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Science Explains 5 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Try Cupping

When you learn about the benefits of cupping for improving your health, you will change your mind about it being an outdated and barbaric medical practice. Conversely, you may even decide to try it for yourself. When you think of medieval medical practices, you may think of leeches or depictions of cupping in historical movies. The doctor holds a flame briefly under a glass jar or cup before placing it on the back of a sick patient. Thus, they create a vacuum that then sucks the skin up into the glass jar.

The practice of cupping seems so contrary to our understanding of how modern medicine works that we find it hard to believe it can benefit our health. But modern medicine has proved just that; this ancient practice really can help heal the sick.

There are different types of cupping. However, the entire practice comes from the Traditional Chinese Medicinal practice of acupressure, which has proven therapeutic effects. This article examines the benefits of cupping based on scientific evidence. We will also explain the types of therapies that are available.

5 Ways Cupping Works To Improve Your Health

Cupping is not something you should ever try at home because of the potential risk of injury, infection, or doing more harm than good. The International Cupping Therapy Association (ICTA) has an international list of trained therapists who use extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology to improve your health. You can find a practitioner worldwide through the link on their website.

Wet cupping therapy involves minor surface cuts to the skin, and the suction is only created by dry cupping. Both types of cupping work to improve your health, but most of the research has been on wet cupping’s effects. Wet cupping is used in traditional Asian and Arabic medicine and dates back thousands of years.

Cupping is simply applying suction to the skin surface to create negative pressure. The International Cupping Therapy Association says that cupping can improve your health if you suffer from several physical and mental health problems, including the common cold or flu, depression, arthritis, anxiety, sciatica, intestinal problems, muscle pain, and even cellulite and stretch marks.

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The ICTA lists these health benefits of cupping:

Here are some benefits of this ancient Eastern therapy.

  • Deep tissue stimulation
  • Relieves inflammation
  • Promotes the flow of lymphatic fluid to stimulate the immune system
  • Pulls blood supply to the skin
  • Stretches muscle and connective tissue
  • Encourages circulation
  • Loosens scar tissue adhesions
  • Stimulates the flow of Qi energy

Five Proven Benefits of Cupping Therapy:

1. Increases immune system function

In a review of an ancient cupping therapy technique called Al-hijamah, which is a wet cupping technique, Egyptian and Saudi Arabian researchers say that the therapy ‘may be a promising treatment for increasing immunity of human body, potentiating pharmacological effects of modern drugs and clearing blood from pathological substances causing and related to pathogenesis of many diseases.’ The research showed that cupping therapy helped increase immune system function by 156% when it was added to conventional pharmacological treatment. Without the drug therapy, cupping increased the immune system natural killer cell response by 133%.

2. Reduces chronic pain

The joint Egyptian and Saudi Arabian studies also found that chronic pain intensity reported by patients decreased after therapy. The amount of pain reported by patients seeking help decreased by almost 34% after one month of treatment with cupping, 40% after two months, and 59% after three months of therapy. This was true for people who have rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, the benefits may also extend to other types of chronic pain.

3. Viral and bacterial illnesses defenses improve

Herpes, influenza, viral hepatitis, acne, dermatitis, and cellulitis are all health problems that can be improved by cupping therapy. The ways that the therapy improves health are complex because the treatment works on multiple bodily systems simultaneously. In the neurological system, neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins are all released during therapy. In the immune system, temporary skin irritation activates the immune function. As a result, it increases interferons, tumor necrotizing factor, and lymphatic fluid flow.

4. Reduced rates of cardiovascular disease

Systolic hypertension, heart failure, vascular leg blood clots, myocardial ischemia and arrhythmia, and even myocardial infarction or heart attack instances were reduced by using cupping therapy as reported by the Egyptian-Arabian study.

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5. Decreased headaches

Headache and migraine pain can be so debilitating that people can miss work and have a financial impact due to the pain that they experience. People may also miss out on fun social activities and hobbies that they used to enjoy (pre-headache!). The good news is that the therapy improves the health of those dealing with headaches.

A joint research study between the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in Iran and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA studied wet cupping therapy as a remedy for headaches. They say that for patients who tried the therapy 3 times over a 28 day period, ‘headache severity decreased by 66% following wet-cupping treatment. Treated patients also experienced the equivalent of 12.6 fewer days of headache per month. We conclude that wet-cupping leads to clinical relevant benefits for primary care patients with headache.’

The Law of Dharma That Will Change Your Life

We are all aware of what karma is. It has been used quite a lot in the Western world in the 21st Century. However, karma only tells part of the story. Dharma is the other!

We must differentiate between dharma and karma in order to understand dharma better and how it works. Here are the definitions of dharma and karma, as explained by Difference Between:

Karma: refers to the actions that one does in relation to one’s dharma. In a sense, dharma could be seen as one’s lifelong task, and karma, the steps that one has to take to complete the task.

Dharma: refers to one’s duty in this life. Your dharma varies according to your class, your family, and the time of your life.

So, dharma is purpose – what you set out to do in life. It is the end goal, whereas karma is what you do to get to the end goal (or what you do not do).

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The Law of Dharma is the 7th and last law in Deepak Chopra’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In the Law of Dharma, Deepak Chopra asks us to: “Seek your higher Self. Discover your unique talents. Ask yourself how you are best suited to serve humanity. Using your unique talents and serving others brings unlimited bliss and abundance.”

This law is the granddaddy of them all, for when we have understood fully and perfected it, all other laws are put in motion by the Universe and it feels like everything is falling into place. Chopra continues in Amber-Allen: “Every person is a never-ending project of the Universe.” The project belongs to the Universe but the path is yours. You decide the path to abundance and the Universe will make it happen.

The Law of Dharma That Will Change Your Life

Dharma and work

The easiest example of seeing dharma in action is through work and how people serve their clients and others that help to put money in your pocket. In the world of work, there is no such thing as a “bad job”, even for the most hated of professions, for example taxman, banker, lawyer, accountant, or dentist. These people serve in their job to put food on the table and keep the roof over their heads. They do not become bad people just because the job requires them to do unpopular things. Naturally, if one such person decides to do these unpopular things for their own gain (i.e. steal), this affects their karma in a negative way, which in turn affects how they reach their end goal – their dharma.

On the opposite side of the coin, if you have good motivation and good heart despite making many mistakes, you are practicing dharma, and automatically, you are engaging in virtuous activities. For the record, this is not a free pass for anyone who does not know how to do a job without the correct competency levels. In terms of difficulty within the professional realm, desiring work with no challenges is completely redundant. It is like asking for lemonade without water. The late Jim Rohn says it best when he suggests: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.”

Related article: 12 Laws of Karma That Will Change Your Life

Here is the million dollar question: “Do you know what your dharma is?”

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

11 Behaviors In A Relationship That Reveal Untrue Love

You met that great person a few months ago, and everything on the surface seems swell. However, something in the back of your mind tells you that the oasis of love seems like a mirage, yet you cannot quite put your finger on it. Have you really found the sweet water of love amongst hundreds of square miles of dating desert? These red flags tell you what to look for in the grander scheme of things

11 Signs You Haven’t Found True Love Yet (Even If You Think You Have)

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1. They do not read your mind.

No, not like Mel Gibson in “What Women Want.” But how can anyone possibly enjoy a special relationship with a person who do not have those “you read my mind” moments every once in a while? Having these moments shows how strong a connection you both have, and the feeling when it happens is the ultimate in soulmates. It almost makes the intangible tangible. One look is all fireworks take to go off in your mind. Of course, it is not the be all and end all but not having this happen is not a good start.

2. There is zero chemistry.

We need physics to get to chemistry. Therefore, if your magnet of attraction is not functioning correctly, how can a chemical reaction occur in their brain? This applies even more so when you are in a relationship. No chemistry makes a relationship go stale and be lifeless. We only get a maximum of two years’ worth of chemistry from Mother Nature to start relationship between soulmates, after that we must put in the effort. However, people go on autopilot romantically because “we have them”. Unless you are a necrophiliac, this becomes a soulless relationship.

3. They never compliment you.

Mother Teresa once said, “there is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.” We want the people that we care about to feel great, do we not? The best way to do that is to compliment them. An example for the ladies: “You look beautiful in that pink dress.” And the fellas: “You are so amazing taking me to the theme park on your day off.” It is a little reminder that they are essential people in our lives. If that rarely happens, let alone wanting to bring you down a peg or two, you must ask yourself why.

4. You feel judgment instead of love on a consistent level.

“That cheese you are eating stinks more than your awful smelly feet. Put it away and take a shower.” Being judgemental is like cyanide for relationships, except the poison is gradual and it gnaws away at what you have with your beau/belle. Carolyn Hidalgo of Tiny Buddha agrees: “Many believe love is putting up with, sacrificing, tolerating, or suffering in silence thinking their commitment is proof of their love. This is not love.” Do you think that this constitutes a special relationship? Hidalgo adds: “Understanding, seeing, hearing, and accepting someone for who they are is love.” In other words, talking to your sweetheart and calmly conveying your dislikes can promote individuality within the two-person union. Mel Gibson is shouting, “Freedom!”

5. Your love seems to forget your existence.

Out of sight, out of mind? You should not be. They say relationships should be fifty-fifty, but does your squeeze put a hundred percent into their fifty? That text in the morning tells you you are in their thoughts. Bringing soup or going to the pharmacy for you when you are unwell implies that they are also there in the bad times. Remembering the great time you both had at the beach and laughing about how they beat you at the game you both made up (you let them win, of course!). These are just three examples of how much you mean to them. It is all about how high you are in their list of priorities.

6. You feel the need to retype text messages.

Does it feel like you are writing a Pulitzer Prize novel texting your honey bunny something that usually takes five seconds? Type, delete, and start over. Rinse, wash, repeat. Worrying about what to say in a text should worry you and set off alarm bells in your head. Soulmates text each other, and if the correct message is not conveyed, they explain themselves.

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7. You are finding yourself forever explaining their actions.

Friends and family mention something to you about their behavior and you explain why, making you feel like you are caught in the middle. Kim Quindlen of the Thought Catalog writes: “You make excuses for why they treat you the way they do. You have to reassure your loved ones that you’re with the right person, instead of them being able to see it themselves from the way you two behave around each other and the way your partner treats you.” It does not matter whether their behavior caused tension, anger, confusion, perplexity, or just plain old curiosity, soulmates do not need to do this on behalf of their other half.

8. No work on the relationship on their part.

Relationships are a one-man tango, said no-one ever. There is no hundred percent in their fifty shares of the relationship, not even in the smaller stuff. “You invite them to come out to trivia with your friends, or to go to your family’s house for dinner. Sometimes they come and sometimes they don’t, but they never seem too excited about it,” says Quindlen.

Soulmates jump at the chance to spend quality time with you and the people you hold dear. If that is not the case, you will no doubt also experience the following, as Quindlen informs: “And they never make much of an effort to incorporate you into their life either. You know very little about their friends and family, even though you’d like to.” You are not invited to the family home where Trevor or Trixie grew up or hang out with the crazy crew on a Saturday night, keeping you at arm’s length. Thus leading to Quindlen’s conclusion: “And sometimes, it feels as though you’re leading two separate lives that barely even overlap one another.”

9. They are not happy to see you.

This one is self-explanatory, but seeing as though we love our readers… You are in a relationship because the other person makes you feel good in each other’s company. No one really believes the rom-com movie hype of beaming with happiness unless you return from touring Iraq. No matter the differences or physical distances, they should always be happy to see you, and vice versa. If not, distances will not just be physical. You will feel miles away from your love dove even though they are right next to you. Is that a soulmate to you? Hint: Check the Cambridge Dictionary definition above.

10. No apparent interest in the future as a couple.

Why are you in a committed relationship if there is no long-term future? It is like having no mozzarella cheese on a pizza or no Jolly Roger flag on a pirate ship. We are not discussing marriage, at least not yet, but having and pursuing the same life goals together. Of course, a soulmate will talk about the future at length, what they want and how they intend to get it – whatever “it” is. If this is not happening, there is no way that they can be your soul-matey. Arrrrrrrr, me hearties!

11. There is an uneasy sense of insecurity within the relationship.

The first two words that spring to mind are: “on” and “edge”. That is what insecurity feels like in a relationship. You do not want to set them off, do you? You are afraid of what Trevor or Trixie might think if you say they are wrong or contradict them. With a soulmate, everything seems plain sailing. You talk with candour, respecting each other’s points to of view. Naturally, one can get upset or angry with opinions, but understanding soon follows.

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Final Thoughts on Finding a Genuine Love Relationship

As True Love Dates’ Debra Fileta points out, “Remember, you have the power to teach people how they can and can’t treat you.” If you do not like something, you either change it or compromise by interacting with the other relationship faction. Only you will know what to do if you find these signs, but if you are stuck, look no further than the Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of a soulmate. Good luck, mate!

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

5 Signs Your Back Pain Is Actually Sciatica (And How to Reverse It)

Back pain is just a part of daily life for many people, but if you’re trying to manage the pain without any improvement, it could be one of the five signs of the more severe problem of sciatica. We have the information you need to know if your back pain is related to nerve damage or compression and what you can do to reverse it in this article.

5 Clear Signs Your Back Pain Is Sciatica (And How to Reverse It)

The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest in the body. It runs from the low back down to the toes of both of your legs. Pain anywhere along this nerve could be a sign of sciatica, which can be caused by pinching or compression, inflammation, or damage to the sciatic nerve.

In the most severe cases of sciatica, patients are on bed rest for an extended period with no relief from their painful symptoms. In these extreme cases, someone may require surgery to correct the interior of a vertebral disk that has ruptured, has a lesion, or a bulge that is causing pressure on the sciatic nerve.

Excessive twisting, weight-bearing, or straining of the back can all lead to disk problems leading to sciatica pain. Seek the guidance of a medical professional if you are concerned that your back pain is lasting longer than a week, is getting worse, or is limiting your range of motion.

1. Unstable walking

Sciatica can affect the function of the lower legs and feet, and pinching or blockage of the nerve can lead to numbness, tingling, and in some severe cases, total sensory block, which can feel like having a prosthetic limb. With this sciatica problem, the patient may have had lower back pain and difficulty walking or standing for long periods, may often stumble when walking, or may feel like they need the help of a cane to feel more stable.

In these cases, the patient with back pain will experience a severe pain episode, but the pain suddenly goes away. Unfortunately, the pain going away is a sign of a more severe problem because it means that there is no transmission of pain being sent from the point of the pinched nerve either down to the foot or back to the brain to signal a problem.

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2. Pain when coughing or sneezing more often

Researchers at the Department of Neurosurgery at Otago University Medical School in New Zealand say ‘One of the most characteristic signs in sciatica and low-back pain due to disc protrusion is an exacerbation of pain on coughing or sneezing. This is, of course, a feature of ‘root pain’ in general.’

It’s a clear sign of sciatica if your lower back feels stiff and the muscles are rigid, and you also experience pain when couching or sneezing. The back muscles are rigid to protect the spine, and the sciatica nerve, almost like a splint would be for a broken leg.

3. Difficulty raising your leg straight out

The New Zealand researchers also looked at patients who had limitations on their range of motion in lifting a leg straight out of them or out in front and slightly at an angle to the right or left. They say that in patients who experience pain when raising a leg straight out, the pain is ‘due to spasm of the hamstring muscles, and this would result from a reflex-mechanism initiated by increases in the strains within the affected nerve root.’

4. Pain can be severe and sharp

Some back pain feels like a warm sensation, tightness, or throbbing in an area the size of the palm of your hand, and this is a sign of typical muscle strain from overexertion. This pain is much less severe than sciatica pain and will subside with rest. A clear sign of sciatica back pain is a sharp, intense feeling like you were zapped with a live electrical wire.

The good news for this kind of low back pain sufferers is that sciatica pain can be lessened and even reversed. A study of chiropractic manipulation treatment to relieve sciatica pain found that ‘Patients receiving active manipulations enjoyed significantly greater relief of local and radiating acute LBP (lower back pain), spent fewer days with moderate-to-severe pain, and consumed fewer drugs for the control of pain.’

5. Pain travels down one leg

Shooting, traveling, or radiating sharp pain is another clear sign that your back pain is related to sciatica and not a pulled muscle. The sciatica nerve extends to the toes, and the entire length of the nerve can carry the sensation of sciatica pain. Pain that travels in the body is usually nerve-related.

Fortunately, some simple yoga poses involving bending at the waist can help reverse sciatica pain. A hamstring stretch done by sitting with your legs out in front of you can loosen the hips and lower back muscles to ease pressure and tightness against the sciatic nerve.

Other Habits to Reduce Sciatica Pain

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Reduce sciatica pain with good nutrients

An effective way to reduce your sciatica pain is to eat foods rich in good nutrients. Eating these foods lowers your inflammation. Choose a diet rich in fresh vegetables, wholesome fruits, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds to decrease inflammation and improve overall health.

Drink healthy teas to reduce your sciatica pain

Certain teas boost your immunity and reduce inflammation. Drinking these healthy teas can help you deal with sciatica pain naturally. The best inflammation lowering teas to drink if you have sciatica pain are:

  • Ginger tea
  • Black teas
  • Turmeric teas
  • Green teas

Heat and ice therapy

You can get relief from your sciatica pain by alternating ice and heat on your lower back and legs. Ice reduces inflammation to ease your pain. The heat causes your blood to flow to the painful areas, which helps bring healing to those areas. The sciatica pain may cause you to overuse other muscles as you compensate. Then you end up with pain in other parts of your body. Use ice and heat therapy to help relax these different muscles.

Pressure Relief Cushion

Sitting a lot at work could be why you’re suffering from sciatica. It may be time for you to purchase a pressure relief cushion for your desk chair. These pressure relief cushions help you sit appropriately, so your weight is distributed correctly. This position takes the pressure off your spine and relieves your sciatica discomfort.

Good posture

Poor posture is one of the significant causes of sciatica pain. Having good posture when sitting or standing helps your body have an average balance. It also relieves tension in your body. If you notice yourself slumping or swaying your back, pull in your stomach and put your shoulders back relaxed to regain proper posture.

Lose weight

If you’re overweight, it can make sciatica worse. Extra weight means extra pressure on your spine, muscles, and joints. If your spine pushes down on your sciatica nerve, you’ll feel a burning pain radiating in your buttocks and down your leg. Back pain alone probably isn’t sciatica.

 Gentle stretches

Do some gentle stretches to get relief from your sciatica discomfort. Here are three for you to try.

1 – Pelvic Tilt

This stretch will strengthen your lower stomach muscles and stretch your lower back.

  • Lie on your back, knees bent.
  • Breathe easily as you tighten your stomach muscles with your back flat on the floor.
  • Title your pelvis upward towards the ceiling and hold for 5 seconds.
  • Repeat ten times.

2 – Knee to chest

This reduces nerve compression in your lower back.

  • Lie on your back, knees bent
  • Gently pull up your right knee to your chest.
  • Hold with your hand for 10 seconds.
  • Then do your opposite knee and hold for 10 seconds.
  • Repeat this five times on each knee.

3 – Leg extension

This strengthens your stomach and stretches your leg muscles.

  • Get on all fours.
  • Pull in your stomach to keep your back flat.
  • Raise one leg upwards behind you, straight out
  • Hold for 5 seconds.
  • Repeat with the other leg.
  • Do this ten times. Try extending the opposite arm with each leg extension if you get good at this.

Massage

Getting a massage can relieve the pain because of sciatica. Find an experienced masseuse who knows how to massage the sciatica nerve area.  A massage could be helpful in the first few weeks to reduce your pain and increase your mobility.

Take magnesium

Magnesium soothes inflamed nerves. Eat magnesium-rich foods in your diet, including:

  • Almonds
  • Cashews
  • Dark chocolate
  • Edamame
  • Kidney beans
  • Oatmeal
  • Peanuts
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Shredded wheat cereal

You can also take calcium and magnesium supplements to get extra magnesium to reduce your pain.

NSAIDs short term

For short-term relief, take ibuprofen or acetaminophen. If the pain is intense, these drugs can help you relax to begin doing some stretches. Acute sciatica lasts anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. Chronic sciatica can last up to eight weeks. Depending on what’s causing your sciatica, it may take longer. Don’t take NSAIDs for more than a couple of days, then move on to more natural remedies to deal with your pain.

Chiropractor

Your chiropractor can manipulate your back to improve your spine alignment and bring you some relief. They can tell you if you have damaged your spine with a herniated disc or maybe spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of your spinal canal. Getting your spine manipulated reduces the pain and heals the sciatica nerve damage.

Change your position frequently

If you sit or stand a lot, keep changing your position frequently. You may want to lie down for five to ten minutes to allow your sciatica to settle down and your nerves to relax. Take a hot shower to ease the pain and relax your muscles.

Get more hip strength and flexibility.

Your glute muscles support your walking motion. If these muscles are weak or tight and you sit a lot at work or school, you’ll be susceptible to sciatica problems. This combination puts strain on your hip muscles around the sciatic nerve. You end up with burning pain that runs up and down your leg and buttocks. Improving your hip strength can ease this type of pain. Doing exercises or stretches helps strengthen these areas. Also, increasing your flexibility with yoga or pilates will help reduce your sciatica pain.

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Final Thoughts on Managing Sciatica Pain

Sciatica pain disrupts your ability to do your normal daily activities. You can try these (mostly) natural ways to relieve your sciatica pain and get your pain-free life back. Whether you try taking extra magnesium, doing gentle stretches, or using a pressure relief cushion, these suggestions are tried and accurate methods for sciatica pain relief. Don’t give up. It’s possible to heal your sciatica to get back to the busy, active lifestyle you love.

If You Sweat A Lot At Night, This May Be Why

The cool side of your pillow is a blessing, but if you sweat a lot at night, it might mean that flipping the pillow is not enough to help your possible underlying health problems. In this article we will look at some of the most common reasons for sweating a lot at night and what, if anything, you can do to help relieve that flushed, hot, sticky, sweaty nighttime feeling and help you rest in cool comfort.

Summer heat or heavy bedding is not the only reason you might sweat a lot at night, but they can certainly contribute. Your body’s temperature can fluctuate through the night as you sleep, so even a thermostat that is set to keep you cool might not be enough for your body’s peak body temperature at night.

If you sweat a lot at night, this may be why…

Night sweats are a symptom that can be found worldwide, and although most people associate them with menopause, both men and women can feel the heat at night for multiple reasons. In a recent study of the worldwide prevalence of people who sweat at night, researchers found that people in every continent around the globe except for Antarctica experienced these symptoms.

For women going through menopause, the researchers say ‘The prevalence of these symptoms varies widely and may be influenced by a range of factors, including climate, diet, lifestyle, women’s roles, and attitudes regarding the end of reproductive life and aging.’

In other words, if your knowledge and beliefs about menopause don’t include that you may sweat a lot at night, then you might either not notice, or not be concerned about it.

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What it means if you sweat a lot at night

We humans aren’t covered with fur to keep us warm, so our bodies naturally exchange heat with the air around us. As we sweat, we create an evaporative cooling with our skin. The moisture evaporates. Thus, the surface of the skin feels cool to the touch, helping us to regulate our internal body temperature. As a result of sweating, we require a greater intake of water. Remember to hydrate throughout the day if you sweat a lot at night.

Medication

Many prescription medications have the side effect of making your body sweat at night. For example, tamoxifen for those going through breast cancer treatment is one common culprit of night sweats. Also on the list are medications that lower blood sugar levels as we will discuss further in this article. Another major class of drugs that may make you sweat a lot at night are antidepressants.

Hormonal changes

Menopause is the most common hormonal change that people associate with being a cause of night sweats, and for women this is sometimes true when natural levels of estrogen decrease with age. But men also experience hormonal changes that can raise body temperature overnight and cause sweating.

Men can in fact experience andropause, where levels of testosterone decrease later in age, causing night sweats. A natural decline in testosterone levels can cause sweating at night, but it is more pronounced in men who are undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. Researchers looked at the side effects of androgen deprivation therapy in men who were being treated for prostate cancer and found that ‘Hot flashes did impact on everyday functioning, and night sweats regularly disturbed sleep patterns and led to participants feeling tired and irritable. Participants reported a lack of control over their hot flashes and night sweats. There was reluctance among our sample to disclose the type of symptoms experienced to others.’

A viral illness

A virus will give you a fever and this lingering illness in the body can cause you to sweat more. Sometimes a virus is in your system long term, as in the example of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. People with HIV report more night sweating than others without the disease.

Depression and anxiety

Depressed mood may be linked to body temperature fluctuations, even if you aren’t taking antidepressants. The reasons for this may be in varying levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. Anxiety and a history of panic attacks are another potential factors that are related to imbalances in neurotransmitters and may be why you may sweat a lot at night.

Changes in your diet

Dietary changes may be a cause of sweating a lot at night. One potential culprit that might be in your diet are soy products. Soy consumption has been linked to sweating a lot at night. Other spicy foods can raise your temperature a little bit while you eat and digest them. So if you eat them right before bed you may notice yourself sweating more than usual, but otherwise the heat factor will decrease as you sleep.

What you can do if you sweat a lot at night

Valerian is an herb that can help you relax at night. Additionally, it can also help regulate your body temperature as you sleep, preventing the stickiness of night sweats.

The 4 Elements of Romantic Chemistry: Do You Have Them All?

Chemistry is what we say that two people have that creates a strong romantic connection between them, and there are 4 elements of chemistry that indicate the strength of your bond. You and your partner might have zero, some, or all four of these elements of romantic chemistry when you are together.

Romantic chemistry is more than just a sexual attraction to your partner, although things may have certainly started out that way when you first saw each other. Sexual chemistry is not enough to build a relationship on, but if you and your mate have all 4 of the elements of romantic chemistry, it’s a good sign that you have a bond that will last.

4 Elements That Create Romantic Chemistry. Do You Have Them All?

What we think and say that we want in a romantic partner is different from what we actually end up choosing. This has been shown in speed dating study conducted by Northwestern University where participants were asked what they were looking for prior to the dating sessions on levels of physical attractiveness and income potential. However, the actual preferences for partners after the speed-dating event showed that people were not able to identify why they chose certain potential romantic partners over others.

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1. Physical romantic chemistry

When you and your partner can’t keep your hands off of each other, that’s physical romantic chemistry. You want to be close, and you spend a lot of intimate time together. Looking into each others eyes, you know that your partner desires you and enjoys the physical closeness that you share.

It is difficult to have excellent physical chemistry without also having emotional feelings of love or caring for your partner as well. Physical chemistry may seem more sexual, but it is also a sign of emotional romantic chemistry. Trust for each other is important to physical chemistry.

2. Emotional romantic chemistry

Your partner feels supported emotionally and so do you when you have emotional romantic chemistry. You make sure that you do the emotional work in your relationship to build positive emotional feelings in each other. You also help manage negative emotions when you recognize them in your partner by asking them to talk with you about their feelings.

When partners can sense each others’ emotional states, it’s a good sign that they have this element of romantic chemistry. Researchers who looked at romantic relationships and emotional intelligence say ‘Individuals who have better understanding of others’ emotions in conjunction with insight into their own emotions may enter relationships with more compatible partners. Emotional competencies may make it more likely that individuals with these competencies establish pleasant and mutually satisfying relationships because of their ability to understand and manage their own emotions and their ability to perceive, understand, and help regulate their relationship partner’s emotions.’

The research goes on to say that lacking emotional intelligence is not a death sentence for couples because they can learn this skill. The study suggests, ‘If emotional intelligence contributes to better interactions between partners, training couples in emotional skills may help to improve relationships. Recent studies have shown that it is possible to increase state emotional intelligence with training.’

3. Spiritual romantic chemistry

A belief system doesn’t have to be religious based. Some couples find a romantic chemistry through their similar beliefs in environmentalism, vegetarian diet, reverence for life, or other strong beliefs that do not necessarily rely on religious views as their basis. On the other hand, some couples have very deeply held traditional religious views and would want their partner to convert to have the same beliefs as they do.

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Spiritual romantic chemistry can be maintained even when partners are of different faiths. A study in the Journal Marriage and the Family looked at interfaith marriages among Catholics and found that interfaith households where only one partner is Catholic are able to maintain a strong religious commitment and do not become more secularized when they marry someone from a Protestant faith.

4. Intellectual romantic chemistry

Compatibility with your partner in your intelligence is the final element that creates romantic chemistry. However, it is entirely likely that you and your partner have different levels of education or levels of book learning intelligence, but you may be compatible in other ways.

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For example, being able to openly discuss ideas, challenge each others’ beliefs, encourage learning by your partner, or share what you have learned means that you have created a good level of intellectual romantic chemistry in your relationship. Remember that there are other types of intelligence too, for example, a farmer has a great deal more knowledge about plants than you might and a mechanic knows a great deal more about car repairs than you might want to know.

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