Stay Healthy

Male hormones can reduce chances of cardiac damage

2010-01-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

Male hormones may ward off damage to the heart by helping vessels around the organ regenerate, says a new report.
While studies have shown that oestrogen helps blood vessels regenerate, both in the uterus after menstruation and around the heart after wear and tear, little is known about whether or not men make up for a lack of the female hormone.

Some researchers have theorised that this disparity accounts for why men tend to suffer worse heart attacks more often and earlier in life than women.

However, D Sieveking from the University of New South Wales and colleagues find that this trend may be due to a drop in androgens, a collective term for male hormones as men age.

Cells derived from the umbilical cord of a human male foetus responded to androgens by

moving and multiplying-activities associated with new vessel growth.

Furthermore, castrated mice, which produced fewer androgens, fared poorly after the researchers inflicted vessel damage intended to resemble injuries that occur during a heart attack or a stroke, says an UNSW release.

And treating the castrated mice with androgens hastened their recovery. Therefore, the authors suggest that androgen replacement therapy might one day be used to treat men at risk for heart disease.

These findings were published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine

Common Causes and remedies of Dark Circles under Eyes

2010-01-16T19:31:00.000-08:00

Common Causes of Dark Circles Under Eyes
• Thinning skin
The skin under the eyes is thin and delicate to begin with. As we age, skin and the fat pad under the eyes becomes thinner, causing blood vessels to become noticeable. This gives the appearance of dark circles. Sun damage can make it worse because it weakens skin.
• Allergies and Hayfever
Dark circles under the eyes can be the result of allergies to airborne substances, such as pollen, dust, and pet dander, because people rub their itchy eyes. People with hayfever may notice them at the height of the season. Food allergies or sensitivities can also contribute to dark circles.
• Genetics
Dark circles under the eyes runs in families. They tend to be more noticeable in people with fair skin or deep-set eyes.
• Fluid Retention
Blood vessels under the eyes can become dilated and engorged, which can contribute to dark circles. Excess dietary salt and smoking are common causes. Conditions that cause fluid retention (e.g. heart, thyroid, kidney, liver diseases) or medications that cause blood vessel dilation may be a factor. Your doctor should be aware of any symptoms you're experiencing.
• Lack of sleep
A lack of sleep can make skin appear more pale, which allows blood vessels to be more visible through the skin, giving the appearance of bluish or dark circles.
• Iron Deficiency Anemia
Iron deficiency anemia may cause a bluish tinge below the eyes.
• Dehydration
Dark circles under the eyes can be a sign of dehydration.
Remedies for Dark Circles Under the Eyes

There are some home remedies that may help to temporarily diminish the appearance of dark circles under the eyes, and prevent dark circles from worsening.

1. Be sure to drink enough water.

2. Wear sunscreen with a minimum of SPF 30 under the eyes to prevent skin weakening caused by sun damage.

3. Get plenty of rest.

4. Apply plain cool teabags over closed eyes. Don’t use herbal teabags, because most aren't as effective.

5. Apply cool cucumber slices over closed eyes for 15 minutes.

6. Be careful not to consume too much dietary salt. Start by learning about sources of sodium in the diet.

7. Apply vitamin K cream. Although studies haven't looked at the use of topical vitamin K for dark circles under the eyes, preliminary studies have found that vitamin K may help with bruising.

8. Vitamin C helps to strengthen blood vessel walls.

9. The dietary supplements grape seed extract and pycnogenol contain antioxidant pigments that may help to strengthen blood vessels. They should be used under medical supervision by people on "blood-thinning" drugs such as Coumadin (warfarin) and aspirin.

Certain foods, such as cranberries, blueberries, bilberries, tea (green and black), black currant, onions, legumes, and parsley also contain these antioxidant pigments.

10. Eat kidney-balancing foods. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, a bluish cast under the eyes are due to an imbalance in kidney energy..

Wonders of Turmeric

2010-01-16T19:20:00.001-08:00

Health Benefits of Turmeric

Turmeric is one of nature's most powerful healers. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. Tumeric has been used for over 2500 years in India, where it was most likely first used as a dye.

The medicinal properties of this spice have been slowly revealing themselves over the centuries. Long known for its anti-inflammatory properties, recent research has revealed that turmeric is a natural wonder, proving beneficial in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer's disease.

Here are 20 reasons to add turmeric to your diet:

1. It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns.

2. When combined with cauliflower, it has shown to prevent prostate cancer and stop the growth of existing prostate cancer.

3. Prevented breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice.

4. May prevent melanoma and cause existing melanoma cells to commit suicide.

5. Reduces the risk of childhood leukemia.

6. Is a natural liver detoxifier.

7. May prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by removing amyloyd plaque buildup in the brain.

8. May prevent metastases from occurring in many different forms of cancer.

9. It is a potent natural anti-inflammatory that works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects.

10. Has shown promise in slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis in mice.

11. Is a natural painkiller and cox-2 inhibitor.

12. May aid in fat metabolism and help in weight management.

13. Has long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression.

14. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is a natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

15. Boosts the effects of chemo drug paclitaxel and reduces its side effects.

16. Promising studies are underway on the effects of turmeric on pancreatic cancer.

17. Studies are ongoing in the positive effects of turmeric on multiple myeloma.

18. Has been shown to stop the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.

19. Speeds up wound healing and assists in remodeling of damaged skin.

20. May help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.

Turmeric can be taken in powder or pill form. It is available in pill form in most health food stores, usually in 250-500mg capsules.

Once you start using turmeric on a regular basis, it's fun to find new ways to use it in recipes. My favorite way to use it is to add a pinch of it to egg salad. It adds a nice flavor and gives the egg salad a rich yellow hue.

Contraindications: Turmeric should not be used by people with gallstones or bile obstruction. Though turmeric is often used by pregnant women, it is important to consult with a doctor before doing so as turmeric can be a uterine stimulant.

Ayurveda herbal skin remedies

2010-01-16T19:02:00.000-08:00

Ayurveda care herbal skin remedies
Grind five almonds and mix with 1 teaspoon of fresh cream and a few drops of lemon juice. Apply this paste to the face and neck. Leave on for about fifteen minutes.
Apply papaya juice, or mashed papaya, to the affected areas.
Grind equal amounts of sesame seeds and turmeric in a small quantity of
Water Apply to the face or discolored skin. Make a paste from basil (tulsi) leaves and water to use on the affected skin Premature Ageing
The Vata Dosha responsible for one's ageing looks is naturally aggravated by ageing process but it is often caused prematurely by our habits and surroundings. The ageing process can never be withheld but still, Ayurveda products can slow down the process. On the other hand various natural herbal remedies exist to correct disorders caused by habits, irregular diets and our daily surroundings.
General remedies for ageing effects
Massage face with either almond, coconut or ghee oil before going to bed.
A face pack made from cucumber
Apply fresh aloe-vera gel

To stay healthy

2010-01-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Very common complaint that you often hear from people is overweight or obesity. Many of us don’t like to look fat. Everyone wants to look slim, young, attractive, and gorgeous. Overweight or obesity is an age-old problem.
It is a universal problem affecting men, women and children. Accumulation of excessive fat in the adipose tissue causes the condition of obesity.
Overweight or obesity, not only distorts the physical figure of a person, but also paves way to lot of health problems. Obese person is normally a person with less self-confidence. A person with obesity is said to be the house of many ailments and diseases, as they are more prone to diseases.
Due to obesity, you will not be able to do your own work properly. Coronary thrombosis, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, liver & gall bladder disorders, gout, and other diseases can affect obese people easily. Overeating, irregular eating habits, eating incompatible food mixings, skipping breakfast or lunch, hereditary obesity, and so on are causes of obesity.
The most important points to remember to reduce weight are regular exercises like walking, jogging, swimming, and so on, controlling the bad eating habits, and doing physical work to avoid weight gain. There are pills to reduce weight; however, you get side effects and harmful effects due to them.
You can try various home remedies to reduce weight. You can drink the lemon juice mixed with honey in warm water during the night.
This will help you reduce the accumulated fat. Eat healthy breakfast of oat meal or dhal sprouts, or fruits with a cup of milk, you can drink either a fruit juice or vegetable salad.
Raw vegetable salad also can be taken for lunch. You can even take buttermilk with green coriander leaves, salt, grated ginger, and pinch of asafetida.
This helps in digestion. Try coconut water, or dry fruits, or lemon tea or vegetable soup in the evening. Steamed vegetables with chapattis, and seasonal fruit salad would be filling. Always try low calorie diet. Cabbage, which does not allow the conversion of carbohydrates into fat, is good for weight reduction.

Herbal treatment for mouth

2010-01-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

The mouth care is a very varied process to carry out due to the many organs that together contribute to form our mouth, such as the teeth and tongue.
The teeth, for example, apart from being the major cause of mouth diseases and / or disorders, are also mostly responsible for our breath's smell. Adorned by herbal inscriptions, the following article will pas you over some useful tips for your mouth care.

History of herbal medicine has taught us that foul breath is normally caused by bad food digestion in the stomach, therefore you need not only wash your teeth well and practice mouth gargles but also tend to the digestion problem.
A natural herbal remedy is to do this by fasting for a whole day to then follow by a light and easily digestible diet. Digestion can also be improved by consuming any of the following; aloe-vera gel, lemon juice and ginger.
Bad eating habits, tea, coffee and tobacco are amongst the most common causes of teeth disorders one encounters during his life span (with sweets at the top of the list amongst infants).
Anyone should make it a must to clean his and/or her teeth twice daily while after eating one should also gargle in order to rinse well the teeth and mouth in general, leaving no food particles stuck to the teeth. Indian herbal medicine emphasizes greatly this point.
Ayurveda health inscriptions suggest eating hard crispy fruit which result to be good for the teeth.
In case of discolored teeth, Herbal treatments suggest you wash them with lemon or lime juice added with salt.
Toothache can be eased by applying a couple of drops of clover oil or cinnamon.
Gums
Your health herbal diet should also include all types of citrus fruits, pomegranates and guavas in order to maintain healthy gums and prevent disorders, since all of them contain vitamin C.
Tongue
The digestive system demonstrates its condition through the tongue. The tongue's coating determines physical disorders while the presence of a mucus-like coating points out the presence of Ama, a toxic byproduct deriving from improper eating habits and also poor digestion.

Ayurvedic Remedies for Common diseases

2010-01-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

A good way to treat yourself during illness is at home, where you get love and care along with medicines; however, it is not possible to treat all kinds of sickness or disease at home. Whatever you can do at home to treat it should be done before visiting the hospital or a doctor.

Most of the spices and herbs can be used in the treatment of common disease and symptoms.

Cloves, cinnamon, honey, black pepper, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, onion, asafetida, basil leaves, mint, turmeric, sandalwood, kapur, and so on.

Few symptoms can be treated at home. Those are ordinary cold & cough, pimples, constipation, fever, diarrhea, indigestion, headache, acidity, arthritis, and so on.

sLet us see the methods to treat these symptoms one by one. Pimples are a very common complaint from young people in the age of 16 to 28. This is caused due to dust depositing on your face or too much of oil in the skin.

To treat them, keep drinking lots of water. The second method is to apply the turmeric & sandalwood paste on the pimple area. Let it dry for few hours, and wash the face with cold water.

To treat arthritis, you can mix cinnamon powder and honey and take it with water. To treat cough, you can drink hot milk with turmeric added to it or chew clove. To treat colds, burn the black pepper and inhale the vapors.

Heat kapur and coconut oil together & apply it on the back of small kids to treat cold. To heal constipation, peel the garlic and swallow it or boil it along with milk and drink it. To treat throat aches, gargle lukewarm salt water at least three hours once in a day.

Try these medications at home for your kids. This is not only economical but also safer as there are no side effects or harmful effects in these treatments, as the materials involved are natural in nature.