Over 14 million Americans suffer from anxiety, an unpleasant emotional state ranging from mild unease to intense fear. Anxiety differs from fear. While fear is a rational response to a real danger, anxiety usually lacks a clear or realistic cause. Though some anxiety is normal and, in fact, healthy, higher levels of anxiety are not only uncomfortable, they can lead to significant problems.

What are the symptoms of anxiety?

Anxiety is often accompanied by a variety of symptoms. The most common relate to the chest, such as heart palpitations (awareness of a more forceful or faster heartbeat), throbbing or stabbing pains, a feeling of tightness and inability to take in enough air, and a tendency to sigh or hyperventilate. Tension in the muscles of the back and neck often leads to headaches, back pains, and muscle spasms. Other symptoms can include excessive sweating, dryness of the mouth, dizziness, digestive disturbances, and the constant need to urinate or defecate.

Anxious individuals usually have a constant feeling that something bad is going to happen. They may fear that they have a chronic or dangerous illness - a belief that is reinforced by the symptoms of anxiety. Inability to relax may lead to difficulty in getting to sleep and constant waking throughout the night.

What is the difference between an anxiety attack and a panic attack?

An anxiety attack is milder than a panic attack. During an anxiety attack, a person will experience intense feelings of fear. Panic attacks are most often associated with a condition known as agoraphobia - an intense fear of being alone or being in public places. As a result, most people with agoraphobia become housebound.

About 15 percent of Americans experience a panic attack in their lifetime. Among adults aged 25 to 54 years, nearly three percent will experience frequent panic attacks.

What causes anxiety?

Anxiety can be the result of either physical or psychological factors. For example, extreme stress can definitely trigger anxiety, and so can certain stimulants, like caffeine. According to Melvyn Werback, M.D., author of Nutritional Influences of Mental Illness (Third Line Press, 1991), there are at least six nutritional factors that may be responsible for triggering anxiety:

1. Alcohol
2. Caffeine
3. Sugar
4. Deficiency of the B vitamins, niacin, pyridoxine, and thiamin
5. Deficiency of calcium or magnesium
6. Food allergies

By avoiding alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and food allergies, a person with anxiety can go a long way in relieving symptoms. For some, simply eliminating coffee can result in complete elimination of symptoms. This recommendation may seem too simple to be true, but substantial clinical evidence indicates that , in many cases, it is all that is necessary. For example, in one study of four men and two women with generalized anxiety or panic disorder, who were consuming 1.5 to 3.5 cups of coffee per day, avoiding caffeine for one week brought about significant relief. The degree of improvement was so noticeable, all patients volunteered to continue abstaining from it. Previously, these patients had been only minimally helped by drug therapy. Follow-up exams six to 18 months afterward indicated that five our of the six patients were completely without symptoms, the sixth patient became asymptomatic with a very low dose of Valium.

• Werback, M: "Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness: A Sourcebook of Clinical Research." Third Line Press, Tarzana, CA, 1991.
• Bruce M. and Lader M.: "Caffeine abstention in the management of anxiety disorders." PsycholMed 19:211-4,1989.

The heart is an intricately structure muscle that is comprised of four hollow chambers and six valves which pump blood throughout the body within the many miles of blood vessels. This cardiac muscle is approximately the size of a fist and weighs ten to fourteen ounces. It is protected by the sternum and ribs.

In today's medical society, heart transplants are an everyday occurrence, but the waiting list to receive one is considerably long. Therefore, it is imperative that the one we have remain healthy, and only you can ensure that it does. Some pre-existing factors, such as heredity and age, can play a part in the degenerative process of the heart, but these changes can be slowed by good nutrition, exercise, maintaining a relatively stress-less life, and yearly physicals.

Heart disorders are the most common cause of death in the United States. "Despite recent advances in prevention and treatment, it takes the lives of almost one million of us each year." They also reduce the "quality of life" in millions with such symptoms as shortness of breath, pain, fatigue, and anxiety. Along with heredity factors, congenital defects such as heart murmurs (a hole in the wall of the heart) are among the only other heart disorders over which we have no control. Otherwise, if people would refrain from smoking, watch cholesterol/fat intake, exercise such as walking, avoid recurrent stressful situations, and if heart problems are evident, take medications as prescribed by a physician, they will decrease cardiac-related deaths significantly.

The heart is a complex machine. Take care of it and it will definitely take care of you.

What is Turner's Syndrome?

Turner's Syndrome is a rare congenital disorder in females and there is no cure. It is caused by the absence of one or part of one chromosome, usually the sex chromosome. The symptoms of this disorder are short stature, webbed neck, slightly turned-in elbows, ski-sloped nails, and impaired onset of puberty. The females are usually infertile and need hormone replacement therapy. They lead productive lives and tend to be more emotionally stable than most, which is an advantage, since they need to deal with the "feeling" of being different and because of the frequency of doctor visits. Girls with Turner's syndrome should not be treated differently. They are just like everyone else.

Drinking two quarts of water a day may seem like a lot, but even the smallest deficit can leave you feeling tired or ill. Without water, we would live no more than a few days. Juices and caffeine-free soft drinks can fill some of your daily requirements, but don't be fooled by the liquid nature of coffee, tea, or caffeinated soft drinks, and alcohol; they actually contribute to dehydration. If it all sounds like too much effort, just remember: Each sip is essential to eery cell in your body.