On December 14th, 2011, the FDA notified healthcare professionals and the public on the use of  (SSRI) antidepressants by women during pregnancy and the potential risk of a rare heart and lung condition known as Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN).

Click here for details on the FDA website







Many people have replaced prescription anti-depressants with therapeutic grade essential oils.*

Click here for essential oil alternatives to anti-depressant meds

* consult with your doctor before stopping any prescription anti-depressant medications.

From the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, a study from late 2000 set out to quantify the effectiveness of certain essential oils against a variety of respiratory tract pathogens.










Some highlights of the study:

"...In contrast to antibiotics, essential oils are highly volatile at room temperature. We therefore investigated a potential role for these oils as inhalation therapy, and determined the antibacterial activity of a wide variety of them against five pathogens: Haemophilus influenzae, penicillin-susceptible and -resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus."

"All of the essential oils examined exhibited antibacterial activity...Among the 14 essential oils, cinnamon bark, lemongrass and thyme oils showed the highest activity."

"Summarizing these results, we conclude that the antimicrobial action of essential oils by gaseous contact is most efficient when exposed at high vapour concentration for a short time"

Click here to view the full article

In our house, we diffuse Young Living essential oils depending on what we want to accomplish:
- Thieves essential oil blend (Cinnamon, Clove, Eucalyptus, Rosemary and Lemon) to combat colds/flu

- RC blend (Pine, Myrtle, Marjoram, Cyprus, Lavender, Peppermint, Tsuga, and four different species of Eucalyptus) for congestion, stuffiness and any respiratory related trouble.

- Lavender to help with sleep and stress-related issues

- Purification blend (Citronella, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Myrtle and Lavandin) to deal with odors and mold.

Plus many others.

I am forty-six, and have worn glasses for distance vision since I was seventeen. About six months ago I began to notice a change in my close up vision (text in a book looked blurry if I kept my glasses on, etc). I was surprised at how fast this deterioration came on. On August 5th I had an eye exam, and this was the first time that bifocals were included in my eyeglass prescription (shown below).

Here's where the Ningxia Red comes in. Recently, a friend posted a video on Facebook made by Marc Schreuder- Director of Formulations for Young Living Essential Oils (the video is posted below). I had been drinking Ningxia Red consistently until a few years ago when I stopped (I don't remember why - I just got out of the habit). After watching the video, and re-aquainting myself with the amazing health benefits of Ningxia Red (many others besides vision), I decided to perform an experiment on myself.

On August 6th, I began taking one ounce of Ningxia Red twice per day. I intend to continue this regimen every day for the next year, and then return to my eye doctor for a follow up eye exam. I will report any progress I observe throughout the year.

If you'd like to learn more about Ningxia Red (and try a sample), please join me on Tuesday evening, September 6th at 6:30pm at Heart & Sole Therapies, 23 Coach Street Canandaigua. If you plan to come, please submit a comment on this post so I can ensure we have enough space.

In the meantime, check out this website for more information: www.NingxiaRed.com

From the journal "Dermatological Therapy", researchers investigated efficacy, tolerability, and safety of a base cream containing 0.5% BAs (Boswellic Acid aka Frankincense) in the treatment of clinical manifestations of photoaging of facial skin with a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, split-face study.

Researchers noted the following significant improvements with topical BAs in comparison with placebo:
- the Dover's global score for photoaging
- tactile roughness
- fine lines
- increase of elasticity
- decrease of sebum excretion

They also observed that the treatment was always well tolerated without adverse effects.

Their conclusion?
"The present findings seem to indicate that topical application of BAs may represent a suitable treatment option for selected features of skin photoaging."

Click here to see the research abstract

Click here for more information about Young Living Frankincense essential oil

Exciting research from Italy has proven that tea tree essential oil (also known by its species name Melaleuca Alternifolia) is capable of inhibiting the growth of melanoma cells and of overcoming multidrug resistance (MDR).

Click here to read the full abstract


Click here for more information about Young Living's Melaleuca Alternifolia