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Ailmemts & Remedies News on Health & Science

Beating those bugs(Lice)

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Lice infestation is universal. Head lice have co-existed with humans for two thousand years. They have been observed in the sarcophagus of well-preserved Egyptian mummies, in tombs that also contained fine-toothed combs to remove head lice. They do not pay heed to social, economic or geographic boundaries. A millionaire’s  offspring as well as the child of a slum dweller can both be seen scratching their heads. Closer inspection may reveal lice scurrying along hair shafts, or white nits (eggs) closely attached to the hair.

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Infestation is a social stigma. The child is perceived as “dirty” and the parents are seen as negligent caretakers. Neither of these statements, however, is necessarily true. Lice can survive submersion, oiling, shampooing and extremities of temperature.

Head Lice or Pediculus capitis (which literally translates to “lice of the head”) have not changed or evolved much. They are still small, brown insects with a tough outer coat and tapering legs adapted to cling tenaciously on hair shafts. They can survive huge climatic variations and lay dormant for up to 10 days. They cannot fly or jump; they move from one human being to another by crawling along the hair as heads move into close contact, or by walking along walls, floors, furniture and bedding. They are also very fastidious and host specific   they can survive only on the scalps of human beings, and not on other animals.

Head lice themselves do not cause disease
. But they cause intense itching which can interfere with sleep, concentration and efficient functioning. The scratching can cause secondary bacterial infection. This, in turn, can lead to painful enlargement of the lymph nodes in the neck.


In traditional societies, people found a way around this problem. Some families regularly went on pilgrimage. Their houses were cleaned and then locked. Unable to obtain a human blood meal, the lice starved to death within 10 days. And at the pilgrimage site, the whole family was tonsured. Thus, no hair meant no lice!

Bug-busting fine-toothed combs are readily available. They are safe and effective. The hair should be well oiled and all the tangles removed before combing. Most of the lice slip off with this treatment. The action has to be repeated every alternate day for two weeks till no lice are seen.

Chemical lice treatments are also available. They contain pyrethroids, permethrin, lindane or malathion. These compounds may be available as lotions or shampoos. The treatment must be repeated after 10 days.

About 17 per cent of lice are resistant to insecticides. Repeated treatment, using higher-than-recommended doses will not work. In fact, they may even be harmful and signs of toxicity may appear.

A combination of insecticide treatment followed by bug-busting combing is very effective.

Lice reproduce efficiently and explosively. Each couple can produce 100 eggs in a lifetime. Each egg hatches after eight days and the little bug develops into an adult in around 10 days. Unless the eradication treatment is repeated every 10 days, new lice will repopulate the hair.

After some time lice may reappear. This may be due to reinfection from another person or repopulation from lice that survived the original treatment.

If lice have gravitated to the eyebrows and lashes, they should be very carefully manually removed. Chemicals should not be applied.

Natural compounds are advertised for lice treatment. Some are neem-based. There may be others that contain organic pesticides in unregulated and dangerous doses. Before applying them, please read the fine print carefully.

Egg white and motor oil do not have any action on lice. On the contrary, they may cause hair loss.

Kerosene kills lice and nits. But it is also a dangerous, highly inflammable compound and therefore should not be used.

“Lice” is actually a generic term that loosely refers to head lice. Insects from the same family, called Pediculus humanus or body lice, can also be found on the body (not the head), in areas where there is overcrowding, homelessness and poor hygiene. These lice cause itching, particularly around the waist, groin and upper thighs. There may be an allergic reaction that aggravates the itching. The skin may eventually become discoloured. Secondary bacterial or fungal infection may occur.

Unlike head lice, body lice can cause typhus and relapsing fever.

Regular bathing, clean clothes and application of lotions or creams containing pyrethroids, permethrin, lindane or malathion will kill the lice.

Crabs or pubic lice (Pythiriasis pubis) are usually spread through sexual contact. They can also spread through infected bedding. These lice cause intense intolerable itching in the genital area. They also respond to the lotions and shampoos containing pyrethroids, permethrin, lindane or malathion.

It is possible to get rid of all types of lice provided the cycle of reinfestation is broken and good personal hygiene maintained.

Source:The Telegraph (Kolkata,India)

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Neck Pain or Neck stiffness

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Alternative Names
Pain – neck; Neck stiffness

What is neck pain?

Neck pain can be so mild that it is merely annoying and distracting. Or it can be so severe that it is unbearable and incapacitating.

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Most instances of neck pain (and stiffness) are minor and commonly caused by something you did. That is, if you keep your head in an awkward position for too long the joints in your neck can “lock” and the neck muscles can become painfully fatigued. The price you pay for carelessness in how you position your head and neck (say, while working, watching TV, using a computer, reading a book, or talking on the phone with the receiver held against your shoulder and under your chin), is a pain in the neck. You may be one of the many unfortunates who, after a long and tiring day, has “harmlessly” fallen asleep in a chair or in bed with your head propped up, only to awake with a stiff and painful neck. Fortunately, most minor, posture-induced neck pain episodes clear up on their own after rest and efforts not to repeat the offending stresses on the neck.

Neck pain afflicts almost three-quarters of adults at some point; for nearly one in six, pain is chronic. If you suffer from neck pain, many different forms of therapy are available, including spinal manipulation, drug regimens and exercises – but which form is best?

But neck pain that just won’t go away after a day or so is a more serious matter. Neck pain that lasts for many days or keeps coming back is a signal that something isn’t right. Disease, an injury (such as whiplash in an auto accident), a congenital malformation, or progressive degeneration that can come with age may be responsible for the more significant pain you experience. An expert must determine the underlying causes of such neck pain. Examination, diagnosis and treatment by a doctor of chiropractic can relieve your mind and may quickly relieve your pain.

Who suffers from neck pain?
Almost everyone experiences some sort of neck pain or stiffness at one time or another. Because you are human and walk upright, your head is “balanced” atop your spinal column. If the muscles that support your head are not kept strong and in good condition, the upper part of your spinal column is vulnerable to strains and injuries.

Older people, whose joints have been worn by much use over time, are subject to osteoarthritis (also known as degenerative joint disease or DJD). When this form of arthritis hits your back and neck, you feel it as neck pain that gets worse over time. The pain may radiate into your shoulders and arms, and you may feel numbness or tingling in hands and fingers. Arthritis can also involve symptoms including headaches, dizziness, and even a grating/grinding feeling when you move your head. It is very important for your chiropractor to examine you to rule out osteoarthritis or identify it and see that it is properly treated.

To compare the effectiveness of three forms of neck pain therapy, researchers followed approximately 200 people suffering from chronic neck pain over 11 weeks of treatment, and recorded their progress over the next two years. The patients were randomly divided to receive 20 one-hour treatments, in one of the methods listed below:

1.spinal manipulation and light soft-tissue massage from experienced chiropractic clinicians;

2.chiropractic spinal manipulation plus rehabilitative exercise from trained exercise therapists, including stretching and dynamic neck exercises;

3. rehabilitative neck exercises using a variable resistance, neck extension and rotation machine.

Patient-rated pain was lower for both exercise groups than for manipulation alone, and the exercise groups benefited more regarding pain, disability, improvement and health status. Spinal manipulation plus exercise provided greater satisfaction than manipulation alone or rehabilitative exercises, however. The advantage of both manipulation plus exercise and machine exercises over manipulation alone continued over the two-year follow-up period.

If you suffer from chronic neck pain and don’t know where to turn, your local chiropractor is the best place to start. Cervical manipulations along with regular neck exercises can help end the pain and get you headed in the right direction.

Between 10-15% of people suffer from neck pain, which is most commonly seen in middle-aged individuals and women. Chiropractors often provide a form of manual therapy called “mobilization,” in addition to cervical adjustments, intended to increase neck flexibility and reduce pain.

In a recent study from the Netherlands, 183 patients with neck pain lasting at least two weeks were divided into three groups and received either manual therapy, physical therapy, or continued care from a general practitioner. Manual therapy involved weekly “hands-on” techniques in which “experienced manual therapists” sought to decrease restrictions in neck range of motion; physical therapy focused primarily on exercise in 30-minute sessions twice per week; and general practitioner care involved advice on recovery, self-care, and ergonomics.

After seven weeks of treatment, the success rate was nearly twice as high in the manual therapy group as in the group receiving care from a general practitioner. The recovery rates were 68%, 51%, and 36% for the manual therapy, physical therapy, and general care groups, respectively. The manual therapy patients had half the absences from work due to pain during the study as the other two groups. Also, manual therapy proved better than physical therapy in all outcome measures in this study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The fundamental objective of manual therapy is restoration of normal joint motion. This goal was attained in the study, with a “relatively large” increase in neck range of motion. If you are suffering from neck pain, your chiropractor can treat your symptoms with manual therapy, adjustments, and neck exercises to address not just the pain, but also range of motion and strength.
Considerations:
Neck pain may originate from any of the structures in the neck. These include muscles and nerves as well as spinal vertebrae and the cushioning discs in between. Neck pain may also come from regions near the neck, like the shoulder, jaw, head, and upper arms.

When your neck is sore, you may have difficulty moving it, especially to one side. Many people describe this as having a stiff neck.

If neck pain involves nerves (for example, significant muscle spasm pinching on a nerve or a slipped disc pressing on a nerve), you may feel numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arm, hand, or elsewhere.

Common Causes:
A common cause of neck pain is muscle strain or tension. Usually, everyday activities are to blame. Such activities include bending over a desk for hours, having poor posture while watching TV or reading, placing your computer monitor too high or too low, sleeping in an uncomfortable position, or twisting and turning the neck in a jarring manner while exercising.

Traumatic accidents or falls can cause severe neck injuries like vertebral fractures, whiplash, blood vessel injury, and even paralysis.

Other causes include herniated disc, fibromyalgia (pain syndrome throughout the body), and arthritis. Meningitis, although much less common, can cause significant neck stiffness.

Click for the knowledge Other causes and remedy :1.Whiplash 2.Herniated nucleus pulposus (slipped disk) 3.Heart attack . 4.Spinal stenosis 5.Osteoporosis 6.Sprains and Strains 7.Torticollis 8.Vertebrobasilar circulatory disorders 9.Cervical spondylosis
Home Care

For minor, common causes of neck pain:
Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Apply heat or ice to the painful area. One good method is to use ice for the first 48 – 72 hours, then use heat after that. Heat may be applied with hot showers, hot compresses, or a heating pad. Be careful not to fall asleep with a heating pad on.
Perform slow range-of-motion exercises — up-and-down, side-to-side, and from ear-to-ear — to gently stretch the neck muscles.
Have a partner gently massage the sore or painful areas.
Try sleeping on a firm mattress without a pillow or with a special neck pillow.

Call your health care provider if:
One week of self care hasn’t helped.
You have a fever and headache, and your neck is so stiff that you cannot touch your chin to your chest. THIS MAY BE MENINGITIS — CALL 911 or get to a hospital.
You have numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arm or hand.
Your neck pain was caused by a fall, blow, or injury (if you cannot move your arm or hand, have someone call 911).
You have swollen glands or a lump in your neck.
Your pain does not respond to standard doses of over-the-counter pain medication.

What can chiropractic do?
Doctors of chiropractic have the training and skills to relieve your neck pain, overcome stiffness, and restore the mobility and range of motion of any frozen neck vertebrae. They are devoted to helping you get back to your normal pursuits and start feeling like yourself again.

Perhaps their most important contribution is their ability to bring their specialized diagnostic skills, techniques, and equipment to bear in assessing what is causing your neck problems. Your chiropractor can determine if you have a relatively minor and treatable condition or a more serious underlying condition (from disease, degeneration, or trauma) that may require more intensive, extended treatment or referral to a specialist.

Your chiropractor will ask you for detailed information on your behavior, posture, physical condition, and work and home environment He or she will obtain x-rays and other diagnostic images to pinpoint which of many possible causes is a responsible for your discomfort. Only then will the appropriate treatment be recommended.

Once your normal feeling and function is restored, your chiropractor will be available to keep the muscles and joints of your neck and back in optimum condition to prevent recurrence of neck pain and related life-restricting symptoms.


Natural Neck Pain Remedy

Ayurvedic remedy is useful for hemiplegia stiff-neck facial

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.

Help taken from :www,chirofind.com and healthline.com

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News on Health & Science

Leukemia stem cells to map how disease begins

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In a major breakthrough that could help devise better treatment for blood cancer and aid the development of drugs that would stop the process before it advances, Canadian scientists have for the first time converted normal human blood cells to leukemia stem cells in the lab.

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The team then transplanted the converted cells into lab mice and watched it replicate the entire disease process, from the very moment it begins. Till now, most human leukemia research involved studying a patient’s diseased cells. But because cancer takes months to develop, “just studying the cells at the end of the process does not tell us the series of changes that caused the cells to become leukemic and when they happened. We have now duplicated the natural process of cell death, as it happens. This will help us understand how cancer begins,” Dr John Dick at Ontario Cancer Institute said.

According to Dick, this peek into leukemia’s development will allow scientists to ask questions that include: Is the childhood disease different from that in adults? In which cell type does leukemia arise? And which genes are involved and in which order do they have to operate?

Reacting to the study, former head of Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute Dr Y P Bhatia told TOI, “Once the basic cellular structure is known, better treatment solutions can be devised. This is a major breakthrough. Scientists can now see the first cells that will give birth to leukemia and then watch as the disease as it slowly progresses.”

The groundbreaking research involved infecting cells from umbilical cord blood with a virus engineered to carry one of the genes known to cause certain types of leukemia. Dr Dick’s team introduced a specific leukemia gene into normal stem cells and injected the genetically altered cells into mice that lacked immune systems. This resulted in the mices developing leukemia, displaying the same characteristics and patterns of human disease.

He said, “We are studying how leukemia arises in the first place. We found that with the leukemia gene we were using, the disease only arose from immature stem and progenitor cells. The leukemic stem cells that were created seemed to change as the human leukemia was grown for longer times in a series of transplanted mice.”

Source:The Times Of India

Categories
Yoga

The Knee to Chest (Yoga Exercise)

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Benefits

1.As the stomach is pressed and then allowed to go limp in this exercise , the liver , urinary bladder, spleen, intestines and stomach are well exercised by it.

2.Helps one to get rid of constipation , improves appetite, releases wind and reduces flatulence.

3. It gives relief in cases of diseases of the lungs and heart.

4.It helps the bones of spine to become strong and flexable.

How to do the exercise:...CLICK & SEE

1.Lie down on a mat . Exhale and stop breathing. Lift right leg, bend it and bring it up to the stomach. Let the knee touch the chin , with the rest of the leg touching the chest,
press down on the leg, so that the stomach and chest receive pressure.

2.Lift your neck and place your chin on the knee. Remain in this position as long as you can hold your breath. Then breath slowly, and straighten you leg. Put your head back on the floor.

3Repeat with the left leg.

4.Repeat the same with the both legs.

Repeat the whole operation three times.

This exercise should be done with the right leg,then with the left leg and in the end both the legs.

Source:Allayurveda.com

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Bilberry

Bilberry fruitImage via Wikipedia

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Botanical Name :Vaccinium myrtillus
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. myrtillus
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Ericales

Synonyms:-–Whortleberry. Black Whortles. Whinberry. Trackleberry. Huckleberry. Hurts. Bleaberry. Hurtleberry. Airelle. Vaccinium Frondosum. Blueberries.

Other names: Vaccinium myrtillus, European blueberry, huckleberry, whortleberry, burren myrtle

Parts Used:—The ripe fruit. The leaves.

Habitat:-
–Europe, including Britain, Siberia and Barbary.

Bilberry is a name given to several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium (family Ericaceae) that bear tasty fruits. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., also known as blaeberry, whortleberry, whinberry (or winberry), myrtle blueberry, fraughan, and probably other names regionally. They were called black-hearts in 19th century southern England, according to Thomas Hardy‘s 1878 novel, The Return of the Native, (pg. 311, Oxford World’s Classics edition).
Bilberry fruitThe word bilberry is also sometimes used in the common names of other species of the genus, including Vaccinium uliginosum L. (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, bog whortleberry, bog huckleberry, northern bilberry), Vaccinium caespitosum Michx. (dwarf bilberry), Vaccinium deliciosum Piper (Cascade bilberry), Vaccinium membranaceum (mountain bilberry, black mountain huckleberry, black huckleberry, twin-leaved huckleberry), and Vaccinium ovalifolium (oval-leafed blueberry, oval-leaved bilberry, mountain blueberry, high-bush blueberry).

Bilberries are found in damp, acidic soils throughout the temperate and subarctic regions of the world. They are closely related to North American wild and cultivated blueberries and huckleberries in the genus Vaccinium. The easiest way to distinguish the bilberry is that it produces single or pairs of berries on the bush instead of clusters like the blueberry. Bilberry is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species – see list of Lepidoptera which feed on Vaccinium.

Bilberries are rarely cultivated but fruits are sometimes collected from wild plants growing on publicly accessible lands, notably in Fennoscandia, Scotland, Ireland and Poland. Notice that in Fennoscandia, it is an everyman’s right to collect bilberries, irrespective of land ownership. In Ireland the fruit is known as fraughan in English, from the Irish fraochán, and is traditionally gathered on the last Sunday in July, known as Fraughan Sunday.

click to see the pictures..>..(01)....(1).…...(2)..…...(.3)..….(4)…..

Confusion between bilberries and American blueberries:
Since many people refer to “blueberries”, no matter if they mean the bilberry (European blueberry) Vaccinium myrtillus or the American blueberries, there is a lot of confusion about the two closely similar fruits. One can distinguish bilberries from their American counterpart by the following differences:
*bilberries have dark red, strongly fragrant flesh and red juice that turns blue in basic environments: blueberries have white or translucent, mildly fragrant flesh

*bilberries grow on low bushes with solitary fruits, and are found wild in heathland in the Northern Hemisphere; blueberries grow on large bushes with the fruit in bunches
bilberries are wild plants while blueberries are cultivated and widely available commercially

*cultivated blueberries often come from hybrid cultivars, developed about 100 years ago by agricultural specialists, most prominently by Elizabeth Coleman White, to meet growing consumer demand; since they are bigger, the bushes grow taller, and are easier to harvest

*bilberry fruit will stain hands, teeth and tongue deep blue or purple while eating; it was used as a dye for food and clothes: blueberries have flesh of a less intense colour, thus less staining

*when cooked as a dessert, bilberries have a much stronger, more tart flavour and a rougher texture than blueberries

Adding to the confusion is the fact there are also wild American blueberry varieties, sold in stores mainly in the USA and Canada. These are uncommon outside of Northern America. Even more confusion is due to the huckleberry name, which originates from English dialectal names ‘hurtleberry’ and ‘whortleberry’ for the bilberry.

Edible Uses:   The fruits can be eaten fresh, but are more usually made into jams, fools, juices or pies. In France they are used as a base for liqueurs and are a popular flavouring for sorbets and other desserts. In Brittany they are often used as a flavouring for crêpes, and in the Vosges and the Massif Central bilberry tart (tarte aux myrtilles) is the most traditional dessert.

Constituents:—Quinic acid is found in the leaves, and a little tannin. Triturated with water they yield a liquid which, filtered and assayed with sulphate of iron, becomes a beautiful green, first of all transparent, then giving a green precipitate. The fruits contain sugar, etc.

Mrdicinal Uses:—The leaves can be used in the same way as those of UvaUrsi. The fruits are astringent, and are especially valuable in diarrhoea and dysentery, in the form of syrup. The ancients used them largely, and Dioscorides spoke highly of them. They are also used for discharges, and as antigalactagogues. A decoction of the leaves or bark of the root may be used as a local application to ulcers, and in ulceration of the mouth and throat.

The fruit is helpful in scurvy and urinary complaints, and when bruised with the roots and steeped in gin has diuretic properties valuable in dropsy and gravel. A tea made of the leaves is also a remedy for diabetes if taken for a prolonged period.

Bilberry is often said to improve night vision, and the story is told of RAF pilots in World War II using bilberry for that purpose. A recent study by the U.S. Navy found no effect, however, and the origins of the RAF story are unclear; it does not appear to be well known in the RAF itself.. Studies have shown that bilberry can reduce or reverse effects of degenerative eye disorders such as macular degeneration. The overall therapeutic use of bilberry is still clinically unproven.

Bilberry is primarily used for eye conditions and to strengthen blood vessels. During World War II, British Royal Air Force pilots reportedly found that eating bilberry jam just before a mission improved their night vision which prompted researchers to investigate bilberry’s properties.

Bilberry is also used for glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts.

The anthocyanins in bilberry may strengthen the walls of blood vessels, reduce inflammation and stabilize tissues containing collagen, such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Grape seed contains similar substances, however, bilberry’s anthocyanins are thought to have particular benefits for the eye.

Because bilberry is thought to strengthen blood vessels, it’s sometimes taken orally for varicose veins and hemorrhoids.
It may have other beneficial effects on capillaries due to the strong antioxidant properties of its anthocyanidin flavonoids.

The leaves have historically been used to treat gastrointestinal ailments, applied topically or made into infusions. The effects claimed have not been reproduced in the laboratory, however.

Bilberries were also collected at Lughnassadh, the first traditional harvest festival of the year, as celebrated by the Gaelic people. The crop of billberries was said to indicate how well the rest of the crops would fare in their harvests later in the year.

Click to learn more about Bilberry

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   : en.wikipedia.org

botanical.com/botanical

http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsa1/a/Bilberry.htm

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