2012 – The Re-Think of Medicine Has Begun
Healthcare systems worldwide are imploding with run-away costs and lack of access to primary care. It is time to look at medicine as a reactive discipline more attuned to maintaining and preserving rather than to curing and healing. We deal with symptoms and intervene to mitigate symptoms. Continue reading
Versus Acute Diarrhea
Using probiotics for treating sudden cases of infectious diarrhea in children is well studied. Good-quality studies have shown that probiotics (“Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG,” “L. reuteri,” “L. casei,” “Shirota,” and “Bifidobactrium factis”) shortened the duration of diarrhea caused by a virus. It seems, though, that probiotics are effective only for rotavirus-associated diarrhea, and not diarrhea triggered by another virus or bacteria. This is the most common form of viral diarrhea in the world, and affects children under the age of five mostly. It accounts for many hospital trips every year. Whatever the case, probiotics seems to work in relieving acute cases of diarrhea in infants and children, although only certain kinds show this beneficial effect. Only “Lactobacillus GG” has been proven. Continue reading
Here’s an herbal remedy that could help you this flu season. In the latest health news, researchers have just discovered that mint could help fight respiratory infections that lead to pneumonia.
You may be familiar with some of the health benefits of mint tea. It’s good for your digestion, helping to break down food into nutrients that your body can use for the important tasks it needs to perform. Peppermint tea also makes an excellent herbal remedy for soothing an upset stomach. In fact, it can help eliminate some of the painful symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome.
Peppermint in and of itself contains some special nutrients. Menthol, one of its active ingredients, could help to ease diarrhea and reduce the pain associated with headaches. Continue reading
Individuals who are hospitalized for brain injuries sometimes develop infections because their condition tends to suppress the immune system and induce inflammation in the body.
Researchers at the North Sichuan Medical College and Hospital in China conducted a study to determine whether supplementing these individuals with probiotics could help reduce rates of infection among traumatic brain injury patients.
They discovered that when probiotic bacteria were administered through an intravenous feeding tube over a 15-day period, individuals experienced fewer markers of inflammation and a heightened immune response when compared to a control group who received standard care. Continue reading
We face an epidemic of autoimmune diseases, medical conditions that cause the body to attack itself and destroy its own tissues. Everyone who lives in today’s polluted world — exposed to toxins at home, outside and just about everywhere in the environment — is at risk. But you can take natural steps to regulate your immune system and help it ward off disease, not cause it.
Well-Designed Immunity
While your body is designed to defend against a host of environmental invaders, it cannot completely withstand the adverse effects of poor diet, chronic stress and toxic buildup. These common factors can contribute to a group of serious health problems of epidemic proportions, including autoimmune (AI) disease, which is on the rise.
AI diseases comprise more than 100 unique types, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Continue reading
A new study of the mating habits of mountain goats reveals the vastly different strategies of males in different populations and could shed light on the unseen impacts of hunting.
A Durham University-led research team found that male chamois (a species of wild goat-antelope) adopt different strategies in different populations in order to succeed in the rut: some put a lot of energy in at a young age, while others wait until they are much older.
Researchers looking at neighbouring populations of chamois in Northern Italy found that males in one population delay their reproductive efforts until an older age when their size and experience allow them to dominate in the rut. They then put increasing effort into breeding until they die. Continue reading
Significant findings published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Philadelphia, PA, December 14, 2011 – Women with a short cervix should be treated with vaginal progesterone to prevent preterm birth, according to a landmark study by leading obstetricians around the world. Vaginal progesterone decreased the rate of preterm birth by 42%, and significantly reduced the rate of respiratory distress syndrome and the need for mechanical ventilation, as well as a composite of several complications of premature newborns (e.g. infection, necrotizing enterocolitis, intracranial hemorrhage, etc.). An early online version of the study was published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG), and is available on the AJOG website free of charge. Continue reading
Families take medications and vitamins to feel well and to stay well. But did you know that more than 60,000 young children end up in emergency rooms every year because they get into medicines when their parent or caregiver isn’t looking?
Any kind of medicine and vitamin – even one you buy without a prescription – can cause harm if taken in the wrong way or by the wrong person. All medicines and vitamins should always be kept up and away and out of your child’s reach and sight.
Protect your child. Here’s how: Continue reading
A major concern of dieting individuals is getting adequate nutrients while cutting back on calorie intake. Researchers at McMaster University report that a healthy weight-loss eating plan should include protein- and calcium-rich foods.
Authors of the study observed a group of overweight or obese premenopausal women who were on diets consisting of high, medium or low intake of dairy products, and differing amounts of protein and carbohydrates.
The team reported that volunteers on high-dairy and high-protein diets lost about the same amount of weight as the other participants, but improved their markers of bone density and had less abdominal fat than their counterparts on different eating plans.
The scientists said Continue reading
Despite mainstream medical establishments and media outlets portraying multivitamin supplements as worthless and oftentimes toxic, vitamins have led to 0 deaths over the past 27 years. In contrast, pharmaceutical drugs were responsible for 3 million deaths, topping the death toll from traffic-related incidents. In 2009, pharmaceuticals were responsible for the death of 37,485 people nationwide.
The statistics come from the Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS), and the findings go against the claims of most mainstream doctors Continue reading
It’s estimated that Americans spend $84 million each year on over-the-counter sleep aids. So, it may come as good news that Northumbria University researchers recently discovered that drinking tart cherry juice every day may improve sleep quality.
Authors of the study examined the sleep patterns of volunteers who drank two glasses of Montmorency cherry juice each day for one week, and then once again when the participants consumed the same quantity of a fruit cocktail beverage.
The researchers observed that when the individuals drank cherry juice, they slept an average of 39 minutes longer each night and experienced a 6 percent increase in sleep efficiency, when compared to their resting patterns during the week they consumed fruit punch. Continue reading
If you’ve been struggling to lose pounds, wondering how you’ll get through week after week of dieting, there’s good news on the weight loss front: Dieting for just two days a week and eating normally for the rest of the week may actually help you lose more weight than trying to diet every day. It may also cut your risk of cancer.
Another advantage of this new style of dieting: It seems to easily fit into a busy lifestyle while trimming your waistline and improving health.
Intermittent Dieting, Steady Benefits
An expanding collection of research is showing the benefits of what is called “intermittent dieting.” What these studies have demonstrated is that you don’t have to diet every day of your life to lose inches around your middle and maintain your weight, you merely have to watch what you eat for just two days a week. And the weight loss that results from intermittent dieting has been found to lower levels of insulin, a cancer-promoting hormone.
In the most recent study, scientists at the Genesis Prevention Center at University Hospital in South Manchester, England found that eating a restricted, low-carb diet for two days a week helped women lose more weight over a period of four months than did restricting calories seven days a week. Continue reading
If you want to vanquish body fat, better get plenty of vitamin C. Researchers at Arizona State University have found that adequate vitamin C is necessary for the body to oxidize fat and use it as a fuel for exercise and physiology.
In their research, the Arizona scientists found that people with the least amount of vitamin C in their bodies had the highest body fat mass. And when they put a group of people on weight-loss diets, those with more vitamin C lost more fat than those who were low in this nutrient.
Today, it is estimated that more than one in six adults is deficient in vitamin C, while less than 5 percent of Americans were short of vitamin C 30 years ago. The Arizona scientists believe our heavy diet of processed foods is robbing us of vitamin C.
Source for Story:
http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/vitamin-c-helps-you-lose-body-fat/
Communicating with a doctor can be difficult since doctor’s appointments are often rushed and end quickly. And now researchers have uncovered another difficulty: Patients are illiterate when it comes to anatomy and don’t know where their organs are located. Most of them can’t even locate their hearts.
In research published in the open access journal BMC Family Practice, it was demonstrated that 54.5 percent of people cannot correctly identify where the heart is in the body. Although about 86 percent of people can tell you where the intestines are and 81 percent know where the bladder is found, about 69 percent can’t even identify the position of the lungs.
The researchers point out that doctor-patient communication becomes even more challenging when patients can’t discuss their bodies knowledgeably with their healthcare practitioner.
Oh, and in case someone asks, the heart is in the middle of the chest, just behind and slightly left of the breastbone (your left!), and located between the two lungs.
Source for Story: Continue reading
While a member of the carotenoid family, astaxanthin has many unique properties that put it in a class of its own. For example, it cannot function as a pro-oxidant, making it a highly beneficial antioxidant. It’s also unique in that it can protect the entire cell—both the water- and fat-soluble parts—from damage
While you can easily obtain most of the carotenoids you need from your diet, getting therapeutic amounts of astaxanthin through diet alone is difficult. You’d have to consume three-quarters of a pound of wild-caught sockeye salmon, which contains the highest amounts of astaxanthin of all the marine foods, to receive the same amount of astaxanthin you’d get in a 4mg capsule if you were to take a supplement
Health benefits of astaxanthin includes protection against age-related macular degeneration (the most common cause of blindness), Continue reading