How Far are Herbs from Pharmaceuticals?

The thought of using herbal medicines to treat colds, headaches, and even chronic illnesses can send the average person into a state of shock. The fact is that most people in Western countries think of herbs as the medicines of barbaric medieval surgeons and tribal “witch” doctors. But while this was and is certainly true, most of these people would be shocked to discover that many of the pharmaceuticals commonly used in Western medicine are derived from these same “barbaric” herbs.

Western medicine frequently uses herbs like digitalis and even opium to treat many of the medical complaints and illnesses of the average, modern person. Digitalis is actually a plant from the Scrophulariaceae biological family and is closely related to the common English foxglove plant. Opium is used to create many pain medications commonly prescribed for hospital patients; it is created from seed pods of the opium poppy.

Complementary Medication and Alternative Medicines for Premenstrual Syndrome

Okay ladies, its time to talk about PMS. Premenstrual Syndrome is something that happens once a month and the severity definitely varies among women. Some women have emotional and physical symptoms that completely disrupt their lives while others experience minimal symptoms. The typical treatments for PMS are over the counter medications that can help with the bloating, irritability, headaches, and other symptoms. The most common of these medications is Midol and Tylenol PMS. However, there are plenty of complementary medication and alternative medicines that can help.

Although any man who lives or knows a woman who suffers from PMS will most likely complain about it, the woman definitely has it worse. It is terrible feeling bloated, ugly, irritable, unstable, depressed, not to mention the pain and discomfort as well. Complementary medication and alternative medicines are available so that this time of the month does not have to be so disruptive.

Complementary medication is taken in conjunction to the traditional medications. Therefore, this could include drinking a chamomile tea to relax the muscles and help with the sleep deprivation while taking an over the counter medication or birth control pill. Alternative medicines are used instead of traditional medications. Therefore, women who are not on a steady birth control pill or do not want to take over the counter medications should look into the alternative medicines. Alternative medicines do not have to be something that is ingested. Complementary medication and alternative medicines can consist of relaxation methods, exercise, diet change, and other treatments.

Relaxation techniques usually involve breathing exercises, yoga, and meditation. This can help reduce the irritability as well as the mood swings. For women who get depression with their PMS, something called sleep deprivation therapy could help. It has been proven that women who experience at least one night of recovery sleep typically do not experience as much depression with their PMS. This means that at least one of the nights during PMS or the actual period, it is helpful to get around three or four extra hours of sleep.

This helps the body recover from the stresses of the PMS and period. Another common complementary medication and alternative medicines therapy is bright light therapy. This is when women intakes cool white florescent light in the mornings during the time of PMS can reduce the symptoms. Regardless of what symptoms need to be helped, there are tons of options and choices for complementary medication and alternative medicines for women who suffer from PMS, and let us face it, the men in their lives as well.

Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is one of the most diagnosed diseases of the intestine. It is an autoimmune disease meaning that the body’s immune system is attacking the large intestine. Although commonly confused with irritable bowel syndrome and Chrones’ Disease it is different. Ulcerative colitis affects the lining of the large intestine and rectum. Chrones can appear anywhere from the esophagus to the rectum and is deeper within the walls of the intestine and other organs. Ulcerative colitis is typically controlled through the use of an anti-inflammatory drug called Asacol.

Although when Asacol does not control the illness the next step is steroids and then a surgery called a total colectomy and J pouch. The root of the illness has not been determined, but there is definitely a genetic link. There is also the sign that stress and irritation to the body both physically and mentally can have a negative effect on the illness. Although stress does not create the disease, it can make the symptoms worse. If typical drug therapy is something that someone with colitis is not interested in, then there are complementary and alternative therapies available. However, colitis can be quite serious and results in the bleeding of the intestines and therefore, people are most often to use complementary therapies rather than alternative therapies.

The most common of the complementary and alternative therapies is most definitely psychotherapy or counseling. This is because it can reduce the stress and therefore lessen the symptoms of the disease. It allows people to remain on an even keel so to speak and with mood stabilization comes less pain and discomfort. Complementary and alternative therapies can also include changing your diet. For example, sometimes the lining of the colon is so affected that foods that are difficult to digest normally become impossible for people with colitis to digest.

Therefore, it is quite common for a complementary and alternative therapies diet to include the following. First, corn and popcorn are often not tolerated by people with the illness and refrain from eating these foods. Others may find it hard to digest foods that are considered roughage as well as anything that is overly spicy. There are many different diet plans available for people with colitis; however, each person will notice what disturbs their system the most. Complementary and alternative therapies may also include drinking hot beverages with their meals and having relaxing hot baths. The heat from the beverage helps to digest food while the heat from the bath tends to relax the bowel. Complementary and alternative therapies for ulcerative colitis can be researched online, from a physician, or in medical journals.

All Basics about Liver Failure Alternative Medicines

Liver failure is a serious condition that definitely needs a combination of traditional and liver failure alternative medicines. Liver failure can be caused by several different things. The most common causes of liver failure include alcoholism, Hepatitis C, and Cancer. Liver failure can come in two forms. One is known as chronic and the other as acute. Acute liver failure presents itself with symptoms of confusion and stupor as well as jaundice. Chronic liver is most commonly found in people with cirrhosis and this is caused by excess alcohol intake as well as hepatitis and auto immune diseases. Liver failure is something that is very serious and often necessary medications and medical treatment is necessary. Hospitalization is quite common in people with cirrhosis but also with any form of acute or chronic liver failure. Therefore liver failure alternative medicines are quite hard to come by. Especially of the liver disease is caused by alcohol or Hepatitis.

However, for liver failure or disease that is not caused by alcohol or Hepatitis, there is an herb that can be helpful. The most commonly used of the liver failure alternative medicines is something known as milk thistle extract. Milk thistle is said to reduce the toxins and pollutants that certain substances can have on the blood stream which in turn have a negative effect on the liver. The next most common of the liver failure alternative medicines is diet restriction. People with liver disease and failure are told to avoid very specific foods. For instance, it is essential for them to avoid the intake of salt. For people who suffer from liver failure caused by alcoholism, one of the most common alternative therapies is counseling and addictions treatment. Stopping the intake of alcohol is now a matter of physical, mental, and emotional health. The efforts to control or help the addiction should be a focus so that self harm does not continue. Other than that, it is quite common that most liver failure alternative medicines are found within the confines of the hospital. Liver failure does quite commonly result in hospital stays and once hospitalized there are several different alternative medicines found within the hospital. The liver failure alternative medicines in the hospital often focus on symptoms that have extended from the liver failure. Liver failure is a very devastating ailment and it can be important for people suffering from it to have more than just traditional medicine. Sometimes the prognosis can be poor and anything that could help brings comfort to the patient. Of course any treatment of such a serious condition should be monitored by a physician.

Autism and Diet: Fact or Fiction?

For years there has been research into finding cures for autism. In today’s society, autism has reached a new high with increasing diagnoses throughout the world. Because of this, special attention is now being focused on finding a cure as well as relieving some of the symptoms of autism. One of the ideas that have been popular in recent years is the idea that a special autism diet will have a significant effect on those diagnosed with the disease. Does an autism diet actually work, though? This subject has been the topic of much debate and we are just now getting more information on the facts and fallacies of such claims.

The fact of the matter is, there have been reported individual cases of improvement when altering the diet of someone with autism. However, widespread success rates and the odds of it being successful on a large scale are debatable. The primary premise of an autism diet is to cut out gluten and dairy. The reason for this is based on characteristics of ingredients found in dairy and gluten products that contain properties reported to act like an opiate. This may exacerbate any autistic symptoms that may be present. Cutting out these ingredients may help improve the functionality of someone with autism. This is a fascinating theory and one that holds promise as a possible treatment. However, the facts do not support this as much more than a possible way to fix individual issues on a small scale in some patients.

First, the way the opiate properties are absorbed in autistic patients is via permeable intestines, an ailment more commonly found in autistics. Although it is commonly found in autistics, not everyone who has autism has permeable intestines. In fact only twenty percent do. As far as statistics go, this is much higher than most segments of the population but is by no means a majority of autistic patients. If this is the case, gluten and dairy should have no ill effect and no change in diet will affect the symptoms. The reverse is also true. People around the world eat diets high in dairy and gluten with no ill effects. Some of them are not diagnosed with autism yet do have permeable intestines. No abnormalities are seen in them; therefore, the theory does not seem to be sound as a whole.

So what about the reported incidents of improvement when diet is changed? There is no doubt that this has occurred in some instances. Medical professionals tend to agree the reason for this is an added comfort level on the part of an autistic patient who also has gastrointestinal problems. If you relieve one of the accompanying symptoms of the core disease, the autistic patient may be more comfortable, better able to focus and more amenable to learning and absorbing coping techniques. This will lend to improvement in the overall behavior and ability to function within society. However, no concrete evidence shows that changing diet will affect all autistics in a positive manner in the least.

Because of this, most medical professionals advise a change in diet only for those who have gastrointestinal issues and only on a temporary basis to see if improvement is reached. If there is improvement, continue with the dietary changes of eliminating gluten and dairy from the diet. However, if no change is seen or if the patient has no gastrointestinal problems, it is advisable not to alter the diet in any way. A gluten and dairy free diet is difficult and stressful to sustain and there is no need to go to such extremes if there will be no positive benefits from it.