Toxin Effective Brain Treatment


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According to a research that was conducted by a group of scientists, it was found that a toxin can open a new avenue in treating the different brain illnesses and conditions. The researchers found that a toxin that was derived from the sea snail attaches itself with the nicotine receptors in the brain and that has shown promising effects to treat the different brain conditions.

It was in 1979 that a scientist discovered that another medical toxin known as conotixin, which is also known as Prialt was the one that got approved in about 2004 and it is this toxin that was being used to treat the cancer pain, pain associated with the injury, failed back surgery, as well as nervous system dysfunction. The new toxin that is being found is known as alpha cotoxin OmIA. This toxin is being taken from the snail known as conus omaria and that is being derived from the cone of the snail. This snail is being found from the Pacific and the Indian oceans.

The researchers are thinking that they will be able to treat the different medical conditions related to brain and those problems include the Alzheimer’s disease, depression, nicotine addiction, as well as even schizophrenia. The researchers added that they will be working on the different diseases separately and will be coming up with the treatment of the different conditions through this toxin. They said that they have to go through the different research layouts to see as to how this toxin will be able to help the different brain diseases. They said that with this toxin they are looking forward to even help people quit smoking. Wouldn’t that be amazing.

The way that this toxin works, which is the OmIA conotoxin is that it binds up with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which is found on the nerve cells that are present in the brain as well as the spinal cord. The nicotinic receptors are those where the nicotine binds up with that is being smoked by an individual. This binding of the nicotine to the nicotine receptors causes the secretion of the neurotransmitters from the nerve cells and that causes an excitatory feeling by these neurotransmitters.

It is also of importance to know that there are different types of nicotinic receptors. These nicotinic receptors are alpha and beta and they both have subcategories in which the alpha has subcategories ranging from 2 till 10 and the beta receptors have categories ranging from 1-4. All these subcategories are known to perform their different functions. All the different subcategories of the receptors are known to perform their own function and that are different. The researchers were thinking that it would bring about a great influence in treating different conditions by making the different subcategories work really effectively. For example in the Parkinson’s disease the neurotransmitter dopamine decreases in amounts and thus causes a problem known as tremors. If the specific receptors are being made to secrete the neurotransmitter dopamine then this can cause the prevention of tremors in Parkinson’s disease. This then would be a big breakthrough in eradicating the different brain illnesses.

There was another comment that was made to making the smokers aware that if their child in the mother’s womb is being exposed to the smoke, then this can cause the child to have a significant variation in the structure of the nicotinic receptors and the smokers should either quit smoking for that specific period of time or should take measures where they are not smoking in home or are not making their wives smoke passively, which can directly affect the health of their child.

Now coming back on the topic, these toxins that are being found are known to bind directly to the nicotinic receptors. It is being thought that the nicotinic receptors are responsible for alcohol addiction and that with these toxins that bind to these receptors they can cause the individual to not have the craving for alcohol. It is also known that one of the nicotinic receptors are known to be related to the memory and it affects the memory if there is any problem related to these nicotinic receptors and with this toxin it is being thought that the problem of memory related to Alzheimer’s can be treated. Also the people who smoke can be made to leave the cigarettes with the help of this toxin.

Another major breakthrough that can be achieved is that the nicotinic receptors are known to secrete two other neurotransmitters known as serotonin and norepinephrine and the imbalance in these neurotransmitters result in the mood disorders and these can be used to treat the two common disorders known as depression and schizophrenia, which is going to help large number of people throughout the world.

The researchers added that this toxin will not become a drug but will be used as a tool to identify and isolate the different receptors and they will make the medicines according to that. He recommended that the receptors will be the locks whereas the medicine will be the key to open up these receptors. They added that they need to find as to the exact neurotransmitters that are present because the making of the specific drugs will be dependent on the finding of the specific receptors and their shape so a very close model key can be built in the form of a medicine that would unlock it and give the desired results.


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Stop To Avastin And Erbitux

Cancer of the bowel is one of the biggest killer of millions of people throughout the world. The reason that this cancer becomes more lethal is the fact that it metastasizes to the different organ systems at a much faster rate. In UK alone this cancer is the cause of about 50 deaths per day from bowel cancer and there are about 18,000 men who fall victim to this cancer and about 16,000 women who fall in this category. This just needs a lot of awareness among people as to what are the different measures that they need to take to prevent the bowel cancer. Since this disease is growing at a very aggressive rate we all need to do a lot more than what we are doing now. There was a very discouraging news that came up in terms of bowel cancer.

Recently the NHS in UK proposed that the two drugs known as Avastin as well as Erbitux should not be prescribed. They said that there was insufficient evidence to support that these two drugs are helping the people who are suffering from the bowel cancer. This proposal has faced a lot of opposition of the different groups and organizations as well as a lot of people who are suffering from the bowel cancer. These people said that they just cannot think that they would have survived without the use of Avastin or Erbitux because for them these medicines are the hope and if these medicines are being taken away from them then they would not be able to live. It is similar to ask a person that he would not be getting oxygen to breathe.

A lot of people have shared that they just could not believe that this kind of proposal has been raised since there are so many evidences where people have got so much benefit from these drugs and that these medicines have been able to give them their life back. The different charitable organizations have said that these drugs are the best known option for the people who are suffering from cancer that has spread to the different organ structures. They are also saying that these drugs are also miracle drugs because they are known to increase the life expectancy of the individuals by four to six months and that is a great deal of time for a person who is to die in a day or two without it. It is really concerning that Scotland has made a similar decision as well.

It is a fact that the bowel cancers can be treated if detected early and they are not treatable if they are being detected in the later stages. The drugs Avastin and Erbitux are monoclonal antibodies and they are just similar to the biological agent such as Herceptin that is being used to treat the breast cancer. The Avastin and the Erbitux are being given to the patients in whom the cancer is being known to metastasize to the liver and the lungs and they bear a potent effect by killing the tumor cells. Avastain is also known as bevacizumab and it kills the cancer cells by simply blocking up the food supply of the tumor cells, which is blood and thus prevents the spread of the tumor from growing into the body.

There are a lot of patients who have come up protesting that this proposal must not be considered because this will just kill thousands of people just because they did not get the treatment for their illness. There are people who said that since they have been taking these medications they are feeling much much better than before and they just do not know as to what is gong to happen to them if the drug is being taken away from the market and is not available to them.

These medicines are being used as a last resort of treatment and is being given when all the other chemotherapies have failed and that is what makes a drug of hope for a lot of people who consider it the last step and a savior that separates their life from death. The drug Erbitux, which is also known as the cetuximab does its work by stopping the proliferation of the cancerous cells. These drugs have also been known to shrink the size of the tumor by about 50% in about four months’ time.

Another reason that is being discussed mostly is the cost of the drugs and that Avastin costs about 16,800 pounds whereas Erbitux costs about 11,700 pounds and that is another reason that the NHS is thinking to stop the prescription of these two drugs saying that they have scarce resources and they do not think that these medicines are having any beneficial effect on the patients at all. On the other hands the doctors who are giving these therapies to their patients are saying that they have found good results in people in whom all other forms of therapies have been useless where these two medications are proving beneficial.

People are saying that this is a very cruel step by the NHS because this can just cause loss of lives of a lot of people and people just will be dying miserably if this drug is being taken off of market or is being stopped being written as a prescription drug. The importance of the treatment through this drug can only be known by a person who is being told that he only has a week to live and that he has a chance to survive for about four to six months if he opts for Avastin and Erbitux and one can easily understand as to how important these drugs are for individuals who are standing at that stage of life and death. People are being saying that they just cannot believe that the NHS is not willing to fund the drugs that are saving the lives of millions of people who are suffering from this horrendous disease.


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Accutane Causing Problems

Acne is a very common problem and a lot of people especially youngsters are suffering from acne problems. Well it is not only the youngsters but also the adults who are victimized by this problem. The most popular drug to treat acne had been Accutane until there have been new findings about this medicine, which state that this drug, Accutane, which is also known as isotretinoin is an anti acne drug, which is connected to cause a rise in the cholesterol levels in a higher percentage of people than was previously thought. This drug also raises the level of fats in the blood, which are triglycerides, as well as elevating the levels of the liver enzymes.

This drug has been known to increase the level of cholesterol in the body through the clinical trials, but since it is causing this problem in a large number of patients is something that is getting the people as well as the physicians really worried as it was known to be the promising drug to treat the acne conditions in a lot of people and a lot of people have found benefit from this drug.

The doctors who had been prescribing this medicine said that they have known for long that the Accutane is a medicine that raise the cholesterol levels in the blood and that they have been very cautious in prescribing this medication to the individuals who have had higher cholesterol levels. The doctors also said that when they prescribe the medication Accutane they are much more careful about the cholesterol levels and just monitor it on a consistent basis. It was also added that the level of the cholesterol goes down when the drug level goes down after it is stopped, so it is a temporary side effect of this medication and is not something that just turns out to be a permanent problem.

The concerning thing for the physicians is that the number of people who would suffer from high cholesterol levels that was suggested in the clinical trials for this drug was low and now it is being found out that the numbers have risen very sharply and a very percentage of people who are taking this medication are having higher cholesterol levels. It was also told in another study that the individuals who were using Accutane that one out of every 10 individuals was showing abnormally high levels of specific liver enzymes and these enzymes only rise in the presence of liver disease, which was concerning.

There was a study conducted on patients who were suffering from acne ranging in the ages of 13 to 50. In this study it was found that the individuals before going through the treatment of Accutane had normal levels of triglyceride, cholesterol and liver enzyme levels, but after taking the Accutane the study showed that the triglyceride levels rose in about 44 percent of the patients, high cholesterol was reported in about 31 percent of the patients and there was a rise in 11 percent of people with liver enzymes. This study also mentioned that about 92 percent participants with the liver enzyme abnormalities returned to normal once the treatment was stopped and about 80 percent of people who were suffering from high triglyceride levels and the 79 percent of people with the high cholesterol levels had a return of normal blood work when they were taken off of Accutane.

On the other hand the researchers mentioned that it is important to state that if there are even temporary elevations of cholesterol and triglycerides, this can lead to the development of the metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, cholesterol abnormalities, increased blood sugar levels etc. It is almost important to state that these metabolic syndromes ultimately lead to the development of the coronary heart disease that can ultimately lead to death.

There are doctors who are saying that they just cannot out rightly advocate to not prescribe the Accutane because that has been the wonder drug that the Dermatology has seen in years and that this study is something that just makes them cautious. They also added that they think that the benefit of this drug outweighs the risks and that this drug has cured about 89% of the patients thus far.

There is a special registry that is being made for people who are taking Accutane where the Food and Drug Administration has asked the physicians to log all their patients who are taking Accutane and that it is necessary for these patients to come and visit their doctors once a month and get their blood work up to see as to whether they have elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels and if they are elevated then at what level do they stand at. It was also mentioned that the individuals who are getting the Accutane treatment must be observed very closely for the symptoms of depression, irritability, mood swings, as well as suicidal thoughts, aggression, psychosis etc.

If we look at the package insert of Accutane, it states that there are a quarter of patients who will suffer from the elevated triglyceride levels and about 15 percent from the elevated liver enzymes. It is really important that doctors take care at their part in prescribing this medication and on patients part they should come for regular checks to get the levels of cholesterol assessed at regular intervals.


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The Blue Peel Obagi

A healthy skin is everybody’s dream. There are a lot of creams, lotions, treatments that are available to make the skin look young and healthy. Along with time there are newer methods that have been found out with wonderful results and one of the main focuses regarding skin health is the anti aging treatments that people are looking for. The treatments that provide anti aging are being what people are preferring over the simpler treatments. One of the newer treatments that have been introduced in the market is the Obagi Blue Peel and this peel treatment has been marketed on the TV channels and has gained huge popularity among the people who really want to have excellent results on their skin.

The Obagi Blue Peel is an invention of Dr. Obagi and that peel is being applied on the skin of the face and this peel is actually a blue green peel and has dyes in it too. The dyes make it possible to see as to what are the different areas of the skin where the dye has not been applied and that helps the dermatologists, the beauticians, doctors, as well as plastic surgeons who are applying it. The peel actually does not have any acid in it unless it is being added by the cosmetologist. The acid that is being added in the Obagi Blue Peels is the trichloroacetic acid, which is also known as TCA, which is being added in different strengths to the peel cream according analyzing the skin texture and sensitivity. The standard amount of acid that is being added in a strength of about 20-50% has much better and long lasting effects than in higher concentration, because in these concentrations the peel can be left on the skin for a significant amount of time without causing any damage to it.

Those of you who never had any peel treatments must have a question in mind as to what is the purpose of this peel and how it is going to have a positive effect on your skin. Well, the chemical skin peels are used to remove the top most layer of the skin and that is an extremely sophisticated process where the cosmetologist has to be trained as to how much amount of peel needs to be applied along with the potency of the chemicals added to it. When the top layer of the skin is removed, the new skin that is more young emerges from underneath. The top most layer of the skin is what wears and tears and thus causes uneven patches at places that are then replaced by the new skin from underneath. These peels remove the top most layer of the skin that is going through the wearing out phase and reveals out the new skin. Normally the chemical peels have varying degrees of chemical strength in them and they range from the glycolic acid to the TCA and the phenol skin peels, phenol peels are highly toxic and can remove much deeper layers of the skin.

Mostly the doctors and the cosmetologists and even the plastic surgeons use the TCA that is being added to the peels and this has gained a whole lot popularity and is used by millions of people throughout the world who are suffering from acne rosacea, wrinkles, spots on the skin, aging lines, the skin that is damaged by the sun etc. The TCA peels are also known to cause increased collagen production and results in bringing up a younger and fresh skin.

When you will go to have a session to get your skin treated with the Obagi Blue Peel, the cosmetologist, physician or plastic surgeon would pretreat your skin with alpha hydroxy and it is important to attain the best results. Another important thing to mention right here is that the Obagi Blue Peel cream is known to slow the activity of the TCA, which removes the excess oil with the help of a good soap or cleanser and that is why the pretreatment with the alpha hydroxy is needed. Then the Obagi Blue Peel is being applied in layers and it is being applied after the assessment as to what depth needs to be achieved to treat the skin problems. After the peel is being applied, pure TCA is then applied in sections. After the application of pure TCA, the skin will turn red or white and this indicates that it is done and needs to be neutralized and the neutralizer is pure water with ice and baking soda.

When the procedure is being done, it is really important that the healing solutions and creams are applied so that the bacterial infections can be prevented. There are a lot of expensive solutions and creams that are present in the market but it is best that you use the Neosporin cream that is pretty cheap and severs its purpose because it only costs about $3 whereas on the other hand the expensive creams can go above and beyond $100. Obagi Blue Peel is a costly treatment but the results are truly remarkable and is being recommended by a lot of cosmetologists and other professionals who treat individuals for their skin problems.


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Heat and Personal Health

Normally we discuss foods, health habits, lifestyles in terms of health care, but there is little that is written in terms of heat affecting the life of individuals. There are a lot of people throughout the world who suffer from heat stroke and in the summer months especially there are a lot of cases reported to the hospital where people have suffered from heat. It is noteworthy to mention it here that in the summer months during the past few years there were about 10,000 people reported dead due to the intense heat in France alone. This was a very shocking news and there were a lot of programs and ads that were given in the newspapers to make the people aware as to what can be done to prevent themselves from the heat. In this article we are going to discuss the different factors where we will be talking about the different ways where one can prevent themselves from the scorching heat of the sun.

One of the most common affect of heat is dehydration in which the water is being loss from the body through a very high perspiration rate. The best remedy in that situation is to drink large amounts of water so that the water loss can be managed by it. Another element that is being lost through sweat are the minerals so with the loss of minerals the individual goes through excessive lethargy and fatigue, so it is best to add salt and lemon to the water along with some sugar so that the right level of minerals can be maintained in the body. Of note, just do not drink alcoholic drinks and you must not wait to drink water till you get thirsty and drink on a consistent basis. Another important fact is that you must consult your doctor if you are taking water pills before you consume large amounts of water.
It is important that you do not drink liquids that contain caffeine, alcohol because these cause the loss of water from the body and you must not drink very cold fluids as this can cause cramps in the stomach. So you need to be very careful in the hot weather months because if you walk in the wrong steps then you can hurt yourself and hurt yourself really bad.

Another step that you can take to prevent yourself from the scorching heat of the sun is that you can stay indoors because that can prevent you from being dehydrated. The best option would be to be in an air conditioned environment because that would cool you off as the temperatures outside are raising your body temperature and this is something that can ultimately lead to heat stroke that can be deadly. Therefore it is really important that you try to keep yourself as cool as you can. If you do not have an air conditioned environment at home then you can spend some of your time at a mall or you can even spend a few hours at a public library because this way you can cool yourself off for a few hours and that would help you greatly. You can also call the local health department and check if there are any heat shelters in your area.

You can find comfort in your home environment with the electric fans but it becomes really difficult to fight the rising temperatures and that then ultimately causes the heat related illness. One thing that you can do is to take shower on and off so that you are able to cool off your temperatures throughout the day. Another important thing to note is that you must wear loose fitted clothing as well as wear light colors so that you are able to keep yourself cooled off in such an environment.

The people who are at increased risk of developing heat related illnesses are the infants and young children, elderly people who are age 65 or above, individuals who are mentally ill, as well as who are suffering from serious health conditions such as heart disease or high blood pressure. This group of people as mentioned above are the ones who need a constant check by you so that you can know as to how they are doing so that if anything goes wrong at any point then you can take immediate measures for that.

As it is said that Prevention Is Better Than Cure, it is important that you try to prevent yourself from heat rather than getting emergency medical attention from heat stroke, so it is important that in such weathers you should limit your outdoor activity, you must not exercise on tougher routines as you had been and if you are exercising then you must take sports drink so that you can keep yourself hydrated. I hope this article must have provided you with the basic information as to how you can protect yourself in the summer months.


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Fine Tune Your Mind

We normally are living a life where we just get dull and take a back seat in our lives and are all wrapped up in our day to day life and with lots of situations that we need to handle throughout the day. We go through different things during the day and feel that our mind is really tired and that we just cannot stand any more stress on it. But on the other hand we see people who are really strong in their mind and just involve themselves in the activities that strengthen up their minds and make them feel sharper than ever no matter how much stress that they are going through. Mind is something that has never been explored fully though there still are a lot of researches that are going on but still there is a lot much to know as to how our mind works and what we can do to strengthen it and make it work the best for us and honestly speaking that is what we want deep inside.

In this article we are going to discuss as to how important it is to keep your mind rolling by doing different mathematical questions, puzzles, etc. and these things can just give your mind the vitality that it needs to better solve the different problems and handle different situations that your mind is going through each day. Brain is the control of our body that performs so many important functions of our body from thinking, talking, movements of muscles, memorization and so on and on.

There was a study that was conducted in which it was determined that the individuals who prefer to live a dull life and do not involve in brain exercises are the ones who are most likely to get Alzheimer’s disease. We can easily understand as if we have a bicycle that is in the working order and then we do not use it, we will see that slowly and gradually it is going to get rusty and then a time will come when we would not be able to use that bicycle at all and that would be a part of junk, which is true. So by looking at this theory it is really necessary that we care for ourselves and bring our brain into action by working on the different brain teasers and crossword puzzles.

Now we are going to discuss the different things that will greatly enhance your brain ability and will make you a far better learner than any other individual. It is really important that you first understand its true importance because this will put you in the lead than the rest of the people who are not into making themselves go through the brain rush. The most important thing that you need to do is to bring about a change in your lifestyle. At this point I would like to make a note that intelligence quotient is not a permanent thing, it varies according to your brain capability, if you are not putting yourself through brain exercises just by thinking that you have a low intelligence quotient then you must know that it is something that you can increase very easily just by making yourself go through different brain exercises over a short span of time and you will see that your intelligence quotient is something that is building up really fast, much faster than you can ever imagine.

You can utilize math skills to improve your brain functioning. There are people who can calculate faster than a calculator and their understanding towards a thing is much faster than an average or above average individual. So you can just put yourself into calculating different things and can even explore Internet where you can find different math problems that you can solve and can learn a great deal from them.

Start focusing on the language skills. You can go through the newspapers and will find the different topics really interesting, just go through them and try to have a complete understanding of the theme of that topic. You can also find the crossword puzzles that you can work on and you don’t need to think that you are in a competition or something just take your time and find those things interesting for you so that you can keep working on them and then make it a habit and after that you can compete for time and you will see that you will be able to complete that in the given time and much before that. So just do not judge yourself for that in the beginning.

Another very interesting thing that you can adopt is to memorize one word or a quote depending upon when you have time to go through that and you can always make time for that. You will see that you are putting your mind to exercise the different things and that you can do it. There will be a lot of factors that will discourage you, but you need to know that you just need to keep on going because it will make you more confident on yourself.

You can explore the topic of your interest and can dig into it more and more and find new information that comes along and keep yourself up-to-date with it. This way you are going to see that you are learning more and more on a constant basis and that this is strengthening your knowledge and making you a whole lot confident on the things that you were not comfortable on before.

You can also work on enhancing your visualization powers where you can start to paint and imagine the different ways you want to express yourself. It is not necessary that you paint following the lines but you can paint in an abstract way and express yourself through different colors and this will just open up your mind to see things through different angles and that would enhance your capabilities greatly.

Along with all these words of advices it is also important to make a note that you eat healthy foods and that foods that are rich in choline, omega-3 fatty acids, as well as antioxidants. I hope this article will make you be the one that you have always wanted to be.


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Diet Rich In Enzymes

It is mostly that we hear that we need to have a balanced diet that we should eat on a normal basis and must wisely eliminate the foods that are not good for our health. That is true but there is another aspect to diet that must be kept in mind and that is one should have enzymes in their diet because enzymes are the most important part of our dietary habits and they are responsible to help us digest our diet. There are a lot of individuals who feel that they are unable to eat meals properly because they feel bloated and feel that they are unable to digest the food properly, but the most important thing to consider here is that they might have lack of secretion of the enzymes responsible for digestion in their body. It is important that these individuals when suffer from problems with indigestion that they should consult their physicians and ask as to whether or not they are suffering from any enzymatic deficiencies in their body.

When you go to a grocery store, you always look for foods that have no fat grams in it and are high in proteins and are balanced in the carbohydrate content, as well as the necessary minerals, but have you ever seen if your food has the right amount of enzymes in it. I think some of you might but mostly people do not look for the enzyme content in their foods. It is because a lot of people are not aware of the fact that enzymes do play a very important role in digestion. There are a lot of people who are suffering from a lot of problems because of the enzyme deficiencies that include stomach ache, indigestion, constipation, allergies, diarrhea etc.

I know you must be thinking as to what enzymes are. Enzymes are protein molecules that are highly complexed and they take their energy from oxygen and then work on digesting the food. Enzymes catalyze the reaction at which the food is being digested and they just make the reaction go faster to many folds. If there is any problem with the production of the enzymes or absence of enzymes then the process of food breakdown gets slow and then causes a lot of problems in terms of constipation, diarrhea etc. One important thing that needs to be mentioned here is that if you are eating processed foods then these foods are going to take a lot of enzymatic activity to be broken down into the simpler form that makes them available for digestion by the cells. The basic reason that a lot of enzymes are required to breakdown the processed food is that these foods do not have a natural presence of enzymes in them, whereas on the other side the natural foods have enzymes present in them. So, the best choice is that the individuals must stress more on the natural foods that have the natural enzymes present in them and just do not deplete the enzymatic reserve in your body.

If the enzymes are depleted then the metabolic enzymes come into play and these then work toward digesting the food. There are a lot of other roles of the metabolic enzymes but when they start to work on digesting the food they are being taken away from a lot of the other major functions of these enzymes and these then cause a lot of disruption in the normal bodily functioning. The major effects that it would have includes weakening of the immune system, drop in the energy levels, and slowly and gradually the individual just starts to stress out and gets a lot fatigued. This is all happening because the metabolizing enzymes are working on another track than their normal.

Now you can easily understand as to what is happening with you only because there is decrease in the production of the enzymes or the habits in which you are eating a lot of processed food. There is a lot of discussion going on among people who are saying that would it be good if they would eat raw foods or undercooked foods. It is not good to eat raw foods or undercooked foods because these foods can cause a lot of health problems and it is therefore important that these foods should be cleaned thoroughly and cooked well. It is also important that the foods should not be overcooked because then it would just cause the foods to lose all the beneficial ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, as well as enzymes. The person who is cooking the food must take good care that everyone must have the enzymes as supplements if they are eating processed foods.

Another good suggestion by different nutritionists who guide people with their diet issues is that the people must add the vitamins, minerals and enzymatic supplementation to their diet and that whatever the issues that they have been going through will resolve and they will see a whole lot of benefit in their health. I hope this article would provide you with useful information and would definitely prove beneficial for your health.


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Relieve Your Pain Through Magnet Therapy

With a lot of advancements in the world of science, there is a new breakthrough in providing pain relief with the help of magnet therapy, which is a really new avenue in terms of providing pain relief. There have been researches conducted on a group of patients who have been suffering from post-polio syndrome. In that study a small magnet was strapped to the sensitive spots that were pretty sore and that the use of the magnet just reduced the level of pain in these individuals. In that study, which was a double blind study most of the patients were the ones who received the treatment with the magnet were the ones who had decrease in pain and on the other side the individuals who were given the placebos or the magnets that were inactive were the ones who either reported little or no improvement at all.

The researchers just analyzed the aspects of the magnet therapy in the adults who were diagnosed with the post polio syndrome and were suffering from the arthritic pain in the joints or had pain in the muscle. There were about 39 women and about 11 men who participated in the study. All these individuals were in their 50s and they had developed the post polio syndrome at the age of 40. First of all these patients were asked to identify the trigger points where they were feeling the most pain and they were asked to rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10 where the level 10 was the worst. After that the patients were then randomly given an active and inactive magnet and that magnet was then strapped to their trigger point for a total of about 45 minutes. When the magnets were removed then the patients were asked to rate the intensity of their pain again and there were a total of about 29 participants in that study who received an active magnet. The pain that these individuals rated was of about 9 plus before the treatment and then when they wore the magnet the pain level reduced to about 4.4. On the other hand the group who received the placebo rated their pain to about 9 plus before they received the treatment and after the treatment the pain level went to about 8.4.

While explaining the magnets, the researchers said that these magnets are about less than a half inch thick and these magnets were slightly stronger than the refrigerator magnets and they were available in four set up arrangement so as to adjust in the different areas of the body, it is a rectangle which is the size of a credit card, and there was a six inch strip that was almost about two inches wide, a disc that is the size of a silver dollar and the disc, which is the size of a CD. There were about 76% of the patients who had been treated with the active magnet and they reported a decrease in pain and on the other hand only about 19% of the individuals who were treated with the placebo were the ones who felt improvement and there were no individuals who reported side effects from the treatment. The researchers said that they were not sure as to exactly why the patients did have a significant and quick pain relief. They said that the magnetic energy might be affecting the pain receptors both in the joints and in the muscles and that it lowers the sensation of pain in brain.

The researchers said that they need to do more researches in that aspect so that they are able to know as to what are the different aspects involved in the treatment of pain from the post polio syndrome and understanding that whether the magnet therapy should be recommended as an alternative to the treatment that are being prescribed as a standard mode such as physical therapy, braces, anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as muscle relaxants.
One of the physicians have made his opinion that the magnetic therapy has been under observation and there is a lot of data being collected that shows a lot of people who have used this mode of therapy have gained benefits from it. The thing that needs to be seen here is that there are two kinds of magnets that are being used, one is the pulsed electromagnet that has shown its effectiveness to treat the slow healing fractures as well as in other conditions where it has shown proven benefit, whereas on the other hand is the static magnet that is being marketed with the slogans that it increases circulation, reduces the inflammation and also gives a speedy recovery from injuries to the individuals. The physician added that there are no supportive evidences to prove the benefits of the static magnets.

There was another research conducted in which there were patients who were suffering from heel pain. In this study the patients wore molded insole that contained a magnetic foil in about 19 patients, where as other 15 patients wore the same insole but there was no magnetic foil in that. In this study there were about 60% of the people who reported improvement belonged to both the groups and it suggested that the magnetic foil just showed no benefit.

There was another study that was conducted on about 20 patients who were suffering from chronic back pain. In this study the patients were exposed to both the real and sham bipolar permanent magnets and this therapy lasted for about 6 hours a day for about 3 days a week and there was a one week gap between the treatments. There was no difference in either pain or mobility that was found between the treatments.

The physician also added that the manufacturers of these magnets claimed that these magnets increase circulation and he said that this claim is false because the magnet just did not raise the circulation of that area because if the magnet increased the circulation in that area then that area would have gone red. There was also a study that was conducted to see whether this claim was right or not that the magnet increased the circulation but it was found that the magnet did not increase the blood flow at all.

From the above mentioned information it is really important that when you are being told about the therapy that you ask your physician about the pros and cons of this therapy and that what is the percentage of improvement in pain among the different individuals suffering from pain so that you are able to make your decision that whether you are going to opt for this therapy or not. I hope you have found this article helpful and informative. I hope you overcome your pain that you are going through. Best of luck.


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Fibromyalgia And Exercise

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain illness that is characterized by the widespread musculoskeletal aches and pains, includes the pain and stiffness, tenderness of the soft tissues, fatigue, as well as sleep disturbance. The most common spots where the aches and pains occur are the neck, back, shoulders, hands and the pelvic girdle, but in this illness any part of the body can be involved. The pain ranges to different level of intensities and that these differ from time to time. Another very striking evidence is that there are about 3-6 percent of the United States population who are suffering from this chronic illness. The most common gender affected by this illness are the females, but this illness also affects men as well as children.
Fibromyalgia has a tremendous impact on the lives of the individuals who are suffering from the fibromyalgia syndrome. Let us take an example that a woman who was happily married with two kids now is suffering from this illness and she has a lot of responsibilities that she has to do in an entire day, but now due to the aches and pains in her body she is unable to do that and is suffering greatly from them and thus is unable to do any of her responsibilities the way she used to and it is really affecting the lives of the entire family because now her husband has a lot to do around the house as well as go to his job and earn money to make the ends meet. If the woman has a job, she might go on a leave or has to quit that job, so this puts the family under tremendous amount of financial pressure, as well as a lot of chores that are to be done on a day to day basis. Therefore this illness just changes the entire lifestyle of the family and just puts them at increased stress.

Now we are going to look at the symptoms of the fibromyalgia, which includes pain as its first symptom. The pain of fibromyalgia is quite significant and it is present throughout the body and is chronic. This pain just does not stay at one point but can involve any part of the body. If we describe the pain of the fibromyalgia, it will be that this pain is deep and is in the muscles, it is throbbing in nature and stabbing and shooting in character. There is also involvement of the neurological symptoms that include numbness, tingling, burning and this greatly intensifies the pain of the individual. The factors that greatly increase the pain include the change in weather that includes cold and humid weather, disturbance in sleep, either excessive or decreased physical activity or no physical activity at all, as well as anxiety and stress.

Another very striking symptom of fibromyalgia is the fatigue. The fatigue of the fibromyalgia is very different from the fatigue that occurs due to strenuous activity throughout the day. The fatigue that is experienced in the fibromyalgia patients is different in terms that it drains the entire energy in an individual and one feels that they have no energy at all in them to do any of the chores or any activity and this is very much depressing for the individual that they have no energy at all to function.

Along with the above two symptoms that are described above, there is another symptom that just damages the life of these individuals and that is the sleep problem due to the pain that these individuals suffer. The pain can occur at any point in time and that this pain can get greatly intensified and can involve any part of the body and thus the individual going through such pain cannot sleep during the night and cannot maintain sleep because of the pain that they are experiencing so they are up after sleeping for a few hours and this just leaves them unrested throughout the day.

Along with these symptoms, other symptoms include irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder, migraines, headaches, restless legs syndrome, memory deficit, lack of concentration, dry eyes, dry mouth, anxiety, chronic depression, ringing in the ears, neurological symptoms and impairment in coordination.

It is not easy to diagnose a patient who is suffering from fibromyalgia and it is from the history that the doctors gather the diagnosis from. The sites of the tender points and the history of the pain, extent of pain, character of pain, the extent of fatigue are of a major value where the doctors understand that these symptoms are indicative of fibromyalgia. It is important to note here that it takes a longer time to determine as to whether or not the individual is suffering from fibromyalgia. If there is presence of other diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis then the diagnosis of this disease is going to get a lot difficult. There is a diagnostic criteria that needs to be met to label an individual with the fibromyalgia, which includes the widespread pain in all the four quadrants of the body for the least duration of about three months. The tenderness in about 11 out of 18 points in the areas specified for the fibromyalgic points.

Another question that just raises in the mind is that what is the cause of the fibromyalgia. As of now there is no exact mechanism to explain the cause of fibromyalgia but the researchers agree that fibromyalgia is a disorder of the central processing with the dysregulation of the neuroendocrine/neurotransmitter. The patient suffers increased pain due to the abnormal sensory processing in the central nervous system. It has also been found that genetics is also responsible for the cause of fibromyalgia. The researches are still conducted to determine as to what are the definite causes of fibromyalgia and how this can be prevented.

One must get the treatment of fibromyalgia from the physician who has a command in that problem so that the right lines are being determined so as to treat these individuals who are suffering from its aftermath. Most commonly pain is the biggest symptom of fibromyalgia and for this reason over the counter pain medications are being prescribed, which includes acetaminophen, ibuprofen. There are certain instances where the individuals do not get any benefit from the over the counter pain medications are being prescribed non-narcotic medications such as tramadol or the low dose antidepressants, which include tricyclic antidepressants, serotonin reuptake inhibitor. If there is excessive pain then the physicians give lidocaine injections in the tender points so that pain can be kept at bay.

Another very important aspect that is gaining a lot of strength these days is exercise because fibromyalgia leaves people totally incapacitated and that causes them to lay down for most of the time and because of this they lose a lot of muscle content and for that matter they need to focus on the different exercises that can help them to build their muscle framework back and that will strengthen them to perform their activities of daily living. The individuals suffering from fibromyalgia might not like to exercise but if they make it their focus to gain their strength and their life back, they can put in all their energies and can regain the strength back and can star to live a normal life.

Therefore it is very important that the individuals who are suffering from fibromyalgia contact their physician or exercise instructor who can tell them about the specific exercises that can help them gain a lot of the muscle mass back in the least possible time. I hope this article would be helpful to you and that you have gained basic information about fibromyalgia. I hope that you get well pretty soon. Best of luck.


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Exercise Program Treating Depression In Elderly

Depression is a problem through which a lot of individuals are going through and that if we see around ourselves, we will see that there are a lot of individuals who are going through the feeling of depression and it is something that is eating them up really bad and these individuals just slowly shut themselves up and just go through isolating themselves from their surroundings. This negative behavior just makes the people go through a lot of misery inside them and it is just that they do not share and are not involving themselves into any activity. The community that is getting really affected from the clutches of depression are the elderly and in this article we are going to discuss as to how beneficial the exercise is to treat the depression. It has also been found that the middle aged and the elderly group also seem to get a whole lot benefit in their cognitive abilities through exercise.

Another very important finding that was seen through the exercise therapy was the significant improvement in the higher mental processes of memory and the functions that are termed as the executive functions, which include planning, organization, and multi-tasking of different tasks at one time. Therefore it was seen that the exercise not only lifts the depression but also brings a great deal of improvement in the higher mental processes and that is really an amazing benefit that the individuals can get from exercising. The researchers also added that the regions of the brain where they found true effectiveness of exercise were the frontal and the pre-frontal regions. The researchers also found that there were also benefits in the attention, concentration and the psychomotor skills.

The researchers added that with exercise there might be improvement in the decline in the cognitive functioning that is most commonly associated with the process of aging and that this is something that will need further studies to clarify this process and there will be definitely studies conducted to see the relationship of the effects of exercise on the cognitive functioning of the elderly. They said that along with seeing the cognitive benefits, it is also very important to see as to what are the different mechanisms that are involved in this process. Since the exact nature of the cause of improvement is not clear, it is believed by the researchers that this improvement might be because of the improved flow of oxygen rich blood to the specific regions of the brain.

The researchers said that they know that the exercise in general improves the ability of the heart to pump the blood and that it improves the contractility of the heart and it also increases the capacity of the blood to carry the oxygen. It was also linked to the said fact that that is why the elderly individuals have improved functioning because the blood flow as well as the oxygen carrying capacity increases to the brain and this is considered to be the cause of rapid improvement in the cognitive functions and health in the elderly individuals. The researchers added that since exercise improves the blood circulation to the muscles and improves the function of the muscles, as well as the tone, so it is thought that it can also have the similar effects on the brain.

There was a study that was conducted on exercise and depression, which is known as SMILE, which is an abbreviation of Standard Medical Intervention and Long-term Exercise. In this study the researchers have followed about 156 patients who were of the ages between 50 and 77 who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder, which is also known as MDD. These individuals were divided into different groups in which one group was doing exercise, the other was on the medication and another group was on a combination of medication and exercise. The exercise group was the one who were spending about 30 minutes in which they were riding a stationary bicycle or walking or jogging three times a week. The other group was the one who were using anti-depressant, which is known as sertraline, also known by the name of Zoloft and this is a very commonly used drug that belongs to the class of anti-depressants known as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.

The researchers found out after 16 weeks that the groups that were on exercise, antidepressant medication, as well as a combination of both showed that all of them had effective medication in treating major depression. The participants involved in the study were put through standard tests for depression, and they took tests to check as to what are the cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, concentration, as well as the psychomotor speed. It is to note that these tests were taken before they enrolled in the trial, as well as four months after.

When the results were compared from the 42 members who were selected in the exercise group with the 42 members who were in the medication group, they found that exercise had a very positive effect on the areas of cognitive functioning. These individuals who showed a lot of benefit to the exercise therapy were the ones who had mild depression. Those people who were suffering from moderate to severe depression were the ones who showed less improvement. The research has not stopped here, but the researchers are enrolling different individuals in another study in which the participants will be diagnosed as depressed and will be the ones who will able to exercise over the age of 50.

This research has proved great benefit to the elderly individuals and will open great avenues for a lot of facts to be unveiled so that a lot of individuals benefit from it. All these researches are a great asset and will be something that will bring hope to a lot of individuals.


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