The human brain is the most complex and highly sophisticated computer ever built. The entire nervous system is very complex and is as vulnerable to various problems as the rest of the body is. There is fear of damage to the brain cells, infections, injuries, degeneration and other defects and tumors. Degeneration or disease in which nerve cells degenerate and die, usually quite slowly, is pre-senile dementia, which includes Alzheimer’s.

What is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a non-reversible age-related brain disorder that develops over a period of time (years). In the initial stages, people experience confusion and memory loss, which usually is mistaken for memory changes associated with aging. However, these symptoms of AD gradually lead to personality and behavior changes, a decline in cognitive abilities such as decision-making skills, language skills as well as problems recognizing even close family and friends. Ultimately, AD leads to loss of mental function. These losses are caused by the worsening breakdown of the connections between different neurons in the brain and eventually their death. AD comes under the group of disorders called dementias and is the most common cause of dementia among people aged 65 and older. (more…)

Obesity is a problem most adults of today face. Some give up trying to reduce weight thinking it’s hereditary and others get discouraged when nothing seems to work. There are some people who are happy with themselves and what they are.

Agreed, we do not have to bother about what others feel about us but we have to be concerned about our health. Obesity as we all know leads to all sorts of health problems. Lack of exercise only aggravates the situation.

Researchers have time and again drilled it into us that exercise helps burn fat. Results of another recent study reveal that just a single bout of exercise helps obese people boost their fat-burning rate and improve their metabolism.

This is great news and should motivate all those obese individuals who have given up taking care of their health. According to a researcher from the University of Michigan, “This means that exercising, even without losing weight, can benefit individuals in terms of metabolic health. By exercising to increase their ability to burn fat and store fat as triglycerides in muscle, which is beneficial, people reduce their insulin resistance and their likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.”

They also found that obese women’s fat burning rate had reduced when they overate and did not exercise. (more…)

A woman’s curse? In the West, through much of its history, women were considered ritually unclean during the monthly flow of blood. This period put a woman into a state of ritual defilement. Theologians believed that this “unclean creature” could not be entrusted with the care of God’s sacred rituals. Similar taboos existed among many cultures, including the Greeks and Romans. Women were not only considered to be “impure” but in danger of communicating this impurity to others. Anyone who touches a woman or her belongings becomes unclean and must clean themselves. These traditions were onerous and complicated.

Now for the blessings of the curse! The same blood is now claimed by researchers as life-saving. It is found to contain stem cells that are in the early stages of development, thus having the potential to turn into different types of cells.

American and Japanese researchers say that this blood contains adult stem cells and can be the “super repair kit” for the body. These stem cells can be used to develop nine different types of cells for growing new cartilage, bone, fat, skin, brain cells, lung, nerve, muscle and even the heart. (more…)

By now you know that it is not possible to “live” with a toxic colon because it will not let you live. Yes, it can get very bad if neglected and lead to a host of debilitating health issues, including obesity, severe gastrointestinal dysfunction, gum disease, food allergies as well as recurring depression. But, how do you know if you are a victim?

You will certainly know when you cannot see your knees anymore – due to overweight. That sounds scary but it is a fact.

There are other ways of finding out the condition of the colon. One obvious sign is difficult and painful bowel movements. According to Robert Gray, a nutritional counselor, “Few people have any inkling as to how much old, hardened feces are chronically present within their bodies.”

Transit time can also be used to measure the health of a bowel, with the optimal transit time being 18-20 hours. Other symptoms of a toxic bowel are bloating and gas, weight gain, lower back pain, headaches, fatigue, depression, dark circles under the eyes, sallow complexion, abnormal body odor, tender abdomen and bad breath.

While observing the symptoms is essential, nutritionists also advise undergoing tests to get more detailed information about the colon condition. These tests may also help determine the treatment that is needed. (more…)

“Funiculus umbilicalis” in spite of sounding like a magic spell from a Harry Potter movie; is the Latin name for the narrow cord of tissue, commonly known as the umbilical cord that connects the embryo to the placenta. It brings nutrient-rich oxygenated blood from the placenta to the embryo or fetus and returns the deoxygenated, nutrient-depleted blood to the placenta.

According to researchers, this fetal life-support system has now been found to have other uses too. Stem cells from the umbilical cord are said to be helpful in the treatment of several diseases, such as hepatic diseases, sickle cell disease, leukemia, thallasemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and others. When healthy stem cells are transplanted into an ill child, these cells can grow new bone marrow cells and replace the destroyed ones.

Cord blood is the blood that is left in the umbilical cord after birth. This blood contains stem cells, which is what a human body is made of. These cells have the ability to develop into hundreds of different types of cells in the human body, like blood cells, bone marrow cells and brain cells. They are found at every stage, when developing from an embryo into an adult.

Stem cell research was always believed to hold awesome potential. Scientists believe that stem cells may be used to repair or even replace damaged cells and this has a huge potential of changing the treatment for diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s etc.

Researchers from the Universities of Leon and Granada have revealed that the human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCBCs) have been studied to have the capacity to treat hepatic diseases, such as hepatitis. They also say these cells can prove to be an effective alternative to bone marrow.

Currently, the treatment for hepatic failure is liver transplant; however, this is an issue because of lack of enough donors. There is also no specific treatment for fibrosis that is caused by hepatic diseases and this research can help many people suffering from this condition. (more…)

It is said that hundreds of years ago, the intestinal “transit time” was much shorter than it is now, which is the interval from the time the food entered the mouth until it was excreted as feces. In those days, this was believed to be between 15 and 20 hours; whereas now it is anywhere from 50 to 70 hours.

The reason for this drastic increase is that our diets now consist of less fiber from fruits and vegetables. Since fiber is indigestible, it gives the stools bulk, making them soft and flexible. Another factor that determines the transit time is the modern lifestyles, antibiotics, stress, and certain foods that form acid, such as eggs, meat, sugar etc. These things cause a thick and sticky mucus formation in the intestinal tract.

Food remains longer in the intestinal tract, putrefying the stool, letting harmful microorganisms flourish and toxins develop and poison the body. The perfect transit time should be about 18 to 20 hours, with 24 to 48 hours being acceptable. Ideally, just like babies do, even adults should have unforced bowel movements about 20 minutes after every meal.

The sign of a healthy colon is stool that is soft but formed, and consists of 70% water but has enough bulk to respond to the muscular contractions of the bowel.

Unhealthy intestinal functions have a major impact on the body weight. People who have a toxic colon tend to overeat, since they cannot absorb the nutrients they are consuming. Human body goes into a nutritional crisis and metabolic shock waves travel to every cell in the body, when the bowel fails.

Nutritionists say that more than 90% of the people metabolize less than 55% of what they eat. Many even happen to consider it normal to have a bowel movement once a day or even every few days. It is easy to understand how all this works, if we question what is happening to all the food that is eaten, where is it all going, if there is only one bowel movement everyday or every other day.

It is not only the weight of the fecal material that contributes to weight gain. Even toxic byproducts from the colon can lower metabolism and drain the body of energy. They also put a lot of burden on the liver and kidneys. The main reason why toxins from the colon need to be cleansed is to remove those byproducts from getting back into other parts of the body. Once the colon is clean, the metabolism should work as it has to, and with that the main obstacle to weight loss is eliminated. (more…)

It all started with the large, thick and unwieldy glass-brown scleral contact lens introduced to correct severe myopia. Then it progressed over the years to finally take shape as a virtually invisible and light weight contact lens. This was adorned by people for experiencing a wider field of vision while looking attractive, and alleviating the necessity of wearing bulky eye glasses that come in the way of sports or any other activity.

Then came Lasik, which was first introduced in 1950, when a Spanish ophthalmologist found a way to cut flaps in the cornea to alter the shape. He also told the world how much of the cornea needs to be left unaltered to provide long-term vision.

Lasik, which means “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis,” is a form of refractive laser eye surgery done to correct myopia (short-sightedness,) hyperopia (long-sightedness) and astigmatism (blurry vision.) The actual procedure involves the creation of a thin flap on the eye, then folding it, to be able to remodel the tissue underneath using laser. The flap is then repositioned and the eye is left to heal in the postoperative period.

Although, Lasik has become very popular, there are certain complications associated with it. There is the risk of patients suffering from side effects like double vision, foggy vision, halos, dry eyes, visual activity fluctuation, light sensitivity, wrinkles in the flap, growth under the flap, floaters, macular hole, posterior vitreous detachment and a few others.

It is understandable that people are worried about the side effects of Lasik surgery. Although serious complications are rare, which affect about 1% cases, 5% of the customers who underwent Lasik are not fully satisfied.

But the fact is, every form of eye surgery has its risks and it also depends a great deal on the surgeon. Doctors say that there is no one-size that fits all, and some people are perfect candidates for this surgery and may not suffer from any side effects at all. (more…)

Tumors are the scariest diagnosis anyone can have and a brain tumor is the most dreaded forms of cancer than any other. It is not only because of the dangers of malignancy, but also because brain tumors can cause major damage due to the pressure they exert on the surrounding area along with the fact that it is the most complex surgery of all.

A brain tumor is an abnormal growth in the skull. There are several types of brain tumors, which are identified based on their characteristics.

To all those tumor sufferers in this world, researchers in the US have a glimmer of hope to share. They are targeting a deadly type of brain cancer by aiming at a common virus found to be active in people who have these tumors.

They hope to trick the human immune system and use it to attack the cancer. Researchers at the Duke University in North Carolina say that so far things are positive and this seems to be working.

They are performing a trial on sixteen people suffering from glioblastoma multiforme, which is the most common type of cancer affecting middle-aged people. The incidence rate is 30% of all the brain tumors and this is considered to be the most difficult tumor to treat.

These sixteen people on trial were given a vaccine to attack the virus and the results show a significant delay in the progression of the tumor in these people. This is the delay between the time the tumor was removed by the surgeon to the time it starts growing back. (more…)

Of all the insects that attack man and even animals, mosquitoes, which represent only 6.4% of the overall insect population, are the most dangerous. They cause malaria, a disease that can be fatal if left untreated, and in many cases, this happens because of the inability to detect malaria in time.

The latest breakthrough is going to change that and doctors will only need less than a minute to detect malaria. A new technique has been developed; that researchers say is going to be much cheaper and faster than other Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT,) also known as “dip sticks,” currently being used by doctors all over the world to detect malaria.

Although, the currently used rapid diagnostic tests help in diagnosing malaria by checking for malarial parasites in the blood, the results are not always correct and can sometimes be misleading. If there are not sufficient parasites in the blood to show up as positive, the test may come out as negative.

Malaria is a blood disorder caused by the bite of an infected mosquito. It is very common throughout the world, and in the United States, the risk is more for people who travel to tropical and subtropical countries, where malaria is prevalent.

Malaria can be caused by any of the one-celled parasites, called Plasmodium. This parasite is spread to people by the female Anopheles mosquito and feeds on human blood. The parasite grows in the liver of a person for some days and then enters their bloodstream, invading the red blood cells. There are four types of these parasites, but only Plasmodium falciparum is dangerous and about 2% of people who are infected die, possibly due to delayed detection. (more…)

Who would have ever thought that the “teary” onion can turn sweet. Our eyes may not stop watering, but a recent study revealed that onions, chicory root and garlic contain natural sugar that may help make influenza vaccine ten times more powerful that what it is now.

Australian researchers said they have completed the first round of studies, after a decade long research, and are on the verge of starting the second round using this natural substance.

The influenza vaccine is a vaccine used yearly to protect against the extremely variable influenza virus, which can lead to severe complications. Getting the flu shot before the flu season is said to give the body a chance to build up immunity and protect from the virus.

The influenza epidemic emerges during the flu season and an estimated 36000 people die every year from influenza in the United States alone.

People who wish to reduce the chances of getting influenza can get this vaccination. It is recommended that all high risk groups be vaccinated, which includes children from six months of age up to the age of 18 years, people aged 65 years or older, people with serious chronic health problems such as diabetes, kidney disease, cancer as well as health care workers. (more…)