Feelgood 03-09-2010

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Feelgood

Friday, September 3, 2010

Biological clock

Single women are taking control of their lives to get the baby they desperately want: 8, 9 HEART JOURNEY

How best-seller Eat Pray Love influenced five women’s lives: 4,5

ACHING HEAD

Greater understanding of migraine needed: 11

CRIMSON TIDE

Lip-smacking red dominates autumn: 14

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2 News front Kate O’Reilly WHAT’S ON ■ SUICIDE AWARENESS: Smashing Times Theatre Company in association with Dublin Samaritans will present Testimonies, monologues based on the real life experiences of those who have lost a loved one to suicide, at axis Ballymun at 8pm on September 7. The performance will be followed by a post-show discussion with a counsellor and guest speakers. The production coincides with Suicide Awareness Week which is being held in Ballymun from September 6 to 12 by Dublin Samaritans and World Suicide Awareness Day on September 10. Tickets are free (booking recommended) on 01-8832100; www.axis-ballymun.ie ■ ENDOMETRIOSIS SUPPORT: If you would like to know more about endometriosis, the next support group meeting of the Endometriosis Association of Ireland is in the Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7, tomorrow, from 2.30am to 5pm. Partners, friends and family members are also welcome. More information at www.endo.ie, or contact 086-3203855.

■ FREE HEALING: Joan Buckley of Lily Holistic Centre in Passage West, Co Cork offers a free distance Angel healing session on next Tuesday, September 7. For more information visit http://www.lilyholistic.com/freeHealing.html or contact Joan at 087-6749221.

■ RUDE HEALTH: Rude Health returns to the RDS on Saturday and Sunday next.

More than 200 exhibitors will be offering advice on natural health solutions, including the use of vitamins, herbs and homeopathy. This year’s speakers include Patrick Holford, Dr Marilyn Glenville and Professor Jane Plant. The show will open from 11am to 6pm and entry is F12 (senior citizens F8 and under 12s free) For more details see www.rudehealth.ie ■ FAIRY WING RUN: Ireland’s first Fairy Wing Run’ will take place in Phoenix Park, Dublin on Sunday, September 12, in aid of The Hope Foundation. Everyone is encouraged to wear fairy wings for the 5k fun run which starts at 11am. For further information call Margaret on 021-4292990, or visit at www.hopefoundation.ie.

■ SIMON GIG: Follow the Finalists of Cork’s Got Talent at the Venue Bar, Ballintemple, Cork tomorrow night at 8.30pm. There will be spot prizes and a special guest appearance from a You’re a Star contestant. Tickets are F5 with proceeds to Cork Simon Community.

■ AWARE MEETING: Mallow’s Aware support group meet every Thursday in Le Cheile Family Resource Centre, Fair Street, Mallow at 8pm. For those who are unable to attend, Aware’s loCall Helpline is 1890 303 302.

■ HEART CLINIC: The Irish Heart Foundation will hold free blood pressure and cholesterol testing clinics at the Irish Heart Foundation Office, 42 Penrose Wharf, Cork from 10am to noon next Tuesday and at the Community Centre, Ballinlough on Wednesday September 8 from 10.30am to 12noon. For further details call 021-4505822.

Items for inclusion in this column can be sent to koreilly8@gmail.com

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The popular practice of kangaroo care has a positive effect on mothers and newborns, writes Arlene Harris

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Skin deep

AMIE OGG was pronounced dead just minutes after his premature birth. But understandably reluctant to say goodbye to her son (his twin sister had survived their delivery at just 27 weeks), mother Kate cradled him in her arms for two hours.

Miraculously, the tiny infant began to take gasps of air and his joyful mother fed him drops of breast milk on her finger until the incredulous medical team announced that the little boy seemed to be alive and well.

This extraordinary story of the Australian infant who was brought back to life made headlines this week when his mother went on television with five-month-old Jamie to highlight the need for skin-on-skin contact between newborn babies and their mums.

The practice, dubbed “kangaroo care” in the Antipodes is becoming increasingly popular among midwives both Down Under and here in Ireland.

Sheila Sugrue from the Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services says that kangaroo care has been around for some time and is regularly used in Irish hospitals.

“Kangaroo care is used in most maternity and neonatal units around the country and skin to skin care is also used in delivery suites and recovery rooms after caesarean sections for term infants,” she says.

“It was first described by Dr Edgar Rey and Dr Hector Martinez — two neonatal specialists from Colombia — and has been

It has been found to have many benefits including: ■ Skin to skin care facilitates physical closeness between infant and parent and ensures physiological and psychological warmth and attachment, promoting bonding.

■ Some studies report increased sleep time for infants during kangaroo care, therefore reducing the amount of energy expended over a period of time.

■ The warmth of the parent’s body helps to regulate the baby’s temperature. Premature babies have great difficulty in regulating their temperature without assistance.

■ It provides accessibility to nourishment — breast milk, and increases milk let down.

■ It has been shown that babies have a more rapid weight gain which in turn leads to a shorter hospital stay.

■ It is advocated for both pre-term and term infants but probably offers the most benefits to the pre-term infant “Kangaroo care means that the infant is ALL SMILES: When Kate Ogg gave her held in a head up position on the parents’ ‘clinically dead’ son Jamie some breast milk chest, with head and neck in the extended on her finger, he began breathing. Picture: position to prevent apnoea,” says Sheila.

Splash “The infant is thus enclosed in a high carbon dioxide environment which may stimulate breathing. But this type of care is not typically advocated for babies who have died.

“The Australian baby would most likely have had some vital signs present and this studied around the world since 1983. And care stimulated his breathing,” she adds. most research has found that it has a very positive effect on infants and parents,” she ■ For more information visit www.hse.ie adds.

HEALTH NOTES Cork Sports Partnership have teamed up with Ballyhoura Trails and The Cork Environmental Forum to cater for cycling enthusiasts of all levels for the final event of the 2010 An Post cycle series. The 10th Rebel Pedal family fun ride allows cyclists of all ages to complete a 10km circuit of Cork city starting from the Grand Parade at noon (registration that morning). There are also two pre-registration only events for more experienced cyclists: the Rebel Rider 80km Cruise and the Rebel Challenge 160km Tour. All routes will finish in the Cork Showgrounds..

The Rebel Rush, which takes place in Ballyhoura from noon on Sunday September 12, presents cyclists and mountain bikers with a choice of three trails. Registration is online at www.corkrebeltour.ie (closing date Wednesday, September 8). More information is available from Cork Sports Partnership on 021-4665081.

Veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne is spearheading a new campaign to raise awareness of mental health in later life. The campaign, organised by Lundbeck (Ireland) Ltd and supported by Age and Opportunity, will focus the aged who may be reluctant to talk to their doctors about their depression or other mental health issues.

■ Lundbeck has produced an information booklet, Mind Yourself — Depression in Later Life. It is available free by calling 01-468 9800

www.irishexaminer.com www.irishexaminer.com

THINKING AHEAD: Gay Byrne and Joan Farrell at the launch of the Mind Yourself Mental Health in Later Life campaign.

Picture: Patrick Bolger

Here’s an opportunity to get creative around diabetes. A unique competition offers anyone who has diabetes and their families to put their experience — the highs and the lows — down on canvas or capture it on a photograph. Twelve winning entries will be chosen for the Inspired by Diabetes 2011 calendar, to be launched on World Diabetes Day on November 14 and sold by the Diabetes Federation of Ireland to raise funds.

There are two age categories for entry – under 15 years and over 15 years of age.

Deadline for receipt of entries is Wednesday September 30. Entry forms for the Inspired

by Diabetes Creative Expression Competi-

www.irishexaminer.com feelgood@examiner.ie

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

tion are available by contacting 01-614 5102 or email inspiredbydiabetes@firstmedical.ie.

Visit www.diabetes.ie.for more information.

Parents and teachers are being encouraged to take their children for an eye test as part of its right Eyes For Back to School campaign which runs from September 6 to 11.

Members of the Association of Optometrists (AOI) are offering young children a test to help identify any sight problems early, which enables the best treatment options. Parents are invited to contact their local participating independent optometrist for further details.

Editorial: 021 4802 292

Advertising: 021 4802 215

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In profile THE SHAPE I'M IN

Clare Kambamettu

Coming up roses

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LARE Kambamettu had her first, solid night’s sleep in ages the night following her Rose of Tralee win. “I didn’t expect to become the 2010 Rose. It’s really exciting, but a bit daunting, too, when I think about all I need to organise to make this year work,” says the 26-year-old psychologist, who recently began a new job as a research worker at King’s University, London.

Clare was born in Leeds but moved with her parents back to her mum’s native Co Kildare at the age of eight.

Her dad hails from India. She has been seeing boyfriend, James, a Dublin man, for the past three years,

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ti-cultural background. I go to mass, but I’m more spiritual than religious. I believe in God. What would cheer up your day?

A smile from a stranger — it doesn’t happen too often in London.

Helen O’Callaghan

Open 9.30am 5.30pm Tuesday to Saturday

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Pearse Street, Kinsale, Co. Cork Tel: 021 4773595

For Back to School Children’s Eye Examination Reduced to €20 + FREE Scratch Resistant Coating on all lenses

What shape are you in?

I’m in pretty good shape. I run quite frequently. I took up running 18 months ago and now I’m training for a half-marathon. I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight, since I started running. In the run-up to the Rose selection, I went to the hotel gym four times — we’d been eating so well, but I had to fit into a small dress.

50%

Do you have any health concerns?

Both my parents have high cholesterol, so, from a genetic point of view, that might be a risk-factor for me.

Reduction

What are your healthiest eating habits?

For breakfast, I have a big bowl of fruit and a banana, so I get three portions of fruit at breakfast time. I make my own lunch, usually a pot of soup or a casserole with lots of vegetables. I eat what I want in the evenings, because I’ll have eaten so well during the day.

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What’s your guiltiest pleasure?

Chocolate in any form — cake, mousse, whatever.

What would keep you awake at night?

My job, which can be quite stressful. Generally, I’m quite a good sleeper, though. I find running helps — if I go a few days without running, my sleeping pattern is messed up.

How do you relax?

Reading a good book with a cat curled up on my lap — I’ve got two cats.

CAPACITY

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. It’s a bit dark, but very interesting. I’m just about to read Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar The Clown. I’m only three pages in.

Interested in getting to know yourself better in a supportive, non-judgemental and enjoyable environment?

Our unique course has something different to offer.

What’s your favourite smell?

Probably roses.

What would you change about your appearance?

I hate my feet. They’re huge — size eight and a half. I’m constantly trying to shove them into shoes that are either too big or too small.

People on our one-year part-time course come from all sorts of backgrounds. This is a special strength of the course. No special prior qualifications are needed, just an openness to be personally involved and to interact with others. The topics explored in the group include self-confidence and self-esteem, dealing with feelings, relating better, learning to listen, managing stress, etc.

MORNING GLORY: Clare kickstarts the day on a healthy note with a bowl of fruit and a banana.

Picture: Michael Donnelly.

What trait do you least like in others?

I hate lack of consideration for other people.

What trait do you least like in yourself?

I can be quite anxious at times. I’d like to be a little less so about things I can’t predict.

The courses will be offered in Cork City and Ballincollig. The closing date is Friday, September 10th. If you are interested and would like an application form or further information, please contact the SHEP Training Centre (021) 4666180

SHEP also offers a range of short, locally-provided community training courses such as Family Communication; Managing Stress in our Daily Lives; Assertive Communication for Better Relationships; Children and Bullying: A Course for Parents; Introduction to Personal Development, etc.

www.socialandhealth.com

Do you pray?

I was brought up a Catholic, though I come from a mul-

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CHANGE

SHEP Certificate in Social and Health Education (Personal Development)

When did you last cry?

I had a little weep the day after I was crowned Rose, when one of my friends told me they’d got engaged — it had been such an emotional day.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

I’d invite Nelson Mandela, because he’s such an amazing human being; Marian Keyes, because she’s such a great Irish author, who keeps us all entertained; and Dáithí Ó Sé, because he’s good fun and made it feel like it was no big deal for us Roses to walk on stage and have a chat with him.

FOR

SHEP is an unique, community-based, training and development organisation.

The Project works together with individuals and communities to develop capacities for positive change, to enhance health and well-being and to promote social justice.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

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Chapters of life

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Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir of travel and renewal after a

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bitter divorce struck a chord with many women, says Helen O’Callaghan

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A journey in self discovery

Y her early 30s, US magazine-writer, Elizabeth Gilbert, had endured a bitter divorce and a tortured rebound relationship. Nights were spent in despair, on her bathroom floor. But Gilbert didn’t stay there. Instead, in a bid for healing, she embarked on a year of soul-searching travel.

“I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India, and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two,” she wrote in Eat Pray Love: One Woman’s Search For Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, the memoir that resulted from her journey of self-discovery.

Gilbert’s witty, vulnerable, and honest tale of personal reinvention became an international sensation, climbing the US bestseller list in 2007, where it lodged for 57 weeks at number one. The memoir sold six million copies and spawned the movie of the same name, starring Julia Roberts. Whether this will be as successful as the book is uncertain — within the second week of its August US release, audience numbers had begun to drop sharply. It opens here on September 24.

But the book appealed to women across the board, whether 40-something mothers or 20-something book-clubbers. When Gilbert made her first appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, Oprah said she hadn’t “been this excited since Bono was here.” Julia Roberts has spoken about how she fell under the book’s spell — just 30 pages in, she sent a copy to her best friend with a note saying “I want to be reading this book while someone I love is reading it at the same time.”

Gilbert’s second Oprah appearance (her new book’s already out — Committed, which follows her marriage to the man she fell in love with in Indonesia) featured Eat Pray Love fans talking about how the book had inspired them to make life changes, ranging from one woman throwing a birthday party, with food from Italy, India and Indonesia, to another retracing Gilbert’s around-the-world journey. We asked five women what Eat Pray Love meant to them.

We grow where we focus our attention

A CIVIL engineer, living at the Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork, Maria Manning, 39, pictured right, is single, but notes advice given to Elizabeth Gilbert in Bali. “When asked was she married, she was advised to respond ‘not yet’ rather than ‘no’ — ‘not yet’ is more positive.”

FROM North Carolina, Kathleen Mueting, pictured right, has lived in Cork for three years. She’s writing a book. Aged 63, she has never married, but has “had two, major, long-term relationships with wonderful men.”

How did you hear of Eat Pray Love?

“I’m a member of a book club. I heard about it through that.”

Why did you want to read Eat Pray Love?

“I believe life’s a school-room — I read anything that can expand my horizons.”

Picture: Denis Minihane

I had to ask myself tough questions CERI Chaney, pictured above, manages Bookstór, a bookshop in Kinsale, Co Cork. In her early 40s, she’s separated, but in a new relationship.

How did you hear of Eat Pray Love?

“I read it over two years ago, before all the hype. I was working in a bookshop, saw it and thought it looked interesting.”

What did the book mean to you?

I’ve learnt: don’t let useless worry eat away at you

“I really related to Gilbert’s need to travel.

I love to travel. I’ve been to Italy and I’ve spent time practising yoga in India, so, on those levels, it appealed. Like her, I’m also separated, and, as part of that, I was required to ask certain tough questions of myself. I related to her need to create space to do things that are important to her. She was brave and honest and funny, through it all.”

What message/words of wisdom did you take from it?

“Gilbert sacrificed security and stability to

IN her late 40s, Dublin-based Catherine McCabe — a part-time TEFL teacher — has four sons aged from 20 down to 10.

How did you hear of Eat Pray Love?

“Through my book club. It sounded interesting — this woman taking off on a voyage of self-discovery.”

What did the book mean to you?

“The section on Italy was a bit of fun. But she was very American — there was a sense of ‘I’ll do Europe in a week’. Her trip to India, the whole yoga thing, was, for me, the Lough Derg bit — maybe I’m cynical, but I feel you don’t have to go to India to discover that if you shut up and listen for a while, you’ll learn something.

Picture: Billy Higgins

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Taking time to yourself is important

What message/words of wisdom did you

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

do something that was important to her.

And — despite her self-doubt — she showed it’s possible to create a new life that’s rich, engaging and honest. The book chimed with my own understanding of living consciously, acting with integrity and doing things for the right reasons.”

Will you see the movie?

“Probably not — it’s a vivid, colourful book and it would be a shame to see it Hollywood-ified. It’d be easy to make it come across as chick-lit.”

take from it?

“Maybe it’s a younger person’s book and it doesn’t have the same impact on somebody who’s middle-aged. When you’re younger, you don’t have life experience.

You’re looking for answers. As you age, you pick up bits and pieces along the way.

“One message I liked, which I’d already taken on board in my life, was the notion of ‘be still and know that I am God’ — don’t let useless worry eat away at you. She was on the floor, crying over her marriage, and she prayed and heard a compassionate voice say ‘go back to bed’ — that was the best thing she could do for herself in that moment.”

Will you see the movie?

“I’ll wait for the DVD.”

What did the book mean to you?

“When I first read this story, two years ago — about a woman taking a year out — I was very busy, working full-time in the construction industry.

Now, I’m unemployed, Picture: Denis Scannell just in the past couple of weeks. When you stop going to work, you realise we have a very busy lifestyle in the west. I find I now have time to myself. I’m catching up with friends, getting more exercise, reading. I’m not championing unemployment, but there’s nothing wrong with standing back. Some people feel Gilbert was selfish for taking a year out. But taking time for yourself is important, even just five minutes in a busy day.

What did the book mean to you?

“I love the three words ‘eat’, ‘pray’, ‘love’.

I’m very sensual. I love to eat good food.

I’m very interested in my connection with my soul. And I’m a real romantic. Eat Pray Love’s a transformative book, if you want it to be. We’re given possibilities in relationships. We can choose to stay oblivious, or we can say ‘this is kind of tough, but let me think about it a little’ and then move forward in kindness or forgiveness.

“I liked her emphasis on her connection with soul. I really believe that we grow in the place where we focus our attention.”

What message/words of wisdom did you take from it?

“I love that Gilbert was free enough to enjoy herself. She gained extra weight because she loved food, but she didn’t mind being a touch larger. Women are often harsh on themselves. She accepted herself fully — in turn, she was fully accepted by the Brazilian man she met in Bali.”

Will you see the movie?

“Absolutely — I’ve been waiting for it to come out.”

My mum gave it to me for my 30th birthday Feelgood

What message/words of wisdom did you take from it?

‘You can’t see your reflection in running water, only in still water’. It’s what the Zen masters say and Gilbert mentions it while in India.

Will you see the movie?

Definitely. I’d have preferred Gwyneth Paltrow in the role — she looks more like Gilbert.”

Picture: Cillian Kelly

MUM to two young daughters, Dublin-based Erika Csibi, 32, pictured right, is a stay-at-home mother, who has worked in the music industry.

How did you hear of Eat Pray Love?

“I heard of it through a blog, where somebody mentioned loving it. My mum got it and I loved the cover, with the letters of Eat Pray Love spelled out in pasta, beads and flowers. My mum gave it to me for my 30th birthday.”

What did the book mean to you?

“I’m a similar age to Gilbert. When I first read it, I’d started having my children but, unlike her, I wanted children.

But it resonated with me what she says

about how very easily you can lose yourself in the person society wants you to be. I try to be very conscious that I’m myself, outside of my children and my husband. Sometimes, I think it’d be nice to go off travelling for a year, but I’d take my family with me.”

What message/words of wisdom did you take from it?

Do stuff because you love it. Don’t feel that everything you do has to have a practical motivation. Gilbert had no reason for learning Italian — she just loved the idea.”

Will you see the movie?

“Yes — I think Julia Roberts is a very good choice to play Gilbert.”

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

Picture: Billy Higgins

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Therapy time Asthma sufferer Joe McNamee, and others with breathing issues, enjoy a breath of fresh air after a novel therapy inspired by a Polish salt mine

Well worth its salt

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VEN today, a miner’s job is a pretty grim one and dangerous — just ask the 33 Chileans trapped deep underground in the San José mine. While hazards such as cave-ins and toxic gases are a real and constant threat, a whole range of pulmonary and respiratory diseases are even more likely afflictions.

Now picture Europe in the 1800s when health and safety measures barely stretched beyond the canary in a cage as an early biosensor. Polish doctor Felix Boczkowski was used to treating the gamut of mining-related illnesses — from the constant irritated and running noses right up to asthma, emphysema and silicosis. Yet the salt miners of Krakow were in pretty rude health all round, rarely suffering from serious respiratory illnesses or even hayfever or coughs.

Boczkowski concluded this was down to the dry salt particles in the air which the miners breathed in all day and, in 1843, published his first scientific observations of the phenomenon, laying the foundation for the modern treatment practice of salt therapy.

The Wieliczka mine where Boczkowski first made his observations is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ireland’s first ‘salt cave’ is in a retail unit in Glenroyal Shopping Centre in Maynooth. Dr Tamas Bakonyi GP, owner-operator along with his entrepreneur wife, Orsi Sarkozy, holds little truck with the artifice that is attached to so many salt caves or chambers around the world.

“Some places have been designed to look like mines with big piles of salt and salt crystals but this has little or no benefit,” says Bakonyi. For him, it is all about delivering the most efficacious treatment possible to the patient: an insulated chamber with a high-tech air purification system filtering out much of the impurities, allergens and germs we normally breathe in. Temperature and humidity are monitored to ensure stability as a specifically designed computer-controlled machine pumps pure pharmaceutical grade salt into the room’s atmosphere in particles of 5 microns or less. Bakonyi flicks on an ultra-violet light in the chamber and we can see the little motes of salt ‘dust’ twinkling in the air.

All the patient has to do is sit back in one of the comfortable loungers and relax in the softly-lit room, maybe listen to a little music, read a book or nod off during a one hour session. There are even toys for some of the younger patients.

“An allergic reaction — the cause of asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis etc — is basically the immune system over-reacting,” explains Bakonyi. “The tissue becomes inflamed and full of mucus. The salt draws out the liquid mucus.”

A session in the salt cave normalises the chest’s immuno-regulation. What the salt cave is doing is teaching the immune system not to overreact to harmless allergens,” he explains. “And after about 20 sessions, children with asthma will have more comfort, control and a better quality of life for nine to 12 months,” he explains.

Bakonyi, who practices as a GP in Kildare,

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Some places have been designed to look like mines with big piles of salt and salt crystals but this has little or no benefit believes Irish doctors over-prescribe medications, particularly for viral infections. Nor does he think it is especially the fault of the doctors but rather patients who don’t believe they are being properly treated unless they walk out of the surgery with some form of prescription.

“When you take an inhaler, you take two puffs and try to hold it in. However, the average breath takes in about half a litre of air

whereas the lungs have an average capacity of between four and six litres so your steroid inhalers will never reach all the parts of the lung. When you breathe back out, you breathe out most of the inhaled steroid. And if you take more than the prescribed inhalations of the inhaler, there are side-effects,” he says, fluttering his hand over his heart, miming palpitations.

In fact, an adult’s lungs have a total surface

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

area if unfolded of about 70m² — roughly the same size as half a tennis court. During an hour in the salt cave you will breathe approximately 1,000 times, bringing the healing salt particles to the deepest recesses of the lungs.

But isn’t an excess of salt supposed to be bad for you — high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, all that sort of thing? The salt inhaled, explains Bakonyi, does not travel to the stomach and in turn the heart and kidneys and even if it did, the amount ingested is a fraction of the recommended 6gm daily.

Bakonyi is a highly pragmatic practitioner whom one suspects only eats his cornflakes in the morning because there is empirical scientific evidence to back up his actions.

Certainly he is deeply scornful of alternative therapies which do not have scientific corroboration, and has amassed a plethora of research papers to back up the claims of salt therapy.

However, the proof of the pudding is surely in the eating — or in this case, the breathing.

I come from a family who appear to have cornered the market in respiratory ailments: I suffer from hayfever, all-year round sinus issues and take the strongest steroid inhaler on the market for asthma.

My brother’s asthma is far worse than mine, chronic since childhood. Of a similar scientific bent to Bakonyi, he has even measured his tidal volume — the volume of air moved in an out of the lungs during a breath — and spends the duration of our session engaging Bakonyi in the mechanics of the whole operation. Which is one way of ensuring a steady flow of salt particles into the lungs, I suppose.

I, on the other hand, am a believer in human testimony and talk to a few of the other clients. Ann, 34, from Maynooth is there with her son, Olan, nine, who is asthmatic.

She is unsure of the science and admits staying in the room for an hour at a time bores Olan senseless despite the toys. But he is back for a second course. He did it last year and his symptoms were alleviated dramatically.

Margaret has brought her granddaughter, Rhona, aged eight, who had a recurring cough. This is their last visit and the cough is gone. “I don’t care how it works,” says Margaret, “but it does.”

Paul, 35, on his first visit, speaks in short bursts with nasally tones, so typical of chronic asthmatics and sinusitis sufferers. “I’m willing to give anything a try,” he wheezes cheerfully, before returning to his book.

At the end of our session, the brother has noticed no difference in his condition but acknowledges the multiple-session rule for asthmatics. I, on the other hand, am experiencing a very strange sensation in my nose which turns out to be the rather novel sensation, for me, of breathing fresh air through clean, dry nasal passages. I won’t make any claims for the salt cave on the basis of one session. But nearly three months on, my nose remains relatively clear, which means no annoying post-nasal drip leading to the inevitable chest infection. I shall certainly be returning. Pass the salt, please.

■ For details phone 01-628 9851 or visit www.saltcave.ie.

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It’s the quality and consistency of care that matters for a child, not who gives it

Love is the key

University College Cork Oral Health Services Research Centre

Toothpaste Study

• Are you interested in participating in a toothpaste study?

• Do you have sensitive teeth?

• Are you aged between 18 - 50 years?

• Are you willing to attend our clinic in Wilton for 4 visits from August to December 2010?

If so please ring 021 - 4901213 or 4901210 for further information

Thank You

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Tony Humphreys

T

HERE are individuals I have encountered who chose not to become parents because they fear they would be as heartless, harsh and insensitive as their mother or father and repeat the violations experienced in their upbringing with their own offspring.

Such beliefs are not only widespread but are distressingly well-founded as well. The growing evidence is that the child who was neglected may indeed become the parent who neglects his or her own children in turn. However, there is no inevitability to this repeating of violations, privations and deprivations. Those adults who have a consciousness of the violations experienced and seek to resolve them in their own relationship with themselves and with others do not repeat the abuse patterns.

We are not victims of our experiences and when we find the safe holding in our adult life that was not present in childhood, we can radically alter our relationship with self, children and other adults. With such transformations the passing of emotional baggage from generation to generation ceases and everybody benefits.

Many of the fears referred to above arose out of the research findings of attachment theorists that the infant needs to know his primary caregiver (mother or father or grandparent or other adult) is “steady, dependable, there for him”. Armed with the knowledge of the availability of this consistent and predictable care, the child is able to go forth and explore the world. When such care is lacking, the child becomes insecure and his investigation of the world is stunted. In many ways what the attachment theorists say is in keeping with what feels intuitively correct — that infants and toddlers need nurturing and consistency and that the way parents are with their children will profoundly affect their overall development and what happens to them when they’re little will influence what they become later in adulthood.

The foregoing appears to be common sense but it gave rise to parents’ fear of not getting it right. It certainly gave rise to the expectation of a stay-at-home role for the mother, particularly in the first year of the child’s life. Attachment theorists tend to view full-time daycare in the first year as a risk and have voiced concern that if you put your baby in substitute care for more than 20 hours a week you are running a serious risk of his becoming insecure, clingy or emotionally disengaged, thereby hampering his exploration of the outside world.

Mary Ainsworth, a leading American attachment theorist, believes, “it’s very hard to become a sensitively responsive mother if you’re away from your child ten hours a day; it really is”. Not surprisingly, such assertions have drawn heavy reactions, not only because of the political implications, but because women, and rightly so, do not want to submerge their individuality and distinct identities in child-rearing and family.

Certainly the emphasis on ‘mother’ has placed undue responsibility on the shoulders of women and sight seems to have been lost of the fact that what infants need is a primary caregiver or a number of primary caregivers that provide consistent care — this can be father, grandparent or other significant adult, not always mother.

Furthermore, the notion that a strong emotional and physical attachment to at least one primary caregiver is critical to an infant’s personal development is also questionable. Critics point out that the lack of parental attachment in many non-Western societies, where “well-adjusted” members of society emerge, indicates that, at least in these societies, some

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FAMILY AFFAIR: It is good for a child when their care rests with several caregivers, not just the mother. Picture: Getty Images

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other factors are operating in place of the attachments that appear so necessary for Western children.

It may well be that the old African saying: “It takes a village to raise a child” demonstrates when the wellbeing of a child is in the hands of all the adult villagers the child finds the emotional and physical security to explore the outer world. I believe this happens more and more in Western society where single-parenting is a major new development and the care of the child rests with several concerned relatives, not just the mother. My own belief is that it takes the world to raise a child and that all adults have a responsibility to provide emotional and physical nurturing for each child they encounter.

When we leave the responsibility with a primary caregiver, be it mother, father or significant other, and they are not in a mature place themselves to provide the love the child requires for his healthy development, then the child has no love-lines to rely on.

A first reading of new research that studied 1,000 American children from birth to seven-year-olds indicated that working mothers did not harm their children. However, several flaws in the research design have called into question what were seen as ‘groundbreaking’ results. Indeed, the co-author of the study, Professor Jane Waldfogel of Columbia University admitted that her study showed that the children of mothers who work part-time thrive best. The latter finding makes sense to me in that in working part-time the mother continues her own personal and social development and she can better enjoy her time with her child.

The village culture is long gone in Ireland and the wellbeing of the child is largely the responsibility of his parents. Because of this a balance between meeting the needs of the primary caregiver (mother or father or grandparent) and the needs of the child would appear to be the best way forward.

Dr Tony Humphreys is a clinical psychologist, author and director of several NUI courses on communication, parent mentoring and relationship studies in Cork and Dublin. Details of these courses are available on his website www.tonyhumphreys.ie or contact Margaret at 021-4642394. Closing date, September 14.

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GOING SOLO

8

Cover story

Single mums

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N her mid 30s, Barbara O’Gorman began to think of motherhood. “There was no boyfriend on the scene. I was doing very well at work but I wondered ‘How did I get here?’. I had always assumed I would get married and have kids.

“My career was successful — I was a European vice-president (Human Resources) for a pharmaceutical company — but I was so busy working I just didn’t have time for relationships.”

O’Gorman tried one course of IVF, but it was unsuccessful and her mind turned to adoption. She put her name down on the waiting list for HSE assessment in autumn 2004. It was two years before she was called for a two-month long preparation course and another seven months before the assessment process started.

During that process, particular attention was paid to O’Gorman’s career and her attitude towards it, as well as to her support network. “I didn’t realise until I became a mother how important that was,” she says adding that family, neighbours, mother and baby groups, and Cuidiú, the Irish Childbirth Trust, are all important sources of support.

O’Gorman’s declaration of eligibility and suitability to adopt came through in October 2007. She decided to adopt from Vietnam and applied through the Helping Hands mediation agency in February 2008. She got a referral the following October and travelled to Vietnam at the end of February 2009.

“At the time of referral, Thia was three months old. At that time, I just got her date of birth, weight, height, basic medical information and a photo. I was in Amsterdam when the information arrived by post, so I had to wait two days to get home. My sister-in-law picked me up at the airport and she had the sealed envelope so we sat in Costa Coffee at the airport and opened it. It was an incredible, unreal moment.”

Aged 46, O’Gorman, travelled to Vietnam with two of her brothers and five Irish couples that were also adopting. The giving and the receiving ceremony for the children took place in early March 2009, when Thia was seven months old. “It was so emotional for all of us. Only then did I realise how much I was holding my emotions back in case something went wrong. When I got home, I kept pinching myself. It had

A growing number of women are choosing to have or adopt babies on their own but the process is not always a straightforward one, writes Kathy Foley

I

About 500 children from other countries are N Jennifer Aniston’s latest film, The adopted here annually, with Russia and China Switch, she plays a single woman who dethe most popular countries. Single women can cides to start a family without a man, or with a “turkey baster”, as another character jokes. apply to the HSE for approval, but are not always welcome as adopters overseas. Between “Women are realising it more and more they 1991 and 2008, according to the Adoption Audon’t have to settle with a man just to have that thority of Ireland, there were 156 successful child,” Aniston said at the launch of the film reIrish sole adopters from other countries, but cently.

It’s increasingly acceptable for women to have a most adopted between 2003 (when there were child alone, with high-profile women leading the 15) and 2008 (when there were 30).

“Women who adopt as single mothers usually way, including Geri Halliwell, mum to have very strong personalities, and are very sucfour-year-old Bluebell Madonna, and Rachida cessful and financially independent,” says MarDati, French MEP and former Minister for Justice, whose daughter Zohra was born garet Bednarske, a clinical psychologist at the Hazelton Clinic in January 2009, and singer Madonin Cork. “They are ready to give na, mother to Lourdes, Rocco, David up work or make changes in and Mercy. their life to have a child because There are few official statistics, but the time has come to be a mothevidence from fertility clinics and er no matter whether there is a adoption agencies suggests that more partner or not.” and more Irish women are trying to Women often don’t decide to become mothers on their own, either parent solo until their late 30s, through overseas adoption or using donated sperm. but over the age of 35, fertility drops dramatically. “Time is our “Longing for a child or ‘baby fever’ really heightens when you feel you’ve worst enemy,” says Dr Scott Sills, a consultant at the SIMS clinic. got to that stage when things are in “The single biggest factor affectthe way,” says Allison Keating, a psying fertility is a woman’s age.” chologist at the bWell clinic in Apart from the practical obstaMalahide, Co Dublin. “Some women put it off and then start feeling they cles, there are other challenges, can’t wait any more. There are a lot MAYBE BABY: The longing including coping with conservative critics who believe children of women out there who would love for a child can become to have a child, but have no partner.” overwhelming for women, should have a mother and a father. Problems can also arise as Unfortunately, becoming a ‘single says Allison Keating. mother by choice’ is a long, tortuous children get older and question where they came from. and obstacle-ridden process. Assisted Donor-conceived children, in particular, can be reproduction takes time and has no guarantee of success. Adopting from overseas is just as chaldisturbed on learning of their genetic origins.

To make matters worse, none of the recomlenging, says Marion Campbell, a solicitor spemendations of the 2005 report of the Commiscialising in family law. “It’s extremely difficult and takes an interminable length of time, up to sion on Assisted Human Reproduction have been implemented. Anyone using donor sperm, five or six years.”

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pushing the boat out because they have this or those pursuing other fertility treatments or fundamental urge to have a baby.” surrogacy, has to operate in a legal black hole.

Using a surrogate mother in the US costs “It’s a mess, to put it mildly,” says Campbell. about F100,000. In the Ukraine, it’s about “But I can’t see the government looking at it.

F40,000, but there are far more legal complicaThey have other priorities and these issues aftions there. It’s complicated anyway to bring a fect the constitutional protection of the nuclear surrogate-born child back to Ireland, particularfamily. They don’t want to talk about all the ly as Irish law recognises the woman who gives other types of families out there.”

In the US, it is estimated more than one mil- birth to the child as its mother.

“Some women will come to me and say their lion people have been conceived using donated sperm since the 1970s. Proportionally speaking, sister or aunt has offered to be a surrogate, but that’s an absolute no-no legally,” says Campbell, the numbers here seem to be much lower, but the use of donor sperm in Ireland is more com- who is an expert on surrogacy issues and co-ordinates the exchange of informamon than many might expect. tion between Irish people trying “Donor eggs are used by about 10% the surrogacy route. of our patients, with donor sperm “If your sister gives birth to the being used by even more,” says Dr child, her name will be on the Sills. “It’s pretty sizeable now.” birth cert.”

The SIMS consultant describes The loneliness experienced by intrauterine insemination using a woman desperate for a child donor sperm (IUID) as a good startcan be overwhelming and there ing point for younger patients, for are options open to would-be whom IVF may be too aggressive, mothers. Keating cautions, howadding it is cheaper than other opever, against rushing headlong tions. (The cost is about F1,000.) into it.

All sperm is fully screened and “If you want a child, think would-be mothers also need to get a about why you do,” says Keating. full reproductive health check. Rep“People can have fairytale idyllic utable clinics also insist on counideas of motherhood that are toselling. “It is so important to pretally divorced from reality. It is pare, not just for the possibility that PLAN AHEAD: Women amazing, but it is hard work. it might not work, but for the poswho go solo need to be Sometimes women can be fixated sibility that it might,” says Sills. prepared, says Karen on the notion that it will mend Dr Sills gives the IUID success everything, but they need to rate at SIMS as 18%-20%. Women Kiernan. question their motives. This canover the age of 35 are often recomnot be done for selfish reasons.” mended to try IVF rather than Women who proceed with parenthood need IUID, but this is obviously more invasive and to be ready, says Karen Kiernan of OneFamily, more expensive. which supports single parents.

Women with infertility issues have another “If you have a different family structure, you option and they are taking it, says Campbell. have to be very prepared and have the right “A lot of single people are going for surrogacy in the US, the Ukraine or Georgia. Women are tools to manage that situation, to do a lot of

work with the school and so on. To do it well takes work.”

The key to success is honesty, says Bednarske. “Children ask questions from the very beginning and parents have to be honest.

When they are very young and ask where they came from, tell them, ‘You come from your mum’s heart’. Later, you can give them age-appropriate information, but the trust is fundamental and you must not break that.”

“What is it that defines family?”, wondered Jennifer Aniston at her film launch. “It isn’t necessarily the traditional mother, father, two children and a dog named Spot,” she said.

“Love is love and family is what is around you and who is in your immediate sphere.”

Further information: SIMS clinic: www.sims.ie NISIG: www.nisig.ie Hazelton Clinic: www.corkcounselling.ie Adoption Authority of Ireland: www.aai.gov.ie International Adoption Association: www.iaaireland.org London Sperm Bank www.londonspermbank.com

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

9

This is not without its challenges, but on the whole, it’s wonderful.

This time 10 years ago I thought I was facing a very lonely life. I felt part of me shrivelling up been such a long journey and I couldn’t believe it.”

Adoptive parents send reports back to Vietnam until their children are 18, in case any of their biological family wants to find out how they are. “We light a candle for her mum on her birthday,” says O’Gorman, “because she’s out there somewhere. There is a lot of sorrow in adoption as well as joy.

For every parent who gets a child, someone gave her up. I can never be her biological mother, but I can be a mother for her.

“This is not without its challenges, but on the whole, it’s wonderful. This time 10 years ago I thought I was facing a very lonely life. I felt part of me shrivelling up and dying inside,” she says. “Thia is extremely content, loves her books and is very sociable. She is so affectionate, it’s incredible. The very first day I met her, I was wearing a silk scarf and she just attached to it and didn’t let go, so she still loves touching silky fabrics.”

O’Gorman, who took redundancy and is now a full-time mum, is currently in the process of adopting a sister for Thia, this time from India.

■ Barbara O’Gorman runs a sole adopters’ group and can be contacted through International Adoption Association Ireland (www.iaaireland.org).

No legislation for sperm donation here GETTING a sperm donor is not straightforward in Ireland. “Clinics that accept single women here have to source sperm from abroad,” says Helen Browne, the chairperson of NISIG (the National Infertility Support and Information Group), adding Irish men often tell NISIG they would be willing to donate sperm, but it cannot be done here as there is no screening or relevant legislation.

Most sperm used in Ireland comes from commercial sperm banks in Britain or Denmark, which pioneered cryogenic freezing of sperm. Women can specify donor characteristics and clinics will try to find a good match.

“You can be as detailed as you want,” says Dr Scott Sills of the SIMS clinic. If a woman wants to use the sperm of someone she knows, she must use a British clinic and travel there for all necessary medical proce-

dures. There are unregulated internet sites where women can arrange to get or buy sperm, but although these might seem like a quick, cheap shortcut, they are categorically not recommended by experts as samples are not screened, donor identity is not verified and legal issues arise.

“At least if you go to a reputable clinic, even though the donor will still be anonymous, you will have some background about how the donor father looks, his colouring, his hobbies and so on,” says Browne.

There is a worldwide shortage of donated sperm, particularly as the US and Britain no longer allow donors to give anonymously, although donor fathers still have no rights to their genetic offspring. Those children can access information about their ‘fathers’ once they turn 18. The London Sperm Bank says it has no waiting list for would-be mothers at present.

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10 Medical matters

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Q

I READ recently about a drug called ketamine that can be used to treat depression. Can I get this from my doctor? I have been on a number of medications for depression but none really seem to work. Have you any suggestions?

Dr Niamh Houston

FAMILY

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Dr Niamh Houston is a GP with a special interest in integrative medicine. If you have a question about your child’s health email it to feelgood@examiner.ie or send a letter to Feelgood Irish Examiner City Quarter Lapps Quay Cork

proves the “good” type of cholesterol, HDL. It’s important to remember that “natural” does not always mean that the hormone is derived from a source in nature. It refers to a hormone that has a chemical structure identical to that of the hormone molecule produced in the body.

When referring to “natural progesA. A recent study looked at the terone products” we usually mean anaesthetic drug ketamine in the micronised progesterone that has a treatment of depression in patients molecular structure identical to that with treatment-resistant bipolar disorof the progesterone produced in der. This drug has traditionally been humans, made from chemicals deused as an anaesthetic for animals and rived from plants. in some cases humans — but has also Micronised or natural progesestablished itself as a nightclub terone products are prepared in favourite, nicknamed “Special K”. In compounding pharmacies that can this study scientists found rats stopped make the progesterone product displaying symptoms of depressive beupon a doctor’s prescription or have haviour within hours of receiving a pre-prepared products available. dose of ketamine. Another study a The usual dose of micronised or number of years ago found that denatural progesterone is 200-300mcg pressed people’s symptoms improved a day. Progesterone treatment is when given a dose of ketamine. needed if the womb is present as The concern with ketamine is that taking oestrogen treatment only for it has to be injected and can cause menopausal symptoms can increase hallucinations. It is a very addictive the risk of womb cancer. If you drug which is normally used on horshave had a hysterectomy, progeses only. It’s not available on prescripterone is not needed with the oetion. strogen part of HRT. Researchers are hoping to learn Progesterone can be taken in from the path ketamine takes through three ways: injected or inserted in the nervous system which is different the womb, vaginally or orally. If from the one used by traditional taken orally progesterone is broken drugs in the treatment of depression. down quickly in the liver and is not It appears to work by forming new as effective as when taken by other synaptic connections between neuroutes. rons, a process called “synaptogeneBut one of the concerns you sis”. need to be aware of with natural Ketamine acts on the brain’s glutaprogesterone creams is that they can matergic system, which plays an imcontain variable amounts of progesportant role in information processing terone and standardised dosing is and memory formation. Dysfunction DARK DAYS: Finding the right medication for depression can difficult with each product. in this brain system may contribute to often be a case of trial and error. Picture: Getty Images If you do decide to use natural probipolar disorder or depression. Targetgesterone cream the dosage recoming the brain’s glutamatergic system may lead mended is ¼ to ½ teaspoon applied to the Q. I am thinking of using natural progesto better treatments in bipolar or depressive skin twice a day, but the amount of drug you terone for menopausal symptoms, can you disorder, but more research is needed. receive will vary depending on the cream use.

Currently most antidepressants need several tell how this differs from conventional proWomen with breast cancer or a past history months to take effect and must be taken daily. gesterone used by doctors? When should it of breast cancer should avoid it. not be used?

Finding the right medication for you may We don’t know enough about the take some trial and error. This requires palong-term effects of using natural progestience on your part — so don’t give up. Talk A. Progesterone is one of two main hormones terone, so it is best to be cautious and use it which helps regulate the menstrual cycle. to your doctor about your concerns. If anfor a short period — no more than one to Natural progesterone has a chemical structure two years, at least until more information is tidepressants don’t seem to be working, your doctor may recommend a blood test to check identical to that of the hormone produced in available. humans and claims to be less toxic, with fewfor specific genes that affect your body’s use Some women develop side effects when er side effects and less expensive than synthet- taking any kind of progesterone such as irregof antidepressants. The cytochrome P450 ic progestogens. Synthetic versions of proges- ular spotting or bleeding and these women (CYP450) genotyping test is one example. terone can be used as contraceptives either Genetic testing of this kind can help predict may need to look at other options. It’s imporhow well your body can process a medication. orally — the mini-pill — or as an injection tant to inform your doctor if you are using (Depo-Provera) and progesterone is also one However, these tests aren’t widely available. natural progesterone products. of the components of HRT. Medication is not enough in the treatment Some natural progesterone formulas use Synthetic progestogen can increase blood of depression. Most people benefit from a wild yam without converting it first to prosugar and cholesterol, whereas natural proges- gesterone and these products cannot be brocombination of medication and counselling, terone does not have these effects. It also im- ken down by the body itself. preferably cognitive behavioural therapy.

NOTE: The information contained in Dr Houston’s column is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a doctor first

W

Catherine Shanahan MUM’S WORLD Feelgood

HINGEING that no-one warned you about the pitfalls of parenting is like suing McDonald’s for failing to tell you the food was fattening.

The least sentient life form can sense that not all is sunshine and Cheerios, and those who would argue otherwise are falser than my grandmother’s teeth.

Children are no different to most household pets: they make great companions, give much enjoyment, are loyal and playful, and bring certain fringe benefits, such as exercise. Unlike pets, however, they have never been shown to relieve their owner’s stress.

And while there is now a medically-approved class of ‘therapy animals,’ I cannot see the same distinction being applied to anyone’s child.

There are many frustrations, but anger is wasted when none but yourself gives a hoot that your day is dictated by a pair whose combined age is less than one dog year.

Grand emotions have no more relevance than grand pianos to children dizzy with the notion that the world revolves around them.

On occasion, you are more an object of their over-fertile imagination than a human being.

You must immediately respond to a shout for “yellow Ranger Power”, because failure to do so could mean an end to life as we know it. You try to tell them that taking over the world is one thing and finding good help to run it quite another, but spoil their fun and you suddenly become Ivan Ooze.

No woman wants to write in her memoirs that her children’s childhoods were dominated by the spectre of a mother inseparable, in their minds, from a sci-fi tyrant imprisoned in a hyperlock chamber for nigh on 6,000 years.

Their father doubles up as a horse, like thousands of fathers before him. “Get down

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

on the floor Daddy,” they implore, pulling him to his knees. For the next half hour, he endures the twin torment of semi-strangulation and suffocation, as two sets of limbs crush his windpipe and cut off the oxygen flow.

Sometimes, if Daddy is late coming home, they want Mammy to act the mare. This is not in anyone’s interest. Mammy’s hair is far too tempting not to grab like a mane, and when the rider slips from the saddle, tufts of forelock inevitably give way. This puts Mammy in an Ivan Ooze frame of mind and neighbours will have heard her roar “TOUCH ME AGAIN, YOU’LL BE CHICKEN WINGS IN THE MORNING.” At the end of the day, only the most deluded or dishonest will claim that everyday with kids has its Kodak moment. But few will deny that just to get by requires a lifetime of hardcore planning.

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It’s a battle

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A migraine sufferer tells Margaret Carragher how stress is a major trigger

Not just a headache

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ESPITE suffering with regular, severely debilitating headaches for as long as he can remember, 62-year-old Kerry man Pat McEnroe’s chronic migraine went undiagnosed until just 10 years ago.

“I assumed that what I had was just a very severe headache,” the retired nutritionist says of the pain that regularly drove him to a darkened room for hours, sometimes days at a time.

It was only when, in his early 50s, he discussed his symptoms with Tralee GP Dr Pat English, that McEnroe’s condition was finally identified.

Describing the diagnosis as a mixed blessing he says, “When I was told that I had chronic migraine, my first reaction was: ‘Great. Now I can finally get it sorted.’ Unfortunately, migraine doesn’t work like that. But at least I knew what I was dealing with.”

While the symptoms of migraine can be controlled both by medication and lifestyle adjustments, there is as yet no miracle cure, according to the Migraine Association of Ireland (MAI) And though medication did indeed help to relieve McEnroe’s symptoms, the stress of dealing with them on top of holding down a responsible job led to his early retirement this year.

“It’s been proven that stress is a factor in triggering the onset of migraine,” McEnroe explains. “I found that after a busy week the migraine would strike with a vengeance at weekends.”

McEnroe’s migraine episodes would last for anything between four and 24 hours, and were so extreme that he was unable to do anything but lie in a darkened room until they passed.

Like many fellow migraineurs, McEnroe reports a distinct lack of understanding from non-sufferers. “Because there are no obvious manifestations of the condition many non-sufferers tend to dismiss it as ‘just a headache.’ Such attitudes serve only to make a bad situation worse.”

Migraine is often dismissed as just a headache, says Donna Walsh, MAI information officer. “But, in reality, it is a debilitating condition that can confine sufferers to a dark room for up to three days at a time. When something impacts functioning like this, and is not well understood, we tend to stigmatise.

Understanding is the key.”

With this in mind, the theme for the upcoming Migraine Action Week “Moving Ahead: Towards Social Inclusion” will explore this less discussed side of migraine — the stigma, isolation, and lack of understanding felt by sufferers.

“Migraineurs often feel ashamed or guilty,” says Walsh. “Partners are asking you not to cancel another social occasion, kids are demanding you take them to soccer practice, employers are insisting you get back to work.

But you can’t. Migraine puts you to bed.

“Due to its unpredictable nature, sufferers often need to cancel planned events at the last minute. This can cause hostility among family and friends and leave the sufferer feeling excluded and isolated.”

For Pat McEnroe the random nature of his condition meant that social occasions were often fraught with stress. “Although migraine could strike at any time, I discovered that alcohol was a particular trigger, so I avoided

Feelgood

Managing migraine ■ Use a migraine diary to identify potential triggers ■ Know your warning signs (eg food cravings, tiredness etc) and take your medication as soon as they arise ■ Ensure you get adequate sleep ■ Don’t skip meals, and drink plenty of water ■ Take regular exercise ■ Avoid stress ● Source: Migraine Association of Ireland. Helpline: 1850 200 378

Picture: Getty Images

I found after a busy week the migraine would strike with a vengeance at weekends — Pat McEnro

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

it,” he says. “As a result, I invariably ended up the designated driver at social events, which of course meant being the last one there, stone cold sober and tired. A migraine just waiting to happen.”

However, while he accepts it as an integral part of his life, McEnroe is grateful that his condition was finally diagnosed. “Knowing what you’re dealing with is half the battle,” he says.

Esther Tomkins, a clinical nurse specialist in the Beaumont Hospital Migraine Clinic, agrees. “In the past, migraine was often misunderstood,” she says. “Increased awareness means that sufferers can now expect to be correctly diagnosed and treated.”

Tomkins works with consultant neurologist Dr Martin Ruttledge in the Beaumont Migraine Clinic. Among the newer pain-relieving treatments employed by Dr Ruttledge is occipital nerve block — a steroid and anaesthetic injected behind the ear which can block the cycle of migraine.

Another possible up and coming treatment for chronic migraineurs involves the use of Botox. Clinical trials in the US have shown that 31 to 39 injections into the scalp every three to four months can alleviate the symptoms of some chronic migraineurs.

“They don’t really understand how it works, but clinical trials show that it may be effective for chronic migraine,” says Ruttledge, who, with Tomkins, is shortly to be involved in training to administer Botox treatment to chronic migraineurs here.

According to MAI’s Donna Walsh, this treatment is already licensed in Britain and will be available here in a matter of months.

“Plus there is a new breed of migraine specific drugs — known as CGRP (calcitonin gene related peptide) Receptor Antagonists coming down the track. These new drugs work by blocking the CGRP, a brain chemical important for transmitting pain signals during a migraine attack. However, it will be a while before they become available.”

■ Migraine Action Week 2010 takes place from September 6 to 12. For a list of nationwide events see www.migraine.ie

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12 Healthy food

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Savouring the senses Taste isn’t all about what we take into our mouths. It’s also about what we see, smell, touch and even hear.

When we understand this better, we become more aware of what we eat, but also enjoy food more

Roz Crowley Fri 10th  sun 19th sept., 2010

MEDIA PARTNER

S

INCE its inception in Italy in 1994, the Slow Food movement has continued to grow apace.

Changing how people think about food and how it is produced was the aim, making sure fast food would not overpower us all and turn us into lazy, disinterested consumers.

If we needed a reminder of the key role small producers play in providing us with fresh, vitamin-packed food, then Carlo Petrini, its founder, was there to show us how.

From his Italian base sprang a worldwide network of convivia, the term used for regional organisations which host events to bring consumers and producers together.

Next week, Waterford Slow Food will hold its first Taste Workshop, as part of Waterford Harvest Festival. Afternoon sessions will take place daily in City Hall’s Seomra Mór. Participants will be taught the essentials of taste, given a workbook and asked to distinguish between sweet, salty, acid, bitter, sour, tart, sharp, hot, spicy, dry and bland foods and to assess texture, flavour, aroma, mouth-feel, aftertaste and colour.

It’s not as easy as it sounds and participants will no doubt be fascinated to learn the differences between, for example, the taste of apple varieties and chocolate brands.

Taste isn’t all about what we take into our mouths. It’s also about what we see, smell, touch and even hear. When we understand this better, we become more aware of what we eat, but also enjoy food more. To prove this point a few years ago, British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal served a mixed fish dish in his restaurant, along with an iPod and headphones with sounds of the sea. To further enhance the experience at a demonstration in Las Vegas, he smeared the blades of a fan in the dining room with an oil infused with maritime scents. The possibilities are endless.

TASTE: When we chew, flavours are released and alert the taste buds on our tongue and palate. The more we chew the better, so there is plenty of time for the aromas of the food to be re-

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are highly sensitive to bitterness but this slowly decreases with age, particularly in women.

When we eat a chilli pepper, the capsicum molecule is dissolved in our saliva resulting in a burning sensation triggered by the trigeminal nerve which serves the tongue, teeth and face that also perceives pain, heat and cold.

When we eat unripe fruit, or drink strong tea or some red wines, their tannins can reduce the lubricants in our saliva resulting in a sensation we think of as astringent, which leaves the mouth feeling dry.

SMELL It is estimated that we can distinguish between 10,000 different odours through the olfactory epithelium, a sensory skin organ that perceives smells. The mouth and nose communicate with each other and the brain works to interpret characteristics of what we eat or drink.

Memory plays a part in interpreting what the taste is. Having a cold can alter our sense of taste and smell.

Picture: Getty Images

leased and appreciated fully by the olfactory receptors. This is also the start of the digestive process as acids from the salivary glands are stimulated to get to work on breaking down the foods.

The mucous membrane of the mouth has lots of nerve endings that recognise textures, consistency, graininess and viscosity.

Taste buds are found on the surface of the tongue. Four tastes are identified as sweet, bitter, sour and salty, and the latest fifth to have been named is umami. Fans of the TV sitcom Friends will remember Ross’s obsession with it. This is the taste of glutamate combined with amino acids which are found in protein foods.

A combination of savoury

flavours with some sweetness, it can be found in products which have monosodium glutamate and in stock cubes. I believe we can create this flavour by using herbs and spices.

The cook who keeps tasting until the perfect savoury flavour has been found, will end up with plates licked clean.

Getting the balance right with all five flavours gives us the perfect meal which is why when we work at it, adding a mix of sweet and bitter vegetables, we have a richer meal than with a simply sweet or salty one.

It’s best to keep our consumption of bitter foods in check. Too much turnip, for example, could give us thyroid problems so it’s not surprising that we have it on the side rather than as a main meal. Children

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TOUCH AND HEARING When we eat we also perceive tactile sensations such as crispy, crumbly, chewy and smooth. Nerve endings on the taste buds provide this information about food consistency and at the same time we can hear sounds — for example, when the skin of a duck or chicken is crispy, or a biscuit or vegetable crunchy — adding to our enjoyment of those foods.

■ Leading the tasting will be a team of experts from Slow Food International in collaboration with the Taste Council and students from Waterford Institute of Technology, Ballymaloe, UCC and local schools. The sessions are free but limited to 36 participants, booking is essential at www.slowfoodireland.com.

■ Waterford Harvest Festival takes place from September 10-19It includes picnics and parties, Slow Food markets, cookery demos by celebrity chefs, Céilí Mór, as well as academic events in WIT.

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Male health

Loss of hair, and esteem

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ANY men feel self-conscious about hair loss, but losing your hair to alopecia, at the age of nine, was devastating for 46-year-old Niall Boylan.

“I spent the first quarter of my life being brought to doctors and hospitals, even to Scotland, to try to get my hair to grow,” says Boylan. “It was very difficult at school — having no hair destroys your self-esteem, particularly in secondary school.

“I remember, when I had no hair, going up to a cancer fund-raiser to donate some money. The guy looked at me and said, ‘ah, you’re alright.’ He thought I was undergoing chemotherapy.”

Working as a DJ on different Dublin radio stations — “a great job for someone with no hair” — he finally had enough of his enforced baldness.

“I went to New York and got a hair replacement system, then I studied trichology and opened my own place, Evolve Ireland,” he said.

Boylan tried every lotion and potion available to him, before bringing his New York hair replacement system back to Ireland.

Deirdre O'Flynn MOSTLY MEN Using the latest methods in non-surgical hair replacement, Boylan’s Dublin-based team uses extremely fine, porous membranes and real, human hair, tailor made to suit each client. “I’ve had hair replacements all my life and it completely changed my life and confidence — I’ve just come back from holidays, and went swimming and to water parks, no problem. Your hair and face is the image you present to the world,” he says, adding that hair loss is a crisis for a lot of men.

Now, Boylan has stumbled across a possible solution to stimulating hair follicle growth.

“Over two years ago, we bonded hair replacement on a woman’s scalp and she had a reaction to it,” he says. “When we took off the hair-replacement system two weeks after

HEAD START: Non surgical methods can help men who are unhappy with their hair getting thinner or becoming bald. Picture: Getty Images attaching it, we noticed that she had hair growing where we removed the system. We discovered that there was a high-level protein in the bond, so we got that element engineered for us and set about trying to recreate the experience.”

Run for your life and improve your fitness

Be smart with your heart at DCU classes

THE Men’s Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) has issued a challenge to all men and boys across Ireland to “Run for your Life”. It is doing so in partnership with the GAA, FAI, Irish Heart Foundation, Marie Keating Foundation, Ulster Cancer Foundation and Irish Cancer Society.

MHFI is inviting men (and women) to set themselves a practical challenge and participate in either a 10km or 5km run, or a 3km fun run/walk. You can do this on your own or join others with MHFI in

REGULAR physical activity is an excellent and fun way to maintain heart health. Now, Heart Smart at Dublin City University provides exercise classes for people with heart disease in a safe, friendly and supportive environment.

There will be a high staff to participant ratio. You will be encouraged to exercise at least twice a week within DCU, and also on your own at home.

This programme is open to people who have risk factors for heart disease such as high

1

TAKE

Ardgillan Castle, near Skerries, in Co Dublin tomorrow.

“Men from throughout Ireland have already been preparing for this event and, at the same time, dramatically improving their health,” says Noel Richardson, chairperson of the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland.

MHFI offers an online, 12-week, step-by-step, beginners’ fitness training programme, carefully designed to help participants of all abilities to realistically prepare for the distance of their choice. Check it out at www.mhfi.org/training.htm

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CYBER-BULLYING: On Wednesday The Carphone Warehouse in association with Professor Mona O’Moore of the Anti-bullying Centre in Trinity College, Dublin launched a campaign to highlight the risks posed by cyber-bullying and offer tips to parents.

One in four girls (24%) and one in six boys (16%) in Ireland have been involved in cyber-bullying either as a victim, bully or both.

The Carphone Warehouse has produced an information leaflet with Prof O’Moore, which includes the following advice: ■ Do not feel ashamed.

■ Don’t reply to abusive or

with Kate O’Reilly hurtful messages.

■ Save the message.

■ Report the threatening or offensive behaviour to parent or teacher and/or contact the service provider (through its Customer Care or Report Abuse facility). If the cyber-bullying is very threatening contact the gardaí ■ Block the sender.

The information leaflet will be available in the 76 Carphone Warehouse stores nationwide.

The Carphone Warehouse now has a special offer on the vMad.com Bully Stop application, now F5 (RRP F20).

This application is downloaded to a child’s phone allowing parents to control who calls or sends them text messages.

The potential for this process is significant, as reproducing hair follicles has proved elusive, to date. “So far, we’ve had 70% success with male-pattern and female-pattern hair loss, and 40% success with those with alopecia, which is very promising.”

DId you know...

blood pressure or who are overweight.

For more details, check with your cardiac rehab co-ordinator, hospital consultant or GP. You can also apply directly to DCU for entry. This may involve completion of a medical review.

DCU sport members, free. Non-members, F6 per class or F5 per class with medical card. Classes run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9.45am, Tuesday evenings at 7pm or Saturdays at 10.30am and 11.45am in DCU Sport.

Suicides among farmers increased by 24% in 2009 Source: University College Dublin

Coping with school

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CYCLE SAFETY: Parents who allow their children to ride their bikes without the protection of a helmet are putting their children at risk of a serious injury, a leading brain charity warned. Acquired Brain Injury Ireland is appealing to parents to make sure all students wear a helmet while cycling. Chief executive Barbara O’Connell says: “The World Health Organisation estimates that the chances of serious head trauma and lifelong disabilities can be reduced by an incredible 69% when a helmet is worn during a collision.”

See www.abiireland.ie

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Picture: Getty Images

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GOOD START: Creating a good study environment in the home may take a little planning but is a worthwhile exercise to encourage a successful learning routine for your child, say Littlewoods Ireland, which offers a range of home study equipment, free delivery and the option to spread the cost. Littlewoods recommends where possible you designate one area in the home for study; that it provide few distractions ie be free from TV, radio, computer games; be comfortable with a supportive chair and clutter free. Good lighting is key: if it is too dim, your child could strain their eyes. Adjustable desk lamps are a great option to provide a focused area of illumination. Choose from freestanding or clip-on styles with prices starting from F17 from www.littlewoodsireland.ie.

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14 Beauty

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The news on ...

IN THE RED

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CHANEL’S NEW HOT POLISH ANOTHER new season, another new Chanel nail polish obsession. This season, we’re all a flutter about Paradoxal, F21, a gorgeous putty-violet-plum colour from the masters of the varnish.

Try it out for yourself, the colour is so unusual it almost defies description. It’s like a purply version of spring’s Particuliere, and we’re very fond of it indeed.

Emily O’Sullivan

When it comes to fashionable lips this season, make a statement and be a scarlet woman

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CCASIONALLY, beauty decides to be consistent. So, yes, autumn does mean pale skin while summer generally means glossily bronzed looks, but there are some looks that keep going no matter what: the smoky eye has proved such a hit with women for the last decade, that it’s determined not to go anywhere, no matter what the season. And the same, it would seem, goes for red lipstick.

On the catwalk this autumn, lips often veered to the dark side with deep Gothic plum shades, but the colour most frequently smeared across the lips of models was red, bright red, pillar-box red, scarlet.

Red is cool, modern and unapologetically modish and this season it’s hit the mainstream. Everybody from L’Oreal to Giorgio Armani has included a hot red in their collections for the autumn, giving us more choice than we’ve ever had before. Not only that, but it’s the one beauty product that can instantly update an outfit or change the direction of your look.

Wear it with Breton stripes for a cool New York vibe, team it with a little black dress for a high-powered effect, wear it with a full knee-length skirt with a belt for a modern nod to the ’50s or match it up with a pencil skirt for 1940s-style chic. And that’s just your clothes — when it comes to what make-up you choose to wear red with, its versatility only increases — you can go for a clean modern look with a neutral face and eye, vamp it up Addicted to Love-style with an ’80s combo of smoky eye and red lip or go for an altogether more dramatic and edgy combo of denim blue eye and red lip.

TAKE THREE NOURISHING NIGHT CREAMS DON’T know about you, but my skin is feeling dry and in serious need of some TLC. Inject goodness as well as maximum hydration into your skin overnight with one of these three creams that work their magic while you sleep.

Origins High Potency Night-a-Mins, F43.50. This one is a real favourite, it’s so thick, so creamy and feels so luscious on your skin that you just want to keep applying it. It’s quite rich, though, so only use a little bit. Enriched with vitamins B-complex, C, E and A, it’s also got exfoliating agents to help skin look radiant and feel super-smooth.

Picture: Getty Images

And if you can’t be bothered with any of that, then go retro with a wing-sweep of liquid eyeliner on the eye and a matte lip. The permutations are endless.

As always with red lipstick, it comes down to tone and texture, but, despite popular belief, there is a shade to suit you regardless of your skin colour. Choose the right shade and it makes your teeth look whiter, your skin look more radiant and it can make people notice you in an instant. Choose the wrong one and it’ll make you look ill.

The key is trial and error. If you’re going for a more expensive department-store brand, then ask for assistance from an in-store make-up artist, who should be able to instantly match your skin tone with a shade that suits. If you’re going cheaper, then don’t panic, follow these two simple rules: if you have warm undertones to your skin, go for orange-based reds, if you have cool under-

tones, then blue-based reds will suit you best.

The best way to discover what type of skin you have is to look at your wrist, if your veins are bluish, you’re cool-toned, if they’re greenish, you’re warm-toned.

Of course, like any strong beauty look, red is high-maintenance and you don’t want to be swanning around town with bits of it stuck to your teeth or clumping on your lips.

A pocket mirror or frequent trips to the ladies to check if you need reapplication will have to be part of your routine.

If you’re not into a bright red, perfectly drawn pout, then opt for a stained look, which can be achieved by just dabbing the colour onto your lips and needs a lot less reapplication. A moisturising matte is the next step up, while glosses need to be applied a lot more regularly — use a lipliner with gloss formulations to keep things in place for longer.

Boots No7 Lift & Luminate Night Cream, F27.50. This night cream comes from one of our favourite Boots ranges. It is so rich and creamy you could almost eat it. Designed to smooth, firm and boost skin, it’s got high levels of shea butter and glycerine and it really does help the skin feel softer and more hydrated.

Clinique Youth Surge Night Age Decelerating Moisturiser, F44. Filled with powerful antioxidants, this high-grade moisturiser from Clinique is based on the fact that the best cellular activity and regeneration happens at night, when the skin sweeps away damage built-up during the day. It’s not going to help you look ten years younger, but it feels indulgently rich and made our skin feel lovely and silky the next day.

STUFF WE LIKE Tom Ford Private Blend Lipstick in Cherry Lush, F45. Okay, so we’ve included this lipstick a lot in this column, but it’s pure heaven. Heavy on ‘80s glam, it feels sexy just sitting in your make-up bag. The lipstick itself lasts really well, without clumping and has a good slightly matte effect that doesn’t dry out the lips.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture, F31. YSL’s new lipstick celebrates red in all is glory, with 18 shades dedicated to and inspired by its beauty. According to YSL Beauté creative director Stefano Pilati, “Red is more than a colour. One can hide behind black. But not behind red. Red is courage. The courage to

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love. To go to the extremes of passion.”

And if you’re looking for a lipstick to reflect all that high-pitched emotion, then this is it: it has an intense colour and makes lips look deliciously glowing rather than matte.

Maybelline Color Sensational in Fatal Red, F10.45. This is a long-lasting lipstick and while we love the shade, the formulation can be a little bit drying after a while. The texture is creamy and rich, and if you’re looking for a little more shine, then it works really well with a reddish sheer gloss over it, or even just with a bit of shiny lip balm.

Lancôme Laque Fever Bloody Black

Cherry, F24.50. Yes, it’s definitely on the dark side of red, this one, but not dramatically so. The shade is inspired by turn-of-the-century boudoirs and certainly does have quiet a “naughty” feel to it. It’s a very glossy formulation — good for those who like a little bit more shine to their lipstick.

MAC Dare to Wear Lipglass in Bold & Brash, F20. There’s high-pigment colour here that gives you really glossy lips that are big on glamour. The holographic pearl helps give an effect that dazzles.

This shade is very ’80s, very bright and is best worn at night.

Nars Jungle Red Lipstick, F25. New

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reds may be all the rage right now, but sometimes a classic is the way to go. In that case, sidle on up to Nars’s bestselling, cult favourite Jungle Red. We love the graphic simplicity of the black and white packaging, while the semi-matte formulation means it lasts well on the lips without drying or cracking.

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Natural health

Q

Megan Sheppard Do you have a question for Megan Sheppard?

Email it to feelgood@examiner.ie or send a letter to Feelgood Irish Examiner City Quarter Lapps Quay Cork

What do you suggest to treat the swollen bunions on my foot?

A. Bunions, caused by inflammation of the small fluid-filled fibrous sac which lies between some tendons and bones allowing for ease of movement, can certainly be painful and cause footwear issues.

Calendula is a wonderful remedy for inflammation — you should be able to find a good calendula cream or ointment at your local health store to help reduce the swelling.

You will also need to consider nutrients to help with your musculoskeletal health to reduce any swelling of the tendon or joint involved. Holland & Barrett’s Advanced C-Jointin capsules cost F19.99 for 90 capsules, and are available from Nature’s Way stores, or by visiting www.naturesway.ie online.

Ensure that your footwear is not contributing to the problem, and find out if any other family members suffer from the same — it may be that you are dealing with a hereditary foot complaint.

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multi-mineral supplements you take have iron and zinc at a ratio of 3:1 since this will optimise iron uptake. Avoid high amounts of vitamin E (more than 600iu daily) and don’t supplement with folic acid if your levels are already high enough.

Iron-rich foods include red meats, spinach, broccoli, prune juice, kidney beans, and chickpeas. Citrus fruits and juices, berries, capsicum/peppers, kiwifruit, tomatoes, broccoli and spinach will all help to fortify your iron levels due to their vitamin C content.

Q. I am on medication for depression and I have ongoing constipation and flatulence. I’ve also lost my sense of taste. I am 76 years of age. I would appreciate your advice.

A. Since more than one of your medications has constipation as a known side effect, it is very likely that this is the cause of your gastrointestinal discomfort. While loss of appetite is also indicated, it is important that you continue to eat a balanced diet rich in whole Q. Is there a connection befoods to ensure that you are protween low ferritin levels and hair viding an optimal environment for loss? I have been experiencing digestion and elimination despite hair loss for a number of years the various medications. This GET FOOTLOSE: Make sure your footwear isn’t the problem if you and my scalp is becoming more can also help with the effectivesuffer from bunions.

Picture: iStock and more visible. My ness of the actual medications. haemoglobin levels are normal Here’s a tried-and-tested but my ferritin levels are always recipe that is helpful for regulating the bowel while your serum ferritin is low. low (less than 10) despite taking various and will also reduce gas and bloating. Simply While it is difficult to find objective data iron preparations over the years. All other add 2-3 kiwifruit (if they are organic then regarding ferritin and hair loss, there is one blood tests (including thyroid) are also just chop the ends off and use the whole normal and I am in good health. What do study which specifically links hair loss and fruit — furry skin and all — otherwise relow serum ferritin without anaemia. The you think? move the skins first) to a blender with 300ml study showed that 72% of women with ferof water and 2 tablespoons of psyllium ritin levels lower than 40ug/l had a signifiA. There is indeed a connection between hulls/husks. Blend the combination and let cant loss in hair density. low ferritin levels and hair loss. A blood test to stand for about minute before drinking so The nutrient you should consider is L-lyshowing low serum ferritin levels should not that the psyllium can absorb some of the liqsine.

This amino acid actually helps the body be ignored. The normal range for ferritin is uid and more effectively alleviate the sympto store iron, and enables the effective abbetween 20-200ug/l — a level below 40 is toms you are experiencing. sorption of both iron and zinc. You will considered to be on the low side of normal.

It is difficult to suggest a remedy for your need to supplement with around Ferritin is a protein which is responsible for loss of taste since this is most likely due to a 1500-2000mg daily to increase your ferritin storing iron in the body, and these levels are number of factors and will no doubt be inof more importance than haemoglobin levels levels, and it can take as long as six months fluenced by the prescribed medicines. Do to get iron stores well within the healthy when determining an overall health picture. talk with your doctor about the possibility of range.

Iron deficiency is linked to low ferritin, changing one or more of your medications if Pumpkin seeds are rich in lysine, and to since the body will rob the iron stores if the this is a factor. In the meantime, choose get adequate levels to make a difference you blood levels are low. The top priority for the will need to eat around 100g daily. Of course foods which are varied in colour and texture body is to maintain blood health, and in the to appeal to your senses and try to avoid seait may be more convenient to simply take a process hair growth is sacrificed in order to soning too heavily with sugar or salt to comsupplement to ensure that you are getting all move iron into the bloodstream. So your pensate for this loss. you need on a regular basis.

Ensure that any tests may show high haemoglobin levels

Megan puts the spotlight on: Often overeaters will choose to eat moderately or minimally in front of others then make provision for eating more excessively or unhealthily when alone

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“For the overeater, one compulsive bite of food is too many and a thousand is never enough.”

— Overeaters Anonymous WHILE many of us might not have considered ourselves as overeaters, it is worth taking a closer look at your eating habits and attitudes around food to see if they ring any alarm bells.

Signs that food and overeating may be an issue worth addressing in your life can be as obvious as being overweight or obese, or hidden internally with a constant obsession around food — when you are going to eat next, what you are going to eat, how you are going to eat, and what steps you need to take to ensure your next food experience meets your needs.

OVEREATING Often overeaters will choose to eat moderately or minimally in front of others then make provisions for eating more excessively and/or unhealthily when alone. Members of the “Clean Plate Club” are also compulsive overeaters — if you eat every last morsel beyond the sensation of fullness then your relationship with food is out of balance.

Emotional eating is another crucial factor in our relationship with food. Eating to change the way you feel or celebrate/commiserate typically followed by negative feelings around the foods you

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

have just consumed are signs you would benefit from addressing your eating habits. Constant measuring and weighing of yourself in order to meet your ideals, or chastising yourself for not meeting (often impossible) ideals, is common among overeaters. Ritualistic and rigid behaviour indicates that eating has become far more than just fuel for bodily processes.

Angela Stokes-Monarch, who has herself released around 160lb (72kg) in weight since adopting a natural and healthy way of eating and living, has written a wonderful book called Raw Emotions which investigates our relationship with food and helps the reader to create new attitudes and beliefs around eating.

Raw Emotions is available as an e-book, F19.60, and book F23.50, from www.therawfoodworld.com.

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The Hair Clinic, Cork: 15 years of experience and expertise

Confidence restored!

Before

After 6 Months

After 12 Months

“I am amazed at the results and my confidence has been restored. I can honestly say it was the best thing I have ever done!”

RECENT studies show that Hairloss is a topic close to the hearts of up to 40% of Irish people. It affects both male and female alike and can be extremely upsetting, irrespective of the age or sex of the sufferer.

When 24-year-old Corkman Tomas Horgan noticed his hair was getting thiner his confidence hit rock bottom. “I hated it” said Tomas. “I became very

conscious about my hair and I started wearing a baseball cap whenever I was in company, my confidence was very low, especially around women, I felt they were looking at my hair.”

It was at this point that Tomas started to research on the internet about various treatments to combat hairloss. “Both my father and grandfather were bald and I read that thinning

hair leading to baldness was heriditary so I knew I had to do something.”

Tomas discovered, after hours of trawling through various websites, that hair transplant surgery only replaced hair follicles that had already died, it did not prevent further hairloss. “It was during this research that I read about a laser treatment pioneered in the US that has gained full FDA

which can stimulate hair growth and thicken hair, but ONLY if the Hair Root is still alive, it CANNOT grow hair if the root is dead, so I knew it was important to do something as soon as possible, before it was too late.”

“I found a company in Cork, one of only a handful in Ireland to offer this treatment. I went for a free consultation to find out

more at their clinic just off Patrick’s Bridge. I was told that as I had lost some roots already and that my hair was never going to be as thick as it once was but treatment would help stop any further hairloss and thicken the hair that I did have.”

“I am amazed at the results and my confidence has been restored. I can honestly say it was the best thing I have ever done!”

No 2 Camden Place, St Patricks Bridge, Cork t: (021) 4552424

OPENING TIMES: Monday to Friday 8am-9.30pm

Please log on to www.thehairclinichlcc.com Feelgood

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010