Home Remedies

Like an unannounced visitor who stops by when you’re just about to go out, or the annoying caller who won’t let you off the phone, irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, comes calling whenever and wherever it likes. In fact, as many as half the people who visit a doctor complaining of digestive problems probably have IBS, according to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. As its name suggests, the symptoms of IBS are indeed irritating but can also be painful, as constipation hits one moment and diarrhea the next, sometimes coupled with bloating and cramping. What can be just as irritating is someone who tells you that it’s all in your head. Nothing could be further from the truth. No cause or cure for IBS, also known as spastic colon, has been found, but what health care specialists do know is that there are ways to fend off this abominable abdominal beast.

Keep a Diary : This is important in helping you and your doctor to determine what the cause of your discomfort may be or what factors may aggravate it. For about two weeks, keep a record of what you’ve eaten, the kind of mood you’re in, the stress you’re experiencing and how your tummy feels. (Women should also record the dates of their menstrual period, since some women suffer more acutely from IBS around the time of their period.) The diary has a lot of benefits, says Douglas A. Drossman, M.D., professor of medicine and psychiatry in the Division of Digestive Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Most importantly, virtually all of the factors involved in IBS are modifiable. By writing down your stresses, for instance, you may be able to pinpoint their causes and as a result, take necessary action to change a stressful circum stance. And you may be able to cut back on or eliminate certain foods that may aggravate your symptoms.

Learn How to Relax : For 34 percent of IBS sufferers, stress exacerbates the symptoms, reports William Whitehead, Ph.D., professor of medical psychology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. As a matter of fact, some sufferers have their most serious bouts of IBS soon after a stressful situation. The first step in learning how to relax is to simply be aware of when your muscles have tensed up, so you can detense them.

In order to do this, you can try progressive muscle relaxation, suggests Barbara Greene, a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the State University of New York at Albany. In this technique, you tense and then relax each muscle group throughout the body. This way, Greene explains, you’ll realize what your muscles feel like when they’re truly relaxed, and you’ll become more aware of when they’re not. While this technique can be helpful to some, your best bet is to try different methods of relaxation and see what suits you. Something as simple as a hobby or reading may do the trick.

Be Ready to Roll With the Punches : Too often, people see the world in black and white instead of shades of gray. They are slow to compromise or negotiate and expect absolute perfection from themselves and others, says Greene. And a negative attitude can have a negative effect on the digestive system. Indeed people who have a healthy outlook on life may stay healthier and not suffer so severely from IBS. So IBS sufferers can help them selves by confronting and understanding their fears and concerns. A professional counselor may also be of help.

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Stop The Noise : As anyone who has been subjected to a blasting radio knows, the noise lingers on long after the melody ceases. “People seem to like listening to their portable audio cassette players at highest volume,” notes Daniel Kuril off, M.D., associate director of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York. “If you do that daily and your ears continue to ring even after you have taken off your earphones, you are probably developing tinnitus, not to mention temporary or permanent hearing loss.” Every additional exposure to loud noise damages the tiny hair cells in the inner ear even more, reducing the chance that damaged cells might heal or that the central nervous system might develop a tolerance level to block the noise out over time. People who attend loud rock concerts or who go hunting or target shooting may also be unwittingly damaging the tiny hair cells in their ears.

Check Your Blood Pressure : Ringing sounds in the ears can often be traced to high blood pressure. “If your blood pressure is high enough to cause ringing in your ears, it is probably causing other damage to your body, as well,” says John W House, M.D., associate clinical professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. High blood pressure is a primary risk factor in heart disease, a far more serious condition than ringing in the ears.

Lick The Salt Habit : Sodium is not always problematic for tinnitus sufferers. If you have an inner-ear disorder such as Meniere’s disease, however, you should cut out sodium. “Start with the obvious limiting salty snacks, cooking with other seasonings in place of salt, and putting the Salt shaker away,” says Jack J. Wazen, M.D., Associate professor of otolaryngology and director of otology and neurotology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Be a careful label reader, too. Search out foods labeled “sodium free,” which means that the item has less than five milligrams of sodium per servmg.

Limit Aspirin : Aspirin in high doses often causes reversible tinnitus for a day after it is taken. If aspirin is taken on a regular basis-say, for arthritis or chronic pain the hair cells may suffer damage. Try to limit your intake of aspirin to see if your tinnitus improves, be sure to check labels on any over the counter medications you take, since many of them may contain aspirin. If you take aspirin for a chronic condition, talk to your doctor about alternate medications.

Avoid temporary “Kicks :” “Stimulants taken in to the body can prod the hair cells in to unnecessary action,” says Kuril off. Limit caffeine, which is found in coffee, tea, chocolate, and cola drinks, and eliminate tobacco and other addictive substances such as marijuana and cocaine.

Work it out : If poor circulation is the cause of ringing in your ears, a little exercise can go a long way toward improving the situation. “A brisk walk every day is the ideal goal,” says Kuril off.

Save Time For Rest : Becoming overly fatigued can lower your resistance to colds and flu, which can bring on swelling in the inner ear. “The human body needs periods of respite during the day,” says House. “Being run down leaves you susceptible to all kinds of adverse conditions in addition to ringing in the ears.”

Don’t Worry : “As annoying and frustrating as tinnitus is it’s not life threatening,” says Wazen. But the condition can be life impeding for people who constantly focus on the problem, searching in vain for cures and trying useless treatments.

Put on a Mask : Ringing in the ears can often be countered by a competing sound, says Wazen. You can play background music at a low volume or turn your FM radio dial between two stations to create soft static. These outside sounds may be more pleasant or at least more bearable than the internal ones. If you have more severe tinnitus, you might be able to mask the problem by wearing an electronic device that looks like a hearing aid and generates a competing but more pleasant sound. An audiologist can set the masking device to bring some measure of relief without interfering with conversational hearing. Maskers, however, seem to help only a few people. Wearing the device can be bothersome, so many people choose to use it only at night to help them fall asleep.

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Home remedy is the treatment of diseases with the help of natural sources such as vegetables, edible oils, spices and other common things. These remedies are also known as herbal remedies becuse of tyhe herbs present in the home remedy you take for the treatment of common diseases. One another Grandma’s remedy is also given to these diseases because in a family Grandma suggests these remedies if someone gets injured or suffers from a disease. At home Kitchen is the best place to find a natural remedy because here we can find various natural remedies which are very helpful in the treatment of common diseases. But the only thing you need is the knowledge about those remedies. Natural remedies have gained popularities in recent years because of the following reasons:

• No chemicals: The nature remedies do not contain any chemicals. It contains herbs which is the safest source of treatment as ther are no side effects.
• Less expensive: These remedies are present in abundance in nature. That is why they are easily available and are less expensive.

The working principle of natural remedies is to supply the chemicas in the body in the form of herbs whose absence is creating pain, fever and some other common symptoms. The home remedies are better than the antibiotics because the antibiotics kills the friendly bacteria along with the harmful ones. So the body a londg time to recover. But the natural remedies do not kill those bacteria rather it destruct the root of disease. So we get a permanent relief if home remedies suits in treating a disease. Further the use of antibiotics can cause side effects like pain, laziness, weakness and some allergies but home remedies have no side effects. you can can treat some common diseases such as head ache, hairfall , skin problems etc. with the help of a proper home remedy.

The very common sources which you can use as a home remedie are:

• A good nutritional diet: A good nutritional diet contains all the nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, proteins etc. which are essential for a healthy body.
• Water: Intake of water in a large volume releases the toxic substances from the body in the form of urine and sweat. Thus our body gets cleaned and this restricts the growth of viruses, bacteria and fungi which acts as a carrier for diseases.
• Yoga and meditation: Yoga and meditation also helps in fighting against diseases.
• Exercise: Prope exercise provides strength to the body by increasing the resistance of the body. Because of that the capacity of the body to fight against diseases increases.

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Ginseng is a popular herbal remedy traditionally used by the Chinese. The mechanism of action of this herb is unclear; nonetheless, many studies have been conducted on ginseng’s effect on the central nervous system, neuroendocrine function, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, immune function, and the cardiovascular system. Much of the research is equivocal. One possible reason for this is that the ginsenoside content of the ginseng root can differ due to the method of extraction and even the season in which the root is harvested.

A recent study has shown that treatment with ginseng significantly increased plasma free fatty acid levels and maintained plasma glucose levels during exercise. Also, glycogen levels in the liver and skeletal muscle were slightly higher in the ginseng-supplemented group. This indicates that the use of ginseng may increase endurance performance by altering the body’s choice of fuel (i.e., free fatty acids used preferentially over glucose).

Animal Studies

Banerjee and Izquierdo administered Panax ginseng to Swiss albino mice. The ginseng was chronically administered in drinking water for 16-18 days as well as by acute injection 30-60 minutes before the experiments. The ginseng treatment proved to be effective in increasing endurance time and decreasing fatigue time in both the male and female mice (swim time ~ 350 versus 270 min for males given ginseng and placebo, respectively; swim time ~ 375 versus 340 min for females given ginseng and placebo, respectively). Other studies conducted on mice have also shown an improvement in endurance performance (swimming time) with ginseng when compared with a control. Also, a 4-day treatment of 10 and 20 mg/kg day of ginseng saponin were given to nontrained rats and significantly prolonged their aerobic endurance at approximately 70% .

Two separate studies were later performed by Ferrando et al. In both studies, male Winstar rats were given 50 mg/kg of Panax ginseng extract for 12 weeks. After 24 hours of inactivity, the hindlimb muscles were removed. The results showed an increase in the capillary density and mitochondrial content in the red gastrocnemius muscle of the rats given ginseng. The increase in capillary density and oxidative capacity was evidence towards a greater potential in aerobic performance. However, these results were similar in the group of rats that participated in exercise only. The evidence showed a clear physiological response to ginseng. However, there were no synergistic effects of exercise and ginseng together in either study.

Human Studies

Fifty male sports teachers were used as subjects in a double-blind, randomized, crossover study on ginseng. The subjects ingested two capsules per day containing a combination of ginseng extract, dimethylaminoethanol bitartrate, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements or a placebo for 6 weeks. The subjects performed a treadmill test at an increasing workload before and after supplementation. The subjects in the treatment group experienced a significant increase in total workload and maximal oxygen consumption ). Also, the ingestion of ginseng resulted in a significant decrease in oxygen consumption, plasma lactate levels, ventilation, carbon dioxide production, and heart rate. These results were greater in the subjects with a lower(<60 mL/kg/min) than the subjects with a higher (>60 mL/kg/min).

However, studies conducted on ginseng 5 years later showed different results. In the first study, men participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on ginseng These subjects ingested 200 or 400 mg/day of ginseng for 8 weeks. With subjects completing the study, the results showed no significant changes in oxygen consumption, respiratory exchange ratio, minute ventilation, blood lactic acid concentration, heart rate, or perceived exertion.

Another study done on ginseng also showed no improvement in endurance performance. Twenty young men and eight young women were given 200 mg/day of ginseng for 3 weeks in a double-blind, randomized fashion. Before and after supplementation, subjects performed a graded exercise test on a Schwinn Airdyne cycle ergometer. No significant changes were discovered between groups , exercise time, workload, plasma lactate and hematocrit at peak levels, or heart rate and rate of perceived exertion at 150 watts, 200 watts, and peak.

An investigation by Ziemba et al. had the same results as the previous two. Fifteen soccer players were randomly assigned to receive 350 mg of ginseng per day for 6 weeks or a placebo. Before and after treatment, the subjects performed an incremental bicycle ergometer test with the workload increasing 50 watts every 3 minutes until exhaustion. There were no significant improvements in either group or lactate threshold.

Early studies on ginseng with animal models showed some potential with the use of ginseng. Nevertheless, studies using human models have not shown the same potential.

Safety and Toxicity

Long-term administration of ginseng has not shown any toxicity A study by Scaglione et al. was done to determine the safety and effectiveness of ginseng extract. Two­hundred and twenty seven subjects ingested 100 mg of ginseng for 12 weeks. Laboratory values for safety parameters showed no significant differences between pre-and post-values. Ginseng is generally considered a safe herbal supplement.

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What do doctors call this condition?

Thoracic aortic aneurysm

What is it?

An aortic aneurysm of the chest is an abnormal widening of the aorta, the body’s main artery. The heart pumps blood through the aorta to the rest of the body.

An aortic aneurysm may be dissecting, a hemorrhagic separation in the aortic wall; saccular, an ourpouching of the arterial wall, with a narrow neck; or fusifOrm, a spindle-shaped enlargement involving the entire circumfetence of the aorta.

Some aneurysms progress to serious and, eventually, fatal complications, such as rupture of untreated thoracic dissecting aneurysm into the sac surrounding the heart (pericardium), with resulting tamponade (compression).

What causes Aortic Aneurysm Of The Chest?

Commonly, an aortic aneurysm of the chest is caused by atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries), which weakens the aortic wall and gradually distends the lumen of the artery. The lining of the aorta may become torn. Other causes include infection of the aorta, congenital heart disorders, injury, syphilis, or high blood pressure. Aortic aneurysms of the chest are most common in men between ages 50 and 70.

What are its symptoms?

The most common symptom of aortic aneurysm of the chest is pain. In a dissecting aneurysm, such pain may have a sudden onset, with a tearing or ripping sensation in the thorax or the anterior chest. It may extend to the neck, shoulders, lower back, or abdomen.

Accompanying signs include fainting, pallor, sweating, shortness of breath, increased pulse rate, leg weakness or brief paralysis, and abrupt changes in pulses or blood pressure between arms and legs. The person appears to be in shock.

Effects of saccular or fusiform aortic aneurysms of the chest vary. They may include an ache in the shoulders, lower back, or abdomen; shortness of breath, coughing, or wheezing; hoarseness or loss of voice; and, possibly, numbness and tingling in the arms or legs and pain along the course of a nerve. Aneurysms may rupture.

How is it diagnosed?

Diagnosis relies on the person’s history, signs and symptoms, and results of appropriate tests. In a person with no symptoms, diagnosis often occurs accidentally when chest X-rays show widening of the aorta. Other tests, such as aortography and an echocardiogram (an ultrasound test of the heart), help confirm the aneurysm.

How is it treated?

Dissecting aortic aneurysm is an emergency that requires prompt surgery and stabilizing measures: drugs to lower blood pressure and reduce the force of the heart’s contractions, oxygen to help breathing, narcotics to relieve pain, intravenous fluids and, possibly, blood transfusions.

Surgery consists of removing the aneurysm, restoring normal blood flow through a Dacron or Teflon graft replacement and, with aortic valve insufficiency, replacing the aortic valve.

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What do doctors call this condition?

Thoracic aortic aneurysm

What is it?

An aortic aneurysm of the chest is an abnormal widening of the aorta, the body’s main artery. The heart pumps blood through the aorta to the rest of the body.

An aortic aneurysm may be dissecting, a hemorrhagic separation in the aortic wall; saccular, an ourpouching of the arterial wall, with a narrow neck; or fusifOrm, a spindle-shaped enlargement involving the entire circumfetence of the aorta.

Some aneurysms progress to serious and, eventually, fatal complications, such as rupture of untreated thoracic dissecting aneurysm into the sac surrounding the heart (pericardium), with resulting tamponade (compression).

What causes Aortic Aneurysm Of The Chest?

Commonly, an aortic aneurysm of the chest is caused by atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries), which weakens the aortic wall and gradually distends the lumen of the artery. The lining of the aorta may become torn. Other causes include infection of the aorta, congenital heart disorders, injury, syphilis, or high blood pressure. Aortic aneurysms of the chest are most common in men between ages 50 and 70.

What are its symptoms?

The most common symptom of aortic aneurysm of the chest is pain. In a dissecting aneurysm, such pain may have a sudden onset, with a tearing or ripping sensation in the thorax or the anterior chest. It may extend to the neck, shoulders, lower back, or abdomen.

Accompanying signs include fainting, pallor, sweating, shortness of breath, increased pulse rate, leg weakness or brief paralysis, and abrupt changes in pulses or blood pressure between arms and legs. The person appears to be in shock.

Effects of saccular or fusiform aortic aneurysms of the chest vary. They may include an ache in the shoulders, lower back, or abdomen; shortness of breath, coughing, or wheezing; hoarseness or loss of voice; and, possibly, numbness and tingling in the arms or legs and pain along the course of a nerve. Aneurysms may rupture.

How is it diagnosed?

Diagnosis relies on the person’s history, signs and symptoms, and results of appropriate tests. In a person with no symptoms, diagnosis often occurs accidentally when chest X-rays show widening of the aorta. Other tests, such as aortography and an echocardiogram (an ultrasound test of the heart), help confirm the aneurysm.

How is it treated?

Dissecting aortic aneurysm is an emergency that requires prompt surgery and stabilizing measures: drugs to lower blood pressure and reduce the force of the heart’s contractions, oxygen to help breathing, narcotics to relieve pain, intravenous fluids and, possibly, blood transfusions.

Surgery consists of removing the aneurysm, restoring normal blood flow through a Dacron or Teflon graft replacement and, with aortic valve insufficiency, replacing the aortic valve.

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