Halloween?? isnt that next month?

OK, so, today I watched "kerching" or however its spelt, which was all about Halloween.. continued tomorrow.. Which was then followed by one of the CBBC presenters dressed up as dracula fangs and stuff about something eles Halloweeny....

Um, its 26th September (My Dads birthday), so, err, isnt halloween still 31st Oct or did I miss a new change in life somewhere??

Winter's a comin!

Its not even 8pm and yet its darker than midnight in the summer.
It seems, winter is here, or at least running at us at a huge rate. Mornings are dark enough, its so sad, everyone loves summer, no one loves winter in the same way, I love snow, I love crisp mornings, but, englands winters are just wet and miserable and grey and they seem to last ages, heck, its usually end of May or early June before you feel warmer!

Sigh..

Michael Schumacher to reture :(

Well, today sees the announcement he is retiring the end of the F1 year.

It was obvious at the end of the race when he went to hug so many of his team, not his normal reaction. It is sad. It was a glorious race, tension all the way, and yet another win for Michael in Italy.

I like so many thought less of him when he started, he was arogant and brash, but, hes mellowed with age and is a fenominal driver, and its sad hes going, but hes right, he needs to bow down for others to progress their careers and grow in their own right.

Homeopathic or just witchcraft?

Well.

If you look back in history, so many things were considered witchcraft, to be honest, at one point wearing make up was considered witchcraft, anyone having an affair was considered "under witchcraft" .. its been the blame for everything. So, is homeopathic remedies another form of witchcraft?

Well. Witchcraft is very different to pointy hats and broomstick riding and turning people into toads.

Witchcraft is more a way of life, trying to live with the earth not against it, and as a result herbs and so forth are very much within that realm. Looking back before we had great scientific laboratories, herbs were all there were to treat things, many medicines derive from plants, animals etc. They are just "purified" into little pills for us.

So, with the current change which may mean that homeopathic remedies are allowed to say what ailments they may treat, but pills and scientifically made items having to go through years of testing, while we can see that the scientists feel its unfair, perhaps we need to look at the fact that many of the homeopathic things have been around 100s if not 1000s of years, and that while they have been handed down and refined maybe, those years of people claiming it works have to count for something!

Like many people as Ive got older bits of me just dont seem to work like they used to. I am very prone to headaches, to the point I dont bother will neurofen, paracetamol, asprin etc because unless I take 3 or more of them, the headache doesnt seem effected because I have become slightly resistant to it. Similarly, I have pains in my gut, my wrist doesnt want to support my weight any more, my left foot has a whine in the morning, my backs been playing up.. Im just getting older..

But if someone said to you, put a packet of herbs in a cup and drink it once a day, and they were to go away with no side effects, no long term issues, wont make you ill in any way.. and all your problems will go..

Would you say no?

I dont think so. Problem with the pills and potions made in labs is that there are all too often, side effects. It might cure one thing, but it could make 3 more! If you read the boxes on most pills it has so many dont do this, and dont do that, and if this happens and if that happens and may causes!

For example: Neurofen (as its the only medicine pamphlet I have to hand)

Do not take them if:

you have or have ever had a stomach ulcer, perforation or bleeding
allergic to ibuprofen , to any of the ingredients, asprin or other painkillers
taking any other NSAIDs painkillers, or asprin with a dialy dose of 75mg or more
are in last 3 months of pregnancy
under 12 years old

You should ask your doctor if you can take them if

You have asthma or suffered from asthma
you have kidney, heart or liver or bowel problems
have systemic lupus erythematosus
you are taking any regular medication especially asprin, high bloodpressure or water tablets, anti-coagulants, corticosteroids, methotrexate, lithium, zidovudine
you are in the first 6 months of pregnancy or breast feeding

A final note... now heres an eye opener

nerufoen belongs to a group of medicines which may impair fertility in women...??? surely thats what headaches did :P

So, side effects:

disorders of the stomach and intestines including abdominal discomfort or pain, nausea, stomach ulcer, vomiting containing either blood or brown grit (like coffee grounds), black tarry stools, worsening of existing bowel diseases
blood disorders resulting in unexplained or unusual bruising or bleeding, fever, sore throat, moth ulcers, extreme pallor or weakness
allergic reactions including worsening of asthma, unexplained wheezing or shortness of breath, swelling of the face and tongue, collapse. In addition skin reaction (including hives and itching): these can be sever with blistering and peeling of skin.
Liver disorders that maybe indicated by yellowing of the skin and eyes or pale stools and dark urine
Kidney disorders that maybe indicated by passing less or more urine than normal, cloudy urine, blood in the urine, pain in the back and or swelling (particularly of the legs)
Nervous system disorders indicated by severe headache, neck stiffness, disorientation and light hurting the yes (**)

(** isnt that a migraine to you and me?)

and all that, may result.. for 2 pills you took to get rid of a headache!

Now think of the stuff on the market like forehead.. ok you can have allergic reactions to anything.. so ignore those, but, if they work? and have even any margin less of potential things that may come and kill you (I mean those side effects sound grim right?) wouldnt you want that new option?