The Spanish flu is one of the world’s most giant disasters and there is no way to tell the cost to people emotionally because such an enormous number of lives were lost. The Spanish flu killed more people worldwide than the first world war. All told the Spanish flu took anywhere from 20 million to 40 million lives all over the world. Never before or since has one single sickness killed so many people as the Spanish flu.

The Spanish flu hit just as people were getting used to the idea that peace was finally in the works. SO just as people were happy that their husbands and sons were finally coming home they would get the Spanish flu and die. Just as things seemed to be getting better all over the world they took yet another turn to the worse with the Spanish flu.

Spanish flu showed up all over the world and it was a far different flu than any in the past for more than one reason. Of course the sheer number of people that the Spanish flu killed was unusual but it was not just that. Another unusual aspect of the Spanish flu was who it killed. Most of those who died from the Spanish flu were between the ages of 20 and 40. This is odd because most flu’s will kill the very young and the very old because they tend to have less immunities to the flu. But the Spanish flu was completely different than anything that the world had ever seen before.

Over 28% of Americans were sickened by the Spanish flu and in the States the average life span was cut drastically. It is believed that the life span of an American after the Spanish flu hit was ten years less than it had been before. The Spanish flu is one of the worst things that have ever happened to the world, the entire world.

If you lived in America you were 20 times more likely to die if you were in your twenties than before the Spanish flu came to town. The Spanish flu killed quickly and it killed mercilessly. Those who caught the Spanish flu would die terrible deaths full of choking and not being able to get air. Some say that you could be felled by the Spanish flu within a few hours. Children even had little rhymes about the Spanish flu that they would sing to themselves.

You may have first learned to pray at your mother’s knee. You decided that, in times of trouble, prayer could open up a pathway to enlightenment and peace. You might have said a prayer before a big test, before showing your parents your report card, or before the final football game of the season.

There appears to be a link between prayer and healing. Medical studies have even concluded that patients who have other people to pray for them tend to fare better than those without such prayer support. Whether it’s a single prayer or a flood of prayers, it has been said that prayer can move mountains—and that is particularly true when the mountain is debilitating illness.

Because of the connection between prayer and healing, it is no surprise that a number of doctors recommend prayer and meditation as stress relievers. Prayer forces an individual to take time out, to spend some quiet time alone with one’s thoughts. Prayer also requires that a person look outward toward a Superior Being for strength and support. Prayer can enable an individual to re-gain focus and concentration so that he or she can better work through problems and therefore experience less stress.

Prayer has been shown to be a positive energy force. It makes an individual feel wanted and loved by a Higher Power. It can help to motivate a person to seek solutions rather than to simply complain about his or her problems. Prayer can enable an individual to see difficulties in a new light, which can contribute to stress reduction.

It is important to point out that prayer for stress relief can come in a variety of forms. For instance, there is spoken prayer, where an individual recites words to his or her Creator. This may be the most basic form of prayer. Whether it’s an Our Father, a prayer to the Holy Spirit, or a quick ejaculation such as “Lord, help me,” prayer opens a window to communication to the Almighty and therefore leads to feelings of comfort.

Another type of prayer is meditation. This can be a particularly effective stress-reliever. Meditation forces an individual to contemplate something other than his or her own problems, whether it’s nature, a verse of Scripture, a scene from the life of God, or some other source. The reflection can lead to quiet contemplation which can slow one’s heart beat, lower one’s blood pressure, and even lead to feelings of euphoria.

A number of 12-step recovery programs have prayer as their foundation. The appeal to a Higher Power helps an individual to put his or her problems into perspective. Prayer recognizes that the individual is not alone—that there is a greater Being guiding his or her life. Prayer, in essence, can help individuals to cope when other methods—particularly drug or alcohol use—have failed.

Surveys show that the vast majority of Americans believe in God, so prayer is not a foreign concept to them. However, many Americans haven’t prayed in years. They may be afraid of condemnation from God or from other people. They may simply not know the words they should use. They may even feel so unworthy that they cannot summon up the courage to pray.

However, one advantage to prayer is that it can be picked up quickly. If you find it difficult to pray, consider picking up a book on prayer from a bookstore or from a religious group. You might even consider joining a prayer group or Bible study group in order to enrich your prayer life. If you’re still having trouble, you might consult with a pastor to find some effective prayer strategies.

The stresses of work and home can seem overwhelming at times. As a result, a number of people find that they must take time out to pray in order to better handle the many challenges they face. Prayer is like anything else—the more you do it, the more comfortable you become doing it. Even if you don’t have a specific faith tradition, prayer can be a powerful weapon in your arsenal against stress. If you start and end your day with prayer, you may be amazed at how your stress level seems to plummet.

The interpretation of dreams can be anything from a fun and interesting hobby to a serious pursuit. Many people interpret their dreams simply for the fun of it, and any enlightenment that is gained is a happy accident. Others make dream interpretation part of their careers, and take it quite seriously. For instance, many psychologists and therapists incorporate dream interpretation into their practice, and find that it is a very useful way to gain access to hidden desires and deep seated personality issues.

We will take the more fun approach in this article, by giving you some popular interpretations of symbols and objects frequently encountered in the dream world.

Dreaming of colors
Many people report dreaming in color all or most of the time, and colors can be very revealing when applied to the dream world. The meaning of a particular color is dependent on the color, and a quick guide is presented below.

 Pink – pink is the color of love, and pink in a dream often symbolizes the healing power of love
 Red – red can symbolize either passion or anger, depending on the circumstances of the dream
 Black – black is often thought to stand for the unconscious mind or the void. Black can often symbolize the fear of death and aging.
 Grey – grey is a middle color between black and white, and it often symbolizes fear or confusion.
 White – white is a symbol of purity, but like black, dreaming of white objects can often symbolize a fear of death. White can also be symbolic of a fear of new surroundings.
 Green – green is often a symbol for renewal (both spiritual and physical), growth or healing.
 Blue – blue is often used to symbolize spirituality. In certain circumstances blue could stand for sadness as well. It is important to look at the context of the dream.
 Yellow – yellow is a symbol for peacefulness, calm and hope.

Dreams about numbers
Many people put great stock in dreaming about numbers, and some people even claim that dream inspired numbers helped them win the lottery. While we can’t guarantee your dreams can make you rich, we can give you some of the meanings people have associated with numbers they encounter while in dream land.

 One – often stands for unity, wholeness or completeness.
 Two – can symbolize balance – spiritual balance, gender balance, equality, etc.
 Three – in the Christian religion three is the symbol for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three is a number often seen in dreams, and it can stand for unity, harmony and spiritual fulfillment.
 Five – the number five is often a symbol for upcoming change. Five in a positive context can mean the change has been accepted, while five in a negative or threatening environment can symbolize a fear of change.

Dreaming of a baby or a pregnancy
Dreams of pregnancy and babies can of course symbolize the wish for a child, but pregnancy and baby dreams can also be symbols for new experiences in your life. The longing for new experiences, or an upcoming life change, often trigger such dreams.

Of course those listed above are not the only interpretations possible fro these various dream symbols. Each dream must be examined in its own context, as well as in the context of the life of the dreamer. It may be obvious to you what a particular dream is about, even if other people would not interpret it that way.

According to an ever-increasing number of studies, food and food additives are the most common trigger for migraine headaches. Some studies put food as the culprit behind kicking off the physiological reaction that causes migraine headaches in as much as seventy percent of cases. Other, however, lay the blame for good at a much lower percentage.

It would be an exercise in futility, or at least an exercise in filling up what precious free (headache-free) time you have to test every single food that is related to triggering migraines. You definitely get ahead in the showdown by becoming aware of what foods you commonly eat that are known to trigger the deathly, pounding pain that drives you mad.

Avoiding a suspected food trigger or group of food triggers entirely, however, is not the answer. Doing this can adversely affect other areas of your health, not to mention that you’re just asking for headaches (migraine or otherwise) by skipping meals or not eating enough. Certain foods are almost guaranteed to be at the top of your list when hunting down the triggers of your migraines. For instance, foods that are rich in the amino acid tyramines (aged cheese, red wines) should always be considered. In addition, if you eat a lot of hot dogs and deli foods and notice you have a lot of migraines as well, you should know that certain nitrates used in large amounts in these kinds of food are probably the trigger. Chocolate is often a major suspect in the hunt for the true killers of head peace because of its high content of phenylethylamine, but several studies have questioned the validity of this dichotomy. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is probably public enemy number one when it comes to food additives and migraines.

There simply isn’t enough space here to provide a comprehensive list of all food and food additives suspect to play a part in triggering migraines, but here a list of the most common.

peanuts and peanut butter

caffeine in all products, not just coffee

dairy products

yeast

some beans (which includes peanut), as well as broad, lima, Italian, lentil, soy, peas

avocados

dried meats

sauerkraut

pickled herrings

canned soups and packet soup mixes

chicken livers

ripe banana

soy products as well as the bean itself

sodium nitrate, which is used to preserve hot dogs, bacon and cured meats

the preservative benzoic acid and its associated compounds

MSG, common name for monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer which is now in almost universal use in almost all processed foods

nuts

sourdough breads

cheeses which have been aged, i.e. cheddar

red wines, beer, champagne, vermouth

chocolate

anchovies

As alluded to early, going without food or severe curtailing of your diet is nothing but another trigger and should be avoided. Instead, plan regular meals throughout the day. You might want to try to a restrictive diet, in which you limit your food intake for about a month. (Restrictive diets are not recommended if you are pregnant, however, because by avoiding the potential trigger, you could also be upsetting your balance of nutrition.) If you experience no change in your migraine routine, you can probably assume that your trigger is not food-related. On the other hand, should you find that migraine situation improves over the course of this restricted diet, then simply add foods back your daily routine one at a time. If it is a certain kind of food that you are eating turns out to be responsible, the headache should probably trigger within twelve hours of consumption.

Eating a certain food should trigger a headache within 12 hours. Then you can limit those few foods to which you are sensitive. Never restrict all your possible food triggers. For one thing, it’s probably not going to help you narrow it down and for another avoiding all your favorite foods is just going to make you more stressful which may trigger the headache anyway.

Test yourself with food triggers to determine if food actually is a trigger for you.

Myth #1:

Migraines are easily recognized and diagnosed by doctors.

Reality:

Migraines are among the least properly diagnosed and most mistreated of all illnesses.

Up to 70% of migraines sufferers have never been properly diagnosed with having the illness. Migraines remain seriously underestimated and misunderstood, even among doctors treating the problem.

Myth #2:

Migraines are annoying and uncomfortable, but there’s nothing life-threatening about them.

Reality:

Migraines can induce several life-threatening conditions such as stroke, aneurysms and coma.

27% of all strokes experienced by those under the age of 45 are preceded by a severe migraine headache. 25% of all cerebral infarctions are associated with migraines. In addition, studies have also found links between migraines and epileptic seizures.

Myth #3:

Migraines are nothing more than really bad headaches.

Reality:

The headache is really just a symptom of a disease and the cause of the migraine pain is the opposite of the cause of the headache pain. Migraines are a disease that are genetically based. Those with a single parent who experience migraines themselves have a 50% chance of developing migraines.

Myth #4:

Migraines are psychological in nature, caused by external environmental factors.

Reality:

A migraine is a neurological disease, not a disorder.

Migraines truly are neurological diseases, caused by physiological and not psychological triggers. Migraines happen when cranial blood vessels dilate, causing nerve endings to release serotonin, a crucial factor in the development of the headache.

Myth #5:

Only women suffer from headaches.

Reality:

Women, men, adults and children all suffer from migraines.

While it’s true that the overwhelming majority of migraine patients are adult women, a significant number of suffers are male and an increasing number of children are being treated not just for migraines but for a particular type called abdominal migraines.

Myth #6:

There’s no doubting about whether that headache you’re suffering is really a migraine or not. If you’ve got a migraine, you’ll know it.

Reality:

Millions of people suffer from migraines without having been correctly diagnosed or thinking that it’s just a regular tension headache.

Myth #7:

If you aren’t suffering from the most severe symptoms like nausea and auras, then it’s probably not a migraine.

Reality: Only 20% of migraine suffers experience the kind associated with auras. And many never experience the more extreme symptoms such as nausea or vomiting.

Myth #8:

My headaches are triggered by allergies or changes in the weather conditions; therefore they are probably sinus headaches.

Reality:

Allergic reactions and changes in the weather can trigger migraines, but they are never the cause. In addition, migraines are offer accompanied by symptoms such as a runny nose or watery eyes that can be mistaken for sinus-based headaches.

Myth #9:

Migraines are caused by stress and tension.

Reality:

Again stress and tension can be triggers for migraines, but unlike tension headaches, migraines are not actually caused by any rise in your tension or stress levels.

Myth #10:

Only hypersensitive, uptight, perfectionist, compulsive types get migraines.

Reality: Research has been concluded that there is no such thing as a particular personality type who develops migraines. Therefore, put to rest all misconceptions you may have about a so-called “migraine personality."

Myth #11:

You can make the pain go away and feel better if you take more medication.

Reality: Far from providing relief, exceeding the recommended dosage of migraine medication may do far more harm than good. In fact, taking more medicine than recommended could result in even more serious health problems.

Myth #12:

People who complain about migraine headaches are just lazy slackers trying to get out of work.

Reality: Migraines are one of the most disabling diseases around. It disrupts lifestyles, affects relationships and is the cause behind over 10,000 annual visits to a physician each year. Most people who take days off from work due to migraines would be more than willing to trade in the pain for the work.

Myth #: 13

People bring migraines on themselves. It’s psychosomatic, man.

Reality: Only to the extent that heart disease or diabetes is brought on by sufferers. Migraines have a physiological cause that takes place inside one’s head. That does not mean that it is all in your head!

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