Meaning and Principles of Ayurveda

Ayurveda comprising of Ayur (life) and Veda (Scince or knowledge) is a holistic healing science which is in other words called “Science of life”.

Ayurveda deals with the complete way of life, rather than just the treatment of diseases.Basic principlesAyurveda considers the humanity and universe as a common origin, and considers nature to […]

Mediterranean Diet for Mom Fends Off Asthma, Allergies in Kids

(HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women who eat a Mediterranean diet rich in fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, dairy products and olive oil may help protect their children against asthma and allergies, new research suggests.

The study, published online this week in Thorax, included 468 mother and child pairs that were followed from pregnancy up to 6.5 years after birth. The researchers collected information on eating habits and on the children's asthma and allergy symptoms.

About 36 percent of the mothers ate a low-quality Mediterranean diet during pregnancy, while the rest ate a high-quality Mediterranean diet. A little more than 13 percent of all the children had persistent wheezing, 17 percent had positive responses to skin test allergens, and almost 6 percent had asthma-like symptoms plus positive skin test results.

The study found that mothers who ate a high-quality Mediterranean diet during pregnancy were significantly more likely to have children free of asthmatic symptoms and allergies than women who ate a low-quality Mediterranean diet.

Pregnant women who ate vegetables more than eight times a week, fish more than three times a week, and legumes more than once a week seemed to protect their children the most from asthma and allergies. Mothers who ate red meat more than three to four times a week seemed to increase their children's risk.

Children's eating habits at the age of 6.5 years seemed to have little effect on their asthma or allergy risk, the study found.

More information
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology has more about prevention of allergies and asthma in children.

'Enose' Device Sniffs Out Asthma

(HealthDay News) -- A device dubbed the electronic nose -- or Enose -- may be able to spot differences in the breath of people with asthma and those without, potentially aiding in diagnosis, Dutch experts say.

However, this "scent detective" is still in the early stages of development and can't yet effectively distinguish between mild and severe asthma, they added.

"Our Enose was able to recognize patients with mild and severe asthma from healthy subjects with promising discrimination rates. However, the discrimination between mild and severe asthma was less powerful," said study author, Dr. Silvano Dragonieri, of Leiden University Medical Center.

If validated by other studies, "Enose technology might be a noninvasive, quick, cheap and easy to perform [diagnostic] method," he added.

Dragonieri presented the findings Monday at the American Thoracic Society international conference in San Francisco.

Currently, asthma is diagnosed based on symptoms and on measures of lung function. The signs of asthma include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing and a feeling of tightness in the chest, according to asthma and allergy specialist Dr. Clifford Bassett, a clinical instructor at the New York University School of Medicine.

The problem is that other conditions can also mimic those signs and symptoms. Those conditions include bronchitis, sinusitis and even too much exposure to secondhand smoke, so it's not always simple to diagnose the disease.

"Asthma is a common, treatable disease. But asthma can be a life-threatening condition. Any time clinicians can do a better job identifying patients at high risk of asthma, by any means, that's a very important thing," Bassett said of the new device's potential.

The Enose sniffs out asthma through chemical vapor sensors that detect chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath.

"A person's breath contains a mixture of thousands of VOCs that may be used as markers of lung disease," said Dragonieri. Devices like Enose have been already used in the food, wine and perfume industries, and they can also detect explosives or toxic chemicals, making the technology useful in the fight against terrorism.

Along with this study of the Enose in asthma, the technology is also being studied to assess its usefulness in detecting lung cancer.

Every person has a unique "smell print," which the device can sniff out, the researchers explained. To assess the effectiveness of the Enose in accurately diagnosing asthma, Dragonieri's team compared the smell prints of 20 people with asthma -- 10 with mild airway disease and 10 with severe -- to the smell prints of 20 healthy volunteers.

The device was 95 percent effective in picking out who had asthma and who didn't, but only 65 percent effective at discerning mild from severe asthma.

"There may be several reasons [why the device wasn't as sensitive at detecting differences in asthma levels], but we can only speculate," explained Dragonieri. "It might be the VOC's composition, regardless of its severity, so the changes of VOCs spectrum are noteworthy between healthy subjects and asthmatics and less evident between severe and mild asthmatics."
"Enose technology is still in an embryonic stage," he added. "It has the potential to become a useful diagnostic tool, but still many other steps have to be done before this method can be validated," he said.

More information
To learn more about how asthma is currently diagnosed, visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Herbs for ADD?

Herbs for ADD?Are there any natural herbs that could be used instead of the Ritalin drugs psychiatrists often prescribe for Attention Deficit Disorder in children? What about foods?

Ritalin, a stimulant, remains the most common treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), also called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Paradoxically, with ADHD the drug has a calming effect, apparently because it stimulates parts of the brain that regulate activity and attention. While it can have excellent results in some cases, I think it is greatly over-prescribed.

I'm not aware of any herbal treatment for ADHD, except possibly coffee, which may work like Ritalin for some patients. My colleague, pediatrician Sandy Newmark, M.D., confirms that no herbs have been found effective for treating the main or "core" symptoms of ADHD - that is, lack of focused attention that often leads to poor school performance. And he doesn't think coffee is a good long-term solution. However, Dr. Newmark notes that herbs can help with some of the associated symptoms. For example, valerian tea can help youngsters with sleeping problems and St. John's wort can help relieve depression. For children under 12, use half the adult dosage.
Dr. Newmark does recommend an omega-3 fatty acid supplement for all children with ADHD, because levels of omega-3s in the plasma and red blood cells of children with ADHD are lower than in non-ADHD children. He also recommends that youngsters with ADHD take a quality multivitamin (Dr. Newmark recommends InVite for Kids Multivitamin and an omega-3 product appropriate to the child's age and individual situation) as well as a good probiotic, a product that contains "friendly" bacteria that can stabilize the digestive tract. You can find milk-free brands in health-food stores. I recommend those such as "Culturelle" that contain Lactobacillus GG.

Make sure that the underlying cause of your child's disruptive behavior really is ADHD, and that he or she isn't acting out difficulties at home or expressing frustration with a learning disability. Be sure to rule out hearing or vision problems, allergies, depression, or even boredom in a gifted child.
As far as foods are concerned, while there's no evidence that a dietary approach helps in all cases, a 1993 Cornell University study found that eliminating dairy products, wheat, corn, yeast, soy, citrus, eggs, chocolate, peanuts, and artificial colors and preservatives seemed to decrease ADHD symptoms. An earlier study showed that a low-allergen diet supplemented with calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamins produced favorable results.
Andrew Weil, M.D.

Eczema, Hay Fever Stabilizing in U.K.

(HealthDay News) -- Rates of eczema and hay fever in the United Kingdom appear to have stabilized, after charting a steady rise over recent decades.

However, the study also found that rates of systemic allergic reactions -- including the severe condition known as anaphylaxis -- have surged in the past 20 years.

The researchers analyzed data gathered from numerous sources: national surveys, primary care doctors, prescription and hospital admission records, and death records.

Over the past three decades, diagnoses of allergic rhinitis and eczema in children have tripled, but there appears to have been a recent decrease in the prevalence of symptoms. Hospital admissions for eczema have stabilized since 1995, the researchers found, while admissions for allergic rhinitis have decreased to about 40 percent of their 1990 levels.

Between 1971 and 1991, the number of consultations with family doctors about hay fever increased by 260 percent and by 150 percent for eczema. However, these rates have stabilized in the past 10 years, the study said.

Hospital admissions for anaphylaxis have soared by 700 percent, for food allergy by 500 percent, and for the skin allergy urticaria by 100 percent.

Prescriptions for all types of allergies have increased since 1991.

The researchers said that some of the trends could be related to changes in medical practice and care but could also be explained by changes in the sources of allergic disease.
The study was published in the current issue of Thorax.

More information
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology has more about allergic reactions.

Alternative medicine offers options for fertility treatments

After three years of trying to conceive and three failed attempts at in vitro fertilization, Tracey Carroll, 33, desperately turned to the East for help. She sought the needles and herbs of an acupuncturist.
In fact, her new in-vitro doctor insisted. After she had her fourth session of getting pricked, her menstrual cycle became regular for the first time in three years. Carroll also swallowed 18 pills of "smelly, yucky herbs" of which the ingredients were derived from cow spleen and pituitary gland believed to regulate her hormones.
Six months later, the woman is now expecting twins, due in December - and believes acupuncture played a large role.

Carroll is among an increasing number of American women who are turning to alternative, Eastern medicinal arts for problems with infertility, menopause, weight loss and even dry skin.
Once dismissed as mystical quackery by many medical doctors, acupuncture treatments are now recommended by some in-vitro specialists as a way to increase fertility.

Meanwhile, other women turn to ayurveda - a 5,000-year-old practice from India that incorporates mind, body and spirit - to ensure health. Women turn to it to rid their body of toxins and dull skin. Both Eastern holistic approaches employ herbs and massage or acupuncture to bring the body into balance.

Carroll, a teacher, says that in her first session, Milpitas, Calif., acupuncturist Robin Hays diagnosed that her natural killer cells in her immune system were elevated, which meant her body might attack an embryo. A week later, blood tests confirmed it.

Acupuncture, an integral part of traditional Chinese medicine, stimulates blood flow and encourages better circulation. Needles are inserted into the body at various energy points, which correspond to organs in the body. Acupuncturists also employ herbs to bring balance to the body.

For women trying to conceive, acupuncture often focuses on the uterus, Hays says.
"It's creating a fertile valley to grow a seed or an embryo," she says. Hays, who turned to acupuncture for a sprained ankle two decades ago, was so delighted with the results that she pursued it as a profession. She graduated from San Francisco's American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1985.

Back then, it was mostly Chinese and older hippies who turned to acupuncture, Hays says. Her patients didn't even tell their primary doctors about their treatments because most of the medical establishment eyed it suspiciously. Now, some insurance plans cover acupuncture, and she's getting referrals from doctors, including Dr. Christo Zouves of the Zouves Fertility Center in Daly City, Calif.

Eighty-five percent of patients at the fertility center undergo acupuncture as part of their treatments, Zouves says. He also recommends yoga, meditation and eating healthily to his patients.

"It's about the mind/body connection," says Zouves, who adopted Eastern holistic approaches to his practice a decade ago.

His experience and medical studies show that acupuncture stimulates blood flow to the pelvis and uterus. "We don't know how it works, but it does," he says.
At Hays' practice, about half of the patients see her for women's health issues, including premenstrual syndrome, irregular menstrual cycles and menopause. She also treats many patients for pain disorders and allergies.

"Most of my patients come because they don't want to take drugs," she says.
Meanwhile, other women are turning to ayurvedic remedies, which use herbal treatments, tailored diets and massage to build up immune systems and detoxify bodies. Across the country, ayurvedic spas have sprung up to pamper women and promise radiant skin. A survey of spas offering "wellness treatments" in 2004 found that 12 percent added ayurvedic services while an additional 7 percent planned to, according to the International Spa Association.

Ayoma LifeSpa in San Jose, Calif., offers ayurvedic massage treatments as well as longer-term nutritional consultations for regular members. Before each treatment, clients fill out a questionnaire so an ayurvedic consultant can gauge the imbalances in their body.
By McClatchy/Tribune Information Services

AIDS AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVE

Prof Madiraju V Subramanyam

According to Ayurveda the AIDS disease may be correlated with `Kshaya` or `Ojakshaya` meaning loss of energy. The Symptoms and causative factors and treatment for the latter are found mentioned in many ancient Ayurvedic tests like, Charaka Samhitha, Bhavaprakasha,Vaidyachintamani and Chakradatta etc., Shosha is another condition, which results from loss of energy that is similar to AIDS.

The disease is caused by the dominant kapha dosha along with the other doshas tends to block the path for the flow of rasadi dhatus in their respective locations thus resulting in the deterioration of saptha dhatu Rasa(plasma), Rakta (blood cells), Mansa ( muscular tissue), Meda (adipose tissue), Asthi (bony tissue), Majja (bone marrow) and the Shukra (reproductive tissue). thus resulting into the disease. The major symptoms are: loss of appetite, drastic loss of weight-emaciation fatigue and lethargy susceptibility to allergies and contagious diseases skin irritations bronchial disorders, often leading to tuberculosis of the lungs damage to intestinal flora resulting in diarrhea, dysentery, gastritis and wide fluctuations in body temperature. prolonged fever sleeplessness etc.

Treatment of dandruff by herbal oil

Prof Madiraju V Subramanyam

Dandruff is a chronic condition that can almost always be controlled, but it may take a little patience and persistence. In general, mild scaling can often be helped by daily cleansing with a gentle shampoo to reduce oiliness and cell buildup. When regular shampoos fail, OTC dandruff shampoos may succeed. But dandruff shampoos aren`t all alike, and one may need to experiment until the best one is found. Dandruff shampoos are classified according to their active ingredient:

Self-care
One can`t prevent dandruff, but can take steps to reduce risk:Learn to manage stress. Stress affects your overall health, making you susceptible to a number of conditions and diseases. It can even help trigger dandruff or exacerbate existing symptoms. Shampoo often. If you tend to have an oily scalp, daily shampooing to remove the excess oil may help stave off dandruff.
Cut back on styling products. Hair sprays, styling gels, mousses and hair waxes can all build up on hair and scalp, making them oilier. Some people may even develop allergies to various hair care products. Eat a healthy diet. For overall good health, include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and small amounts of lean protein in your diet. Get a little sun. Sunlight may be good for dandruff. But because exposure to ultraviolet light damages your skin and increases risk of skin cancer, don’t sunbathe. Instead, just spend a little time outdoors. And be sure to wear sunscreen on your face and body.

Complementary and alternative medicine
Most complementary approaches focus on treating the problem from the inside out — with diet and nutritional supplements. Here are some of the most common suggestions:Limit sugar and yeast. Sweets and yeast-containing foods such as bread, beer and wine may encourage the growth of the fungus that causes dandruff. Emphasize B vitamins. These are essential for healthy skin and hair. Good food sources include whole grains, egg yolks, soybeans, bananas, avocados, and nuts and seeds and dark leafy greens, such as spinach. B-vitamin supplements are available in natural foods stores and many drugstores.

More:

Is the Macrobiotic Diet Good for You?

Is the Macrobiotic Diet Good for You?
Provided by: DrWeil.com

Q: What is your opinion of the macrobiotic diet? I was on it about 20 years ago, lost weight, and felt absolutely wonderful. -- Jaime A: The macrobiotic diet, which originated in Japan, emphasizes whole grains (such as brown rice, barley, oats, corn, rye, wheat and buckwheat, which comprise 50 percent of the diet), seasonal vegetables, and, for protein, fish, soy foods and legumes with smaller amounts of sea vegetables, nuts, and seeds. It excludes all meats, eggs, cheese, sugar and sweets, most spices, coffee, alcohol, and most fruit.

You definitely can lose weight on a macrobiotic diet because it is low in fats, sugar and calories, and contains lots of fiber and complex carbohydrates. In general, it is a healthy way of eating, since it eliminates processed, highly refined foods, but claims that it can reverse cancer or strengthen the immune system have yet to be proved. An ongoing study sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is investigating whether a macrobiotic diet works better than the American Heart Association diet (with or without added flaxseeds) in lowering the risks of heart disease, breast and endometrial cancers and osteoporosis among women between the ages of 50 and 72.

Despite its benefits, there are some drawbacks to the macrobiotic diet due to its limited food choices. It provides too much sodium, as does Japanese food in general, and its exclusion of most fruit deprives people of many beneficial phytonutrients. Eliminating all animal protein can lead to a deficiency of vitamin B12. Following a macrobiotic diet can also lead to deficiencies of protein, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, iron and other B vitamins such as riboflavin. If you go macrobiotic, I would recommend taking a good multivitamin and mineral supplement.

A peculiarity of the diet is that it eliminates and labels "nightshade" vegetables - including tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants - as unhealthy. However, this is not the case. These foods are not at all dangerous except possibly to those who have allergies or sensitivities to one or more of them. A small percentage of people with arthritis are sensitive to nightshade vegetables and do better if they avoid them.

If you can live with the restrictions and manage to avoid the potential nutritional deficiencies, there's no reason not to follow a macrobiotic diet. However, I would recommend following this diet while under the supervision of a physician, who you can alert if you have any symptoms of fatigue, pain in muscles or joints, increased irritability or susceptibility to infections.
Andrew Weil, MD

Ayurvedic Management of Ulcerative Colitis - Part 1

by Dr. Harish Kumar Verma
Ulcerative Colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease, which causes inflammation and ulceration of inner lining of the colon and rectum. The inflammation usually begins in the rectum and sigmoid colon and spread upward to the entire colon. Ulcerative colitis rarely affects the small intestine. It occurs at the rate of approximately five cases per 100,000 people. The disease pattern is one of the remission and exacerbation. It can occur at any age but its onset is most common among people between ages of 15 - 40. Ulcerative colitis affects male and females equally and appears to run in some families.
What Causes Ulcerative Colitis ? -The exact cause of Ulcerative is not known. Autoimmune factors, food allergies, collagen disorders, genetic factors, infection and psychogenesis have all been suggested. One or some combination of these factors thought to trigger the inflammatory process. The theory of the involvement of the immune mechanism has been widely accepted because of concept that therapeutic agents like Corticosteroids and Azothiaprine exert their effect via the immuno suppressive mechanism. The psychological factors of feelings like anger and anxiety of the degree of depression experienced by a sufferer are also important in modifying the course of the disease.
How Ulcerative Colitis Affects the Intestines ? In Ulcerative Colitis, inflammation is triggered by some unknown elements. Hyperemia and swelling occur as part of the vascular response. The swollen, engorged bowel is fragile and is therefore inclined to ulcerate, thus creating a break in the mucosal barrier. Digestive enzymes and intestinal bacteria act upon this exposed tissue, causing further irritation, inflammation, ulceration and bleeding.
Ayurvedic view - Sushruta mentioned in Sushruta Samhita about 3000 years ago that Pitta type people are more prone to Ulcerative Colitis (Rakata Atisaar).
Causes of Ulcerative Colitis according to Ayurveda -All the factors that imbalance ‘Pitta’ bio-energy are also responsible for developing Ulcerative Colitis. These include indulgence in too many arguments, eating while watching TV or walking, watching too many violent movies, excessive heat or exposure of the sun, excessive alcohol and smoking, excessive mental activity, skipping meals, spicy, sour or stale and infected foods etc. In Pitta constitution persons, Pitta gets aggravated very quickly with the above factors and patients develop diarrhea followed by bloody diarrhea.
Ayurvedic Medicine
DrEddyClinic.com