Simple Health Cures

   What is stem cell research all about? Scientists have been conducting experiments on the stem cells that are extracted from a new born baby’s placenta. This is the cord tissue which connects the mother to the baby and is used by the baby to get nutrition.

   The stem cells that are extracted from the placenta are not programmed to became a particular type of cell. For instances a cell in the liver will undergo cell division to produce only liver cells, but the stem cells can be injected with external DNA genes and be made to convert into any kind of cells for the body.

   This system has been used to make stem cells produce bone marrow cells. The new stem cell based bone marrow cells are then injected into a patient with bone marrow cancer. The new cells replace the ones with cancer which were killed by chemotherapy.

   Some measure of success has been recorded with the use of stem cells, but it is still a science in its infancy. A lot more studies have to be done before the technology will became more reliable and get approval from the government. There been protests by some groups over stem cell research as well.

   So while the potential of stem cell research could mean that one day you might be able to cure diabetes with it, today it is not yet possible. Much more ongiong research is required for that to come to pass. Yet for a diabetic person who needs to inject themself with insulin each day, it does offer a ray of hope in the not so distant future.

   Obstructive Sleep Apnea is one of the most common forms of breathing disorders while sleeping. In fact the majority of people who suffer from OSA or sleep apnea are not even aware that they are victims of the condition. The condition, which makes the person snore, gasp or even stop breathing for a while during sleep is tough to diagnose. It is usually only caught because of the observation of the sleeping partner. So if you sleep alone you may suffer from OSA and may not even be aware of it.

   What happens is that the upper airway collapses while you sleep for a short while up to ten seconds. This causes you to stop breathing for that ten second duration. This can happen repeatedly all night over a hundred times. This lowers your oxygen levels and your body will respond with raising the blood pressure, and disturbed sleep. The brain is sending messages to wake up the body to be able to breath  and this will not allow you to have a restful night’s sleep.

   There is also a strong relationship between Sleep Apnea and Diabetes. Half the people who suffer from type 2 diabetes are also victims of Sleep Apnea. Research has also demonstrated that in people suffering from diabetes the OSA may actually become worse over a period of time. Since it is possible to be treated for this condition, by using a Continous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP device you may experience the benefits the very first night you begin to use one. CPAP therapy helps even diabetes suffering from OSA to live healthier lives.

   Soy is best known as the milk substitute for those unable to have dairy products, but there may more benfits that you are unaware of. A nutrition scientist called Young-Cheui Kim in the University of Massachusetts has done extensive research in the soy containing foods. The team has identified the isoflavones, which are bioactive compounds that lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

   This basically means that eating food rich in soy isoflavones will lower your cholesterol and blood sugar levels, besides improving the glucose tolerance level in people already diagnosed with diabetes. So it will bode well for you to eat foods that are rich in soy. The one food in particular which has been proved to be helpful is soy yogurt.

   The blueberry soy yogurt was the most effective in blocking the enzymes that aid in digestion of carbohydrates. This means that the food gets digested slower and the blood glucose level does not rise all of a sudden after eating a meal. This reaction was first aided by alpha glucosiadase inhibitor drugs, but if the same chemical reaction can be achieved in the body by eating soy yogurt, it is definitely a healthier option.

   While blueberry soy yogurt showed the maximum benefits, plain soy yogurt came in a close secord in the research. However even the soy yogurt contains enough carbohydrates to equal two slices of bread or that contained in a medium sized banana. So you will have to be careful about just how much soy yogurt your can consume.

    Insulin is a hormone that is produced in the human body by the pancreas. It is released in the blood each time we eat a meal to help digest the glucose that the food release into the blood stream. This means that the glucose is prevented from sticking around in the blood and causing troubles to the body.

   In a diabetic person the body either does not produce the insulin in the right amount or is resistant to the insulin produced. If he is resistant to insulin it is type 1 diabetes, and if the body is unable to provide enough insulin it is called diabetes type 2. This is why he has to be given some insulin therapy.

   The articial insulin allows the body to control the blood glucose level. However one has to be very careful about the correct dosage of insulin needed by the body. This is why regular blood sugar teats are neede to be done by diabetic person.

   If the body has a higher level of insulin than normally needed other problems can crop up. One of the quickest conditions to manifest itself is high blood pressure. Another condition which comes about from insulin resistance is the weakening of bones as in osteoporosis.

   So you can see that too much or too little of the hormone insulin can cause a number of problems for the person. It is advised to consult a doctor and get blood tests done regularly to deal with the menace of diabetes and insulin. 

   Many people are going in for alternative healing techniques such as homoeopathy, ayurveda, reiki, gi gong, yoga, acupressure, and acupuncture amongst others. When complementary and alternative medicines are paired with the regular allopathic system of medicine the results seen are highly encouraging. A number of people report that with the use of alternative healing techniques corresponding to thier disease, they are able to see a marked improvement in the symptoms. This is shown time and again with a person suffering from diabetes.

   Matching the disease to the right treatment is a skill in most alternative medicine fields. Thus it is necessary to get the treatment done from a qualified and experienced healer. While going to some cheap quacks may result in the opposite. Harmonizing the treatment with the symptoms of the body is essential for the success of the alternative treatment techniques.

   Balancing the need for insulin creating drugs in the body and the complementary healing techniques needs to be monitored. Regular blood tests are needed to discern if the treatment that a diabetic person is undergoing is having a positive effect on the symptoms and levels of blood sugar in the body. So if you do try an alternative healing technique make sure you tell your doctor about it.

   That way you can capitalize on the double healing that a combination of two or more medicine systems give you. No matter which complementary medicine type you choose, make sure that you get your doctor’s approval before you try it out. And don’t forget the regular medicines that you have been prescribed. The need for these medicines may diminish over time, but your need to ensure that you are regular with them.

   If you have been diagnosed with lifestyle diabetes and do not yet need to take insulin tablets to control your blood sugar, you can cure your diabetes by regulating your lifestyle. Although this will take some effort on your part, it is well worth the exertion.

   The first thing that you need to concentrate on is the food that you eat. No matter how busy you are, you can no longer afford to grab a burger on the go. You have to plan your meals. You need to include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.

   You will need to make a list of foods that you must avoid and hang it in a place where you can see it every day. You also need to get into the habit of going shopping fro fresh groceries so that healthy snacks are always available for you.

   Pay special attention to being physically active in the day. Make sure that you exercise for at least half an hour each day. You can fix the time in the morning or evening as per your convenience. Just make sure that you are regular.

   It does not help if you do three hours of exercise one day and don’t even do 15 minutes the next day. The manta for success is regular exercise. If you can control your diet and be regular with your exercise activities there is no reason why you should not be able to control your diabetes in the early stage.

   Dr. J. Bart Classen is an immunologist working with Classen Immunotherpies. It was he who first sought to prove that vaccines are the largest cause of insulin dependent diabetes in children. The study indicated that vaccines caused 80% of causes of type 1 or insulin dependent diabetes in children who got vaccinated after 2 months of birth. The disease would not manifest itself till after four years of getting the immunization shots.

   The vaccines included in the study were pertussis, mumps, rebella, hepatitis B and hemophilus influenza. However it was also found that when children were immunized immediately after birth the chances of developing insulin dependent diabetes were markly reduced. Some support for the theory was found by the US centers for Disease Control or CDC. With support of research data which included studies of animals and humans, the conclusion drawn was that if the child was vaccinated in the first month after birth he was at reduced risk for type 1 diabetes.

   At the same time the same vaccines when given in the secord month of the child’s life would make the child far more likely to get insulin dependent diabetes in life. The CDC also proposed that the hepatitis B vaccine would reduce the incidence of type 1 diabetes in the children. This is consistent with the findings of the case studies of Dr. Classen. The issue of vaccinations is also under scrutiny because other diseases also seem to be related to this schedule of immunization recommended by the APA.

   Have you or a loved one been recently diagnosed with diabetes? Don’t panic about this. There is no reason why you or your dear one should not continue to live a long and fruitful life. The few steps that you take today will affect the way your health will be a few years from now. So here are the three steps that you need to do Now.

   1. Consult doctor: After the diagnosis you must get your doctor or health care provider to help you understand just how the disease is likely to affect your life. Get educated about the symptoms and try and understand what it is that you are dealing with. As they say forewarned is forearmed.

   2. Diet: The most drastic change in your life with diabetes will come in the foods that you can and cannot eat. Some restrictions will be easier than others. You will need to junk the fast food and start eating green leafy vegetables. There will be a focused shift on eating and cooking healthier food at home.

   3. Exercise: This is the only way that you can truly regulate the blood sugar levels in your body. Pick a form of exercise that you will be able to do every day. It does not have to be fancy or burn excessive calories. It needs to be regular. The easiest thing to do is go for a walk each day. This will help burn up all the extra glucose in the blood stream.

   If you watch what you eat and get exercise there is no reason why you will have to fear your regular visits to the doctor. Diabetes does not affect the quality of your life adversly.

   Magnesium is a mineral which is needed by the human body to function properly. It is one of many such trace elements that the person is expected to get from his daily food. The recommended daily allowance of Magnesium is between 350 to 400 milligrams in a day. It may seem like a ridiculously small amount for the adult body which weights at least 70 kg in most cases. But without this minimal Magnesium amount in your diet you can trigger 33 known conditions which are caused due to Magnesium Deficiency!

   The symptoms of magnesium deficiency tend to include agitation and anxiety, restless leg syndrome (RLS), sleep disorders, ittitabilty, vomiting, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, confusion, muscle spasm, hyperventilation, and insomnia. And this is in a normal healthy person, so imagine what such a deficiency can do to a person who is already suffering from diabetes. The lack of Magnesium causes the nerves to malfunction and then the nerve cells can not transmit messages to the brain and become excitable. This causes the person to become highly sensitive and nervous.

   In a person suffering from diabetes and peripheral neuropathy, magnesium can act like a natural tranquilizer. This is why a person with diabetes cannot afford to be deficient in the mineral. So Magnesium needs to be included in your diet. Now the trouble is getting the right amount through your diet is not always possible. For this reason most people turn to supplements that contain Magnesium. The supplements can come in form of magnesium oxide, magnesium citrate, magesium taurate and even as Magnesium oil.

   These days, when you get sick you go see your doctor. In turn, your doctor will probably prescrib medicine which you will need to purchase. You’ll then take the medicine and hope you get better. And the same thing will happen the next time you get sick and the next time after that.

   Maybe not. Natural medicine is just what is sounds like: using natural methods, herb and traditional practices in order to heal the sick or the wounded. For every culture there is a form of natural medicine.

   These natural medicine practices such as traditional, complementary and alternative medicine are usually referred to as those practices in place prior to modern medicine. They includes herbal medicine or phytoherapy, prevalent in Ayurvedic, Greek and Chinese medicine.

   Modern doctors soon put the natural herbs aside and chose to use man-made medicine instead. Many people consider natural medicine to be a lost art simply because it’s easier for them to prescrib a pill than to explain the mixture of herb required, for example.

   But when you think back to your ancestral roots, consider how they dealt with ear aches or an upset stomach. How did your mother treat your toothaches? Did she have a special procedure for bringing your fever down that didn’t involve taking some sort of medication out of a bottle? These are all things you can think about before heading to the nearest pharmacy for over the counter drugs, or to the hospital at the first sign of a cold.

   Many of the resources, herbs and other treatments used by people years ago can still have a positive effect on us now. For many of our family’s conditions, we can return to a more naturopathic, herbal method of treatment. Even in cases where we just want to prevent stomach cramps, or reactions to vaccines for our children, we can easily turn to natural ways to handle these situations.

   Had natural, herbal and alternative medicines not worked for our ancestors, perhaps things would be different today. First of all, a lot of us wouldn’t be here, would we? Then there are all the illnesses, conditions and other situations which could have been passed on generation to generation, without any hope of being remedied or relieve.

   Tes, many of today’s medications have become much more useful and powerful as those herbal remedies of our ancestors. And perhaps in some cases it’s very important to see modern medicine as being a helpful part of society. However, in other cases, which involve some minor conditions and ailments, can you see any reason for us not to try returning to those natural cures which were used for so many years? I think it’s worth the thought…