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FEEL GOOD
HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS
AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
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edical science has made amazing progress in just the past few decades. What further exciting advances may lie ahead is anyone’s guess. But medicine has its limits. Not everything that ruins or shortens lives can be prevented or repaired with a pill or a scalpel. A person can be perfectly healthy and perfectly miserable at the same time. Health and happiness are often used in the same sentence, but only one of those is truly within the realm of a doctor’s expertise — and you know which one that is. The other one is up to you and me.
might be something that will take some time and quiet meditation to discover. Our life is missing something, but we can’t quite put our finger on exactly what. Usually, though, the cause of unhappiness is staring us right in the face. Judging from divorce rates, many marriages are unhappy. If your is, there’s a classic case for using the change button. But how? Don’t be too quick to jettison that seriously flawed mate of yours. The next one will be flawed too. People who get divorced commonly experience a feeling of failure, even when
Taking stock There are a million and one things that can rob us of contentment, joy, happiness, and inner peace. Our personal robber might be a nagging concern that is never far from our consciousness all day every day, and many nights. Or it
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they escape from a terrible marriage. It can do a lot more for your self-esteem and future happiness to fix the marriage you’ve got than to dissolve the union and start over. After all, that next person will have flaws and annoying habits too. It’s useful to learn how to fix things rather than throw them away. And if kids are involved, divorce can rock the very foundations of their world. More reasons to try repairing before replacing. (Note: we’re not talking about marriages where physical or emotional abuse puts your life and health in regular jeopardy. There are other major life and lifestyle issues that weigh on us and steal happiness and inner contentment. Perhaps alcohol use is a point of contention in your household. Hit the button! Do something about it instead of letting the constant friction erode relationships with the most important people in your life. Please see FEEL GOOD page 2
JULY 11, 2014
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es, it’s true: this issue marks the 8th anniversary of the Augusta Medical Examiner! And that can only mean one thing: if you bought a new mattress around the first week of July 2006 when Examiner No. 1 came out, it’s time to get a new mattress, right? According to the ads, in eight years’ time a mattress will double its weight as it fills up with dead skin cells we shed, billions of bed bugs and their excrement, billions more dust mites, and a massive accumulation of skin oils and solidified sweat. The very thought of it all is enough to induce instant insomnia. Cue the horror movie soundtrack. It’s just plain gross — if it’s true. So. Is there anything behind the 7-year itch, or even worse, the 8-year itch? Probably not. The Research Department here at Augusta Medical Examiner world headquarters did a little digging. Here are two relevant facts: • A king-sized mattress weighs about 90 pounds. • A single gram of dust (about what a paper clip weighs) can be home to as many as 19,000 dust mites, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), but a more typical number would be 100 to 500. Common sense would suggest anything that small would require a colony of many trillions to amount to 90 pounds’ worth. As for bed bugs, if you have them you’d know it: they feed on blood, so you’ve got bites. And you’d have Advanced Services for Pest Control on speed dial. The eight-year mattress curse is a combination of urban legend and advertising hyperbole. A mattress can gain weight, just like the people who lie on one. Maybe 20 pounds over time, not 90. But if you’re concerned, encase your mattress and pillows in “mite-proof” covers. Shake baking soda on your mattress and pillows and thoroughly and regularly vacuum them (with a HEPA-filtered vac). Keep humidity levels in your home low, 55% or lower. Don’t have wall-to-wall carpeting in your bedroom. And continue reading the Medical Examiner for the next 8 years. (Tips from acaai.org - except that last one) +
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