Categories
Herbs & Plants

Asparagus racemosus

Botanical Name : Asparagus racemosus
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily:Asparagoideae
Genus: Asparagus
Species:A. racemosus
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales

Synonyms:
*Asparagus rigidulus Nakai,
*Protasparagus racemosus (Willd.) Oberm.

Common names in trade (local and foreign languages):
Satavari (Sanskrit); Shakakul, Satavari, Chatwal, Satawar (Hindi); Satmuli, Shatarnuli (Bengal); Satavar, Ekalkanto, Satavari, Satawar (Gujarati); Shatavari, Aheruballi, Ashadhi, Satmuli (Kanada); Sejnana (Kashmir); Shatavali, Chatavali, Satavari (Malayalam); Shatavari-mull, Asvel, Shatmuli, Satavari-mull (Marathi); Chhotaru, Mohajolo, Sotabari (Oriya); Tannirvittan-kizhangu, Ammaikodi, Kadumulla, Shimai Shadavari, Kilavari (Tamil); Satavari, Philli-taga, Challagadda, Pilli-gaddalu (Telugu)

Habitat : Asparagus racemosus is native to E. Asia – China, Japan, India. It is found at elevations up to 1,200 metres in the Himalayas, eastwards from Kashmir. Broad-leaved forests along streams or valleys at elevations of 2100 – 2200 metres in western China.

Description:
Asparagus racemosus is a perennial plant growing to 7 m (23ft). It is a tall, much branched, prickly climber with fascicle of fusiform roots. Cladodes 1.3-2.5 cm long, curved, in tufts of 2-6. Flowers small, white, in solitary or fascicled, simple or branched racemes.

It has has small pine-needle-like phylloclades (photosynthetic branches) that are uniform and shiny green. In July, it produces minute, white flowers on short, spiky stems, and in September it fruits, producing blackish-purple, globular berries.It has an adventitious root system with tuberous roots that measure about one metre in length, tapering at both ends, with roughly a hundred on each plant….CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees.Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers dry or moist soil.
Cultivation:
Easily grown in any good garden soil[200]. Prefers a rich sandy loam. This species is not very frost-hardy and generally needs to be grown in a frost-free or fairly frost-free climate. It can be grown as a half-hardy perennial in areas where the winter is too cold for it to survive outdoors. The tubers are harvested in the autumn, stored in a cool frost-free place and replanted in the spring. The rots of this species are commonly collected from the wild for medicinal use. Overcollection in some areas of its range are causing conservation concerns. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Propagation:
Seed – pre-soak for 12 hours in warm water and then sow in spring or as soon as the seed is ripe in early autumn in a greenhouse. It usually germinates in 3 – 6 weeks at 25°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a sunny position in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer. Division in early spring as the plant comes into growth.
Edible Uses:
Tender young shoots – cooked as a vegetable. A preserve prepared from the blanched shoots is said to be very agreeable. The tuber are candied as a sweetmeat. The only flavour is said to be that of the sugar. The roots are 5 – 13cm long.

Chemical Constituents:
Asparagus contains steroidal glycosides (asparagosides), bitter glycosides, asparagin and flavonoids. Fresh leaves yield diosgenin and other saponins such as shatavarin I to IV. Flowers and fruits contain glycosides of quercetin, rutin, and hyperoside. Ripe fruit contains cyanidin 3-glycosides. Presence of sitosterol, stigmasterol, their glucosides and sarsasapogenin; two spirostanolic and two furostanolic saponins have been reported in the fruits. Tubers and roots contain saccharine matters and mucilage. An antioxytocic compound, named racemosal (a 9, 10-dihydorphenanthrene derivative), has been isolated from this plant (Ghani, 2003).

Medicinal Uses:

Alterative; Antispasmodic; Aphrodisiac; Demulcent; Digestive; Diuretic; Galactogogue; Infertility; Women’s complaints.

Shatavari (this is an Indian word meaning ‘a woman who has a hundred husbands’) is the most important herb in Ayurvedic medicine for dealing with problems connected women’s fertility. The rhizome is a soothing tonic that acts mainly on the circulatory, digestive, respiratory and female reproductive organs. The root is alterative, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, demulcent, diuretic, galactogogue and refrigerant. It is taken internally in the treatment of infertility, loss of libido, threatened miscarriage, menopausal problems, hyperacidity, stomach ulcers and bronchial infections. Externally it is used to treat stiffness in the joints. The root is used fresh in the treatment of dysentery. It is harvested in the autumn and dried for use in treating other complaints. The whole plant is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, rheumatism, diabetes and brain complaints.

The premier herb for women in Ayurveda, shatavari is similar to dong quai in its action and effects, but is not a ?connoisseur herb? like dong quai, so it’s not as expensive. Internally for infertility, loss of libido, threatened miscarriage, menopausal problems, hyperacidity, stomach ulcers, dysentery, and bronchial infections. It increases milk, semen and nurtures the mucous membranes. It both nourishes and cleanses the blood and the female reproductive organs. It is a good food for menopause or for those who have had hysterectomies, as it supplies many female hormones. It nourishes the ovum and increases fertility, yet its quality is sattvic and aids in love and devotion. Three grams of the powder can be taken in one cup of warm milk sweetened with raw sugar. It’s especially good for pitta types. Externally for stiffness in joints and neck. The most important herb in Ayurvedic medicine for women. Used internally by Australian Aborigines for digestive upsets and externally for sores.

Other Uses:….Soap…..The squeezed root is used for washing clothes

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_racemosus
http://www.mpbd.info/plants/asparagus-racemosus.php
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Asparagus+racemosus
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_RST.htm

Categories
Positive thinking

Anger

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Definition:
Anger is an emotional response related to one’s psychological interpretation of having been threatened. Often it indicates when one’s basic boundaries are violated. Some have a learned tendency to react to anger through retaliation. Anger may be utilized effectively when utilized to set boundaries or escape from dangerous situations. Sheila Videbeck describes anger as a normal emotion that involves a strong uncomfortable and emotional response to a perceived provocation. Raymond Novaco of UC Irvine, who since 1975 has published a plethora of literature on the subject, stratified anger into three modalities: cognitive (appraisals), somatic-affective (tension and agitations), and behavioral (withdrawal and antagonism). William DeFoore, an anger-management writer, described anger as a pressure cooker: we can only apply pressure against our anger for a certain amount of time until it explodes.
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Modern psychologists view anger as a primary, natural, and mature emotion experienced by virtually all humans at times, and as something that has functional value for survival. Anger can mobilize psychological resources for corrective action. Uncontrolled anger can, however, negatively affect personal or social well-being. While many philosophers and writers have warned against the spontaneous and uncontrolled fits of anger, there has been disagreement over the intrinsic value of anger. The issue of dealing with anger has been written about since the times of the earliest philosophers, but modern psychologists, in contrast to earlier writers, have also pointed out the possible harmful effects of suppressing anger. Displays of anger can be used as a manipulation strategy for social influence.

Effects of anger:
Anger occurs in an area of the brain called the amygdala. In a quarter of a second it releases the chemicals arginine-vasopressin, dopamine, noradrenalin, and corticotropin-releasing hormone and lowers serotonin levels. These chemicals make our bodies ready for a “fight or flight” reaction. The heart rate and blood pressure go up, pupils dilate and sweating occurs. Almost immediately, the blood supply to the frontal lobe of the brain increases. It reacts, releasing other chemicals like serotonin. As its levels rise, reason sets in and higher functions take over. Angry reactions are suppressed.

Symptoms:
There are two types of anger : Passive anger and Aggressive anger. These two types of anger have some characteristic symptoms:

Passive anger:  Passive anger can be expressed in the following ways:

*Dispassion, such as giving someone the cold shoulder or a fake smile, looking unconcerned or “sitting on the fence” while others sort things out, dampening feelings with substance abuse, overreacting, oversleeping, not responding to another’s anger, frigidity, indulging in sexual practices that depress spontaneity and make objects of participants, giving inordinate amounts of time to machines, objects or intellectual pursuits, talking of frustrations but showing no feeling.

*Evasiveness, such as turning one’s back in a crisis, avoiding conflict, not arguing back, becoming phobic.

*Defeatism, such as setting yourself and others up for failure, choosing unreliable people to depend on, being accident prone, underachieving, sexual impotence, expressing frustration at insignificant things but ignoring serious ones.

*Obsessive behavior, such as needing to be inordinately clean and tidy, making a habit of constantly checking things, over-dieting or overeating, demanding that all jobs be done perfectly.

*Psychological manipulation, such as provoking people to aggression and then patronizing them, provoking aggression but staying on the sidelines, emotional blackmail, false tearfulness, feigning illness, sabotaging relationships, using sexual provocation, using a third party to convey negative feelings, withholding money or resources.

*Secretive behavior, such as stockpiling resentments that are expressed behind people’s backs, giving the silent treatment or under the breath mutterings, avoiding eye contact, putting people down, gossiping, anonymous complaints, poison pen letters, stealing, and conning.

*Self-blame, such as apologizing too often, being overly critical, inviting criticism.

Aggressive anger:  The symptoms of aggressive anger are:

*Bullying, such as threatening people directly, persecuting, pushing or shoving, using power to oppress, shouting, driving someone off the road, playing on people’s weaknesses.

*Destructiveness, such as destroying objects as in vandalism, harming animals, destroying a relationship, reckless driving, substance abuse.

*Grandiosity, such as showing off, expressing mistrust, not delegating, being a sore loser, wanting center stage all the time, not listening, talking over people’s heads, expecting kiss and make-up sessions to solve problems.

*Hurtfulness, such as physical violence, including sexual abuse and rape, verbal abuse, biased or vulgar jokes, breaking confidence, using foul language, ignoring people’s feelings, willfully discriminating, blaming, punishing people for unwarranted deeds, labeling others.

*Manic behavior, such as speaking too fast, walking too fast, working too much and expecting others to fit in, driving too fast, reckless spending.

*Selfishness, such as ignoring others’ needs, not responding to requests for help, queue jumping.

*Threats, such as frightening people by saying how one could harm them, their property or their prospects, finger pointing, fist shaking, wearing clothes or symbols associated with violent behaviour, tailgating, excessively blowing a car horn, slamming doors.

*Unjust blaming, such as accusing other people for one’s own mistakes, blaming people for your own feelings, making general accusations.
Unpredictability, such as explosive rages over minor frustrations, attacking indiscriminately, dispensing unjust punishment, inflicting harm on others for the sake of it, using alcohol and drugs, illogical arguments.

*Vengeance, such as being over-punitive, refusing to forgive and forget, bringing up hurtful memories from the past.

People can “feel the heat” as anger builds up in the body. Three responses are possible at this point. The emotion can be vented out, suppressed or attempts can be made to calm down. Expressing anger to a superior or an authority figure may not be the wisest path.

Suppression of anger, especially if the aggravation is continuous and long term, can have negative effects. The blood pressure can go up, it can precipitate a stroke or heart attack and it can result in overeating and obesity with its attendant problems or depression.

Causes :
People feel angry when they sense that they or someone they care about has been offended, when they are certain about the nature and cause of the angering event, when they are certain someone else is responsible, and when they feel they can still influence the situation or cope with it. For instance, if a person’s car is damaged, they will feel angry if someone else did it (e.g. another driver rear-ended it), but will feel sadness instead if it was caused by situational forces (e.g. a hailstorm) or guilt and shame if they were personally responsible (e.g. he crashed into a wall out of momentary carelessness).

Usually, those who experience anger explain its arousal as a result of “what has happened to them” and in most cases the described provocations occur immediately before the anger experience. Such explanations confirm the illusion that anger has a discrete external cause. The angry person usually finds the cause of their anger in an intentional, personal, and controllable aspect of another person’s behavior. This explanation, however, is based on the intuitions of the angry person who experiences a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability as a result of their emotion. Anger can be of multicausal origin, some of which may be remote events, but people rarely find more than one cause for their anger. According to Novaco, “Anger experiences are embedded or nested within an environmental-temporal context. Disturbances that may not have involved anger at the outset leave residues that are not readily recognized but that operate as a lingering backdrop for focal provocations (of anger).” According to Encyclopædia Britannica, an internal infection can cause pain which in turn can activate anger.

Anger makes people think more optimistically. Dangers seem smaller, actions seem less risky, ventures seem more likely to succeed, and unfortunate events seem less likely. Angry people are more likely to make risky decisions, and make more optimistic risk assessments. In one study, test subjects primed to feel angry felt less likely to suffer heart disease, and more likely to receive a pay raise, compared to fearful people.  This tendency can manifest in retrospective thinking as well: in a 2005 study, angry subjects said they thought the risks of terrorism in the year following 9/11 in retrospect were low, compared to what the fearful and neutral subjects thought.

In inter-group relationships, anger makes people think in more negative and prejudiced terms about outsiders. Anger makes people less trusting, and slower to attribute good qualities to outsiders.

When a group is in conflict with a rival group, it will feel more anger if it is the politically stronger group and less anger when it is the weaker.

Unlike other negative emotions like sadness and fear, angry people are more likely to demonstrate correspondence bias – the tendency to blame a person’s behavior more on his nature than on his circumstances. They tend to rely more on stereotypes, and pay less attention to details and more attention to the superficial. In this regard, anger is unlike other “negative” emotions such as sadness and fear, which promote analytical thinking.

An angry person tends to anticipate other events that might cause him anger. She/he will tend to rate anger-causing events (e.g. being sold a faulty car) as more likely than sad events (e.g. a good friend moving away).

A person who is angry tends to place more blame on another person for his misery. This can create a feedback, as this extra blame can make the angry man angrier still, so he in turn places yet more blame on the other person.

When people are in a certain emotional state, they tend to pay more attention to, or remember, things that are charged with the same emotion; so it is with anger. For instance, if you are trying to persuade someone that a tax increase is necessary, if the person is currently feeling angry you would do better to use an argument that elicits anger (“more criminals will escape justice”) than, say, an argument that elicits sadness (“there will be fewer welfare benefits for disabled children”). Also, unlike other negative emotions, which focus attention on all negative events, anger only focuses attention on anger-causing events.

Anger can make a person more desiring of an object to which his anger is tied. In a 2010 Dutch study, test subjects were primed to feel anger or fear by being shown an image of an angry or fearful face, and then were shown an image of a random object. When subjects were made to feel angry, they expressed more desire to possess that object than subjects who had been primed to feel fear.

To control anger:
Seneca addresses the question of mastering anger in three parts: 1. how to avoid becoming angry in the first place 2. how to cease being angry and 3. how to deal with anger in others.

Calming techniques have to be learnt, as they do not come naturally. As soon as you feel your heart pounding in anger, count mentally to 10 before retorting verbally or physically. This gives time for the frontal lobe to counter the amygdala. At the same time take a few deep breaths. Sometimes a word like peace or shanti repeated mentally several times can help with control. Yoga and meditation are time-tested ancient techniques.

When intense anger takes over, you can either leave the scene (probably an appropriate and safe response), or respond with physical or verbal aggression. If serotonin levels are low, unreasonable anger and aggression take over.

Standing before a mirror and looking at yourselves, may reduce the anger  and sometimes taking a shower also reduces anger.

Logic defeats anger. Considering and analysing occurrences can often defuse anger. Listening to the other person, thinking things through, walking in the other man’s shoes, are all practical ways to tackle the problem of anger.

Regular aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, running, cycling or swimming for 40 minutes or more a day has profound effects on physical and psychological make up. Chemicals are released from the muscles and these elevate serotonin levels. Anger does occur in people who exercise regularly, but the chemicals released by the body tend to put a “brake” on violent, irrational anger.

Cognitive behavioral affective therapy for anger:
A new integrative approach to anger treatment has been formulated by Ephrem Fernandez (2010) Termed CBAT, for cognitive behavioral affective therapy, this treatment goes beyond conventional relaxation and reappraisal by adding cognitive and behavioral techniques and supplementing them with affective techniques to deal with the feeling of anger. The techniques are sequenced contingently in three phases of treatment: prevention, intervention, and postvention. In this way, people can be trained to deal with the onset of anger, its progression, and the residual features of anger.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anger
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140714/jsp/knowhow/story_18611110.jsp

Categories
Health Alert News on Health & Science

New Study Shows Profound Impact of Anger on Your Health

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When you get angry, your heart rate, arterial tension and testosterone production increases, cortisol (the stress hormone) decreases, and the left hemisphere of your brain becomes more stimulated.

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Researchers induced anger in 30 men “Anger Induction” (AI), which consists of 50 phrases in first person that reflect daily situations that provoke anger.

Before and immediately after the inducement of anger, the researchers measured heart rate and arterial tension, levels of testosterone and cortisol, and the asymmetric activation of the brain.

According to Eurekalert:
“The results … reveal that anger provokes profound changes in the state of mind of the subjects (‘they felt angered and had a more negative state of mind’) and in different psychobiological parameters.”

Resources:
Eurekalert May 31, 2010
Hormones and Behavior March 2010, 57(3):276-83

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Categories
News on Health & Science

Laser Therapy May Help Neck Pain

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So-called low-level laser therapy (LLLT) entails using a laser‘s light — but not its fiercely concentrated heat — to stimulate tissue repair and ease pain.
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Doctors led by Roberta Chow of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Australia‘s University of Sydney carried out an overview of 16 randomised trials that put this increasingly popular procedure to the test.

A total of 820 patients were enrolled in the trials, divided into groups that received either the therapy or a lookalike, dummy treatment. In five trials, patients given LLLT were around four times likelier to have reduced pain compared with a placebo, the paper found.

In the 11 other trials, for which there was a detailed analysis of pain symptoms, LLLT patients reported reductions of chronic pain by around 20 points on a scale of 100 points. The pain reduction continued for up to 22 weeks.

LLLT compares favourably with other drugs and other remedies for effectiveness and its side-effects are mild, says the study, which recommends that it be used in combination with an exercise programme.

Why LLLT works, though, is unclear. The authors suggest it could interfere with pathways of inflammation, muscle tiredness and the transmission of pain signals along nerves.

Between 10 and 24 percent of people suffer from chronic neck pain, inflicting a cost running into the hundreds of millions of dollars and highlighting the need for simple but effective treatent, the authors said.

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Working women suffer from neck pain
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Laser therapy combo effectively clears acne, reduces oil production

Source: The Times Of India

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Categories
Positive thinking

Passive Aggressive Behavior

Claiming Our Feelings :-

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If you’ve ever found yourself repressing your anger and behaving in other ways to get your point across, you may be someone who is adept at engaging in passive-aggressive behavior. Although passive-aggressive behavior is recognized as a psychological disorder, it also describes the behavior that many people use to cope with confrontational situations. Such behavior has the outward appearance of being peaceful, yet it is really an attempt to express oneself in seemingly passive ways—usually without accepting responsibility for doing so. For example, someone who doesn’t want to attend an event with a partner might engage in behavior that causes them to be late or miss the event without ever admitting to their partner that they never wanted to go to the function at all. Procrastination, inefficiency, stubbornness, and sullenness are some of the many ways that anger can be expressed indirectly.

It is important not to judge ourselves when we engage in passive-aggressive behavior. You may want to consider that you are not owning your feelings or your expression by indirectly expressing yourself. Perhaps you are judging your feelings and needs as wrong—which is why you are expressing yourself indirectly. You also may be worried that others will judge you for feeling the way that you do. Remember that anger and every other emotion are never good or bad. They can, however, become toxic of you don’t express them in healthy and proactive ways. When we express ourselves directly, we are more likely to be heard by the other person. It also becomes easier for us to ask for and get what we want.

Once we learn to be honest with ourselves about our feelings, we can begin to directly express ourselves to others. By learning to express ourselves directly, we prevent misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and resentment from cropping up in our relationships. We also learn to communicate with others in healthy and productive ways. It is never too late to start working on ourselves and our behaviors, just take it one day at a time.

Sources:Daily Om

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