By Gaetane Ross

According to the American Medical Association Journal, over 100,000 Americans die in hospitals every year due to side effects from regularly prescribed medications. Throughout America, a huge amount of medication is prescribed on a daily basis.

The medical community openly acknowledges that fact that it does not have any cure for several common diseases that affect people. Most allopathic medicines have side effects that can range from mild to severe. The reason for this is that most of these chemicals have certain toxic properties. This is why there have been so many prescription drugs that got pulled from the market after enjoying several years of FDA approval.

The sad thing is that very few doctors nowadays bother to inform patients about possible side effects due to close and cozy relationships with the pharmaceutical industries.

Half of the truth is that pharmaceutical companies will only tell doctors as much as they want to and not reveal the complete picture. Therefore, the doctors are not completely to blame because they cannot warn patients against side effects of chemicals they are not aware of.

The trouble is that the business is so profitable is that these medicine manufacturers are more concerned with profits and FDA approval rather than the overall effect on the patients.

This is one reason why several doctors are now beginning to recommend complementary alternative treatments, like herbal therapies and medicines.

Here are some interesting facts:

The totally amount of annual profits made by pharmaceutical companies through sale of drugs in the United States alone is over $100 billion More than 25% of all prescription drugs available contain plant derivatives More than 80,000 types of plants are used all over the world for medicinal purposes.Over 75% of the global population depends on herbal remedies for regular treatment

There are several choices available for people who are looking for alternative remedies, including Acupuncture, Yoga, Qigong, Tai chi, Ayurveda, hydrotherapy, massage therapy, homeopathy, energy medicines, holistic approaches, and aromatherapy. In fact, the number of herbal remedies available for different ailments equals (if not exceeds) the number of regular drug treatments provided by pharmaceutical companies.

The point is that prevention always was and always will be better than any cure, mainstream or alternative. The advantage of herbal remedies is that they move an individual towards a lifestyle more geared toward prevention and cure in the early stages of any affliction.

Pharmaceutical drugs work only after the problem has development, they do not try to prevent problems because then the manufacturing companies would go into a loss.

This is where herbal remedies leave the mainstream drugs behind. This is also the reason why so many people are daily turning to herbal therapies.

Herbal remedies treat the cause of the disease and not the symptoms (like conventional drugs). Herbal remedies also have almost no side effects.

About The Author

Gaetane Ross is a Certified Natural Health Consultant who has spent over 4 years focusing on Nutrition and Health. She also specializes in Alternative Medicine, Spiritual Healing and Healthy Lifestyle.

Please visit Gaetane’’s website at:

http://ThePathToHealthyLiving.com

By Abhishek Agarwal

Psychologists and counselors the world over treat people with stress. For a successful treatment a successful diagnosis of the problem is needed, as with medical field as well. The physical stress test is one of the most popular tests to get an idea of a client’’s stress level. Stress does manifest itself in the physical body, more often than not. Stress shows up in the body as illnesses and ailments. These can be headaches like migraines, and other forms like sweaty hands or nausea. The physical stress test is used to indicate the level of stress that such patients undergo, and it has proved reliable over the years.

In order to pose as a stress management tools, the physical stress test involves the use of evaluating the responses of patients against a list of physical illnesses and ailments, in a grid pattern. About forty such ailments are mentioned on the pattern. The test involves a point rating system to estimate the stress a person is undergoing. Points between 40 and 75 tell us the patient is undergoing less stress. 75 to 100 points indicate moderate stress, 100 to 150 indicates high stress and anything above that calls for immediate help.

Once the therapist has determined the stress level using the physical stress test; he moves on to psychological questions which also pose as an indicator of stress level. These questions are generally about the patient’’s personal points of view about life.

When we are dealing with stress management we are actually dealing with factors that initiate the stress, which are not always physical. True, some physical factors like biological agents and the temperature could cause stress. But more often than not when we are dealing with stress, we are dealing with psychological stress agents that initiate the stress. When the brain undergoes stress, its affects are manifested in various body parts as physical ailments.

The physical and psychological tests mentioned above are both time-tested stress tests and can well stand on their own. However, when a psychologist feels the need he may use both tests to confirm his readings. He may do that for example, when the stress level readings seem unusually high or low.

The identification of stress factors is not difficult at all and most of us could well do it for our selves. However, it is sometimes difficult to analyze your own self, analyzing another person is always easier. Hence we resort to meeting psychologists and counselors regarding the same. Do not be fearful or feel ashamed that you may have to meet a counselor to handle your stress. There is not one among us who does not feel stress, and it is healthy that you are aiming to handle this in your life.

About The Author

Abhishek is a self-proclaimed Personality Development Guru and has written several books on this topic! Visit his website www.Positive-You.com and Download his FREE Personality Development Report and discover some amazing self-improvement tips for FREE. Become the best you can become and reclaim your life! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! www.Positive-You.com