Swallowing fish oil capsules may just be as good as eating a fillet of salmon for boosting brain and health-giving omega-3.
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But salmon fillet has an edge over fish oil, it provides you with a dose of selenium as well – an element many are lacking, said researchers.
Selenium is an important antioxidant in the body and has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer.
Researchers at Massey’s Institute of Food, Health and Human Nutrition, Albany, investigated which of salmon or fish oil tablets is better for people to increase their omega-3 fatty acid status.
“People who took the capsules complained of burping, unpleasant breath, tiredness and nausea, but those who are salmon tolerated it very well,” said Welma Stonehouse, who coordinated the study.
Omega-3 is gaining in popularity for its well-documented benefits including protection from heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and eye diseases as well as enhancing brain function and helping combat depression.
Omega-3 can be obtained from a range of plant sources such as flaxseeds, walnuts and canola and soybean oil as well as animal sources such as fish, meat and eggs, said a Massey release.
However, the best source is fish oil, in the form of salmon or fish oil capsules, said Stonehouse, associate professor at Massey.
When researchers compared a group of healthy volunteers who ate a 120 gram portion of salmon twice a week with another group who took salmon oil capsules containing the equivalent omega-3, participants were found to have similar levels of omega-3 in the blood, she said.
“What we also found was that the people who consumed salmon were able to significantly increase their blood concentrations of selenium compared to the group who took capsules,” she said.
Diagram of a synovial (diarthrosis) joint. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Definition: Synovitis is the medical term for inflammation of a synovial membrane, which line those joints which possess cavities, namely synovial joints. The condition is usually painful, particularly when the joint is moved. The joint usually swells due to fluid collection.
It is the inflammation of a synovial (joint-lining) membrane, usually painful, particularly on motion, and characterized by swelling, due to effusion (fluid collection) in a synovial sac.
Description:
Synovitis occurs when the synovium, which lines and lubricates the knee joint, becomes inflamed. The condition can be caused by rheumatoid arthritis or injury/trauma, but sometimes the cause is unknown. The inflammation is caused by fluid collection in response to the injury, which is one of the body’s protection mechanisms….click to see
There are synovial membranes in the hip, knee, wrist, shoulder and ankle joints, and synovitis can occur in any of them, but the knee is most commonly affected. Diseases like arthritis can lead to chronic synovitis, which keeps coming back. Injuries cause acute synovitis, which usually passes if the joint is allowed to rest. If acute synovitis is ignored, however, it can become chronic.
Synovial fluid is a transparent, viscid fluid secreted by the synovial membrane and found in joint cavities, bursae, and tendon sheaths.
Analysis of synovial fluid aspirated from a joint can confirm or rule out various joint diseases such as traumatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Synovitis is a risk in several forms of arthritis as well as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gout, and other conditions. Synovitis is one part of distinguishing rheumatoid arthritis from other forms of arthritis, although it can be found mildly in osteoarthritis. Long term occurrence of synovitis can result in degeneration of the joint.
Causes :
Synovitis may be due to a metabolic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, or it may simply be the result of local trauma while running.
Synovitis is a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis, in juvenile arthritis, in lupus, and in psoriatic arthritis. It may also be associated with rheumatic fever, tuberculosis, trauma, or gout.
Rheumatoid arthritis involves synovitis. In rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial membrane lining the joint becomes inflamed. The cells in the membrane divide and grow and inflammatory cells come into the joint from other parts of the body.
Physical Exam Findings
“Joint tenderness is not as reliable or accurate as joint swelling in the assessment of synovitis. Visual inspection alone may be the simplest and most reliable technique for assessing synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis.”
Symptoms:-
Because of the mass of inflammatory cells in rheumatoid arthritis, the joint appears swollen and feels puffy or boggy to the touch. The increased blood flow that is a feature of the inflammation makes the joint warm. The cells release enzymes into the joint space which causes further pain and irritation. If the process continues for years, the enzymes may gradually digest the cartilage and bone of the joint leading to chronic pain and degenerative changes.
The synovium is a thin, filmy material which forms a sac enclosing a freely movable joint in the body. In a healthy joint, it is barely more than one cell thick. It works with cartilage to reduce friction in the knee. There are two types of cells in the synovium. One produces fluid to lubricate the joint, and the other keeps the joint clean by ingesting unwanted materials. When the synovium becomes inflamed, it produces excess fluid, causing the joint to swell.
When injury related (acute), this condition is sometimes called “water on the knee.” If acute synovitis is recognized quickly, rest is usually enough to calm the inflammation. But if left alone, acute synovitis can become chronic. It can also cause adhesions to form on the joint.
In addition to arthritis-related and injury-related synovitis, there are two other common types of the condition:
Toxic, or transient synovitis causes hip pain and limping in children. Its cause is unknown, though it often follows viral infections like chickenpox. It usually disappears as mysteriously as it came and leaves no lasting problems.
Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis (PVNS), which usually occurs in the knee but can be found in other joints as well, is marked by a rust-colored, iron pigment called hemosiderin. PVNS is often missed or misdiagnosed in its early stages, and treatment usually requires surgery.
Symptoms of synovitis include:
*swelling, with fluid collection
*stiffness
*pain
*a “popping” feeling when you move the joint
Diagnosis:-
In addition to the clinical presentation (warm, red, and swollen joints), the diagnosis may be helped by Synovial Fluid Analysis. This is a test that examines the lubricating fluid secreted by synovial membranes. The test is useful in the diagnosis of some types of arthritis (primarily those caused by infection, gout, or pseudogout). This is done by inserting a needle into the knee, injecting numbing medication, and then removing the fluid which has built up. This fluid is then analyzed in the lab.
A test called the patella tap can help with the diagnosis as well. Sometimes minor swelling is masked by the quadriceps muscles in the thighs. The synovial membrane extends above the patella (the kneecap) for more than an inch, so swelling there can be disguised by the muscles that cover it. For the patella tap, a hand grips the thigh immediately above the patella, pressing fluid down under the patella.
The test takes about half an hour and usually is done in a physician’s office or hospital. No special preparations are necessary. The skin over the joint is cleaned with an antiseptic. Usually, a local anesthetic is injected. Using a thin needle, the physician will withdraw a sample of fluid for analysis, including culture of the fluid if infection is a possible diagnosis, and examination for crystals to diagnose gout or pseudogout.
If needed, medication (usually a corticosteroid preparation) can be injected into the joint space through this needle after the specimen is taken.
Treatment:
In most cases, treatment consists of rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory medicines like aspirin or ibuprofen. Compression with an Ace-like bandage and elevation of the knee Is also usually recommended. More severe inflammation may require cortisone injections or synovectomy, surgical removal of the tissue. If the condition has progressed and the knee has been severely damaged, total knee replacement may be necessary.
The excess fluid can be removed without a synovectomy, but this is only a temporary treatment designed to ease discomfort. If the underlying cause is not treated, synovitis will continue and/or recur.
Symptoms of synovitis can be treated by a doctor with anti-inflammatory drugs such as NSAIDs. Specific treatment depends on the determining cause of the synovitis. Specific treatment is based upon both the presumed cause of the synovitis and the particular patient’s response and level of tolerance of any particular medication.
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
Definition:
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is scarring or thickening of the lungs without a known cause. Gradually, the air sacs of the lungs become replaced by fibrotic tissue. When the scar forms, the tissue becomes thicker causing an irreversible loss of the tissue’s ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream.It is a progressive interstitial lung disease with an unknown cause.More specifically, IPF is defined as a distinctive type of chronic fibrosing interstitial pneumonia of unknown cause associated with a histological pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP).
Causes:-
No one knows what causes pulmonary fibrosis or why some people get it. It causes the lungs to become scarred and stiffened. This stiffening makes it increasingly difficult to breathe. In some people the disease gets worse quickly (over months to a few years), but other people have little worsening of the disease over time.
Traditional theories have postulated that it might be an autoimmune disorder, or the after effects of an infection, viral in nature. There is a growing body of evidence which points to a genetic predisposition. A mutation in the SP-C protein has been found to exist in families with a history of Pulmonary Fibrosis. The most current thinking is that the fibrotic process is a reaction to microscopic injury to the lung. While the exact cause remains unknown, associations have been made with the following:
*Inhaled environmental and occupational pollutants
*Cigarette smoking
*Diseases such as Scleroderma, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Sarcoidosis
*Certain medications
*Therapeutic radiation
The condition is believed to result from an inflammatory response to an unknown substance. “Idiopathic” means no cause can be found. The disease occurs most often in people between 50 – 70 years old.
Symptoms:-
*Chest pain (occasionally)
*Chronic dry, hacking cough
*Decreased tolerance for activity
*Shortness of breath during activity that lasts for months or years and over time will also occur at rest
*Fatigue and weakness
*Discomfort in the chest
*Loss of appetite
*Rapid weight loss
Prevalence of Pulmonary Fibrosis:-
There are five million people worldwide that are affected by this disease. In the United States there are over 200,000 patients with Pulmonary Fibrosis. As a consequence of misdiagnosis the actual numbers may be significantly higher. Of these more than 40,000 expire annually. This is the same as die from Breast Cancer. Typically, patients are in their forties and fifties when diagnosed. However, diagnoses have ranged from age seven to the eighties. Current research indicates that many infants are afflicted by Pediatric Interstitial Lung Disease. At this time there is limited data on prevalence for this group.
Diagnosis:- Exams and Tests
The health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history. Your doctor will ask whether you have been exposed to asbestos.
Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis have abnormal breath sounds called crackles. Patients with advanced disease may have blue-colored skin (cyanosis) around the mouth or in the fingernails due to low oxygen.
Examination of the fingers and toes may show abnormal enlargement of the fingernail bases (clubbing).
The diagnosis of IPF can be made by demonstrating UIP pattern on lung biopsy in a patient without clinical features suggesting an alternate diagnosis (see clinical features, above). Establishing the diagnosis of IPF without a lung biopsy has been shown to be reliable when expert clinicians and radiologists concur that the presenting features are typical of IPF. Based on this evidence, the 2002 ATS/ERS Multidisciplinary Consensus Statement on the Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias proposes the following criteria for establishing the diagnosis of IPF without a lung biopsy:
Major criteria (all 4 required):
*Exclusion of other known causes of interstitial lung disease (drugs, exposures, connective tissue diseases)
*Abnormal pulmonary function tests with evidence of restriction (reduced vital capacity) and impaired gas exchange (pO2, p(A-a)O2, DLCO)
*Bibasilar reticular abnormalities with minimal ground glass on high-resolution CT scans
*Transbronchial lung biopsy or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) showing no features to support an alternative diagnosis
Minor criteria (3 of 4 required):
*Age > 50
*Insidious onset of otherwise unexplained exertional dyspnea
*Duration of illness > 3 months
*Bibasilar inspiratory crackles
Tests that help diagnose idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis include the following:
*Bronchoscopy with transbronchial lung biopsy
*Chest CT scan
*Chest x-ray
*Measurements of blood oxygen level
*Pulmonary function tests
*Surgical lung biopsy
*Tests for connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or scleroderma
Treatment :-
There are currently no effective treatments or a cure for Pulmonary Fibrosis. The pharmacological agents designed to treat lung scarring are still in the experimental phase while the treatments intended to suppress inflammation have only limited success in reducing the fibrotic progress.
No known cure exists for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Medications such as corticosteroids and cytotoxic drugs may be given to reduce swelling (inflammation), but these treatments usually don’t work. Oxygen is given to patients who have low blood oxygen levels.
There is a lack of large, randomized placebo-controlled trials of therapy for IPF. Moreover, many of the earlier studies were based on the hypothesis that IPF is an inflammatory disorder, and hence studied anti-inflammatory agents such as corticosteroids. Another problem has been that studies conducted prior to the more recent classification of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias failed to distinguish IPF/UIP from NSIP in particular. Hence, many patients with arguably more steroid-responsive diseases were included in earlier studies, confounding the interpretation of their results.
Small early studies demonstrated that the combination of prednisone with either cyclophosphamide or azathioprine over many months had very modest, if any, beneficial effect in IPF, and were associated with substantial adverse effects (predominantly myelotoxicity). Other treatments studied have included interferon gamma-1b, the antifibrotic agent pirfenidone and bosentan. Pirfenidone and bosentan are currently being studied in patients with IPF while interferon gamma-1b is no longer considered a viable treatment option. Finally, the addition of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine to prednisone and azathioprine produced a slight benefit in terms of FVC and DLCO over 12 months of follow up. However, the major benefit appeared to be prevention of the myelotoxicity associated with azathioprine
Because the origin and development of the disease is not completely understood, misdiagnosis is common. Varying terminology and lack of standard diagnostic criteria have complicated the gathering of accurate statistics about people with pulmonary fibrosis. Supplemental oxygen improves the quality of life and exercise capacity. Single lung transplant may be considered for some patients. Pulmonary Fibrosis is a very complex disease and the prediction of longevity of patients after diagnosis vary greatly.
Some patients with advanced pulmonary fibrosis may need a lung transplant. Lung rehabilitation will not cure the lung disease, but it can help maintain exercise capacity.
There are a number of new trials testing drugs to treat Pulmonary Fibrosis. For more information contact us at:
Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
1332 North Halsted Street Suite 201
Chicago, Illinois 60642-2642
(312) 587-9272 fax (312) 587- 9273
Support Groups
You can ease the stress of illness by joining a support group where members share common experiences and problems.
You may click to see about Herbal remedies of IPF………..(1)……(2)…….(3).…….(4).…….(5)
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Some patients may improve when they are treated with corticosteroids or cytotoxic drugs, but in most people the disease can get worse even with treatment. This worsening can happen quickly, or very slowly.
Possible Complications:-
*Chronic hypoxemia (low blood oxygen level)
*Cor pulmonale
*Pneumothorax
*Polycythemia (abnormally high levels of red blood cells)
*Pulmonary hypertension
*Respiratory failure
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you develop a regular cough or shortness of breath.
Prevention
Avoiding smoking may help prevent this condition, but how to prevent the cause is not exactly known.
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
Botanical Name: Smilax china English Name : ChinaRoot French Name : Sarutori ibara Arabic Name : Khabsul Seeni, Jazar Seeni Persian Name : Chobchini Sanskrit Name : Madhusnuhi Hindi Name : Chopchini, Chobchini Chinese Name : Tu Fu Ling German Name : Chinawurzel Family:Smilacaceae
Other name:Sarsaparilla, China root Range :E. Asia – China, Japan. Habitat :E. Asia,China, Japan. Shrub thickets in hills and mountains. Forests, thickets, hillsides, grassy slopes, shaded places along valleys or streams from near sea level to 2000 metres.
Description:
It is a climbing herbs with a large tuberous rhizome; stem and branches unarmed, polished; Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, rounded at the base, 3-nerved, glaucous underneath; Umbels axillary simple, sessile, solitary.
.
It is hardy to zone 6. It is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required)The plant is not self-fertile.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.
Medicinal Uses:
Antibacterial activity has been observed with the lant extracts. They are useful in skin diseases, vitiated conditions of vata, flatulence, tuberculosis, and general debility. It helps in faster clearance of symptoms.
Roots are aphrodisiac, pseudorific, demulent, alteratively used in rheumatism, syphilis, and skin diseases. The rhizome is made into a paste and applied to painful swellings.
The root is depurative, diaphoretic, stimulant, alterative, resolvent, tonic, diuretic, aphrodisiac, antibiotic, alterative, antisyphilitic, astringent, sudorific and demulcent. Useful in sexual debility and in syphilis, scrofula and other skin diseases. Also useful in rheumatism, gout, epilepsy and chronic nervous diseases.
Useful in Following diseases : Blood Impurities, Epilepsy, Fevers, Gout, Nervous Debility, Psoriasis, Rheumatism, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Seminal Debility, Sexual Debility, Syphilis,
Used in Following medicines : Femone, Rheuma, SkinClear Syrup (Raktsafa),
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.
A substance secreted by parasitic nematode worms may help provide a more effective treatment for inflammatory types of arthritis. Nematode worms can cause serious disease
The molecule, ES-62, already circulates in the blood of millions of people infected with the worms in the Tropics.
It prevents the massive inflammatory response that the worms are otherwise capable of producing in conditions such as elephantiasis.
The Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde will carry out the project.
Auto-immune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, tend to be rare in countries where parasitic worm infections are endemic, and the researchers believe ES-62 may be key.
They aim to produce a synthetic derivative of ES-62 which could be used to develop new drugs to combat rheumatoid arthritis.
They also hope the same approach could ultimately be fine-tuned to treat other types of auto-immune diseases, using cocktails of several ES-62 derived drugs.
ES-62 has no known adverse effect on general health, nor does it inhibit the ability of infected people to fight other infections.
Thermostat
Researcher Professor William Harnett said: “We will be focusing on mechanisms of combating hyper-inflammation that have developed naturally and with apparent acceptance by humans during their co-evolution with parasites.”
Professor Iain McInnes, who will also be working on the project, said: “ES-62 appears to act like a thermostat to effectively turn down disease-causing inflammation which leaves essential defence mechanisms intact to fight infection and cancer.
“This property also makes ES-62 a unique tool for scientists to identify how such disease-causing inflammation occurs.”
A spokeswoman for the Arthritis Research Campaign, which is funding the work, said new treatments to tackle the painful inflammatory effects of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis were much-needed.
She said: “Despite the advent of new classes of drugs such as anti-TNF therapy, there are many people whose arthritis is not under control, and this is an exciting, and novel piece of research which may lead to new, more effective treatments.”
Rheumatoid arthritis is a potentially crippling joint disease, caused by the body’s immune system attacking itself, leading to inflammation in the joints and internal organs such as the heart and lungs.
It affects around 400,000 people in the UK. Women sufferers outnumber men by three to one.
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