986 to 1999.- From 1999 to 2005, the rates have risen 0.7% each year.

The cause for this increase is not known, but may continue to worsen, given the decline in the economy.

Data indicates that suicide rates, especially in men, will increase during bad economic times.

There is some speculation as to what is causing this phenomenon.

Some theories include, increased drug use among baby boomers, who are thought to be unhappier, overall, than previous generations, to abuses of prescription drugs.

It is not thought to be associated with a midlife crisis, as middle age is typically considered a period of stability and emotional well-being.

It is interesting to note that, suicide is now more common than homicide.

In 2005, 32,637 people took their lives in the United States. This correlates with a rate of 11 individuals per 100,000.

The complete story can be found here: U.S. Suicide on Rise:...

Understanding Adaptogenic Herbs

In order to better understand herbs, the beginning herbalist should gain a comprehensive appreciation of how herbs work.

Herbs can be classified according to their actions, of which there are over 40.

What follows is a description of one of the most popular herbal actions, and some of the herbs associated with it.

One of the most popular categories of herbs are the Adaptogenic herbs. An Adaptogenic herb is one that helps you handle stressful situations to a greater degree.

In other words, they help you to better cope with uncomfortable situations. it is estimated that as much as 70% of all diseases, have a connection to stress.

Unlike other herbs that function on a cellular level, this herbal action works on the body as a whole. It involves many bodily systems, to help you deal with physical and emotional stress.

One well-known adaptogenic herb is Siberian ginseng. This popular herb is thought to strengthen both the adrenal and the immune systems.

In fact, over 500 thousand people were given Siberian ginseng, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, in 1986, to help them better cope with the effects of radiation.

Here are a few other adaptogenic herbs: Aswagandha, Ginkgo, Licorice, Schisandra, Shiitake, and Suma paste
If you wish to learn about the remaining 45 herbal actions, click on this link: Understanding Herbal Actions

Candidate Obama's Health-Care Plan

What follows is an outline of 5 of presidential candidate Barrack Obama's health care plan.

• 1. Obama recommends an all computer, paperless arrangement. He says this will help decrease administrative expenditures.


• 2. He plans to establish a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to assist small businesses offer inexpensive health care to their employees.


• 3. He will require that companies presently not providing health care to their employees, must set aside a part of each paycheck for health care.


• 4. He expects to set up a National Health Insurance Exchange, giving individuals a greater number of insurance alternatives.


• 5. Reduce the cost of medications, by permitting medicines to be imported from other countries.


• 6. Expect insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions.


• 7. He suggests an all computer, paperless system. He says this will help to cut back on administrative costs.

This was a limited overview of some of the key details of his plan. To see more details, click on this link: Obama's Tax Plan.

An overview of McCain's health care plan will be posted in a subsequent blog.

5 Ways to cut your health-care costs

Given today's skyrocketing health care costs, many of you may be wondering how you can reduce your medical bills. A new poll of over 1300 health care providers, revealed that 59% of those surveyed, planned on increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. Here are 5 ways that will enable you to cut the costs of services you need.

1. Choose medical professionals and hospitals that are part of your network. By doing so, it is possible to save hundreds of dollars each year. The reason that rates are more affordable is because, insurers try to negotiate the lowest rates with members that are in the network.

2. Try and negotiate a lower fee from medical professionals or facilities in your network. You might be surprised at how willing they are to accommodate you. Before each doctor's visit, check with your insurance company and determine how much they will pay for the services you need. Then, pass this information to your doctor.

3. Choose your medications wisely. Whenever possible, check with your doctor or pharmacist to see if there is a generic form of the medicine you need. Most drug plans charge a $5-$10 co-pay. Many name brand medications could cost you $30 or more.

4. If there isn't a generic form of the medicine you need, ask your doctor if there is another cheaper medication you could take instead. These medications may be more expensive than a generic one, but are usually less than the brand name equivalent.

5. Inquire about setting up a health services plan or HSA. These plans allow you to put aside money to pay for future medical expenses. This money accrues interest, and can be used to cover expenses your medical plan doesn't cover. You should strive to deposit the maximum contribution you can make to these plans.

In conclusion, whether you are insured or not, you are probably looking for ways to reduce your medical bills. I hope these 5 tips will help you do just that.

to read the complete article, go to: 50 Ways to cut your health-care costs

Be Careful When Transferring Money on the Internet

This is a warning to those selling merchandise via the Internet.

I was nearly conned out of $1125, but, luckily, I caught it in time, and prevented it from occuring.

Here's my story: I listed my computer/monitor on craigslist for $400. In a day, I had a reply. In brief, this individual was going to buy this equipment, sight unseen.

This was his offer: he said he would mail me a cashiers check for $1525.
Then, was to deposit it in my bank account, wait three days for it to clear, then transfer the rest of the money to a mover.

Furthermore,he said he was going to be out of town for three weeks, and couldn't pick up the units himself.

So, I was to transfer $1125 using Western Union to a mover that was in Los Angeles.

The reason the moving charges were so high, was because he said he had other possessions in the city that were to be picked up.

So, I put the check in my bank, waited three days, and, so far, everything seemed okay. But, at this point, I hadn't sent him any money.

One week later, I was preparing to transfer the funds to this mover, only to receive a notice from my bank, fortunately, just in time, that they were "unable to locate account" that was printed on a duplicate of his original cashiers check.

What's frightening about all this is, looking back, it was a very real looking check from Chase Manhattan Bank. Of course, Chase Manhattan's website confirmed what I already suspected, that the routing and account numbers were fake.

Apparently, this guy was a professional. He knew it would take approximately 1 week before my bank caught this check. I hate to think how many people he's been successful using this scam against.

Today I contacted my local police department and they sent a patrolman out and, as I expected, they said there wasn't anything they could do. Also, of course, there was no residential listing for this guy in the whitepages.com for my city.

Luckily, I didn't lose $1125, and only had to pay a bank charge of seven dollars, which I can afford.

This has been quite the learning experience for me. I hope that this post can prevent others from being conned like I almost was.

My advice to you is: when you sell something on the Internet, do not accept a cashiers check from anyone.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what's the best way to transfer funds over the Internet as, I'm still steamed, and haven't had much time to ponder over it.

I just wanted to warn all of you of the dangers involved from taking a cashiers check for something sold on the Internet.

Thank you for hearing me out.

Kearney Adams

What's All The Brouhaha About Twitter?

Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard about the social networking tool that's turned the Internet on its ear.

This tool I'm talking about is Twitter. Twitter is responsible for starting this whole social networking craze.

Anyway, I'd heard about Twitter, but, quite frankly, I just didn't get it. If you answer its initial proposition, "What are you doing?", you get the basic concept.

For example, a sample 'tweet' (twitterspeak for message) from me, might be, "I just got up, ate breakfast, and read the paper."

I mean, who cares? Right?

But that was before I found an 'instruction manual' for this revolutionary communication tool. After reading it, I learned how to really use Twitter.

Indeed, I'm talking about the TwitterHandbook by Deborah Micek and Warren Whitlock.

In a nutshell, I guess the basic concept of this book is, how to market your product or service on the Internet, in a not so obvious, but entertaining manner.

Consequently, one of the first things I learned, was not to answer that basic, what are you doing, question. Instead, try to inject some personality into your tweets.

Or to paraphrase television personality Bill O'Reilly, if you feel the need to opine, feel free to do so with 'pithy' comments.

I had to look that one up.

Basically, pithy's definition is: "concise, and full of meaning."

Boy, I'd say that 'concise' definitely pegs it. You need to make the most of the 140 characters Twitter gives you.

Additionally, a whole new lexicon has developed around this tool.

For example, 'Twibe' means Twitter Tribe, which is what you become a member of, upon signing up.

Here's another one. Your friends on twitter are called 'fweeps', which is the concatenation of the words friends and people (or peeps).

Furthermore, you should copy and paste the "Twitter Badge' on all your blogs and/or websites. This allows interested parties to see what you're doing at any given moment by just clicking it.

As to what you post, post interesting comments, comments that make you worthy of being followed. Don't just use it to only market what you sell, offer something enlightening, or funny. Show some personality.

Apparently, in this new Internet world we live in, if you hope to succeed, you must interact with others.

All in all, this is known as 'permission marketing', which is the art of attracting clients, instead of getting them.

Also, according to CoachDeb (she likes to be called that), it can also be used as a means of communicating breaking news.

For example, the Chinese earthquake of 2008 was first shared with the world via Twitter.

Many more details of how it can be used are revealed in this book. You webmasters out there really need to read it.

Last, surprisingly, as I'm sure all of you will discover, Twitter turns out to be, uh, fun.

Well, although I'm new to the 'Twitterverse', I've certainly seen the light. I'm going to incorporate twitter into my Internet marketing strategy from here on.

So don't be a 'halftwit', or a tweeter who just doesn't get it. Jump in and join the party.

In the future, I hope to receive a 'tweet' from you.

Here is the web address for the TwitterHandbook: TwitterHandbook

Welcome to the Home Remedies Blog

Let's try this blogging thing once again.

However, this time I will provide links to other sites, not just my own..

Regarding my direction for this blog, this time, I'm going to try a new approach.

Hopefully, my content will be more compelling, more interesting to read. From this point on, you will see articles that start with "The 10 best ways to...", or "15 reasons why you should avoid..."

For example, here's one idea: "10 Foods That Can Boost Brain Function". Or how about this one: "Are You Eating Your Way to a Heart Attack?"

You get the concept. Just fill in the blanks, with some health-related topic, that addresses some problem, offers a solution, and, well, you get the gist of the format of this blog.

It seems to me, one professor from my college years had it right. His tests were so hard, you actually left the examination with a headache.

I guess that's because he made you think.

Just memorizing a textbook didn't work with this guy. For example, in order to come up with answer C, you had to understand the relationship of item A to item B, and so on.

That's what I hope to do here. Instead of just regurgitating what's readily found on other home remedy blogs, I hope to provide fresh insights on a number of topics.

But, unlike my anatomy examinations, I hope you don't leave here with a headache.

But, on second thought, if you do...

...maybe I've done my job!