Consumption of NSAIDs – common pain relievers like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and acetaminophen (Excedrin) – has grown to 70 million prescriptions and 30 billion over-the-counter sales annually. That statistic is disturbing to Michael Sheehan, founder of natural medications company BioResource Inc., because of a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine (AIM) that reveals NSAIDS may play a part in the development of heart disease.

“The risks of NSAIDs are a growing concern,” said Sheehan. “The fact that they may contribute to heart problems is a wake-up call the public needs to take seriously.”

According to the American Heart Association, about 785,000 Americans suffer a first heart attack each year, and another 470,000 who have already had one or more heart attacks experience another episode. The AHA also revealed that in 2010, heart disease cost the United States $316.4 billion. This total includes the cost of healthcare services, medications, and lost productivity.

The AIM study found that heart failure patients who used NSAIDs may be at an increased risk for side effects and other dangers. The article concluded that NSAIDs “are harmful to heart-failure patients,” reporting that individuals who received the medications were subject to “dose-related increases in risk of death and re-hospitalization for heart failure.”

Research also showed that, with prolonged use, NSAIDs can cause potential side effects that include:

• upset stomach

• nausea

• vomiting

• heartburn

• headache

• diarrhea

• constipation

• drowsiness

• unusual fatigue

• stomach pain

• swelling of feet or ankles

• ringing in ears

• vision changes

• joint pain

• muscle pain and weakness

• easy bruising

• bleeding

• persistent sore throat

• fever

“The nature of these recent revelations, combined with the pervasive use of NSAIDs, should make people stand up and notice,” added Sheehan. “There are good signs, however, that more Americans are seeking natural options to pain pills. A recent National Institutes of Health study revealed that the number of men seeking information on alternatives to traditional pharmaceuticals and treatments rose by 18 percent between 2002 and 2007. This trend indicates Americans are getting smarter about taking responsibility for their personal health. The truth is there are dozens of natural substitutes for NSAIDs, and many of these remedies lack the potentially harmful side effects and risks associated with NSAIDs. With new, safer choices available, perhaps the need to use NSAIDs will diminish in the future.”

About the author: Michael Sheehan is CEO and founder of BioResource Inc. (www.bioresourceinc.com), a natural medications company that distributes German-made energy remedies, including INFLAMYAR ointment for sports injuries. Sheehan graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University. In addition, he received a master’s degree in science journalism from Boston University. He lives in Northern California.

Sometimes, fear and anxiety can overwhelm us when we have to be a leader. Being a leader requires the ability to lead people in doing a certain task. This can sometimes be a little scary. As a result, here is list of ways in how women can reduce the fear and anxiety of being an effective leader.

The first thing a person must understand is that you need to know what the task that needs to be accomplished. Knowing what you must do is important and can save you a lot of time and stress. It would be a waste of time if you performed a task for a few weeks and realized that it was a waste of time. Know the task on hand and communicate this with your team members.

The next step is to develop a plan on how to accomplish the task. Get a piece a paper and write down the steps that your team needs to accomplish in order to accomplish the goal. This will save you a lot of time in the long run and reduce stress and anxiety. Once you write down the steps, follow each step one at a time. This will help reduce the stress and anxiety of rushing at the last minute to meet a deadline.

Communicate with your team members on a regular basis. It is important that everyone on the team is on the same wavelength. For instance, your company needs to develop a new advertising campaign and your team is to present the board on how to go about it. The last thing you want is to have your team members assume that they know what is needed and have them do their own thing. Meanwhile the other half of the team is going in another direction. This leads to wasted time and effort. Talk with your team members daily to be sure everyone is doing what they are suppose to.

Prepare for unexpected surprises. Sometimes things happened that might take everyone by surprise. Be flexible and when expected things happen learn to deal with them immediately. For example, some members of the team become sick and are unable to do the tasks. Instead of getting all stressed out just reassign some of the tasks to other people. Anther idea is to find someone to help out for a few days. Getting upset when things go wrong can cause a lot fear and anxiety. Being prepared for surprises is important when being a leader.

Finally, do what you can today. Do not put things off when you can do them today. As a leader, it is important to have your team members do what they can during the day. Don’t have them assume that they can do it next week. You never know when something may come up and being efficient on a daily basis can prevent future problems down the road.

Being a leader can be stressful but there are ways to help manage that anxiety. If you still have trouble then talk to a counselor or professional who can help lead you in the right direction.

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com/

“It seems almost alien to me why someone would take a drug to relieve PMS when the drug’s list of potential side effects – drowsiness, nausea, headache, loss of appetite, anxiety, panic attacks, hostility, aggressiveness, restlessness and depression – are almost an identical match for the symptoms of the ailment they’re trying to relieve,” said Michael Mooney, Director of Research and Education at natural health company SuperNutrition Life Extension Research (www.supernutritionusa.com).

“There is a solid base of research that has shown that women can reduce PMS without taking a prescription drug. In fact, there are six simple, safe nutrients the body uses all the time that have been shown to reduce PMS discomfort – but they need to be taken in adequate potencies. These nutrients don’t have a list of side effects that sound worse than the PMS itself.”

Mooney cited six natural nutrients that have been shown to relieve PMS:

• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) – According to a study of 630 women published in the British Journal of Clinical Practice, 100 mg to 150 mg of supplemental vitamin B6 reduced PMS in about 66 percent of the women, while 160 mg to 200 mg of vitamin B6 reduced PMS in about 79 percent of the women.

• Vitamin D – The Archives of Internal Medicine published a study in 2005 which concluded that women with a higher median vitamin D intake of 706 IU per day had significantly less (or no) PMS than subjects who got a median of the least amount of vitamin D, 112 IU per day. So it’s not just about getting some vitamin D, but rather getting a potent dose.

• Chaste tree berry (Vitex) – This extract has been shown to reduce PMS, based on a randomized placebo-controlled 3-month study of premenstrual syndrome in 170 women (average age 36) which was published in the British Medical Journal. The results showed that 20 mg of chaste berry extract reduced PMS about 28% better than placebo. The women noted significant reductions in irritability, mood disturbances, anger, headache, and breast fullness compared to the placebo group.

• Calcium carbonate – The Journal of General Internal Medicine published the results of a study that concluded that calcium carbonate could reduce pain and water retention before and during a woman’s cycle. This randomized placebo-controlled study of 78 women showed a 58 percent better reduction in PMS with 1,000 mg of calcium carbonate than with placebo during the luteal and menstrual phases of the reproductive cycle.

•Magnesium – Two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies published in the Journal of Women’s Health showed that magnesium at 360 mg per day reduced headaches and pain, and at 200 mg reduced weight gain, fluid retention, swelling of extremities, breast tenderness and abdominal bloating.

• Vitamin E – The Journal of Reproductive Medicine published a study that showed vitamin E reduced 15 categories of PMS symptoms. This randomized, placebo-controlled study confirmed a previous study that showed all major categories of PMS symptoms are improved with a daily supplementation of 400 IU of vitamin E.” In all 15 categories of symptoms, vitamin E supplemented women reported 27-42 percent reduction in severity.

“The effects of these nutrients start the first month and generally reach maximum PMS reduction levels by month three,” Mooney added. “Women deserve to share the fruits of modern nutritional science and be informed that they can reduce their PMS discomfort without relying on drugs with all their dangerous side effects, but instead, by using nutrients that are natural to the body in the proven effective potencies.”

Michael Mooney is the Director of Research and Education for SuperNutrition Life Extension Research (www.supernutritionusa.com). He is the author of the optimal health handbook, Built to Survive. He is a scientific advisor for medical researchers and has appeared as a nutritional expert on both radio and TV health-oriented talk shows. He is a nutritional consultant to athletes and nutritional doctors.

Or do customer and client relationships need something more?

Is communication the end of the story in client relationships? Sometimes people ask if “relationship skills” are part of communication. The reality, of course, is it’s the other way round: Communication is part of relationship skills. “Communication” is transactional in nature, happening only in the moment, whereas relationships exist through time.

The phrase “relationship marketing” is often used, but what does it really mean? What would you expect to see going on when people are doing relationship marketing? The answer to that question is not so obvious, and thinking about what you do when you handle relationships well is likely to help you reproduce your own best results more easily. Women have a natural advantage in this area in business and the workplace because they seem to be predisposed to take relationships seriously.

Two things follow…

One, these skills are valuable and should be encouraged and, two, men could benefit from learning from the example. As a society, it seems we’ve still to find the appropriate balance between the masculine and feminine sides in the male and female nature.

So what are some of the things that are important in handling relationships with clients and customers?

First and foremost, being conscious of where your attention is – on yourself or on the other person. This is partly about listening well, but it’s really more than that. Do you focus on what’s happening and important for the other person, putting your needs and wants out of your mind for the moment? That’s likely to help you. It sounds obvious, but do you really do that consistently? Of course, you still want to be clear beforehand about what you want, but don’t talk about it, that’s the thing.

A second key is being familiar with the values at work in the relationship – what’s important to either party. Long term, people will only behave in accordance with their values. Expect anything else and you’ll be disappointed. How do you find out someone’s values? Easy enough, just ask, with a question like “What’s important to you about…?,” provided you establish enough of a relationship first.

So how do you establish a relationship quickly?

Well, there are many things to work on here. The key is being aware of all the ways in which you can be like the other person and acting on that knowledge. There’s lots of opportunity for learning and growth in this area. Likely, you already dress to fit in, speak about topics that are socially acceptable, and take some care over your body language. Less familiar may be matching the style of other people’s thinking and what they prefer to focus on – do they prefer certainty rather than flexibility, for example?

As you develop your ability to tune in to your client or your customer, you will increase your ability to sense what is going on for them – a very useful trait indeed. Women are typically already more adept at that than men, but even so, may be unaware just how highly developed the ability to read other people can become – just one good reason to regard relationship skills as more than communication. There are many more. In the end, the ability to relate well to other people is the most critical skill a person can ever have.

Bio ~ “Dr. David Fraser is a Chartered Engineer, NLP Master Practitioner, Certified Mediator, business coach, program management consultant and family man. He is author of “Relationships Made Easy for the Business Professional.” For free information, resources and masterclass programs see http://www.drdavidfraser.com.”

1. Ask yourself: Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy? In many, many arguments, there is no right or wrong, merely different perceptions. But couples will often get to the point where they are just trying to prove their point and win the argument, rather than genuinely listen and try to solve the problem. This is a failing tactic for two reasons: 1) Even if you come up with a brilliant, winning point, your partner’s not likely to accept it—at least not right away. The really effective communicator gets the other person to own the idea, not force it down his or her throat. 2) Trying to win merely polarizes the partners and feeds their anger and resentment, making the discussion very unproductive if not downright destructive.

2. In general, try to create a positive environment for communication. If you want anyone, your partner in particular, to talk about his innermost feelings and thoughts, you have to create an environment in which he feels safe doing so.

“Early in my career I was working with a couple where the wife complained that her husband didn’t communicate with her,” explains Rankin. “And sure enough, he sat silently through several counseling sessions. During our fourth session, he finally opened up and his wife immediately attacked what he was saying. He promptly stood up, said, ‘That’s why I never say anything,’ and left, never to be seen again.”

3. Don’t take arguments at face value. Few arguments are what they appear to be about on the surface. This is important to realize, especially if you and your partner are having the same argument over and over. The truth is that arguments about trivial things, like laundry, are generally about control. Even conflicts about sex and money are really about control when you get down to it. Once you know that control is a problem issue for you, says Dr. Rankin, you’ll at least have a clue as to how to address it.

“Of course, in a relationship, both partners can’t have 51 percent all the time,” he says. “Still, if there is a mutual sense that control is by and large equitably distributed, these sorts of arguments are way less likely to occur.”

4. Let your partner finish what she is saying. Having observed many heated “discussions” in his therapy sessions, Rankin says he knows first-hand things are headed south when partners start interrupting each other. It’s a sign that at least the interrupting partner is out to win and has stopped listening.

5. Don’t bring other people’s views into the argument. It can feel good to hash out your relationship issues with your mother, your best friend, or around the water cooler at work. But it’s not helpful to drag their opinions into a heated discussion with your spouse or partner. Consider this: It’s unlikely your friends will disagree with you, especially as you almost certainly presented only your side of the incident. (Chances are you’ve never had someone say to you, “I polled 100 random people I don’t know, presented both sides of the argument in a balanced way, and 63 percent of those polled agreed with me.”)

“It just isn’t helpful to drag other people into a discussion that should be between you and your partner only,” explains Dr. Rankin. “What you are doing is trying to create witnesses for your point of view as if you were in front of a judge. And as you’ll see in my next tip, that’s not what a healthy, productive discussion is about.”

Actually, he adds, you might want to reconsider your “let it all hang out” policy altogether. The problem with discussing sensitive relationship issues with your friends, family, and coworkers is that it influences their attitude toward your spouse or partner, which won’t change after you’ve reconciled.

6. Remind yourself: You’re not in front of a judge. Some people argue with their partners as if they were addressing the judge and jury. This tactic will not get you very far, and here’s why: Your partner is not a coolly objective third party or a computer. Your Spock-like logic is wasted on him, especially in the heat of the moment.

“Every productive communication is about emotion and respect, rather than dispassionate logic,” says Dr. Rankin. “Remember, people are emotional beings with the ability to rationalize, not logical beings with feelings.”

7. Don’t bring up ancient history. To some extent, this argument tactic reflects a gender difference, says Rankin. Typically, women are more likely to see the patterns in events with emotional significance so that today’s transgression resonates with many similar occasions in the past. Men don’t get this and think their partners are being irrelevant and overly critical.

Here’s the bottom line: Given that memory is imperfect and influenced by the present, unless this transgression is an exact repetition of past behavior and represents a destructive pattern of behavior, leave past events out of current discussions.

8. And speaking of gender differences…realize they exist. No doubt about it: Men and women are made differently, and this truth is the source of many pitfalls. In general, women see the world in terms of connections and relationships, and men see the world in terms of status and power. This leads to some interesting differences in communication—even in the meaning of words. For example, the word “sorry” to a woman often connotes empathy whereas for men it is more likely to mean a confession or an apology.

“I’ve seen a well-intentioned man make a sarcastic comment to his wife, which amongst his male friends would be the cause for laughter and bonding,” says Dr. Rankin. “Unfortunately, said to his wife, his words created anger and hurt.”

9. Extend the fuse. Once the brain chemicals that underpin anger and frustration get going, it’s hard, if not impossible, to stop them. So one mutual goal in sensitive discussions should be to “extend the fuse,” because once it’s been lit, the argument is going nowhere productive.

“The longer you can stay respectful and manage your emotions, the better the outcome is likely to be,” notes Dr. Rankin.

10. Avoid abuse and threats and NEVER use the D-word. It should go without saying that the first signs of abuse or threat end any chance of a useful discussion. Constantly bringing up the threat of divorce in every argument isn’t helpful. And constantly making threats as an arguing tactic but never following through on them is likely to backfire as they lose any potential power they might have after a while.

“In general people vary in their ability to present arguments and in their communication and influence skills,” says Dr. Rankin. “But don’t rejoice too much if you happen to be better than your partner at this. If one partner feels overmatched in a verbal discussion, she simply won’t compete and will find other ways of expressing herself—like passive-aggressiveness, deceit, or other ways of acting out.

“Talking things out is the best and most effective way of resolving conflicts,” he adds. “If you can’t do it, you’ll surely resort to less effective and more destructive ways of expressing your feelings.”

About the Author: Dr. Howard J. Rankin is the creator of Science of You and founder and president of the American Brain Association. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and author with a strong background in health, relationships, communication, neuropsychology, and mind-body medicine. Dr. Howard Rankin’s Communication Secrets of a Great Relationship video and workbook will be released in May 2011 and available on his website, www.scienceofyou.com.

About Pat Goodwin: Ms. Goodwin is an executive coach, trainer and career development professional. She is also the owner and founder of Pat Goodwin Associates in Austin, Texas.

Nowadays, all most everybody worries about what will happen in the future in regards to their job. The prospect of not knowing if you will be downsized can be very stressful. As a result, here is a list of techniques and suggestions on how to manage the fear of losing your job.

The first step is to get into the habit of always updating your skills just in case something would happen. Learning how to use a computer or learning how to use the latest software are ways to keep abreast in the market. Continuous education in your field of work will also help you. If for some reason you do lose your job, having the proper skills will reduce the fear of being unemployed.

Stay active in your current job. Communication with your employer and coworkers is very important. If you communicate with your boss and coworkers, you should have a general idea on how safe your job is. Knowing where you stand in your company can help predict whether your job is safe. Always keep the lines of communication open in your work environment.

Sometimes we tend to exaggerate when we start to worry. Instead of worrying about what could happen, try to focus on the facts of a certain situation. Do not assume anything and do not focus on your negative thoughts. In addition, try to read something uplifting that will make you feel better.

Take it day by day. Do not worry about what may happen next week or next month. Things change all the time and it is all most impossible to predict what may or may not happen. Do the best you can today and hope for the best.

Some people get depressed and have a difficult time getting out of bed in the mornings. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do to get their mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things. Doing something will get your mind off of the problem and give you confidence to do other things.

If you have trouble managing your anxiety of being unemployed, then talking to a counselor can be of some help. Remember that people lose their jobs all the time and they are able to find other jobs. Just do not let your fears and worries get the better of you.
 
 
BIOGRAPHY:
 
Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com/

1.  What type of person fits best with my business? 
You really can’t answer this until you articulate your ideal business culture. If you have not yet done so, start by defining the core values (three or four at most) you feel must be represented in everything you do in your business. Anyone you bring into your business community should sincerely share and appreciate these values. For instance, if one of your core values is delighting every customer, only hire people who believe in this and demonstrate the personal qualities to deliver it. Keep in mind that this isn’t about finding people with personalities like you – there is little advantage to hiring carbon-copies of yourself. This is about identifying, and then demanding certain personal characteristics and beliefs in anyone who will be representing your company.

2.  What exactly do I expect them to know and be able to do?
Identify all the knowledge, skills, and abilities the ideal candidate should possess. Then, consider each and break it down by “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves.” Be realistic. A must-have means that you will not hire them if they don’t have that knowledge or skill.  A nice-to-have means that you are willing to train this or direct the work elsewhere. Be sure to include everything! If you expect your accounts payable clerk to sweep the floor when needed, include this in your list. (You’ll use this later in job descriptions.)

3.  How will I know they possess what I am looking for?
For must-have characteristics, knowledge, and skills create specific interview questions or techniques that will allow your candidates to clearly and behaviorally demonstrate that they have these critical factors. Don’t just accept the candidate’s word that they believe something or can do something. Ask them to demonstrate the skill, solve a problem, describe their feelings, show or talk about prior accomplishments, or write or create something. Requiring this will provide you with proof you need to make an informed decision. Don’t be too narrow in your requirements; consider associated life-skills and experiences. And don’t be afraid to test! It ensures they have what you require, as well as shows that you will hold your people accountable for performance.
To read the other seven tips, check out the Fall Issue of WE Magazine for Women http://wemagazineforwomen.com/WEMagazineFall2008.pdf