By Michael Noonan
www.bangordailynews.com

There have been two recent articles in the Bangor Daily News that I read with mixed feelings. The first was about how Wal-Mart will be offering $4 generic prescriptions; the second was about a new pharmaceutical school opening in Maine.

I am all in favor of low-cost medications, especially for the elderly, and the article about the new school states there is a shortage of pharmacists. There does not seem to be any limit to Americans’ appetite for prescription medications. According to the book "Worst Pills, Best Pills," Americans filled an estimated 3.2 billion prescriptions in 2003. We currently consume 25 million pills an hour, every hour, for a staggering total of 600 million pills a day. This reliance on medications has its costs. Every year an estimated 2.2 million people suffer "serious drug-induced diseases." One and a half million of these people had to be hospitalized due to the seriousness of the reaction, and the 100,000 deaths caused each year from drugs is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States today.

By Eddie Tobey
www.e-diabeticdiets.com

Diabetic diets as a rule are no longer supposed to be entirely devoid of fats and sugar. Instead, the norm now is to have every kind of food, but in moderation. However, when there’s the problem of obesity occurring along with diabetes, one needs to keep a strict watch on his calorie intake. So here there’s the issue of not only eating the right kind of food but also having it in the requisite quantity.

For breakfast, one can have two to three pieces of bread and half a cup of cornflakes, along with a cup of milk and one fruit (a banana, an apple or an orange). For a varied taste, one can substitute the cornflakes and milk with three to four slices of bacon.

By: Valerie Balandra Arnp
www.integrativepsychiatry.net

Major depression is a serious medical illness affecting 9.9 million American adults, or approximately 5 percent of the adult population in a given year. Many people suffering from depression are not aware that there are natural remedies for depression that are a safe and effective alternative to psychiatric medication. Lifestyle changes such as dietary modifications, stress reduction and exercise can also have a positive effect on depression symptoms.

Common symptoms of depression are:
Feeling sad, blue, incapable of feeling pleasure. Change in appetite. Eating too much or not enough.Sleep disturbance, sleeping too much or too little.
Feeling hopeless, worthless, guilty, low self esteem.
Loss of energy, no motivation, no interest or pleasure in activities.
Persistent physical symptoms such as aches, pains, headaches, stomach aches, and pain which no physical cause can be found can also be a form of depression.
Thoughts of death and suicide.