Jupiter, Venus, Moon to come closer

When the Sun goes down on Monday evening, step outside to watch the best sky show of the year. Jupiter, Venus and Moon - three of the brightest objects up there at night - will be closest to each other then.

Jupiter and Venus have been rapidly coming towards each other for the last few days, a phenomenon that will not be visible against till 2012. And soon they will have the Moon for company.

"Look towards the southwest and you will see something very pretty - Venus and Jupiter beaming together through the twilight. The two closely-spaced planets are about to be joined by the slender crescent Moon for a spectacular three-way conjunction," Nehru Planetarium director N Rathnashree said. The three brightest objects in the night sky will be gathered so tightly together that you can hide them all behind your thumb held at arm's length.

The Nehru Planetarium will put out telescopes at Old Fort in the capital.

"Although clear to the naked eye, a small telescope will make the evening even more enjoyable. We will be putting up some telescopes at Old Fort in the evening for people to have a clearer look of the celestial triangle," Rathnashree said.

"It is a rare activity. The winter sky is very clear and you can have a spectacular look of the celestial activity," said Ajay Talwar, a member of the Amateur Astronomer Association. The celestial triangle will be visible from all parts of the world, even from
lightly polluted cities.

Drink brewed tea to protect your teeth

Good morning friends. Here's the good news for you all crazy drinker of brewed tea.

Forget lattes and fresh lime juice, the best thing to drink is brewed tea, for it has no erosive effect on teeth and its antioxidants provide health benefits, according to a new research.

Refined sugars and acids found in soda and citrus juice promote tooth erosion, which wears away the hard part of the teeth, or the enamel. Once tooth enamel is lost, it's gone forever.

However, brewed tea is a beverage that does not produce such irreversible results.

Apart from tasting good, brewed tea has many health benefits. Tea is loaded with natural antioxidants, which are thought to decrease incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

For the study, lead author Mohamed A. Bassiouny, DMD, BDS, MSc, PhD, compared green and black tea to soda and orange juice in terms of their short- and long-term erosive effect on human teeth.

The study found that the erosive effect of tea was similar to that of water, which has no erosive effect. And, when comparing green versus black, he discovered that there is a better option among those as well.

"When we look at tea and read about the benefits, it's amazing-not because green tea is 'the in thing'-but because there are advantages," Bassiouny said.

He added that much research done overseas, in countries such as Japan and Europe, found that green tea was identified to being superior over black due to its natural flavonoids (plant nutrients) and antioxidants.

Experts suggest drinking drink tea without additives such as milk, lemon, or sugar because they combine with tea's natural flavonoids and decrease the benefits.

The also suggest to stay away from pre-packaged iced teas because they contain citric acid and high amounts of sugars. It does not matter whether the tea is warm or cold-as l as it is home brewed without additives.

Kenton Ross, DMD, FAGD, AGD spokesperson, sees patients' erosion problems on a daily basis in his practice. "This study clearly shows that brewed teas resulted in dramatically less enamel loss than soft drinks and acidic juices. I would highly recommend patients choose tea as an alternative to more erosive drinks like soda and fruit juice."

Studying how nitric oxide alters brain function can lead to Alzheimer's treatment

Good morning friends. These is one of the illness many wouldn’t want to have. I hope we don’t all get any of this.
A team of British researchers has found that nitric oxide (NO) can change the computational ability of the brain.
Experts at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester say that their new finding has implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's Disease.
Professor Ian Forsythe, who led the study at the university, said that the new findings might also help advance scientists' understanding of brain function more generally.
"It is well known that nerve cells communicate via the synapse - the site at which chemical messengers (neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine or glutamate) are packaged and then released under tight control to influence their neighbours," Professor Forsythe, of the MRC Toxicology Unit, said in a research paper published in the journal Neuron.
"Nitric oxide is a chemical messenger which cannot be stored and can rapidly diffuse across cell membranes to act at remote sites (in contrast to conventional neurotransmitters which cannot pass across cell membranes).
"It is broadly localized in the central nervous system, where it influences synaptic transmission and contributes to learning and memory mechanisms. However, because it is normally released in such minute quantities and is so labile, it is very difficult to study.
"We have exploited an in vitro preparation of a giant synapse -called the calyx of Held, developed here at the University of Leicester in the 1990s- and its target in the auditory pathway to explore nitric oxide signalling in the brain.
"We show that NO is made in response to incoming synaptic activity (activity generated by sound received by the ear) and that it acts to suppress a key potassium ion-channel (Kv3). Normally these ion-channels keep electrical potentials very short-lived, but nitric oxide shifts their activity, slowing the electrical potentials and reducing information passage along the pathway, acting as a form of gain control.
"Surprisingly, the whole population of neurons were affected, even those neurons which had no active synaptic inputs, so indicating that nitric oxide is a 'volume transmitter' passing information between cells without the need for a synapse. Such a function is ideal for tuning neuronal populations to global activity. On the other hand, too much nitric oxide is extremely toxic and will cause death of nerve cells; so within the kernel of this important signalling mechanism are the potential seeds for neurodegeneration, which if left unchecked contribute to the pathologies of stroke and dementias," the researcher added.
Professor Forsythe revealed that his research team will be trying to understand how these signalling mechanisms are applicable elsewhere in the brain, and how aberrant signalling contributes to neurodegenerative disease processes such as in Alzheimer's disease. (ANI)

Studying how nitric oxide alters brain function can lead to Alzheimer's treatment

Good morning friends. These is one of the illness many wouldn’t want to have. I hope we don’t all get any of this.

A team of British researchers has found that nitric oxide (NO) can change the computational ability of the brain.

Experts at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester say that their new finding has implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's Disease.

Professor Ian Forsythe, who led the study at the university, said that the new findings might also help advance scientists' understanding of brain function more generally.

"It is well known that nerve cells communicate via the synapse - the site at which chemical messengers (neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine or glutamate) are packaged and then released under tight control to influence their neighbours," Professor Forsythe, of the MRC Toxicology Unit, said in a research paper published in the journal Neuron.

"Nitric oxide is a chemical messenger which cannot be stored and can rapidly diffuse across cell membranes to act at remote sites (in contrast to conventional neurotransmitters which cannot pass across cell membranes).

"It is broadly localized in the central nervous system, where it influences synaptic transmission and contributes to learning and memory mechanisms. However, because it is normally released in such minute quantities and is so labile, it is very difficult to study.

"We have exploited an in vitro preparation of a giant synapse -called the calyx of Held, developed here at the University of Leicester in the 1990s- and its target in the auditory pathway to explore nitric oxide signalling in the brain.

"We show that NO is made in response to incoming synaptic activity (activity generated by sound received by the ear) and that it acts to suppress a key potassium ion-channel (Kv3). Normally these ion-channels keep electrical potentials very short-lived, but nitric oxide shifts their activity, slowing the electrical potentials and reducing information passage along the pathway, acting as a form of gain control.

"Surprisingly, the whole population of neurons were affected, even those neurons which had no active synaptic inputs, so indicating that nitric oxide is a 'volume transmitter' passing information between cells without the need for a synapse. Such a function is ideal for tuning neuronal populations to global activity. On the other hand, too much nitric oxide is extremely toxic and will cause death of nerve cells; so within the kernel of this important signalling mechanism are the potential seeds for neurodegeneration, which if left unchecked contribute to the pathologies of stroke and dementias," the researcher added.

Professor Forsythe revealed that his research team will be trying to understand how these signalling mechanisms are applicable elsewhere in the brain, and how aberrant signalling contributes to neurodegenerative disease processes such as in Alzheimer's disease. (ANI)

Snoring may stunt kids' growth

Good morning everybody. Time again for our health tips. And I'm sure mothers may be bother with it.

A new study from Yeshiva University has found that snoring and other nighttime breathing problems may delay growth in kids.

Researchers have long suspected these problems - collectively known as sleep disordered breathing (SDB) - contribute to growth delays in children but the studies have still not drawn definitive conclusions.

It is believed to interrupt deep sleep, a period of the sleep cycle when the body typically secrets large amounts of growth hormone.

And children with SDB are thought to produce a lesser amount of growth hormone.
To gain deeper insights, Karen A. Bonuck, Ph.D., associate professor of family and social medicine at Einstein collected and re-analyzed data from 20 well-designed studies, a statistical technique known as a meta-analysis.

These studies involved children with enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids - the principal causes of SDB. All the children had their tonsils/adenoids surgically removed, either to treat symptoms of SDB or recurrent infection, or both. "Our meta-analysis found significant increases in both standardized height and weight following surgery," said Bonuck.

"In other words, while all the children were expected to continue to grow after they underwent surgery, their growth rates were much greater than expected.

Our findings suggest that primary-care providers and specialists should consider the possibility of SDB when they see children with growth failure," Bonuck added.

Why type 1 diabetics avoid exercise

A new study has revealed that majority of diabetics avoid physical activity because they worry about exercise-induced hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and severe consequences including loss of consciousness.

Despite the well-known benefits of exercise, this new study builds on previous investigations that found more than 60 percent of adult diabetics aren't physically active.

"Our findings confirmed our clinical suspicion," say Dr. Remi Rabasa-Lhoret, co-author of the study, a professor at the Universite de Montreal's Faculty of Medicine and an endocrinologist at the Centre hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM).

"Exercise has been proven to improve health and one would assume diabetics would remain active. Yet our findings indicate that type 1 diabetics, much like the general public, are not completely comfortable with exercise," Rabasa-Lhoret added.

In the study, one hundred adults, 50 women and 50 men, with type 1 diabetes answered questionnaires to assess their barriers to physical activity.

The biggest fear was hypoglycaemia and other barriers included interference with work schedule, loss of control over diabetes and low levels of fitness.

When questioned further, only 52 of the participants demonstrated appropriate knowledge of how insulin is metabolized and processed.

Those individuals who best understood how insulin works in their body were shown to be less fearful of physical activity.

Such knowledge is essential in order to adapt insulin and/or food intake to prevent hypoglycaemia induced by exercise.

Anne-Sophie Brazeau, lead author and doctoral student at the Universite de Montreal, said: "Our study was launched to find ways to make diabetics healthier and suggests there is a major gap in information and support required by these patients."

"Programs aimed an increasing physical activity among type 1 adult diabetics need to incorporate specific actions to prevent hypoglycemia," Brazeau added.

Dr. Hortensia Mircescu, co-author of the study, a professor at the Universite de Montreal's Faculty of Medicine and a CHUM endocrinologist, said: "We also found that individuals with the greatest fear of physical activity had the poorest control of their diabetes. Education is particularly relevant for this group."

The study is published in the November.

Exercise, calorie restricted diet 'lowers postmenopausal women's breast cancer risk'

Good morning friends. After reading news I want to share it to everyone specially to women out there. It's important.

Regular exercise and reduced-calorie diet can significantly cut breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, suggests a new study.

The research team from University of Texas at Austin have identified pathways by which calorie restriction and exercise can modify a postmenopausal woman's risk of breast cancer. They found that both caloric restriction and exercise affect pathways leading to mTOR, a molecule involved in integrating energy balance with cell growth. Dysregulation of the mTOR pathway is a contributing factor to various human diseases, including cancers.

Diet and exercise reach mTOR through different means, with calorie restriction affecting more upstream pathways, which could explain why caloric restriction is more efficient in delaying tumour growth than exercise in animal models. "One of the few breast cancer modifiable risk factors is obesity," said lead author Leticia M. Nogueira, Ph.D., a research graduate assistant at the University of Texas.

"Our study may provide a good scientific basis for medical recommendations. If you're obese, and at high risk for breast cancer, diet and exercise could help prevent tumour growth," she added.
The research suggests that inducing a so-called "negative energy balance" (where less energy is taken in than expended) through eating a low-calorie diet or increasing exercise levels, decreases the postmenopausal breast cancer risk associated with obesity. Increased levels of leptin and decreased levels of adiponectin have been associated with breast cancer risk.

For eight weeks, they administered a high-fat diet to 45 mice that had their ovaries surgically removed to model the post-menopausal state.

During week nine of the study, the diet-induced obese mice were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group, permitted to eat at will; a group fed a diet reduced in calories by 30 percent; and a group that was permitted to eat at will but exercised on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day, five days a week. At week 16, researchers collected tissue from the mice for analysis.
The study showed that blood levels of leptin, a hormone that plays a role in fat metabolism, were significantly reduced in the calorie-restricted mice while blood levels of adiponectin showed an increase.

She also found that the key proteins found downstream of mTOR activation were less active in both the calorie-restricted and exercised mice compared to the controls. "These data suggest that although exercise can act on similar pathways as caloric restriction, caloric restriction possesses a more global effect on cell signaling and, therefore, may produce a more potent anti-cancer effect," Nogueira said.

The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. (ANI)

Listen to joyful music to stay healthy

For the first time, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have shown that the emotions aroused by joyful music have a healthy effect on blood vessel function.

Music, selected by study participants because it made them feel good and brought them a sense of joy, caused tissue in the inner lining of blood vessels to dilate (or expand) in order to increase blood flow, the study found.

On the other hand, when study volunteers listened to music they perceived as stressful, their blood vessels narrowed, producing a potentially unhealthy response that reduces blood flow. The results of the study, conducted at the University of Maryland Medical Center, have been presented at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in New Orleans.

"We had previously demonstrated that positive emotions, such as laughter, were good for vascular health. So, a logical question was whether other emotions, such as those evoked by music, have a similar effect," says principal investigator Michael Miller, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

"We knew that individual people would react differently to different types of music, so in this study, we enabled participants to select music based upon their likes and dislikes," the expert added. Ten healthy, non-smoking volunteers (70 percent male, average age 36 years) participated in all phases of the randomized study. There were four phases. In one, volunteers listened to music they selected that evoked joy.

The volunteers brought recordings of their favorite music to the laboratory, or, if they did not own the music, the investigators acquired the recordings. Another phase included listening to a type of music that the volunteers said made them feel anxious. In a third session, audiotapes to promote relaxation were played and in a fourth, participants were shown videotapes designed to induce laughter.

Echinacea (Echinacea spp)

Echinacea helps with minor colds and flu. Treatment should start at the first signs of a cold and continue for five to seven days. Taken in capsules, tablets, or liquid extract. The most common labels youn might see are E. purpurea and E angustifolia. Standardized extracts generally provide 900 mg daily, powdered herb/root taken as 1,000 to 2,000 mg four times a day; tincture u:5 concentrational); 4 to 5 ml four times daily. allergic reactions have been reported, especially in those who are allergic to the daisy family or who have allergy-related asthma.

Tomatoes can Help Treat Endometriosis

An antioxidant present in tomatoes can help treat common causes of abdominal pain such as internal scarring after surgery and endometriosis, a study has shown.

Endometriosis is a common medical condition characterised by growth beyond or outside the uterus of tissue resembling endometrium, the tissue that normally lines the uterus.

According to a study of cells in culture, lycopene, the bright red pigment that gives tomatoes their characteristic colour, can inhibit proteins that are linked to the formation of abnormal patches of tissue called adhesions, reports Times Online.

Although the findings are very preliminary, the research hints that a diet rich in tomatoes and tomato products, or supplements containing lycopene, might be a promising way of controlling adhesions. Adhesions are basically patches of scar tissue or fibrous strands that form on internal surfaces in the abdomen, often connecting two organs or parts of organs together.

Besides being a common side effect of surgery, they also occur in endometriosis, a condition in which tissue that normally lines the womb grows in other parts of the abdomen. These growths can cause pain, bowel obstructions, bladder problems and infertility.

Tarek Dbouk, of Wayne State University in Detroit, investigated lycopene because of its antioxidant properties. The chemical, which is particularly abundant in cooked tomato products such as ketchup and pasta sauces, is already thought to have protective effects against cadiovascular disease and some cancers.

To reach the conclusion, Dr Dbouk exposed human cells to lycopene in the laboratory, and measured its effect on proteins that serve as markers for adhesion formation. Levels of these proteins were substantially reduced, by as much as 80 to 90 per cent.

Dr Dbouk said the results suggest that lycopene – and tomatoes that contain it – could be useful for treating post-surgical adhesions and other conditions such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids.

Exercise can cut heart failure mortality risk

Working out on a stationary bicycle or walking on a treadmill just 25 to 30 minutes daily can modestly reduce hospitalisation or death risk in heart failure patients, say a new study.

The HF-ACTION trial (A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes Exercise Training) led by Dr Christopher O'Connor, director of the Duke Heart Centre showed that exercising improved outcomes for patients who have suffered heart failure.

The study was conducted over 2331 patients, who were randomized, assigned a group that received usual care or to a group that received usual care plus an exercise training program that began under supervision but then transitioned to home-based, self-monitored workouts.

Patients in the exercise arm started out slowly, with a goal of three, 30-minute workout sessions three times per week. After 18 sessions, they transitioned to workouts at home, with a goal of 40 minutes five days per week on a stationary bicycle or treadmill. Patients kept logs of their exercise times and heart rates.

Based on the protocol-specified initial analysis, exercise training produced only a modest, non-significant reduction in the primary endpoint of all-cause hospitalisation or all-cause death.

However a planned, secondary analysis took into account the strongest clinical factors predicting hospitalisation or death and found that exercise was significantly beneficial. They found that those in the exercise group had a significant, 15 per cent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and hospitalisation due to complications of heart failure. The researchers hope the findings will finally put to rest long-held fears that exercise may be too risky for some patients.

"The most important thing we found from this study is that exercise is safe for patients with heart failure, and when adjustments were made for specific baseline characteristics, it significantly improved clinical outcomes," said O'Connor.

Rating Alternative Medicine – 6

The most recent study of the relative merits of the various forms of therapy. It involves more than 1,600 patients—conducted that among patients with acute low-back pain, the outcomes are similar whether they receive care for primary-care doctors, chiropractors, or orthopedic surgeons. Moreover, this study found that “primary-care practitioners provide the least-expensive care for low-back pain. Nevertheless, patients expressed the greatest satisfaction with the treatment provided by chiropractors, even though the long-term outcome was no different. Patients found the chiropractors examinations more thorough and their explanations more reassuring.

There may be a role for chiropractic in areas other than treating low-back pain, according to a sampling of published scientific reports. These studies suggest that chiropractic may be helpful for treating bed-wetting in childhood, duodenal ulcers, facial muscles affected by Bell’s palsy, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and headaches, among other conditions.

But you should also be aware that there have been instances of life threatening dissection (tearing) of major arteries to the brain during spinal manipulation. If you have any blood vessel problems, check with your doctor before seeing a chiropractor for such manipulation. Manipulation can also lead to complications in the lower spine such as bladder and rectal disturbances, leg weakness, and loss of sensation in the genital area.

THE BOTTOM LINE. I sometimes refer my patients with back pain to a chiropractor, though not a straight or mixer. I emphasize to the patient that there is no credible evidence that chiropractic does anything for AIDS, a heart attack, pneumonia or other diseases. If you are referred to a chiropractor, take sure he or she is licensed, and ask you doctor to discuss you case with the chiropractor before your visit.

Rating Alternative Medicine – 5

Chiropractic

The theory behind chiropractic medicine is that improper alignment of the spine affects virtually every organ in the body and that correcting this condition restores health. Practitioners emphasize that the vertebral column is not simply a rigid structure that houses and protects the nerves coming from the brain, but a series of 24 joints, each of which must be intact and flexible. It’s thought that viturally every disease, not only back pain, is due to slippage—called subluxation—of one or more of these bones.

There are three types of chiropractors: straights, mixers, and the rest. The straights believe that virtually every illness—infection, arthritis, high blood pressure, hear attack—is due to subluxation. They not only correct these slippages when you are sick, but also recommend that your get your spine checked regularly in order to stay healthy. The mixers, who outnumber the straights, also focus on maintaining the mechanical integrity of the nervous system, but concede that there are other causes of illness. In addition to correcting subluxations, mixers advise about nutrition and lifestyle, gives therapeutic massages, perform ultrasound, and even administer an enema now and then Chiropractors in the third, as yet unnamed, category have more limited points of view. They restrict their therapy to nonsurgical neuromusculoskeletal disorders (pain due to muscles spasm nerve inflammation, or bone problems such as arthritis) and make no claims about curing other diseases.

Most orthopedists and osteopaths maintain that there’s no such thing as subluxation. Although mechanical derangement of the spine does occur, they say it is not universal, as claimed by chiropractors. Despite the long, rigorous formal education usually some four years of graduate work at an accredited institution-required before chiropractors on be licensed, the medical establishment views them as tradespeople with scientific pretensions and some M.D.’s rankle when chiropractors call themselves doctors.

Rating Alternative Medicine – 4

Ayurveda

The system of healing called Ayurveda (ayu means “life”, veda means “knowledge of”) originated in India sometime around 1500 B.C. Its basis is natural healing, the belief that humans are an integrated part of nature, governed by the same principles that determine the survival and health of all living matter-plant and animal. Its goal is to bring humans into harmony or equilibrium with their environment.

According to Ayurveda, each of us is born with a constitution composed of varying amounts of three doshas, of forces; vata, symbolized by air or space; pitta, by fire; and kapha, by earth and water. Your type is your individual tridosha, your combination of these three doshas. These characteristics determine what you should eat and how you should conduct your life.

The main objective of an Ayurvedic practitioner, trained in nutrition and meditation, is to characterize or define your type and prescribed accordingly. Since no two people are identical, each prescription for likfe and health must be personally tailored. As a general rule, those who are of predominantly vata constitution are full of energy and always on the move. They are most likely to be troubled by excessive gas, a bad back, arthritis and diseases of the nervous system. Pitta types are volatile, quick to anger, aggressive, and competitive; their major complaints are more likely to involve skin or liver problems, inflammation of some part of the body, ulcers and gall-bladder disease. Kaphas are similar to what conventional doctors call a type B personality: slower, relatively solid and tranquil. They are more susceptible to respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Should you head straight for an Ayurveda clinic for indoctrination into this ancient Indian school of medicine? The answer is no, there’s no scientific proof that Ayurveda is effective against disease. Should you maintain an interest in its principles and recommendations for a positive lifestyle? Definitely.

Rating Alternative Medicine – 3

Aromatherapy

Scent is an important part of our lives. Everyone has a favorite aroma-a perfume or an aftershave lotion, a certain flower, the oil used in a relaxing massage.

Professional aroma therapists claim that, in addition tot cosmetic pluses-making you smell good and feel attractive-scents can improve your mood and promote good health. Essential oils-aromatic substances extracted from flowers, roots, bark, leaves, wood resins, and lemon or orange rinds-can be sprayed into the air and inhaled, or absorbed through the skin via massage, hot baths, or hot or cold compresses. It’s believed that every oil either soothes and relaxes or stimulates and invigorates.

How we respond to a particular aroma-with feelings of lust, anxiety, sadness-influences our heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and possibly our immune system as well. But there is little evidence that scent plays an important role in the management of serious disease. There are some scientifically valid studies that show it can help with less profound problems, including a recent one documenting that elderly substantial doses of sleeping pills slept like babies when a lavender aroma was wafted into their bedrooms at night. Another experiment looked at patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging, who often complained of claustrophobia in the magnetic capsule. After exposure to the aroma of vanilla, 63 percent of patients reported that they felt less claustrophobic. Interestingly, there were no corresponding changes in their heart rates. So the patients’ anxieties were lessened either by pleasant associations they made with vanilla-a purely psychological phenomenon-or by some undiscovered physiological response.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I don’t believe aromatherapy is a major player in the fight against disease, but certain essential oils can relieve stress and help manage some skin disorders. If you’re considering aromatherapy or are already using it, beware that aromatic oils vary in quality, and their production is not regulated: so make sure your source is reliable. Your best bet is to find a product or brand that works well for you and stick with it. If your skin is sensitive, always test for allergies by applying a very small amount of the diluted oil before you try the whole treatment.

Rating Alternative Medicine – 2

Much of the evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture is, like mine, have been scientifically controlled studies that have found it helpful for asthma, drug and alcohol abuse, pain management, rehabilitation of stroke victims, and irritable bowel syndrome.

The treatment doesn’t hurt; it feels very much like a mosquito bite, but it can sometimes leave you with a slight ache at the acupuncture point. Many patients describe a tingling or buzzing sensation and feel a sense of heaviness in the area. The number of treatments depends on the condition. I have, patients who’ve experienced relief from an attack of acute back pain in just two session; other with chronic problems are their acupuncturist at regular intervals, as they would see a physiotherapist.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Acupuncture is a legitimate pain-control technique. If you have a bad back or some other chronic disorder that’s giving you round-the-clock pain, suffer from asthma or irritable bowel syndrome, are addicted to alcohol or drugs, or are experiencing intolerable nausea from chemotherapy, it may be worth trying acupuncture from a qualified practitioner.

Rating Alternative Medicine - 1

From acupuncture to aromatherapy: what works—and what doesn’t

Americans spend billions of dollars every year on a wide variety of alternative therapies—often abandoning treatments, recommended by their regular doctors or supplementing prescribed therapies with a regimen that the medical establishment rejects or ridicules. They’re exploring alternative medicine not only to fight illness, but also in the hopes of preventing disease before it starts. And alternative practitioners are gaining credibility, in part, because “conventional” doctors so often seem to change their minds about the efficacy of longstanding treatment and drugs. Theories and practices that were presented as sacrosanct and indisputable often turn out to be harmful in the long run.

As a practicing M.D. who belongs to the medical establishment, he understanding the hunger for other options and have reviewed the leading alternative therapies. Here’s what you should know about seven of the most popular:

Acupuncture

I know one story when my friend visited in China. He witnessed an open-heart operation where the patient, a woman in her late 20s was anesthetized solely with acupuncture. He was apprehensive, to say the least, as the surgeon began to cut through her breastbone with an electric buzz saw. After her chest was split in two, it was spread apart with a large clamp to expose the heart. The repair of the diseased valve took about 30 minutes, after which the breastbone was sewn together with steel sutures, the skin was closed, and the patient was wheeled out of the operating room-still awake!

As a cardiologist, he had attended scores of such heart operations, but he had never seen anything like this. He would never have believed anyone could remain wide awake, let alone smile, through such and ordeal.

A Bacterium a Day Keeps the Doctor Away! – 3

Prebiotics, too

Another way to promote the growth of probiotic bacteria is to take in food they feed on. This is prebiotics. A prebiotic is a molecule that can reach the colon intact to be used by probiotic bacteria. They are mostly non-digestible, naturally occurring sugars that are broken down by certain microbes. Examples of such food are artichokes, chicory root, garlic, banana, onion and asparagus root.

Prebiotics can help maintain the good balance in the digestive system by encouraging the growth of probiotic bacteria.

Just the Beginning

The discovery of probiotics and prebiotics in food is just the beginning. Scientists are continuously researching for more bacteria strains that can help our bodies. One day, we will have a whole range of prebiotic food ingredients. More break-through in research is envisioned. Indeed, bacteria can do wonders for our bodies, don’t you agree?

A Bacterium a Day Keeps the Doctor Away! – 2

Hurray for Lactobacilli

Pathogenic bacteria need not win all the time the balance if the digestive system is tipped. Mechnikoff stumbled on something interesting when he noticed that Bulgarian peasants who regularly drank sour milk lived longer. This sour milk contained lactic acid bacteria, which included lactobacillus. Lactobacillus seemed to combat well the pathogenic bacteria in the digestive system.

After much study. Metchnikoff concluded that the careful management of probiotic and pathogenic bacteria can make a person healthier. He wrote a book called “The Protogation of Life. Optimistic Studies”, and he wrote therein. “By transforming the wild population of the intenstine into a cultured population of the intestine into a cultured population…the pathological symptoms may be removed from old age, and… in all probability, the duration of the life of man may be considerably increased.”

Probiotics in Food

Since then, many scientists have focused on intestinal flora. Researchers found out that only specific strains of bacteria can survive the gastric acid and bile salts in the intestinal tract. These bacteria can also colonise the system and produce healthy results.

Scientists also got excited with the idea of using probiotic bacteria in manufactured foods. Two bacteria strains seemed right for this. Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.

At the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne. Switzerland, scientists looked at 3,500 varieties of lactic acid bacteria. They discovered which specific strain can survive in the intestine and thrive there. This bacteria strain can also boost the body’s immune system.

A Bacterium a Day Keeps the Doctor Away! – 1

Good morning to all, specially to mothers! This topic of mine is i know very important specially to your kids. As you not following your kids most of the time, they should be aware of everything specially when they are eating outside the house.

Bacteria. The mere mention of it connotes bad little germs responsible for those blows dealt to our body—that stomachache, that ugly rash, and other diseases and infections. Yes, like its cousin the virus, bacteria can be harmful. But do you know that not all bacteria are bad? “Probiotic” or good bacteria can do wonders for our bodies.

Right in Our Bodies

If we can just look right inside our digestive system—the stomach, the intestines and colon—we will find a host of bacteria ambling about. They number in billions, ten times more than the number of cells in the body. They first appeared within hours of our birth. Also called intestinal flora, these bacteria belong to more than 400 species. The good ones help us digest food, take in nutrients and process waste. The bad ones, also called “pathogenic” bacteria, wreak havoc in our system if not checked, pathogenic bacteria. They function in a number of ways. Some probiotic bacteria combat harmful microbes by secreting acids that are deadly to them. Others counter the production of certain mutagenic compounds that lead to cancer. Some also produce essential B vitamins such as niacin, folic acid, biotin and pyridoxine, or digestive enzymes like lactase, which breaks down milk and sugars. Probiotic bacteria also strengthens the immune system of our body.

Like in any society, the good and bad bacteria live together, competing with each other and checking the number and types of microbes present. The key is balance, and when this balance is achieved, the digestive system can work effectively.

Once in a while, this balance is tipped when stress comes in or fatigue sets in. A diet lacking in nutrients as well as a meal with unfamiliar foods can also upset this system. Antibiotics, disease and eating unclean food (those with Salmonella, etc.) can also have a disastrous effect. In all these cases, the pathogenic bacteria multiply in number and overpower the probiotics, causing diarrhea, abdominal pain and even ulcer, chronic gastritis and cancer.

Health Tips on What to do in Emergencies? - 3

Good morning! This next article of mine is important. Better get ready to read this. Everybody should have to know the first thing to do if this kind of situation will happen.

Poisoning

Call a doctor. Use the antidote listed on the label of the container. Give one or two glasses of milk or water if poison or antidote is unknown. Dilute the poison before vomiting is induced by tickling the back of the child’s throat after giving him a glass of lukewarm water.

Do not induce vomiting if victim is unconscious or if he had swallowed lye, petroleum products (kerosene, gas, metal and furniture polish, turpentine, over cleaners) and other corrosive or caustic substances (like bleach or acids). These strong substances may damage the child’s windpipe and lungs if they are allowed to be pushed up again.

When taking the child to the hospital, keep him warm and comfortable, and make sure his airways are open so that he does not choke on his vomit. Take along the poison’s container or what remains of it to help the doctor determine its antidote.
* Sign of poisoning: overstimulation, drowsiness, shallow breathing, unconsciousness,
nausea, convulsions, stomach cramps, heavy perspiration, burns on hands and mouth,
dizziness, change of skin color. Also, watch out for unusual stains on a child’s clothing, a
change in his behavior, open containers of chemicals, or medicines out of place.
* Food poisoning; usually caused by bacterial contamination of food, or by toadstools,
poisonous mushrooms or berries, shellfish or spoiled foods. Symptoms include tenderness
or pain in the abdominal area; nausea; vomiting; painful spasms; diarrhea; weakness; and in
some cases (like the ingestion of poisonous mushrooms, dimness of vision and symptoms
resembling those of alcohol intoxication. Wash out the victim’s stomach with large quantities
of water and take him to the hospital immediately (especially in cases of mushroom and
shellfish poisoning). Bring a specimen of the suspected food to the hospital. Children with
special problems like diabetes, epilepsy, cardiovascular diseases or allergy are also urged
to wear some sort of bracelet or emblem identifying their media=cal problem, to about being
given medications that are injurious or fatal to them. For example, many epileptics can be
mistaken for drunks.