Categories
Herbs & Plants

Maytenus ilicifolia

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Botanical Name : Maytenus ilicifolia
Family: Celastraceae
Subfamily: Celastroideae
Genus: Maytenus
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Celastrales

Synonyms: Celastrus ilicinus, Gymnosporia ilicina, Maytenus ilicina
Common Names: Espinheira santa, cancerosa, cangorosa, maiteno, limaosinho
Habitat :Maytenus ilicifolia is native to Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia and Australasia, the Indian Ocean and Africa. They grow in a very wide variety of climates,
from tropical to subpolar.
Description:
Espinheira santa is a small, shrubby evergreen tree growing to 5 m in height with leaves and berries that resemble holly. It is native to many parts of South America and southern Brazil and it  is even found in city landscapes for its attractive, holly-like appearance. With over 200 species of Maytenus distributed in temperate and tropical regions throughout South America and the
West Indies, there are many Maytenus species that are indigenous to the Amazon region which have been used medicinally by indigenous tribes. It is even found in city landscapes for its
attractive, holly-like appearance….....CLICK  &   SEE  THE  PICTURES

Chemical Constituents:
Espinheira santa is a source for a group of well known chemicals (found in the leaf, bark and roots of the tree) called maytansinoids. These chemicals represent a class of substances which
have been studied since the early 1970’s for their antitumorous and anticancerous activities and are today, being developed into chemotherapy drugs. A different class of chemicals found in
espinheira santa – triterpene chemicals called cangorins – have also evidenced significant antitumorous, antileukemic, and anticancerous properties.

The main plant chemicals in espinheira santa include: atropcangorosin, cangoaronin, cangorins A thru J, cangorinine, cangorosin A & B, celastrol, dispermol, dispermone, friedelan,
friedelin, friedelinol, friedoolean, friedooleanan, ilicifolin, ilicifolinoside A thru C, kaempferol trisaccharides, kaempferol disaccharides, maitenine, maytanbutine, maytanprine, maytansine,
maytenin, maytenoic acid, maytenoquinone, pristimeriin, pristimerin, quercetin trisaccharides, quercitrin, salaspermic acid, tingenol, and tingenone

Medicinal Uses:
Leaf infusions and leaf powder in capsules or tablets are currently being used for ulcers, as an antacid, as a laxative, as a colic remedy, to eliminate toxins through the kidneys and skin, to
support kidneys, support adrenal glands, support digestive functions, and as an adjunctive therapy for cancer.

Espinheira santa is widely sold in Brazilian stores and pharmacies today for stomach ulcers and cancer. With its popularity and beneficial results in South America, as well as its recent
western research, espinheira santa is slowly becoming more popular and well known in the United States. Leaf infusions and/or leaf powder in capsules or tablets are currently being used for  ulcers, as an antacid, as a laxative, as a colic remedy, to eliminate toxins through the kidneys and skin, to support kidneys, support adrenal glands, support digestive functions, and as an adjunctive therapy for cancer.

Main Preparation Method: decoction or capsules
Main Actions (in order): anticancerous, antacid, antiulcerous, menstrual stimulant, detoxifier

Main Uses:
*For cancer (melanoma, carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, leukemia)
*For stomach disorders (ulcers, acid reflux, gastritis, dyspepsia, indigestion, and to tone, balance, and strengthen the gastric tract)
as a menstrual stimulant and for estrogen hormonal balancing during menopause
*For adrenal exhaustion and to support adrenal function
*For detoxification (skin, blood, kidney, stomach, adrenals)

Contraindications:
Research suggests that water extracts of espinheira santa may have estrogenic effects and reduce fertility in females. Women seeking treatment for infertility, attempting to get pregnant, or  those with estrogen positive cancers should not use this plant.

Drug Interactions: One study with mice injected with a water extract of leaves recorded barbiturate potentiation activity. However the same study notes no potentiation activity when
administered to mice orally.
Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with    your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maytenus
http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Maytenus_ilicifolia.htm
http://strophantin.com/index.php?id_product=413&controller=product&id_lang=1

Categories
News on Health & Science

Preventing Kidney Stones May Be Simple

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Today, the rates of kidney stones are rising like any other diseas.In most cases, kidney stones pass without causing lasting damage, but the pain during passing can be excruciating. Kidney stones are also sometimes associated with lower back pain, stomach pain, nausea or vomiting, fever, and chills.

click & see the picture

Generally, the larger the stone, the more pain and symptoms it will cause. Sometimes aggressive treatments are needed to clear the stones, and each year, more & more people are going to emergency rooms due to kidney stones.

Once you’ve had them, your risk of recurrence increases. About 35 percent to 50 percent of people will have another bout with kidney stones within five years unless changes are made.Now, What type of changes? According to new guidelines issued by the American College of Physicians (ACP), one of the simplest strategies you can take is to drink more water.
If you Stay Hydrated you Lower Your Risk of Recurrent Kidney Stones:

The number one risk factor for kidney stones is not drinking enough water. If you aren’t drinking enough, your urine will have higher concentrations of substances that can precipitate out and form stones.

Specifically, stone-forming chemicals include calcium, oxalate, urate, cysteine, xanthine, and phosphate. These chemicals should be eliminated in your urine via your kidney, but if too little liquid is present, they can join together to form a stone. According to the National Kidney Foundation:

Urine has various wastes dissolved in it. When there is too much waste in too little liquid, crystals begin to form. The crystals attract other elements and join together to form a solid that will get larger unless it is passed out of the body with the urine… In most people, having enough liquid washes them out or other chemicals in urine stop a stone from forming.”

The new ACP guidelines call for people who have had a kidney stone in the past to increase their fluid intake so they have at least two liters of urine per day, which they say could decrease stone recurrence by at least half.And to achieve this, they recommend increased fluid intake spread throughout the day, pointing out that both water and mineral water are beneficial.

The National Kidney Foundation recommends drinking more than 12 glasses of water a day, but a simpler way to know if you are drinking enough water is to check the color of your urine; you want your urine to be a very light, pale yellow (darker urine is more concentrated).

Every person’s water requirement is different, depending on your particular metabolic requirements and activity level, but simply keeping your urine light yellow will go a long way toward preventing kidney stones.

Remember to increase your water intake whenever you increase your activity and when you’re in a warmer climate. If you happen to be taking any multivitamins or B supplements that contain vitamin B2 (riboflavin), the color of your urine will be a very bright, nearly fluorescent yellow and this will not allow you to use the color of your urine as a guide to how well you are hydrated.

By increasing water intake you will get rid of discomfort like, constipation,prostrate problems etc.

But if it in mind that Water Reduces Risk of kidney stone, but Soda wate or any othar areated water Increases It:

One important point: not just any fluid will do to increase your urine output. While water and mineral water were protective, drinking soda is associated with kidney stones, possibly because the phosphorus acid it contains acidifies your urine, which promotes stone formation.

In addition, one South African study found that drinking soda exacerbates conditions in your urine that lead to formation of calcium oxalate kidney stone problems.6 The sugar, including fructose (and high fructose corn syrup in soda), is also problematic.

A diet high in sugar can set you up for kidney stones, since sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body by interfering with calcium and magnesium absorption. The consumption of unhealthy sugars and soda by children is a large factor in why children as young as age 5 are now developing kidney stones.

Sugar can also increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in your kidney, such as the formation of kidney stones. According to The National Kidney Foundation, you should pay particular attention to keeping your fructose levels under control:

“Eating too much fructose correlates with increasing risk of developing a kidney stone. Fructose can be found in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. In some individuals, fructose can be metabolized into oxalate.”

So if you’re a soda drinker, cutting back is an important strategy to remember. In one study, those with kidney stones who eliminated soda from their diet lowered their risk of recurrence by about 15 percent.
Kidney Stones Associated with Increased Risk of Broken Bones:

As mentioned, kidney stones usually pass without any lasting complications, however there are some long-term associated risks. Kidney stones increase your risk of developing chronic kidney disease, for instance, and new research also shows they might be associated with more brittle bones.

Past research has suggested that people with kidney stones have lower bone mineral density. The new study used data from more than 52,000 people and showed that those with kidney stones were at a significantly higher risk of bone fractures. Specifically:

*Men with kidney stones were 10 percent more likely to suffer broken bones than men without

*Male teens with kidney stones had a 55 percent higher fracture risk than those without

*Women with kidneys stones had a 17 percent to 52 percent increased fracture risk depending on age (from their 20s to 60s); those aged 30-39 had the highest risk
Fluoride Also Linked to Kidney Stones:

If you live in area with fluoridated drinking water (such as most of the US), you might be interested to know that high levels of fluoride in water are associated with kidney stones.11 The condition was nearly five times more common in an area with high fluoride (3.5 to 4.9 parts per million, or ppm) than a similar area without high fluoride levels in the water.

Overall, the prevalence of kidney stones in the high-fluoride area was nearly double in those with fluorosis than those without. Dental fluorosis – a condition in which your tooth enamel becomes progressively discolored and mottled – is one of the first signs of over-exposure to fluoride.

Eventually, it can result in badly damaged teeth, and worse… It’s important to realize that dental fluorosis is NOT “just cosmetic.” It can also be an indication that the rest of your body, such as your bones and internal organs, including your brain, has been overexposed to fluoride as well. In other words, if fluoride is having a visually detrimental effect on the surface of your teeth, you can be virtually guaranteed that it’s also damaging other parts of your body, such as your bones. A reverse osmosis water filtration system can remove fluoride from your drinking water.

Exercise, Avoiding Overeating Are Two More Powerful Tools for Preventing Kidney Stones:

You’re more prone to kidney stones if you’re bedridden or very sedentary for a long period of time, partly because limited activity can cause your bones to release more calcium. Exercise will also help you to resolve high blood pressure, a condition that doubles your risk for kidney stones. Even low amounts of exercise may be beneficial to reducing your risk. In a study involving more than 84,000 postmenopausal women, it was found that those who exercised had up to a 31 percent lower risk of kidney stones.13 The link persisted even with only small amounts of physical activity.

Specifically, the research showed a lower risk from three hours a week of walking, four hours of light gardening or just one hour of moderate jogging. You can find my comprehensive exercise recommendations, including how to perform highly recommended high-intensity interval training (HIIT), here. Diet wise, women who ate more than 2,200 calories per day increased their risk of kidney stones by up to 42 percent, while obesity also raised the risk. It should be noted that even though obesity increases kidney stone risk, weight loss surgery that alters your digestive tract actually makes them more common. After weight loss surgery, levels of oxalate are typically much higher (oxalate is the most common type of kidney stone crystal).
Dietary Approaches for Avoiding Kidney Stones:-

1. Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Magnesium

Magnesium is responsible for more than 300 biochemical reactions in your body, and deficiency of this mineral has been linked to kidney stones. An estimated 80 percent of Americans are deficient, so this could be a major factor. Magnesium plays an important role in your body’s absorption and assimilation of calcium, as if you consume too much calcium without adequate magnesium, the excess calcium can actually become toxic and contribute to health conditions like kidney stones.

Magnesium helps prevent calcium from combining with oxalate, which, as mentioned, is the most common type of kidney stone. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard are excellent sources of magnesium, and one of the simplest ways to make sure you’re consuming enough of these is by juicing your vegetables. Vegetable juice is an excellent source of magnesium, as are some beans, nuts like almonds, and seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds. Avocadoes are also a good source.

2. Eat Calcium-Rich Foods (But Be Careful with Supplements)

In the past, kidney stone sufferers have been warned to avoid foods high in calcium, as calcium is a major component of the majority of kidney stones. However, there is now evidence that avoiding calcium may do more harm than good. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a study of more than 45,000 men,14 and the men who had diets rich in calcium had a one-third lower risk of kidney stones than those with lower calcium diets. It turns out that a diet rich in calcium actually blocks a chemical action that causes the formation of the stones.

It binds with oxalates (from foods) in your intestine, which then prevents both from being absorbed into your blood and later transferred to your kidneys. So, urinary oxalates may be more important to formation of calcium-oxalate kidney stone crystals than is urinary calcium. It is important to note that it is the calcium from foods that is beneficial — not calcium supplements, which have actually been found to increase your risk of kidney stones by 20 percent.
3. Avoid Non-Fermented Soy:

Soybeans and soy-based foods may promote kidney stones in those prone to them, as they may contain high levels of oxalates, which can bind with calcium in your kidney to form kidney stones. This is just one reason why unfermented soy — the type found in soy milk, soy burgers, soy ice cream, and even tofu — is not a health food. If you were to carefully review the thousands of studies published on soy, I strongly believe you would reach the same conclusion as I have — which is, the risks of consuming unfermented soy products FAR outweigh any possible benefits.

If you’re interested in enjoying the health benefits of soy, choose fermented soy, as after a long fermentation process, the phytate (which blocks your body’s uptake of essential minerals) and anti-nutrient levels of soybeans (including oxalates) are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available to your digestive system.

In the conclution it can be said that the good news is  there’s plenty you can do to reduce your risk of kidney stones.

Sources:Mercola.com

Categories
Ailmemts & Remedies

Bilateral Hydronephrosis

Alternative Names: Hydronephrosis – bilateral

Definition
Bilateral hydronephrosis is the enlargement (distention) of the urine collecting structures and pelvis of both kidneys. Bilateral means both sides.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Click to See : Unilateral hydronephrosis

Causes
Bilateral hydronephrosis occurs when urine is unable to drain from the kidney down the ureters into the bladder. Hydronephrosis is not itself a disease, but rather a physical result of whatever disease is keeping urine from draining out of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder.

Disorders associated with bilateral hydronephrosis include:
*Acute bilateral obstructive uropathy
*Bladder outlet obstruction
*Chronic bilateral obstructive uropathy
*Neurogenic bladder
*Posterior ureteral valves
*Prune belly syndrome

*Uteropelvic junction obstruction

*Vesicoureteric reflux

Symptoms
Signs of hydronephrosis are generally seen during pregnancy ultrasound studies. There are no symptoms in the fetus.In the newborn, any urinary tract infection is reason to suspect some type of obstructive problem in the kidney. An older child who gets repeat urinary tract infections should be evaluated for possible obstruction.

Urinary tract obstruction usually has no other symptoms beyond an increased number of urinary tract infections.

Diagnosis:

Exams and Tests
Bilateral hydronephrosis may be seen on:

*CT scan of the abdomen or kidneys
*IVP
*Pregnancy (fetal) ultrasound
*Renal scan
*Ultrasound of the abdomen or kidneys

Treatment
Placing a Foley catheter may relieve the obstruction. Other treatment options include draining the bladder or relieving pressure with nephrostomy tubes placed through the skin (percutaneous) or stents placed in the ureters to allow urine to flow from the kidney to the bladder.

Once the blockage is treated, the underlying cause (such as an enlarged prostate) must be identified and treated.

Prognosis:
Advances in fetal ultrasound have given specialists the ability to diagnose problems caused by bilateral obstruction of the urinary tract in the developing fetus. If an obstruction is detected in a fetus, intrauterine surgery (performed while the fetus is still inside the mother’s uterus), or shortly after birth, will improve kidney function.

Newborns diagnosed with obstruction while still in the uterus can receive prompt surgical correction of the defects, often with good results.

Possible Complications :-
Renal insufficiency or failure may develop as a complication of many of the disorders associated with hydronephrosis.

When to Contact a Medical Professional
This disorder is usually discovered by the health care provider.

Prevention
A fetal ultrasound can reveal an obstruction of the urinary tract and allow for early surgery with better outcomes in the newborn. Other causes of obstruction, such as kidney stones, can be diagnosed early if individuals recognize early warning signs of obstruction and kidney disease.

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

Resources:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000474.htm

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