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Herbs & Plants

Asarum Europeaum, European Ginger

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Botanical  Name: Asarum europaeum
Family:Aristolochiaceae
Common Plant Family: Birthwort
 Kingdom: Plantae
Genus: Asarum
Species:A. europaeum

Synonym:Hexastylis europaea

Common Name: European Wild Ginger,       Asarabacca,   Hazelwort, and Wild spikenard

Hasbitat:Asarum europaeum has a wide distribution in Europe. It ranges from southern Finland and northern Russia south to southern France, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Macedonia. It is absent from the British Isles and Scandinavia with the exception of southern Finland, and also from northwestern Germany and the Netherlands. Within Europe, the plant is grown outside of its range in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.The plant grows in open woodland and waterside thickets, especially in beech woodlands.

Description:
.Asarum europaeum (European Ginger)is not a flashy plant, but it always holds its own in the garden.The plant is an evergreen  perennial  one  and has prostrate stems that each bear 2 reniform (i.e. kidney-shaped) leaves with long petioles. The upper surface of the leaves is shiny and they have a pepper-like taste and smell. There are also 2 to 3 stipules present that occur in two rows opposite each other on the stem. the flowers are solitary, terminal and nodding. The flower tube is composed of fused tepals that ends with 3 petal-like projections that are brownish towards their ends and dark purple toward the centre. There are 12 stamens present. The flowers emerge in the late winter and spring.. Unlike American wild ginger, European ginger has glossy, shiny(heart shaped) leaves.Leaves are thick and extra glossy. It grows as a low, slow creeping ground cover that sweeps around other plants, catches the light and reflects it up. The leaves are so shiny, everyone wants to reach down and touch it.
click to see the pictures.>……..(01).......(1).…...(2)……..(3).….……
The stems are 10-15 cm long. The leaves are petiolate and reniform and about 10 cm wide. It occurs mostly in deciduous woodland or coniferous forests, especially in calcareous soils. There are two recognised subspecies other than the type, including A. europaeum ssp. caucasicum, which is confined to the southwestern Alps, and A. europaeum ssp. italicum, which is found in central and northern Italy as well as in the Crna Gora mountains in former Jugoslavia. In former days, it was used in snuff and also medicinally as an emetic and cathartic. It is quite shade-tolerant and is often employed as a ground cover in gardens where little else will grow.
click to see
The newly emerging perennial  leaves are folded tightly in half and are a fresh green colour. The large, flat leaf in front is from last year. About half of the leaves remain on the plant from last season, some in good shape, and some not.

The purplish  brown flowers are usually hidden by the leaves and so are  not considered to be ornamental. Provide a moist soil with a pH in the 5.5 to 6.5 range.

Plant Height: 4-8 inches,
Environment: prefers full shade to partial shade or partial sun; soil should be moist
Bloom Colors: Purple

A handsome groundcover for shaded areas. Prefers rich organic soil that is slightly acidic.
Propagation: Propagation is by division in the spring.

Medicinal Uses:

Asarabacca has a long history of herbal use dating back at least to the time of the ancient Greeks, though it is little used in modern herbalism. The root, leaves and stems are cathartic, diaphoretic, emetic, errhine, sternutatory, stimulant and tonic. The plant has a strong peppery taste and smell. It is used in the treatment of affections of the brain, eyes, throat and mouth. When taken as a snuff, it produces a copious flow of mucous. The root is harvested in the spring and dried for later use. It is to be used with caution considering it’s toxicity. An essential oil in the root contains 50% asarone and is 65% more toxic than peppermint oil. This essential oil is the emetic and expectorant principle of the plant and is of value in the treatment of digestive tract lesions, silicosis, dry pharyngeal and laryngeal catarrh etc.

It has been substituted for Ipecac to produce vomiting. The French use it for this purpose after drinking too much wine. A little sniffed up the nostrils induces violent sneezing and a heavy flow of mucus. This has caused it to be used to remedy headache, drowsiness, giddiness, catarrhs, and other conditions caused by congestion. Asarabacca has been a component in many popular commercial medicinal snuffs.

Asarabacca has been extensively investigated, both chemically and pharmacologically. It is rich in flavonoids. The leaves contain a highly aromatic essential oil that contains constituents that verify the value of extracts as an errhine (for promotion of nasal secretion). Based on human experiments, the expectorant properties of both the roots and the leaves are quite good. In Rumania, human experiments where infusions of asarabacca were administered to people suffering pulmonary insufficiency, the preparations were said to have a beneficial effect on the heart condition, including a diuretic effect. From the types of irritant chemical compound known to be present in this plant, one would expect that catharsis would result from ingestion of extracts prepared from asarabacca. However, it is violent in its action.

Other Uses:....Dye.… A vibrant apple-green dye is obtained from plant. A useful ground cover for a shady position so long as it is not dry, spreading by its roots

Known Hazards: The plant is poisonous in large doses, the toxin is neutralized by drying.

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:
http://www.aboutgardenplants.com/Asarum_europaeum.shtml
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=503939
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/10291/
http://northernshade.ca/2009/05/27/asarum-europaeum-with-glossy-foliage/
http://www.piam.com/mms_garden/plants.html
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00000156.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asarum_europaeum

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Featured

Left Hand Reaches Brain First

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When patients had both hands transplanted, their brains re-established connections much more quickly with the left hand than the right,  a team of researchers in France reports. W
…….….CLICK & SEE
The sample was small, just two patients, but both had been right-handed before losing their hands, and both followed a pattern of reconnection with their brain that was quicker for the left hand.

The study, led by Angela Sirigu of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Lyon, France, is reported in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The research shows that even years after loss of hands the brain can reorganize and rewire itself to recognize and connect to a replacement.

It also came just days after French physicians, in a 30-hour operation, performed the world’s first simultaneous partial-face and double-hand transplant. Paris’ Public Hospital authority described the recipient as a 30-year-old burn victim who was injured in a 2004 accident.

Sirigu’s team used magnetic imaging to study the brains of people who lad lost both hands and to see how the motor region that controls movement responded after new hands were transplanted.

The first case involved LB, a 20-year-old man injured in 2000, who received the transplants in 2003 after having used artificial hand devices in the meantime.

He was checked periodically and the researchers found his brain re-established nerve connections to control the left hand by 10 months, while it took 26 months to complete the rewiring needed for the right hand.

“Interestingly, despite that LB was right-handed, and that after his amputation he used his prosthetic device mostly with his right hand,, hand preference shifted from right to left after he had the graft,” the researchers reported.

The second patient studied, CD, was a 46-year-old man who lost both hands in 1996 and received a dual hand transplant in 2000. He was tested by the researchers in 2004, 51 months after the transplant. Strong connections in the brain were observed for the left hand, but not yet the right.

The researchers said more study is needed to determine the reason that the brain reconnected more efficiently to the left hand in these patients. Possibilities include a basically better connection to the left hand, factors in the way that the brain reorganizes itself during the process of the loss of a hand and its later replacement, or perhaps some pre-existing difference in brain organization.

In general, experiments have shown that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and many researchers believe it also dominates in such areas as spatial abilities, face recognition, visual imagery and music. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and is thought to dominate in language, math and logic. However, many traits are shared by both sides, and if one side is damaged the other can take over many of its functions.

The research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the French National Center for Scientific Research, the International Brain Organization and other organizations in Brazil, France and Canada.

Sources: The Times Of India

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Diagnonistic Test

Mediastinoscopy

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Definition:
Mediastinoscopy is a surgery that allows doctors to view the middle of the chest cavity and to do minor surgery through very small incisions. It allows surgeons or pulmonary doctors to remove lymph nodes from between the lungs and to test them for cancer or infection. It is also useful for examining the outside surface of the large tubes of the airways (such as the trachea) or for evaluating tumors or masses in the middle chest.
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During a mediastinoscopy, a small incision is made in the neck just above the breastbone or on the left side of the chest next to the breastbone. Then a thin scope (mediastinoscope) is inserted through the opening. A tissue sample (biopsy) can be collected through the mediastinoscope and then examined under a microscope for lung problems, such as infection, inflammation, or cancer. See an illustration of mediastinoscopy.

In many cases mediastinoscopy has been replaced by other biopsy methods that use computed tomography (CT), echocardiography, or bronchoscopy to guide a biopsy needle to the abnormal tissue. Mediastinoscopy may still be needed when these methods cannot be used or when they do not provide conclusive results.

It allows surgeons or pulmonary doctors to remove lymph nodes from between the lungs and to test them for cancer or infection. It is also useful for examining the outside surface of the large tubes of the airways (such as the trachea) or for evaluating tumors or masses in the middle chest.

Why It Is Done?
Mediastinoscopy is done to:

* Detect problems of the lungs and mediastinum, such as sarcoidosis.
* Diagnose lung cancer or lymphoma (including Hodgkin’s disease). Mediastinoscopy is often done to check lymph nodes in the mediastinum before considering lung removal surgery to treat lung cancer. Mediastinoscopy can also help your doctor recommend the best treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy) for lung cancer.
* Diagnose certain types of infection, especially those that can affect the lungs (such as tuberculosis).

How To Prepare for the Test?
Discuss  to your doctor about any concerns you have regarding the need for the procedure, its risks, how it will be done, or what the results will indicate. This procedure is done by either a surgeon or a trained pulmonary specialist. You will need to sign a consent form giving your surgeon permission to perform this test.

Be sure to discuss with your doctor what may be done following each possible biopsy result. If a lymph node contains cancer, surgery may be done to remove the cancer while you are still asleep. To help you understand the importance of this procedure, fill out the medical test information form (What is a PDF document?) .

Before you have a mediastinoscopy, tell your doctor if you:

* Are taking any medications.
* Have allergies to any medications, including anesthetics.
* Have any bleeding problems or take blood thinners, such as aspirin or warfarin (Coumadin).
* Are or might be pregnant.

Also, certain conditions may make it more difficult to do a mediastinoscopy. Let your doctor know if you have:-

* Had a mediastinoscopy or open-heart surgery in the past. The scarring from the first procedure may make it difficult to do a second procedure.
* A history of neck problems or a neck injury, especially hyperextension of the neck.
* Any physical problems of your chest, including those that have been present since birth (congenital).
* Recently had radiation therapy to the neck or chest.

You will receive general anesthesia and be asleep during the mediastinoscopy. To prepare for your procedure:

* Do not eat or drink anything for at 8 to 10 hours before the procedure. If you take daily medications, ask your doctor whether you should take them on the day of the procedure.
* Leave your jewelry at home. Any jewelry you wear will need to be removed before the procedure.
* Remove glasses, contact lenses, and dentures or a removable bridge just prior to the procedure. These will be given back to you as soon as you wake up after the procedure.
* Arrange to have someone drive you home after the procedure if you do not need to stay in the hospital.

Your doctor may order certain blood tests, such as a complete blood count or bleeding factors, before your procedure.

Before the surgery (sometimes on the same day), you will meet with an anesthesiologist to go over your medical history (including medicines and allergies) and to discuss the anesthesia.

How It Is Done ?
Mediastinoscopy is done in an operating room.Mediastinoscopy is done by a chest (thoracic) surgeon and surgical assistants.

Before the procedure, an intravenous (IV) line will be placed in a vein to give you fluids and medications. After you are asleep, a tube will be placed in your throat (endotracheal or ET tube) to help you breathe during the procedure. Your neck and chest will be washed with an antiseptic soap and covered with a sterile drape.

This procedure is almost always done with general anesthesia, which puts you to sleep so you are unconscious during the procedure. General anesthesia is administered by an anesthesiologist, who asks you to breathe a mixture of gases through a mask. After the anesthetic takes effect, a tube is put down your throat to help you breathe. One reason you need this tube is that your head is tilted far back during the procedure. The tube keeps your throat safely open even while your neck is bending backwards.

An incision will be made just above your breastbone at the base of your neck or on the left side of your chest near the breastbone between the 4th and 5th ribs.  A tiny camera on a tube, called a mediastinoscope, is then inserted through the opening. Your doctor can see the work he or she is doing by watching a video screen. Your doctor will examine the space in your chest between your lungs and heart. Lymph nodes or abnormal tissue will be collected for examination. After the scope is removed from your chest, the incision will be closed with a few stitches and covered with a bandage.

The doctor makes one or two other small incisions to allow additional instruments to reach into your chest. These incisions are usually made next to your sternum, between ribs. A wide variety of instruments are useful in mediastinoscopy. These include instruments that can clip away a lymph node and remove it through one of the small chest incisions. Other instruments can be used to stop bleeding blood vessels by using a small electrical current to seal them closed.

At the end of your surgery, the instruments are removed, the lungs are reinflated, and the small incisions are stitched closed. The anesthesia is stopped so that you can wake up within a few minutes of your procedure, although you will remain drowsy for a while afterward.

The entire procedure usually takes about an hour. After the procedure, you will be taken to the recovery room.

Some people may go home after the procedure if the general anesthesia wears off and they are able to swallow fluids without gagging or choking. Other people may need to stay in the hospital for 1 or 2 days. If your stitches are not the dissolving type, you will need to return to your doctor in 10 to 14 days to have them removed. Mediastinoscopy usually leaves only a tiny scar.

How It Feels
Before the procedure you may be given medication that will make you sleepy and relaxed. You will receive general anesthesia during the mediastinoscopy, which will cause you to be asleep. After you wake up, you may feel sleepy for several hours. You may feel tired for 1 to 2 days after the procedure and have some general aches and pains. You may also have a mild sore throat from the tube in your throat during the procedure. Using throat lozenges and gargling with warm salt water may help relieve your sore throat.
Risk Factors:
You will have a small straight scar (less than an inch long) wherever the instruments were inserted. You may have some discomfort for a few days in the areas of the incisions. Sometimes work in the middle chest can temporarily injure a nerve, which can weaken your vocal cord muscles for a while and cause hoarseness. In rare cases, bleeding complications might require a transfusion or larger chest surgery. Air leaks from the lung can also occur and occasionally require additional treatment such as a drainage tube, called a chest tube, that is placed into the chest between your ribs and left there for a few days.

General anesthesia is safe for most patients, but it is estimated to result in major or minor complications in 3%-10% of people having surgery of all types. These complications are mostly heart and lung problems and infections.

Complications from mediastinoscopy are uncommon but may include bleeding, infection, a collapsed lung (pneumothorax), a tear in the esophagus, damage to a blood vessel, or injury to a nerve near the voice box (larynx) which may cause permanent hoarseness.

After the procedure, contact your doctor immediately if you have:

* Bleeding from your stitches.
* A fever.
* Severe chest pain.
* Swelling in the neck.
* Shortness of breath.
* Difficulty swallowing.
* Hoarseness of your voice that lasts more than a few days or continues to get worse.

Must you do anything special after the test is over?
You should notify your doctor if you experience fever, shortness of breath, shoulder pain, or chest pain. You should not drive or drink alcohol for the rest of the day.

Results:

Mediastinoscopy is a surgical procedure to examine the inside of the chest between and in front of the lungs (mediastinum).

Normal:-

Lymph nodes are small, smooth, and appear normal.

No abnormal tissue, growths, or signs of infection are present.

Abnormal:-

Lymph nodes may be enlarged or appear abnormal, which may indicate sarcoidosis, infection, or cancer. Tissue samples are removed and examined under the microscope.

Abnormal growths (such as a tumor) or signs of infection (such as an abscess) may be found in the chest cavity, or mediastinum.

What Affects the Test?
If you have had mediastinoscopy or open-heart surgery, you may not be able to have this procedure. Scarring from the first procedure may make it difficult to do a second procedure.
What To Think About?
If a lymph node biopsy needs to be examined quickly (while you are still asleep), the sample will be taken immediately to the laboratory. There it will be frozen and sliced into very thin sections for examination under a microscope. If the lymph nodes show that you have cancer, surgery may be done right away to remove the cancer while you are still asleep. If a frozen section sample is not needed, a permanent section is made and the results usually are available in 2 to 4 working days.

Respources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diagnostic-tests/mediastinoscopy.htm
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/mediastinoscopy-21507

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Bacteria that adds Flavour to Cheese

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Researchers at Newcastle University have identified a new line of bacteria which they believe add flavor to some of the world’s most exclusive cheeses.

 

The team used DNA fingerprinting techniques to identify eight previously undiscovered microbes on the French cheese Reblochon.
One of France‘s great mountain cheeses, Reblochon is a ‘smear-ripened’ cheese where the surface of the cheese is washed with a salt solution containing bacteria.

This process helps to spread the bacteria across the surface of the cheese, ripening it from the outside in.
Other popular smear-ripened cheeses on the Christmas cheeseboard include Port de Salut, Livarot, Taleggio, Limburger and the Irish cheese Gubbeen.

The team has named the microbes Mycetocola reblochoni after the cheese they were first discovered in.
Project lead Professor Michael Goodfellow of Newcastle University said: “It has always been thought the bacteria cheese makers were putting in at the start of the process gave Reblochon its distinctive flavor.

“What our research actually showed was this new group of bacteria – the reblochoni -was responsible for the ripening process, influencing the taste, texture and smell of the cheese.”

Reblochon – a soft, creamy, brie-like cheese is made in the Savoy mountain region of France.
Using samples from three different farmhouses, the team carried out a series of modern molecular techniques to classify the bacteria.

Traditionally, smear-ripened cheeses such as Reblochon are exposed to a starter culture, a live mixture containing the microbe Brevibacterium linens, to ripen the cheese.

Now the research has shown that a new group of bacterial strains are involved in the later stage of ripening, out-competing the Brevibacterium and providing the flavor.

The reblochoni microbes are part of a large group of bacteria known as the Actinomycetes, many of which are already used in the production of antibiotics to treat diseases such as tuberculosis and diphtheria.
The study has been published in International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

You may Click to see:->Essential Cheese Knowledge

Sources: The Times Of India

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Fruits & Vegetables Herbs & Plants

Citron

Citron
Image via Wikipedia

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Botanical Name:Citrus medica L.
Family: Rutaceae
Sub-family: Aurantioideae.
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Sapindales
Genus: Citrus
Species: C. medica
Common Names: Citron,Citron Melon,Preserving Melon,Stock Melon,Corsican Citron,Diamante Citron,Ethrog,Leghorn Citron

Other Names:Media, Median Apple,Persia or Assyria. The citron has many similar names in diverse languages, e.g. cederat, cedro, etc. Most confusing are the Czech, French, Dutch, Yiddish and Scandinavian languages, in which the false friend “citron” refers to the fruit which is called lemon in English. The French name for citron is “cédrat”.

Habitat:The Citron’s place of origin is unknown but seeds were found in Mesopotamian excavations dating back to 4000 B.C.
Spaniards probably brought the Citron with other Citrus species to St. Augustine in Florida but it survived there only in greenhouses. Today the Citron is grown in southern Florida only occasionally as a curiosity. Citron trees are not uncommon in some of the Pacific Islands but are rare in the Philippines.
(Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates.)

Description:-
Citron is a slow-growing shrub or small tree reaching up to 15 ft (4.5 m) in height with stiff branches and twigs and spines in the leaf axils.
The evergreen leaflets are leathery, lemon-scented, ovate-lanceolate or ovate elliptic. The flower buds are large and white or purplish. The fragrant flowers have 4 to 5 petals and they are pinkish or purplish with 30 to 60 stamens. The fruit is fragrant, oblong or oval and very variable even on the same branch. The peel is yellow, usually rough and bumpy and very thick. The pulp is pale-yellow or greenish divided into as many as 14 or 15 segments, firm, not very juicy, acid or sweet and contains numerous seeds.
(Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates.)

........

Cultivation and uses:-
The citron fruit is slow-growing. The citron tree is typically grown from cuttings that are two to four years old; the tree begins to bear fruit when it is around three years old. The fruit is oblong in shape, and sometimes as much as six inches in length. Its skin is thick, somewhat hard, fragrant, and covered with protuberances; the pulp is white and subacid.

In Pliny’s time the fruit was never eaten (it began to be used in cooking by the early 2nd century), but its intense perfume was used, penetrating clothes to repel noxious insects (compare Citronella).

In Hebrew, the citron is known as the etrog (Hebrew: ???????). It is one of the Four Species used during the holiday of Sukkot each fall. The role of the citron in that holiday was portrayed in the Israeli movie Ushpizin. Citrons that have been bred with lemon (in order to increase output per tree and make the tree less fragile) are not kosher for use as part of the Four Species.

In South Indian cuisine, especially tamil cuisine, citron is widely used in pickles and preserves. In Tamil, the unripe fruit is referred to as ‘narthangai’, which is usually salted and dried to make a preserve. The tender leaves of the plant are often used in conjunction with chili powder and other spices to make a powder, called ‘narthellai podi’, literally translating to ‘powder of citron leaves’. Both narthangai and narthellai podi are usually consumed with thayir sadam.

In Korea, it is used to create a syrupy tea (called Yuja cha) where the slices of whole fruit are eaten with the sweet tea. The fruit is thinly sliced (peel, pith and pulp) and soaked or cooked in honey or sugar to create a chunky syrup. This syrupy candied fruit is mixed with hot water as a fragrant tea, where the fruit at the bottom of the cup is eaten as well. Often perserved in the syrup for the cold months, Yuja tea served as a source of fruit in winter.

Food Uses:
The most important part of the Citron is the peel, which is a fairly important article in international trade.
The candied peel is sun-dried or put up in jars for future use. Candying is done mainly in England, France and the United States. The candied peel is widely employed in the food industry, especially as an ingredient in fruitcake, plum pudding, buns, sweet rolls and candy. In Guatemala, Citron is used as flavoring for carbonated soft drinks. In Malaya, Citron juice is used as a substitute for the juice of imported, expensive lemons. A product called “Citron Water” is made in Barbados and shipped to France for flavoring wine and vermouth.
In Spain, syrup made from the peel is used to flavor unpalatable medical preparations. If the citron lacks flavor, a few orange or lemon leaves can be added to the syrup
(Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates.)

Indigenous Practices:
Chinese and Japanese people prize the Citron for its fragrance. It is a common practice in central and northern China to carry a ripe fruit in the hand or place a fruit in a dish on a table to perfume the air of a room.
The dried fruits are put with stored clothing to repel moths. In southern China, the juice is used to wash fine linen.
In some of the South Pacific islands a fragrant oil call “Cedrat Petitgrain Oil” is distilled from the leaves and twigs of Citron trees for the French perfume industry. The flowers have also been distilled for essential oil however this oil has limited use in scent manufacturing.
Branches of the Citron tree are used as walking sticks in India. The wood is white, hard and heavy, and of fine grain. In India, it is also used for agricultural implements.
(Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates.)

Medicinal Uses:
In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, the “Ethrog” was employed as a remedy for seasickness, pulmonary troubles, intestinal ailments and other disorders.
Citron juice with wine was considered an effective purgative to clean the system of poison. In India, the peel is a remedy for dysentery. The distilled juice is given as a sedative. The candied peel is sold in China as a stimulant, expectorant and tonic. In West Tropical Africa, the citron is used only as a medicine, against rheumatism. In Malaya, a decoction of the fruit is taken to drive off evil spirits. In Panama, they are ground up and combined with other ingredients and given as an antidote for poison. The essential oil of the peel is regarded as an antibiotic.
(Morton, J. 1987. Fruits of Warm Climates.)

Ayurvedic Medicinal Uses:In heart disorders, abdominal colic, Gulma (abdominal tumors), vomiting, nausea, indigestion, haemorrhoids.

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:
http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plant_details.php?rid=703&plantid=2870
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_medica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_herbs_and_minerals_in_Ayurveda

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