What’s wrong with this? Well, perhaps nothing. Everything has its place and I view medicine as a tremendously beneficial and useful resource. But – it doesn’t answer all the questions, nor does it provide all the solutions to our understanding of health and illness or provide alternatives to non-medical interventions that may be equally or more effective.

Health psychology reflects a more holistic approach but largely through a rigorous and scientific methodology. It therefore embraces the biological aspects of health and illness yet overlaps and integrates with psychological and social phenomena. This biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977, 1980) is really the foundation of health psychology.

It may seem odd that conventional medicine has always tended to view the mind and the body as unrelated. Yet, this is precisely the basis of the medical model. Once we accept the principle that the mind and body are not separate entities but in fact influence each other greatly, it empowers individuals to realise the extent to which they can influence their own wellbeing. There is now compelling evidence, for example, that stress can and does directly affect the immune system leaving people prone to illness.

Those of you still hankering for a definition may find this widely accepted definition by Matarazzo (1980) helpful, although it may take a few re-reads before it really sinks in:

“Health Psychology is the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific and professional contributions to the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, the identification of aetiolic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness and related dysfunction, and the analysis and improvement of the health care system and health policy formation.”

What are Health Psychologists Interested in?

Apart from the definition previously given, the basic approach health psychologists take tends to fall into two broad categories. The first of these relates to attempts in trying to understand and explain the reasons that underpin health protective or health-risk behaviours. So, for example, psychologists are interested in how beliefs about health and illness can actually predict behaviour. This leads into the second category about how an understanding of such a relationship can be used to turn theory into practice (e.g. health promotion campaigns, self-help, various intervention strategies). To this end a host of issues have been targeted by health psychologists as being prime candidates in linking the mind to the body, within the context of the biopsychosocial model. These include:

- Cancer
- Eating
- Coping
- Emotion, health and illness
- Patient-doctor relationships
- Exercise
- Contraception & Abortion
- High blood pressure
- Screening
- Diabetes
- Health promotion
- Personality
- Heart conditions
- Pain
- Stress
- Health policy
- and more……

Psychology helps to illuminate the nature of the human condition in terms of two of our most valued commodities – health and happiness. We will review different approaches to research as well as the benefits and limitations of these approaches. We hope this short article has wet your appetite and that you will visit again soon.

Eight out of ten men in America use commercial deodorants. Together with antiperspirants, they are amongst the top selling personal care products, but how ‘clean’ do we need to smell? Antiperspirants and deodorants are classified as over-the-counter drugs not cosmetics, because their actions affect the structure and function of the body, especially the skin. Antiperspirants are formulated to retard the [healthy] flow of perspiration by lowering the skin’s pH level, in the area it is applied, thus inhibiting moisture [sweat]. Deodorants, which often contain antiperspirant ingredients, control the odor produced by the bacteria living off the interactions of the skin oils, sweat and other chemicals. Killing the bacteria solves only halve the problem. Red meat eaters smell different than vegetarians, and of the lot, raw foodists smell the sweetest. Think about it. Since most of the metabolic waste from one’s diet is expelled through the skin pores, it only highlights the obvious fact that food putrefaction of digestion causes [smelly] body odors.

What’s in commercial deodorants? You might well ask. Fragrances and metallic salts, especially aluminum, are used in both deodorants and antiperspirants. A poison to the nervous system, aluminum [the third most common element on earth] has been linked to Alzheimer’s, general body debilitation and neurological damage of brain cells. Fortunately, since antiperspirants and deodorants are considered drugs, not cosmetics, ingredients must be listed, so you can chose not to buy one that contains aluminum salts. Then we have to consider the fragrance aspect, which can be even more dangerous to our ageless health. Here’s an even more dirty industry that’s run on profit, alone. The fragrance industry is the least regulated of all cosmetics, and employs over 4000 industrial chemicals to tantalize our sense of smell, creating the illusions of attraction, love and power. Scent trade secrets ensures designer manufacturer’s the license to use two hundred or more highly volatile, mostly petroleum derived chemicals that undergo no testing for toxicity.

Fragrances, especially those found in popular personal care products such as colognes, after-shaves, and deodorant’s, causes diminished cerebral blood flow after only thirty minutes of inhalation, and here are some of the most common, toxic chemicals found in them all:

Ethanol, limonene, linalool, benzyl acetate, benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, A-terpineol, A-pinene, acetone, ethyl acetate, g-Terpinene, camphor, and methylene chloride,

Public awareness is demonstrating against fragrance infringement. More and more, fragrance-free zones are popping up in the workplace, church, cafe’, gyms and schools. Just like the non-smokers, demand a smoke-free environment, non-scent advocates want to breathe air uncontaminated by fragrance fumes and in California, demand has overpowered the industry and choice as to where one can and cannot wear colognes and perfumes.

We all have the right to breathe fragrance-free, fresh air. A change in lifestyle and the complete avoidance of harmful [or questionable] chemicals makes us want to make our own deodorants and colognes, so for encouragement to break the buy-cycle, here’s a few recipes to experiment, with.

Underarm deodorant

A sensual masculine deodorizing powder for everyday use

2 tablespoons dried sage leaves

1 tablespoon witch hazel bark

2 tablespoons calamus root

1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel

1 teaspoon finely grated lime peel

2 drops sage essential oil

2 drops neroli essentail oil

Grind the dried herbs and citrus peel into a fine powder and then sift. Add the essential oils and mix. Store in a tightly capped jar and store in a cool place away from sunlight.

Use on underarms daily, or as required.

Sandalwood deodorizing powder (excellent for the sport orientated man)

1 cup cornstarch

1 tablespoon dried rose petals

1 tablespoon dried calamus root

1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves

1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers

1/2 cup arrowroot

5 drops coriander essential oil

5 drops juniper essential oil

10 drops sandalwood essential oil

Grind herbs into a fine powder, then sift. Add the cornstarch and arrowroot and mix, then add the essential oils and mix again. Store this aromatic deodorizing powder in a colored (cobalt or amber are best) glass jar and cap tightly. Label and store in a cool cupboard away from sunlight.

Use as required.

A number of herbs and spices lend their natural aromatic potencies to preventing body odor. A folklore herbal combination of lovage, bergamot-mint, sage and thyme has an age-old reputation for its odor defying properties. Herbal teas are traditionally used for the cleansing and healing properties, too. The breath can be kept fresh with spice resin gargles and herbal tooth granule formulations with aloe, sage and prickly ash. Aromatic herbs such as sage and elder can scent foot and body powders, keeping the skin fresh and dry, too.

Most commercial antiperspirants or deodorant products actually do more harm than good. Perspiration is a natural and necessary process for healthy skin aeration and toxin elimination. Herbal, or other natural resource deodorizing products do not block the skin pores or alter the natural human scent of perspiration effecting the bacteria that causes foul smelling and staining odors.

These are the two units that parents recommend the most for taking the temperature of a young child or infant: the ear thermometer and the pacifier thermometer. Of the different thermometers, the pacifier one is often deemed less precise, yet is lauded for ease of use in terms of babies. Insert this in the toddler’s mouth as you would an ordinary pacifier to take their temperature. Using an ear thermometer, the temperature is taken with a digital instrument which is positioned next to the patient’s ear. On the market, are a number of different kinds intended for kids and for adults.

Moving on to the next type, is the device that adheres to the forehead of the patient. These are made of plastic or a kind of film that simply sticks to the forehead to obtain a temperature reading. These devices have been discovered to be less accurate than digital instruments, although they do function. Moreover, these do not provide as valid a reading as an ear thermometer. In case hygiene is your priority, there are throw-away thermometers on the market. This instrument is a plastic device that is put on the skin in order to get a temperature reading. After you get the reading, simply throw the device out. It is apparent then that you may find quite a few types of thermometers that are available. If you want the most accurate thermometer for your home first aid kit and have the money to spare, get a digital thermometer.