By Melanie Schuman Rattigan

I’m a TV producer — a profession which affords me many travel opportunities as well as the chance to meet people from every walk of life.  It’s a job of logistics and sound editorial judgment.  I’ve covered the Amish school shootings, fighting in Tripoli, Lebanon between the national army and Al-Qaeda militants, the Pope’s recent visit to New York City and a host of other stories.

Holding hands with a woman as I explain the recovery procedure after surgeons remove a 12-pound tumor from her uterus is not an event I could have planned.  Staples up and down her belly are not an easy sight, especially as she grimaces in pain. Yet whatever compassion I can share as I relay the doctor’s orders to a small group of nurses (two to be exact) covering the women’s ward at a state-run hospital in Zacapa, Guatemala is as important as anything I do on a day-to-day basis.

Two years of high school book Spanish nearly 20 years ago shockingly goes a long way in such circumstances with a bit of practice. What goes farther? An open mind.

Click here to see photos from my trip to Guatamala.

Over the course of the past seven years, I have traveled to Guatemala five times with a group called Hearts in Motion. Since 1990, the group has worked with resources already in the country to build a support system for those needing education, medical care and a helping hand — all the while, remembering how important it is to respect its culture, its way of doing things.

On these trips I’m away from the chaotic world of New York City and faced with the challenge of doing something completely outside my skill set. I see children suffering a variety of maladies that those who grow up in the United States usually only see in movies or on the news. Many are the result of poor nutrition or a lack of pre-natal care. Others, for both children and adults, are accidental — burns from cooking cornmeal in their one-room home, accident victims missing limbs and even men missing fingers who work day-in and day-out in the campo (fields).

Many people in this third-world country look at the “gringos” — a slang term for Americans — as wealthy. By comparison we may be, but not in terms of money. Many of us are lucky enough to have clean clothes, something to eat and a place to go to school. A parent, spouse or sibling who tells us they love us. In so many places I have visited in Guatemala, I have seen the joy in a child’s face or the face of a sun-tanned abuela (grandmother caring for her 10 grandchildren) when I simply hug them. A hug, that’s it. The group I travel with — Hearts in Motion — may give them vitamins, a blanket or a life-saving surgical procedure. Yet a simple sign of compassion mean just as much.

It can be shocking to see the degree of poverty — kids walking around the mountains and mudslide-devastated villages without shoes, firemen and emergency response teams with no more than a bottle of Tylenol in the back of an empty ambulance.

Truthfully, I’m well aware that many in our country do not have healthcare and that poverty exists around the very corner on which I live in New York City. I often wonder if my 10 days spent each year in Guatemala would be better served here in the U.S. I’ve even been asked that by my own family members.

Perhaps it’s selfish — I know I can put down the blackberry, stop running errands and devote myself emotionally and physically for 10 days uninterrupted to help these people get through another day. I don’t think anyone would say they love cold showers, unusual bugs, brushing your teeth with bottled water and other septic-related issues I don’t need to discuss.

Somehow I feel I cheat. I fly home and return to the creature comforts life here affords and I wonder: who benefited more? The Guatemalans or me?

Melanie Schuman Rattigan is a coordinating producer for the FOX News Channel. Hearts in Motion is a non-profit 501 (c) 3, non-denominational organization that focuses on the needs of impoverished children and families.  It’s predominant focus is in Central and Latin America, but it also has several programs in operation in the United States. You can find out more information at www.heartsinmotion.org.

Tales of traders throwing themselves out of windows on Wall Street in the wake of 1929 were essentially myths, as John Kenneth Galbraith noted in his 1955 account of the crash.

Nevertheless, current economic woes are clearly impacting on our country’s mental and physical health. Stress is a well documented cause of depression, suicide, heart disease, stroke, predisposition to infection, and certain kinds of cancer.

Stress is often subliminal, it may overtake you before you realize it.  The last thing a person in financial trouble needs is to be simultaneously dealing with illness, yet stress-induced illness is common.
 
SOME WORRISOME EXAMPLES OF THE EFFECTS OF FINANCIAL TROUBLES:

* In New York, calls to the Hopeline network for people with depression or suicidal thoughts leaped 75 percent to 10,368 in the 11 months ending in July 2008.

* In Chicago, ComPsych Corp., the world’s largest provider of employee assistance programs, logged 21 percent more calls seeking help for stress from financial pressures in July than they received a year earlier.

* Hospital admissions for psychiatric services are up 10 percent this year over last year in claims submitted to UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer.

* ValueOptions Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. provider of behavioral health and wellness services, reported that calls for assistance with home foreclosures, bankruptcy and other financial hardships have grown 89 percent this year over 2007.

* Research based on 17 years of Pennsylvania unemployment records concluded that employees affected by a mass layoff at a plant were 15 percent more likely to die of any cause over the next two decades.

* Harvey Brenner, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, projects that rising unemployment could cause as many as 47,000 more deaths than would have otherwise occurred, including 1,200 more suicides, as well as nearly 26,000 more heart attacks.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT:

* Seek emotional support, from loved ones and if needed, professionals.

* Try to continue to focus on business as usual, and to avoid obsessive negative thoughts.

* Emphasize regular exercise, try relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation, eat regular meals, and as much as possible, observe regular sleep habits.

* Consult with your physician if your fear over your financial future is spiraling out of control. Anti-anxiety medication may be necessary to break the cycle of worry.

Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear” and “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”. Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com

Q: What’s better for me: olive oil or butter?

A: While olive oil is better for you than butter from a health standpoint, nutritionally they are both equally fattening and have 135 calories per tablespoon and 15 grams of fat.

When choosing between olive oil and butter, olive oil is the healthier choice because it is a monounsaturated fat and high in antioxidants.  Studies have shown that olive oil offers protection against heart disease by lowering LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels while raising HDL (the “good” cholesterol) levels. Studies also link monounsaturated fats to reducing the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and even depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

A recent study by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition Studies showed people who consumed 25 milliliters - about 2 tablespoons – of virgin olive oil daily for 1 week showed less oxidation of LDL cholesterol and higher levels of antioxidant compounds, particularly phenols, in the blood.

On the other hand, butter, a saturated fat, can raise LDL cholesterol levels, increasing your risk of heart disease. Saturated fats, also found in fatty beef, pork, lamb, cream, ice cream and other full-fat dairy products are what clog your arteries leading to plaque buildup and heart attacks.

While olive oil may be good for your heart and bacon fat may be bad, either can make you fat if you eat too much. Oil is a fat and fat has a lot of calories, period. Ounce for ounce, olive oil and butter have about the same amount of calories.

So when you reach for the bread basket tonight at dinner, don’t forget that one tablespoon of olive oil equals 135 calories. When you dip your bread in oil, the bread acts as a sponge and soaks up far more oil than you might have intended on eating.  To help combat this, do not eat from the bread basket - order a salad instead to keep your hands and mouth busy.  Or, if you must have a piece of bread, order butter instead of oil so that you are aware of how much you are spreading and, consequently, eating.

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

According to the latest Gallup Poll, Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his pick for vice president hasn’t yielded the bounce most candidates enjoy after announcing their running mates.  In fact, the poll shows the opposite:  McCain has erased Obama’s lead and is now ahead, 46 percent to 44 percent. 

Psychologically, the drama of a candidate for president teaming up with another leader to do battle in the last months of the election should provide a burst of enthusiasm among voters, however short-lived.  The Democratic National Convention, playing like rock music in the background, should add plenty of fuel to carry more people into the next chapter of the Obama-Biden story.

Engagements and weddings and political conventions are times for unbridled optimism.  The audience, which includes the American public in this case, is predisposed to believe that human beings joining together can be much more than any single person could ever be alone, that the glistening start of a partnership predicts sure success. 

But something is wrong, and I think I know what it is.  The Barack Obama story itself is the stuff of big, big dreams.  We’ve watched a first-term U.S. Senator capture the imagination of the nation with eloquence unparalleled in recent times, harking back to the kind of excitement John F. Kennedy generated.  We’ve watched him defy the odds again and again, to stand at the zenith of the Democratic Party.  He has stood, in fact, somehow above and beyond traditional politics, a larger than life figure, a phenomenon.  Those who embrace him hope for—maybe even expect—miracles from him.

So it should come as no surprise that selecting a respected, tested running mate like Joe Biden would slow Obama’s momentum a bit.  While the choice may reassure voters that a steady hand with vast experience will be helping chart a course through increasingly stormy economic and political seas, it also reminds us that Obama is himself a politician facing momentous challenges.  Joining hands with a longtime U.S. Senator anchors Obama, and voters, to reality.  It brings Obama back down to earth.  It makes him seem human, where he once seemed superhuman.

Only one pick would have taken Obama further beyond the normal gravity of the political universe:  Hillary Clinton.  In inviting his former rival onto the ticket, in trying to help bring the first female vice president into the White House, he would have been reaffirming the notion that he cannot be defined or limited by tradition or expectation.  He would have been saying that he could achieve anything.

Hillary Clinton joining hands with Obama was the chapter that many Americans had already written into their collective imaginations, and those imaginary pages had much more energy than the real ones we’re reading about Obama and Biden.

As we wind our way toward November, Obama has come face-to-face with this reality:  America’s expectations of a phenomenon are quite different than its expectations of a candidate.  They are limitless.  And they require constant feeding. 

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com.

Brain aneurysms have been in the news this past week. First there was the unfortunate sudden death of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) from a ruptured brain aneurysm at age 58. And now with the nomination for vice president of Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware), the public has been reminded of his fortunate survival following the surgical clipping of two brain aneurysms back in 1988.

Aneurysms in the news present an opportunity for educating the public about these scary blood vessel bulgings in the brain.

Biden reportedly had two aneurysms, one on each side of his brain, and they were discovered when he suffered pain in his neck.

A neurological work-up revealed the aneurysms, one of which had leaked slightly. The tiniest amount of blood mixing with the brain’s cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid which surrounds and cushions the brain) can be painful. Pain was an alert to Biden, and in 1988, he had the aneurysms surgically clipped before they could rupture.

Tubbs Jones wasn’t nearly as fortunate, and she was found slumped over the wheel of her car, already in a coma, and was soon dead.

 Biden’s neckache was due to a “sentinel leak,” which can be compared to a slow leak of air from a tire in an area where the wall is thinning. Whereas Jones’ aneurysm reportedly burst, like a tire blowing out.

High blood pressure, smoking, and drug use, particularly cocaine can all contribute to the formation (and rupture) of aneurysms. Family history of aneurysms, congenital abnormalities in the wall of the artery, or other related medical conditions such as polycystic ovaries can all play a role in causing aneurysms.

 About 6 million people in the United States have a brain aneurysm. The yearly rate of rupture is about 1 in 10,000 people. Almost half will die as a result of the rupture, and more than half who recover will have significant disability (symptoms of a stroke).

 Aneurysms are most common in middle age, and women are affected more often than men. Aneurysms tend to occur at branch points of the arteries, and are much more common at the front of the brain.

Below are some frequently asked questions regarding brain aneursyms:

Q:   Should I be checked for a brain aneurysm?

A: The incidence in the general population is not sufficient to recommend routine screening, but a MRI of the brain might be considered for a family history or multiple risk factors.

Q: What symptoms should I look for?

A: New onset Headache, neckache, nausea, and blurry vision can all be signs of impending bleed from an aneurysm. These symptoms are reasons to see your physician quickly.

Q: What is the treatment for a brain aneurysm?

A: Since the 1980s, many aneurysms are treated with the insertion through a micro-catheter of tiny platinum coils. These coils are useful to block the flow of blood to the aneurysm, which causes it to shrink.

Dr. Marc Siegel is an internist and associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He is a FOX News Medical Contributor and writes a health column for LA Times, where he examines TV and movies for medical accuracy. Dr. Siegel is the author of “False Alarm: the Truth About the Epidemic of Fear” and “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic”. Read more at www.doctorsiegel.com

Q: Is frozen yogurt a good summer treat? It tastes so good, can it really be that good for me?

A: Not necessarily.  As you said, it is a treat so you should treat it that way.  Many times it can actually pack in more calories and sugar than regular ice cream, especially if you opt for a bigger size because, why not? It’s low-fat isn’t it?

The frozen yogurt industry surged in the 1980s and early-1990s when Americans decided to completely cut fat out of their diets. This trend leveled off as a result of other fad diets such as the low-carb craze and products emerging on the marketplace. However, frozen yogurt is making a major comeback and everywhere you turn there is a Tasti D-Lite or TCBY.  Sure, it can be lower in fat than ice cream (before toppings!) but here are some helpful hints to make sure frozen yogurt is not packing on the pounds.

1) Frozen yogurt should not be a meal. It is not nutrient-dense and usually contains half of the calcium and less protein than you would get in a serving of yogurt from the dairy aisle.
Average non fat vanilla yogurt (6 oz): 8 grams protein and 250 mg calcium
Average frozen yogurt (6 oz): 5 grams protein and 100 mg calcium

2) Most frozen yogurts have zero grams of fiber. Therefore, if you eat it for lunch, you’ll be feeling ravenous in a few hours and your “healthy lunch” will have been a waste of calories. An average 16 oz (large) vanilla frozen yogurt with a side of granola contains about 500 calories, 10 g fat, and about 70 g carbohydrates! Instead, you could have eaten a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with an apple for half the carbohydrates (more fiber), higher quality protein, and more satiety until dinner.

3) Watch the toppings. While the yogurt may be non-fat, it does not mean adding crumbled Oreos will not have an effect on your waistline. Choosing Gummi bears and fruit with syrup doubles the sugar content of your yogurt, while granola and chocolate chips hike up your saturated fat intake. If you get a topping, stick to a regular serving of fresh fruit or dry nuts for some healthy fiber and protein.

4) Beware of portions. Many times, the serving size of the cup is much less than the actual amount of the fro-yo they dish out. Ask how many ounces are in a cup and tell them not to overfill. This way, you can keep track of how much you’re actually eating.

The bottom line is: When you do choose frozen yogurt, have it as a small-sized snack and choose healthier toppings.  We searched the country for the best frozen treat and found it at a small, but rapidly expanding chain in Connecticut. Gofer Ice Cream currently has three stores in Darien, Greenwich, and Stamford. They created a soft-serve, non-fat Gofer-Lite which, besides from being delicious contains 11 g fiber per 4 oz serving! I definitely approve this ‘ice cream’!

*My Favorites
Serving sizes below are for ½ cup or 4 oz. Notice, a small size cup is usually larger than 4 oz and the actual cup size served at each place varies, even within a chain.

*Keep in mind that a small weighs in at about triple these amounts! SO, if you’re craving Frogurt for a snack, ask them not to fill the cup over the brim.

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

With 3-year-old Caylee Anthony missing for more than two months, her mother Casey is being bailed out of jail for $500,000 by Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla.

Padilla says his motive is to use his many years of experience tracking down criminals to learn enough from Casey to find the little girl.

It isn’t surprising that Padilla’s quest has captured the imagination of the media.  His name is now known from coast-to-coast. The drama of a black-hatted, toothpick chewing cowboy riding into town to break open a case that police haven’t been able to crack sounds like a made-for-TV movie, or maybe the launch of a reality TV series.

The trouble is that the drama now unfolding according to Padilla’s script is encroaching on a very real investigation. And it feels like entertainment eclipsing truth, clouding the search for Caylee, rather than focusing it.

This is a particularly unwelcome event in the context of searching for a little girl who we pray could still be alive. Because successful investigations require an obsessive commitment to separating fact from fantasy, in a quest for the truth. And that pure motivation can be contaminated by a desire to court an audience and maintain their interest.

As a forensic psychiatrist I worry that Casey Anthony will be less motivated to tell authorities what she really knows about the disappearance of her toddler once she is free to take center stage outside a prison, in the public eye.  For someone who has the ability to spin tall tales in service to self-preservation, perhaps without feeling guilt, the making of a 24-hour-a-day TV drama out of a real tragedy could free her to fictionalize even more. It could embolden her to conclude that nothing has genuine meaning in the context of this story—not the suffering of her daughter, nor the call of her own conscience.

Sometimes the truth emerges because the world seems to be dark and unyielding without it, as it must have seemed to Anthony before Padilla rode into town. Now, the days can speed by like a DVD spinning, projecting images that have little to do with reality, other than providing a refuge from it.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com.

Dear Dr. Yvonne,
Does a woman run the risk of falling in love with me when we’re just having casual sex?
-Marty

Dear Marty,
While not a general rule, research shows that sex does promote bonding. Although people don’t plan on or want to fall in love from casual sex, they may since such intimacy triggers hormones that have a romantic effect. Dopamine spikes with orgasm, changing the threshold of your ability to falling in love. Orgasm also floods your brain with oxytocin and vasopressin, chemicals associated with attachment. Furthermore, if a man is depositing his seminal fluid in a female partner, he’s giving her a dose of the chemicals needed for sex drive, attachment and romantic love. This increases her chance of falling head over heels.

Dr. Yvonne Kristín Fulbright is a sex educator, relationship expert, columnist and founder of Sexuality Source Inc. She is the author of several books including, “Touch Me There! A Hands-On Guide to Your Orgasmic Hot Spots.”

 What you don’t know can hurt you. Your smile may be white but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy. And we’re not just talking about cavities here, we’re talking about gum disease (periodontitis) and its link to cancer, stroke, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and even pre-term, low-weight babies. While researchers are not exactly sure how unhealthy gums can directly lead to these conditions, statistically they have discovered that those with periodontitis are more likely to develop them. One study of 50,000 men in Britain found an increase of 50 percent in both cancer of the kidney and the pancreas.

Now for the good news: Gum disease is preventable and preventing it can be a pleasurable experience! Forget those uncomfortable and dreaded dental checkups. The latest treatment dentists are offering is an organic “green cleaning”— a unique mouth facial that can help thwart gum disease by rebalancing the oral environment and promoting a healthy oral immune system necessary for good dental health. It includes a complete dental/periodontal cleaning and a myofacial massage followed by a revitalizing vitamin/mineral gum mask. And every product used is completely organic.

 
How does this work?  First we remove all plaque and gently scale the teeth.  Next, we use an anti-oxidant-rich organic cleansing paste that is free of alcohol and detergents to avoid any harsh and potentially harmful chemicals. The myofacial massage is helpful in eliminating the lactic acid that builds up in facial musculature thus relaxing the face and mouth while the mask soothes the gums, promoting good gum health.

An added beauty bonus is that this type of cleaning can brighten your smile without bleaching. (I actually call mine the Organic Rejuvenation Mouth Facial because patients come out looking so fresh and relaxed).  Many of my patients find it so pleasant that they come in for this treatment four or more times a year.         

Dr. Gerald P. Curatola is a renowned aesthetic dentist and pioneer in the emerging field of rejuvenation dentistry, which improves patients’ overall health and appearance by integrating total wellness with cutting edge oral care and restorative procedures. In addition to his private practice, research, and work as a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU College of Dentistry, he is an internationally sought after speaker, author and expert who has been featured widely in print and broadcast media. For more information, go to DrGerry.net

Clark Rockefeller, aka Christopher Chichester, aka Christian Gerhartsreiter, isn’t much of a psychological mystery. Even from afar, never having examined this human chameleon, I can tell you a good deal about him.

Rockefeller’s recent behavior is a window on the whole man, not just the most recent incarnation. When he kidnapped his 7-year-old daughter Reigh Boss from a Boston street (coercing a driver to participate in the crime, assaulting the social worker observing the visit and violating the court order that established his supervised visitation to begin with), he showed that he has no regard for society, nor for the rights or feelings of others.

Without knowing “Rockefeller’s” diagnosis specifically, this kind of self-centeredness, along with a willingness to defy the law, speaks of narcissistic and antisocial character traits. It’s that kind of combination that allows someone to lie to others again and again, experiencing no guilt or remorse.

Most of us feel bound to our life stories not only by the experiences of our lives, but by our relationships to others. Those connections, when genuine, become part of our emotional reality.

At some point, perhaps in the setting of relationships early in life that caused him terrible pain, Rockefeller broke free of these interpersonal tethers. He lost the innate debt most of us feel to the truth and reality. He was able to deceive one person after another because he was at liberty to invent and reinvent himself, in order to feed his needs, without regard to those of others.

It is no surprise that Rockefeller warmed to the acting profession. It would have been second nature to him. His whole life was an act, after all. Neither is it surprising that he would believe he could spirit his daughter away, in disguise, and hope to disappear into the heart of Baltimore. That city was just one more stage for him, and Reigh was just another actor.

No regard for the truth. No regard for the law. No concern for a mother’s panic when her daughter is kidnapped. No ability to consider that his daughter would be forever psychologically traumatized by a sudden, permanent separation from her mother.

Could such a man kill? We certainly don’t know yet whether Rockefeller will ever be an official suspect in the murders of newlyweds John and Linda Sohus. But his ability to slip the binding of his own life story, together with his willingness to steal a child from her mother and attempt to sever their bond forever, means that he may have no respect for life stories at all—not even for whether they come to a violent and premature end.

When the entire world is a stage, and when you and everyone around you are merely actors, death can be written into a script without shedding a tear. Because the show must go on.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com.