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Dialysis Diet Question: To Eat Protein or Not to Consume Protein?

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2:35 am 2:35 am

The dialysis diet controls the intake of fluid, protein, sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. One question that is often asked is whether or not protein is restricted in a dialysis diet. Well, the answer is that it depends upon the status of your kidneys. Also, the amount nutrients within the diet are based on your blood levels of sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, albumin, and urea. These levels are measured before and immediately after a dialysis treatment.

Fluid restriction is depending on the quantity of urine output and weight gain between dialysis treatments. That is, whatever goes out of your body in liquid form (including vomitus and sweat), has to be replaced with water. Monitoring and taking note of the every day weight would be a good practice to reveal fluid retention which suggests kidney deterioration.

Preservation of renal function can hold off the need for dialysis treatment. It can be accomplished by managing the illness procedure, by controlling blood pressure and by reducing dietary protein consumption and catabolism. A patient’s dialysis diet plan depends on specific adjustments of dietary elements via the results of the client’s blood chemistry studies. Although there is some debate over regardless of whether and how to restrict proteins, keeping the daily intake of protein of high biologic value below 50 g might slow the progression of renal failure.

The amount of protein you can eat is based on how nicely your kidneys are functioning and also the amount of protein needed to maintain great wellness. When protein is utilized by the body, waste products are formed and enter the blood. One of these wastes is known as urea. Normal healthy kidneys are great at getting rid of urea. Failing kidneys are not great at this, but kidney patients ought to still consume protein.

As the renal disease progresses, the client’s ability and willingness to take in adequate nutrition diminish and also the challenge becomes not only to maintain appropriate intake of nonprotein calories but also to satisfy protein needs. In these instances, elemental diets, enteral feedings or total parenteral nutrition may be used instead of or in addition to regular food consumption. This is why kidney dialysis diet is so important in order for patients to follow a proper balance of electrolytes, minerals, and fluid in patients who are on dialysis.

Here are more resource articles for chronic kidney ckd diet and low protein renal diet.

This dialysis diet should be done with the approval of your wellness care provider. In fact, your wellness care provider would be so proud of you for taking a proactive approach to managing you kidney illness. Remember, ignorance is never an excuse to bad health habits.

Learn how to reverse your kidney disease by following a secret diabetic renal diet hub that has been backed by research from top renal doctors in the country. A veteran nurse named Rachelle Gordon exposed this to the world through her book. Find out more about it here: kidney disease failure diet.

Pulsatile Tinnitus Hysteria

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4:19 am 4:19 am

Pulsatile Tinnitus is defined as rhythmical beating sounds that are in tempo with the victim’s heartbeat. This malady frequently causes anxiety, depression and panic episodes in those persons unlucky enough to be beset with this condition. However if you are afflicted by Pulsatile Tinnitus anxiety take heart for it doesn’t have to have a unfavourable affect on your life. When you have learned how to deal with your Tinnitus you won’t be tormented with its symptoms and your life will be free of anxiety caused by this condition.

Many of us troubled with this condition hear the rhythmical thrashing sounds continuously while others experience it on a random basis. Unknown to most there’s a natural way to rid oneself of these symptoms. By training oneself on its traits and causes and employing more fit life changes relief from this debilitating condition will be realized.

Many doctors advocate antidepressants or different sorts of antipsychotic drugs for treating Pulsatile Tinnitus. Because the problem lies in the body in the shape of damage to the inner ear, blood pressure, an inaccurate diet or something else wrong with the body these drugs do not supply a cure for the condition but simply tend to mask or lessen the symptoms. In order to effect an abiding treatment for the condition you first must learn its cause and then eliminate it.

Pulsatile Tinnitus if left untreated could cause major implications in all sides of a persons’ life. The constant or intermittent rhythmical thrashing or clicking sounds can and do create tension, depression, and other such issues. In a few cases the depression or tension can become so claimed the person may even contemplate suicide or some other extreme remedy to rid them-selves of this condition. At the least if the condition goes un-treated it will have a deleterious effect on a person.

Luckily for those that suffer with Pulsatile Tinnitus there are options for treatment available aside from the normal treatments. There are scientifically proven natural techniques available to treat the root of this condition which provide lasting relief.

pulsatile tinnitus :The Tinnitus Treatments Most People Are Using DON’T WORK! 92% of All Men and Women Who Treat Tinnitus Using Conventional Methods End Up Worse Than When They Started! – clear tinnitus now.

The Importance of Sandalwood Keep Growing

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5:25 am 5:25 am

Background

Sandalwood, or Santalum, is identified as belonging to the Santalaceae family. This small tree reaching to about 10 meters is indigenous to Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, Australia and India. Much of the commercial production of sandalwood comes from Santalum album (India) and Santalum spicatum (Australia). Although both of these species are considered true sandalwoods, there are other species commonly called sandalwood that are not included in the Santalum genus and are therefore have differing compositions. These unrelated plants are sometimes used as fillers to reduce the price of the increasingly expensive Santalum oil yet are considered of inferior quality. Research has identified a wide spectrum of applications for both the simple essential oil and its active components. Traditional and ceremonial uses of sandalwood continue to be an important part of cultures around the world.

Sandalwood from the Mysore region (known as “sandalwood city”) of southern India is generally considered to be of the highest quality sandalwood available, providing great commerce for this region of India. Of the traditional areas in Southeast Asia where sandalwood is found, India has been the front runner in creating plantations in which to continually harvest Sandalwood (The Australian Government has also set up reserves as well). Trade and harvest of Indian sandalwood is under strict regulation and the trees themselves are under government protection; only the government of India is permitted to own the trees. To produce commercially valuable sandalwood with high levels of fragrance oils, harvested Santalum trees are recommended to be at least 40 years of age, but 80 or above are preferred. However, trees at 30 years of age are still harvested but considered of inferior quality.

Much of the valuable wood is found in the roots of sandalwood and thus harvested by uprooting the entire tree versus cutting it at the trunk. In the last few years alone, the price of sandalwood has skyrocketed, mainly due to rising demand and limited supply. Increased demand has mainly come from the perfume and aromatherapy industry. Sandalwood essential oil and paste is used in Indian and Chinese medicine and of course aromatherapy botanical medicine. The perfume industry covets this oil for its ability to blend well with other perfume oils; hence, it is used extensively in hundreds of cosmetic products.

Over the centuries, the use of sandalwood and its products have been an integral part of several religious cultures. It scent, either as an essential oil or ground as incense, is thought to bring one closer to the Divine. Hindus burn incense made from sandalwood oil in burial pyres and at funerals. It’s also used in temples to remind people of the heavenly realms. Yogis in India use the oil to anoint each other during ceremonies and before meditation as well deity statues often made of sandalwood itself.

Sandalwood Used to Fight Anti-microbial Bacteria

Opposition to antibiotic use in food agriculture has been gaining momentum. In years past, it was known that severe illness-causing microbes such as Salmonella and E. coli could be contracted through eating contaminated meat. Now, it is proposed that contraction of bacteria, in this case antibiotic resistant bacteria, can possibly be transferred through ingestion, handling of industrial animal manure, as well as through drinking manure-contaminated ground water. With these scenarios coming to the surface, scientists and government officials alike are in alarm and strongly suggesting the decrease if not absolute elimination of non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics in the meat industry. Recent media has brought attention to the proposed link between the steep increase of antibiotic-resistant microbes with use and perhaps misuse of antibiotics in agriculture. Modern industrial agriculture raises animals in tight often inhumane quarters which results in animals being much more susceptible to sickness and disease, thus the administration of antibiotics is very common. Because bacteria and other microbes can easily mutate (in as little as 20 minutes), it is no wonder that great concern is now mounting.

Concern for antibiotic-resistant microbes is worldwide. A need to find alternatives to conventional antibiotic treatment is rising. Essential oils have been gaining attention by research scientists for their antimicrobial properties. A collaborative study of researchers in Austria and Germany (Flavor and Fragrance Journal 2006 May/Jun; 21(3): 465-468) found that santalols of sandalwood (the main chemical components of sandalwood) in medium and/or high concentrations showed significant antimicrobial potential against the yeast Candida albicans, the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, and the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Other Promising Uses

The Australian and Indian Santalum species, found to be similar in chemical composition, are known by aromatherapists to have such therapeutic properties as anti-inflammatory, antiphlogistic (reduces fever), antiseptic (as mentioned above), antispasmodic (relieves muscle spasms), astringent, carminative (relieves flatulence), demulcent (reduces irritation), diuretic (soft and soothing to skin), emollient, expectorant, as a sedative and general tonic. Their principle chemical constituents are alpha-santalol and beta-santalol. According to a study conducted by the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and South Dakota University (Anticancer Research 2007 Jul-Aug; 27(4B): 2185-8) application of the chemical compound alpha-santalol prevents UVB-induced skin tumor development in mice. Sandalwood is also thought to help alleviate the symptoms of depression as reported by the University of Maryland Medical Center (www.umm.edu).

Conclusion

It is rather evident that the value of sandalwood extends across centuries and continents. It is revered by various religions, scientists, aromatherapists and perfume enthusiasts alike. What is remarkable is that uses of plants and their essential oils are bringing such world-wide engagement as their promising applications are uncovered in scientific research. A need for alternatives to conventional antibiotics as well as insecticides is clear. As less-than amiable agriculture practices surface and resistance to current antimicrobials increase, it is apparent that humankind will revert back to solutions found in nature and perhaps make a more diligent effort to conserve the very earth that sustains us.

The author encourages begining aroma-therapeutic practitioners to find a reputable source for high-grade essential oils. She is a fan of Ananda Aromatherapy from Boulder, Colorado.

Lavender Has Fields of Uses

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2:48 am 2:48 am

Background

Lavender is well-known and commonly used throughout the world. Thinking of lavender brings a picture to mind of a vibrant purple-blue color and the soft, soothing and woody smell of the flowers. Traditionally, the oil of this shrub has been used as an antiseptic, a calmative, to deter insects, to treat burns and most notably used as a perfume. Today, uses are extensive in aromatherapy as well as in the production of perfume. Most individuals, through readings or even television product ads, are familiar with lavender as a relaxant. On-going science studies are investigating the properties of lavender in potential cancer treatments for breast, ovarian, pancreatic, liver and prostate. Current clinical studies have reported lavender essential oil as possibly being beneficial for a number of conditions, including insomnia, alopecia (significant hair loss), anxiety, stress, postoperative pain and as an antibacterial and antiviral agent.

Although generally known as lavender, there are actually thirty-nine species of the genus Lavendula, but only a handful are used commercially. This fragrant plant is native to the Mediterranean region south to tropical Africa and to the southeast region of India. Today lavender is successfully cultivated in southern Europe, Australia and the United States. Aromatherapists distinguish lavender species according to their therapeutic uses and medicinal properties. True lavender (L. officinalis, L. angustifolia) when distilled at high elevations is known for its large percentage of ester content and regarded as the best in quality. Uses for true lavender include cases involving anxiety, stress, small burns, cuts and insect bites. Spike lavender (L. spica, L. latifolia) is known for its camphor content and thus used for respiratory infections, for muscular aches and pains and as a possible stimulant. Lavendin (L.fragrans, L. burnatti) is a hybrid of true lavender (L. angustifolia) and spike lavender (L. latifolia) and commonly used for large-scale commercial purposes. Stoechas lavender (L. stoechas) is used as an expectorant and known for its antimicrobial properties.

Easing Anxiety Quickly and Easily

Lavender is well established as supporting a reduction in anxiety, mainly due to its high linalool levels. The physiological process of reducing anxiety through the use of essential oils is quite phenomenal. Once the diffused molecules of essential oil enter the nasal cavity, they bind to receptor sites of the olfactory neurons which then trigger a cascade of events. In short, the olfactory neurons send messages to the olfactory nerve and then onto the olfactory bulb (located just three inches from the brain) where messages are initially processed. Within the olfactory bulb are input and output stations, the glomeruli and M/T (mitral and tufted) cells respectively. The olfactory output from the bulb to the brain has several targets, mainly the primary olfactory cortex and the higher olfactory associated areas where olfactory discrimination, perception and memories take place. The other is the limbic system, sometimes referred to the ‘nose’ brain comprising a complex system of 122 regions and associated areas which together is heavily responsible for the expression of emotion. Main structures of the limbic system (LS) are the amygdala, septum, hippocampus, anterior thalamus, and hypothalamus.

True lavender (L. angusifolia) is thought to have a sedative effect on the amygdala, which is considered to plays a role in processing emotion as well as governing emotional response and greatly responsible for the sensation of fear. Recent science studies looking at anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) propensities of lavender are numerous. A University of Central Lancashire, UK study (J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 May 22; 111(3): 517-25) investigated the effects of lavender odor inhalation on the behavior of gerbils (a type of rodent often used in laboratory research) and noted that exposure to lavender may have an anxiolytic effect in gerbils similar to that of the common anti-anxiety medication diazepam. A recent study published in Holistic Nursing Practice (2009 Mar-Apr; 23(2): 88-93) concluded that the use of lavender (as well as rosemary) essential oil sachets reduced stress-taking anxiety for graduate nursing students. Also in 2009, a study published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology (Nov 23) found that dental patients who were exposed to lavender scent had a reduction in their forthcoming procedure.

Other Applications for Lavender

A rather haphazard discovery of lavender in the use of tissue regeneration was made by the late Dr. Rene-Maurice Gattefosse (a French cosmetic chemist) who after he severely burned his hands in a laboratory accident, submerged them in a container of lavender essential oil and noted the remarkable speed at which they healed. More recent research has newly discovered the possible antimutagenic (inhibits mutations) effect of lavender. In this study (Food and Chemical Toxicology 2005 Sept; 4319: 1381-7) scientists noted antimutagenic effects of lavender oil (L. angustifolia) on a strain of Salmonella bacteria, concluding that such uses of lavender may be promising for applications in modern human healthcare. Other uses, such as antimicrobial and antiviral have been recognized and supported on the University of Maryland Medical Center website (www.umm.edu).

Conclusion

Lavender, highly regarded for centuries for its medicinal and sedative properties, is finding its way into modern medical facilities. It is encouraging to read of increased laboratory research that is uncovering the active chemical properties of lavender and their possible uses in human healthcare. Yet, it must be duly noted that clinical research often looks at single constituents of an essential oil rather than the synergistic properties of the plant’s oil as a whole. Also, many research studies are limited to in vitro testing verses looking at the effects of human beings as an entire being (which often is outside the parameters of analytical research analyses). It is recognized here that evidence from promising clinical and laboratory results on uses of lavender is opening doors for modern medicine to look for solutions outside conventional settings. The aromatherapy use of lavender might just be a welcomed addition in many medical facilities in the near future. Centuries-old knowledge and modern laboratory investigations are well to go hand in hand in finding beneficial approaches in supporting health and healing.

See www.anandaapothecary.com for more in-depth educational resource on the use of essential oil as natural botanical medicine.

I Didn’t Remove My Hemorrhoids, Till I Found Proven Thrombosed External Hemorrhoids Tips

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10:49 am 10:49 am

As if having hemorrhoids weren’t bad enough, there is a probability that your external hemorrhoids may become thrombosed external hemorrhoids, increasing the agony, and the urgency of treatment. Let’s look at the causes of this problem, as well as the treatments :

What are they?

As the name suggests, the term thrombosed external of hemorrhoids alludes to the condition when an ordinary external hemorrhoid becomes blocked, by a blood clot. This leads on to further complications , and agony.

Is it Dangerous?

Anyone that knows about other disorders like deep vein thrombosis, will be afraid that the disorder could be threatening, or even life threatening. The excellent news is that since hemorrhoids form in veins, not arteries, there’s little risk of oxygenated blood flow to the area being compromised. The bad news is that the veins are the means by which toxins are removed from cells and tissues.

This implies that while thrombosed external of hemorrhoids will not lead to tissue necrosis, the risk of swelling and infection are high.

Who Get’s Thrombosed External Hem?

Typically , any one can suffer because of this agonizing condition, however because they are a result of inertness, which allows blood flow to decelerate, and clots to form, which explains why the elderly, and pregnant ladies, who are way more sedentary, are likely to suffer from this condition.

How do you Know if You Have Thrombosed Hem?

If you’re subjected to thrombosed hemorrhoids, you are unlikely to be ready to ignore them! Take the pain, itching and burning of a standard hemorrhoid, and increase it tenfold, and you have some idea of what you are likely to experience. They’re also generally dark red, blue or even black in color, thanks to the blood clot. Think of them as a very strong, local bruise.

Though there are some cases where thrombosed external hemorrhoids will improve on their own, it is always better, if you’re afflicted by this condition, to speak to a doctor, as there’s a heavy risk of infection.

If you like step by step action plan on how to get rid of piles, go treatment for thrombosed external hemorrhoid here

How To Handle Hemorrhoids Naturally In The Relief Of Your Home

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8:53 am 8:53 am

Among the most uncomfortable and embarrassing of health issues are hemorrhoids. They may only be temporary, but they are sometimes hard to cope with and can regularly lead to larger or more serious issues,eg infection.

Anybody with hemorrhoids knows that there are clear signs of their presence, and it’s a good idea to learn how to treat hemorrhoids naturally because there is not a lot a medical pro can do to resolve the issue. First, it’s a sensible idea to find out why hemorrhoids form in the 1st place. They happen both internally and externally around the rectum and anal sphincter. They’re simply distended veins that cause a pile or bump of tissue, but this is typically really uncomfortable, itchy and unpleasant.

One of the first ways to treat hemorrhoids naturally is to remember that straining to pass a bowel movement will only make them worse, and if after more than 3 to 5 mins in the bathroom hasn’t produced a bowel movement it’s best to prevent further damage by waiting and trying again later. Additionally, strain can also happen from heavy lifting, inadequate exercise or lengthened sitting and from obesity. This implies that mild activities such as walking or swimming can help in reducing the frequency and symptoms and are commonly how best to treat hemorrhoids naturally.

This is excellent news for you and me – particularly since we’d like to understand how to treat hemorrhoids naturally. We can turn this problem around quickly .

What are these secrets? Here are a couple of them…

1) Get a sitz bath. You might also try hydrotherapy with a bathtub, bidet or warm shower head.

2) Use unscented toilet roll. Also ensure the toilet tissue is plain white.

3) Eat a fiber rich diet. This may create a softer stool that will reduce hemorrhoid irritation.

4) Get more exercise.

5) Drink more liquids. Just plain water. No sodas.

Anyone that wants to know how to treat hemorrhoids naturally will also want to research natural supplements such as psyllium, Butcher’s Broom and White Oak Bark, but should also speak with their regular doctor before introducing them into the diet.

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categories: hemorrhoids,piles,alternative medicine,medicine,health,fitness,disease,illness

Thrombosed External Hemorrhoid. The Causes, Prevention & Medicine

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8:23 am 8:23 am

Thrombosed external hemorrhoids occur when the blood supply of an external hemorrhoid is cut off, therefore resulting to strangulation and formation of blood clot inside it. These clots are found inside the veins, usually just under the skin and develop over a period of time. They’re generally found outside of the anus and can be actually painful.

Piles are more agonizing in patients who have a thrombosed external hemorrhoid. Thrombosed means blood-filled and external haemorrhoid are those found in the area of the anal sphincter. A hemorrhoid becomes thrombosed after its blood supply is cut off.

Surgery is mostly indicated by a doctor in patients troubled with a thrombosed external hemorrhoid. Although momentarily thrombosed haemorrhoid may make a response to cortisone creams, the pain typically returns, as the cortisone treatment only relieves the pain briefly.

It is usually better to prevent a condition than to treat it. A thrombosed external hemorrhoid can be avoided by preventing constipation, hard stools, straining during defecation, and eating a high fiber whole grain containing diet. Many effective fiber additions will be available at most chemists on an OTC basis. Besides this, you may also go in for stool softeners such as Colace or Senokot.

Since a thrombosed external hemorrhoid develops steadily, taking the above early action can help you to get round this unpleasant condition. The cream contains hydro-cortisone which besides its shrinking action also relieves itching, agony, and burning related to these hemorrhoids. Are you wanting surgery on a thrombosed external Hemorrhoid?

That depends, some doctors have told people who utilised the thrombosed external Hemorrhoid treatment below that surgery was the sole way. For myself and others who were told this all I’m able to tell you is this treatment worked way better then surgery and is less evasive. When you have this sort of surgery you do run the chance of having anal leakage. Yes, an agonizing and shaming condition to have as well as the odor cause from the seepage.

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Treatment Of Thrombosed External Hemorrhoids

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8:20 am 8:20 am

Thrombosed hemorrhoids are a type of hemorrhoids which have clotted inside the anus. The clots are formed under the anal skin. In case the thrombosed hemorrhoids are external, they can be easily seen and felt. They may be hard or soft. For this serious form of hemorrhoids a surgery is customarily performed so the clot can be excised or drained.

How is the pain of the thrombosed external hemorrhoids alleviated?

To alleviate the discomfort and itching of thrombosed hemorrhoids you can try these popular strategies :

Avoid dehydration of your body. Drink at least 8 cups of water daily. Don’t strain while defecating. Treat constipation with laxatives and stool softeners. Use over the counter hemorrhoid creams. They can help with the Symptoms but won’t shrink the hemorrhoids. Take sitz baths with plain halfhearted water several times per day. Eat 5 to ten portions of fresh fruits and vegetables daily to be sure you have taken up the amount of fiber needed for the right functioning of the gut. Select sports and exercise frequently. Even a regular every day walk would improve the flow of food through guts.

Medical treatment of thrombosed external hemorrhoids.

Several different procedures are available to shrink or alleviate the hemorrhoids. These include : Infrared coagulation – this process burns the thrombosed hemorrhoid off by the use of infrared light. Elastic band ligation – the protruding hemorrhoid is tied around by a rubber band. The band stops blood supply to the varicose vein that leads to the disappearance of the hemorrhoid. Sclerotherapy – this method uses a chemical solution which is injected into the area affected. The effect is that the hemorrhoid shrinks. Hemorroiectomy – this is a surgical removal of the hemorrhoids.

What happens in the surgery of the thrombosed hemorrhoid?

The doctor creates a cut in the clot and squeezes it out. This technique often leads to the re-ocurnce of thrombosed hemorrhoids and continuing pain. Full hemorroidectomy removes the clot along with the vessels in the areas affected. This is a rather distressing treatment but it yields better and durable results. For both sorts of surgery a local anesthesia is applied.

Start applying those tips immediately. you will start seeing the changes in yourself. But don’t mess up by making silly mistakes or while calling your ex. To get a detailed step by step action plan on how to cure hemorrhoids naturally including some powerful psychological tactics, go get rid of piles naturally here.

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6:28 am 6:28 am

They’ve Known It All Along

Aromatherapy always conjured up for me simple ideas of nice smelling things to relax you. I truly had little interest in those racks of little bottles in the health food store. But some friends of mine encouraged me to have a look at the science as to essential oils being healing medicines. Never in all my schooling were the volatile components of plants mentioned, or if they were, it was cursory, within a look at plant physiology. Now I’ve been through a series of science-based aromatherapy books and research papers, and here’s my discovery of aroma-medicine, something practitioners using aromatic oils have known all along.

More than Just a Scent

In the many years that I have been interested in natural medicine, I have only vaguely associated aromatherapy with getting a massage or putting lavender on my pillow for a better night’s sleep. What I did not realize is that there have been centuries of usage of aromatherapy and currently used in medical facilities in France. Now, with a rising interest and even demand for alternative and complementary medicine, research is actively being conducted on the benefits of aromatherapy for infections, psyche, nerves, hormones and to some extent inflammation, allergies and metabolic conditions.

Aromatherapy is Aroma-Medicine

Contrary to my own vague association, aromatherapy is more than smelling certain scents. Jane Buckle, RN, Ph.D. concludes that there are four main types of aromatherapy: clinical, stress management, beauty therapy and environmental fragrancing. I think many of us have an association of aromatherapy when it comes to beauty therapy and good smelling fragrances from the aroma of essential oils, yet the clinical and stress management aspects of aromatherapy have been hidden from view.

To wrap my investigative mind around what truly is aromatherapy, I needed to get more of a simplistic definition. The general idea of the meaning of aromatherapy is that it is therapeutic uses of essential oils from aromatic (fragrant) plants. These oils are usually extracted from plants using water or steam distillation and typically used in diffusers as well as topically. Once the aromatic essential oils are extracted, the oils are rather unstable in nature – when the oils are exposed to air, they change from a potent liquid into an aromatic vapor within seconds.

In ‘ Advanced Aromatherapy’, the author explains that the main chemical component of essential oils are terpenes and it higher homologues as well as phenylpropane derivatives. Yet it must be pointed out that the synergy of each oil has it own unique qualities as well as specific chemical components.

Nature in a Bottle

Each of us is aware of the far reaching affects of the high-tech civilization that we live. Yet, one that is often overlooked or forgotten is the loss of nature – both in our surrounding environment and in personal knowledge. In this modern age, it seems that humans have separated mind from body and body from soul. If we were to look at the essence of what aromatherapy is, it is simply nature in a bottle.

Probing into my biology textbook, I read about plant defenses in a whole new light. Plants produce chemical compounds, mostly terpenoid compounds, in order to defend themselves against predators such as insects and animal herbivores as well as against fungai and other microbes. These terpenoid compounds also are used in plant to plant competition, where established plants inhibit germination of other plants. And of course plants use scent in attracting beneficial insect and bat pollinators. (4) (5) Thus, it is evident that the role of essential oils is vital to the continual establishment and growth of plants.

Creatures and Aroma

I wonder in my own mind why the usage and medicinal properties of plants is so unfamiliar in our culture. I have known for years that horses select various plants to facilitate detoxing of metabolic toxic buildup, as well as for antiviral and anti-parasitic properties. I remember in college learning about Chimpanzees eating certain plants to cleanse their accumulation of internal parasites.

I also know from my graduate work in entomology that insects have fairly well developed chemoreception and some are attracted to plants by their scents. It seems strange thinking about it now (the light bulb just turned on) why plants and their essential oils are not more widely used in everyday life, but as I have pointed out above that is now changing. In part two of this paper, I will investigate the physiological pathways of absorption into the human body and the current research on clinical and stress management uses of aromatherapy.

Cacao, the ‘food of the goddess’. To learn more about this high vibe fruit and various other musings see the authors blog, ‘Organic Medicinal Herbs‘.

categories: aromatherapy,essential oils,natural health,alternative health,alternative medicine,disease,illness,home,family,women,medicine,health,wellness

Cancer And Chemotherapy LR

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5:09 am 5:09 am

Chemotherapy is often the only choice cancer sufferers have to regain a next-to-normal health condition. In oncology, adjuvant chemotherapy plays an important role particularly in combination with other cancer treatments. Adjuvant chemotherapy represents an additional treatment administered to the patient following a surgical intervention as a means to prevent the possible development of the cancer cells that may have remained after the removal. The patient may relapse even if surgery has been performed because unfortunately, medicine is not sufficiently developed to be able to foresee whether cancer cells will reoccur or not.

Radiotherapy or regular chemical-based treatments are included in the adjuvant chemotherapy category and they are recommended by the doctors based on some statistical evidence which is employed in order to figure out whether there is low or high risk in relapse for the patient. Statistics indicate that about a third of the patients who have undergone adjuvant chemotherapy treatment have already been completely cured with the help of the surgery alone. For those who are not included in the above mentioned third, the long term purpose of the adjuvant chemotherapy is to lengthen the life of the cancer patients.

The types of cancer in which adjuvant chemotherapy is used are quite various and here we may include colon cancer, lung, pancreatic, breast and prostate cancer as well as some forms of gynecological cancers.

Beside the adjuvant chemotherapy, there is also another type of treatment that resembles the former in name; that is, neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. The neo-variant consists in the administration of drugs in the stage preceding the anti-cancer treatment per se. For example, neo-adjuvant chemotherapy may be prescribed to a breast-cancer patient who will undergo breast-removal surgery. The purpose of such a type of therapy is to reduce the size of the tumor so that there are fewer risks and a higher rate of success in the surgical intervention.

All in all, adjuvant chemotherapy has been identified as more rewarding in results when it is prescribed after the tumor removal rather than before it because the remaining cancer cells are fewer in number and, as a result, the drug is more powerful on them. The drugs specific to this type of treatment are most efficient when they are administered directly into the blood of the patient, that is, intravenously; another way of increasing drug effects is to insert it directly into the part of the body that is affected by cancer.

Lee writes about a variety of subjects, including fashion, such as Hello Kitty rain boots.