Canadian Medical News

This article has been written for people who are looking for a possible cure for anxiety. Some people have been struggling with anxiety disorder for many years. They are exhausted and frustrated because they have tried many different anxiety treatments that have not helped them. Some individuals may even think they can never get rid of the anxiety.

What are the different types of treatments for anxiety?

The 3 Methods To Cure Anxiety and Panic Attacks:

1. Medication

2. Talk Therapies

3. Self-Help

It depends on every individual which kind of therapy is preferred. However the goal should be to help you cure the anxiety and panic attacks. Usually people tend to go to the doctor first in order to get a diagnose and may be some medication to get rid of the “illness”. But with anxiety disorder this normally helpful method often lacks success. Anxiety disorder is not a virus or bacterial infection that is curable with popping some pills.

Unfortunately the roots of anxiety disorder and panic attacks lie deeper. The help of medication seems to be more focused on suppressing the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks rather than on the anxiety cure itself. And not everybody wants to take medication for life.

Some people get successful help for anxiety and panic attacks with talk therapies. Provided they have found a professional therapist who is specialized in treating anxiety and panic attack disorder. The therapist already should have helped people to cure anxiety for good. The reputation should be excellent and they should be able to show you proof of their successful cured patients.

This is important because you don´t want to start the whole procedure all over again in a few years time. The best is to get a therapist recommendation from somebody who is already cured.

Here is a tip:

Some people like to talk to other panic attack sufferers to share experiences and get the feeling of being better understood. They like to talk to people who go through the same like they do.

You can find people on the internet. There are anxiety forums or anxiety blogs. At last there are the self-help therapies with many different self-help books, courses and programs out there on how to cure anxiety and panic attacks. Not all of them are effective and some seem to have more informational character.

If you are a panic attack sufferer you might have tried many different things to cure the anxiety including professional help. Means consulting a therapist or else. Unfortunately not even professional therapists can always help you cure the anxiety forever.

Self- help is very often the last hope for people to cure the anxiety and panic attacks.

The most effective self-help programs that really help people to cure a certain disease or disorder, in this case, cure the anxiety and panic attacks, are developed by ordinary people with no specific qualification or title.

What qualifies them is, that they were suffering form that particular disorder themselves and managed to find a way to cure it.

Why is it like that?

Very easy, when nobody can help you anymore, you start a research on your own. You find out every little detail about your disorder. You become an expert yourself in that niche until you find a cure, because this is your last chance.

So a good tip may be, find a former anxiety and panic attack sufferer who is cured today. This person can understand you perfectly and can help you to cure the anxiety for good.

How to Know If You Are Affected With Alopecia?

A lot of people can be observed with balding spots or receding hairlines. There are some who has it because of heredity, but a lot of them have the condition because of alopecia. It could be brought many reasons. They could be using the wrong hair care product or there is a problem with their diet. People who are undergoing certain medical treatments like chemotherapy are also observed to have hair loss symptoms. Most of these hair loss condition signs are treatable. Once the cause is removed from their system, the hair grows back. You too could be practicing an unhealthy habit which could lead to hair loss. If you are not sure, there are some signs of alopecia that you need to watch out, before your hair is all gone.

The first is hair loss. If you observed that your crown is thinning out for no apparent reason, then you can be a candidate for the disease. Humans lose a certain amount of hair everyday. That is normal. But if you notice that you are losing hair in unusual number, then a trip to specialist is recommended. These experts will know what is causing it and can prescribe a remedy before your hair is all gone. Next in line for symptoms of Alopecia that needs to be monitored is baldness. The condition is defined as loss of scalp hair and is caused by many factors including drug side effects and certain medical conditions. However, if you have none of these causes and you are balding, you might already have alopecia and you need to have it treated as soon as possible.

Temporary or patchy hair loss was also observed to be signs of alopecia. Take note that alopecia does not affect scalp hair only. It is observed to be present in body hair as well. Therefore, the scalp need not only be the observed area. The effects of alopecia can be remedied if proper diagnosis and prompt medical treatment is given. It is a disease that affects many so instead of hiding or denying it, do not be ashamed to consult with a medical specialist.

Asthma is a histamine response due to dehydration. In my article Water An Antihistamine, I explain how histamine regulates the body’s water supply. When the body is short of water, histamine will control where the water is directed based on priority. Asthma, it was once thought, was brought on by stress, especially in children. Studies have shown that an estimated 75 percent of the population has some degree of dehydration, significant enough to affect their health. Along with dehydration, the majority of people’s body state is acidic due to our typical North American diet. Children love junk food which is very dehydrating and acidifying to the body which will explain why there are over 12 million child asthma sufferers in North America. There are many millions of adult sufferers as well.

Now we know that asthmatics have excessive levels of histamines in their lung tissues. If you breathe through your mouth long enough your mouth gets dry. Water is an integral part of keeping the lungs moist and functioning properly. Every time you breathe out, you lose water. When enough water is lost through the lungs, histamine kicks in to constrict the bronchial passages and increase mucus production to conserve whatever water is there. The mucus covers the tissues to prevent them from drying out. Once a diagnosis of asthma has occurred the person has been chronically dehydrated for some time. The constriction of the bronchial tubes occurs because there is not enough water to keep the cells hydrated and the nerves and blood vessels in the tissues are stressed and inflamed due to the histamine response.

If you are properly hydrated, the moisture in the lungs is rapidly replaced so histamine is not required to conserve and delegate water. By drinking enough water, particularly alkaline, ionized water, the inflammation in the lung tissue is relieved much sooner than drinking bottled water, tap water or reverse osmosis water. Water that is magnetized does not have a high enough pH to effectively address the acidic body terrain that is endemic in the population. Water that is microclustered is the most effective in hydrating the body. People seem to experience that the “water is wetter”, which seems like a silly statement, but the surface tension is significantly different. The alkalinity helps reduce the acid terrain and restore cellular balance.

Tests in animals show that an increase in water intake will reduce histamine levels significantly. Studies show that within a 2 to 3 week period enough water is present to reduce mucus buildup in the bronchi and lungs. Once this starts to occur, the spasms reduce and the bronchial passages begin to open. Normal breathing begins again as the body continues to be hydrated. In my clinic, I am seeing the same results with clients, their asthmatic symptoms are no longer there, now that they are hydrated properly. One client decided that his asthma was gone so he stopped drinking alkaline, ionized water. He started to drink tap water again. Within 3 weeks, he was starting to see symptoms again. Wisely, he started drinking alkaline, ionized water again and he is now symptom free.

It is not just the fingers that are susceptible to fingernail fungus, toenails are also at risk from it. The symptoms are usually thickening or softening of the nails, it might also cause discoloration. This is more than just a minor problem, and it can in fact be very difficult to manage. You must take steps to remove it from your nails as you could otherwise end up losing them.The thing with nails is that they make a great barrier against infections; however, once infection (fungus) manages to get through, it the same protective barrier can make it very difficult for us to treat the problem.

Fingernails fungus is contagious, which is why it is fairly widespread. The organisms that are responsible for the infection can easily spread from one person to another as a result of close contact. Note that no actual physical contact is necessary, as the organisms can even pass through the air should be it particularly moist.

And in what ways is fingernail fungus normally passed from one person to the next? Literal contact, such as standing with bare feet, or placing an uncovered hand, in an infected area is the main cause of new infections. With the using of contaminated items (shoes, gloves, towels, etc.) being another. Items stored in damp or sweaty places, or those that have been sweated in without being properly cleaned afterwards, pose the greatest risk.

Another prominent factor is the increasingly popular trend of applying acrylic nails. The unnatural processes that nails undergo as result of this beauty treatment break into their protective barrier and increase the possibility of fungus getting inside. It’s also quite possible that an already infected nail, which is showing as yet unnoticeable symptoms, has an acrylic nail placed over it, which then gives it a perfect, moist environment in which to develop.

Can nail fungus be treated? Yes it can. If you have the infection already then you can try over the counter or alternative treatments. If those don’t work then you should seek more potent medications which your health provider would prescribe for you.

However, prevention is still the best treatment. As such, you should always keep your nails well groomed and your feet well ventilated and dry. As much as possible, stay away from artificial nails and be sure that the tools used by your manicurist are well sanitized. You should find out if they do sanitize their tools and if not, then its time to find yourself a new manicurist. Remember that your nails, as insignificant and superficial as they may seem, say a lot about your state of health in general. Look after them, and give them the same care and attention that you give to the other parts of your body.

Smoking is a terrible habit, and we all know it. But after you’ve started it’s very addicting and the habit is difficult to break. Some smokers try many times to quit, but become so discouraged by failure that they resign themselves to the idea that they can’t do it. Quitting is possible for everyone who’s willing to work for it. In this article, you’ll find tips on how to quit smoking.

Some smokers try to quit all at once, and they may slip up and have a cigarette on occasion. For some, this kind of mess up can be discouraging enough to give up on quitting. You have to do what works best for you. Quitting gradually by reducing your smoking little by little is an option. You will occasionally smoke more than you want to. Push yourself to improve, but don’t let small failures ruin your resolve.

Don’t be the person who says “I’ll quit smoking when…” The world is full of those people, and they all have one thing in common: they are still smoking, and not doing anything about it. Commit to change now. Do something to work toward your goal, no matter how small.

Tell those around you about your goal to quit. Their support may be helpful. You may be able to find creative ways that your friends and family members can work with you and hold you accountable.

As you achieve your goal of quitting smoking, whether you’ve decided to do it all at once or gradually, you will be saving money. Use this money to buy small gifts for yourself as reinforcement. One of the benefits of not smoking or smoking less is having more money. You may eventually want to save this money for other things, but while you’re working on quitting you need to reward yourself.

If you follow the advice provided, you should be on your way to a smoke-free lifestyle. There will always be times when you want to smoke, and there will be times when you mess up. The important thing is to keep trying. You will quit smoking if you refuse to give up.

Removing the gallbladder surgically is an operation that takes from one to two hours, is relatively cheap and safe, and for generations has given acceptably good results in patients who have suffered from biliary colic due to gallstones. Patients have to be in hospital for three to seven days, and are off work for two to six weeks after their surgery.

Pain absence from work and patients’ fear of “major surgery” have over the last few years prompted surgeons to search for alternatives to the standard procedure. The talking point among surgeons today is Laparascopic Cholecystectomy – a tecpnique that came into vogue in the nineteen-eighties. Here, once the patient is under anaesthesia, the Laparascope, a long tube, somewhat like a telescope, is introduced into the abdomen through the navel and then connected to a video monitor. Through three special- tubes, 5 to 7 mm. in diameter that are inserted into the upper abdomen, special long shafted instruments are introduced inside, and the surgeon dissects, clips and removes the gallbladder – all the time watching the “target area” on the video monitor.

The technique is said to give minimal post-operative pain, and patients are able to get about easily after surgery, which makes it possible to return to work, or even sport, within a few days. One or two provisos exist – previous abdominal surgery, for example, precludes the use of this technique. Thus a whole series of alternatives to standard gallbladder surgery has evolved for the patient with gallstone problems. Although most of these techniques are new, and need to prove themselves with time, it would not be wrong to say that by the dawn of the 21st century, standard cholecystectomy will no longer be as commonly performed as it is today.

A person is suspected of mononucleosis when symptoms like fatigue, sore throat, fever, and swollen glands emerge. Some symptoms like liver enlargement, nausea, swollen spleen, diarrhea, headache, body aches, and respiratory symptoms may also arise and be indicative of this condition. Mononucleosis is otherwise known as Epstein Barr or glandular fever.

The patient’s age will be considered for diagnosis. An estimate of 50% among the children will develop mononucleosis before five years of age. Symptoms for mononucleosis can be mild or even none among children and babies.

The duration of illness is also considered for diagnosis. The cold or flu brought about by mononucleosis usually lasts longer, around 2 to 4 weeks, unlike common flu or cold lasting for only a few days. After the initial infection, some infected individuals may have recurrent symptoms. An example is a fatigue that lasts for several weeks or even months.

Laboratory examinations that seek to find a typical lymphocytes (a type of WBC) in the bloodstream, a total WBC count increase, and presence of Epstein Barr Virus antibodies will confirm the diagnosis of mononucleosis.

The mono spot test is an example of a mononucleosis antibody exam. The test is done to confirm the presence of heterophile antibodies in the bloodstream. During the first month of mononucleosis infection, heterophile antibodies appear but decreases after 4 weeks or so. These antibodies do not show up sometimes during the initial week of infection, and around 50% only of primarily Epstein Barr infected children may have the heterophile antibodies.

Due to mono spot test limitations, a need for additional examinations to diagnose mononucleosis may be required. These further antibody tests are important especially for expectant mothers and patients with compromised immune system. Major mono diagnostic antibody test includes: VCA-IgG (determine an individuals for viral susceptibility and recent infection); EA-D, VCA-IgA, VCA-IgM and EBNA (determines a recent viral infection). Further diagnostic exams to determine illness extent are platelet count, liver function test, and swab test for strep throat.

If and when the mono diagnostic tests yield negative results, then different tests should be done to diagnose the real condition of the mono signs and symptoms mimicry like cytomegalovirus, hepatitis, HIV, toxoplasmosis, and adenovirus.

Positive mono diagnosis will require increase pure water consumption, rest, as well as, intake of supplemental nutrients, diet, essential oils, homeopathics, and herbs to boost immune system.

Pranayama Breathing, a primer for those without a shimmer and an introduction into the incredible…

The following article focuses the relief from back pain – particularly lower back pain – on an incredibly simple method of breathing, whose name is Pranayama. The Harvard University Medical School, some years ago, undertook to bring a number of Pranayama breathers into their research labs to see what the fuss was all about. The results of their studies astonished everyone: first of all, Harvard doing such a study at all was remarkable and next, the results were even more so: the examining physicians concluded Pranayama was “the platinum credit card of health”.

I am going to pass along a shimmer, the briefest outline of how to change your life with the repetition of a single syllable, it is actually three syllables, since the first two are ones you say while you are exhaling and the last one is a sound you imagine you are saying, but cannot really, because you are inhaling through your nose while you think of yourself as uttering it. Though there can be no actual utterance while one inhales through one or both nostrils, the sound is very much present in the minds and bodies of those who breathe in this way. The three-part syllable is the ‘sacred’ syllable, Aum!

Yoga, by all those who misconceive it as a mystic practice — at worst as humbug, and at best a screwy set of self-hypnotic thoughts leading people to believe things are getting better when in fact they are getting worse – you are getting old and will die! Yogis know and respect this too, but there is more. Go on, surprise me… What I have to say concerning this is that yoga is quite simple, highly physical and very effective.

The problem I have with a poo-poo mode of thinking about yoga breathing is my practical experience with it: saying Aum has made it perfectly plain to me there is no mysticism involved at all. Pranayama is a physical manner of breathing, one that brings all of the outrageous benefits with it that the yogis claim it has. It does!

What I have written here so far is a simple fact: to breathe while saying Aum in the manner detailed below will change your life for the better and what is more, the more you practice this sort of breathing with a passion shaped by your own lively intelligence, the more obvious it will becomes that enlightenment is an inevitable event for the whole of mankind if only people would stop to bend, breathe and listen.

Starting with the subject in the title: Not only do lower back pains disappear as you align the vertebrae from the base of your spine to the nape of your neck but so do all the rest. The nadir of your exhalations are as effective in making you whole as are the peaks of inhalation. The skeleton is newly shaped and made; what had been a spine with pinched nerves becomes the Sushumna – the product of a stream of breath that replaces the natural body (cranky, filled with aches and pains, lumbago, you name it) with a body quite as physical as it was before but now integrated fully as a functioning whole, enlightened, luminous: without the practice of enlightened breathing, the Sushumna, quite simply, can never come to be. In this sense, then precisely, it is mystic.

Okay, I promised myself to keep this simple, so I will! What follows are some brief instructions. They are the beginnings of how to breathe in such a way as to experience what the yogis call “Samadhi”, the super-conscious state. What makes it super-conscious is not only does one notice things most people let slide but one’s very breathing itself becomes a conscious process; rather than one’s autonomic nervous system controlling one’s breathing one, as it were ‘leaps in’ and becomes a part of the operation so that one’s breathing is breathing and a new form of consciousness all at once.

Here goes:

Lie on your back on the floor. If the floor is of wood or stone, put a four-folded blanket down to cushion you. If it is summer, you can lie on your back in the grass and, after having inhaled as fully as you can, start exhaling from your belly and let it fall as far as it will go. When you do this, what is happening is that your diaphragm rises to the top of your solar plexus. When your belly can fall no further and the diaphragm has reached the limit of its ascent, switch over to your chest muscles, contracting them to compress your chest continuing the process of compressing your lungs. Let your belly and your chest compress completely. What results from these coordinated independent actions is your lungs have contracted until virtually all the air they contained is gone. Hold the air out for a moment or two, keeping your chest fully contracted.

Now, to let air back in, keep your belly compressed and let the air enter your chest first. Your chest will rise from the top to let in a fresh draft of air. When your expanding chest muscles stretch your ribcage out as far as it will go, the process of inhalation will cause your diaphragm to sink and, continuing to expand your chest, you will feel like the cobra Mucilinda spreading its hood; you will feel the air inside you forming a firm column. Once you get past the creaks you feel in the beginning, this turns into a very enjoyable experience! Exhaling from your belly again, you proceed in the two distinct steps (belly contracting first, your chest next and last) until all the air is all expelled from your body. Then you repeat the cycle.

In the beginning, you will notice a “hitch” when you exhale, a kind of stop in the flow of breathing out. What this is, is the transition from your abdominal muscles to your chest muscles pressing the remaining air out of your lungs. It is an unaccustomed muscular transition except when you are panting so hard your concentration is on catching your breath with no attention left over for how you should do it. The stop, the hitch in this muscular transition will disappear with practice; at first, it will drive you nuts until you get the hang of it. The way to smooth the transition from contracting your abdominal muscles to contracting your chest muscles working smoothly together to force the air up and out of your lungs, is to say, “Aaah” when you pull your belly muscles up and in, “Oooh” (pronounced like “you” but without the “y”) when you start adding your chest muscles to the push, down and out from your belly to the top of your chest. Then, with the syllable “mmm” in your mind, let your chest relax as air rushes back into your lungs from the top of your chest to the bottom of your belly, expanding as widely and as far as it will go. Do not worry! Practicing in this way will allow you to breathe fully; it is a definite improvement over taking superficial gulps of air into your chest. Why do this? Why not just breathe unconsciously?

The first effect of breathing this way is it eliminates lower back pains from your life forever! Why? Lower back pain is the result of a passive relationship superficial breathing forces you into with respect to your lower back (the lumbar region). When you breathe fully, exhaling from the belly, you put subtle pressure on the spine starting at the bottom of your spinal chord and ending (when you have mastered this sort of breathing) at the brain stem, also known as “the brain’s brain”. Deep breaths, in other words, massages the spine completely with every breath you take. When you have exhaled completely and then stretch your spine upwards, you will discover that the bones that were out of line in the spinal column will automatically slip into place. Not only are lower back pains history, so are pains in the rest of your spine up to and including your neck. Imagine! Full cycles of breathing massage the spine. They activate and serve to regulate the autonomic nervous system. Such respiration stimulates the spine and all its nerves. The positive results of this are easy to imagine.

You can breathe in this manner anytime you like, any time you have sufficient leisure: in the train, driving a car, sitting in a boring meeting. With steady practice, unnecessary pains become outdated with a nervous system that has come to life.

Breathing is well worth celebration. It is what your secret self did when you smoked only now you can do it openly. Celebrate, but please not with a cigarette!

If you are sexually active, you need to know about viral sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). Two of the most common are genital warts and genital herpes. They are different from other infections and diseases in that they are both caused by viruses and because they are both treatable. Neither virus is actually curable however. People should never confuse treatment with a cure.

There are differences between genital warts and genital herpes and so the way they are handled is completely different as well. Warts are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and herpes is caused by the virus Herpes Simplex II. Both HPV and herpes go through periods where they lie dormant in the system, and periods where symptoms flare up and become evident again.

The symptoms for both infections are quite different. Herpes starts with feelings of general illness, and this can include fever and other flu-like symptoms. There may be itching or burning in the genital or anal areas, and there may be a feeling of heaviness as well. These symptoms all lead up to the first actual outbreak. This outbreak then results in small, painful bumps that turn into open, weeping sores. After a while, the sores crust over and dry out, although a second round of sores can appear.

Warts, on the other hand, often appear as soft bumps that are red or pink, and can look much like warts that you would find on your hand. They may look like cauliflowers, and can appear anywhere on the vulva, anus or cervix in women, and on the penis and scrotum in men. They may often have a burning or itching feeling or they can be completely symptom free.

There are differences in how the two infections are spread as well. With herpes, it is all due to the spread of bodily fluids, and so a condom can do an excellent job of preventing their spread. That being said, it is a very bad idea to have sex with a partner during an active herpes outbreak. On the other hand, genital warts can be spread through skin to skin contact. They can be anywhere on the groin area, even places where a condom does not cover you, so you should not depend on a condom for protection.

The way these two viruses are treated is also very different. Genital herpes treatment falls into two categories: suppressive therapy, and the taking of oral antivirals. There is also genital herpes treatment that involves applying creams and lotions to the sores themselves. A few of the topical genital herpes treatment creams include Dyamiclear, which, though a topical treatment, does claim to kill the active herpes virus. There are also H-away and H-prevention, which claim to relieve symptoms.

Genital herpes treatment that relies on oral antivirals includes taking medications such as Zovirax, Valtrex and Famvir. All three of these medications have similar side effects including nausea, headaches and gastrointestinal upsets. You can also use herbal genital herpes treatment methods.

There are methods of treating genital warts as well. These are very different from genital herpes treatment. HPV treatment includes the use of topical creams and surgical methods to remove lesions. Creams can include Trichloracetic acid, Immiquod and Podofilox. If you require surgery, options include laser surgery and electrocautery. These burn the wart off. There is also cryosurgery which freezes the wart and causes it to fall off.

The problem with both of these conditions is that they tend to recur and be very difficult to treat. As with any sexually transmitted infection, you want to make sure that you think about prevention so that treatment is never necessary.