Apr 30, 2013
Can anxiety cause stomach problems?
In the United States, the practice of medicine is disjointed. Dermatologists deal with the skin, gastroenterologists deal with the stomach, and psychiatrists deal with the mind. Through specialization, doctors have been able to become educated on the details of their chosen field. But the reality of health is that it is holistic. What goes on inside our bodies profoundly affects our mental and emotional state. An unfortunately, though doctors know the details about research being done in their field, they often (but not always) lack intuition about what might be going on within the body as a whole. A stomach problem can bring on some strange emotions. The digestive system is nothing but a long tube that extends from the mouth to the anus. Swelling in the digestive system can impact the rest of the organs in the body in a negative way. An infection or other issues with the intestines of the stomach can cause a person to feel “uneasy” and anxious. Indeed, this feeling of anxiety can be chronic and may be caused by stomach problems, believe it or not. Many of the headaches that people experience are actually caused by stomach problems. Sometimes the headache may come on because blood vessels in the body are being compressed by the excess gas or feces in the digestive system. The compression of blood vessels in one area of the body can cause high blood pressure in the brain which can lead to headaches. Referred pain from the stomach or the liver can manifest in the shoulders as well. Everything within the body is connected to everything else. Diseases and disorders are rarely isolated to a particular “system” of the body the way we’ve been lead to believe. Consider the role of nutrition and digestion on the heart and cardiovascular system for example. Not eating right can lead to a variety of cardiac and vascular issues over time. It isn’t unusual for people with stomach problems to have anxiety. Stomach problems and anxiety go together very well in fact. It may take some introspection and careful journaling to discover which came first, the anxiety or the digestive problems, but once you figure that out, you can start to develop a treatment plan. Though there are probably some times when taking pharmaceuticals for anxiety or digestive upsets is warranted, but most of the time, it’s best to stay off of the drug treadmill. Changing your diet may be the easiest... read more
Apr 27, 2013
If You Can’t Get Rid of It, Make Melasma Less Noticeable
Melasma is one of those problems that doctors can’t explain. Similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or fibromyalgia, when brown spots inexplicably take up residence on a woman’s face, medical professionals don’t know what to say. Some doctors might claim that its sun damage or merely genetics. Others don’t venture a guess as to the cause but hand out free samples of hydroquinoine cream that will most certainly turn your skin blue and make it “hard” to the touch (seriously…don’t use that stuff). I’ve read many theories in melasma forum discussions including those that cite poor liver function or yeast overgrowth. I’ve even tried remedies that were based off of hopeful discussions that I saw online including taking large doses of MSM daily and three glasses per day of water spiked with prolific quantities of Grape Fruit Seed Extract. Some women have noted a connection between copper and estrogen and for a while I actively avoided anything with extra copper in it (including chocolate). The connection between melasma and hormones seemed viable and I even tried using progesterone skin cream briefly in an effort to create balance. Though I don’t doubt that some women had success with these remedies, I’ve seen few results from them. On the other hand though, I did recently discover that I have an infestation of parasites feeding off my intestinal wall. After several weeks of anemia, I finally started realizing what the problem was and started taking a wormwood concoction as a parasite cleanse. At the time of this writing, I can’t say that my melasma has changed very much, but one thing did occur to me that gives me hope. A lot of the women who reported getting rid of melasma were doing a cleanse with Grape Fruit Seed Extract. Grape Fruit Seed Extract would also help eliminate intestinal parasites. If you have a parasitic infection in your intestines (and a LOT of people do apparently, even though they don’t know it), it stands to reason that after you get rid of parasites, your skin will look better in some way. When I first developed melasma, it began on my upper lip and I was terrified by it. I stayed out of the sun and switched to natural cosmetics that didn’t contain so many xenoestrogens. I wondered how bad it would get. It then spread to the area between my eyebrows, perhaps the most noticeable part of my face. Then, I started noticing patches... read more
Apr 26, 2013
Natural Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Treatment
When something really serious happens to your body or the health of someone you love, you don’t usually have a lot of time to mess around trying to figure out the best course of action. Often, people don’t start searching for herbal treatments or natural cures until the doctors have completely botched the treatment and progress is stilted. Patients who have been diagnoses with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) often find themselves struggling to get their platelet counts up despite the use of pharmaceuticals. What is Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)? Basically, this disease occurs when platelet counts are too low in the body. Blood is made up of basically four different constituents: plasma (the liquid part), red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The platelets are responsible for causing the blood to clot. This is an important function because if blood doesn’t clot, a person can bleed to death as a result of very minor wounds. People with Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura will often first realize there is a problem when they experience profound bruising in response to minor injuries. Thrombocytopenia Treatment Though there are pharmaceutical treatments on the market today, this article is focusing on natural cures which have demonstrated better results than what doctors offer. Papaya leaf extract is known for its ability to help the body increase platelet counts. Patients suffering from dengue fever (a tropical disease that involves blood and platelet abnormalities) use papaya leaf extract to overcome this deadly disease. If a patient is ill and goes to the hospital for dengue fever treatment, they will only receive “supportive care” (fluids, etc.), papaya leaf extract is being given at home and the results are astonishing (though not published because they threaten the pharmaceutical industry’s dibs on the disease). Before you buy into the expensive pharmaceutical treatments for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, take a look at the reviews for simple papaya leaf extract at Amazon.com or similar web sites. The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t want patients to learn about this simple treatment because they cannot patent something that is naturally occurring. It’s impossible to make big bucks off of selling papaya leaf extract to ailing ITP patients. This is also true when it comes to the treatment for dengue fever. Papaya leaf extract can be given to patients and few if any side effects even exist. Patients aren’t educated about this option because it isn’t profitable to the pharmaceutical companies. If you have low blood platelets and you’re... read more
Apr 2, 2013
Typhoid Fever Prevention
I wish that I could rely on my doctor to make sure that I have all the medications I might need while traveling in developing countries, but I can’t. Even if my doctor prescribes medications to deal with a nasty case of typhoid, for example, it’s possible that the prescription will kill me if the disease doesn’t. Prescription medications aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, unfortunately and patients need to beware and read all the fine print. Though there are situations warranting the use of prescription meds, the fact is, the more people use these prescription medications, the more resistant bacteria become to them. Pharmaceutical companies are in a race to keep up with this problem, but they’re also in a race to keep the public under-informed about the value of herbal or alternative medications when treating or preventing certain diseases like typhoid. Typhoid fever or enteric fever is a disease that’s common throughout the world. It occurs when someone ingests food or water that’s been contaminated with the feces of a person infected with Salmonella typhi. With the use of sanitation techniques, Typhoid fever has become less prevalent but in countries like India, people are 18 times more likely to contract the disease. For travelers to India, preventing Typhoid is extremely important. Typhoid fever can totally ruin a vacation. There is an oral typhoid vaccine that’s a must for anyone traveling abroad. The vaccine doesn’t always work though. Only about 50% to 80% of the people who receive the vaccine are protected. So even though my husband and daughter have been vaccinated, the odds are decent that if we eat something contaminated with Salmonella typhi that one of us will end up getting sick. Thus, I’ve been compelled to look up ways to prevent Typhoid fever using herbs. When traveling to developing countries, taking 3 drops of grapefruit seed extract per day doesn’t hurt anything and may be able to prevent the development of typhoid fever. Of course, it’s wise to get vaccinated before traveling as well, but carrying grapefruit seed extract is easy and a little goes a long way. Some people claim that a dose of 3 to 15 drops of grapefruit seed extract can help prevent the onset of a stomach upset if they feel something coming on. The extract is bitter and bitter things have a tonic effect on the digestive system. It’s worth a try if you have grapefruit seed extract available... read more
