High Blood Pressure And Acupuncture

High blood pressure is a very serious condition, which occurs because of a lot of different medical conditions, which causes a rise in the pressure of blood. The rise in blood pressure occurs in various conditions, which include diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, heart valve problems, pulmonary problems, anxiety, etc. The blood pressure is a condition that requires prompt treatment because increased hypertension is an emergency.

The patients who are suffering from increased hypertension get immediate treatment in the emergency room in order to prevent the serious conditions from arising. There are a lot of medications that are available to treat the hypertension on a chronic basis so as to keep it within a normal range.

Since the medications are being taken to maintain a normal blood pressure, there is another alternative way so as to control the blood pressure, which is acupuncture. Acupuncture is an old Chinese way to treat a lot of different medical conditions and it promises to treat the problem of high blood pressure as well.

What exactly happens in blood pressure is that it exerts excessive pressure on the walls of the arteries and thus this damages the walls of the arteries and leads to arteriosclerosis, which is hardening of the arteries.

It is really important for us to understand as to what are the different symptoms that occur because of hypertension and its effects on the human beings. The side effects include flushing of the face, dizziness, nervousness, severe headaches, restlessness, breathing difficulty, inability to sleep. An individual is said to be suffering from hypertension when they have a continued rise in blood pressure consecutively for about three days.

The acupuncture therapy is used to lower the blood pressure. The question arises in minds is that whether this therapy is good to lower the blood pressure than the conventional therapies. In my opinion the acupuncture therapy is better than the blood pressure medication because the medications have side effects but the acupuncture therapy has no side effects. The most common side effect that one suffers from the medications is that of the low blood pressure because when these medications are taken then these blood pressure medications cause lowering of the blood pressure, then when the blood pressure goes down significantly then the physicians adjust these medicines to bring the blood pressure in the normal range and then these medications are taken at the adjusted dosages.

Some of the common side effects of the blood pressure medicines include headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, tiredness, weakness, drowsiness, lethargy, diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, weight gain, nervousness, increased anxiety, chest pains, palpitations, arrhythmia, cough, congestion, upper respiratory tract infections, skin rash etc.

The way the acupuncture works is that the needles are being that are inserted on the inside of the forearm just above the wrist and along with the insertion of these needles, there is electrical stimulation that is being done, which causes the reduction in the blood pressure.

In order to see the mechanism of action of this therapy is that when the needles are inserted and the electrical stimulation runs through them, this causes the release of the opioid chemicals in the brain and in the brain and thus reduces the excitatory responses, which results in an eventual decrease in the activity of the heart and the need of the increased oxygen levels, which thus reduces the blood pressure to a significant extent.

Along with this therapy, there are different herbs that are being used to lower the blood pressure, which includes Gastrodia Rhizome, Prunella, etc. to reduce the high blood pressure in order to produce better results to lower the blood pressure.

Along with the insertion of the needles, another method that is being used includes pressing of the skin at the back of hand and between the thumb and the index finger.

This is a proven method to lower the blood pressure and has caused improvement in the heightened blood pressure in a lot of individuals.


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Arthritis Drugs And Cancer

There is information that is taking air at a very high pace, which is that the use of the rheumatoid drugs may increase the development of the cancer and serious infections in individuals.

The medications that can cause the development of cancer include the Humira and the Remicade. It is being said that these medications can triple the chances of causing the cancer and the chances of getting a serious infection with these medications is double. The chances of having cancers or the serious infections in the individuals depends on how higher the dosage is being taken.

There were some analyses drawn which I would like to put in front of you. It was said that for every 154 patients who are taking this drug, the doctors believe that the chances of development of cancer is in one out of every 154 patients in about 6 to 12 months. The individuals who are expected to have infections gets to about 59 out of the total number of patients treated in a year, which is in a time span of about 3 to 12 months.

According to the study there were about less than 1% of patients who developed cancer. These results were brought about when the researchers put together the data of about nine different trials that was involving about 5000 patients. In this study, the patients had been randomly assigned the drugs.

The drugs Humira and Remicade treat the different inflammatory conditions, which include rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory disease of the bowel known as Crohn’s disease, as well as psoriasis, which is a skin condition. These drugs are being given to individuals who do not get any benefit from any other medicines or therapies.

The mechanism of action of these drugs is that these drugs are antibodies and their function is to stop the anti-inflammatory effects, which they do by blocking the tumor necrosis factor or TNF, which is an inflammatory protein. There are about 500,000 people who are currently using these drugs to treat the various inflammatory conditions.

It is being stated that the people do not need to quit these medications, but the doctors must be prescribing these medicines at lower doses so that there is a decreased chance of developing cancer or any serious infections.

There was another comment concerning therapies with these drugs was that the individuals who are taking these medications must be screened for cancer so that the chances of developing cancer can be ruled out.

These drugs have made possible to better the life of a lot of individuals, but they should be pursued with extra precaution.


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Alteration Of Hormones Due To Migraine Drug Overuse

There was a study that suggested that individuals who suffer from chronic migraines are the individuals who can overuse the pain relieving medications and the overuse of these medications can cause abnormalities in the hormonal responses.

According to the previous studies, it was found that the people who overuse the migraine medications are the ones who can suffer from the precipitating headaches that can become chronic and it is also being suggested that this can be due to the alteration of the hormone regulation.

The migraines are head pains, which occur as episodic attacks and are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting and are followed by an aura, and can be brought upon by the light and sound. The basis on which an individual is being labeled as an individual who is suffering from migraines is the one who has a history of migraine attacks at least 15 days out of a month for a period of about three months.

It is being shown that the chronic use of the migraine medications such as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, the ergot alkaloids and the triptans can alter the hormones such as the growth hormones and the cortisol, which is also known as the stress hormone.

The study was conducted in about 18 adults who had been suffering with migraines and about 18 individuals who were healthy. It was found that most of the individuals who were suffering from migraines were using the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and were not using the specific medications for migraine.

The tests were conducted in the individuals who were participating in the study, they were injected with the hormone releasing hormones such as GnRH, which is growth hormone releasing hormone, the cortisol, thyroid stimulating hormone and the adrenocorticotropic hormone. After this, the results were compared with the healthy individuals and it was found that the individuals who are suffering from chronic migraine headaches showed a reduction or increase in the levels of these hormones.

The researchers added that they need to do more studies so that they are able to find the relation of the overuse of the drugs to treat the migraines with the alteration of the hormones and they added that they really need to be sure that the alteration of these hormones are linked to these medications, which will definitely require a lot of studies in the coming years to establish this relationship.


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Risk Of Having A Small Baby Due To Work Conditions

According to the latest report there is a very stunning data that has been brought into light, which shows that the working women who are pregnant and are exposed to the various occupational conditions are at risk of having a small infant, which is due to irregular or shift work schedules.

It is also being stated that if these factors are eliminated that are the basis of the causation of a birth of a small infant before the 24th week of pregnancy, then it surely brings down the risk to the women who have been unexposed.

Another thing that the readers must know is the term SGA, which means small for gestational, which means that the infant is the one that is smaller in size than a normal infant. The birth weight of these infants fall below the 10th percentile and thus leads to a lot of different problems and puts the infants at risk of low oxygen levels as well as blood sugar levels at birth.

This has been a very important study to raise awareness among the women who are working that the hectic and irregular work environments can lead to the development of the low birth weight of the infants. This awareness can bring about a tremendous change in the attitudes of women to care for this situation and this will result into decreased number of cases of pregnancy with infants with low birth weights.

In the study it was found that the women who have been working night hours, or had irregular work schedule or shift work schedules, the women who have been working heavy loads or have to stand for long hours or are being exposed to high noise levels in their job places, all these factors lead them to give birth to infants who are low at birth weight, which leads to a lot of clinical problems in infants.

This study has opened the grounds for women who are working in these stressful environments to either change their working environments or go on leave of absence so that they are able to minimize the chances of putting their infants at risk of low birth weight.


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Headaches Due To Medication Overuse

Headache is the most common medical condition that almost everyone goes through in their everyday life. There are a lot of causes of headaches and they range in severity from being mild, moderate and severe. The most common step that people take when they are suffering from headaches is that they will use medication that will take the edge off pain.

A lot of times these medications benefit the individuals and they will find that their pain goes away with the administration of the medication, but there are times that even when the medication is being taken, the pain does not go away. It might be because they have developed tolerance to the medication that they have taken to relieve the pain or they have developed rebound due to the use of analgesia.

This is a vicious circle in which no matter how many pain killers an individual is taking, the pain would just grow and grow and would not go away even after taking painkillers to abort the pain. This condition in which the headache pain becomes worse even after taking the headache medications excessively is known as medication overuse headaches. Another name that can be given to this condition is known as analgesic rebound headaches.

The medications with which the headaches can occur include aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and naproxen. It is best that when the individual is suffering from a rebound headache, one must change the medicine so that they can prevent themselves from the precipitating rebound headaches.

Headaches are a very irritable phenomenon where the individual cannot focus, gets irritable and just feels to be left alone, does not like the lights, noise etc., which are pretty aggravating and can thus increase the intensity of the pain.

People who have been going through these headaches say that they have been through hell suffering from these headaches and they really need to have something to abort them because they are just unable to focus on anything in their lives.

Just to be in the shoes for a little while, how did you feel when you had that throb in the back of your head or how did you feel when you had that headache that was covering your head as a band, I believe these were the feelings that made you feel really bad and you just wanted that episode of headache to end.

You just need to know that if you are having a headache that is not being relieved by the same painkillers that you are taking, then you need to change the medication and hopefully you will be able to get out of the clutches of the pain.


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Grapefruit Juice Affecting The Absorption Of Drugs

According to the latest research, it has been found that the grapefruit juice affects the absorption of different drugs in the body. This affect of grapefruit juice on the drug metabolism can be considered as positive as well as negative.

There is an enzyme in the intestine, which is known as CYP3A, which breaks down the drug, which was then partially absorbed. The grapefruit contains a component known as furanocoumarin, which interferes with the enzyme, CYP3A, which in turn would lead to the absorption of more drug.

This would help a lot of individuals who have problems with drug absorption due to the presence of the enzyme CYP3A and would hence be able to provide a lot of active drug to the system.
The active ingredient that is present in the grapefruit that degrades the enzyme CYP3A is furanocoumarin, which degrades the enzyme, and those people who are not being able to tolerate the grapefruit juice would be able to take the active ingredient present in the grapefruit juice to help provide the body with a good amount of drug available to the body, which otherwise would be degraded down due to the enzyme.

There was a study that was conducted to support this fact. In this study there was a group of people who have been on different medication for different conditions such as medicines for blood pressure control or birth control pills. The main object was to test the availability of the different drugs to the body system after furanocoumarin is being given.

The researchers extracted out the active ingredient and then the individuals who were taking part in the study were said to fast and then they were given the medicines such as felodipine for the regulation of blood pressure, the brand name of which is Plendil. The individuals were then given the furanocoumarin, the juice which is free of furanocoumarin, as well as orange juice randomly.

After that, the individuals just had their regular meals and then they took the blood samples to find as to the availability of the medicines and it was found that the individuals who had taken furanocoumarin had about 6-230 percent more availability of the drug Plendil to the body system, and the individuals who had taken the grapefruit juice without the furanocoumarin and orange juice had no such effect.

The individuals who take grapefruit on a regular basis must consult with their physicians so that they can get proper recommendation whether they should be taking the grapefruit or not so as to prevent any adverse effects on the body.


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Cancer Free Baby

There has been a remarkable step that is being taken in the world of medical sciences when a couple decided that their child must not inherit the genetic makeup from their parent that would led them to develop the cancer at any point in time in his or her life.

This is a revolutionary step that is being taken by the specialists in genetics, as well as the decision by the parents that has made it possible for that child to not suffer from cancer that runs in the family genetics.

The cancer that they wanted to prevent from passing on to the child was the eye cancer and the study shows that there are about 90% chances that the child will suffer from the eye cancer.

The couple achieved the pregnancy through the process of IVF, which is also known as in vitro fertilization, which means that the sperm and the ova are being fertilized in an environment outside of the body and it is then that the doctors were able to screen the genetic material and were able to remove the genetic material responsible for the eye cancer. So in this process only the embryos were transferred to the womb of the mother that were unaffected.

After this study, it would be possible that the children can be made free of the cancer that runs in the family, and thus they will be able to live a healthy and a happy life. This is a major step that will be causing a breakthrough in the lives of millions of children throughout the globe who could have suffered from the problems with cancer if they were not being treated genetically.

Another very important thing that needs a mention here is that the genetic reading is a very expensive thing and with the passage of time this will become cheaper enough that a lot of couples are able to use this technique to prevent their children from suffering through the cancers that run in their families.

This is a major breakthrough that will change the lives of millions of people throughout the globe. I hope that these tests and services get into the affordable range of the different people and children can be saved from such deadly cancers.


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Test To Help Prevent Blindness

A lot of people throughout the world fall prey to the clutches of a serious eye infection known as Trachoma, which is a leading infection that causes blindness to millions of people world wide.

The major cause of blindness by Trachoma has been due to the fact that the infection was not detected at an early age and this has then led to a lot of people throughout the world suffer from blindness. According to the statistics that were collected worldwide showed that there are about 6 million people worldwide who are blind because of the infection caused by the Trachoma.

Another very stunning data that was brought into light was that there were about 150 million people who had been infected and needed the treatment and these cases were mostly reported in the developing countries.

Trachoma is caused by the bacteria known as Chlamydia trachomatis and this infects the eyes and the genitals. In this infection, the eyelids are affected and the eyelashes turn inwards into the eyes thus causing scars on the cornea, which then ultimately leads to the loss of vision in that eye.

The bacteria spreads with the hand to eye contact and it is really important that the individual just takes care of their hygiene as these are the most important factors in controlling the spread of infection.

The biggest problem that has always been there up till now was the lack of a diagnostic test that would just tell for sure as to the presence of the Trachoma infection, which would result in early detection and hence would prevent blindness in millions of people throughout the world.

There is this new test that can now diagnose the Trachoma infection with a specificity of about 99.4 percent, which was about 80.2 percent through the tests that were done earlier.

The problem of Trachoma infection is the most prevalent in the Asia and Africa and a lot of people are falling victims to this dreaded problem and this test can prevent millions of people falling in the clutches of this problem, and it is not only these two continents that are going to be benefited from this test, it is going to be millions and millions of people throughout the world.


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Paxil Causing Suicide Attempts

There was a very recent and stunning news that broke out in which a pharmaceutical company warned the doctors that the people who are under the age of 30 are at increased risk of suicide attempts if they are taking antidepressants such as Paxil.

There was a study that conducted, which involved about 15,000 people and it was found that the suicidal behavior was very high in people who were taking Paxil than the individuals who were taking placebo ranging in the ages between 18 to 30.

This research was brought about on a call by the Food and Drug Administration to all the pharmaceutical companies to find out as to what levels the antidepressants put the individuals at risk for suicide and hence the facts were revealed regarding the antidepressants and the risks of suicide related to them.

There were other companies as well who did the analysis on their drug apart from the GlaxoSmith who make Paxil, which includes Eli Lilly & Co.’s Prozac, Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft and Effexor by Wyeth.

The studies on these antidepressants are not complete yet and there is still a lot of data that needs to be collected to ascertain as to how many people are affected with a background of different clinical situations and how it turns the individual to be suicidal and what are the factors that are playing a part in that.

The doctors state that the individuals who are taking the antidepressants must not abruptly stop the medication because there are reported suicidal tendencies in different individuals who have stopped taking the antidepressant medicines, so one must not abruptly stop the antidepressant medications.

The researchers who are studying the relationship of antidepressants and suicidal tendencies have also mentioned that these medicines are really helping people who are going through severe bouts of depression, but they are adding another thing into that, which says that the individuals who are taking the antidepressant therapies must be under close observation due to the hazards it pose to the people who are under the age of 30.

This medicine has the serious effects on children as well and as an immediate effect the doctors have decreased down the rate of prescribing the antidepressant drugs to about 25% so that the children could be prevented from any adverse effects of these medicines on children.

This decision of decreasing down the prescribed antidepressants was done due to the fact that there were a lot of children in 2004who had suicidal tendencies than the children who were on placebos.

Therefore it is really important for the parents to realize that they question the physicians who are prescribing antidepressant drugs to their children so that they can determine as to what would be the effects of these medicines on their children and would it be safe for their children to be on such medicines that raises the suicidal tendencies by many folds. Just be very cautious when your child is taking the antidepressant drug and make sure that they are living in a safe environment and do talk with them on a regular basis to know if they are falling a victim of suicidal thoughts.


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