Archive for the ‘TREATMENTS’ Category
A perpetual flower garden can be a beautiful thing, but we recommend lowering stress levels (and flower-shop bills) by figuring out what’s stressing you so much and tackling that. No surprise that jobs and money are two of the most common sources of stress . So develop a backup de-stress strategy — deep breathing and listening to music are good ones — when calming scents just aren’t around or aren’t enough. And leave the cookie jar for collecting quarters. Stress is easier to manage when your general health is great than when your sleep and physical activity habits and your blood sugar are out of whack.
SYSTEM CLEANSE WITH CAMMOMILE TEA
Monday, October 19th, 2009The Drink Your Body Loves
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Many women see comfort in a cup of chamomile tea, thanks to its slightly sedating effect and its ability to ease anxiety, menstrual cramps and skin problems. Your bloodstream finds it comforting, too. Because there’s something in chamomile that not only helps keep blood sugar stable (at least in the lab), but also guards against the tsunami of damage that high blood sugar can do.
Too-high levels of blood sugar can act like scouring powder on your arteries, weakening junctions between cells, allowing nicks between cells that encourage an ugly pileup of inflammation and plaque. Everything that’s happening in there eventually makes itself known in the form of a heart attack, stroke, memory loss, impotence, wrinkled skin and more. But chamomile can change all that.
If you don’t like tea (and even if you do), there’s plenty more you can do, with next to no effort, to keep blood sugar even and its damage at bay (in addition to eating well and exercising):
Fill up on broccoli. It’s rich in a compound called sulforaphane, reputed to cut blood sugar damage to arteries.
Spice things up with cinnamon. This favorite spice may turn on insulin receptors and help your body use glucose better (no pileups of sugar in your blood). Cloves and allspice also may help prevent diabetes damage.
Say yes to spinach. People who fill up on this green have lower rates of diabetes, possibly because of its magnesium content.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 19th October 2009
DARK GREEN LEAFY FOODS CURES ARTHRITIS
Monday, October 19th, 2009The Body Part
That Wants You To Go Green
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Your knees love it when you go green. We don’t mean environmentally green, although they appreciate it when you take the stairs and when you take your bike for a spin instead of the car (strong leg muscles keep your joints healthy). We mean eating green. Filling your meals with this color can go a long way to preventing arthritis. Here’s what to reach for:
Leafy greens. A killer, flavor-filled salad or side dish could mean one less knee replacement surgery in the world. The vitamin K in leafy greens — think cabbage, spinach and Swiss chard, for starters — reduces your risk of joint damage. People who have the highest levels of K are less likely to develop the bone spurs and cartilage damage that are common in osteoarthritis. (A word of caution: If you’re on a blood thinner, check with your doctor about whether K is safe for you.) Leaves just not your thing? No problem. Broccoli and asparagus make tasty alternatives.
Green tea. Potent compounds in green tea — EGCG and ECG — may help battle cartilage and collagen destruction in arthritic joints. The EGCG and ECG found in green tea are powerful flavonoids known as catechins. These particular flavonoids fight inflammation and some of the underlying mechanisms that mess with knees in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Bonus: Sipping it before you do that knee-preserving workout may help you burn fat faster.
Chlorophyl is a powerful antidote for cellular regeneration.
It can be obtained from your local chemist or drug store cheaply.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 19th October 2009
FREE SWINE FLU SHOTS FOR EVERYONE IN AUSTRALIA
Sunday, October 18th, 2009Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Vaccine
Protect yourself, protect your community
A new FREE vaccine to protect Australians from pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus is ready. Panvax® H1N1 vaccine was registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration on 18 September 2009.
There is clear evidence of serious or fatal health complications for some people who catch this flu. It is a new strain of flu that spreads easily from person to person, and experience in other countries shows that this is not just a winter flu – it could come back during spring and summer.
Vaccination is the safest response for the community, particularly as large numbers of people continue to be infected, and some are suffering serious health complications. By getting vaccinated you can protect yourself and help stop this flu spreading.
How a vaccine works
Panvax® H1N1 Vaccine contains extracts of protein from the new flu strain. Once you get vaccinated, proteins prompt your body to produce antibodies to protect you from the virus.
Protection after vaccination varies from person to person, but people generally start producing the antibodies that provide protection two weeks after the vaccination. Protection is expected to last for at least one year.
This vaccine does not contain live virus and cannot give you influenza.
People who should get immediate vaccination
All people can get vaccinated but some people are more at risk of severe outcomes if they catch this flu. Vaccination is strongly recommended for:
- Pregnant women
- Parents and guardians of infants up to six months old
- People with underlying chronic conditions, including:
- heart disease;
- asthma and other lung diseases;
- cancer;
- diabetes;
- kidney disease;
- neurological disease;
- other chronic conditions (talk to your GP)
- People who are severely obese
- Indigenous Australians
- Frontline health workers
- Community care workers
Where do I get vaccinated? How do I get this vaccine?
Vaccinations will be available from 30 September. Vaccination will be available from a range of locations, including GP offices, vaccination clinics, hospitals and health centres. To check vaccination location in your State or Territory, go to:
Health department websites and phone numbers
WA: call 1800 186 815 or visit http://www.health.wa.gov.au/swine_flu/home/
SA: call 1800 022 222 or visit www.flu.sa.gov.au
VIC: call: 1300 882 008 or visit www.humanswineflu.health.vic.gov.au
TAS: 1800 358 362 (1800 FLU DOC) or visit www.pandemic.tas.gov.au
ACT: call 02 6205 2300 or visit www.health.act.gov.au/flupandemic
NSW: visit www.emergency.health.nsw.gov.au/swineflu/vaccination/index.asp, or call 180 2007 for your local Public Health Unit contact
QLD: 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84) or vist www.health.qld.gov.au/swineflu/html/vacc.asp
NT: call 08 8922 8044 or visit www.swinefluvax.nt.gov.au
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th October 2009
CURLY HAIR TODAY AND GONE TOMORROW
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009A Hair Mystery:
Curly Hair Gone Straight
Hair folicle under a microscope
This microscopic view shows human hair emerging from the skin. The shape of the hair follicle (below the skin’s surface) determines whether the hair will be curly, wavy or straight.
Web Chat
Web Chat: How Often Should You Shampoo?
The reason for your lackluster locks? You may be washing your hair too much. See what the experts had to say in response to your questions.
Hair Extravaganza
Some people have straight hair and want curly hair. Others have curls and straighten them out. But for a few people, their hair actually changes shape and texture on its own — and not just because of the weather. Scientists don’t know exactly why this happens, but it probably has to do with a combination of genetics, hormones and body chemistry.
“Every seven to 10 years, my hair tends to change texture, going from straight to wavy to curly,” says Kimberly Fasting-Berg, a marketing executive in New York City.
“I can’t predict but then it happens and I am like, ‘Oh, here we go again,’” she says.
Judy Butler, a midwife in Tucson, Ariz., also has hair that’s gone from straight to curly and vice versa, so when she saw changes in the hair of her three kids she wasn’t surprised.
“My first two [kids] had very straight hair as infants, I mean stick straight,” Butler says. But when her kids hit puberty, she says their hair become “very curly, very wavy and very frizzy.”
Curly locks have always sprung from my head, so I wondered, how often does hair change, and could it happen to me?
I set off on a quest to find out.
Searching For Hair Clues In Our Genes
First I started with Dr. Barry Starr, a geneticist at Stanford University. He told me most people’s hair doesn’t change from straight to curly.
“If your mom gives you a curly version of the gene and so does your dad, you end up with curly hair. If both parents give you the straight version you end up with straight hair,” Starr says. And if one gives you curly and the other straight, you could wind up with something in between.
But, he couldn’t tell me why some people go through a hair transformation. “It is an interesting genetic question, but I don’t think there is an answer yet — and there may not be,” he says.
What Shapes Our Hair?
The next person I called is Dr. Paradi Mirmirani, a dermatologist in Vallejo, Calif., who specializes in hair. “We do know that curly hair has a different shape than straight hair,” says Mirmirani.
That shape depends on the shape of the hair follicle. This tiny structure guides the hair fiber up a sort of tube as it grows. The inside of the tube determines if the hair is curly or straight — ovals produce curly hair and circular tubes yield straight hair.
“If you think about gift wrapping ribbon, when you try to make it curly, you take the scissors and you pull it on one side, so you kind of flatten the one side and it curls. So you’re changing the shape of one side compared to the other,” says Mirmirani. “When it’s oval, one side is curved and the other side is flat, which makes it curl.”
So if your hair changes from straight to curly it suggests that the follicles must be changing, but Mirmirani couldn’t tell me why that would happen, though she thought it could have something to do with hormones.
An Influence From Hormones?
After all, hair changes in other ways during adolescence or after having a baby, two events that generate hormonal changes in the body.
“Hormones are a logical guess but I have no evidence to prove that,” says Dr. Val Randall, an endocrinologist at the University of Bradford in England.
Randall is one of the few people doing research on hormones and hair. She says it is difficult to figure something like this out because it doesn’t happen very often.
But, says Randall, change is possible because hair is always replacing itself:
“The hair that you have on your head age 10 is not the hair that you have on your head age 2, and it is not the hair you have on your head age 50,” Randall says.
If the new follicles grow back a different shape, then your new hair will be different, too.
Hair Care From The Inside-Out
I made at least a dozen more calls but I couldn’t find anyone who knew more about the curly-straight question. I did find out that there is an entire industry working on it.
“There are multimillion-dollar research projects going on looking at how to change hair shape because this would be a billion-dollar business,” says Dr. Zoe Draelos, a dermatologist in High Point, N.C. Her research is supported by the cosmetics industry, which is looking beyond perms and irons. For the industry, figuring out a simple way to turn hair straight or curly would be a goldmine.
“Wouldn’t it be great if you took a pill and your hair turned curly?” says Draelos. “I mean, can you imagine how that would revolutionize hair care, and then you could take another pill, and you could reverse it the next day.”
Until then, I think I will stick with my curls.
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 29th Sept 2009
BRACHYTHERAPY RADIATION SEED IMPLANTS FOR PROSTATE CANCER
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009Radiation Seed implants better for prostate cancer
CHICAGO (UPI) — Two studies say brachytherapy — radiation seed implants — is a superior treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, officials at a Chicago non-profit say.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago and The Taussig Cancer Center at Cleveland Clinic say two independent studies show brachytherapy produces a superior disease-free survival rate among patients with early-stage prostate cancer.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago analyzed 9,137 patients who were treated for prostate cancer with brachytherapy between 1997 and 2008 at Chicago Prostate Center. The study says 67.5 percent of the patients were regarded as low risk, 29.36 percent as intermediate and 1.01 percent as high. For those patients, overall cure rates were 96 percent, 84 percent and 75 percent for low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients, respectively.
When combined with external beam radiation therapy in intermediate- and high-risk patients, the brachytherapy results far exceed those of surgery, the study says.
Researchers at the Taussig Cancer Center at Cleveland Clinic say for low-risk prostate cancer patients, brachytherapy was equally successful as external beam radiation, but more successful than a radical prostatectomy – prostate removal.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International
Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009