Categories
Healthy Tips

The Essential Multivitamin

[amazon_link asins=’B00CBYG1L0,B001HCFUF0,B001L9Q8W8,B00UB3V1UE,B0728CLM8P,B00QW3UOJG,B01N5FWWSJ,B01MQ1WOII,B06XGMGSF7′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’078bcb28-e98a-11e7-a17f-dbf1e4c1c701′]

More Americans take a daily multivitamin than any other supplement. It’s an easy, safe way to get numerous benefits from a variety of nutrients without having to pop a handful of pills every day……..CLICK & SEE

Taking a daily multivitamin is especially important for older adults because as we age, our bodies become less efficient at absorbing vitamins and minerals from food. And if you follow a vegetarian diet, you may not be consuming enough of certain vitamins and minerals to begin with.

When choosing a multivitamin, pick a brand with high quality control, high reported bioavailability (this means your body can absorb the vitamins), and few additives. These include multis by Thorne, PhytoPharmica, and Vital Nutrients. Don’t choose a multi that contains iron unless you’re a woman who is still menstruating or your doctor has recommended that you take additional iron.

Multivitamins got a boost in June 2002, when the Journal of the American Medical Association published two articles by Harvard doctors on their benefits. The doctors recommended that everyone, regardless of age or health status, take one. We agree. Among the heart-related benefits you might reap are a lower homocysteine level and less oxidation of LDL. Some of the nutrients most likely responsible include:

B vitamins. One of the best reasons to take a multivitamin every day is to be certain to get your fill of B vitamins. This family of vitamins — thiamin, riboflavin (B1), pyridoxine (B6), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), cobalamin (B12), folic acid, biotin, choline, inositol, and para-aminobenzoic acid — plays a critical role in every function inside your body. But the vitamins really shine when it comes to your heart. Folate, B6, and B12 help prevent a dangerous buildup of the amino acid homocysteine. If homocysteine levels rise too high, they damage endothelial cells (which line the arteries), blocking the production of nitric oxide and leaving arteries more prone to plaque buildup. Keeping homocysteine in check is a good enough reason by itself to take a multivitamin.

Another B vitamin, choline, helps your body process cholesterol. And vitamin B5 can actually lower LDL and triglycerides and raise HDL, at least at high doses. The vitamin apparently works by reducing the amount of cholesterol your liver makes.

Generally, a multivitamin will give you all of the B vitamins your body needs. But if you have elevated homocysteine levels, talk to your doctor about taking an additional B vitamin supplement. Should you decide to do so, don’t exceed the recommended dosages. Because they are fat soluble, many of these vitamins can build up in the body to toxic levels.

From:Cut Your Cholesterol

Categories
Ailmemts & Remedies

Chronic Pain

[amazon_link asins=’0553379887,B0112OOP0S,0964127954,B0026HDURA,1539613003,1401945252,1634890639,0062448668,1572242388′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8bc7e688-6d59-11e7-b728-a18a048ce016′]

No matter where it hurts — in your head, toe, or anywhere in between — chronic pain can have a major impact on both physical and emotional well-being. Fortunately, natural therapies can be added to the wide range of treatments now available to help control pain…..click & see
Symptoms
Persistent or intermittent aching or pain, considered chronic if it lasts six months or longer. The muscles, head, back, joints, or other areas may be affected.
Pain that is acute and then becomes chronic.
Depression, insomnia, and daytime fatigue, which often accompany chronic pain.

When to Call Your Doctor
If pain is severe and disabling.
If pain does not improve in two weeks despite self-care measures or prescription or over-the-counter pain relievers.
If the character of the pain changes — it could signal a new underlying medical problem.
Reminder: If you have a medical or psychiatric condition, talk to your doctor before taking supplements.

What It Is
The word pain evolved from the Latin poena, meaning punishment — a fitting derivation, as anyone who experiences chronic pain can attest. Whether it is in the form of aching, tingling, stabbing, shooting, or burning, prolonged and uncontrollable pain can adversely affect one’s entire life. In addition to the physical discomfort, constant suffering can lead to anxiety, anger, and depression, which can all intensify the pain.

What Causes It
Pain occurs when a nerve ending senses a source of distress and sends a signal to the brain. The pain can become chronic if this impulse continues. The causes of chronic pain are too numerous to list but include a poorly healing injury, arthritis, a pinched or irritated nerve, or an underlying disorder such as cancer. Unfortunately, in some cases, especially those involving the muscles and bones, the actual cause remains a mystery, making the condition especially difficult to treat.

How Supplements Can Help
Under your doctor’s supervision, you can use natural pain relievers, singly or together, for the long-term relief of all types of chronic pain. Most can also be taken with conventional painkillers: Generally, supplements are safer than those drugs and may reduce your need for them. The exception is white willow bark, which shouldn’t be taken with aspirin; the two are so similar that combining them could increase the risk of aspirin-related side effects. (Both act to reduce levels of natural pain-causing compounds called prostaglandins.)

What Else You Can Do
Consider acupuncture. Mind-body techniques — such as biofeedback, hypnosis, relaxation training, and behavioral counseling — may also help.
Ask your doctor about pain clinics, which offer a range of treatments.

Supplement Recommendations
White Willow Bark
Bromelain
Cayenne Cream
Ginger
Peppermint Oil
St. John’s Wort
Kava
Melatonin


White Willow Bark

Dosage: 1 or 2 pills 3 times a day as needed for pain (follow package directions).
Comments: Standardized to contain 15% salicin.

Bromelain

Dosage: 500 mg 3 times a day on an empty stomach.
Comments: Should provide 6,000 GDU or 9,000 MCU daily.

Cayenne Cream
Dosage: Apply cream thinly to painful areas several times a day.
Comments: Standardized to contain 0.025%-0.075% capsaicin.

Ginger
Dosage: 100 mg 3 times a day.
Comments: Look for supplements standardized to contain gingerols. Can use essential oil of ginger as part of a massage blend.

Peppermint Oil

Dosage: Add a few drops oil to 1/2 ounce neutral oil.
Comments: Apply to painful areas up to 4 times daily.

St. John’s Wort
Dosage: 300 mg 3 times a day.
Comments: Standardized to contain 0.3% hypericin.

Kava
Dosage: 250 mg 3 times a day.
Comments: Standardized to contain at least 30% kavalactones.

Melatonin

Dosage: 1-3 mg at bedtime.
Comments: Start with lower dose and increase as needed.

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.

Source:Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs

Categories
News on Health & Science

2-Drug process to heal the heart

[amazon_link asins=’B01FOYE4KS,B00TIY69XG,B00PKKR9NG’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1b5f0c5b-265c-11e7-90cd-237f39bf0bbd’]

The damaging effects of a heart attack may be reversible, say researchers who have successfully used drugs to boost new heart tissue and blood vessel growth.

Treating the hearts of rats that had experienced simulated heart attacks, the team found the repaired hearts beat as well as undamaged hearts even after several months.

This is a dramatic recovery,”says Felix Engel, paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital in Boston who led the study. “A human with this kind of heart muscle damage would be dead.”

Under normal conditions, when blood flow is prevented from reaching the heart during a heart attack, the tissue dies, forming irreparable scar tissue. To re-grow the damaged areas in rats, Engel and colleagues used two drugs: one that overcomes a natural inhibitor of cell division within the heart; and one that encourages blood vessel growth.

The researchers studied 120 rats, some with heart attacks simulated by permanently closing off one of the coronary arteries that feed the heart muscle. Rats that received both drugs showed the greatest improvements.

Yibin Wang, a physiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, US, who collaborated with Engel on a preliminary study, praised the new work but questioned some of its claims.

“The bottom line of this study is great,”Wang said, “they found a way to break the barrier of cardiac regeneration. But it’s very challenging to claim all of the benefits they observe are truly due to regeneration.”

Wang noted that heart function began increasing just one day after the heart attack   too soon, in his opinion, to be attributed to regeneration.

He suspects the damaged cells never died, but were protected by the drugs, which were applied at the same time as the simulated attack.

Categories
News on Health & Science

Lung cancer runs in the family

[amazon_link asins=’B01IZWGP4O,B01IZCJ4RE,B01IZAHHYI’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’79cadf49-265a-11e7-b56a-cb0f57060154′]

LONDON: While smoking is far and away the biggest risk factor for lung cancer, having a close relative who has been diagnosed with the disease nearly doubles your risk of developing the deadly disease…..CLICK & SEE

A new study in Chest found that people with a first-degree relative   that means mother, father or sibling’s  ”who had lung cancer had a 95% higher risk of developing the disease.

“Our long-term follow-up of a largescale, population-based cohort identified a significant increase in the risk of lung cancer associated with a family history of lung cancer in a first-degree relative in a Japanese population,”the study authors wrote.

Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology and oncology at the Ochsner Clinic Health System said this study confirms what’s already known about family history and the risk of lung cancer, and that “it’s an important thing for physicians to realise”.

“As a clinician, when I have someone with lung cancer, I ask the family members, ‘Who smokes cigarettes?’ Then I explain that they have a two- to three-fold higher risk of lung cancer because of their family history, and this is just another reason to quit smoking because they have a genetic susceptibility to the carcinogens in tobacco,”explained Brooks.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 180,000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States, and nearly 170,000 Americans die from the disease annually.

It’s the second leading cause of death for men and the third leading cause of death for women, according to the CDC. Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of the disease, according to the National Institutes of Health, though not everyone who gets lung cancer is a smoker or former smoker.

The study followed more than 102,000 middle-aged and older Japanese adults for as long as 13 years; there were more women (53,421) than men (48,834).

During the study period, 791 cases of lung cancer were diagnosed. The researchers found that having a first-degree relative with lung cancer nearly doubled the odds of developing lung cancer.

The association was even stronger for women. Women who had a first-degree relative with lung cancer almost had triple the risk of lung cancer, while men with a first-degree relative with lung cancer had about a 70% higher risk.

Additionally, people who had never smoked had a higher risk of developing lung cancer themselves if they had a first-degree relative with the disease than did smokers with close family members with lung cancer. Family history was also more strongly associated with a particular type of lung cancer — squamous cell carcinoma..

Brooks and Ann G. Schwartz, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal, both said it wasn’t clear why family history would confer a greater risk for women than for men.

Schwartz said one possibility is that women are more familiar with their family histories and may just be reporting family history more accurately.

Brooks also pointed out that this finding might only apply to Japanese women and not other populations.

(As published in The Times Of India)

css.php