Month: October 2007

Categories
Herbal Beauty & Body Care

Know Your Skin

The skin is the largest organ of the body and is made up of multiple layers of cells that are constantly going through self shedding and regeneration once every 30 days. The skin is made up of 3 main layers: Epidermis, Dermis and Subcutaneous or hypodermis. These layers are held together by the protein, collagen and elastin fibres. Collagen provides durability and strength. Time taken for deepest layer to come to the top is 45-75 days.

 

Click to see the different layers

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  1. Top layer – Epidermis
    It is made up of 5 layers: Stratum Corneum – horny layer, Stratum lucidum – clear layer, Stratum granulosum – granular layer, Stratum spinosum – spiny layer – prickle cell, melanin production, and Stratum Germinativum – basal Layer- where the cells divide and grow upwards.
    Each of these layers has their own layers. The Stratum spinosum gives skin its color.
  2. Middle layer – Dermis
    It is made up of: Blood vessels (supply nutrients to the skin), Lymph vessels (defence mechanism for the immune system), Hair follicles (protection and sebum production), Sweat glands (regulators of heat), and Pain and touch receptors (carry impulses to the brain).
  3. Bottom layer – Subcutaneous or hypodermis
    These are fat cells that conserve body heat while protecting other organs from injury. They provide a cushioning effect and are a source of energy in lean times.

Thickness of layer varies – the thinnest layer is on our eyelids making them light and flexible, the thickest is on our hands and feet for gripping.

Functions of Skin
This skin provides a protective layer for organs and tissues from pathogens, heat and light. It regulates body temperature. It stores water, fat and Vitamin D and has touch receptors that sense pain or pleasure. Skin is an excretory and absorption organ.

Skin has a natural moisturising factor (NMF). Teen skin is prone to oiliness as hormones are regulating. At 20-30 years skin cell turnover provides optimum condition. At 30-40 years cell turnover starts to decrease and fine lines start to appear. At 40-50 years skin becomes more dry. Over 50 years of age, cell turnover drops by 50% resulting in flaky patches and deeper lines.

The skin may be sensitive. Sensitive skin reddens easily due to environmental changes or cosmetic products. Skin can become permanently sensitive due to allergy, shaving, and use of skin care productscontaining alpha hydroxy and retinoic acid skin.

Source:http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/beauty/skin.html

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Biting Back At Malaria With Mosquitoes

CLICK & SEEAn American scientist is leading an international team of researchers using an army of blood-sucking mosquitoes to produce a potentially potent vaccine against malaria.

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Stephen Hoffman, 58, founded Sanaria Inc, a biotech firm solely dedicated to the production of a vaccine against malaria.
Hoffman officially opened a manufacturing facility on Friday in the Washington suburb of Rockville, where he said he aims to produce 75 to 100 million doses a year. “The opening of this facility is an important step in the process to develop a whole-parasite malaria vaccine,” he said. The scientist said he was optimistic the vaccine could be tested in clinical trials by late 2008.

His goal, which has received US government support, was given a major boost in late 2006 when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated 29.3 million dollars through the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, Hoffman said. Hoffman knows the debilitating effects of malaria all too well.

In the 1980s, when he was director of the US Navy’s malaria research programme, he was so confident in a new vaccine that he reportedly let himself be bitten by mosquitoes carrying Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite responsible for over 95% of severe malarial illnesses and deaths worldwide.

Sure enough, he came down with the symptoms. The vaccine did not work. Despite that failure, the researcher has taken the same approach and hopes that a vaccine can be mass produced and maintain its potency. His firm is “turning the mosquitoes into the production factories for the vaccine,” he said, adding that each mosquito can produce two doses of the vaccine. “We have a long way to go before we’ll be able to license and deploy an effective vaccine to control and eventually eradicate malaria from the world, but most importantly to prevent the 3,000 deaths that will occur today among children and one million in a year.”

Source:The Times Of India

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Red Meat And Alcohol Up Cancer Risk

LONDON: It’s well documented that eating too much red meat and drinking too much alcohol can increase the risk of developing cancer.

But, according to a new study carried out by a group of 21 international researchers, eating red meat and drinking alcohol even in small quantities could cause cancer, ‘The Observer’ reported here on Sunday.

According to one of the researchers, Prof David Shuker of Open University, “Our research shows that eating as little as 100 gms of red meat a day increases the risk of developing cancer. Any alcohol above zero increases risk of developing breast cancer and other cancers.

“We know that red meat increases your risk of bowel cancer. We might say that it’s just like cigarette smoking. So if you are concerned about bowel cancer you would come to the conclusion, supported by the evidence, that one should reduce one’s consumption of red meat.”

According to the report of the researchers to be published later this week, men should have no more than two drinks per day, and women just one, if they want to reduce their cancer risk.

The report will also set out 10 recommendations which the experts believe are a definitive blueprint for how those seeking to avoid cancer should live.

The 10 will cover — body fatness; physical activity; foods and drinks that promote weight gain; plant foods, notably fruit and vegetables; animal foods, particularly meat; alcoholic drinks; the preservation, processing and preparation of food; dietary supplements; lactation and breastfeeding; and cancer survivors.

Source: The Times Of India

Categories
Ailmemts & Remedies

Nyctalopia(Night Blindness)

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Night blindness (nyctalopia) is the inability to see well at night or in poor light. It is not a disorder in itself, but rather a symptom of an underlying disorder or problem, especially untreated nearsightedness.

Nyctalopia (Greek for “night blindness”) is a condition making it difficult or impossible to see in relatively low light. It is a symptom of several eye diseases. Night blindness may exist from birth, or be caused by injury or malnutrition (for example, a lack of vitamin A).

Causes:

Night blindness is due to a disorder of the cells in the retina that are responsible for vision in dim light. It has many causes, including:

The most common cause of nyctalopia is retinitis pigmentosa, a disorder in which the rod cells in the retina gradually lose their ability to respond to the light. Patients suffering from this genetic condition have progressive nyctalopia and eventually their daytime vision may also be affected. In X-linked congenital stationary night blindness, from birth the rods either do not work at all, or work very little, but the condition doesn’t get worse.Another cause of night blindness is a deficiency of retinol, or vitamin A, found in fish oils, liver and dairy products. In the Second World War misinformation was spread by the British to cover up the reason for their pilots’ successful night time missions. Their success was, in the misinformation, attributed to improved night vision and pilots flying night missions were encouraged to eat plenty of carrots, which contain carotenoids and can be converted into retinol. The actual reason for their success was their use of advanced radar technologies.

The opposite problem, known as hemeralopia, is much rarer.

The outer area of the retina is made up of more rods than cones. The rod cells are the cells that enable us to see in poor illumination. This is the reason why loss of side vision often results in night blindness. Individuals suffering from night blindness not only see poorly at night, but also require some time for their eyes to adjust from brightly lit areas to dim ones. Contrast vision may also be greatly reduced.

In order to determine what is causing night blindness, the eye doctor will perform a thorough eye exam and may order any of a number of specialized exams .

Historical usage
Aulus Cornelius Celsus, writing ca. 30 AD, described night blindness and recommended an effective dietary supplement: “There is besides a weakness of the eyes, owing to which people see well enough indeed in the daytime but not at all at night; in women whose menstruation is regular this does not happen. But success sufferers should anoint their eyeballs with the stuff dripping from a liver whilst roasting, preferably of a he-goat, or failing that of a she-goat; and as well they should eat some of the liver itself.”

Historically, nyctalopia, also known as moonblink, was a temporary night blindness believed to be caused by sleeping in moonlight in the tropics.
Treatment:

Treatment for night blindness will depend upon its cause. Treatment may be as simple as a new prescription for your eyeglasses or switching glaucoma medications, or it may require surgery in cases of cataracts.

Click for Alternative medication & life style to prevent night blindness

Vitamin A Deficiency, Prevention and Treatment through Ayurveda

CLICK TO SEE :Bilberry Extract Improve Night Blindness

Useful Herbs for Eye Care

Vitamine & mineral guide for eye care against Night Blindness

Night Blindness- Prevention,Treatment & Healing
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_blindness
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=43325

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The Art of Recalling is in Your Brain

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Ever wonder how you remember a person’s name but just can’t recall where you met them? Well that’s the question scientists at The University of Western Ontario have found the answer to.

According to the researchers, the sometimes eerie feeling experience when recognising someone, yet failing to remember how or why relies on a distinct brain mechanism and does not simply reflect a weak form of memory.

“Recognition based on familiarity can be contrasted with recognition when we spontaneously conjure up details about the episode in which we encountered the person before, such as where we met the person or when it happened,” said psychology professor Stefan Kohler.

The research is based on Western psychology graduate student Ben Bowles’s  Master’s thesis.

The study is important as it has implications for understanding memory deficits in neurology, including in Alzheimer’s disease.

Bowels and Kohler also report that a rare form of brain surgery that can be highly effective for treatment of epilepsy can selectively impair the ability to assess familiarity.

“It is counterintuitive but makes a lot of sense from a theoretical perspective that familiarity can be affected, while the ability to recollect episodic detail is completely spared,” adds Kohler.

The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the London Health Sciences Centre, McGill University, and at the University of California.

Supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to Dr Kohler, the research was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA .

Source: The Times Of India

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