Due to the increasing number of reports about possible serious side effects from collagen, many people are looking for a safe, effective and inexpensive alternative face-smoothing treatment. There are actually many such treatments available. Here are four of the most recommended alternatives to collagen injections:

1) Dermabrasion— this is a technique which has been around for awhile. It involves the use of a hand-held machine which a doctor uses to sand down the skin. The procedure is effective in smoothing out deep scars caused by acne. lt has also been used effectively to smooth out fine-line wrinkles, especially those around the mouth. After the procedure is done, it will take about two weeks for the swelling to go down completely. You’ll also have to avoid exposure to the sun, and use a sunscreen with a SPF of at least 15 all year long. This is a permanent procedure, so give it plenty of thought before you have it done.

While this treatment can be highly effective, it can also result in some problems. In some cases, the treatment has resulted in uneven pigmentation, and it can cause deep and permanent scars. Dermabrasion can cost up to $5,000, depending on the extent of the treatment.

2) Chemical peel— this is a newer version of dermabrasion which peels off layers of skin, using acid instead of sanding. There are three types of peels: superficial, for people with active acne and fine surface lines or wrinkles; medium, for people who have skin that has been damaged beyond its years by the sun, and excessive wrinkling; and deep, for those people with excessive sun damage, obvious pigmentation irregularities, and moderate to severe wrinkles.

The chemical used for the peel is a mixture of two or all of the following, in various combinations: Retin-A, alpha hydroxy acid and trichloroacetic acid. The exact mixture depends on the level of the peel. Following the treatment, you should not be exposed to the sun at all for about six months. When the six months is up you have to wear a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 year round.

The procedure, incorrectly performed, can cause scarring, burning or infection, and possibly even heart damage. Make sure you have plenty of information before you opt for this procedure. A superficial chemical peel will cost from $300 to $700, and a deep peel will cost approximately $2,000 to $3,000.

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A boil is an inflamed, pus-filled area of skin— usually a blocked oil gland or hair follicle. The inflammation and pus are a result of a pitched battle between the body’s immune system and staphylococcus bacteria which have invaded instigating the fight. The next thing you know, you have a boil. These “battle scars” are common on the arms, groin, back, and buttocks, and just about anyplace where the skin gets rubbed.

Boils are both unattractive and painful, and they sometimes leave scars. Here’s how you can treat them yourself and get some relief.

1) Apply warm compresses— at the first sign that a boil is developing, begin applying warm compresses over the boil several times a day. Leave the compress on the boil 20 to 30 minutes at a time. This treatment should bring the boil to a head. Continue to apply warm compresses for a few days after the boil opens to help drain the pus.

2) Take a shower instead of a bath— doing this helps to minimize the likelihood that the infection will spread to another area.

3) Keep your hands clean— it is especially important that you wash your hands well before you handle food. That’s because the germs which caused the problem can multiply in warm food and produce toxins that can cause food poisoning.

4) If the boil fails to open, or if you are plagued with recurring boils, consult your doctor.

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Studies have shown that strenuous exercise causes physiological stress and strain on the body. And without adequate time for the body to rest, recover and rebuild, injury or illness can result. That’s why experts agree that moderation is the key to safe and effective exercising.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine most healthy adults should workout 3 to 5 days a week, with no more than 2 days between workouts. Exercising an average of less than 2 days a week doesn’t result in any significant improvement in your overall physical fitness. But, if you exercise more than five times a week, you increase the risk of injury. That’s why 3 to 5 times a week is the recommended “course of action”.

You should take care to monitor the intensity of your workouts. Work your heart rate at 60 percent to 90 percent of capacity and exercise nonstop for 20 to 60 minutes. You can calculate your ideal training zone by determining your maximum heart rate, using the following formula: Subtract your age from 220; then multiply that number by the percentage of how hard you plan to work out. For example, the maximum heart rate for a 40 year old is 180 (220 minus 40 equals 180); 60 percent of 180 is 108, and 90 percent is 162. Therefore, the ideal training zone is a pulse rate between 108 and 162.

For nonathletes, or people who haven’t exercised in quite some time, the American Heart Association recommends working at a target heart rate of between 60 and 75 percent of the maximum rate. Older people or those in poor health should start out at the low end of the range, while better-conditioned people can start at the high end. And after 6 months or so, exercisers may want to increase up to 75 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate. Most people can stay fit working out at 75 percent of maximum heart rate.

Another key to safe and effective exercise is to “listen to your body”. Many times we may experience pain, stress or exhaustion from the whole body or from particular joints and muscles. The concept of ‘working through the pain” is, at best, foolhardy. To avoid injury, you must acknowledge and respond to pain and/or discomfort swiftly and positively. This means changing your pace or switching to another activity that uses different muscle groups, or stopping the activity altogether.

Here are some signs of a high-stress workout. The symptoms may indicate that an individual is exercising too hard, too long or too often, and should take the necessary steps to modify his or her exercise routine:

1) Muscle aches and pains 2) Muscle cramps 3) Pain in the feet, knees or hips 4) Generalized fatigue 5) Chest pains 6) Light-headedness or confusion 7) Loss of appetite Sleeping difficulty 9) Nausea or vomiting 10) Pale or bluish skin tone 11) Shortness of breath (lasting for more than ten minutes) 12) Palpitations

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No doubt about it, most people can find nothing good to say about having twisted, distended, superficial veins just below the skin. Varicose veins are not at all popular. They affect 1 out of every 2 women over 40 and 1 out of every 4 men. If untreated they tend to grow worse. So how do you treat them?

1) Wear elastic support stockings— generally available in medical supply stores, elastic support stockings can help provide relief. You can consult your doctor about the weight and length of the stocking you need. While support stockings can relieve discomfort, they are not a cure.

2) Get your feet off the ground— whenever possible, elevate your legs above hip level. This should help relieve the discomfort whenever they are aching.

3) Avoid high-heels and cowboy boots— this type of footwear can only aggravate the condition.

4) Maintain a trim figure— excessive weight places more pressure on your legs. If you keep your weight down, you’ll probably have fewer problems with varicose veins.

5) Walk, walk, walk— if you sit or stand for prolonged periods of time you wind up causing problems in your legs because the blood will most likely pool. Walking throughout the day is not only a way to prevent the blood from pooling, it’s also great exercise.

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Several Scottish scientists say they have discovered biochemical differences in the brains of breast-fed and bottle-fed babies. Even though the differences in the brain did not necessarily affect brain functions, the new information lends support to mounting evidence that mother’s milk is better for baby than cow’s milk.

The Scottish scientists studied the brains of 22 babies who had died within 43 weeks of birth. Five of the babies who had been breast-fed had a higher level of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, in their brains, compared to five babies of the same age who were on formula.

Even though no one is sure of the exact role of DHA in the brain, scientists believe it may be a substance for nerve cell conduction and cell membrane fluidity. None °f this means that higher levels of DHA yield smarter children, but researchers say the results of the study should encourage more women to breastfeed their babies.

New research suggests that mothers should nurse or collect milk before doing exercises, rather than after. That’s because babies don’t seem to care very much for breast milk produced after the mother exercises.

In a study at Indiana University in Bloomington, researchers discovered that working out increases a mother’s level of sour-tasting lactic acid. Babies in the study reacted negatively or refused altogether to nurse when their mothers fed them post-exercise milk.

Lactic acid remains at an elevated level in breast milk for about 90 minutes or longer after vigorous physical activity. That’s why mothers are advised to nurse their babies before working out.

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Approximately 65% to 70% of depressed patients who take Prozac find that their symptoms are fully relieved within two to six weeks and that they are able to function normally once again. The other 30% to 35% of patients who don’t respond or who can’t tolerate the early side effects of nausea or insomnia that may occur for a couple of days in the beginning may respond instead to one of the older antidepressants; they may fall into the category of treatment-resistant (to all antidepressants); or they may respond to one of the new antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor, Nefazodone or an antidepressant still being tested in research clinical trials and not yet on the market.

The other well-tried older antidepressants have similar rates of success, but side effects are almost always present and bothersome.

Many psychiatrists recommend augmentation treatment by adding lithium or a thyroid hormone, Cytomel. Oftentimes the addition of one or both of these drugs to the antidepressant boosts the patient out of depression. Both drugs are considered step-up treatments. However, if the psychopharmacological approach does not work, consider psychotherapy.

In extreme cases, in which the patient is suicidal, losing weight, or totally unresponsive to any of the above medication, electroconvulsive therapy has proved very useful. Despite the negative associations some people have about ECT, it is a proven therapy that rapidly and effectively treat serious depression.

Finally, patients who are treatment resistant to all medications on the market may wish to consider participating in a free clinical research trial on a new antidepressant compound that is being evaluated at a number of universities and clinical research centers.

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Yes. Certain types do seem to respond to Prozac more quickly and more positively. The transformations Prozac causes—and make no mistake, I have observed such transformations in depressed patients over the last thirty years—occur in a particular population. They happen with people who may be depressed and lethargic when they come into my office, but in the past have bad often undisclosed periods of higher energy—and the accomplishments to prove it These patients are not diagnosable manic-depressive. But they have a tendency in that direction, with perhaps only one or two symptoms of subclinical depression that affect their personalities and typically send them on a fruitless search for a cure through psychotherapy alone rather than medication. Yet some psychologists and psychiatrists, having failed to detect the subclinical depression or soft bipolar symptoms in the past or family history, misdiagnose these patients as having character or personality disorders only. Psychotherapy consists of focusing on drives and defenses—ignoring the formes frustes symptoms of mood disorders. In short, the correctable symptoms do not get treated.

These people often have a buried past of hyperthymia, a mildly “up” state with brisk energy, buoyant optimism, and an irritable temper. Hyperthymic people get a lot done and normally need only four to six hours’ sleep—like President Bill Clinton, who is most likely hyperthymic and constantly on the run. This is not an illness; it is an asset.

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Patients who take antidepressants are often suicidal to begin with, and they continue to be at risk as the antidepressant agent is escalated. Eighty-six published and unpublished reports claim that in a small minority of patients, Prozac, like other antidepressants, is associated with an increased propensity toward suicidal thoughts.

The reasons for this are unclear, but one commonly held hypothesis is that during the first few weeks of treatment, the antidepressant is thought to boost the patient’s energy before it alters his or her mood, who the result that a patient who may have previously been too slowed down by depression to do anything dangerous can now act on impulse rather than remain in a state of lethargy and immobilization.

A number of studies indicate that in the retarded depressed patient—that is, the patient whose thoughts and movements are slowed down or retarded by the depression—the potential for suicide may temporarily increase as the depression lifts. Reports of this phenomenon have circulated in the psychiatric literature for decades.

Another possible explanation is that in a small number of depressed suicidal patients, the administration of Prozac increases anxiety, which could conceivably push the patient over the edge. This increased anxiety and recklessness can be easily monitored by a trained psychopharmacologist, and if necessary, the patient can be hospitalized. Most depression experts agree that when a depressed patient complains of active suicidal thoughts, it is a psychiatric emergency and hospitalization is immediately needed. This is not something to fear.

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Prozac (fluoxetine) is easily absorbed after being swallowed, whether or not the patient has recently eaten. (However, the presence of food does slow down the process somewhat.) Once the medication is absorbed, it is metabolized primarily by the liver, which turns fluoxetine into its breakdown product (or metabolite), norfluoxetine. Both chemicals block the uptake of serotonin.

About a month after beginning treatment, the concentration of both fluoxetine and norfluoxetine reaches a stable level. Part of this stability derives from the fact that as an antidepressant Prozac has a long half-life, meaning that it takes a relatively long time to decrease by half its originally administered amount. The half-life of fluoxetine is one to three days, and the half-life of norfluoxetine ranges from seven to fifteen days – a long time compared to the other SSRIs on the market. Prozac lingers. An advantage to its long half-life is that patients who stop taking the drug, even abruptly, are unlikely to go through withdrawal, which often occurs with antidepressant drugs that have a shorter half-life. Similarly, a patient who forgets to take a pill for a day or two will not be plunged into despair as a result of the lapse.

On the other hand, sometimes you might not want Prozac to be in the body, perhaps because of a medical emergency that requires another drug. In switching to a MAOI, a patient has to wait up to five weeks, since the two drugs together can be lethal and are thus contraindicated. In that situation, the long half-life could conceivably be a disadvantage.

Prozac is excreted print with about 80% of the drug eliminated by the urine and 15% by the feces. Although more long-term studies need to be done, the process of absorption, metabolism, and excretion of Prozac seems to be the same in the elderly and in the young.

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It depends on the individual. The evidence suggests that between 20% and 30% of patients have only a single depression in their lives. Four to six months after their depression has lifted, these patients can taper off Prozac without recurrence and may never have to take Prozac or another antidepressant again.

However, millions of people suffer from recurrent depression. These people are much better off taking Prozac or another antidepressant on a permanent basis to prevent future attacks. This is also true for those manic-depressive patients who are on lithium but who nonetheless find that the depressive phase still breaks through. For these people, lithium and Prozac or another antidepressant have to be taken together on a long-term basis.

Keep in mind, though, that older antidepressants have been around for thirty to thirty-five years. Although some patients have been successfully taking Prozac for as long as seven or eight years, Prozac is still essentially a new drug, and we simply do not know its long-term effects. There is still reason for caution.

Is it easy to withdraw from Prozac? Yes. If necessary, patients taking doses between 5 and 20 mg can stop taking the medication immediately. However, as a general rule in medicine, it is always better to taper off drugs. Patients taking higher doses can taper off over a week to ten days by taking smaller doses every other day and then every third day before discontinuing. Prozac’s – metabolism would suggest that coming off the medication should not be of concern due to the long half-life of the antidepressant, which means it is tapering off slowly by itself after it has been discontinued.

Does Prozac lose its effectiveness after continued usage? No, it does not. Once Prozac has sufficient time to build up in the body and relieve the symptoms of depression, the patient takes either the same dosage or less during both the continuation phase, which lasts two to three months, and later during the long-term maintenance phase.

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