Financial permaculture, a close cousin ofthe Transition Initiative, has taken root in Hohnenwald, Tennessee. Organizers there have created a business plan designed to meet the local county's food, energy, and banking needs in a sustainable manner. Financial permaculture applies the principles of permaculture to economics. Instead of putting time, attention, and money into global investments, those same resources support local investments (particularly those tbat fit permaculture), cooperatives, and local currencies. I grant that permaculture seems idealistic. It may be a backlash to globalization, or it may be an old idea whose time has come (or merely returned after millennia). Nonetheless, these turbulent times may provide the compost needed for a more responsible, humane, sustainable system to take bold. Meanwhile, we can each support our local community, just as we need healthy cells to have healthy organs, we need healthy neighborhoods and towns.
Eiinlish |, Piirn iple^ of Fiiwncidl Permatullure. Stiljri Real Channel websile. hltp://soldri.com/bloR/íp-1730. Accessed Oi:tober 20. 2008, t idl Permdcullure. Eironomits on our terms. www,financial()ermaculture.org/ definition. Aicessed December 2. 2008. Tran'.ition Towns WIKI. http://iransitiontown5.()rg. Accessed tiïecember 31, 2008.

Shorts headaches or stomachaches, and other health problems. Caregivers need to take care of themselves before tbey become physically ill or exhausted. They need to make self-care a priority before they crash. In the article "Caring for Family, Caring for Yourself," Jane E. Brody makes several excellent suggestions for selfcare and refers caregivers to groups like Family Caregiver Alliance {www.caregiver.org) for additional support. Eating nutritious meals and getting enough sleep are basic. If sleep is interrupted throughout the night, taking naps while the relative sleeps during the day is more important than finishing another household task. Exercise, such as a leisurely walk, and enjoyable social activities (out of the house, if possible) also provide stress relief. Family Caregiver Alliance and Brody urge caregivers to ask for help. Friends, other family members, even neighbors may be willing to take over a household chore or stay with the disabled relative for a brief period. Family Caregiver Alliance also encourages caregivers to ask for and accept help from community, church, and online support groups. Organizations like Family Caregiver Alliance, National Family Caregivers Association (www. nfcacares.org), and its Community Action Network (http://

Self-Care for Caregivers Surveys indicate that 20 million to 50 million people, 75% of whom are women, provide nursing and household care for disabled relatives in the US. Two-thirds of these caregivers also bold outside jobs. "Family caregivers supply about 80 percent of the care for ill or disabled relatives, and the need for their services will only rise as the population ages and modern medicine improves its ability to prolong lives," writes Jane E. Brody in the New York Times. Even though many caregivers report a "sense of purpose" and even gratitude for being able to help a loved one, this 24hour, seven-day-a week responsibility can be very stressful - especially if the caregiver is also employed and raising children. Complicated or inharmonious family dynamics heighten the stress level. For most caregivers, self-care falls at the never-reached end of a long list of caretaking, household, and work activities. As a result, exhaustion, depression, health problems, and substance abuse are common among long-term caregivers. Too often caregivers, running on adrenaline, discount their stress because they see no options; but they need to understand that the best way to take care of their loved one is to take care of their own health and well-being. Family Caregiver Alliance uses the analogy of an oxygen mask during airplane travel in its excellent article "Fact Sheet: Taking Care of YOU: Self-Care for Family Caregivers." During an emergency, passengers are instructed to put their own oxygen masks on before helping a child or other person: "Only when we first help ourselves can we effectively help others." The American Medical Association has a short caregiver self-assessment questionnaire to gauge stress level. Signs of caregiver stress include sleeping problems, change in eating habits and weight, ongoing fatigue and lack of energy, loss of interest in enjoyable activities, tendency to irritate or sadden easily, frequent

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www.thefamilycaregiver.org/our_state_volunter_network_ ccan) teach caregivers how to relieve their burdens. These sites also recommend other resources such as Area Agency on Aging (www.aoa.gov) and the Eldercare Locator (800677-1116 or www.eldercare.gov). In addition, caregivers who work at companies with 50 or more employees may be eligible for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for relatives under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
American Medical Association. Caregiver self-assessmenl questionnaire, www,amaassn.org/drna/pub/category/5037.html. Accessed December 20, 200a. Brody JE. Caring ior family, caring for yourself. New York Times. November 18. 2008. www.nytimes.eom/2008/n/18/health/18brod.html. Accessed January 7, 2009. Brody JE. When families takecareof Iheir own. New York Times. November 11, 2008. www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/heal(h/l 1 brod.html. Accessed January 7, 2009. MedicineNet. Caregiving. www.mediclnenet.com/caregrving/article.htm. Accessed December 20, 2008. Family Caregiver Alliance. Fact sheet; taking care of YOU: self-cdre for family caregivers. http://www.caregiver.ofg/caregiver/jsp/contGnt_node. jspinodeid-847. Accessed December 20, 2008.

evaluated the effectiveness of a German V/tex product called Femicur (Loch E-G, Selle H, Boblitz N. lournal of Women's Health & Cender-Based Medicine 2000; 9[3]:315-320). At the end of three menstrual cycles, 427o of the participants told doctors that PMS symptoms had disappeared. Another 517o reported that symptoms had decreased; 6% found no change; and 17o experienced an increase in symptoms. No serious adverse events were reported. About 67o of the women experienced reactions that included mild skin reactions and gastrointestinal upset. A systematic review of chaste tree's adverse events, carried out by Daniele and colleagues at University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy), confirms that side effects tend to be mild and reversible. Common reactions include nausea, headache, gastrointestinal disturbances, menstrual disorders, acne, itching, and rashes. Although no negative drug interactions have been reported, the Italian researchers warn that Vit()x may theoretically interfere with dopaminergic antagonists. Also, women who are pregnant or breast-feeding should not use this herb.
Daniele C, Thompson Coon J. Pittlei MH, Ernst F, Vitex agniis castus: a systematic review nf adverse events labstraclj. Drug Saf. 2OO5;28(4)319-332. Available at: www.n