Health Care Clinic Blog

There are many men who ask me what to take as a supplement to prevent cancer in general. This is a difficult question to answer, as we still do not fully understand the workings and intricacies of cancer in many cases. Certainly there are now established links between smoking, exposure to toxic substances and pesticide sprays, the high consumption of alcohol and cancer. There are also genetic links, especially in relation to prostate cancer and bowel cancer. Long-term stress, obesity, radiation exposure, hormonal imbalance and deficiencies in nutrients have all been linked to cancer too.

There are now active ingredients in certain herbs and foods that have anti-carcinogenic properties. I highly recommend you incorporate them into your diet on a regular basis. It is also wise to take one or more of the following supplements if you have had exposure to the any of the risk factors.

However if you are undergoing chemotherapy treatment, it is advisable not to take any anti-oxidants or anti-cancer supplements as they exert such a powerful influence that they can actually stop the chemicals from penetrating the cancer. Always check with your doctor or health professional if you’re unsure.

Treatment & prevention program

• The diet for health and vitality in is high in anti-oxidant foods, which have been shown to help prevent cancer. Incorporate this into your life, along with some exercise and relaxation such as meditation for 20 minutes a day.
• An extract of green tea (Camellia sinesis) contains an active anti-tumour agent called epigallocatechin gallate. Take two tablets, two to three times a day, of the recommended dose of the standardised extract (5 g).
• A lycopene extract, which is made as a standardised extract from tomatoes, has been found to be a powerful anti-oxidant and has specific anti-cancer properties in relarion to prostate.
• Other anti-oxidant/anti-cancer foods and herbs are rosemary, turmeric, flaxseed oil, selenium, fish oils, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, and vitamin BI2 with folic acid. You can obtain tablet forms of most of these substances; ask you naturopath for the dose suitable for your needs.
• An anti-oxidant herbal tablet made from St Mary’s thistle, turmeric, rosemary, grape seed and green tea is a must for my cancer patients.
• After any cancer treatment, keep the immune system boosted by such herbs as astragalus and cat’s claw.

If you don’t know CPR already, take the time to learn it. The American Heart Association and International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation adopted new CPR guidelines in September of 2000. According to these guidelines, the first thing to do when you find an unresponsive adult is to call 911, then begin CPR. Exceptions to this rule include adult victims of submersion, trauma, and drug intoxication and infants and children up to age eight. In any of these cases, perform CPR before taking the time to dial 911. Children younger than age eight should receive about one minute of CPR before 911 is called.

If you feel that someone may have suffered a stroke, get the victim to a hospital as soon as possible. Be sure to call the hospital and let them know you are on the way.

If there are no signs of circulation-such as normal breathing, coughing, or movement-the guidelines recommend that you provide two breaths, known as rescue breaths. If there continue to be no signs of circulation or breathing after the rescue breaths have been provided, begin chest compressions. When there are one or two rescuers giving an adult CPR (that is, a victim age eight years or older), you should perform about 100 compressions per minute. For every fifteen compressions, give the victims two breaths. When giving CPR to a child or infant, you should still perform the same 100 compressions per minute, but give the victim one breath for every five compressions. Chest-compression-only CPR is recommended only when the rescuer is unwilling or unable to perform mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing.

Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects basic functions, including movement, speech, and posture. Between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans have it in varying degrees. There are several types including: spastic, in which movement is stiff and difficult, athetoid, in which movement is involuntary or uncontrolled; ataxic, in which balance and depth perception are abnormal, and mixed, a combination of types. Cerebral palsy is caused by brain and nervous system damage sustained before birth, during labor, or shortly after birth. Depending upon the area and extent of the damage, symptoms may include spasms, tics, gait abnormalities, seizures, and poor muscle tone. Sight, hearing, speech, and intellect also may be affected.

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures

The disorder may be obvious at birth, or it may not become apparent for several months. Early diagnosis is important, however, so that therapy can begin as soon as possible. If cerebral palsy is suspected, a pediatric neurologist should be consulted for diagnostic tests to determine the extent and location of brain damage and to rule out other disorders. Tests are likely to include electroencephalography to measure the brain’s electrical activity; electromyography, or EMG, to measure electrical activity in the muscles during movement; and a CT scan to look for brain abnormalities. Blood and urine samples will also be studied to rule out other disorders that produce similar symptoms.

Medical Treatments

Planning of treatment should involve a team of health professionals, including physical, speech, and occupational therapists; a psychologist; a neurologist; and an orthopedist. Because there is no cure for cerebral palsy, the goal is to help the child achieve as much independence as possible. Seizures can often be controlled with anticonvulsant medications. Orthopedic treatment may include braces, splints, and casts to prevent contractures and other deformities of the arms and legs. Some children need orthopedic surgery to cut contracted muscles and tendons, thus allowing them to stretch, or to fuse together certain bones to stabilize joints. Such surgery can enable a child to walk or to maintain balance better.

Alternative Therapies

Several allied health professions and alternative practices play an important role in helping children with cerebral palsy to develop their full potential.

Dance And Music Therapies

These approaches can help children to improve their coordination, build muscle tone and strength, and gain self confidence. It is important, however, that the instructor be specially trained to work with handicapped children. Massage Therapy. This is beneficial in alleviating spasms and reducing muscle contractions. The therapist should consult the child’s primary care doctor in planning the therapy.

Physical, Occupational, And Speech Therapy

Professionals in these fields specialize in teaching living skills. Physical therapists use exercise and relaxation techniques to teach children how to walk with the aid of braces, crutches, and other devices, or how to transfer from a wheelchair to a bed and chair. They also show parents how to incorporate therapy into the child’s daily routine. Occupational therapists help a child develop useful skills such as typing or mastery of special devices to perform routine tasks. Speech therapists teach communication skills, including sign language for children who are unable to speak.

Self Treatment

Cerebral palsy is a life long condition that usually demands adaptation and training in order to achieve self sufficiency. The earlier a diagnosis is made, the sooner a child can receive special education services. Many children with cerebral palsy attend regular public schools, but others require special classes, and the more disabled may need developmental day care programs that are geared especially to their needs. Parents can do a great deal to provide a home environment that stimulates the child to learn and to explore. Regular exercise, beginning in infancy, is critical to achieving as much movement control as possible. Initially, passive exercises performed by parents or other caregivers are used, but at an early age, the child should be encouraged to participate in and eventually perform appropriate exercises. Toilet training is usually delayed and difficult to achieve if the nerves that affect bowel and bladder control are damaged. talking to other parents who have been through this stage may yield helpful tips. Special large handled eating utensils, toothbrushes, and dressing aids, such as those used by people with severe arthritis, are valuable in learning to perform basic self care. A large number of cerebral palsy cases could be prevented by improved prenatal care. Several types of infections, including toxoplasmosis, genital herpes, rubella, and cytomegalovirus, increase the risk of cerebral palsy. A woman with any of these diseases should consult an obstetrician who specializes in high risk pregnancies. Some studies indicate smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy also increase the risk.

Other Causes of Palsy

A head injury, brain tumor, stroke’, and brain infection are among the possible causes of palsy.

Vascular dementia is caused by a hardening of the blood vessels in the brain which results in poor blood flow to the brain and damage (and sometimes death) of some of the brain cells. If an area of brain dies, a stroke occurs. Therefore, this form of dementia can be caused by a stroke. In the 1970s it was considered that to have vascular dementia you needed to suffer one or two big strokes. However, it has become apparent over the last 20 years that people can have vascular dementia without having had strokes and the onset of progression in this situation can be quite slow and insidious, rather like Alzheimer’s disease. Even if someone has a stroke, it does not necessarily give rise to any symptoms, and it can often be found as an incidental finding on a brain scan, or even after someone has died, at post­mortem. It is important to differentiate people with vascular dementia from people with Alzheimer’s disease, because the treatment is very different. There are a few tell-tale signs that people may have vascular dementia. The symptoms may start very quickly and tend to vary from day to day. At times., people will say that a relative appears to be back to normal. There may be a history of a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (a mini-stroke where the symptoms last less then 24 hours). A person may have a history of high blood pressure or heart disease, raised cholesterol, or diabetes. About 20 per cent of people with dementia have vascular dementia. Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia can exist together in the same person.

Read out for difference between Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

Dyspnea is best defined as a sensation that breathing – a physiologic process that most of us do unconsciously about 20,000 times every 24 hours – is uncomfortable. It is always evidenced by a rise in the respiratory rate that is perceived as “shortness of breath” or “air hunger”.

The common denominator for almost all people with dyspnea is the need for more oxygen by cell of the body, which then partially or completely fulfilled by the increased air intake.

What causes it

• You’re simply out-of-shape. Get into the exercise habit!
• You moved from coast to 10,000 feet above sea level.
• You have a condition called “sighing respiration,” an underlying anxiety disorder in which you’re unable to breathe deeply or “get on top” of breath. Reassurance and the limited use of a tranquilizer can help.
• You have diabetic acidosis. The body uses lungs (as well as kidneys) to maintain and defend its acid-base balance; rapid breathing can be symptomatic of such metabolic problems.
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or emphysema, frequently from smoking.
• Anemia; acute leukemia; carbon monoxide poisoning; asthma; lung scarring from prior infection; blood clots; conditions that affect the chest muscles, such as Lou Gehrig’s disease and myasthenia gravis; congestive heart failure; heart valve disease.

Some people, especially those who work around the house, are plagued by fungal infections around and under the nails. These infections can be hard to treat, and they may keep coming bac,k. Any disruption of the skin around the nail – e.g. a hangnail or skin that’s been broken by too much contact with solvents or detergents – can open the door to a whole family of yeast-like fungi. Use of tetracycline antibiotics such as Terramycin or Aureomycin can sometimes cause or aggravate one of these infections.

One method for dealing with these infections comes from the Soviet Union. Dr Eugene M. Farber of Stanford University, using an idea he says he borrowed from the Soviets, placed plasters of urea, a nitrogen-rich product of protein metabolism, on the toenails of 35 people suffering from painful or unsightly fungal infections. In seven to ten days, the urea loosened the nail from its bed, so that both the nail and the dressing could be removed together. Without the nail, the underlying infection could be treated more easily.

Dr Farber says the urea treatment is a cheap, safe and practically painless alternative to surgical removal of the nail. Its only drawback is that the dressings must be kept on the toes for a week or more (Cutis).

Pink eyes also called as Conjunctivitis

Do

Pink eye while generally more irritating than dangerous should be taken seriously. Do exercise diligence by providing care when pink eye occurs. Keep hands away from the eye area. Clean household surfaces, and wash hands frequently. Isolate the infection, by not using wash clothes from one eye to the other. Do seek medical attention when the infection gets worse or is severe. Apply cool compresses to ease irritation.

Don’t

Don’t share washcloths or towels with other people, especially if infection is present. Don’t rub, scratch or touch the eye if at all possible. Avoid the use of creams, lotions and cosmetics when infection is present. Avoid sending children to school when they’re infected. Don’t wear contact lenses.

Check out home remedies for Conjunctivitis

We certainly don’t recommend that you partake of the grape regularly, especially on a heavy basis. But, once in a while, almost anyone can get caught up in the joy of a happy occasion and drink too much.

Hangover remedies abound, and most of them don’t seem to work very well. However, there’s actually a way to prevent an over-indulgent evening from becoming a dreary morning after – edible charcoal.

Hangovers are caused by substances called congeners – and activated charcoal absorbs them. In an experiment conducted at Columbia University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences in New York City, researchers found that in test-tube conditions similar to a person’s stomach, activated charcoal absorbed 93 per cent of one congener and 82 per cent of another.

In a second experiment, 68 volunteers – non-drinkers and moderate social drinkers – drank either 2 fl. oz of whisky, which has a high level of congeners, or 2 fl. oz of charcoal-filtered vodka, which has almost none. The researchers then measured their hangover symptoms the next day: 25 per cent of the whisky group had stomach-aches, 27 per cent-had bad breath, 9 per cent had headaches, 7 per cent had dizziness and 6 per cent had fatigue. On the other hand, only 2 per cent of the vodka group had headaches or stomach upset, and there was no bad breath, dizziness or fatigue (Southwestern Medicine).

The time to prevent the ‘morning after’ is the night before. A few tablets of activated charcoal taken before going to bed after an evening of over­indulgence may do the trick.

Menstruation is the periodic discharge of blood and other materials from the reproductive organs of women. A menstruation cycle usually lasts around 28 days, but different women can have different menstruation cycles. When a baby is not conceived in the womb, the lining of the uterus is removed during menstruation and pregnancy is one time when menstruation does not take place.

What Happens During the Menstrual Cycle?

The menstruation cycle does not just take place during the period when you are bleeding. It is an ongoing process, which different things happening during every week. By understanding what happens during each week of the menstruation cycle, you can better understand what stage of the menstruation cycle you are in at any time.

• Week 1. Week 1 is considered to start from the first day of bleeding. After the bleeding has stopped, women may be more energetic and have less vaginal mucus.
• Week 2. The mucus becomes wetter in the lead-up to ovulation.
• Ovulation. This occurs somewhere around day 14 on the ovulation cycle. The mucus is very wet. Breasts may be tender. There may be mood swings and cramps.
• Week 3. The mucus production slows down and the moods start to become more normal again.
• Week 4. This is the pre-menstrual phase. PMS symptoms may start, which can include bloating, cramps, headaches and mood swings.

Menstrual Symptoms

Many women experience some symptoms relating to the menstruation cycle. Menstruation symptoms may at any time from ovulation to the middle of their period of bleeding. These symptoms are known by the term, PMT or PMS, and are caused by hormonal changes. Some of these symptoms may include:

• Bloating
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Feeling irritable
• Abdominal cramps
• Acne
• Headaches

Menstruation Products

There is a wide range of menstruation products that help people through their periods and throughout the entire menstruation cycle. Menstruation products can be divided into the following categories.

• Products that absorb the blood and other menstrual discharge. Two of the most popular methods for absorbing menstrual discharge are tampons and pads. You can also find natural menstruation absorbers, such as cloth pads.
• Products that help with PMT and other menstruation symptoms. This includes drugs that may be bought from a chemist, but also includes alternative menstruation products. There are many natural therapies and tablets that are designed specifically to help with symptoms caused by menstruation.
• Products that help with recording the menstruation cycle. These are often used by women who want to conceive or as an alternative contraception method. These products include diaries and special testing devices so that women can see what stage of the menstruation cycle they are in.
• Products that change or alter the menstruation process or that work as a contraception method. Oral contraception pills fall into this category. Some women with irregular menstruation may need to take medication or other natural methods to help keep their menstruation cycle regular.

Skin allergies, or allergic contact dermatitis, are allergies of skin that occur when a substance that a person is allergic to touches the skin. The symptoms caused by this will appear suddenly and may disappear within half an hour after the attack. Inflammation can occur after being on contact with an item or substance that present no harm at all to people who do not suffer from this allergy.

Symptoms of Skin Allergies

People suffering from skin allergies may experience the following symptoms during an allergy attack:

• Skin rashes
• Blisters on the skin
• A sudden immobility (only in rare cases of extreme allergies of the skin)
• Scaling of the skin
• Hives (a rash looking like raised welts on the skin that itch and occur in batches

The symptoms are mostly experienced on the hands as they get in contact with items and substances all day long, during work or at home.

Types of Skin Allergies

The term eczema is sometimes interchanged with another skin allergy condition; dermatitis. Eczema is actually an advanced type of dermatitis with more serious results.

Allergic contact dermatitis

This skin allergy rash occurs when the skin touches an object or substance that it is allergic to. The symptom (a rash or itch) usually occurs within 30 minutes after touching the object. Inflammation of the skin can occur and the skin must not be scratched or covered with anything when this happens.

Eczema

This is a skin condition causing a red rash and itching on the skin. Eczema skin symptoms can cause a lot of discomfort and the disease is most likely to affect children. Eczema affects approximately seven in a thousand people and most of these patients are children aged between two months and five years old.

Eczema is a form of dermatitis in an advanced stage and can cause blisters and scabs and oozing liquid from the skin. A cure for eczema must be determined by a doctor and experimenting with over the counter treatments that offer relief is not advised when the condition has been diagnosed, especially not with children. Conventional allergy therapies seem to have no to little effect on eczema.

Hives

Skin hives are a type of skin rash that is usually harmless. Caused most of the time by an allergy this rash looks like circular raised welts on the skin that can go red and itchy. The hives will show up in batches and can appear all over the body. Hives can be different in size, ranging from very small to a few centimetres in diameter.

Diagnosis of Skin Allergies

Skin allergies are usually diagnosed by checking for skin rashes, the appearance of skin infection and itchy skin on the usual areas of the skin being mainly the face and chest but possibly also other areas. The doctor will probably check your family history with you to find out if any other relatives have the same problems. He will also review the following with you:

• Your diet, to make sure that there are no food allergies involved.
• Allergic tendencies (do you have more sensitive or allergic reactions).
• Prescribed drug intake that may affect the skin.

The doctor might decide to perform a blood test for skin condition called a radioallergosorbent test (RAST. A small amount of your blood is taken after which the blood is mixed with the suspected allergen. Antibodies developing in the blood are a sign of a skin allergy.

To further determine your diagnosis a skin lesion biopsy might also be performed during which a small piece of skin is removed and examined in a laboratory, where it is tested for symptoms of skin allergies.