Dear Readers:

Today’s column continues last week’s discussion about caregiving.

Reader W.R. wrote about his concern for his sister, who is caring for her husband while she is working 30 hours a week. her signs of stress, anger and depression have W.R. and his wife worried. they want to help and aren’t sure how.

It is frustrating to stand by and witness a family member suffering from the responsibilities of caregiving compounded by work demands. Yet, caregiving and work seem to be the norm, with two-thirds of U.S. caregivers working outside the home.

We know that over a long period of time, ongoing stress can jeopardize one’s health. the Family Caregiver Alliance summarizes a substantial body of research about family members who provide care to loved ones and who themselves are at risk. Here are some of the findings:

Approximately 40 percent to 70 percent of caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression.

Depressed caregivers are more likely to also have anxiety disorders, substance abuse or dependence problems, and chronic disease.

Caregivers who experience chronic stress may be at greater risk for losses in short-term memory and attention.

About one in 10 caregivers report that caregiving has caused their physical health to get worse.

Studies indicate that caregivers have a diminished immune response, leading to frequent infection and increased risk of cancers. they also have a higher level of stress hormones and a lower level of antibodies.

they are at greater risk than non-caregivers for high blood pressure and heart disease.

Caregivers reported chronic conditions including heart attack, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and arthritis at nearly twice the rate of non-caregivers.

Nearly three-quarters report that they have not gone to the doctor as often as they should and more than half missed their own doctor’s appointments.

These are disturbing facts. Yet, some may be preventable, particularly if one follows tips recommended by the Mayo Clinic.

The first tip is to ask for help, which comes in many forms. Forget about the guilt:

Non-medical home health care: this involves a caregiver, such as a home health aide, who is trained to provide support in bathing, dressing, eating and housekeeping.

Home health care: this type of care involves a skilled professional who provides medical care in the home. These professionals might be registered nurses or certified nursing aides.

Adult day care centers: the centers are designed for older adults who cannot manage independently or who are isolated and lonely.

Respite care: this is short-term care by another, so the primary caregiver can take some time off and rest. the respite person might be a family member, friend or professional who assumes the responsibilities. Such short-term care also is provided by assisted living facilities, nursing homes and hospice inpatient facilities.

Caregiver retreats: These getaways combine respite with peer support and education. the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center holds them three times a year. call 818-847-9141, Ext. 108.

A second “big” tip is to find time for physical activity, adequate sleep and eating a healthy diet. These all require focused intention and are not easy to accomplish.

Finally, be informed. the following resources may be helpful:

Caregiver support groups are a great source for advice and encouragement. Consider support groups at Beach Cities Health District, 310-374-3426, Ext. 155, and Torrance Memorial Medical Center, 310-517-4666.

Support and assistance also can come from an online community. Go to

lotsahelpinghands.com, a free, private, Web-based method of organizing friends, family and colleagues into a community that helps with meal delivery, rides and visits.

For a list of agencies that provide home care, contact the Focal Point on Aging, a South Bay information and referral service, at 310-320-1300.

one final resource: “The Gifts of Caregiving: Stories of Hardship, Hope and Healing” (Fairview Press, 2002) by Connie Goldman. the book consists of realistic and inspiring conversations with caregivers, including the late Dana Reeve, wife of the late actor Christopher Reeve; and former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

W.R., thank you for your good question and kudos to you for being a caring friend to your sister. Best wishes in having a positive influence on her caregiving decisions.

Helen Dennis is a specialist in aging, with academic, corporate and nonprofit experience. Send her your questions and concerns in care of the Daily Breeze, 21250 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503, or e-mail to .

BALTIMORE — Fresh off a pair of disappointing losses to the Yankees and Red Sox, the Orioles took another, more costly, blow on Thursday afternoon, this one knocking out the entire right side of their infield.

First baseman Derrek Lee (left oblique strain) and second baseman Brian Roberts were put on the disabled list, although given Roberts’ injury — concussion-like symptoms — the Orioles were able to place him on the newly enacted seven-day DL rather than the 15-day DL.

Neither player made himself available to the media following the announcement, although Lee said earlier in the afternoon that he understood that his presence on the active roster — while the team evaluated him on a daily basis — was handcuffing the Orioles’ bench.

“I understand the situation they are in,” Lee said of an O’s bullpen that exhausted every reliever — including Thursday’s originally scheduled starter, Jeremy Guthrie — in Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Yankees in 15 innings. “And at the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for your team.”

The veteran first baseman had been bothered by discomfort in his left side for weeks, but he aggravated the muscle further while running the bases during his first at-bat at Fenway Park on Monday. Roberts also started feeling the ill effects of his diagnosis in that game — which the Orioles lost despite holding a 6-0 lead in the sixth inning — following a headfirst slide into first base after he hit a ball off starter Daisuke Matsuzaka’s midsection in the top of the first.

Roberts, Baltimore’s leadoff hitter, was batting .221 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 39 games. he got off to a hot start this season but has struggled in May, which he opened with a 4-for-45 stretch through 11 games. Roberts had hit safely in his past three contests, going 5-for-15, before his headaches were brought to manager Buck Showalter’s attention.

While Lee’s trip to the DL was almost expected, given the nature of his injury, the news for Roberts is more surprising and potentially more devastating, given that the second baseman’s 2010 season ended due to a concussion from which he took months to fully recover.

“Any time you’re dealing with a concussion and heads and stuff, you’re concerned about it,” Showalter said of Roberts, who was limited to just 59 games last year due to a herniated disc in his lower back. “I was talking to Brian. this isn’t anything like the symptoms he was feeling last year. That’s good, but you still have those symptoms that we’re going to make sure that we have our arms around before we go forward.

“We’re hoping that it clears up and the doctors feel fine about it, and he’s a player [activated for] Tuesday.”

The timetable for Lee isn’t as optimistic; the first day he would be eligible to complete his stint on the DL — which is retroactive to Tuesday — is June 1. Lee, who was hitting .231 with 14 RBIs and 41 strikeouts, had tried to state his case to avoid the DL, citing his improvement on Wednesday.

But Lee hasn’t made any significant strides in recovery since then, and the Orioles — who went through a similar situation before losing shortstop J.J. Hardy to the DL for a month — weren’t willing to risk further injury.

“Talking to medical people, I don’t want to lose Derrek,” Showalter said. “I’d like to have him. he impacts our team in a lot of ways, but taking a chance on this?

“In my experience with these [injuries] over the years, there is usually a lot more going on there than you think. I hope not. I think there’s some talk about taking some form of X-rays or something that show certain inflammations to try and judge how bad it is.”

Given the dire straits of their bullpen following Wednesday’s loss, the O’s recalled left-hander Troy Patton and righty Chris Jakubauskas from Triple-A Norfolk to take the roster spots vacated by Lee and Roberts. Both pitchers were demoted after the game, and the O’s are expected to recall outfielder Nolan Reimold and purchase second baseman Ryan Adams’ contract from Triple-A Norfolk prior to Friday’s series opener against the Nationals.

The first moves of the day left the Orioles with a two-man bench for Thursday’s game: Luke Scott and catcher Matt Wieters, who was scheduled to get a rare day off.

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Feeling blue or gloomy on some days is absolutely normal. Often incidents, losses, failures and other problems and troubles make us feel low and disturbed but with time, we get over these issues and start leading a normal life. however, in some cases, the effect of such problems may be extremely severe and do not fleet away with passing time. This is the condition when an individual tends to get depressed. the feeling of being depressed reaches to a level, where it starts disturbing the person’s daily life routine. It disturbs his or her normal functioning, and causes troubles for both the person dealing with the disorder and those who are concerned about him or her. Nowadays, depression has become a common problem and if not taken care of at the right time, it often turns into a serious illness.

It is quite odd to notice that most people who suffer from depression, never actually medical assistance. With proper treatment, people suffering from depression can actually come out of that mental state and start living a normal, healthy life, without having to suffer much. Thankfully, today, serious research into the illness has emanated discovery of medications, psychotherapies, and other methods to treat people dealing with this frustrating disorder.

Depressive disorder can occur in various forms due to various reasons.  Listed below are some of the most frequently registered depressive disorders and dysthymic disorder.

Major depressive disorder: the depression exhibit symptoms like lack of sleep, appetite, concentration, weight and interest in recreational and pleasurable. It prevents the individual from carrying out his or her normal routine. although it is believed that an episode of major depression may take place only once in a person’s lifetime, but more often, it has been registered to reoccur throughout a person’s life.

Dysthymic disorder: During dysthymia, an individual suffers from long term but not so severe symptoms of depressions. although these symptoms do not disable a person, they do interrupt his or her normal functioning or the well-being. the depression may last for more than two years. it has been noticed quite frequently that dysthemic sufferers also go through one or more episodes of major depression during their lifetimes.

In addition to the abovementioned disorder, there are some other depressive disorders too that show a little different characteristics.

Postpartum depression: Postpartum depression occurs to women post pregnancy. It develops in mothers because of the added responsibilities. normally, all women suffer from postpartum depression from few days to month but in some cases, it does not sweep away with time. Treatment for this depressive illness is known and helpful.

SAD: SAD is basically seasonal affective disorder. during this SAD, the sufferer goes through the phase of dullness and depression, especially during the winter season. Clinically, it happens because body does not receive enough natural sunlight and hence, remains low on energy. although light therapy is a very popular treatment for this disorder, only half of the patients respond to it. Antidepressant medication and psychotherapy are other treatments available to reduce the effects of SAD symptoms. These treatments may either be conducted along or along with the light therapy.

Psychotic depression: Psychotic depression is indeed, the most severe stage of depressive illness. It is often come with by some kind of psychosis, such as delusions, break with reality and hallucinations.

Bipolar disorder: Bipolar disorder or also popularly known as manic depressive illness has symptoms of cycling mood changes. in this case, the sufferer experiences extreme mood swings such as extreme depression or severe hyper behavior. although it is not as common as major depression, it is one of the worth mentioning forms of depression.

How do you diagnose depression initially?

Since we all suffer from highs and lows in life, on normal basis, sometimes, it becomes quite difficult to actually spot the problem of depression in an individual in the beginning. hence, mentioned below are some of the most easily noticeable signs and symptoms of depression, so that if your family member or a friend has started to suffer from the disturbing problem of depression, you can be alert.

Modern- day Treatments of Depression

Thanks to the advancement of medical science, today a lot of cases of depression can be treated with proper treatment. It has been stated that around 80% to 90% of the registered cases of depression do get treated completely with accurate treatment. however, it is important for the patient to admit that he or she is suffering from depression. also, patients should be determined to get treated because if they would not support, not only the treatment will become more severe but also will have less effect. Some of the most popular methods to fight against depressive illness are as follows:

Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is basically consultation sessions. the doctor treats the mental and emotional disorders by psychological techniques and proper counseling. although effective in only mild moderate cases of depression, this is one of the most popular and successful treatments. Plus, people easily get ready to take such sessions.

Medications: Medications are normally available for almost every sort of depression. They are primarily taken to reduce the symptoms. Medications such as antidepressants are also recommended during the session of psychotherapy.

ECT: ECT or electroconvulsive therapy is commonly known as shock therapy. It is given only in severe cases of depression. It has some minor side effects such as short term memory loss.

It is important for people to understand that depression is a normal disorder and should not be categorized under the heading of mental disorder. Today, various treatments are known to cure depression.

Tags: diagnose • forms • Treatments • What Is Depression?

Asd Autistic

Autism is the a huge amount of collective neurological disorder influencing children; and additionally is individual of the a number of collective developmental disabilities touching American and Canadian Children. ASD strife the feature the understanding processes hints with the intention of affects completely communities of a people development. Asd Autistic

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological disorder consequential in developmental disability; this affects a people communication, party awareness and behaviour counting benefit and activities. Autism frequently appears almost the formerly three time of a child’s living and boys are extra flat headed for autism than girls. Asd Autistic

No individual personality by ASD behaves before responds just the similar mode as others by the similar diagnosis, each personality is relatively unique. in attendance are in point of fact five several Autism Spectrum Disorders described underneath a diagnostic category, insidious Developmental Disorders [PDD]. Asd Autistic

1. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder[CDD]: This is a red prerequisite with the intention of affects 0.2 in 10,000, symptoms are important losses in party behaviour, language, and play. These symptoms frequently emerge behind next to smallest amount three time of regular developmental period. This disorder outcome in ruthless defects in cognitive ability. Asd Autistic

2. Rett Syndrome: This extremely is a red prerequisite with the intention of affects 1 in 10,000 and affects girls inclusively. over again important decay considering a stage of regular development. ruthless impaired style and psychotic motor skills and problems cognitive ability. Asd Autistic

3. Autistic Disorder [AD]: This prepare is diagnosed extra time and again and affects 20 in 10,000 cognitive impairments, deficits in non-verbal and verbal infrastructure and party understanding, infrequent behaviour and restrictive activities. Asd Autistic

4. omnipresent Developmental Disorder – not by now individual [PDD.NOS]: This prerequisite is time and again worn in 15 in 10,000 diagnosed; this is besides named a distinctive Autism. This prerequisite is ruthless and omnipresent mutilation with the intention of bottle be bring into being in a number of interaction before restrictive behavior and interests. Asd Autistic

5. Asperger Disorder – additionally called Asperger’s Syndrome, and Asperger Syndrome, AS This is a conventional disorder and is diagnosed 5 in 10,000. This prepare bottle comprise mild headed for ruthless impairments beside together with party understanding, interactions, repetitive, controlled benefit and tricks Cognitive and style promotion is not delayed; still in attendance are deficits in communications. Don’t consent to your fondness ones bear anymore! hint them outdated by means of Asd Autistic plan now!

1. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
2. Autistic Characteristics – Understanding the Characteristics And Symptoms Of Autism
3. Autism Behaviour – Autistic Behaviour Management Solutions and Strategies
4. Autistic Non Verbal – Autism or the next Consciousness?
5. Teaching Autism Child – Why Structure is Important For Teaching Your Autistic Child

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Eating disorders generally arises due to continuous intake  of unhealthy food.the main types of eating disorders and their symptoms and behavior can be understood in detail.

Mainly there are 3 kinds of eating disorder:

Bulimia Nervosa: it occurs due to excessive overeating that results in purging or any other similar behavior.Bulimia Nervosa happens when one losses control over eating.

Anorexia Nervosa: People experience weight loss often due to extreme dieting or exercise practices.

Binge Eating Disorder: This is associated with excessive eating and eating out of control.

Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa:

People who develop Anorexia Nervosa  often have fear of gaining weight and thus they diet and exercise excessively.

-Startling weight loss.

-Refusal to eat such as fats and carbs.

-Avoiding the usual time for foods.

-Exercising excessively

-Making comments about being  fat.

-Experiencing problem of constipation and stomach pain.

-Preoccupation with food and counting calories.

Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa:

People with Bulimia Nervosa eat large amount of foods and that too out of control,followed by purging,fasting and exercising excessively to compensate the overeating.’

-Disappearance of large quantity of food in short time or finding lots of containers and food wrappers.

-Skip meals or avoid eating in front of others.

-Purging activities such as trips to bathroom after meals or smell of vomiting.

-Wearing loose clothes to hide body.

-Use of gums,mouthwash and mints excessively

Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder:

People suffering from Binge eating disorder generally eats a lot at first and later feel guilty ans shame about it.the behavior thus results in cycle because the more distressed they feel about bingeing the more they seem to do it.

-Hiding large amount of food in strange places.

-Skipping meals or not eating in front of others.

-Wearing loose clothes to hide body.

-Continuous dieting but still not loosing weight.

As binge eating results in obesity it can have serious health problems,if  goes untreated.

It is always better to recognize the signs ans symptoms of eating disorder,as they are really treatable initially and people can learn healthy eating habits and live healthier life ever.

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