Posts Tagged ‘Poor Concentration’

Herbal Medicines For Blood Problems

Comments: 0September 9th, 2011 by admin



Problems with the blood, as opposed to the supply or circulation of blood, are normally the result of something wrong in the chemical composition of the blood so that either it does not flow as it should (it may clot too quickly or not fast enough) or it does not have the right amount of chemicals to nourish and protect the body or itself properly.

Serious blood problems such as hemophilia (an inherited deficiency in which blood will not clot properly, resulting in excessive bleeding), agranulocytosis (which is the result of a white blood cell deficiency), leukemia, polycythemia (high altitude or mountain sickness, from having too many red blood cells), and septicemia (blood poisoning, the result of an overload of disease-causing bacteria in the bloodstream) are relatively rare but need medical help, mostly urgently. They are really not suitable subjects for treatment by alternative therapies.

Anemia

Anemia, which simply means lack of blood, is not a disease so much as a disorder. It is caused by a deficiency of the red oxygen-carrying pigment in blood (hemoglobin), often from lack of iron in the diet. It is more common among women than men and can be a particular problem for women with heavy periods. Iron-deficiency anemia may also be caused by blood loss into the gut in conditions such as peptic ulcer and stomach cancer.

Symptoms of anemia are a “tired-all-the-time” feeling, pale skin, shortness of breath, dizziness, poor concentration, recurrent colds and infections, and white eyelid linings.

Sickle Cell Anemia

Several blood disorders are the result of a single gene. Sickle cell anemia causes a distortion of the red blood cells into sickle shapes (a sort of half-moon shape), slowing the blood flow and decreasing the amount of oxygen the red cells are able to carry. It is much more common in Africans, Caribbeans, and people of middle Eastern descent; in the United States, 1 in every 400 Afro- Americans has this disease. There are several forms of sickle cell anemia, ranging from mild to severe. Symptoms of the severe form, which usually begins at about six months of age, include organ dysfunction, pain, and jaundice, eventually leading and extreme lethargy.

Sickle cell anemia cannot be cured, but most sufferers maintain a good lifestyle with regulerers transfusions. It is often suggested that sufferers, take specific inoculations in order to avoid infection. Dehydration and coldness may cause painful sickle cell crises in the sufferer, and should be avoided.

Treatment

Diet and Nutrition The treatment of iron-deficiency anemia is to take more iron in food or as food supplements, ideally in a multimixture that includes a complex of B vitamins, especially B12 and folic acid, vitamins C, vitamins E, copper, and selenium. Supplements may be taken tablets or liquid tonic. Iron – rich foods include liver beef, and chicken. The best non-animal sources are soybeans, corn flour, spinach, black kidney beans, rhubarb, dried fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables. Biochemic tissue salts may also help. Avoid tea: it cuts down the amount of iron the body can absorb.

Consult a qualified practitioner/therapist for:

Traditional Chinese Medicine Chinese herbs (gui pi wan or “Return spleen tablets”) may help.

Acupuncture Some find this therapy helpful.

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Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Comments: 0October 23rd, 2009 by admin



In comparison to other water-soluble vitamins, vitamin B12 is not excreted in urine, but is stored in the liver, kidney and other body tissues. Hence, it might be five to six years before a person actually develops a deficiency syndrome for vitamin B12. The general notion is that body stores do no exhaust before several years.

The common symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiencies are excessive tiredness, breathlessness, listlessness, pallor and poor resistance to infection. Deficiency also can lead to neurological changes such as numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. Other symptoms may include a reduced sensitivity to pain or pressure, blurred vision, abnormal gait, sore tongue, menstrual disorders and poor concentration levels.

Rather than a dietary deficiency, a deficiency of vitamin B12 is generally associated with a malabsorption of it. In such a case, the stomach cannot produce enough of a substance called intrinsic factor (IF), which is a prerequisite for vitamin B12 absorption. Such a condition, termed pernicious anemia, is an autoimmune dysfunction, wherein the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. Vegetarians maybe at a risk for facing deficiencies caused by dietary reasons, since the only confirmed source for vitamin B12 intake is the animal source.

Vitamin B12 is essential for the formation of red blood cells, and a short supply of it causes anemia. A deficiency in Vitamin B12 also results in the disruption of DNA production, and as a result, abnormal cells called megaloblasts occur, leading to megaloblastic anemia.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is also linked with several neurological and psychological disorders. A lack of cobalamin results in cognitive decline, nerve degeneration and irreversible neurological damage particularly for adults above fifty. Breast-fed infants of women who follow strict vegetarian diets have very limited reserves of this vitamin, and if undetected, vitamin B12 deficiency in infants can result in permanent neurological damage. Depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are also caused due to a shortage of vitamin B12.

Other effects of deficiency might be asthma, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, tinnitus, diabetic neuropathy and low sperm counts. Ataxia (shaky movements and unsteady gait), muscle weakness, spasticity, incontinence, hypotension, vision problems, psychoses, and mood disturbances are the other disorders that have recently been linked to possible vitamin B12 deficiencies. Women with breast cancer tend to have lower vitamin B12 levels in their blood serum.

The causes for vitamin B12 deficiency could be liver damage caused by excess alcohol intake, gastrectomy (i.e. the surgical removal of part or all of the stomach or removal of the ileum, a section of the intestine) and a poor functioning of the pancreas. Infection with Helicobacter pylori, a common cause of atrophic gastritis and ulcers, can also contribute to adult vitamin B12 deficiency.

Vitamins comprise only a tiny portion of the food one eats, but a lack of these essential micronutrients in one’s diet could result in serious deficiency, which if not cured could endanger one’s life.

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The Diversity of Lupus Symptoms

Comments: 0July 9th, 2009 by admin



Lupus is a complex autoimmune disease that generates a wide variety of symptoms. The symptoms produced by lupus may range from mild to severe and generally occur in flares, unpredictably aggravating or ameliorating over time. Some of the common symptoms of lupus are: pronounced fatigue, pain and swelling of the joints, skin rashes and fever. At skin level, lupus often causes the occurrence of the “butterfly rash”, which appears across the nose and cheeks. Although the butterfly rash is the most common rash characteristic to lupus, the disease can cause many other different types of rashes located in various regions of the body: face and ears, scalp, neck, arms, shoulders, hands, chest and back.

The autoimmune disease can also produce symptoms such as chest pain, increased sensitivity to sunlight, alopecia (hair loss), anemia or leucopenia (decrease in the number of red blood cells, respectively white blood cells), and paleness or cyanosis of the fingers and toes (due to poor oxygenation of the body extremities). Patients with lupus often suffer from headaches, vertigo (dizziness), decreased vision, poor concentration, psychological conditions (depression) and sometimes even seizures and faints. The progression of the disease is unpredictable and symptoms may come and go unexpectedly. Over time, patients with lupus may experience different sets of symptoms, occurring in flares and varying in intensity and duration.

When lupus affects the lymphatic system of the body, the most common symptoms of lupus are swelling and pain of the lymph nodes throughout the body. Most cases of lupus either affect the lymphatic system, the musculoskeletal system or the skin. When lupus affects the musculoskeletal system, the most common symptoms are muscular pain, fatigue, swelling and stiffness of the joints. When confined to the skin, lupus commonly generates rashes, inflammation and irritation of the skin.

Lupus often causes kidney affections such as nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys), interfering in the process of excretion and determining the accumulation of toxins inside the body. Lupus patients who also suffer from kidney impairments usually require strong medication treatments in order to prevent the occurrence of serious complications.

In many cases, lupus affects the circulatory system of the body, causing inflammation of the blood vessels (vasculitis), anemia or leucopenia (decrease in red and white blood cells). Lupus may also lead to the occurrence of thrombocytopenia, a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood, condition that interferes in the process of blood coagulation, increasing the risk of bleeding.

When lupus affects the central nervous system, the most common symptoms are dizziness, headaches, temporary memory loss (amnesia), decreased vision, or neuropsychological problems (depression, unpredictable behavioral changes). Some of these previously mentioned symptoms aren’t solely caused by lupus; often they occur as a result of emotional stress and prolonged lupus medication. The majority of these symptoms can be reversed by interrupting the treatment or reducing the dose of medication.

At pulmonary level, patients with lupus may suffer from pleuritis (inflammation of the interior lining of the chest), condition that causes pronounced discomfort and pain, especially when taking deep breaths. Patients with lupus are also very susceptible of developing pneumonia. At coronary level, patients with lupus may suffer from coronary vasculitis (inflammation of the arteries that deliver blood to the heart), myocarditis and endocarditis (inflammation of the heart itself) and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart protective membrane). If discovered in time, the implications of lupus at coronary level can be efficiently reversed with medical treatment.

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