Posted on May 22nd, 2008 — in Big Medicine
Most Americans do not get enough calcium in their diets; the average daily intake is 500 milligrams shy of the RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) of 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams.
Gastric bypass patients are even more unlikely to intake adequate dietary calcium and without supplementation they may become calcium deficient which ultimately results in osteoporosis. Weight loss surgery patients are limited by the volume of calcium rich foods they may consume. In addition, the malabsorption issue resulting from gastric bypass presents another problem. Since the bowel does not readily absorb calcium and the stomach is drastically shortened there is limited opportunity for the calcium to be absorbed in the body.
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body - we have two or three pounds of it, most of which is located in the bones and teeth. In addition to building bones and teeth, calcium is an electrolyte required for transmitting nerve signals, water balance, acid/alkaline balance and maintaining osmotic pressure. It helps the blood to clot and is necessary for the heart muscle function. It’s long been known that calcium will aid in the prevention of osteoporosis, but new studies are identifying calcium for it’s anticancer actions within the colon.
Most dietary calcium comes from dairy products but can also be found in sardines, canned salmon, green leafy vegetables and tofu. The National Academy of Sciences has raised the calcium guideline to 1,000 milligrams a day for people under 51, and to 1,200-1,500 milligrams a day for people over 51.
Gastric bypass patients can do three things to better assimilate calcium in the
body:
First, take a chewable calcium supplement twice daily.
Second, exercise consistently.
Third, enjoy sunshine every day.
Chewable supplements taken twice daily will more rapidly dissolve and assimilate into the body than hard pills. They should be 500 milligrams each; the body cannot absorb more than 500 milligrams at a time. The best supplements are calcium citrate, calcium carbonate and calcium lactate.
Next, studies show that people who exercise regularly better assimilate calcium into the body than sedentary individuals. Even though US Astronauts take calcium supplements in orbit, they return to Earth calcium deficient; NASA believes lack of physical activity prevents their bodies from assimilating the calcium.
Finally, get some sunshine. Twenty minutes a day of direct or indirect sunlight will give the body plenty of natural vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin”, which is necessary for calcium assimilation.
Doing these three things will make you feel great today and will contribute to healthier aging. Osteoporosis is an epidemic in this country and is directly attributed to calcium deficiency. We all know that when an elderly person falls and breaks a hip death is imminent. Osteoporosis is nearly always the reason why hipbones break when older people fall. In the case of osteoporosis there is nothing the body can do to defend itself from the loss of calcium associated with aging. Supplementation is necessary throughout adulthood to prevent chronic calcium deficiency.
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com
Fresh & insightful content is added daily, check in often.
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Posted on April 28th, 2008 — in Big Medicine
For the last several years, products containing hoodia extract have been featured in ads all over the internet and similar products are sold at large retailers. Media coverage of hoodia cactus extract and its ability to suppress the appetite has been extensive. Correspondents from CBS and the BBC have traveled to Africa to sample the plant. No one knows exactly how long hoodia gordonii has been used by South African natives. The Bushmen or San people have lived in the areas surrounding the Kalahari Desert for thousands of years. The San live a hunter-gatherer way of life. Meaning that they eat what animals they can hunt and what plants they can gather. The hoodia gordonii plant is not a particularly pleasant tasting plant, it was typically eaten by hunters to suppress appetite and thirst when other food was not available.
Products containing hoodia extract are being sold to help dieters achieve their goals. Sticking to a low-calorie diet is not an easy thing to do for anyone. People with a naturally high metabolism may not understand. People with a naturally low appetite may not understand. Those of us with a weight problem and a sluggish metabolism, but what used to be called a “healthy” appetite understand completely. If, hoodia cactus extract can help us resist those delicious high calorie foods, then we are all for it. The problem is that not all products claiming to contain hoodia extract are equally effective.
Hoodia is a term that can refer to any number of plants, so the first goal for the consumer is to find a product that actually contains hoodia gordonii. This is the only species that has been studied for its ability to suppress the appetite of humans and animals. Phytopharm, a British pharmaceutical company, has studied the effects of their patented version of the hoodia cactus extract on overweight individuals. Results showed that these people were able to reduce their caloric intake by as much as 1000 calories per day without feeling hungry. Any product may have a placebo effect in humans; sometimes if we think it will help, it does. So, animal studies may actually be more reliable. Rats that are fed or injected with hoodia extract stop eating. Rats that will eat just about anything, just about all the time.
In order to find a product that contains hoodia gordonii and not some other type of hoodia, a little detective work is necessary. Products displaying a C.I.T.E.S. certification can be purchased with confidence. A CITES license, issued by the South African government, allows a manufacturer to export rare or endangered species. Wild stands of hoodia gordonii are protected from exportation by the government, but South African farmers have cultivated the species. This is the South African hoodia cactus extract that can be legally exported.
There are several independent websites which rank and compare the various products containing hoodia extract. Criteria for these rankings include price, product guarantee and content. For example, Hoodia XR receives high ratings because it is reasonably priced, has a money back guarantee and contains 1000mg of hoodia gordonii. There are many products that blend hoodia cactus extract with other herbs. There are only a few which contain hoodia gordonii as the sole active ingredient and 1000mg is considered a very high content. A satisfaction guarantee is important because hoodia extract does not work for everyone, but most companies offer the best price and free shipping when several bottles are purchased at once. The ability to return those extra bottles, if the first one does not effectively suppress one’s appetite, is a big plus.
Patsy Hamilton is one of the editors at the Hoodia Info Blog.
For more information about hoodia extract visit the Hoodia Info Blog.
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Posted on April 14th, 2008 — in Big Medicine, Children + Parents, The Healthy Way
The method know as three dimensional ultrasound scanning is used when a woman is in early pregnancy, it provides 3d images of the fetus. Most of the time these ultrasound samples are rapidly captured and joined together to make a “4d ultrasound scan”.
Three dimensional scans works in the same manner to the normal ultrasound scanning methods except that the ultrasound pulses are directed from multiple directions. The ultrasound waves can be reflected back and captured and provide information to construct a 3d image in in the same way as 3d movies. 3 dimesional ultrasound was devised in the usa.
It is important to understand that sonologists around the world have always conjured three-dimensional images of the body in their minds whilst doing 2d scans. However, until recently it was very difficult to do this kind of reconstruction on on info using ultasound scanning. The advent of 4d scans for the first time allowed us a view into the brain of a sonologist and hence letting us see the images on the ultrasound machine.
The 3d/4d ultrasound image should utilize ultrasound energy following the same limits as conventional 2d ultrasound to create the 3d images. There is no data to suggest any harm due to 3d ultasound scanning, its use in none medical situations needs to be undertaken with the understanding of the risks.
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Posted on April 9th, 2008 — in Big Medicine
Serious or morbid fatness is a habitual state that is taxing to remedy. When exercise and diet by themselves will not work, gastric bypass surgery begins to progressively become a feasible option. While gastric bypass surgery is not a complete cure all, it can work okay in conjunction with healthy eating and exercise.
Candidates for gastric bypass surgery possess a body mass index of 40 or greater. This generally means an extra body mass of about 100 pounds for men and 80 pounds for women.
It is very important to boast a extremely clear awareness of gastric bypass surgery along with the risks and the changes of lifestyle it demands. A great deal of surgeons who carry out gastric bypass surgery demand that you go to classes and support groups months before you have the surgery.
In gastric bypass surgery, the gastric bypass surgeon makes the stomach smaller and provides so that food will be caused to go around a portion of the small intestine. This will result in you feeling more fuller a lot quicker by eating smaller meals. When the gastric bypass surgeon goes around a part of the small intestine, it results in fewer calories being taken in. This in turn leads to weight loss.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the most common gastric bypass surgery procedure. The surgeon will first fashion a small stomach pouch to inhibit the ingestion of food. A Y-shaped part to the small intestine is then formed. The Y-shaped segment is attached to the pouch to allow food to bypass the lower stomach and the first parts of the small intestine, the duodenum and the jejunum. This will greatly reduce the amount of calories and nutrients that are absorbed.
A high percentage of the people who have gastric bypass surgery implemented will lose weight fast and will continue to lose weight 18 to 24 months after the surgery. Most will preserve their weight loss of 60 to 70 percent of their excess heaviness for at a minimum ten years.
After the surgery procedure you should assume a 4-6 day hospital stay. Most individuals will be able to resume their regular lives in about 3 to 6 weeks.
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Posted on April 8th, 2008 — in Big Medicine
A hot cup of tea might be just the thing to soothe a sore throat, warm the body, or relax with after a stress-filled day. But tea is more than just a comfort drink. Its healthful properties make it a smart choice for just about everyone. Tea has been used as a medicine in other cultures for many years, but it has only recently gained a great deal of media attention for the many nutritional benefits it offers.
Tea’s Medicinal Past
While most Westerners drink tea for pleasure and refreshment, people in the East, particularly Japan and China have drunk tea for medicinal reasons for centuries. For over 5,000 years, the Chinese have been serving up tea as both a refreshing beverage and a drink that touts many healthful qualities. Tea, according to the Japanese and Chinese cultures, offers a variety of healing properties for the body. Now, as more studies are conducted at major medical institutions, doctors are realizing that tea is something more than just a hot beverage served with lemon and sugar.
There are various types of tea from green to black to oolong to white. These different teas all come from the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant. The different colors, in terms of black, green and white, refer to the various preparation methods for tea. Black tea is fermented so that it completely oxidizes. Oolong is oxidized for a brief period of time. Green tea is not fermented, but instead steamed. White tea is the least processed of any tea product. It results from dried leaves of the tea plant that have been shielded from the sun to prevent chlorophyll from forming.
One can determine how processed a tea is by its color. Darker teas have undergone greater processing, which causes the teas to lose some of their natural nutritional benefits.
The Benefits of Tea Drinking
Tea contains a polyphenol compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is known to be an antioxidant, or cancer-fighting substance. Black tea offers only miniscule amounts of antioxidants resulting from its intense fermentation. Green tea provides higher amounts of EGCG due to its unfermented state. The greatest level of EGCG is found in white tea because it is the least processed tea.
In addition to helping protect against cancer, the polyphenols in green tea and white tea work as an antiseptic against infections and tooth decay, reduce strokes, prevent food poisoning, lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduce heart disease, prevent the development of kidney stones, lower the chance of osteoporosis, and alleviate the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. These polyphenols found in tea are considered to be more beneficial than some vitamins.
The antioxidants in tea prevent free radicals, which can cause cell damage and abnormal cells to develop within the body. These abnormalities and damages to cells can lead to cancer. When tea is consumed over time, its antioxidant properties have been linked to reduced risks in developing cancers that target the stomach, breast, lung, and skin.
Tea offers antibacterial and antiviral properties that can enhance products currently on the market. White tea extract has been added to some of the top toothpaste brands to make them more effective at fighting cavities. Tea also contains fluoride so it has its own natural cavity prevention built right in.
In addition to the benefits of fighting cancer and heart disease, the strong antibacterial properties in tea help alleviate food poisoning. Sipping strong tea can end bouts of diarrhea brought on by food poisoning and kill off the bacteria that causes sickness and weakness.
Herbal Teas: Other Benefits
Besides the traditional black, green, oolong, and white teas, supermarkets and health food stores tout a number of herbal teas to suit any palate and treat a number of different illnesses from indigestion to premenstrual syndrome to migraines. Most tea aficionados will not call these herbal beverages “teas” because they are not made with camellia sinensis leaves but rather from other plants, herbs, and roots. While these herbal teas will not offer antioxidant power, many of them have been used for centuries for the healing effects that they have on different bodily ailments.
Peppermint tea and ginger tea are widely used for problems related to the stomach. Ginger tea has been utilized for centuries as an aid for digestion, nausea, morning sickness, and for motion sickness. Peppermint tea relieves indigestion, cramping, bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea. Lemongrass tea is drunk to fight off flu symptoms and ease nasal congestion. Horehound tea suppresses coughs, and in large doses, acts as a laxative.
Chamomile tea, a popular herbal beverage, alleviates insomnia, calms nerves, soothes colds, menstrual cramps, stress and even aids the stomach. Doctors have been known to recommend cool chamomile tea to calm babies with gas or colic. A recent study reports that the benefits of drinking chamomile tea can last days after the person has drunk a cup. Chamomile’s properties stay in the body for up to two weeks.
Drink Up the Benefits
To receive the maximum benefits that tea can provide, one should drink at least two to three cups daily. Always opt for freshly brewed, high quality tea as opposed to prepared beverages in bottles. The best way to purchase quality tea is from an importer who restocks his or her supply often.
When preparing the tea, allow it to steep for approximately four minutes. The tea can be drunk hot or cold once brewed.
Gary W. Griffin, Ph.D. is a researcher and an entrepreneur. He is also an avid tea drinker. This article is brought to you by Tea FAQS. If you’re searching for information on tea, visit us at http://www.teafaqs.com
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Posted on April 3rd, 2008 — in Big Medicine
There are many diet plans out there today, and the striking thing about a lot of them is how complex they are. Gone are the days of just counting calories. Today’s diet plans come complete with a theory, a philosophy, a comprehensive diet plan, and exercise plan, and, more than likely, products that you can buy. In a way, that’s a good thing - it means that the theories behind these diets have been well thought out, and that the diets themselves are likely to promote good health as well as weight loss. On the other hand, there are some pitfalls to having and trying to follow a complex diet plan - namely, it’s complicated and can be hard to follow!
How many of us really have time to learn a complex new way of eating? If you have to lose fifty or a hundred pounds, and your weight is severely affecting your health and wellbeing, you might be able to justify the time and expense. If it’s a matter of wanting to lose five, ten or twenty pounds, however, how likely are you to subscribe fully to a whole new way of eating? Not very likely, is the answer!
So here, then, is a quick, easy solution to your weight loss needs, if you are in need of a ‘quick’ fix that doesn’t require too much thought. Just stop eating white foods. It’s as simple as that. If it’s white, don’t eat it.
Of course, there is one notable exception you may want to make: Milk. Milk is white, and, especially if you’re a woman, pregnant, or still growing, it may be detrimental to give up milk even for a short time. So let’s modify that advice a little: no white foods that are solid. Or even, if you like, no white starches.
That’s what it really comes down to. If you do away with all the white starches - white pasta, white rice, potatoes - and replace them with whole grain choices, over time, you are almost guaranteed to lose weight. This isn’t like the Atkins plan, that asks you to give up most carbohydrates. You can still eat brown rice, for example, and whole wheat bread and pasta. The white starches are refined, and they have the highest glycemic index. That means that they might cause insulin deficiency over time - they can even lead you to develop diabetes in the long term. In the short term, these white starches cause you to pack on the pounds - especially around your belly, which is the worst possible place to carry excess weight in terms of heart health.
If you want to go a little further with this plan, and lose weight a little more quickly, try giving up another category of white foods - fats that are solid at room temperature. This means no butter or margarine (technically, butter is white, not yellow - dairy companies dye it yellow to make it more appealing!) and no cheese (most cheese is white - and giving up white cheese doesn’t mean you should bulk up on cheddar!). Cutting out these high fat foods - particularly if they happen to be an ‘issue’ for you - will let you lose weight a lot faster.
Of course, there are some white foods that are actually good for weight loss. Consider lean white chicken breast, for example, or white fish such as cod or halibut, or even egg white (the leanest part of the egg)! There is nothing much to be gained by avoiding those foods, and over the long term, you probably shouldn’t. The point of the ‘no white foods’ diet, though, is to give you a simple formula that you can apply anywhere. In a restaurant or at a special event - no problem - eat what you want, as long as it isn’t white! There are no points to count up, no rules (except that one) to remember.
And here’s the hidden benefit - if you’re not eating any white foods, it leaves more room for ‘colorful’ foods that aren’t white - vegetables, for example, particularly yellow, orange and dark green ones. These are much healthier for your heart and, indeed, your whole body than their white equivalent, potatoes and starch. Not all white foods deserve to be avoided, but the benefits of this simple and effective approach can be great nonetheless.
For more great information visit Gabae Weight Loss the premiere resource for weight loss, diets, nutrition and living a great healthy life style!
Also if you’re looking for more informative articles check out Gabae Weight Loss Articles.
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Posted on April 1st, 2008 — in Big Medicine
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental and emotional condition that has its origins in a physical and/or mentally traumatic event that occurred anywhere from a few days to several years in the past. PTSD can develop by one overwhelming trauma as in 9/11 or by a series of smaller traumas or abuses occurring over several years such as living in an alcoholic home. It can be recognized from symptoms such as recurrent and persistent recollections of the traumatic event and recurring dreams of the event.
Psychology has made great strides in recent years in the treatment of PTSD. Recent powerful psychology techniques such as Neuro Emotional Technique? or NET, TFT, and EMDR have proven to be particularly effective in treating this disorder.
The Characteristics of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Include the Following Symptoms:
1. Recurrent and persistent recollections of the traumatic event.
2. Recurrent dreams of the event.
3. Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event is happening all over again.
4. Intense distress related to internal or external events that remind one of the traumatic occurrence.
5. Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma.
6. Efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that might be associated with the trauma.
7. An inability to remember important aspects of the traumatic event.
8. Decreased interest or participation in certain activities.
9. Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others.
10. The inability to have certain feelings.
11. A sense that time is short, and there is no future.
12. Difficulty falling and/or staying asleep.
13. Irritability or angry outbursts.
14. Difficulty concentrating.
15. Hyper-vigilance.
One type of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder develops when frequent abuse occurs in the home. This can have grave consequences for developing relationships in general and intimate relationships in particular.
It is a cliché that before you can be in a healthy love relationship you at first must be in love with yourself. This is a very true cliché. For someone to be loved they have to love themselves. But to love themselves they have to be first truly loved and cherished by their parents. Parents often feel love for their children, but it is much rarer to show the action of love in a consistent fashion. This means treating a child in a healthy, non-judgmental way. Often parents are too demanding in their expectations or have too many needs of their own, to be able to show that type of love. Even if they do, we live in such a perfectionist culture that children often do not feel that they measure up.
Whenever a child feels abandonment from one or both of their parents they internalize the hurt and the result is a feeling of not being good enough to be loved. This feeling is the feeling of shame. Even if parents are relatively healthy and loving a child can feel tremendous abandonment if their parents get divorced, if a parent is alcoholic, or if they simply work too much and not spend the amount of quality time a child needs. This often leads to a deep emotional belief that they are unlovable.
Later, they might realize on a conscious level that they are loveable and in turn desire real love. Consciously they look for healthy love, but subconsciously they search out those people who are incapable of showing real love. This is called a repetition compulsion. This problem becomes worse if the child has been physically, emotionally, or sexually abused.
They find true love boring and yearn for people to treat them poorly, which ratifies their feeling unlovable. They often become addicted to these abusive relationships and feel that they cannot live without them. They become intensity junkies instead of trying to experience true intimacy. Finding partners who cannot commit is another variation on this theme.
When a child is repeatedly abused in childhood, as is often the case in alcoholic families and families where a parent has sexually abused a child, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder will likely develop in that child. PTSD is traumatic stress that overloads a persons’ nervous system. This overwhelming stress creates shock in a person and dissociation between the three major brains and the body/brain. The dissociation also causes repressed energy that cannot be released fully so that the individual returns to balance or homeostasis.
This repressed energy and dissociation causes the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. When a person cannot return to normal functioning they often develop a repetition compulsion in an attempt to resolve the problem.
A repetition compulsion is concept mastery gone awry. Concept mastery is one of the major ways in which human beings learn. If a person is trying to learn a task and does not quite complete it appropriately he or she will have a tendency to keep trying until they figure out the solution to the problem. This healthy tenacity helps us develop and grow as individuals and as a species.
This healthy tenacity however can at times turn into an obsession. This is what occurs in a repetition compulsion. A person will try to solve the problem in the same fashion over and over again without making any changes to their strategy in the fruitless attempt to master the situation. They often become desperate in their attempt to complete the action and solve the problem. They fail to realize that something is wrong with their approach. There is often a blind spot where the solution resides. Instead of looking at the problem in a different fashion and discovering a new way to respond, the person attempts the same technique over and over again which results in repeated failure and frustration.
This psychological dilemma is best illustrated by a sad, but all too common tendency. When a child has been sexually abused by a parent the child will dissociate, which essentially creates a hypnotic experience. The child will remember on some level and in great detail everything that has occurred. He or she will remember how they felt like a victim. They will remember what they were dressed in, the time of day, and the furniture in the room. They will also remember what the abuser was wearing, what tone of voice was used, and a number of other details.
The child will then have essentially two models of behavior. One will be a victim, and the other will be an abuser. This will be especially confusing because the abuser might well be seen as quite loving in other situations. The child will then want to find a black or white answer to their confusion. This concrete and absolute thinking is characteristic of a child’s thinking under the age of twelve.
The way a child attempts to resolve this conflict is to internalize the two models. Essentially a civil war develops when one part of the child feels like a good person who has been victimized and the other part acts like the original abuser and tells the child that they are worthless. The problem has no resolution however, because the two sides are usually equally matched.
It sets up a hot spot where increased psychic energy resides. It also sets up a double goal. The child will feel they are loveable and want love, but also feel unlovable and want to be rejected. This conflict will be mostly subconscious. Consciously they will move towards success and love, but usually because of their blind spot they will either act in a way or connect with a person who fulfills their subconscious desire or rather conviction that they are unworthy and either fail or get rejected.
In the failed attempt out of this stalemate they often subconsciously recruit a third person. Although, an abused child will identify with both the abuser and the victim, they usually specialize and follow one model more than the other. Therefore, a person who identifies more with the victim is drawn towards an abuser as if by radar and an abuser is drawn towards the victim in like manner. Often, even if aware of their blind spot and consciously trying not to repeat they are invariably drawn into the same snare or repetition compulsion.
NET or Neuro Emotional Technique theory postulates that we create our own reality and that we are responsible for our own story. This means that even if the story of past abuse when a person is a child is accurate and valid we are still responsible for repeating it if we do not deactivate the repetition compulsion and neutralize the energy that is stuck.
This is why NET Neuro Emotional Technique? is so effective for the problem of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and repetition compulsions. PTSD is about delayed grief or to say it another way energy that becomes stuck. A large part of this traumatic energy gets stuck in the body and NET is incredibly effective in relieving this energy. It seems to have the effect of allowing the client to reestablish homeostasis and therefore drain the energy and original belief behind the repetition compulsion.
When used in tandem with insight oriented therapy to understand the reason behind the self-destructive behavior, and EMDR to assist in shifting the short term memory loop of the trauma to long term memory, NET seems to complete homeostasis by bringing the body back into balance. This has been a major breakthrough in the treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
© 2004 Jef Gazley, M.S., LMFT www.asktheinternettherapist.com
www.hypnosistapes4health.com
JEF GAZLEY, M.S., LMFT, DCC has practiced psychotherapy for over thirty years and is the owner operator of http://www.asktheinternettherapist.com since 1998 and http://www.hypnosistapes4health.com
He is the author of eight mental health educational videos and DVDs and is currently writing a book on distance counseling. Jef is State Licensed in General Counseling, Marriage/Family, and Substance Abuse in Arizona and is a certified hypnotherapist. He is dedicated to guiding individuals to achieving a life long commitment to mental health and relationship mastery. In his private practice in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jef specializes in ADD, love addiction, hypnotherapy, dysfunctional families, codependency, trauma, and gay and lesbian issues. He is a trained counselor in EMDR, NET, TFT, hypnotist, and Applied Kinesiology. His favorite readings are history, biographies, and Russian authors. Jef resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his partner, Janice.
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