Posts for 'Lifestyle Counseling' Category

Today there is an increasing trend in society to look outside the conventional role of medicine to find answers for one's health care problems and that of their family members.

While conventional medicine is preferred in the treatment of trauma and emergencies, Alternative Medicine approaches unconventional therapies that are used in place of conventional medicine excelling in prevention and the treatment of chronic disease.

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 If a person sweats a lot when engaged in a conversation with a romantic partner, the partner may not be "the one," U.S. researchers said.Study co-authors Ashley Holland, a doctoral student, and psychology professor Glenn Roisman, both of the University of Illinois, gave dating, engaged and married participants a questionnaire about their own and their partners' personalities and the quality of their relationships.

The researchers also measured participants' heart rate and skin conductance -- which measures sweat -- during their interactions. Sweating is a sign that the person is making an effort to control his or her own behavior and becoming agitated in a way that requires self-control.

"Both heart rate and skin conductance have been linked to a host of important outcomes in interpersonal relationships, including the likelihood of divorce," Roisman said in a statement. "It's a problem if you need to inhibit yourself greatly while having a conversation with your partner about the kinds of things that you would ordinarily be talking about and trying to resolve in your daily lives."

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Cleaning out the medicine cabinet is like cleaning out the fridge, but with a lot less "ewwws!"

The expired medications and health stuff you find may be years past the best-before date, but at least it's not leftovers covered in fuzzy green mould or foul-smelling, stomach-turning black slime.

The worst thing Kory Sloan of St. Albert, Alta., encountered while cleaning out his grandfather's cupboards was a bottle of really old pain-relieving tablets that smelled like vinegar. The smell is a sign the medication has gone bad.

Not that you should stick your nose into an expired container before deciding to chuck it out.

"The first thing they teach you in pharmacy school is don't put your nose into anything," says Edmonton pharmacist Ali Damani.

"If it's toxic, you could pass out from it."

Damani's advice is to wave a hand over the opened container to get a sniff of the air wafting out of it. But generally, checking the expiry date and eyeballing the contents is enough to tell you whether or not something needs to be tossed, he says.

There is, however, a growing body of research that finds some medicines remain potent beyond their expiry date. The leading evidence comes from a U.S. Food and Drug Administration program that tests drugs for the U.S. military. The results through July 2006 found 88 per cent of tested medicines remained potent for at least a year past expiration, and some for up to 14 years.

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There are a lot of different substances we use to change the way our bodies work, not all of which we recognise as drugs.

A drug is a chemical substance that causes a change in the body. This includes both prescription and non-prescription medicines, herbal medicines, alcohol, nicotine and illegal drugs.

The pharmaceutical industry has published details of 'education' events held for doctors today after failing to block a ruling by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that it include disclosure of the parties in its code of conduct.

The report, published on the Medicines Australia website, reveals over $30 million was spent in the last six months of 2007 alone on hospitality and entertainment at drug company sponsored events.

Travel, accommodation and catering cost $16.4 million, and the staging of the events - including organisational costs, speaker fees and venue hire - cost $31 million.

The report also reveals 52 of the events have been referred to an independent committee for investigation because they could be in breach of the code of conduct.

MA chief executive Ian Chalmers said the industry took breaches very seriously.

“There is a robust and independent complaints process in place, authorised by the ACCC. That process must be allowed to run its course,” Mr Chalmers said.

“Only 52 of more than 14,000 educational events in the report have been referred for independent investigation, which means more than 99.6 per cent of events were compliant with the Code."

The result of the independent investigation together with details of any sanctions imposed on companies will be made public after the complaints process has been finalised, he said.

The document was prepared by Deloitte consultants after the ACCC ordered Medicines Australia to make public details about 'educational' events for doctors, amid concern about a conflict of interest between them and the drug companies.

"There is a real risk that (in the absence of) any requirement for regular reporting and public disclosure proposed in the ACCC condition, some companies will test the boundaries and offer inappropriate benefits to healthcare professionals," the ACCC said in its ruling.

Medicines Australia challenged that decision in the Australian Competition Tribunal, arguing that the information would be misinterpreted by readers who did not understand the "genuine educational benefits" of the gatherings.

A traditional Chinese herbal medicine consisting of five herbs may benefit people with eczema, new research in the British Journal of Dermatology will reveal.

Scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong evaluated the effects of 'pentaherbs formulation' on patients aged between five and 21 with atopic eczema, the most common type of the disease which affects at least one in ten children.

The pentaherbs formulation capsules contain extracts of five raw herbs based on a widely used ancestral Chinese concoction - Flos lonicerae (Japanese honeysuckle), Herba menthae (peppermint), Cortex moutan (root bark of peony tree), Atractylodes Rhizome (underground stem of the atractylodes herb) and Cortex phellodendri (Amur cork-tree bark).

The first study was a clinical trial of 85 patient divided into a control group receiving a placebo, and a group taking the pentaherbs formulation. Using a questionnaire index that measures how much a skin problem affects a patient, the scientists found that the quality of life improved by a third in the group taking the herbs, compared to no improvement in the placebo-treated group.

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Plucking marigold petals is not what mechanical engineering students of Jadavpur University in Bengal usually do. But in the run up to this Holi, that's precisely what they're doing, as part of an effort to manufacture and popularise the use of herbal gulal.

“The traditional colours available in the market are made of harmful synthetic components. They can cause skin diseases, blindness, asthmatic tendencies and even damage kidneys,” Technical Superintendent, Engineering Division of Jadavpur University, Asim Chatterjee explained.

The idea is to recycle flower waste from pujas and transform them into scented gulal, candles and even skin cream. And these herbal colours have already found a place inside the campus.

“We have played Holi inside our campus with these colours which are easily removable. After the classes when we go home no one can understand that we played Holi and enjoyed it so much,” a student at Jadavpur University, Ipshita Bhattacharya said.

The University is now seeking the help of West Bengal legislators to popularise the product in the rest of the state.

Grapes

Scientific Name: Vitus spp.

Biological Background: Grape is a pulpy, smooth-skinned berry, growing in clusters on vines. Grape was domesticated before 5,000 B.C. and is one of the oldest cultivated fruits.

Nutritional Information: Ten seedless grapes (50 g) provide 35 calories, 0.3 g protein, 8.9 g carbohydrate, 1.0 g fiber, 105 mg potassium, 5.4 mg vitamin C, 0.05 mg thiamin, 0.03 mg riboflavin, and 0.15 mg niacin.

Pharmacological Activity: Grape is a rich storehouse of antioxidant and anticancer compounds, including flavonoids (anthocyanin), quercetin, and resveratol (red grape skin). Grapes can inhibit blood-platelet clumping and consequently blood clot formation, and boost good type HDL cholesterol. Red grapes are antibacterial and antiviral. It has strong activity against cancers.

Eating Tips: Choose red or black colored grape instead of white or green one and eat with grape skin on to get the most health benefits.

A diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, salads, low saturated fats and whole cereals will ensure near adequate protection against infective organism. Raw fruits and vegetables are better than the cooked one. Still with all these precautions if you get cold try out these simple remedies, which are used by our grand mothers and found to be very effective. Try out these harmless traditional medicines before swallowing the chemicals. Remember these remedies are part of our tradition and not many scientific studies are carried out.

There's no real proof that eating this soothing, warm concoction can cure a cold, but sick people have been swearing by it for more than 800 years. Why? Chicken soup contains a mucus-thinning amino acid called cysteine, and some research shows that chicken soup helps control congestion-causing white cells, called neutrophils.

Mix 1tsp of black pepper powder, 1tsp dried ginger powder, 1tsp long pepper powder, 1tsp liquorice root powder and 3- 4 sugar candy. It can be had when cough is there. People with high blood pressure should avoid eating liquorice as it can retain sodium and deplete potassium in the body.

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Herbs have long been an acceptable way to fight common ailments
and while they should not take the place of medical advice, can
be a great supplement to your current medical care. There are
many common herbs that have healing properties which you may
not even know about.

Some of the herbs like garlic, parsley, rosemary and cayenne
you may associate more with cooking, but these plants also have
medicinal properties that you can easily put to use by using
them in teas, compresses and even as spices in your meals!

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