Tag: AOL News

End-of-Summer Fun – Watch Out for Nature-Loving, Disease-Carrying Ticks

As many of you restless, must-have-time-off vacationers venture out into nature, the wilderness or the beach for one last summer hurrah, I encourage you to be careful.
Don’t lie on the grass, run barefoot in fields or get too affectionate or up close and personal with any trees.
You may think me a nature spoil sport, but, as I discovered much to my shock two years ago, it’s imperative that you’re watchful for those nature-loving, disease-carrying ticks, which can transmit Lyme disease, a confusing malady that may give you mysterious ailments such as mental confusion, fatigue and muscle pains.
Learn about this often-misunderstood disease in my recent AOL News op ed piece.
Unfortunately, many people are ignorant about these freckle-sized dangers that lurk in nature.
In fact, last night, on a conference call for a transformational women’s program that I’m taking, one of the women with whom I was partnered up with in a group literally laughed when recommended that she be careful of ticks when she goes off into the wilds in Holland.
Given that I’d been working on my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, into the wee hours (shame on me!), I was too tired to plead with her to take me seriously, but lo and behold, I just discovered that Lyme disease is on the rise in Holland.
So I urge you, if you do go out into nature this Labor Day weekend, make sure to carefully inspect yourself for ticks after you return from grassy areas. You do not want to suffer the way millions have, as you can read about in my AOL News op ed piece.
On another matter entirely, if you yearn to let go of your sugar habit, tomorrow is the deadline for the Early Bird End-of-Summer Special for my upcoming Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Weeks Program. This is a six-week mind/body/spirit, sugar-releasing program that will give you lectures, coaching, mini-audio messages all 42 days, guest interviews, several bonus audios, some 50 ways to combat sugar cravings, help to disover your Sugar Color Code, access to a private membership website, a shopping list, meal plans and more. (FYI, I’ve been developing this program for years.)
Why bother to kick sugar since it tastes so darn good? Well, as millions can testify, cutting out sweets and simple carbs is a very quick path to weight loss. The extra pounds just peel right off when you not consuming those quickie-carb “treats.” Plus, if you Break Free of Your Sugar Addiction, you may get more energy, better relationships, a better libido and many other benefits.

Beware of Ticks That Spread Lyme Disease

Recently, I talked to a friend of mine, whose daughter has been suffering from a host of ailments for nearly two years!
At last, they discovered that she had Lyme disease.
So please, dear readers, be careful when you frolic outdoors.
By the way, did you ever see my opinion story about Lyme, which ran on AOL News?
To read my op ed piece, just go here: http://tinyurl.com/LymeDiseaseOpEdConnieAOL10
I also invite you to listen to my Gab with the Radio Shows about Lyme disease.
Here’s how to listen to my recent show, for which I interviewed a number of experts. Just go here:
2010
http://tinyurl.com/LymeDiseaseGabGurus2010Connie
And I also have presented shows last year and the year before:
2009
http://tinyurl.com/LymeDiseaseGurus07-09Connie
http://tinyurl.com/LymeDiseaseGurus08-09Connie
2008
http://tinyurl.com/LymeDiseaseGabGurus08-08Connie
Share your stories about Lyme and please share this post with loved ones, especially those who hang out in nature a lot or who live in the suburbs.

An Overlooked Health Epidemic: My Op Ed Piece on AOL News

“We’re in the midst of a terrifying epidemic, although you wouldn’t know it to talk to most doctors and health specialists.”
That’s what I wrote in my opinion piece, that was posted on AOL News on Friday.
Just in case you were on vacation, I wanted to make sure you see this.
“The disease is growing at a rate faster than AIDS,” I continued.
“From 2006 to 2008 alone, the number of cases jumped a whopping 77 percent. In 2008 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 28,921 “confirmed” and 6,277 “probable” cases of the disease, but there could be as many as 420,000 because of underreporting.”
“Prominent victims include Parker Posey, Richard Gere, President George W. Bush, Alice Walker and Christie Brinkley,” my op ed piece on AOL News points out.
Lyme map “If any other disease had stricken so many people, the medical community would be scurrying for knowledge, scrambling for cures or rushing to warn patients (think swine flu).
“But that’s not the case with Lyme disease — a disease carried by ticks.
“Instead, ill-informed doctors are often flummoxed when patients complain of fatigue, headaches, fever or chills, muscle or joint pain, mental confusion, swollen lymph nodes and neurological symptoms. It’s an appalling display of indifference.”
Anyhow, at last, two years after my own terrifying health experiences, my op ed piece is on AOL News.
Learn more about this terrifying epidemic on Wednesday, June 2 at 2 pm EST on my Gab with the Gurus Radio Show when I interview several Lyme disease experts.
And please share your or your friends’ experiences and insights here and on AOL about your or their terrifying, often-misunderstood disease.
Many thanks to my smart health friend JJ Virgin, to whom I’m greatly indebted for helping me to quickly find out why I was so sick two years ago.
In addition, my gratitude goes to the following for their support and invaluable help:
* Knowledgeable Lyme disease expert Kris Newby, senior producer and researcher for the eye-opening documentary, “Under Our Skin.”
* Talented editor/writer Abby Ellin
* Katie Orenstein and Danielle Grace Warren of the fabulous Op Ed Project (which you can learn more about soon on an upcoming radio show)
* Talented editors/writers Susan Shapiro and Gerry Jonas
Please read my important op ed now on AOL News now.
And please join us Wednesday, June 2 for my Gab with the Gurus Radio Show about Lyme disease.

An Often-Overlooked Health Epidemic: My Opinion Piece on AOL News

Lyme-disease “We’re in the midst of a terrifying epidemic, although you wouldn’t know it to talk to most doctors and health specialists.”
That’s what I wrote, in my opinion piece, that is posted on AOL News today.
I continued, “The disease is growing at a rate faster than AIDS. From 2006 to 2008 alone, the number of cases jumped a whopping 77 percent. In 2008 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 28,921 “confirmed” and 6,277 “probable” cases of the disease, but there could be as many as 420,000 because of underreporting.”
“Prominent victims include Parker Posey, Richard Gere, President George W. Bush, Alice Walker and Christie Brinkley,” my op ed piece on AOL News points out.
Lyme map “If any other disease had stricken so many people, the medical community would be scurrying for knowledge, scrambling for cures or rushing to warn patients (think swine flu).
“But that’s not the case with Lyme disease — a disease carried by ticks.
“Instead, ill-informed doctors are often flummoxed when patients complain of fatigue, headaches, fever or chills, muscle or joint pain, mental confusion, swollen lymph nodes and neurological symptoms. It’s an appalling display of indifference.”
Anyhow, at last, two years after my own terrifying health experiences, my op ed piece is running on AOL News today.
Learn more about this terrifying epidemic on Wednesday, June 2 at 2 pm EST on my Gab with the Gurus Radio Show when I interview several Lyme disease experts.
And please share your or your friends’ experiences here and on AOL about your or their terrifying, often-misunderstood disease.
Many thanks to my smart health friend JJ Virgin, to whom I’m greatly indebted for helping me to quickly find out why I was so sick two years ago.
In addition, my gratitude goes to the following for their support and invaluable help:
* Knowledgeable Lyme disease expert Kris Newby, senior producer and researcher for the eye-opening documentary, “Under Our Skin.” (See the fascinating blog, too.)
* Talented editor/writer Abby Ellin
* Katie Orenstein and Danielle Smith Warren of the fabulous Op Ed Project (which you can learn more about soon on an upcoming radio show)
* Talented editors/writers Susan Shapiro and Gerry Jonas
* The astute, insightful, personable John Merline of AOL News
Please read my important op ed now on AOL News now.
And please join us Wednesday, June 2 for my Gab with the Gurus Radio Show about Lyme disease

Jeff Garlin & Ellen DeGeneres Set Sugar-Shunning Trend – AOL Runs My Opinion Piece

You know the expression, “Love is in the air?”
Well, thanks to comedians Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Garlin, kicking sugar is in the air!
For instance, Jeff Garlin, Jeff Garlin, the star and co-producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm, recently talked about his sugar-stopping activities on Regis and Kelly while publicizing his new book, My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World.
Before that Ellen DeGeneres, who, of course, hosts The Ellen DeGeneres Show and is now also a judge on American Idol, announced to the world that she, too, is shunning sugar.
Please visit AOL now to read my opinion piece, in which I praise both comedians for the wonderful examples they’re setting for the rest of the nation and world.
As an advocate of leading happy, healthy, energy-filled, sugar-free lives, I applaud the two comedians for what they’re doing.
I invite you to read my my op ed piece now: Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Garlin Could Inspire Others to Kick the Sugar Habit – AOL News.

Non-Drinkers More Depressed?

From time to time, findings from research studies make me marvel in disbelief. Such was the case when I recently discovered that scientists in Norway found that those of us who are non-drinkers are more depressed, AOL News alerts us.
Wait a minute? Even though alcohol has been linked to health hazards galore, from car crashes to alcoholism, if you don’t drink, you may get blue more often?
Although I was tempted to dismiss the results, I quickly learned that this is not a study at which you should sneer. The scientists, headed up by Jens Christopher Scogen of the University of Bergen looked at a whopping 38,000 people. (It’s always a good sign when thousands of folks participate in research.) What’s more, their conclusions were published in the medical journal Addiction.
So why the startling results?