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Allergies are one of the most difficult things to live with and can be quite devastating for some. An allergy is defined by the medical community as an irrational response to environmental factors such as food or pollen. The most common allergy that affects millions of individuals is pollen and it is at its highest levels during the spring time season as the trees begin to regenerate their leaves. Although there is no cure for allergies there does exist ways of reducing the effects of its symptoms.

One of the ways is to actually utilize special medication in conjunction with a nebulizer in order to lessen the effects of the condition. A nebulizer is a health device that is made specifically to be used by allergy sufferers in order to deliver specialized medication. What the device does is that it takes the prescription medicine and transforms it into mist form which is then breathed in by the individual. The benefit of transforming it into mist form is the fact that it can actually be absorbed far more quickly by the body and as a result begins to reduce the symptoms faster.

A common example is that an individual that suffers from allergies can take their nebulizer device with them wherever they go. If you desire to go on a trip to Europe and you know that you have allergies then what you can do is plan to take your device with you along with the special medication that works for you on your trip. Whenever you feel that your symptoms are acting up then simply take out your portable device and then within minutes you are ready to take in the medication for relief.

The other beneficial aspect of the nebulizer system is the fact that it is completely portable. With the ability to take it with you wherever you go you can rest assured that you can have easy access to aid your health whenever you need to. The device actually comes with several different sizes of masks that can be used to help adults as well as children. Many children begin to develop allergy symptoms at a very young age and as a result it is important to begin early to help their condition. There is however different medication for children than there are for adults and as a result a physician needs to be consulted in order to prescribe the correct allergy prescription.

People who are suffering from various allergies typically have a harder time choosing the right kind of mattress to buy. It can be terribly inconvenient to spend all night itching and sneezing because you are allergic to your own mattress. Fortunately, you don’t have to change your mattress just to prevent an allergic reaction each time you lie down on your bed, as protective mattress covers are now widely available. These covers serve to protect the mattress from damages and the hypoallergenic variety also serves to protect the user from dust mites and other particles in the mattress that may cause an allergic reaction.

Most protective mattress covers are as thick as comforters so they don’t only protect you from dust but they can also make your bed much more comfortable to sleep in. There is a mattress topper that is especially designed to work against dust mites, which is why it is ideal for people with allergies. The key to hypoallergenic covers is the material used for them. A mattress topper made out of latex is ideal, as it can keep the particles in the mattress from escaping. Vinyl is also a good material if you don’t want to purchase latex. The great thing about these covers is that the special material is typically placed underneath the cover so the top part can still be soft and comfortable.

Instead of enduring uncomfortable allergic reactions that give way to red eyes, a runny nose, and rashes all over your body, it is better to purchase a cover for your mattress to prevent this from happening. Protective mattress covers can help you sleep better at night, as you won’t have to worry about dust mites or bed bugs from getting to you while you lie comfortably on your bed. While you can always buy a hypoallergenic mattress, if your current one is still in good condition, it would be a waste of money to completely change your mattress when you can use a hypoallergenic cover instead. Even if you have a hypoallergenic mattress, it would still be ideal to get bedding that serve the same purpose to ensure your protection.

People with allergies are more particular about their surroundings, as a little dust can trigger an allergic reaction, which can worsen if the mattress they sleep in is not made out of hypoallergenic material. This is why protective mattress covers are very useful, as you can purchase several pieces for each bed in your home without having to spend as much as you would if you bought a new mattress.

You can find a wide range of mattress covers. Whether you want the topper variety, which can be placed on top of the mattress like a bed sheet or you want to completely cover your mattress for added protection, you can find many options. They even come in a wide range of designs and colors, though it would be best to get a plain one, as it is meant to be placed underneath your bed sheet anyway. Protective mattress covers are a worthy investment that can keep your allergies away at night and allow you to completely relax so that you will feel rested and refreshed when you wake up in the morning.

Chinese foot massage is a holistic health practice that even you can do yourself. By learning a few simple steps, you too will be able to experience the therapeutic effects that the great empires of the east have used for years and years.

Starting with the basics of the Chinese foot massage

As a breakdown, there are two basic techniques that anyone can do. They are simple enough to do yourself yet as effective as if you went to a professional foot therapist.

Foot and Ankle rub

Nothing beats a good old rub and everybody knows how to give one. Just make sure that while you are doing this you pay extra attention to those sore spots and tender points. Move from the toes to the ankle and make your way back again. This can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to a whole hour.

Poking pressure points

This is based on therapeutic properties. There are different points that have different effects. Based on which part of your body is in pain, that is where your focus should be. Usually this takes five to ten minutes per session.

Chinese foot massage steps in detail

First you have to find the perfect place. A comfortable yet firm chair is ideal but even the edge of your bed will do. Once sitting, simply rest one foot on the knee of the free leg. The point is that you should be able to see the sole of your foot without slouching. Try to keep a straight back at all times. You would not want another part of your body to ache while you are mending the other.

Now that you are in proper position, begin to massage the desired area by pressing and kneading. Because you are no pro, an acupressure foot chart will be needed. This chart will teach you the which is which of your feet. From kidney pains, to head aches, to lower back pains- almost every aliment has a corresponding pressure point.

Once you have located the desired point, apply fairly enough pressure and press and knead for about two minutes using the tip of your thumb. Going deep can sometimes make it sore. If this happens it is okay to take a breather, but not too long, and then pick up where you left.

After that you can refer back to the chart and focus on a different point if you wish. Just make sure to do the same on both feet.

A word of warning

After ten days of doing the same Chinese foot massage routine, a three to four day stop is advised. This is because these acupressure points tend to adapt to stimulation. So either take a break from pressing the same points of simply focus on other areas.

It impacts people around the world daily. For a few, high blood pressure is often smoothly corrected. For others, hypertension is a big challenge that they will be required to struggle with every day. Some women and men overcome it with medication, while other people aren’t that lucky. It truly is no surprise, then, that people search out naturopathic or quick fixes to this problem. Its why there are tons of blood pressure relief treatments all over the internet. This article investigates the Blood Pressure Factors(TM) supplement offered by Michael’s Naturopathic Programs.

Michael’s Naturopathic Programs was organized by Michael Schwartz in the 1980s. As well as being a primary inventor of supplements geared toward specific genders, Michael Schwartz’s recognition dates back to the 1970s. The Blood Pressure Factors supplement has been one of the top earners for the enterprise for longer than 20 years. In the field of naturopathic medicine, this supplement is particularly popular.

Blood Pressure Factors is the trademark for this capsulized nutritional supplement. The product blends calcium sulfate, stearic acid, magnesium stearate and maltodextrin to help the body reduce its blood pressure levels. These ingredients combine to help support the body so that the arteries can allow for good fluid levels while also providing extra nourishment to the nervous system. For the supplement to work correctly, you need to ingest three doses every day. You may want to take all three at once in the morning, but for better results you should take one with every meal.

Price wise, this nutritional supplement is pretty reasonably priced. A bottle of 60 capsules is priced at 17 dollars while a 90-capsule bottle is 22 dollars. If you really have confidence in the supplement you can invest in a sixty-day supply of them for under $40. In terms of cost, that is considerably better just about every other natural remedy out there. This is important because it will reduce the possibility that you’ll be spending lots of money on something that is only meant to make an affiliate money.

Being aware that the product has been highly sought after for more than twenty years makes us think that it probably isnt detrimental. In fact, most of the reviews of this product have been tremendously favorable. Whether this remedy truly works or just helps enable the placebo effect, we simply cannot tell.

Just like with other products that you wish to use to improve your health, you should make sure your doctor takes a look at this supplement. Your doctor will have detailed knowledge of your medical history and will know, based on that, if this supplement really will lower your blood pressure. The nice thing is that, more often than not, blood pressure levels can be managed through some combination of diet and medication.

Before deciding to buy a two-month supply of the Blood Pressure Factors supplement by Michaels, however, make sure that it can actually help you.

Of course, nobody likes the idea of being bald; this is something that affects a lot of men as well as women though. Working to regrow hair is not always easy; this can also cause a substantial amount of stress as you are trying everything under the sun to make hair actually grow back. Fret not, there are several home remedies that have been known to actually work, just finding what will work best for you is extremely time consuming since you need to give each remedy a chance to actually work.

• How do you feel about onions? Most people are not huge fans of onion, particularly the smell. The benefits to your scalp are potentially huge though. Did you even stop to consider that the same food you put on your hamburger could also help you to regrow a bit of hair? This is a concept that is out of the realm for most people, but it is true. Taking a piece of onion and rubbing it over the bald part of your head until it is slightly red then applying honey for a short period has been known to help improve the circulation of the scalp and in turn improve hair growth.

• Another popular choice is the usage of coconut milk and also a bit of aloe vera gel. By mixing together equal parts of the gel and coconut milk you will have a nice paste that you can use to spread around on your scalp and help stimulate the hair follicles to regrow hair. It is very important that you leave the treatment on for at least thirty minutes each time and do this a minimum of three times each week. After a couple of weeks, you should begin to notice some very small hairs regrowing.

• Everyone knows that apple cider vinegar is a truly remarkable remedy. This can also be used to assist in hair growth as well. Adding this to the already long list of remedies that apple cider vinegar is capable of is certainly a shock for some people, but it is a reality. Add equal parts of the apple cider vinegar to a bit of sage tea and use it to rinse out the hair. This will help to also stimulate the hair follicles and help you to find a bit of fuzz regrowing.

If you do not see any immediate improvements try not to give up all of the hopes you have at first. There are several reasons why you might not see immediate results; this can range from a bad diet, to stress, to even problems with your overall health. Instead of looking to purchase any expensive treatments always take a bit of time to see a doctor and ensure that you are not experiencing any serious medical problems that could be impacting your hair growth negatively.

Perhaps the doctor will be able to find a problem, which would allow the remedy to work better. If nothing else, this would allow you to determine for certain that the remedy is not effective for your needs so that you can move onto pick out a new remedy to work with. Never just struggle along trying to force a remedy to work that is not effective. There are far too many choices that can help you to continue struggling for success.

General interest in high blood pressure remedies increases steadily week by week. That’s because awareness is rapidly growing that high BP is not just a common condition but also a pre-condition for serious problems such as congestive heart failures, blindness, heart attacks, diseases and kidney disorders.

But if you’re here, you don’t need to be told that.

What you may need to be reminded of is that hypertension is not generally a factor in less developed communities, which gives us a clue as to how to prevent it: physical exercise and healthy diet.

Exercise and diet are at the root of almost every natural remedy for blood pressure. Here’s why:

Exercise – a key to weight control

Every five pounds of excess weight contributes to higher blood pressure. So one of the easiest remedies is simply to keep your weight under control.

You should be active from an early age. If your life style does not keep you in motion, you need a formal schedule of exercise, either through a sport or a fitness regimen. It is crucial to adopt a fitness routine that you participate in daily, at least three days a week and preferably five. This is one of the simplest high blood pressure remedies you can undertake. It needs to be pointed out, though, that both hypertension and being overweight or obese can be genetic. So it’s important to understand if it runs in your family or not. Even if there is a genetic link, you will still benefit from regular exercises such as walking, swimming, cycling and running.

Then there is your diet

Even if you are not overweight and have no family history of blood pressure problems, you might still be told by your doctor that your levels are too high. Very often sodium or salt is a common cause, so this is one of the first places to take action by cutting back.

Avoid taking high caloric food and processed food. Fruits, whole grains, fiber content and vegetables are some of the food you should be eating. Take more spices and vegetables like beetroot, carrot, spinach, grapes, and berries.

• Garlic has long been put forward as a natural remedy for blood pressure. Although garlic supplements have been proven effective, treat them with caution and consult your doctor. Garlic can thin the blood and may interact with other supplements and/or prescription drugs.
• You can also try Indian gooseberry. Blend it with honey and take it in the mornings on a daily basis.
• Lemon is another remedy with high quantities of Vitamin P in it and helps to counter capillary fragility which can occur with high BP.
• Watermelon can be taken in the form of a juice. There is also a substance extracted from the juice which can dilate blood vessels effectively.

Natural remedies generally more effective

Alternative remedies such as these are generally more effective than allopathic medications in lowering the blood pressure levels. Alternative remedies are natural (non-pharmaceutical) approaches to lowering blood pressure back to healthy levels.

Given the cost and many side effects experienced from long-term use of hypertension medications, it is not that surprising that natural high blood pressure remedies are becoming a popular solution to a growing problem.

There are a lot of health problems that people encounter nowadays which includes asthma attacks. This can actually occur at any age bracket and can be due to various environmental factors as well as ones particular lifestyle. If you are one of those who are suffering from this kind of health issue, you will definitely want to know how to deal with this properly. Here are a few pointers for you to look into.

• The first thing that you will have to keep in mind is that you should be able to detect the symptoms of asthma before doing anything else. These attacks may happen for a certain time when you are caught off guard, but if you know what the symptoms are, you may as well be able to prevent an attack from coming and at the same time deal with it properly.
• The symptoms may include having to deal with difficulty in breathing, having that heavy feeling on the chest, breathing with a whistling sound as well as coughing. Such symptoms may be triggered by a lot of things mostly related to environmental factors including chemicals present within the area, pets, microorganisms as well as food and climate can aggravate and cause asthma.

Now that you know the symptoms and the causes that may trigger such asthma attacks, there are a few things that you can do to make sure that you are not caught unaware of any particular emergency situation. If you are with a person is prone to such attacks, you should take note of certain precautionary measures that will help you prevent any asthma attacks to happen again. Keeping the air clean in the environment where the patient is and works all the time is a must. Making use of an air humidifier will help lessen such attack issues.

However let us say that this is the first time that you do see the symptoms occurring to the person for the first time and you don’t know if this could be asthma or what. During emergency cases, you will have to determine if the patient is currently having that much difficulty in breathing ad if this is the case the patient will need enough ventilation and air. Usually an adult asthma patient will already know what to do, but if it is a child you will have to act quickly to help the child regain normal breathing pattern. It is as well important that during emergency cases, you act as quickly as you can to be able to bring the patient to the hospital to go through the proper procedure in dealing with this medical emergency.

Lastly, you will have to make sure that the patient takes the proper medical treatment to know what options are available when it comes to dealing with asthma attacks. You do not just easily opt for instant relief but you must aim for total prevention. We all know that these attacks may or may not be fatal for the patient. But as soon as you know how to deal with it properly, you do not have to worry yourself all the time.

So much of a practitioner’s success depends on their communication skills. I know there are a lot of brilliant heart surgeons out there who feel that their job isn’t to make friends, but to perform major surgery with a cold and clinical eye…but these doctors don’t usually see their patients on a regular basis.

Even the most innocuous doctor’s appointment inspires unease for most people. That’s why I’m constantly cracking jokes when I’m at the gynecologist’s office-it’s certainly not because I’m having a good time in those stirrups. I’m joking around because I’m trying to forget where I am…and to cover up my fear that this is the day I’ll get unfortunate news.

As open as people are with their doctors, they are much more open with people in my profession. After all, a physician only knows the intimate details of your physical health…your acupuncturist is familiar with all aspects of your health, physical, emotional, and mental. So it is extremely important to really focus on building a rapport with patients.

I’ve had some awful experiences with doctors. My childhood physician should not have been practicing medicine at all; he was definitely unstable. When I was younger I accepted his quirks with the equanimity of a child who knows no better-but once I was older (maybe eight?) I lived in terror of my yearly physicals. Being eight years old and having an old, gruff doctor yelling “Have you been a bad girl? Have you let boys touch you? DON’T LIE!” was…well…disconcerting. I mean, I was eight. I didn’t even have the slightest idea of what he was talking about!

Then there was the unnamed gynecologist in Boston who refused to let me get an IUD, because I was unmarried and she felt that most unmarried women who got IUDs became promiscuous as a result. Mind you, this was 2008, and she wasn’t some withered old harridan-she was in her late 30’s.

And a doctor’s appointment I had a few years ago with a man I’ll call Dr. C taught me a valuable lesson about patient-practitioner relationship-namely, if you want patients to come back, try not to scare the living hell out of them.

During this particular appointment with Dr. C, I had made a list of a few issues that were bothering me. (I hadn’t seen a doctor for awhile due to not having health insurance.) The four basic issues were a loud and crunchy knee, a lump in my breast, a slight tremor in my left hand, and a lump growing out of the side of my middle finger, right below the nail. Of these issues, I was only really worried about the breast lump and tremor-the other issues I just decided to mention in passing. This doctor, who I had never met before, was quite jovial, but pretty laissez-faire about it all. He listened to my knee crunching and said, “yeah, you have a crunchy knee. It’s not a big deal.” Then he looked at my tremor and said, “Yeah, you have a slight tremor. It’s not a big deal.” He felt my breast and said, “You do have a lump. Probably not a big deal, you might want to get it checked out though.” I thought, “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”, but I said nothing. If he wasn’t overly concerned, I probably shouldn’t be either.

Then he looked at the cyst thing on my finger. “Hmm,” he said. Hmm? He touched it and looked at it more closely. “Does this bother you in any way?”

It was ugly but painless, so I answered no.

“Well,” he said. “I have to say, this particular type of growth looks very familiar to me.”

“Oh,” said I, “Is it some kind of cyst?”

“Actually, the last time I saw this on a patient was fairly recently. It wasn’t a cyst, it was a sarcoma.”

At that time I didn’t have as much medical background as I do these days, so I had to ask what that was.

“Cancer,” he said somberly. “And not just any kind of cancer. Deadly. Fatal. Cancer.”

He actually said it like that, with a period after the deadly, fatal, and cancer! It was so surreal, I kind of thought he was joking with me. “Seriously? Are you being serious?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Well..what happened to the patient?”

He looked me right in the eyes and said, “It spread through his entire body very quickly. It’s a very malicious cancer. We’ll schedule you an appointment to have it removed right away…and, did you come here alone? Did you want me to call anyone for you? You probably want to be with your family right now?”

It was that last sentence that really made it sink in-this guy knew I had only a little time left.

Except that you’re reading this article right now, several years later, so I guess you’ve figured out that perhaps I was misdiagnosed?

Fast forward to the surgery, and it was a cyst. It was on a nerve, so the recovery hurt terribly, but I am obviously alive and well enough to write this today. Fortunately, I am not the type to get upset over incidents like this, but another type of person would have had their last will and testament all written out. And I learned a valuable lesson-when you are dealing with people’s health, you have a certain level of power over them. Don’t abuse that! People are coming to see you because they trust that you will take care of them…and striking the fear of death into their hearts is not “taking care of them.” If you can spend years in school mastering the human body, surely you can master some communication skills as well.

In some cases allergens serve to exacerbate the condition, in other cases the allergen itself is the root cause of the problem. The bottom line is that the identification of and elimination of these allergens is paramount to the maintenance of one’s health.

Allergies have been associated with anxiety, aphthous stomatitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, ADHD, autoimmune diseases, chronic candidiasis, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, dermatitis herpetiformis, epilepsy, gallstones, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, multiple sclerosis, otitis media, peptic ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, rosacea, sinusitis and probably countless others.

Here are a few of the listed health problems that have an association with allergens:

1. “Canker Sore” (aphthous stomatitis): It goes without saying that our mouth (lips, gums, cheeks) is exposed to food allergens (e.g. gluten). What might not seem as obvious is that it is also the first site of contact for inhaled allergens. The appearance of the cells of an ulcer, the antibodies found in the blood and the associated atopy all suggest an allergic association. According to Murray and Pizzorno frequent allergens not related to food include: Benzoic acid; Cinnamaldehyde; Nickel; Parabens; Dichromate and Sorbic acid.

2. Asthma: There are many studies demonstrating the important role that food allergies play in asthma. The reactions could be immediate or delayed. Allergens shown to have an immediate response include: egg, fish, shellfish, nuts, and peanuts. More delayed responses have been seen with milk, chocolate, wheat, citrus, and food colorings. When there is a strong family history of allergies, elimination of common allergens for the first two years of life is suggested. Airborne allergens like pollen, dander, and dust mites may play a significant role in asthma as well.

3. Eczema (atopic dermatitis): Studies have shown breastfeeding to offer significant prophylaxis against eczema and allergies in general. There may need to be some avoidance of common allergens by the mother in higher risk cases. “Leaky gut” is thought to be responsible for the development of food allergies. Increased permeability of the gut increases probability of food allergies. It is important to determine which are the offending foods and eliminate them for upwards of a year. The initial offending foods may create an environment in the gut that leads to development of allergies that were not originally an issue.

4. ADHD: We have all heard that “you are what you eat”, apparently our behavior may also be influenced by what eat. One study showed immediate EEG wave changes (i.e. electrical activity in brain) with ingestion of previously identified sensitizing foods. Both food allergies and ADHD have been found to be associated with sleep disturbances including sleep apnea and snoring. Perhaps the quality of sleep in turn contributes to the degree of attention deficit in some people. Improved sleep with diet modifications has been demonstrated.

5. Autoimmune Diseases: The association between autoimmune diseases, intestinal permeability and food allergy is undeniable. There are more overt issues with gluten in Celiac’s disease but there are also those who harbor subclinical allergies to wheat and other foods that may play a role. An elimination and detox diet may be used to decrease antigen load and to work on repair of the gut.

6. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): The association between chronic fatigue and food allergies goes back as far as 1930. Symptoms of CFS can include fatigue, muscle and joint aches, drowsiness, difficulty in concentration, nervousness, and depression. Between “55% and 85% of individuals with CFS have allergies.”

7. Gluten Allergies: Dermatitis herpetiformis are lesions that are associated with allergies to gluten. Sometimes however simply removing gluten is not enough. A chronic history and damage to the gut with consequent increased permeability of the gut may result in the development of other food allergies.

There are different theories explaining the relationship between allergens and disease states. More often than not things are multi-factorial. Perhaps it simply relates to the inflammatory load that is placed on our bodies and that we need to decrease the load put on our bodies and rest our organ systems. These issues can be quite convoluted and it is this author’s opinion that patients do best when they work with a healthcare provider that is trained in natural forms of medicine, diet modifications and detoxification. Naturopathic physicians are ideal healthcare team members to help facilitate your path back to health.

Estimates of malaria cases that occur annually round the world range between 250 million and 500 million of which over 90 percent are in sub-Saharan Africa. The most vulnerable are young children under five, pregnant women and refugees in remote rural areas. This high risk group accounts for majority of deaths estimated annually around 2 million.

Synthetic mainline medications have become largely ineffective due to parasite resistance. Presently, Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) are the first line medication for treatment of malaria in majority of the countries. Several pharmaceutical companies have produced various combinations using artemisinin or any one of its derivatives along with other anti-malarial synthetics. However, at present the only source of the primary anti-malarial (artemisinin) in the world is the herbal plant Artemisia annua L., which has been used in its raw form for chills and fevers in China for over two thousand years.

Several organizations around the world are actively pursuing alternate solutions for treating and preventing malaria. An inexpensive cure for malaria has been developed using an out-of-the-box approach based on the following rationale:

• Synthesized anti-malarials used during the past 100 years or so were all first identified and isolated from plant sources.
• Over the past few years, synthesized versions used singly have all become ineffective.
• Whereas, Cinchona bark taken directly from the plant was used for centuries round the world for treatment of malaria.
• Tea made from leaves of the Artemisia plant has been used in China for centuries.
• Since bio-chemical compounds within a plant material do not exist in isolation, it would be appear that extracting just the single compound from the whole plant material would negate the supportive synergistic value of the co-existing compounds.
• It follows that a cure based on whole of the plant material which contains the anti-malarial would be appropriate.
• This anti-malarial plant material should be purified and concentrated to allow easy and optimal administration of the cure to a patient.
• This effect could be largely improved by

Using newly developed agricultural and harvesting techniques to increase the crop output and Artemisinin content in the plant to1.7-2.2 %.

Note: Artemisinin content in the wild or cultivated Artemisia plants in China and Vietnam is around 0.6-0.8%. Besides the solvent extraction techniques widely used decrease the available artemisinin to 0.4 to 0.6%
Using new, clean and environmentally sensitive extraction techniques for concentrating total extract.
Techniques for long-term Preservation of the extract in soft gel capsules, which are easily ingested, by children and adult alike, as well can be widely distributed due to long shelf life and basic storage requirements
Using techniques for increasing the resident time of the anti-malarial in a human body.

A cure based on the above criteria has been developed and is currently awaiting clinical trials.