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Also called: Candidiasis, Moniliasis

Candida is the scientific name for yeast. It is a fungus that lives almost everywhere, including in your body. Usually, your immune system keeps yeast under control. If you are sick or taking antibiotics, it can multiply and cause an infection.Yeast infections affect different parts of the body in different ways:

• Thrush is a yeast infection that causes white patches in your mouth
• Esophagitis is thrush that spreads to your esophagus, the tube that takes food from your mouth to your stomach. Esophagitis can make it hard or painful to swallow
• Women can get vaginal yeast infections, causing itchiness, pain and discharge
• Yeast infections of the skin cause itching and rashes
• Yeast infections in your bloodstream can be life-threatening

Antifungal medicines eliminate yeast infections in most people. If you have a weak immune system, treatment might be more difficult.
You can cure yeast infections through natural cure as describe by Sarah Summer in her popular ebook Sarah Summer Natural Cure for Yeast Infection

Everyone experiences anxiety at one time or another — “butterflies in the stomach” before giving a speech or sweaty palms during a job interview are common symptoms. Other symptoms include irritability, uneasiness, jumpiness, feelings of apprehension, rapid or irregular heartbeat, stomachache, nausea, faintness, and breathing problems.

Anxiety is often manageable and mild, but sometimes it can present serious problems. A high level or prolonged state of anxiety can make the activities of daily life difficult or impossible. People may have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or more specific anxiety disorders such as panic, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Both antidepressants and antianxiety medications are used to treat anxiety disorders. The broad-spectrum activity of most antidepressants provides effectiveness in anxiety disorders as well as depression. The first medication specifically approved for use in the treatment of OCD was the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine (Anafranil). The SSRIs, fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft) have now been approved for use with OCD. Paroxetine has also been approved for social anxiety disorder (social phobia), GAD, and panic disorder; and sertraline is approved for panic disorder and PTSD. Venlafaxine (Effexor) has been approved for GAD.

Antianxiety medications include the benzodiazepines, which can relieve symptoms within a short time. They have relatively few side effects: drowsiness and loss of coordination are most common; fatigue and mental slowing or confusion can also occur. These effects make it dangerous for people taking benzodiazepines to drive or operate some machinery. Other side effects are rare.

Benzodiazepines vary in duration of action in different people; they may be taken two or three times a day, sometimes only once a day, or just on an “as-needed” basis. Dosage is generally started at a low level and gradually raised until symptoms are diminished or removed. The dosage will vary a great deal depending on the symptoms and the individual’s body chemistry.

It is wise to abstain from alcohol when taking benzodiazepines, because the interaction between benzodiazepines and alcohol can lead to serious and possibly life-threatening complications. It is also important to tell the doctor about other medications being taken.

People taking benzodiazepines for weeks or months may develop tolerance for and dependence on these drugs. Abuse and withdrawal reactions are also possible. For these reasons, the medications are generally prescribed for brief periods of time—days or weeks—and sometimes just for stressful situations or anxiety attacks. However, some patients may need long-term treatment.

It is essential to talk with the doctor before discontinuing a benzodiazepine. A withdrawal reaction may occur if the treatment is stopped abruptly. Symptoms may include anxiety, shakiness, headache, dizziness, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, or in extreme cases, seizures. A withdrawal reaction may be mistaken for a return of the anxiety because many of the symptoms are similar. After a person has taken benzodiazepines for an extended period, the dosage is gradually reduced before it is stopped completely. Commonly used benzodiazepines include clonazepam (Klonopin), alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan).

The only medication specifically for anxiety disorders other than the benzodiazepines is buspirone (BuSpar). Unlike the benzodiazepines, buspirone must be taken consistently for at least 2 weeks to achieve an antianxiety effect and therefore cannot be used on an “as-needed” basis.

Beta blockers, medications often used to treat heart conditions and high blood pressure, are sometimes used to control “performance anxiety” when the individual must face a specific stressful situation—a speech, a presentation in class, or an important meeting. Propranolol (Inderal, Inderide) is a commonly used beta blocker.

A family-centered program that improves parent-child dynamics and family functioning is more effective at discouraging Hispanic youth from engaging in risky behavior than programs that target specific behaviors, according to a study published in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Hispanic adolescents are at higher risk for substance abuse and risky sexual behavior than other ethnic groups, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while they represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, they account for a disproportionate 18 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in the nation.¹

Several types of interventions exist that aim to reduce or prevent risky behavior like substance use and unsafe sexual behavior among non-Hispanic white youth, but no studies have been conducted to determine the relative effectiveness of similar programs targeted to Hispanic youth. Guillermo Prado, Ph.D., of the University of Miami, and colleagues randomly assigned 266 eighth-grade Hispanic youth and their primary caregivers (usually the mother) to one of three interventions:

• Familias Unidas plus Parent-Preadolescent Training for HIV Prevention (PATH)
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) plus PATH
• ESOL plus HeartPower for Hispanics, an American Heart Association program

Familias Unidas plus PATH was designed to promote positive adolescent development by increasing parental involvement and teaching more effective parental communication techniques. The program was designed to be more consistent with Hispanic cultural expectations, in which life is family-centered and vital to an individual’s emotional support. PATH is designed to specifically increase parent-adolescent communication about sexual behavior and HIV risks, but it does not target family dynamics specifically. HeartPower for Hispanics is designed to encourage healthier behaviors among Hispanic youth to reduce obesity and heart disease risks.

The interventions were conducted over one year, and researchers followed up with participants at one and two years after the intervention ended. They found that the Familias Unidas plus PATH intervention was much more effective than the other two interventions in reducing cigarette use, and moderately more effective in reducing illicit drug use and unsafe sexual behavior among the adolescents.

“It is noteworthy that Familias Unidas + PATH produced favorable outcomes among the youth, even though most sessions in this group were conducted only with the parents.” said Dr. Prado. “The findings also suggest that targeting specific health behaviors such as cigarette smoking and risky sexual behavior within the context of strengthening the family may be the most effective approach for Hispanic adolescents.”

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