Welcome to The Caring Advocate (TCA) Online: An Independently Published Newsletter

Volume 4, No. 4. Summer, 2004

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TCA Site Contents Who We Are About This Site Contact Us Current Issue Previous Issue Subscribe Links Personal Pages Web Rings Recent Issues PDF Archive Add Our Logo Notable Quotes: "Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.." - Henry James ~♥~ "If we have not found heaven within, it is a certainty we will not find it without." - Henry Miller ~♥~ "In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love." - Marc Chagall ~♥~ "There is no instinct like that of the heart." - Lord Byron ~♥~ "Each of us makes his own weather, determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits." - Bishop Fulton J. Sheen ~♥~ "The gem cannot be polished without friction, not a man perfected without trials." - Chinese Proverb ~♥~ "Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances." - Unknown ~♥~

...The Lonely Vigil of The Caregiver... You know in your heart that caring for another is important work,and you give it your best. But sometimes it can feel like you are facing so much more than you can handle... We are here to remind you that you are not alone, and that there are lots of resources to help you, and many others who are in similar caregiving situations. We invite you to come in, look around, and join us, and we hope you will find a bit of comfort here as we move together into the 21st Century... Editor's Corner Feeling Good By Doing Good What feels as good as an ice cream sundae in summer, or winning the lottery, but won't increase your waistline or risk an audit from the IRS? Researchers have discovered that acts of altruism, of cooperation over cynicism, and selflessness over selfishness, light up the brain as surely as indulging in one's favorite treat. Researchers, performing their work at Emory University in Atlanta, used magnetic resonance imaging to take what might be called portraits of the brain on hugs. A study of neural activity in test subjects found that when the subjects chose mutualism over "me- ism," the mental circuitry normally associated with reward-seeking behavior swelled to life. And the longer the subjects engaged in a cooperative strategy, the more strongly flowed the blood to the pathways of pleasure. The study used M.R.I. technology to examine social interactions in real time, as opposed to taking brain images while subjects stared at static pictures or thought-prescribed thoughts. The author of the study, Dr. Gregory S. Berns, a psychiatrist, said his team was surprised by their findings, and had been expecting the opposite. The researchers, however, expressed that they were reassured by the findings, and thatit would appear that humans are actually configured for cooperation. An MRI scanner (Photo courtesy NASA) In yet another corroboration of what caregivers already know, science is finally confirming the obvious: Caring for another, while never easy, can ultimately be a rewarding experience for both caregivers and their care recipients. Maybe now that research is validating that which was previously immeasurable, maybe more and more states will follow California's suit, and provide benefits for those who care for others, That would be the greatest reward of all! ~Valerie Noelle-Cole~ Founder & Publisher Other Useful Health Resources and Health Searches NIH - MedLine - CDC - Virtual Hospital - HealthAtoZ - MedExplorer - MedHunt - ReproHealth - QueryServer - KidsHealth - Merck Manual - Merck Geriatrics - Cornell Med Library - Rare Diseases - Journal of Medicine - MD Linx - Yahoo - Google - Dmoz - Excite - AltaVista - Britannica - HotBot - Teoma - AllTheWeb - Ask Jeeves - MSN Search - Search.com - Overture Tell A Friend Visit Our Sister Site Guestbook Please help us spread the word about TCA Online and TCA Newsletter! Please sign our guestbook and share with us what you think about our site. © 2005 Valerie Noelle-Cole All rights reserved. No part of this site, nor any of the articles herein may be reproduced Without express written consent from the publisher. The Caring Advocate is a Registered Periodical with the US Library of Congress: ISSN 1536-6839. Thank you for visiting TCA online! This site is powered by Marketrends

Useful Caregiver Resources Family Caregiver Alliance 1-415-434-3388 NAC Family Care Resources 1-301-718-8444 Thou Shalt Honor Foundation 1-310-202-3370 National Organization For Empowering Caregivers 1-212-807-1204 Well Spouse Foundation 1-800-838-0879 Children of Aging Parents 1-800-227-7294 ElderWeb 1-309-451-3319 Empowering Caregivers 1-212-807-1204 National Family Caregivers Association 1-800-896-3650 Eldercare Locator 1-800-677-1116 Locate Support Groups MSN Online Support Group Search Yahoo Online Support Group Search Mental Help Net Self-Help Group Sourcebook Online Find Benefits Benefits Check Up/ Rx Checkup Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP) Health Resources HealthFinder US Centers For Disease Control Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine Mayo Clinic Web MD QuackWatch Consumer Affairs Health & Fitness ~♥~ "The major institution for social change is the human heart." - Ram Dass ~♥~