MRSA is the scourge of hospitals, but now the discovery in France of a volcanic clay with miraculous healing properties raises the prospect of a cure for it, and to other dangerous superbugs

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A new study published in the October 2007 Lancet (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science) by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, concludes that influenza vaccinations in the US have prevented fewer deaths

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Hey, Guys! You Can Help!

If you are a man who enjoys making love with women, you are likely to encounter a female bladder infection at some point. Here are a few hot tips to help ensure your continued popularity with your suffering lover.

1. Please don’t pressure her for sex until she’s ready. This rule applies in any situation, by the way.
2. Cleanliness is key. Please wash your genital area well daily, and, if you are uncircumcised, clean under the foreskin. Scrub your fingernails. Yes, that generally involves a nail-brush. Keep well-shaved (or keep the hair on your face clean) so as not to further irritate the labia and urethral tissues. Unfortunately for women, the urethra is precariously near the clitoris, which is generally best not avoided. Keep “high” when entertaining your lover with oral foreplay.
3. Which leads to the request, similar to #1 above, to always make sure your partner is well lubricated before penetrating with fingers or other appendages.
4. Your female companion is likely to pee more frequently than you do whether or not she has a bladder infection, so just go ahead and put the toilet seat down, even if it’s your house. This is a really hot tip.
5. Think of ways to be super-helpful for a few days: Run to the pharmacy for her, even in the middle of the night. Give a little extra help with the kids, household, or shopping. Accompany her to the doctor if that becomes necessary.
6. Help her stay hydrated; bring her juices and teas and make sure she has a tall glass of drinking water nearby at all times. Of course, this will mean she needs to pee more often, so please don’t pressure her to just wait until the next gas station or the end of the movie or whatever.

Athlete’s foot isn’t exactly a sexy topic, but that is one good reason to stamp it out. Two other reasons to stop this fungal infection in its tracks are that it’s highly contagious and it constitutes a low-grade drain on the immune system. Technically called tinea pedis, this yeasty growth thrives in warmth and dampness, living off the dead outer layer of the skin and calluses of the feet, especially between the toes. When the beneficial bacteria on our skin are further compromised by antibiotics, other drugs, or radiation, the fungus can spread rapidly. Symptoms can include scaling, itching, irritation, inflammation, burning and even blistering. Athlete’s foot is prevalent in those who frequent gyms and pool locker rooms, which provide a perfect environment for the fungus. As always, prevention is best, so please protect your feet against direct contact with gym and pool facility floors. But, it’s likely you’re reading this to find a cure! Read on!

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Though I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, I feel quite fortunate to have once suffered a bad UTI (urinary tract infection) because I’ll never forget the excruciating pain. Remember Tom Hanks’ description at the beginning of The Green Mile? “It’s like pissing razors…”

Also called bladder infections or cystitis, the symptoms usually include urinary urgency, where you feel like you have to go right now, but then not much comes out, and what does really burns. And a few minutes later it happens again. You may also have lower abdominal pain, fever, chills or visible drops of blood in your urine. This is more prevalent in women than men, is caused, in over 90% of cases, by the Eshcerichia coli (E. coli for short) bug, a certain number of which are necessary in our intestines for proper digestion. However, E. coli doesn’t ever belong in the urethra or the bladder. Normally, the bug lives at the end of the digestive tract, which we politely call the anus, and can get easily swiped forward to the opening of the urethra, which is the tube up to the bladder. In women, this tube is much shorter, and closer to the rectum.

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Natural immunity is something we’ve all heard of, and want to know more about. It’s a major buzz-word of the health-awareness movement because it represents an alternative to chemotherapies, radiation and surgery, vaccinations, hospital convalescence, untreatable chronic fatigue or degenerative diseases, and a host of other unpleasant, expensive options on today’s medical industrial menu. This essay will give basic parameters for wellness through immune support, as well as a brief introduction to three special modalities, namely nutritional supplements, botanical medicine and hydrotherapy.

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Joel stood leaning against the bedroom doorway, thinly disguising his disappointment. Jane had a yeast infection. Again. Their relationship was beginning to feel the toll of this microscopic invader: Candida albicans. Struggling not to weep, because of the deep, raw, itching pain inside that felt like her womanhood was on fire, Jane whispered, “Let’s get some help.”

Candida albicans is a fungus which naturally inhabits, in a controlled quantity, the human intestinal tract. In infants, an overgrowth produces “diaper rash.” In the throat, an infestation is called “thrush,” seen only in immuno-compromised individuals. Candida albicans does not belong in the vagina. It most certainly does not belong in the blood stream. A predominant cause of Candida albicans overgrowth, sometimes refered to as Candidiasis, but most often simply called a yeast infection, is antibiotic abuse.

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