|
|
Published on June 09, 2022
After you have properly trimmed your medical marijuana you will want to give it a proper dry and cure.
The process of drying and curing marijuana can and will effect the quality of the final product.
The best dry is usually a slow dry. Drying too fast will lock in chlorophyll, nutrient residuals and other things that a slow dry helps remove.
You also want a fairly cool and well ventilated room, 60 - 70 degrees is about ideal. A good fan to remove gas build up in the dry area will also help improve flavor and prevent mold.
As marijuana and other plant life decomposes and breaks down it produces carbon dioxide gas. It can smell like a bail of straw or alphalpha and it can make your final product taste and smell funny. Proper ventilation will eliminate this problem.
To get a nice slow dry you will need to control the humidity. Depending on the time of year you may need a humidifier or a de-humidifier. If it's cool and rainy or too warm you may even need something to control the temperature.
Once you get the climate control tuned in you need to put up lines to hang your buds on. Some people hang the entire plant upside down because they believe the THC will flow from the roots into the buds. That is one of the many myths about growing marijuana. THC does not flow in the marijuana plant. The roots have such a minimal amount of THC that even if it did flow it would be useless anyway.
THC forms in the trichomes on the mature flowers of the marijuana plant. That's where the good stuff is for most patients. This is what hash, hash oil and hemp oil is made from. It forms on the flowers and stays on the flowers until it's removed by humans or decomposes into the ground etc.
Hanging your plants upside down with the roots on also tends to get dirt on your marijuana flowers. Nobody likes dirty marijuana.
Many people use fishing line or other similar string and run it from one side of the area to the other and back again. Leave enough space between lines to get decent ventilation.
Once you have your dry room or area set up you are ready to trim and hang your marijuana. Space the trimmed flowers out so they aren't touching each other across the lines. Set up a fan to keep the air in the room properly circulated. Make sure to sweep the floor and clean the entire room well before you hang your marijuana. Dirt particles can easily stick to the sticky trichomes on marijuana buds.
Once you have everything trimmed and hung shoot for a humidity of about 40% if you can. 50 is acceptable but much higher than that the first day or 2 can promote mold inside the denser marijuana buds. The denser the buds are the longer you want to keep the humidity around 40%. Indica and Indica dominate strains that have very tight dense flowers are usually more prone to inner bud mold while hanging.
Once your medical marijuana flowers begin to feel a little dry and slightly crispy on the outside let the humidity come up to 50 - 55%. Keep the room ventilated and the air circulated at all stages so far.
You want to keep the buds in this stage for at least a week, 2 if possible. Some strains require more than 2 weeks. The longer growing strains often have more nutrient residuals to release and do better with a longer cure time.
By drying like this you are really getting a "pre cure" on your medical marijuana.
Once you have given the marijuana a proper dry time bring the room down to 50% humidity for 4 hours or so. It's best to do this on a dry day unless you have a dehumidifier. Once the marijuana stems snap but not a crispy snap it's usually ready to jar up. The flowers should still have a little moisture in them but not a lot. It should be about as dry as you like to get it when you like to smoke it but just a tad moister.
Open the jars every day for a minute or so until the buds are the perfect moisture. After a week or 2 they are usually cured and ready to smoke. After 3 weeks in the jar they are usually premo.
Keeping your medical marijuana in a glass jar helps preserve quality and flavor.
This is the quickest and most effective way I have found to dry and cure marijuana and get a high quality product.
Click here for more tips about medical marijuana.
Published on June 09, 2022
Marijuana has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on which political and religious party you’re talking to. Bottom line is that marijuana is a plant grown from the grown and produced by our very own Mother Nature. If abused, misused or overused, it can be catastrophic to one’s body, mind and cognition abilities; however, when used appropriately, it can cure many ailments such as fear or nervousness, anorexia, pain, nausea and vomiting, just to name a few.
Indians (meaning those native to the Americas, not the country India) have used cannabis for medicinal purposes for centuries. They used it in cooking, drinking, and even some ointments to be rubbed periodically on insect bites or stings, as well as cuts caused from every-day interaction with mother nature. It’s important to remember, here that marijuana is not a harmful, intoxicating drug that injures our bodies, but can be used for many purposes to help it. There are several books and sites on nature’s medicine that give recipes for these medicines, which are incredibly helpful if you can gain access to the said ingredients.
Some states in the U.S.A. have finally given in to allowing medical marijuana; however, they have also created loopholes in those allowances that can get one in a fair amount of legal trouble if caught with over a certain amount of it. There are many ideas and conspiracy theories as to why this is. Some think it is because the government cannot figure out how to control its growth and manufacturing like they do with alcohol and tobacco, while others have been made to believe that it truly is harmful to the body. Don’t misunderstand, there are some negative effects of marijuana when used for recreation; namely, one tends to become less coherent and quick to respond, overeating, as well as extreme fatigue. We live in a fast-paced world, so using marijuana as a recreational drug can somewhat dampen the effects of the fast merry-go-round of life.
Due to the legal complications of marijuana use, it’s hard to opening speak about such matters to government officials; however, we the people have the right to learn the true nature of Nature’s Gifts and medicines and fight for the right to use them. Statistically, marijuana is not nearly as harmful to our society as alcohol and tobacco, in which those 2 drugs tend to effect the public when consumed individually.
Our society has come a long way so far in somewhat legalizing the use of medical marijuana, and it’s up to us to continue onto this road of progression as it is our right, nay, our duty, as American citizens to enforce societal change.
Are you looking for the best cbd product? Visit Alchemy Science now!
Published on June 09, 2022
Cannabis sativa is the plant that both hemp and marijuana comes from. Believe it or not, there is a difference between these two, and there are a lot of other facts about the plant that people are unaware of but should know before using them. A lot of people get confused with why cannabis sativa has been legalized in some states and how it has been approved as a medicinal ingredient. To help people get a better understanding, here is a list of the five important things you should know about cannabis sativa.
Hemp is generally a word that refers to plants that can be used to make a type of sturdy rope. Cannabis sativa is one of the best plants for this purpose and there used to be large plantations all over the United States to form hemp ropes. Nowadays when people say the word “hemp” they are referring to the parts of the plant that are used for making rope, painting canvasses, and non-illicit drug consumption. When people speak of marijuana they are mostly referring to the parts of the same plant that are used for illegal drugs.
Truth be told, only the female plant will get you “high.” The dried leaves and the flowers of the female cannabis sativa contain high amounts of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. This is the ingredient that causes hallucinations and thus gets people high. It elates the brain into experiencing a fake feeling of pleasure. When the THC dies out the brain is basically thrown into some kind of draught which is why people need to smoke more pot immediately after. If you take the THC out of the equation and focus on the more medicinal parts of weed, you’re getting away with some really good medicinal benefits.
The roots, leaves, and stems are all used for medicinal purposes. The most potent parts of weed however are the seeds. They contain more than 40 chemical ingredients that have been proven to help the body cope with immune-related diseases. Many medicinal experts are even considering medicinal weed as a possible answer to AIDS. Currently though, the seeds of cannabis sativa are used primarily as a sedative and as a powerful type of pain reliever. It can also be used as a detoxifying agent.
This is one of the big questions people tend to ask and it is something you need to ask too if you require medicinal weed. The answer is yes, you can grow weed inside the house but you’ll need specific equipment for it. You’ll need grow tents, grow lamps that are of the right hue and intensity, and hydroponic equipment to give them the right nutrients for better growth.
This is the tricky question for a lot of people. Generally speaking, medicinal weed is legal in some states (18 states to be exact, including Washington DC). Possessing and using recreational marijuana is still considered illegal and you can and will still be processed for possessing illegal drugs when caught. Medicinal weed requires prescriptions and even in states where legislation allows it you’ll need to undergo several medical tests to ensure you really need it. Basically the marijuana you are allowed to have or grow should be free of the recreational elements that turn it into an addictive substance.
If you want to know more about the benefits of marijuana in our health, check us out at Alchemy Science.
“Eyes are the windows of the spirit,” it is cliché but it holds verity that sightedness is real eventful for group that’s why there are eye attention tips. The eyes are really huffy meat to floodlighted, dusts and modify when you unexpectedly proffer it. It is so burning that when you retrogress sight, you give believe that you don’t love guardianship and feet, in opposite language, halting. A organism’s quotidian time gift be delicate.
Eye guardianship tips are coolheaded of intelligent resources thence, without the use of chemicals and the availability of the ingredients are saved in the surroundings. The prototypic tip is increment and unfailing intake of matter that are lush with Vitamin A much as press, eggs, river, pawpaw, cilantro, fish among others. These kinds of matter faculty forbear the eyes embellish brighter and the tradition of work them with nippy wet is assistive.
The eye guardianship tips for contrarious gloomy circles under the eyes are cucumbers. Sliced cucumbers condition to be situated on top of the eyes. This is one of the simplest tips that anyone can hold. No impoverishment for purchasing dear creams that may create writer scathe than close. Added vegetable that can plow caliginous circles low the eyes is vine. Again, you retributory put spud slices on top of your windows of the psyche to get rid of those morose circles.
One of the impelling eye protection tips is collecting an amla and plunge it in thing long and the close start use it in work your eyes. You can also dip shrub in a washbowl chockablock of Apostle cordial river and after soaking you can get the cotton and mate your eyes for 15 to 20 minutes. For drawn eyes, douse fabric pads in a immature washstand engorged of cooled river. After that, put that on your eyes for 10 to 15 minutes. This abstraction you can unlax your bushed eyes.
Other tip includes coming and quiet of the eyes and muscles around it and suppose of graceful things. Then only appear at an object moral you. Repetition this utilise 4 to 5 times regular. For red, itchy and twitchy eyes use curd to knead scalp. For large eyes, scintilla the injure of potatoes then put it on your eyes for 20-25 minutes. One of the physiologist eye fixing tips is lavation your grappling before going to sleep and always remove make-up on your meet.
Experiencing pain or discomfort in your eyes? Check up with our ophthalmologist here at Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region.
A cataract is an eye disease that involves the clouding, yellowing or opacification of the natural lens of the eye. This causes a large and violent rush of water over a precipice. Cataract is a kind of disease which comprehensively depends on age. Cataract may even lead to loss of vision of a person. As a person grows old, the probability of he being affected by cataract also increases. It might start with on eye or even start with two eyes. People above 65 years of age are usually affected by cataract disease. It starts with huge flow of water from the eyes and then later hampers the proper functioning of retina. As the retina gets damaged, the person cannot see things properly as his eyes fail to focus light. Since retina is nothing but a tissue which converts light signals to electrical impulses and transports them back to brain. And once it gets damaged, people even fail to recognize things. Well working retina is transparent, but the eye suffering from cataract will have a yellowish retina and distracts the intensity of the light falling on the eye, impacting the vision.
Now, if you are wondering about the symptoms of cataract, then following details might help you. Development of cataract is slow process and it does not involve any severe symptoms which would ensure you about its presence. Initially, huge amount of water will flow the person’s eye and his vision will become blurry. The person having cataract will get a feeling as if his eyes are clouded and develops a habit of rubbing the eyes in order to eliminate the drowsiness from the eyes. With cataract, you can even see the light of a fluorescent lamp directly. You vision goes nil, when you try to drive you car at night. If you are a person related to computer field, then you will find huge difficultly in reading small sized text. You cannot even spend much time in front of the screen. Apart from these, if you are finding difficulty in reading books or newspaper, especially where the text is not big in size, then you might be having cataract. These are few of the symptoms of this eye disease and when ever you go through such experiences then it is seriously advised to pay a visit to your doctor, regarding the same.
Time is moving at the speed of sound and the attitude of the people is also changing with same pace. Modern cataract surgeries are very quick and hardly needs day to finish with the surgery. And with in a span 1-2 days, the patient can resume his routine work. You can approach any surgeon and take an appointment for the surgery. And just by simply coming at that particular time, you will be operated and you can drive back to with in few hours. Even though, the speed of the surgery has tremendously increased but the outcome is better than earlier. Once your yellowish and cloudy lens is replaced with transparent one, your vision becomes completely clear as if you are back to your young age. This is the main factor which is encouraging the people with cataract to get operated and make their life better.
Whenever you hear the term “surgery”, you really get frightened. Although cataract is not much different from any other conventional surgery, but you hardly feel any pain during or after the surgery. In cataract surgery, first the surgeon checks the condition of the lens. If he finds the lens to be completely damaged, then he breaks the lens using a high intensity laser probe and removes the broken parts using a suction device. After the removal of the old lens, the surgeon places a new transparent artificial lens in its place. And if the lens is partially damaged, then the surgeon clears the damaged part, cleans it and places it back to its position. Even though it involves such painful procedure, but the operated area is made temporarily inactive by giving local anesthesia. Although it sounds a very tedious process but it gets completed with in an hour or so. Surgery for cataract has become so common these days that even insurance companies cover these surgeries. It has become so common in every home that even people are not scared of cataract surgeries.
Although cataract surgery is one of safest surgeries of the modern day, there are some kinds of risks involved. About 98% of cataract surgeries are successful but I am talking about that 2%. You never know, even you can fall in that nullified category. So, before you opt for cataract surgery, it is very important to understand the risk factors involved in it.
There is a high probability of eye getting infected which is also termed as Endophthalmitis. The mechanism involved in surgery is such that it can leave your whole eye infected. And to prevent this, surgeons pour few drops of antibiotic liquid on the eyes before they get operated. This drug nullifies the chance of getting infected to a great extent but still 1 out of every 3000 patients do suffer from this infection.
Well this conclusion is very rare but still there is a possibility that it might happen. During the surgery, the macula (which is the central part of the retina) may get inflamed and might result in burning the vision. As macula starts swelling during the surgery, so there is great chance of its getting inflamed but it is injected with some steroids, which kills such danger. There is one more deadly risk of cataract surgery. There is possibility that the retina might get detached with the eyes, this is also called as retinal detachment. The detachment of retina from the back of eye can damage the vision of that eye for a lifetime. But this occurs to about half of the once percent of all cataract surgeries.
The most frightful and deadly risk is that the cataract surgery might even lead to choroidal hemorrhage. Choroids are actually the blood vessels which carry blood to the retina. This obviously means that they are a vital part of the eye. But during cataract surgery, there is a possibility that these choroids start bleeding. And this is common to the patients who have high blood pressure. So, if the surgeons are successful in stopping the process quickly, then it might not harm the vision of that person. But, if he fails to do so, then the patient might loose his vision forever.
These were few of the risks that are involved in the cataract surgeries, which you should be aware of. But the technology involved in these surgeries is so sophisticated that the probability of these hazards is almost nullified. So, people can opt for cataract surgeries if they are suffering from eye cataract.
For more tips on taking care of your eyes, visit Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region.
Living with heartburn is one of the most difficult things you can experience as even slight changes in your routine can worsen the symptoms. Seeking medical help for the condition is a natural reaction from most people, but more often than not, these medications will need to be taken for life. There are actually several home remedies that can treat heartburn and acid reflux satisfactorily.
Here are some of the commonly used heartburn home remedies:
Apart from these heartburn home remedies, you can make some changes to your lifestyle in order to avoid acid reflux.
Lose excess weight: If you are overweight, it stands to reason that you will suffer from heartburn at some point in your life. This is because the fat on the body tends to push up the abdomen, which in turn pushes the stomach acid back up into the esophagus triggering heartburn.
You must also take care not to go on any crash diets and lose weight suddenly. This may actually worsen your symptoms. The best way is to lose 0.5 to 1 kilogram per week. Alternatively, also try to consult your doctor to see if a weight loss regimen can be devised for you.
Eat smaller portions: If you eat a heavy and spicy meal, be assured that your day is ruined. This is because the meal stays for a long time in your stomach and will invariably increase acid levels. Pat Baird, RD, with the National Heartburn Alliance says that the food is also exposed to the stomach acid for a longer time thus triggering heartburn. Therefore eating smaller meals over the day may help you avoid experiencing acid reflux.
Do not sleep immediately after a meal: The idea is to allow the food to be partially digested and enable acid levels in the stomach to go down. If you lie down immediately after a meal, it is easier for the acid to seep into your esophagus. Wait for at least three hours after the meal before you lie down.
Avoid tight-fitting clothes: Clothes that hug your waist may make you look smart, but they actually put pressure on your abdomen and the lower esophageal sphincter, thus increasing acidity.
Elevate the head of your bed: Doing this helps lower heartburn as nature and gravity go to work and ensure that the acid stays where it’s meant to be – in your stomach. Elevating the head of the bed by about 6 to 8 inches may be enough.
Kick the butt: Giving up on smoking is a blessing for the lower esophageal sphincter as it ensures the proper functioning of the latter.
Keep a food diary: By doing this, you can easily identify foods that trigger heartburn and can take care to avoid these foods in the future.
Alternative remedies to tackle acid reflux also include aromatherapy, hypnosis, music therapy, and relaxing massages.
So as you can see, heartburn can be treated naturally and involves making minor changes to lifestyle and dietary patterns. Some readily available heartburn home remedies can also relieve symptoms of acidity and incorporating these remedies into your daily diet can be very useful, alternative medicine can also be an option, chakra alignment done with acupuncture can help you feel better.
A human being is one of the finest examples of the engineering skills of the god. In the body, it has made beautiful eyes. But then HE worried about its safety from environmental irritants and therefore provided a guard in form of eyelids. It is not the end of the security system of god. Any irritant if bypasses lids there is another defense line in form of increased tear production that will wash away the foreign substance. Not only the eyes but also the lungs have a similar system of defense.
The opening of the windpipe has guards called vocal cords. If some unwanted ailment bypasses these vocal cords then airways constrict. God has made asthmatic patients an aristocratic class of human beings who are made to live in a clean environment. Therefore it has enhanced the power of constriction of airways to keep these airways clean. Bronchoconstriction is a special sense by which they can detect dust, smell, pollution, and other irritants trigger factors in a much easier way than others and can make an early escape before an irreversible injury takes place.
Thus asthma is a byproduct of the protective mechanism of the god. In some cases, common notions of asthma are not correct and therefore responsible for late diagnosis of the disease. Commonly prevailed notions and reactions of the patients about having asthma are as follows,
When a person is told the first time that the disease he is suffering from is asthma, his instant reaction is aggression. It may be one of the following,
Though asthma can’t be completely cured, there are alternative methods that can provide some relief from asthma symptoms. Book an appointment with AB Acupuncture to experience these benefits for yourself.
Stress has become huge, and when looking for help or relief you will be faced with a barrage of Therapies, Practitioners and Drugs, all of which will claim to give relief from stress, and in most cases, they will help. Some of the remedies available are discussed below.
When we first fall foul of stress, we automatically go to the doctor with a whole list of symptoms and feelings, hoping there will be a miracle pill to make it all go away. But the truth is the doctor can only treat the symptoms and not the emotional or physiological reasons for the condition. In the limited time available with you, the GP will try his or her best to get to the bottom of why you are as you are.
Medication is not always the answer to solving stress, so many GP’s will refer you to a counsellor or community psychiatric team. They may also refer you to a specialist: Psychotherapist, Psychiatrist or Clinical Psychologist.
Depending on the symptoms you present to the GP, in some cases drugs will be prescribed to help you through a difficult time. In most cases, these will be tranquillisers, though these will not be prescribed over a long period of time as they can be addictive.
Beta-blockers help with anxiety, reduce palpitations, tremors and sweating. Depression caused by stress can be dealt with by another series of drugs, which can be given over longer periods of time, as they are in most cases not addictive, although some do carry some nasty side effects; some people experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking them. There are two main types of antidepressant – the older style tricyclic drugs and the new selective serotonin inhibitors (SSRI’s) such as Prozac (see Sources Of Stress). Note: users of these drugs should be aware that it can take up to three weeks for these drugs to take effect and during this time you may experience side-effects, but you should continue taking the drugs under advice from the prescribing GP.
Under times of stress, we may take drugs in other formats that we don’t even consider as drugs, such as alcohol, cigarettes and recreational drugs. These will alleviate the stress short term but will not keep it at bay for good.
Talking it out is good for stress. Your GP may suggest you try a counsellor or psychotherapist who is free of charge, however the waiting time for these appointments can be up to six months in most cases, or your GP may refer you to someone private.
Counsellors generally don’t specialise in stress, anxiety or depression. However, there are Stress Counsellors who do. The counsellors will be able to assist you in examining your causes of stress and suggest ways for you to deal with it better.
Psychotherapy delves deeper into your background, rooting out possible causes for your stress and the state you may be in. This therapy will tend to go on for longer than counselling.
CBT has become more popular over the past few years. It focuses on changing negative thought processing into positive. The therapy aims to show you how to identify negative thought patterns and give you positive ways to change them.
Over the last ten years, we have seen a rapid increase in the interest in Stress Management consultants and counsellors. They can help you identify the underlying causes of your stress and give you positive coping strategies.
Aromatherapy is a world away from scented bath oils. Practitioners will use a variety of oils best suited to your needs, such as Lavender, Marjoram and Geranium. They may be added in a carrier oil to aid massage or dispensed from a diffuser.
Bach remedies are the best-known flower remedy and marketing for a range of emotional difficulties.
Spiritual, Faith and Reiki healing all involve energy being passed through one to another. This can be done via the laying on of hands or distance healing.
Massage is a very relaxing experience which many people find beneficial when stressed, whether done by a practitioner, partner or friend.
There are many methods of relaxation, either taught by professionals or ones you can teach yourself. Many bookstores and health food shops sell books and videos for you to use yourself. Look into how to practice self-care. Yoga is often recommended because of its relaxing qualities and the use of deep breathing. You can also supplement it with regular acupuncture treatments.
The human body has many joints or areas where two different bones meet. Arthritis is a disease that affects these joints and causes pain and inflammation.
There are professional medical practitioners apart from acupuncture specialists, who believe that arthritis patients do not need to rely on pain killers and steroids to relieve the pain. It is believed that relief from pain can be sought through acupuncture, an alternative traditional Chinese medicine that brings pain relief.
People seeking a better understanding of acupuncture for arthritis need to understand that arthritis is not considered a single disease in the medical world. It is the term given to over one hundred different medical conditions with osteoarthritis being the most common form of arthritis found to affect the elderly. There are other forms of arthritis that may affect people at any age.
According to Chinese doctors that existed around the sixteenth century, arthritis was believed to be the result of energy imbalances in the body. Acupuncture is believed to stimulate the major meridian points in the body to help correct imbalances and resist illness. Acupuncture works to release endorphins or chemicals in the body that block pain messages from being transmitted to the brain.
Before we go any further, it is important that people understand that acupuncture cannot be considered some kind of magic cure that will treat all kinds of illnesses. It is useful in treating pain and acupuncture for arthritis has been shown to be a quite an effective treatment for many individuals. Apart from arthritis, acupuncture has been known to treat headaches, cramps, back pain, neck pain, muscle pain, facial pain, obesity, drug addiction, and colitis conditions among other problems.
Acupuncture also helps to improve the way the immune system in the human body functions, making it more active in defending the body against illness.
The primary benefit in using acupuncture to treat arthritis lies in the fact that acupuncture provides a way to minimize pain without the patient having to rely on drugs to do so. Drugs as we know often have negative side effects or lose their efficacy and the dosage needs to be increased. With acupuncture, there are no side effects and the treatment can easily be adjusted to match the patient’s response to the treatment.
In the U.S., there are approximately 6,500 licensed acupuncturists and about 3,000 medical doctors who perform acupuncture treatments. You can experience acupuncture treatments performed by experienced professionals yourself when you visit AB Acupuncture.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes a variety of illnesses that can be treated with acupuncture including chronic pain. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the needles used in acupuncture treatment by categorizing them as medical devices.
It’s been shown in scientific studies that acupuncture is an effective treatment for arthritis helping to provide pain relief to patients suffering the excruciating pain associated with arthritis. However, it is essential to note that acupuncture when combined with the right diet and a healthy lifestyle provides greater and more effective relief from the pain.
Another essential that needs to be understood is that there is no across-the-board cure for chronic pain brought about by arthritis. A treatment plan based on individual requirements is necessary for effective treatment. For example, a treatment plan may involve combined drug therapy and non-drug therapy.
In closing, please note that acupuncture has proven to be especially effective in helping to relieve pain associated with arthritis such as osteoarthritis of the knees as well as rheumatoid arthritis pain.
Sometimes babies and children with GERD begin to learn that when they eat, they hurt. They begin to become difficult feeders and many will downright refuse to eat just trying to stop their pain. Severe oral and feeding aversions can result as the baby begins to associate bad things with their mouth. Some people believe that babies will eat no matter what if they get hungry enough, and that may well be true for most babies, refluxers; however, are completely different and need to be treated as such. Some babies or children may vomit so much they are unable to gain sufficient weight on their own.
In some cases, the oral/feeding aversions and excessive vomiting become so severe the baby requires tube feeding to survive. There are several types of feeding tubes that can be used, as listed below.
This is a long thin tube that is inserted through the child's nose, throat and esophagus down into the stomach. The tube is attached to the side of the child's fNG-tube Picturedace using a hospital-grade tape. A pump or gravity feed may be used to supply the food through the tube. Feeds can be given in bolus or continuous amounts. Bolus meaning large amounts over a short period of time. For example, mealtimes can be mimicked by giving three large meals a day through the tube. Continuous feeds are smaller amounts given over longer periods of time, for example, the food would be pumped slowly all night long, or for over a period of several hours. NG tubes are only temporary solutions, and although literally a lifesaver for many kids, they also have their drawbacks. They can cause irritation and damage to the skin on the face, from the tape used, as well as irritation and damage to the esophagus and throat if left long term. NG tubes have also been known to actually make oral and feeding aversions worse because they cause even more negative associations to the mouth and nose area for the child. They can also actually increase the amount of reflux activity because they can hold the LES opened slightly. Digestive Track-Featuring the LES, Pyloric Sphincter, Duodenum, Jejunum, Ileus, and Colon.
This is similar to the NG tube except once in the stomach it continues through the pyloric valve, duodenum (first part of the small bowel), and into the jejunum (the second part of the small bowel). NJ tubes have the same drawbacks as the NG tube but because the end of the tube is in the jejunum instead of the stomach, NJ tubes can help reduce vomiting associated with reflux. They can also help decrease aspiration and apnea episodes for the same reason. Because the jejunum (bowel) can't handle large volumes of food bolus feeds are not possible with an NJ tube. NJ tubes must be placed using fluoroscopic guidance with the help of a radiologist.
G-tubes are surgically inserted through the side of the abdominal wall. A small hole is created on the left side of the abdomen, leading directly into the stomach. A foley catheter will likely be placed until the incision heals, at which time a more permanent and convenient button will be placed.
Jejunostomy with Bard ButtonJ-tubes is surgically inserted through the side of the abdominal wall. Similar to the gastronomy a jejunostomy is performed by creating a small hole on the right side of the abdomen leading into the jejunum. Zinc is used on the abdomen to protect the skin surrounding the stoma (hole) from acidic stomach contents that leak out.
Of course, these are temporary fixes. GERD patients shouldn’t have to feel alienated because of their dietary limitations. If you would like to look into minimally invasive procedures that can address GERD, click here.
PatientCommunity: Tell us a little about yourself, your background, interests…
Dr. Korzenik: I am a board-certified gastroenterologist and the medical director of the inflammatory bowel disease clinic at Washington University - that involves both clinical care as well as clinical research in IBD. I received my medical degree from Albert Einstein, did my residency at Beth Israel in Boston, and my fellowship at Yale. I remained on faculty at Yale for several years, and have been at Washington University for the last four years. My title is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology.
Tell me a little about the division of gastroenterology at Washington University.
We are a broadly based department, strong in both the basic sciences as well as in clinical research. I believe we may be one of the only centers (if not the only center) with two major center grants from the NIH - we are both a GI center and a nutrition center. We also have an excellent group of surgeons that we work closely with.
And, you see a large percentage of patients with IBD?
Absolutely. Ninety-eight percent of what I do is inflammatory bowel disease.
Before we get into your research, perhaps we should lay some background and discuss the current prevailing hypothesis on the aetiology of Crohn's disease…
The most widely accepted understanding of what occurs in Crohn's disease is that there is an excessive inflammatory response in the GI tract to some bacteria or bacterial products. The immune system in the GI tract has to distinguish between friend and foe, with more than 450 bacteria residents - it is a fairly daunting task. The current idea is then that that system has gone haywire, and there is some inappropriate response by a certain subset of cells called T cells. With this as the prevailing understanding, most therapies are directed at immune suppression in order to tone down the excessive inflammatory response.
And, now your particular theory…
There has been an interest in trying to understand other diseases that are associated with Crohn's disease, and that was really the origin of our work and thoughts on this subject. We began looking at rare diseases such as chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), glycogen storage disease 1b, cyclic or autoimmune neutropenias, as well as other uncommon diseases that are associated with a Crohn's-like picture. We have looked at roughly 100 patients with the chronic granulomatous disease, 35 with glycogen storage disease 1b, and previously there have been a number of case reports. At least one-third of these patients have had a Crohn's disease-like presentation. We looked at endoscopy reports, radiology, histology (looking at the tissue under the microscope), and clinical presentation. These people have the ileal disease, colonic disease, strictures, abscesses, perianal disease, fistulas. A greater percentage may actually have Crohn's disease or Crohn's-like disease - about half in both studies actually had symptoms, but it was only that group (one third) which we felt had been sufficiently explored by radiology, endoscopy, and the rest that we felt we could say that this is a Crohn's like a disease.
And, the unifying factor?…
The thing that's interesting about all these immune deficiency disorders is that they are all deficiencies of a particular cell type called the neutrophil. We are actually talking about something broader than just the neutrophil, known as the innate immune system. By innate immunity, we mean the part of the immune system that has a non-specific response to bacteria or viruses. Contrast this with the acquired immune system, where there are specific cells that will make antibodies specific to a particular bacterial or viral threat. Innate immunity includes a broad set of things: things in the serum, part of the barrier in the intestines, and different cells including the neutrophil and the monocyte (or, when the monocyte gets more "determined" as to what it's a profession is going to be, it's called the macrophage).
Of all those elements - and all of them are important - your focus was on the neutrophil?
These diseases suggested we should be focused on the neutrophil, however, we think that it would not be just this cell type, but a defect in any number of these elements of the innate immune system. As the monocyte is harder to study directly, and some of the defects that are present in the neutrophil may also be present in the monocyte, we have focused on the neutrophil. Also, the one factor that stands out that is common to most of these diseases is that they are actually neutrophil deficiencies.
What type of deficiencies are we talking about?
Particularly, a neutrophil deficiency in microbial killing; whether this happens through the oxidative burst or through other functions by which the bacteria are engulfed and killed. These functions in particular seem to be deficient. This was particularly curious; one would think that if you have a disease that is presumably an excessive immune response - and in Crohn's disease the neutrophil and macrophage are seen as cells that sort of pile on or just add to the injury that the T-cell is directing - you would expect that a deficiency (if anything) would be protective against Crohn's disease. The contrary is true. These are rare diseases, and the chance of having both Crohn's disease and one of these rare diseases is extremely unlikely. Further, the chance of having so many of these diseases associated with the same defect and with having Crohn's disease is astronomically unlikely.
And, in your paper, you talk about the proximate defect…
Right. What we are suggesting is that there may be a sequential response in the mucosa. You would not want the immune system to go to all the trouble to develop a T cell response or an acquired immune response to every bacteria that crosses into the intestine. You would want to have non-specific ammunition that the immune system could use to get rid of some of these minor threats.
What we think happens is initially there are serum or luminal factors that should be protective - if they're not able to do their task effectively, then the neutrophil is called in.
If you get a cut, the first cell that will get there - the "rapid response team" - is the neutrophil. If they are not able to handle the problem or if they are doing their job deficiently, then more monocytes and macrophages will be recruited. And, if they are unable to do their task, then the T cell gets activated to a fuller extent. So, what starts out as a deficient response in the innate immune system, really ends up as an excessive response to the acquired immune system. What we are suggesting is that this T cell-driven response that is characteristic of Crohn's may not be the primary problem, but it may be a secondary problem.
And how does this relate to the role of bone marrow???
These cells all are derived from the bone marrow. We have had cases where patients had bone marrow transplants, and in all but one of those cases, the Crohn's disease was resolved. In the one patient where Crohn's returned, it was found that they had not eradicated the bone marrow entirely, and so they had some of the old as well as current marrow. Also, there has been a patient who had small bowel transplantation with Crohn's disease that was on a lot of immune suppression and antibiotics, and within about six to eight weeks of this transplant, the Crohn's recurred in the transplanted small bowel. So, it may not be so much that it is a primary defect of the intestine, but it may reflect a problem in the bone marrow.
Are there any clues suggesting there might be some genetic defect(s) with respect to bone marrow?
Well, it's interesting in that there have been a lot of studies in the 1970s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s in looking at a neutrophil function in Crohn's disease, and even though there are a couple that shows it is normal or increased, most studies have shown that there is a defective response. It's defective in oxidative burst, or chemotaxis (movement), and things such as that. A lot of the studies do need to be repeated with better technology and that is one of the things that we are in the process of starting to do.
One thing that may fit into this is the exciting recent discovery of the NOD2 gene (by Judy Cho and her Chicago team) - this gene defect may reflect a similar problem. NOD2 is a defect in the monocyte, specific to the monocyte, and even though there is still some controversy in doing functional studies of the patients who had the common defect, there was a deficient response of activation of the cell with this particular defect. So, it may be that NOD2 is the first of perhaps others that will reflect a common defective pathway in the innate immune system.
What other items affect neutrophils i.e. environmental factors…
We started looking at periodontitis as perhaps a model of Crohn's disease as it has similar risk factors (smoking is a big risk factor), it has a similar cytokine profile, and similar genetic factors as well. What is different in our understanding of periodontitis versus Crohn's disease is that there has been better microbial analysis or better analysis of the bacteria that cause it. There are about ten or so bacteria that have been described in association with periodontitis that are quite interesting in that they can induce neutrophil deficiency. So, it may be an interaction between certain sets of bacteria and inherited defects (in either handling these things or in the genetics that will evoke this disease).
There are suggestions that there has been a change in the bacterial flora in the twentieth century. So, if you compare say rural African stool cultures (to see what is in the intestinal flora) and compare this to, say, the English population (as one study did), the English population had much more bacteroides, and much less bifidobacteria. And, Bacteroides as a class is one of those things that can induce neutrophil deficiencies.
And, I believe it has been associated with Crohn's - B. fragilis for example…
Right - particularly in animal models. If you look at intestinal abscesses in the surgical literature, these are very often associated with Bacteroides. People have investigated why that might be, and one of the issues that have been suggested is that bacteroides secrete a certain toxin that impairs the ability of neutrophils to handle other types of bacteria. So, that might be in part what's happening in Crohn's disease. We are looking at some of those issues right now.
Along the same line, I was blown away when I read in your paper that NSAIDs and smoking are also tied into neutrophil dysfunction…
Smoking has been demonstrated to decrease the oxidative burst of neutrophils. These things that we are talking about are fairly subtle defects, but it might just be a cumulative effect, gradual defects that accumulate and lead to Crohn's disease. Also, as you are saying, we use non-steroidals in part because they do impair neutrophil chemotaxis and other functions (of the neutrophil.) So, all of this is very interesting in that it seems to tie together and it seems to point to a similar direction - a problem in the innate immune system.
I would be remiss in not asking…for those with ulcerative colitis, have you looked at neutrophil function?
We have not, but we are just in the process of beginning to look at this.
An interesting question is: why is there seemingly a difference in the effects of smoking on ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (protective for the former, deleterious for the latter)? It may be that the role of the neutrophil in these two diseases is very different. This is complete speculation at this point, but it may be that smoking does cause a mild decrease in interleukin 8, an important neutrophil chemoattractant. It may be that something like that could be beneficial in ulcerative colitis, but contributing to a defective innate immune response in Crohn's disease.
So, if you had to speculate, what percentage of patients with Crohn's disease might have this neutrophil defect or dysfunction?
Or, more broadly, innate immunity…
It's hard to say. One of the things we would all agree is that Crohn's disease ultimately may be two or three or ten different diseases that all end up in the same or similar pathway. When we look at these different neutrophil disorders that all end up with a similar intestinal manifestation, it may be that Crohn's disease also will have four or five or more different defects that filter into the same pathway.
Now, we did clinical studies where rather than suppressing what we think may be a secondary response with various immune suppressants, we tried stimulating the innate immune system through two different medications - one is called G-CSF (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) and the other, GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor). Initially, we were anxious about the studies - we were concerned we were going to increase the immune system and some of these patients might get worse. However, the two studies were both quite positive. We cannot compare them side by side as each had different issues of dosing and types of patients, but in the G-CSF study we had a 60% response overall and about 25% (of all patients) went into remission. This was out of the first twenty-two patients or so.
There were a few patients who did get worse. One did eventually go to surgery and was determined at that time to actually have ulcerative colitis. As for the others who got worse, we are uncertain whether it was the drug or perhaps the natural history of the disease.
And, the patients were entirely Crohn's disease patients or were these people suffering with other genetic disorders as well?
No, these were only patients with idiopathic Crohn's disease; none of those patients had any other recognized genetic disorders such as glycogen storage 1b or chronic granulomatous disease. These were all patients being seen in our clinics for routine Crohn's disease.
And, what is the difference between G-CSF and GM-CSF?
G-CSF is granulocyte colony stimulating factor and GM-CSF is granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor. There are both quite similar. G-CSF is directed more toward just the granulocyte - another name for the neutrophil. They are both similar in that they act to stimulate the innate immune system.
Is there going to be some follow-up study?
Yes. In our GM-CSF study, which you have the abstract of, of our first 15 patients we had an 80% response rate with a little over 50% (8 out of 15) of the total that went into remission. With both medications, we had very clear, dramatic, and consistent responses.
In terms of follow up, there will definitely be a study with GM-CSF - that is getting underway. We expect there will be a follow-up study with G-CSF, and that is in the works but I am not sure where that stands right now.
One is marketed by Immunex, and the other is marketed by Amgen?
That's right: GM-CSF is Immunex, G-CSF is Amgen.
Are there other medications that act in a similar fashion?
As you know, the growth hormone has been looked at in Crohn's disease. One of the things that are fascinating is that nobody really knows how growth hormone works, but there is small but consistent literature that growth hormone does stimulate neutrophil function. We - myself, under Al Slonim and the others who did the initial study - are going to be submitting a broad grant for the approval of the NIH in the hopes of looking at HGH in greater detail.
One thing I found interesting was an abstract I came across showing that growth hormone also helped resolve (I think) M. paratuberculosis infection...
There are similarities between TB and Crohn's potentially. This is complete speculation, but one of the ways that TB is able to persist is to hide within the monocyte or macrophage is that it prevents the fusion of the phagosome and the lysosome. That is also then a defect in innate immunity - it is impairing monocyte function, and this may be a link as to why one may get intestinal manifestations with this (TB). If you correct the immune dysfunction or get rid of the bacteria, the intestinal manifestations resolve. It might then be why they look so similar - intestinal TB and Crohn's disease.
I should say we also were encouraged by the fact that the intestinal disease associated with these rare diseases (such as chronic granulomatosis disease) were treated with G-CSF and GM-CSF and showed a very marked response. What's particularly interesting with glycogen storage 1b disease is in our series is that we would have expected a number of people born since 1990 (with this illness) to have developed Crohn's, however, none have. What we speculate is that G-CSF and GM-CSF were approved and widely used in the United States for these people. It may be that their use is also protective of developing that. In Europe, where these drugs are not as widely used, it seems (from reports by my colleagues) that a number of people in this age group have developed intestinal disease.
Are these expensive treatments?
They are probably as expensive or perhaps a little bit more expensive than Remicade, depending obviously on how often you administer them.
Both are approved treatments…
They are - most commonly used for neutropenia.
Have you studied this longitudinally? And, is it the case that with these disorders you give this once? Often? What is the protocol?
We have a couple of different protocols. With G-CSF, it was just one treatment. And, then if a patient flared - which most did after three to four weeks off the medication -we would treat them again. Most people responded a second time. There was at least one person in that study who had Crohn's disease for thirty years and draining fistulas for twenty. For nearly a year now this patient has been off the G-CSF and has had minimal to no problems without any further therapy. That's very exciting. In the GM-CSF study, we have a couple of people who have now gone almost a year without further recurrence. Of the two, one we lost to follow up (i.e. lost contact with.) The other had been sick for six months prior to the study and had been on steroids three times; after treatment, this patient was quiescent for a year and is just now flaring a bit. So, that is very exciting. Most of the people in the GM-CSF group flared after three to eight weeks. They were then put in a maintenance arm, and have all been quiescent on a maintenance dose. It does seem that it may be very effective for daily maintenance as well. What's quite nice about these medications is that each is well known, they are compounds that are in the body, and are not foreign proteins. Each is not a drug like (for instance) sulfasalazine. Each has also been widely used, so we know the side effect profiles at least in people who have deficient marrows. It may be that we have to look out for different side effects in Crohn's patients. The primary problems (potential side effects) are either bone pain - as you are causing a stimulus to growth in bone marrow - or, on the other end of the spectrum, as we saw in some patients using GM-CSF (not G-CSF), injection site reactions.
This is all administered by injection?
Yes, at this point.
What was the actual treatment?
One injection a day in both studies. With G-CSF, we used one dose and then came down as the counts came up. With GM-CSF, we studied three different doses.
Have you looked at why some patients may be responding?
We are very interested in looking at what subpopulation does improve, and we are hoping in the future that markers will be looked at - working with Brian, as well, with his gene chip. We would be trying to get a sense if there is a particular profile or subtype or clinical sub-type that may respond best. At the present time, we do not know.
That is all work being done?
Yes.
Theoretically, is growth hormone the only other potentially interesting treatment along these lines?
So far, but I do not think that means these are the only three. It means those are the only three that I am aware of. I am sure there are others. There are other things that are out there, in development. They are not being specifically looked at for Crohn's right now, but perhaps for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia or perhaps for bone marrow transplant. It may be that if this works people will be looking more aggressively for molecules or proteins that will be useful in this pathway.
Is neutropenia associated with other inflammatory conditions?
Yes, periodontitis. But, as far as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and other chronic inflammatory diseases, no.
Are you yourself working on the gene array?
Brian and I are working on this, but it is really Brian's project - he's putting this together.
What are the next steps?
We hope both of these studies will be starting in the next few months.
Are there other groups interested in neutrophil function?
There are other groups interested in it. I think with the discovery of NOD2 there's going to be a big rise in interest in the innate immune system.
And, NOD2 is involved in bacterial recognition?
That's right. It is specific to the monocyte, is defective in sensing the lipopolysaccharide (the coat of the bacteria) and it kicks off something called NfKB.
With respect to bacterial flora, what are your thoughts on pathogenic, commensal…
What I think it may be is that we have shifted our bacterial flora - whether it's due to increased sugar or changes in refined foods, or whether it's due to refrigeration so that we take in fewer types of certain bacteria -and this only affects certain people who have a genetic predisposition. It may be that people that have a stronger genetic predisposition such as those with the chronic granulomatous disease may need less of an environmental hit. People who have less of a genetic predisposition may need a greater environmental hit.
Your thoughts on percentage - environment versus genetics?
If you take people who are genetically identical (that is, identical twins) and one of them has Crohn's disease, then the risk for the other twin of developing the disorder is 50%. So, there is clearly an important environmental factor involved. When you look more broadly at the epidemiology, you see that Crohn's disease is really a disease of the twentieth century and of the industrialized world. If you go into rural areas in Africa or China or India, Crohn's is rare but is increasing. This past year China had its first conference on Crohn's disease.
What environmental factor? Is it a reaction to certain bacteria?
I think there are certain bacteria, which can induce this neutrophil deficiency. If that happens, one may then react to a host of things that would not normally be threats. I do not want people to think that they have some sort of severe generalized immune deficiency. One of the reasons it may be localized to the gut is because of this bacterial issue so that we do not see people with Crohn's having an increased risk of pneumonia or other bacterial infections. When you reflect on which people do get perianal abscesses and intra-abdominal abscesses, it's more likely that these people have an immune deficiency.
I do not think it will be shown to be a single bacteria as much as a variety of things. My own gut feeling is that it may be a number of bacteria in the bacteroides class for a variety of reasons. We are looking at certain leukotoxins that may be increased in inflammatory bowel disease.
Is there work being done on trying to identify intestinal bacterial populations?
That's something that we would like to do, but it's very difficult - it requires a broad and intensive dedication. I think that it is an area that is growing, along with the surge in interest in probiotics - trying to distinguish these things. However, we are not working on that right now.
Is that something that could be facilitated by the use of arrays?
We have looked at that. There are some non-specific probes that people are looking at, and I think eventually it will be something perhaps that will be accomplished. The difficulty is that there are a lot of bacteria in the intestine that have not been fully identified.
What is the difficulty with respect to the current probiotics? The strains aren't hearty?
No. It is not a matter of that. It simply is that they have not been studied. For instance, some preparations have used 1 billion or 10 billion cells. Perhaps newer probiotics that utilize 450 billion cells might have more of an impact. So it is a magnitude of difference. Remember, first the bacteria have to survive in the capsule, then they have to get through the acid barrier, through the small bowel and the bile, and then contend with an environment that's quite hostile - that's quite a journey. The effect of VSL-3 - a probiotic with 450 billion cells - certainly was dramatic in pouchitis for maintenance of remission. Whether it will be effective in the other disorders we shall see.
Could you take us through some sort of unified vision vis a vis neutrophil dysfunction…
What we are proposing is that due to changes perhaps in intestinal flora, smoking, non-steroidals, and/or other environmental risk factors that have not yet been identified - shifts in the twentieth century - these have induced an impairment of perhaps the neutrophil as well as other aspects of the innate immunity. This deficiency in handling bacteria would then cause an activation of the immune system with the macrophage and eventually T cell and leads to what looks like an excessive inflammatory response. The very effective medications that we have to treat Crohn's in some people such as Remicade, 6-MP, etc. may be very effective because they suppress this inflammatory response. However, what they may be suppressing could be a secondary response - rather than the primary underlying defect. It may be that in some people you can treat them with stimulating the other side of the immune system - the "rapid response" or non-specific side of the immune system. And, by giving immune stimulation rather than suppression, it may be that this is a way of treating Crohn's disease perhaps getting at some of the source of the problems, and could perhaps be a rational way of treating with fewer side effects. I certainly do not want to give the wrong impression; in my practice I use a lot of Remicade, 6-MP, and azathioprine - and if these work, they're great. So, I do not want anyone to get the impression that they should not be using these medications - they are good medications and can be highly effective. We do, of course, try to avoid using too much steroid medication.
It might just be that we have to re-evaluate how we conceptualize Crohn's disease.
And your gut feel is - and I know we spoke of this earlier, but I'm not sure if we came to some prognostication…
Do you mean what percentage of patients might this all apply to?
Yes? What percentage of the CD population - if you had to speculate, and we would not hold you to this…
It's very hard to say. In these small pilot studies that we have done, we have had up to an 80% response rate. Does that mean the percentage is 80%? Well, no - it's a pilot study, it's open-labeled. We simply do not know. It is interesting that somewhere between 15 and 20% of Crohn's patients appear to have the NOD-2 mutation. So, I would say this possibly applies to those people, but if you want an actual number I think I can't really give you one at this point. Could it be 20%? Possibly. Could it be 100%? Probably not. Could it be over 50%? Possibly. We just don't know yet.
With respect to Crohn's disease has anyone looked for some of these other genetic abnormalities? Could it be that one has a heterozygous mutation that might be influencing someone developing Crohn's disease?
Absolutely. That is something that they are looking at in NOD2.
One of the things that I should mention is that perhaps we have stumbled on to some very effective medications, but for all the wrong reasons. That's possible. That is, we are assuming these drugs are working the way we chose them to work, but perhaps they have other effects on the immune system that also may be beneficial - immunoregulatory instead of immune stimulating. It could be that we are shifting from a TH-1 to TH-2 process that is consistent with some work that has been done with G-CSF and GM-CSF - we do not thinks that is the case. At the very least it is probably through immune stimulation. It may also work by changing cell populations, or by signaling the T-cell to calm down its response as well. So, it may be acting through a number of pathways that may be quite useful.
Is apoptosis (programmed cell death) playing a part in this?
It may be that G-CSF and I believe GM-CSF delay neutrophil apoptosis so that they last a longer time.
We hope you enjoyed this interview with Dr. Korzenik. If you or a loved one are in need of endoscopic treatment, consider booking an appointment with IES Medical Group.
“.. he thinks about his boyhood, and he mourns his vanished youth…..I am in the straight for Fifty – and grow younger every day”-Henry Lawson, (When there is Trouble on Your Mind)
Yes, youth is indeed a beginning of new life, a transition from innocent youth to mature youth. The rolling years of fading youth is a period of transition from active days of the youth to the fragile period of ageing. Ageing is a biological phenomenon and must never be confused with the ageing of mind. Mind, if kept clean from the filth of the world remains evergreen in whatever age to come and situation to face. Since body grows weaker and one faces complications in moving around when age grows upon that person, helpful hands from others become indispensable and a welcome relief.
What the elder care homes offer is that essential care. When you select a proper elder care home, you can rely on their quality services and believe that your elder relatives will live in peace with them.
Each and every care giver is experienced and tries to impart their best to the elderly citizens so that they may live in peace and happiness dwells in their mind till they are alive.
Elderly care services is however a broad term that encompasses such services as assisted living, adult day care, long term care, nursing homes, hospice care, and in Home care. Elder care is changing rapidly according to the culture and social background of country.
Even for one country, regional variations exist with respect to the care for the elderly. Previously, elder care has been the liability of family members and was available inside the extended family home. Increasingly in current societies, state or charitable institutions are now providing elder care.
The decreasing family size is responsible for this; the greater life expectancy of elderly people, the geographical scattering of families, and an inclination in women to be learned and work outside the home are some of the factors responsible for this. These changes have made themselves conspicuous in European and North American countries, but presently it is showing its effect in Asian countries.
In most western countries, elder care facilities are self-supporting and aided with living facilities, nursing homes, and continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). There are some non profit organization looking after the welfare of senior citizens. There are business organizations, which looks after elders in lieu of monthly payment with an advance down payment. The condition of living, the care and warmth that the elders receive are the key factors in deciding which elder care home to select and which not to. Why staying back at home is difficult?
If the elders are given a choice they would definitely like to stay in their own house. This sometimes becomes impossible because of the additional assistance they need when they grow old. The adult children of these elderly people face an acute problem while doing their jobs and looking after these old citizens. Therefore looking after the aged parent is a challenging task, which can be best done with the help of elder care services or respite care services.
There is however, a subtle distinction between medical and non-medical elder care. In case of the former, medical insurance is mandatory in some elder care or respite care homes. Skilled medical assistance is required in case of the medical elder care. Therefore, the payment is also more when compared to the non-medical elder care.
It is important to notice that elderly care services consist of two fold duties of satisfying customers. You need to satisfy the resident customer as well as the non-resident customer who is making the payment.
If you have elderly relative or family member who gets care services at home, Fawssit can make their life a bit easier by offering portable showers that are secure, easy to use and come fully assembled with all the tools and parts.
The basis for Natural Lens Replacement dates back over 100 years with the condition called cataracts. A cataract is when the biological lens becomes cloudy, blurs vision, and leads to difficulty driving at night, seeing glare off of lights and making it hard to read. As a result of cataracts, people altered their lifestyle and had to wait until the cataracts became quite advanced before having them fixed.
When the cataracts became “bad enough”, cataract surgery was performed to restore eyesight. During the cataract procedure, the cloudy biological lens was removed from the eye and a lens implant was put in its place. Very basic lens implants were used to correct distance vision when the cataracts were removed. While back then this was a major advance. These days this procedure is now considered a bit archaic because it corrects for only distance vision - patients still needed to wear reading glasses or bifocals afterwards nearly full time.The lens implant technology is now very advanced - these sophisticated “premium” lens implants can correct both distance and reading vision. These lens implants are precision-engineered to exact specifications. This has revolutionized the use of lens implants. Natural Lens Replacement is the use of these premium lens implants to correct distance and reading vision which can provide tremendous freedom from the “crutches” of glasses. Natural Lens Replacement has been a boon for patients with cataracts since eye surgeons now routinely use them to correct cataracts and also fix reading vision. Since the Natural Lens Replacement technology is advanced, people with early cataracts are being proactive to have their cataracts fixed along with their distance and reading vision. Your parents’ generation typically had to wait until their cataracts got so bad that they had trouble driving and doing other activities before the cataracts could be repaired. A version of Len Augmentation can be used to cure patients with cataracts, even early cataracts. No more are the days of waiting until the cataracts get so bad that it makes driving and other activities difficult. Natural Lens Replacement fixes the early cataracts so they will never get worse and you will never have to worry about that happening to you. This will guarantee those cataracts never occur again. Imagine how powerful that is never to have to worry about decreased vision again.
If you are looking for more tips about vision care for cataract, visit us at Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region.
In Chinese medicine the “breath of life” has many and varied subdivisions and functions, comparable to the various metabolic and organ functions in western medicine. Each organ in the body has its own unique qi. Acupuncturists talk of “Spleen qi” or “Lung qi” for example. The qi also protects the body from the outside world by a layer of qi just under the skin called “wei qi”, which corresponds to the western concept of immunity. But the qi of the outside world must come into the body via food and air, or “gu qi” and “qing qi” respectively. We are born with a qi we inherit from our parents called “jing qi”, which has to last us our whole lives. Much Chinese medicine is concerned with preserving the “jing”, as it is a finite resource, and thus precious. When our jing qi runs low our hair turns gray, our bones become brittle and our senses dim.
The “qi” I refer to in acupuncture sessions is the qi that flows through the acupuncture channels. The ancient Chinese talked about “rivers” and “reservoirs” when talking about qi in the body, which is why the word “channel” describes the pathway of qi better than the word “meridian”. “Meridian” implies a line drawn upon the body, whereas the qi flows just under the surface, rising and dipping at various depths depending on the local anatomy. The acupuncture points are locations along the channels that have an elevated concentration of qi. The “qi” sensation that often occurs during needling - the dull ache, feeling of fullness and distension, the occasional zing - is the activation of the qi at a particular point. When that sensation occurs, we speak of “de qi”, which is Chinese for “obtaining the qi”. Patients often go into a very pleasant state of drowsiness when this “de qi” sensation occurs, and it is in this state that the deepest healing occurs.
Qi plays a vital role in acupuncture therapy. To experience its powerful effects, book an appointment at AB Acupuncture.
For obvious reasons, western medicine has a problem with the concept of “qi”. If we can’t measure it with a lab test or capture it with an image, is it real? It’s a bit of a quandary for western medicine because the overwhelming and ever accumulating evidence is that acupuncture works. There are muddled attempts to invoke various “endorphins” or nerve impulses. Never mind that qi sensations travel along pathways that have nothing to do with physical nerves. But we should let western researchers have their diversion as they seek to force qi into their preconceived notions, much as a child might wonder where the little people in the TV go when the power is shut off. Qi is functional energy. It will not hold still to have its picture taken. And yet the ancient Chinese gave us a map of this dynamic and powerful phenomenon, and this map still serves us extremely well. Qi is very real. Belief is not required. So during your next acupuncture session, lie back, relax and enjoy the flow of qi through your body as it heals your aches and pains.
Sleep apnea complications cover a range of conditions, including depression, fatigue, hypertension, sleep deprivation, stroke, and even sudden death.
Sleep apnea sounds like a minor ailment: a bit of snoring and a few sleep disturbances: how dangerous can that be? Quite dangerous, actually. Sleep apnea complications include hypertension (high blood pressure), heart failure, coronary artery disease, stroke, and sudden death. Sleep apnea also causes sleep deprivation, fatigue, and depression, all of which impair quality of life and increase the risk of accidents.
The connection between sleep apnea and hypertension (high blood pressure) is well documented, although the reason the two diseases are connected is unknown. Fifty percent of people with sleep apnea eventually develop hypertension.
High blood pressure increases the risk of stroke or heart failure. It has also been demonstrated that successful treatment of sleep apnea lowers high blood pressure levels.
Sleep apnea complications may include congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease. Sleep apnea causes oxygen levels in the blood to drop, which puts added strain on the heart, which could lead to heart failure. Sudden death from cardiac complications can occur when both sleep apnea and heart disease are present.
At present, it is unclear whether or not coronary artery disease and heart failure are sleep apnea complications, or if the diseases have a common cause. It is known that many obstructive sleep apnea patients also suffer from congestive heart failure, so the presence of sleep apnea should be seen as a warning sign for heart failure.
It is unclear whether stroke belongs in the list of sleep apnea complications, or if it too is a condition often found alongside sleep apnea, but not directly caused by the sleep disorder. Either way, rates of stroke are high amongst people with untreated sleep apnea.
Rates of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, seem to be higher in people with sleep apnea. GERD itself is known to worsen sleep apnea symptoms, as stomach acid irritates the throat.
Sleep deprivation is an epidemic in western industrialized countries, where getting by on as little sleep as possible often seems to be a badge of honor. Sleep deprivation has negative effects on people with otherwise normal sleep cycles. For people living with sleep apnea, the effects of sleep deprivation are severe.
The effects of sleep deprivation are not immediately obvious. Lack of sleep causes irritability, memory problems, loss of focus, and impaired thinking. Quality of life and work productivity also suffer due to sleep deprivation.
Sleep deprivation also increases the risk of accidents, including when driving or operating heavy machinery. While no one knows for sure how many car accidents result from drowsy driving, estimates suggest at least 100,000 automobile accidents a year are directly attributable to sleep deprivation.
Bed partners of sleep apnea sufferers are also affected by sleep apnea complications. Snoring and apneas disrupt the sleep cycles of bed partners, leaving them susceptible to fatigue, depression, irritability, and sleep deprivation. Successful sleep apnea treatment often results in an improvement in the well-being of sleep partners as well as sleep apnea patients.
Incorporate healthy lifestyle changes such as a better diet, regular exercise, and acupuncture treatment into your daily routine. Book an appointment at AB Acupuncture today.
Disclaimer: The information contained within this article is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to be a substitute in any way for care and treatment by a qualified health professional.
For each of us experiencing what we call anxiety or panic, it will differ between individuals. Listed hear, are a few common descriptions used to describe generalized anxiety, and panic disorder:
(Generalized anxiety) An uncomfortable feeling, an uneasy feeling, anxiousness, or fearfulness. Hypersensitivity emotionally to things around you, feelings are exaggerated along with reactions, and for no obvious apparent reason for feeling that way. These feelings stop you, and control your life by keeping you from doing what you want to. Even if you had no problems in doing so before or at one time. In other words, it controls you, your life whether you want to or not, out of the anticipated fear of an attack. So, your life ends up revolving around the anticipation or threat of anxiety rather than living your life in a more normal, fun and uninhabited way.
(Generalized & Panic disorder) The feeling of anxiousness, anticipated anxiety, intense fear, and/or severe panic. You may feel or think that you have no control over your thoughts, feelings, emotions, reactions, and/or even in how your body may be responding or reacting.
(Generalized & Panic disorder) Along with these fearful thoughts, comes an array of body symptoms that range from light inner/outer shakes to hot flashes & heart palpitations resembling a heart attack. There is a wide variety of both body symptoms & mental symptoms, some common between individuals, some are unique to the individual. But they all share one thing in common, fear.
Take an anxiety evaluation test.
Cortex - Relaxation response model: Visual body map showing what organs are affected through the brain when thinking relaxing type thoughts.
Cortex - Stress response model: Visual body map showing what organs are affected through the brain when thinking stressful, angry, resentful, etc., type thoughts
There are many descriptions of what is known as anxiety, and many psychological schools of thought & opinions for what causes it, and the different ways to treat it. And the remedies vary widely depending on the individual and their background and/or history.
Please note: That it is a good idea to have your doctor examine you first to check to see if it is an organic medically based problem that's causing the anxiety, or is it just cognitive or mentally based anxiety. In some cases, there may be an organic medical reason for symptoms that mimic anxiety, but are not. For instance, there is one called hypoglycemia which mimics the symptoms of anxiety. So check with your doctor first before making any assumptions about what you may or may not have, and deciding on a remedy.
A few common descriptions:
A common one is the "Fight or Flight" response (anxiety anticipated into full blown panic attacks).
An "irrational fear" that keeps people from doing the normal things anybody should be able to do, and interferes and controls their lives.
Some describe it as a symptom of low self esteem.
Some have linked it to physical or mental trauma, past or present, and/or abuse of some sort.
Some describe it as an "avoidance pattern", when you avoid, you usually suppress, when you suppress, it comes in the form of anxiety in the body.
In simplicity, whether it be an anxiety type of response, or an intense phobic response, or even an agoraphobic type response, it is a learned "fear patterned" way of thinking that causes the reaction you experience in your body. By the way, I need to add here, that it wasn't by conscious choice to have such an ailment.
Note: The bad news is that you have been experiencing anxiety, and let's face it, it is debilitating to live like that. However, the great news is, there is a lot you can do to handle this while at the same time, dealing with it should you decide to do so.
There are a variety of traditional and alternative options for helping ease your anxiety. You can try different methods and even combine them for a holistic approach. For example, you can pair regular acupuncture treatments with a healthy diet and exercise and see what positive effects this can have on your anxiety. Visit AB Acupuncture to book an appointment today.
Not all techniques work consistently with every individual as I found out myself through experience, but having a variety of resources available for us to use and apply, will at the very least, give you the hope and faith you need to go ahead. Use these resources available to you to move forward in a more positive constructive way.
My belief is that you shouldn't have to learn to live with it, but to overcome it, and move on in life. And with the resources available to you, there is no reason why you should have to!
Headaches are common, and most people have experienced them from time to time. They are caused by various triggers, but particularly stress, allergies, hormonal imbalances, anxiety, constipation, caffeine withdrawal, hunger, head trauma, eyestrain, muscle tension, and sinus pressure.
Migraines are a severe form of headache dealing with circulation in the brain, and so are difficult to treat as its nearly impossible to track where disturbances are occurring.
90% of headaches are tension headaches, resulting from high-stress situations or anxiety. But another common headache is called the cluster headache. These are considered the most painful kind of headache and strike in succession over a period of time.
Like many health concerns, headaches could be the way your body is trying to communicate with you about underlying health concerns. Many headaches result from food allergies that sufferers are unaware of. But one of the largest contributors to headaches is dehydration.
Bromelain is an enzyme that regulates the inflammatory response within the body. This can be helpful in treating headaches because inflammation in the brain or slow circulation is a large cause of the pain we feel during headaches. Particularly with migraines, bromelain has been shown to be effective.
Any substance that can help to relieve tension within the body can assist in treating headaches. Calcium and magnesium can release muscular tension and relax muscles and blood vessels. Always use chelated forms of both calcium and magnesium as these are the most absorbent and effective.
Eating foods that are high in antioxidants can help detox and oxygenate tissues within the body, helping to relieve headaches and muscle tension. Vitamin C with bioflavanoids can release anti-stress hormones throughout the body, relieving tension headaches. Always use an esterified or buffered form of Vitamin C, it is most effective. Also protects the body from toxicity found in the air, water, food, etc. which can contribute to headaches.
Glucosamine sulfate works like aspirin to improve circulation and relieve inflamed tissue without the use of steroids.
Acupuncture treatment can also help reduce the frequency of headaches and migraines. Click here to learn more.
You can make a salve combining ginger, peppermint oil, and wintergreen oil and rub into the nape of the neck and temples. This can help relieve tension headaches. For sinus problems, this can also relieve symptoms if spread across affected regions.
My favorite herb for relieving and preventing headaches is cayenne pepper extract. Cayenne reduces the pain experienced during headaches along with relieving pressure. Cayenne stimulates circulation and gets blood flow moving–relieving many kinds of headaches, particularly migraines. Combining cayenne with chamomile can make an effective treatment for headaches. Chamomile relaxes the body and mind, helping sooth tension, while cayenne eliminates pain. The two work wonders when combined.
Eating a well-balanced diet–including protein with every meal–can help prevent headaches from occurring. Staying hydrated and maintaining good posture can also help. Avoid dairy, salt, and sugar.
Acupuncture insomnia treatment, as one of the traditional Chinese medicine remedies, still plays a very important role nowadays. Because acupuncture insomnia treatment can help relieve insomnia in a short period of time, more and more insomnia sufferers begin to turn to this remedy of thousands of years old.
Despite numerous acupuncture insomnia treatments was documented in ancient medical works, clinically acupuncture insomnia treatment need to follow the very basic theory of acupuncture and the principles on what acupuncture insomnia points should be picked. In general, acupuncture insomnia treatment improves the quality of sleep by techniques of reinforcement and reduction, which help harmonize Yin and Yang, strengthen vital Qi and dispel pathogens, and dredge the channels.
According to Lingshu • Root knot, it clarified that acupuncture can regulate Yin and Yang in disease treatments.
The key for acupuncture insomnia treatment is to judge the situation between Yin and Yang first, and then regulate their imbalance back to normal. Once Yin and Yang restore to balance, essence and energy resume their jobs, which will harmonize the relationship between human body and spirit. And then finally spirit will be back to where it should be.
The body, under normal circumstances, maintains a state of relative balance of Yin and Yang during sleep. Insomnia may be triggered for imbalance between Yin and Yang due to following interruptive factors:
• Deficiency of both heart and spleen;
• Yin deficiency due to excessive heat;
• Timidity due to deficiency of heart Qi;
• Disorder of stomach-Qi.
The key for acupuncture insomnia treatment is to regulate the imbalance of Yin and Yang according to syndromes so that the body can restore the equilibrium of Yin and Yang and restore its normal physiological function.
For example, the state of excessive Yang and deficient Yin can lead to insomnia, while the state of excessive Ying and deficient yang can lead to sleepiness. Both of them can be treated by picking acupuncture insomnia points such as Zhaohai (K 6?and Shenmai (B 62) in YIN QIAO meridian.
• In case of insomnia, it should reinforce Yin and reduce Yang;
• In case of sleepiness, it should reinforce Yang and reduce Yin.
Strengthening vital Qi refers to improve the human body’s disease-fighting immune system; while dispelling pathogens refers to wipe out disease-causing factors. The occurrence and development of insomnia, in some cases, is also the fight between vital Qi and pathogens. Acupuncture insomnia treatment can strengthen vital Qi and dispel pathogens, which finally improve sleep.
In some cases of chronic insomnia, insomnia is caused by pathogen of excess, which hurt vital Qi in a long run and make it harder to cure. Acupuncture insomnia treatment has a very positive effect on this kind of insomnia caused by following factors.
• Disorder of stomach-Qi;
• Excessive Fire in Heart;
• Heart Disorder due to Phlegm and Fire;
• Pathogenic fire derived from stagnation of liver-QI.
However, acupuncture insomnia treatment needs to take the particularity of acupuncture points into consideration during therapy of such kind of insomnia.
The body’s meridians connect organs inside and limbs outside. The 12 meridians distribute Yang meridians, part of Six Hollow Organs, on the surface of limbs; while Yin meridians, part of the five internal organs, on the interior of limbs. And they connect to each other via 15 collaterals to communicate between exterior and interior, which form a blood circulation pathway to maintain the normal physiological function.
Meridians, Qi, blood and inner organs are closely linked. Occurrence of insomnia may be related with Qi-blood disharmony and organs disorders. These pathological features can be reflected in the meridians. Therefore, acupuncture insomnia treatment can improve sleep through regulate the imbalance of meridians, Qi-blood and organs.
In summary, acupuncture insomnia treatment is one of the most important non-drug therapies for insomnia. Actually acupuncture insomnia treatment existed more than a thousand years ago. Although the medical efficacy of acupuncture insomnia treatment has been recognized and accepted by both of doctors and patients, a few questions still remain unanswered. Why the patients, who are receiving acupuncture insomnia treatment, still feel refreshing even though their sleep time is not extended actually? And what are the timeliness, tolerance and other issues about acupuncture insomnia treatment? All those questions are to be proven by further experiments. Click here to know more about acupuncture treatment for insomnia.
When it comes to fever, I am afraid that everyone has his own personal experience. As for remedies to reduce fever, Chinese medicine and Western medication have their own different remedies. Compared with Western medication, Traditional Chinese medicine has its own characteristic features on remedies to reduce fever.
Analogy on remedies to reduce fever
In order to help understand the following specific content, first please allow me to explain a phenomenon happened very often in our daily life. If I draw an analogy between a high fever patient and a pot of boiling water, as we know that the methods to reduce fever are to cool down the pot of water. Then how many methods would be available for you to cool down the pot of water?
I think at least three methods available as follows:
1. To turn off the fire in order to reduce heat production, which is called taking away the firewood from under the cauldron, a drastic method from the perspective of Traditional Chinese medicine;
2. To open the lid or stir the water to increase heat dissipation, which is called scooping water up to stop boiling — a temporary remedy from the perspective of Traditional Chinese medicine;
3. To blend with cold water to the boiling water, or even ice, to bring down the temperature, which is called treating heat with cold natured drug from the perspective of Traditional Chinese medicine.
In fact, these three above mentioned remedies to reduce fever are used very often in TCM heat treatment clinically. And I would like to talk about the specific application of these three remedies to reduce fever as follows.
To take away the firewood to reduce fever
This remedy is the equivalent of “Catharsis to reduce heat” in Chinese medicine, which reduce fever by purgation with the drugs of bitter-cold nature.
This remedy is mainly used for patients with high fever and constipation. If the symptoms occur as follows:
• High fever and sweating;
• Suffer from constipation;
• Abdominal distension or refuse to press due to abdominal pain;
• Even rave in his delirium;
• Yellow tongue with rough thorns;
• Strong slippery pulse.
This remedy is like plenty of firewood and excessive fire under the pot. The remedy is to take away the firewood then the fire would be put out afterwards. Therefore drugs like Da Huang (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma), Mang Xiao (Natrii Sulfas) etc. are used very often in these remedies, or blending Da Huang and Mang Xiao into formulas of clearing heat to relax bowels. So the heat would be removed along by purgation, which finally reduce fever.
Furthermore, to reduce fever by purgation can protect Yin fluid from consumption as well, just like preventing water from boiling away by excessive heat, which is also true to human body to reduce fever this way.
To scoop water up to reduce fever
This remedy is the equivalent of “relieving superficies syndrome by heat dissipation” in Chinese medicine, which reduce fever with pungent and warm natured drugs. It mainly consists of two elements:
1. To reduce fever by diaphoresis
This remedy is applicable to fever patients with superficies syndrome, in which usually both fever and aversion to cold can be seen at the same time, along with no sweat or little sweat. This fever is induced by the stagnation of exogenous pathogens on skin surface. And the fever can be divided into wind-cold superficies syndrome and wind-heat superficies syndrome.
Wind-cold superficies syndrome features as follows:
• Obvious aversion to cold;
• Regularly no sweating;
• Accompanied with headache, body ache;
• Stuffy nose with watery discharge;
• No thirst;
• No sore throat;
• Tight floating pulse.
Wind-heat superficies syndrome features as follows:
• Obvious fever;
• Regularly with sweating;
• Accompanied with headache;
• Thirst;
• Sore throat;
• Rapid floating pulse.
To reduce fever by diaphoresis should pick different drugs according to the different nature of cold or heat.
• In wind-cold superficies syndrome, it needs to take pungent and warm natured drugs to reduce fever, such as Ma Huang (Ephedrae Herba), Gui Zhi (Cinnamomi Ramulus), and Qiang Huo (Notopterygium) etc.;
• In wind-heat superficies syndrome, it needs to take pungent and cool natured drugs to reduce fever, such as Chai Hu (Bupleuri Radix), Sheng Ma (Cimicifugae Rhizoma), and Bo He (Menthae haplocalycis) etc.
2. To reduce fever by ascending and dispersive natured drugs
This remedy is applicable to fever patients with interior stagnated heat, which features as follows:
• Fever;
• Fever in chest with irritability and fidget;
• Dry mouth and chapped lips;
• Blushing face;
• Sore tongue;
• Red tongue with yellow coating;
• Rapid pulse.
This remedy can be treated by formulas of clearing heat, combined with appropriate Bo He (Notopterygium) and Sheng Ma (Cimicifugae Rhizoma) etc. to strengthen the function of dispelling wind and clearing heat. It should be noted that this remedy works to reduce fever, but excessive diaphoresis can damage body fluid, which should be very careful not applying on those physically weak.
To reduce fever by cold natured drugs
This remedy is also commonly used during TCM treatment, which reduce fever by using cold natured drugs, sweet-cold or bitter-cold.
This remedy is mainly applicable to patients with fever but no aversion to cold.
1. If the symptoms occur as follows:
• High fever;
• Excessive sweat;
• Thirsty and desire for cold drinks;
• Rapid surging pulse.
This syndrome is caused by fluid damage by excessive heat, which should not use diaphoresis to reduce fever. The alternative way is to use sweet-cold drugs to reduce fever, such as Shi Gao (Gypsum fibrosum), Sheng Di (Rehmanniae Radix), and Mai Dong (Ophiopogonis Radix) etc.
2. If the symptoms occur as follows:
• High fever with irritability and fidget;
• Dry mouth and throat;
• Constipation and hot urination;
• Red tongue and yellow tongue coating;
• Rapid powerful pulse.
This syndrome is caused by excessive heat-toxicity, which should use bitter-cold natured drugs such as Huang Lian (Coptis chinensis), Huang Qin (Scutellaria baicalensis), Huang Bai (Phellodendri Cortex) and Zhi Zi (Gardeniae Fructus) etc. Due to these kinds of drugs natured cold, they can injury the stomach very easily, so it is highly recommended using them wisely.
Finally, it is worth noting that the above-mentioned three remedies to reduce fever only work for excessive heat syndrome, rather than deficient heat syndrome. In addition, in the case of patient with high fever and sweating, Chinese medicine tends to not advocate to the use of ice packs to reduce fever. Chinese medicine thinks ice packs would affect sweating, in turn fever can not reduce following with diaphoresis. To help relieve high fever, acupuncture can also be used. Click here to learn more.
Computer vision syndrome is a potential eye problem if spending more than two hours daily in front of a monitor but there is a solution shared by the best glaucoma specialist in New York.
Your work environment could be hazardous to your health! Computer Vision Syndrome is a very real problem that affects many individuals who spend a good part of their days staring at computer monitors.
But it's not just the computer monitor that is causing this eye problem.
The environment in which the computer work is taking place can be adding to the problems associated with Computer Vision Syndrome. Inadequate lighting, glare from windows, fluorescent lighting, sitting too close or too far away from the computer monitor and the manner in which the contents are being displayed on the monitor can all aggravate this syndrome.
The letters on a computer screen are not straight lines as they are on printed material, which the eye can easily focus on. They instead consist of pixels or tiny dots on which the eye has to constantly focus and refocus, and that creates fatigue and strain.
The most notable symptom of Computer Vision Syndrome is eyestrain which causes eyes to feel tired and/or sore. However, other parts of the body can also be affected. Headaches, neck aches and backaches are common symptoms. Problems with vision are also symptoms and can include any or all of the following: blurred vision, double vision and/or distorted color vision.
Another symptom is eyes that are slow to change focus. For example, when looking at something in the distance and then quickly changing to look at something close up (or vice versa) there is a lag in the eye's ability to bring the newer image into focus. The constant work being performed by the focusing muscles makes eyes tired. With Computer Vision Syndrome eyes tend to also have a dry or a burning sensation.
Anyone, male or female is at risk of developing Computer Vision Syndrome if he or she spends long periods of time working at a computer. The people who develop symptoms of this syndrome tend to not take breaks, whether physical or visual. Getting up from the workstation and periodically focusing on something other than the computer monitor are important to prevent the onset of Computer Vision Syndrome.
When a person's daily routine consists of 2 or more hours of work on a computer, it's important to tell the eye doctor. If the patient is experiencing the symptoms mentioned above, the eye doctor can use a PIRO instrument to test for Computer Vision Syndrome. The purpose of this instrument is to simulate what an individual sees on a computer screen. It's positioned at a distance comparable to that of the patient's monitor. Using this instrument, vision is tested. A reduced Snellen card can also be used.
In most cases, computer eyeglasses need to be prescribed to put an end to the symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome. They generally will have a different prescription than regular eyeglasses. Computer eyeglasses may also include a computer tint, UV tint, anti-reflective coating and possibly a prism.
Click here if you are looking for an ophthalmologist to consult your eyes.
Medical marijuana is a wonder drug for effective treatment of many diseases and ailments. Unfortunately in many states in the US this drug is prohibited for public usage. Marijuana has been regarded by many governments across the globe as an illicit drug which is considered to be far more dangerous to use then what the common masses consider it to be. However, governments around the world are yet to realize the medicinal benefits marijuana has over other general drugs available in the market. It has been proven that marijuana have far less side-effects than other traditional medicines used to treat various ailments.
Marijuana has been a subject of various myths which portrays it as a harmful substance rather than a medicinal drug. The most common myths surrounding the usage of marijuana are:
Popular beliefs buts the usage of marijuana amongst teens in the US at a high rate but the real fact is that very few teens are exposed to this drug. A little less than 10% of teens in the US regularly use marijuana (also popularly known as pot or weed amongst teens). Many teenagers feel marijuana can help them escape from problems at home or school or with their closest friends. Marijuana increases heart rate, anxiety and also induces panic attack in adults and adolescent.
Marijuana is a very effective painkiller and it is also helpful in treating nausea, vomiting and dizziness. You can get cbd products for pain relief if you want to test this out. Marijuana can provide quick and long relief for people suffering from prolonged pain. The side-effects associated with medical marijuana is also lesser than other drugs. Medical marijuana facts are still being discarded by the governments of various states in the US and inspite of this the prohibition has been a complete failure and instead creating a lucrative market for violent criminals.
Marijuana Tax act was enacted in the US in 1937 which effectively banned medicinal or non-medicinal use of cannabis. It later spread across various nations who imposed their own laws to ban this drug. Despite this drug has become one of the most popular illicit drugs in the west. Since 1996 thirteen US states legalized the medicinal use of marijuana and seven states are considering legalizing it.
Patients possessing or growing medical marijuana are also being convicted and penalized in various states in the US. In the US there are more arrests for the possession of marijuana than for criminals committing violent crimes. Almost 90% of marijuana related arrests are made for possessing the drug which is not meant for sale or manufacture.
If you want to know more about the benefits of marijuana in our health, visit Alchemy Science.
Herbs that lower blood pressure has long been used in Chinese medicine formulas traditionally. These proven herbs that lower blood pressure include Han Fang Ji (Radix Stephaniae Tetrandrae), Gou Teng (Ramulus cum uncis Uncariae) and Lai Fu Zi (Semen Raphani Sativi) etc.
Nowadays high blood pressure is a common cardiovascular disease, the serious complications of which have been one of the leading killers. I believe the same situation ever happened to ancient China as well. From the descriptions of ancient documents, we can find a lot of medical cases on how Chinese medicine treated and lowered blood pressure. Of course, there were no exact words and disease documented as high blood pressure in these medical works. The reason is simple there wasn’t blood pressure reader available for them to get the accurate readings from the blood pressure. However, remedies of Traditional Chinese medicine are based on the syndromes. From the descriptions of syndromes, we can infer that a lot of herbs that lower blood pressure had been found and a lot of experiences had been accumulated in long-term clinical practices.
The following are those common herbs that lower blood pressure.
Han Fang Ji, also known as Radix Stephaniae Tetrandrae, is one of effective herbs that lower blood pressure. Han Fang Ji woks to induce diuresis for removing edema and dispel pathogenic wind to stop pain. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Han Fang Ji contains tetrandrine, which is the main component that makes Hang Fang Ji one of herbs that lower blood pressure.
Gou Teng, also known as Ramulus cum uncis Uncariae, works to tranquilize liver Yang to stop the pathogenic wind and clear heat to relieve spasm in remedies of Chinese medicine. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Gou Teng contains rhynchophylline and rhomotoxine, which are the main components that make Gou Teng one of herbs that lower blood pressure. The mechanism for Gou Teng to lower blood pressure is to inhibit directly or indirectly vasomotor centers or block the sympathetic nerve or nerve ganglion.
Ge Gen, also known as kudzu root, works to resolve superficies to promote eruption and promote fluid production to relieve diarrhea. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Ge Gen contains puerarin and its glycosides, which are the main component that make Ge Gen one of herbs that lower blood pressure. The mechanism behind for Ge Gen is primarily to block ?-receptor to lower blood pressure.
Luo Bu Ma, also known as Herba Apocyni Veneti, woks to induce diuresis for removing edema. Its main active ingredient of iso-quercetin and quercetin glycosides can lower blood pressure. The mechanism behind Luo Bu Ma is related with inhibition of vasomotor center and the expansion of the blood vessels.
Huang Lian, also known as Rhizoma Coptidis, works to clear heat, remove dampness and toxicity. The main ingredient is berberine, which makes Huang Lian one of herbs that lower blood pressure. And Huang Lian lowers blood pressure via many ways.
Lian Zi Xin, also known as Plumula Nelumbinis Nuciferae, works to clear heart-fire. Its main ingredient is liensinine, which has short and weak effect on lowering blood pressure. But after it is changed to Neferine, it has a stronger and lasting effect on lowering blood pressure.
Yin Yang Huo, also known as Epimedium, works to warm kidney to strengthen Yang, dispel pathogenic wind and remove dampness. It is its active ingredient of icariin that makes Yin Yang Huo one of herbs that lower blood pressure. Any forms of Yin Yang Huo, decoction, fluid or icariin, can lower blood pressure, especially in lowering diastolic pressure.
Du Zhong, also known as Cortex Eucommiae Ulmoidis, works to benefit liver-kidney and strengthen the physique. It is its main ingredient of propane benzene derivatives that make Du Zhong one of herbs that lower blood pressure. The mechanism behind Du Zhong is to lower blood pressure through direct vasodilatation and inhibition of vasomotor center.
Ye Ju Hua, also known as Flos Chrysanthemi Indici, works to clear heat-toxicity. Its ingredient of lowering blood pressure can inhibit sympathetic nerve and blood platelets. In addition, Ye Ju Hua obtains the anti-adrenergic effect, which can decrease peripheral resistance without reducing cardiac output.
Lai Fu Zi, also known as Semen Raphani Sativi, works to promote digestion to relieve stasis and expel phlegm for descending Qi. It is its ingredients of Mustard Seed glycosides, Cryptocarya ketone and asarone that make Lai Fu Zi one of herbs that lower blood pressure.
There are many other herbs that lower blood pressure in the remedies of Chinese medicine. The list would be longer if I list them all. Although it is not a comprehensive list for herbs that lower blood pressure, they can solve most of the problems about high blood pressure if they are used properly. Click here to know other treatments that can help lower your blood pressure.
In the ear shell push on the treatment, known as the ear pressure therapy. According to the theory of meridians, the twelve meridians are directly linked to the ear. As a result, when the disease occurs in the human body, the shell of the ear region, there is a corresponding response to a certain point. Ear pressure therapy is in response to these points for the push to achieve the treatment of disease. This method is widely indicated, works quickly and has less side effects and so on.
By the way, ear attached great importance to the community, as “enhance the effectiveness” of the “three elements”. Ear pressure therapy should also pay attention to tactics, there are “a gas” and “gas to the disease.” Clinical, according to different patients, different diseases, according to the true, real, cold and hot SHI Ear of the operation would achieve “a gas” and “gas to the disease.”
Generally speaking, deficiency, the elderly, the infirm, pregnant women, children, common law or Qingrou pressure point massage law, evidence, the young are often subjected to direct pressure or pressure on the law. Ear needs to make up the points with pressure or massage Qingrou law, diarrhea should be straight with the Ear pressure or pressure on the law.
nbsp; 1. Pressure on the law: patients who use the food, put a thumb in patients with ear on the back of the positive and relatively oppressive Ear affixed to the pill to patients Shen, heavy, bulging, pain. At this point, the operator of the food, while the thumb can be moved or left blank for circular movement to find the pain, a significant expansion. Once found, “a sensitive point,” continued oppression of 20-30 seconds. Also available at the front of the ear and put pressure on the back of relatively 2 on the pill for pressure stimulation of its greater volume. There will be pressure on the law, such as after Zhu Huanzhe pressure to do the same law, press 3-5 times a day trip. Law is a law diarrhea, is a way to stimulate mandatory. For evidence, the young, visceral spasm of pain, physical pain and acute inflammation of the better anti-inflammatory analgesic effect.
nbsp; 2. Direct Method: patients who have fingertips to push the vertical hole pill to patients have a bulging pain. Continue to push 20-30 seconds, a little interval, the pressure to repeat skills, Mei Xue pressure at 4-6. Shi after surgery, such as the Zhu Huanzhe compression method 3-5 times a day, the law is to stimulate the intensity of pressure on the law, diarrhea is still law, and is also a way to stimulate strength. Indication of the pressure with the law. It Is difficult to use some pressure on the law, following the foot-side (that is, sympathetic), the boat angle (prostate), large intestine, and other points, diarrhea law, with a more direct method. An ear cavity, ear acupuncture points of a boat has been a commonly used method.
nbsp; 3. Pressure point: patients who use a fingertip pressure of a song, stopped to push Ear, 0.5 second intervals. Law should not put too heavy on patients while inflation was a bit heavy to severe pain. Depending on their physical fitness, disease and the patients were asked, each time Mei Xue, 27 points under pressure. Law is a reinforcing method is a way to stimulate the weak for a variety of deficiency, chronic diseases, such as neurasthenia, insomnia, palpitations, dizziness, and so on.
nbsp; 4. Qingrou massage: The pulp will gently put a pressure pill point of compaction (put in prison, should not damage the principle of the skin), and then clockwise rotation of the skin pill point leads to inflation patients, acid, pain or minor thorns For the degree of pain. Mei Xue general massage graze 27. This law belongs to the fill law, with Buxu. Ill for a long time apply to the frail, elderly and frail people with allergic ears.
Contraindication and attention:
nbsp; 1. Plastic sheets to prevent moisture, can not push too hard so as to not damage the skin in order to avoid any skin inflammation.
nbsp; 2. Khan in the summer, Qin Huan Yi; winter and frostbite are not Application ear inflammation. Ji Yong those allergic to the adhesive plaster.
nbsp; 3. Time compression ratio from time to time compression effect, ear pressure after acid, Ma, bulging, pain, burning sensation results were good.
nbsp; 4. Of excessive hunger, fatigue, the spirit of a high degree of tension, the frail elderly who wish to push light, acute pain re-direct way to stimulate strength, and should in patients with moderate to stimulate general, pregnant women can be used to stimulate the light. Habitual abortion to be used with caution.
nbsp; 5. Sprain of physical activity and the barriers to patients, ear pressure, Zhu Huanzhe trouble appropriate activities to enhance the effect. If periarthritis, ear pressure can shoulder joint activities.
nbsp; 6. According to various diseases using the corresponding position. Cholelithiasis as Lateral gets there, heart disease is sitting, urinary stone disease gets in the side at the top of the lateral position, and so on.
nbsp; 7. Some of the diseases in the treatment of acute problems, such as cholelithiasis, arising from the urinary stone colic, acute episode of arrhythmia, and so on … …, to have contingency measures.
nbsp; 8. With drugs and other therapies we should be careful to avoid duplication of treatment, and have a role in anti-orange.
nbsp; 9. During the treatment of sedative drugs should not serve.
Interested in trying acupuncture for yourself and experiencing its healing effects? Visit AB Acupuncture now to book an appointment.
Many people are aware of the use of Chinese herbal medicine to lose weight, but these Chinese herbal medicine is not as simple as imagined, the right medicine is the most important. Such as cassia, the lotus leaf, and other drugs, although there are anti-obesity, but for different reasons specific to obesity and different body weight of men and women, on the matter.
Honeysuckle:
Principles of weight loss: Ganhan of honeysuckle, Qingrejiedu good, fiery fall, Qushi gas, particularly suitable for use in the summer, but weak stomach for the people who do not.
For the crowd: In general, the scope of application of honeysuckle is quite wide, but only one category of people is not suitable. They eat little but a lot of fat. This is the endocrine disorder caused by obesity, if you like this situation, it would not be suitable for honeysuckle. In general this type of obesity is due to the lack of coordination caused by a weak stomach, so honeysuckle is likely to exacerbate this lack of coordination, increase the obesity, so that you run on the way to lose weight.
Radix:
Principles of weight loss: Bupleurum bitter, the Weihan and, in the second by the liver and kidney, liver with gallbladder, gas Jieyu sparse, scattered and effectiveness of the fire. Bupleurum unique Saponins with lipid-lowering effect.
For the crowd: your temper, please? If you have a violent temper with the fat MM, it bubbles to Chaihu Drink more, as the regulator of fat metabolism in the liver is an important organ, emotional instability will affect the operation of the imbalance in the liver, caused by obesity. Now the pressure on women, emotional instability, the hunger for a full meal, often overeating, weight most likely to become victims. Radix into the tea at the same time you can also often the chest, stomach bulging, fluctuating emotions, menstrual breast pain, irritability, and other complications of obesity.
Shouwu:
Weight loss principles: now Shouwu support is made of herbs of choice, but the fact of the Fat Burn also has Shouwu very good function. Shouwu has a bitter taste, warm in nature, the second by the liver and kidney. With Runchang, detoxification of reactive power can promote intestinal peristalsis and intestinal discharge of waste to reduce the intestinal absorption of cholesterol, block the deposition of cholesterol in the liver.
For the crowd: for the most obese people with constipation. Supian often due to accumulation in the body, the gastrointestinal tract in a metabolic pathway is often blocked, you will lose weight the most seriously affected also by how large the reduction can not Dudu. In particular the lower abdomen, not even how to eat, is the inflation rate.
Alisma:
Principles of weight loss: Alisma Sweet, cold, with the benefit of water, heat-money effect. The reason why has the role of the Fat Burn, which is its rule out the use of the body edema and speeding up metabolism.
For the crowd: a lot of obese people who have the feeling: Light from the upper body, not themselves belong to a fat person, but as long as a head, will be able to immediately see the little frustrating as the small fat legs and feet, In view of this the lower body fat, Alisma is the best partner to lose weight. But it should be noted that each Alisma takes tea, not too much volume, or the cold of Alisma you can not stand the stomach.
Interested in trying acupuncture for yourself and experiencing its healing effects? Visit AB Acupuncture now to book an appointment.
The five elements of Chinese medicine are metal, wood, water, fire, earth, which is an allelopathy mechanism of the cycle: the impact of the wood is the liver, the heart of the fire, the soil is a spleen, the lung tubes, water is kidney, among them closely. The properties were not entirely single, could be water-soil, or wood-fire.
Since the five elements of Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine is the first step, of course, the look, smell and asked, cutting through the four clinics, doctors can determine your body is metal, wood, water, fire and earth in which, and Will be classified as obese, are widely see the size, type or puffiness of lower extremity edema, and followed by the right medicine, designed for the prescription.
Physical transfer, local thin
To judge a good physique, then it is necessary to transfer the body. Acupuncture can be physical transfer, that is, in accordance with the thin physique, find the need to strengthen and stimulate acupuncture points of adjustment, the Huo-wang to Reduce Pathogenic Fire, to the Qi Qi. In addition, obesity can also strengthen the local partial acupuncture, so that the local active metabolism.
Metabolic conditioning, symptomatic of thin
It was a different physical shape and can be used to make medicine bath herbs in different packages. Hiromu body needs wind, Nepeta, forsythia, Ephedra, mast Hill, rhubarb, and other drugs made from medicinal bath package, the use of anti-puffiness others, Astragalus, Atractylodes drugs made from medicinal herbs such as bath package, lower limb edema Aconite will need to type, such as peony and Fuling made from drug bath package. Bath Bath can be drug metabolism to promote, facilitate the passage of time to achieve the purpose of downsizing.
Meridian relax
According to the physical properties of thin, the selection of metal, wood, water, fire, earth element for the essential oils, acupuncture points on the back of the massage. Under normal circumstances, as a result of each one specific to a particular property, it may be to use a variety of massage oils. Massage is also very suitable for local thinness.
Lane SPA massage using essential oils to massage, but the masseurs are rarely able to acquire a certain amount of knowledge of Chinese medicine; Chinese medicine hospital in a professional massage department of Chinese medicine division, but they will not choose to smell the aroma as it is very comfortable to massage oil. SPA election is a massage therapist or a Chinese medicine division, in accordance with their preferences!
Eating thinner
Chinese medicine is not only to bear hardships and conditioning have shed tears of traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicines and food will be a combination of methods now being used in a lot of Diet Center, and has been well received. It should be emphasized that these Diet should be in line with the physical attributes in order to achieve the thin Yang Shen.
Click here to know more about acupuncture.
Womens health (gynecology) in traditional Chinese medicine has had it’s own specific texts written about it since 1500-1000 BC !
Chinese medicine treats womens health disorders with the use of herbal formulas, acupuncture and nutritional advice. Although other techniques are commonly practiced these are the 3 most commonly used treatments.
In traditional Chinese medicine natural and normal health changes occur at regular 7 year intervals (8 year intervals in men). At the age of 14 (7x2) Chinese medicine texts say that a girls menstruation starts, at 21 years of age she is best suited to have a child. At the age of 49 (7x7) menopause is due.
Western research has found that the average age for a girls menarch (1st period) begins at the age of 13 while menopause usually is 50. This corresponds very closely with the ancient Chinese theory of women changing at 7 year intervals.
Normal Periods According To Traditional Chinese Medicine
In traditional Chinese medicine a regular cycle should have 4 regular phases lasting 26-32 days. The menstrual phase (period) is considered normal if it lasts between 4-6 days. Healthy menstrual blood does not contain clots, starts off lighter at the beginning, slightly darker in the middle and pinkish at the end of the period. The four phases of cycle are listed below:
Menstrual Phase - lasts approximately 5 days
Chinese Medicine – this is the time where the movement of blood greatly depends on the proper circulation of Qi.
Western Medicine – during this time the levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone dramatically drop with the shedding (necrosis) of the compact and spongy layers of the endometrium.
Post Menstrual Phase - lasts approximately 7 days
Chinese Medicine – Blood and Yin are scarce or “empty” due to the bleeding of the phase prior.
Western Medicine – this is the follicular phase where the follicle grows and estrogen levels increase due to FSH (follicle stimulating hormone)
Mid Cycle Phase - lasts approximately 7 days
Chinese Medicine – Blood and Yin fluids are being nourished and replenished in preparation for a possible pregnancy.
Western Medicine – this is the time of ovulation (ovum is released from the follicle) and the development of the corpus luteum due to LH (luteinizing Hormone).
Pre Menstrual Phase - lasts approximately 7 days
Chinese Medicine – during this phase Yang energy rises while liver Qi begins to move. The Qi and yang must circulate properly in order for the menstrual phase to be healthy.
Western Medicine – Luteal Phase where the corpus Luteum grows and secretes progesterone.
To learn more about the other benefits of acupuncture for women, visit AB Acupuncture.
This section explains my personal experiences with depression in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. It also includes various mental and emotional disturbances, showing how traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) views depression and reveals the techniques TCM uses to promote better mental and emotional health.
However, before we begin, I must tell you that this condition can be very serious and in many cases the outcome is unpredictable.
And I do know that by just being able to talk to someone when you need to, can make all the difference. So if you feel you must speak to someone straight away, Beyond Blue in Australia offers more information plus a telephone support. So call the number on their website.
If you live in the USA, UK or another country, please check with your local Health authority or do a search for facilities offered in your country.
Now, let's continue…
In order to make it easier for you to understand depression or mood disorders, I present here two points of view, one based on the Western medical paradigm and the other on the Chinese medical paradigm. There are in fact, parallels and overlapping ideas in both systems.
In this section you'll be able to learn about:Please keep in mind that the information presented here is aimed at helping you understand depression. It does not replace a full diagnosis and treatment by a registered health professional.
For the Western trained mind, it is important to consider that acupuncture Chinese medicine and Western medicines are discrete systems. Although they are complimentary, they should be understood separately.
There are differences in the ways in which illnesses are described and the causes attributed. Accordingly, treatment methods and the prevention of illness differ. In particular, it is important to know that Chinese medicine is not a disease-oriented model in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Instead, it is a bio-energy based system.
Chinese herbal medicine has developed over the past 5,000 years, waxing and waning, as dictated by political and social spheres of the time. Ideas have been constantly tested in clinical practice, the worthless rejected and the useful absorbed. China, being one of the most populated countries in the world, provided a wide and varied supply of patients on which treatments could be tested and proven.
Before implementation into mainstream Chinese medical practice, the first test of validity was to prove that its practice gave positive and healthy results. Success was the only proof required. This legacy guaranteed the effectiveness of Chinese medicine and contributed to its survival, right through from its early Shamanistic and Imperial years in China to the new millennium in the West.
Today traditional Chinese medicine is a valuable medical system consisting of medical theories, philosophies, lifestyle and self healing practices and best of all, thousands of years of practice and observation by both teachers and practitioners. Drawing on this worthwhile resource has led to the suggestions offered in this article, which is a synthesis of the wide empirical experiences amassed in ancient and modern Chinese health practices.
Want to experience the benefits of acupuncture? visit AB Acupuncture.
In Chinese medicine everything has a place and a structure in order to help with healing. All of these are natural approaches to bringing holistic health in an individual. One of the concepts that Chinese medicine uses in relation to this is herbal remedies. By combining a variety of elements, there is the ability for the herbs to help in healing everything.
The basis behind herbal remedies is to combine a series of herbs in order to bring about the desired effect. Usually, there will be a formula of four herbs used in combination with each other. This is done in order to treat secondary illnesses that may have been affected by the primary illness. It also helps to balance and strengthen the body while it is healing.
When Chinese medicine begins to divide the various herbal remedies, they will do so by a hierarchy. At the top of this hierarchy is the emperor herb. This will be used to cure the major illness that is taking place. Underneath this is the 'ministers' of the herbal remedy. This is used to treat any secondary illnesses that are taking place. After this, herbal 'assistants' will be used to support the other two herbs. The last set of herbs will be the messenger herbs, which will tell the primary and secondary herbs where to go and how much of an effect to take on the body.
The herbal remedies that are placed together after this will be divided by the specific symptoms that are being seen. Like all other parts of Chinese medicine, these will first be found through the five elements and how they relate to the body. For example, some herbs will be spicy in order to relate to areas of the body that need this extra element to begin better flow of Qi.
The last part of herbal medicine from ancient Chinese remedies is to determine the type of energy that is needed by a person. This is found by diagnosis and examining the Qi that is in a person. After this, a specific mixture of these four hierarchies will be mixed together in order to help change the energy flow that is in someone.
By examining the Qi and finding respective remedies through herbs, one is able to find the best solutions using a holistic method. This allows one to benefit from the use of Chinese medicine and herbs in order to fight off an illness or block of energy in their system.
Want to know more about traditional Chinese treatment like acupuncture? Visit AB Acupuncture.
Acupuncture has been around for so many years now. It originated in China 3000 years ago. It is through these means that they have discovered processes not only to cure health problems but also to maintain a healthy condition. This is actually the reason why many people nowadays resort to it as a health remedy. Indeed, it is effective.
The effectiveness of Acupuncture can be traced from several studies that show that many health problems have been cured such as arthritis, joint problems, body pain and also indigestion. As a matter of fact, this natural health remedy will allow you to refuse surgical alternatives or options for curing your health problems. Thus, you can say good-bye to needles and risky procedures. For curing your health problems especially those that involve internal parts, you only need to seek and apply natural procedure to be able to obtain the best rejuvenation and treatment that your body needs. This will allow you to work better and function well.
Another reason for seeking Acupuncture as a natural remedy for your health problems is because it provides a pathway for your qi or chi to enter into your system. This procedure includes the use of specialized needles placed on your meridian or acupuncture points. This is to open the pathway. The consequence is risky if you do not apply this process properly. It will result to body pains and worse, diseases or other body ailments. That must be the reason why, it is important for our body to feel the importance of positive flow and rejuvenation for cleansing and relaxation purposes.
What is qi or chi? Qi is considered as life force or energy in your body. Usually this controls how you perform and function in your day-to-day activities. Its relation to the acupuncture needles makes sense because it is these needles that open a pathway underneath your skin. It reaches thoroughly to your vital organs because of the tingling sensation and the utmost utilization in your system. Maintaining your qi or chi will definitely prevent you from body ailments. Allow that natural, internal and spiritual exercise in your system for you to obtain health benefits in time.
The effects of Acupuncture after the treatment is applied in your body include neutralizing of your system and eliminating harmful substances. Acupuncture is very powerful that it makes you feel good about yourself inside and out.
Learn more about acupuncture. Stop by AB Acupuncture site where you can find out all about acupuncture alternative medicine and what it can do for you.
Migraines are miserable – ask anyone who suffers from them! They can be absolutely debilitating and have a profound effect on one’s quality of life. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, lasting an hour to several days. People often describe the pain as a “pounding” or “throbbing” sensation that takes residence in one side of the head. For some, migraines can be so severe they produce accessory symptoms such as nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to external stimuli (light, noise, or scent), blurred vision and extreme fatigue.
While the etiology for migraines is unknown, it is speculated that they are caused by a vulnerable nervous system that is highly sensitive to changes in one’s internal or external environment. This increased sensitivity is associated with serotonin metabolism and vasodilatation of the blood vessels surrounding the skull. Decreased levels of serotonin (the happy hormone) seem to be linked to the onset of a migraine; this affects the brain’s processing system and triggers the release of chemicals that cause painful inflammation and activate the sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight response). Incidentally, people that suffer from chronic migraines also have a tendency to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Western medicine treats migraines with anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen and naproxen), barbiturates, caffeine, and antidepressants. A combination of these medications may be used in treating migraine symptoms that are especially severe. All of these medications do nothing to treat the underlying cause of the pathology and often lead to other problems. All medications are synthetic and thus put strain on the liver and lymphatic system. Barbiturates are habit forming and cause drowsiness. SSRIs can lower libido and affect one’s sex life.
In Chinese medicine, migraines are considered a disorder of the liver. The liver according to Chinese Acupuncture dictates the flow of energy throughout the body and is closely associated with the nervous system, hormone regulation, and blood pressure. It is also the organ that is most affected by both internal and external stress.
Research has shown that acupuncture is an effective and safe modality in treating migraines. Acupuncture uses the insertion of tiny needles in specific points to regulate the Liver and correct the body’s dysfunction.
Acupuncture helps to:
As the body begins to function more effectively, migraine intensity and frequency are reduced drastically.
Visit AB Acupuncture if you or someone you love suffers from migraines. We will discuss alternatives to medication and plan a course of treatment that will help decrease the intensity and frequency of your migraines. Let’s treat the root of the problem, not just the branch…and soon you’ll find other areas of your health improving!
If you suffer from chronic headaches or migraines, you know how debilitating they can be. Traditional treatments only go so far, and sometimes the side effects are almost as bad as the headache itself. If you're looking for something different, there are a number of alternative and complementary treatments that may offer relief. Here are just a few to consider.
White willow bark has been used for headaches for centuries. In fact, it's the natural form of aspirin. Studies have shown that it can be effective in reducing the intensity and frequency of headaches, with few side effects. Capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, can also be helpful in treating headaches. It works by depleting substance P, a chemical that plays a role in pain transmission. A small amount applied to the forehead or temples can provide relief within minutes.
Acupuncture is another promising treatment for headaches and migraines. This ancient Chinese practice involves the insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body. Research shows that acupuncture can help to release endorphins, which have pain-relieving properties, and can also help to regulate serotonin levels, which play a role in migraines. If you're interested in trying an acupuncture treatment, be sure to see a licensed practitioner who has experience treating headaches.
Massage therapy involves using pressure and strokes to relieve muscle tension and pain. Massage has been shown to be helpful in relieving tension headaches, as well as migraines. In one study, people who received massage therapy once a week for 10 weeks had fewer headaches than those who didn't receive massage therapy.
Chiropractic care focuses on treating the musculoskeletal system, particularly the spine. Chiropractors use a variety of techniques to adjust the spine and other joints in order to relieve pain and improve function. A systematic review of studies found that chiropractic manipulation may be effective in treating tension headaches.
There are many alternative and complementary treatments available for those suffering from headaches and migraines. While traditional treatments may not always be effective, these alternative therapies offer hope for relief without harsh side effects. If you're looking for something different, give one of these treatments a try.
You may have heard that acupuncture can release toxins from your body. But what does that mean, exactly? And is it safe? In this blog post, we'll dispel some myths about toxins and acupuncture, and give you the facts about what really happens during this traditional Chinese medical treatment.
First, let's define our terms. When most people talk about "toxins," they're referring to synthetic chemicals that can cause harm to the body. These might be found in food additives, cleaning products, or even certain medications.
However, the human body also produces its own toxins as a byproduct of normal metabolism. These include things like ammonia and carbon dioxide.
So, when people say that acupuncture can release toxins from the body, they're usually referring to these metabolic byproducts—not synthetic chemicals. Now that we've got that straightened out, let's take a look at how acupuncture actually works
Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for centuries to treat a variety of conditions. During an acupuncture session, thin needles are inserted into the skin at specific points on the body. This is thought to stimulate the nervous system and promote healing.
There is some scientific evidence to support the use of acupuncture for pain relief and other health conditions. For example, one study found that acupuncture was effective in reducing pain after surgery. However, there is still much researchers don't understand about how exactly it works.
Now that we know a little bit more about how acupuncture works, let's talk about what actually happens during a session. When the needles are inserted into the skin, they cause minor injuries. These injuries trigger a healing response in the body, which includes increased blood flow to the area and the release of immune system cells.
One theory is that this enhanced blood flow helps to clear metabolic byproducts from the area around the needle insertion point. This might help to explain why some people feel refreshed after an acupuncture session.
It's important to note that there is no scientific evidence to support this claim—so far, it's just a theory. However, it's possible that further research will help to shed more light on this matter in the future.
In conclusion, there is still much researchers don't understand about how exactly acupuncture works. However, we do know that it can cause minor injuries which trigger a healing response in the body—including increased blood flow and the release of immune system cells.
It's important to understand what toxins are being released during your acupuncture appointments, and how that might affect you. We hope this article has been informative, and if you're interested in experiencing the benefits of acupuncture for yourself, we encourage you to make an appointment with us at AB Acupuncture today!