Archive for November, 2006
Scribonius Largus, the physician to the Emperor Claudius of ancient Rome treated the patients of migraine with electric shocks from the electricity-producing black torpedo fish called the Electric Ray.
Migraine is a kind of headache on one or both sides of the head, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity of the eyes to light and sound, dizziness, blurred vision, cognitive disturbances, etc.
The world of modern medicine has long replaced the Electric Ray. But the top migraine researchers from the US are exploring the electrical or electromagnetic intervention to treat an otherwise incurable condition.
Large scale clinical trials on different kinds of stimulatory devices are underway to give relief to those suffering from severe migraine.
Migraine affects about 30 million Americans and is known to be a hereditary neurological condition.
There are two kinds of stimulatory devices that are currently tested for mitigating migraine. An occipital nerve stimulatory device is a pacemaker-like machine which is connected to electrodes placed at the back of the head just under the skin. Electricity is passed through the electrodes to suppress or prevent migraine pain.
An another kind of machine, called transcranial magnetic device, is pressed against the back of the head, and short and periodic pulses that are generated are sent into the brain. It is aimed at checking the migraine pain while it progresses.
Migraine patients have responded to yoga and ayurveda in a highly encouraging way. Patients with chronic migraine, who participated in yoga camps, reported relief after practising breathing exercises or pranayama. The most beneficial of the exercises is the Aalom Vilom, a single-nostril rhythmic breathing exercise under an extensive regime of yoga.
The breathing exercises are known to bring a nervous balance, which has soothing effect. The effect is reinforced by the release of endorphins and cortisones, which are a direct result of the breathing exercises, as investigations have established.
November 23rd, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
At some point or the other we all go down with a spell of mild fever. New research indicates that mild fever is in fact is a good sign of health rather than one that calls for a quick dose of paracetamol.
Scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, US, have come to a conclusion that mild fever actually disrupts the ability of viruses that thrive at body temperature to multiply.
According to the researchers fever actually accelerates your “body’s surveillance process, identifying and eradicating an infection.” It helps your body’s immune system to increase the number of WBCs, the white blood corpuscles. WBCs, being part of our immune system, put up a defense against disease-causing pathogens like viruses.
The team of scientists was investigating how fever affects the movement of WBCs from your blood stream to lymphoid tissue, where they recognise and fight infection.
The researchers see wide implications of their finding. They hope that fever-based therapies could be fine-tuned to improve existing treatment systems for infections, auto-immune diseases and cancer.
Professor of Medicine at New Delhi based All India Institute of Medical Sciences Randeep Guleria says that even at present patients with fever upto 100 deg F are not advised to take antibiotics or even paracetamol.
Fatigue too causes fever. According to Guleria, the patients at best should have salt and lemon dissolved in water for sodium and potassium. Only when the fever does not subside over 5-7 days and is accompanied by symptoms like body ache and sore throat, should the patient go for a check-up, he advises.
Here I would like to share the finding of yet another doctor, who is attached with our continuing research on the effect of yoga on our body. Accordingly, the breathing exercises, called pranayama prescribed in the system of yoga, actually lead to an increase in the number of WBCs besides improving the quality of various essential fluid systems –including blood- of our body.
So next time you have mild fever, please do not rush for paracetamol or an antibiotic. Just feel happy about it.
It might also be advisable to practise yoga to improve your immunity against possible infections and stay healthy.
November 14th, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
On the BBC News this morning, there was an interesting article about cures for the common cold. Out onto the chilly streets went a number of reporters to discover what people use to treat and prevent the common cold.
“A couple of glasses of whisky”, said one jolly person. “Lemon juice in hot water” said someone else. The list of remedies that people employ was long and interesting, and invariably based on flawed science and medical fact.
Unfortunately the common cold is caused by any number of about 200 viruses and it’s basically up to your bodies natural defences to defeat the viruses as they spread their infection throughout your respiratory tract. Lemon juice, keeping your head warm in the cold and the other wifes tales may well help by making you feel that they work, but the death of those marauding viruses is down to the ability of your bodies immune system.
Of course being predominantly fit and healthy and having a healthy diet can strengthen your immune system and being warm will, of course, allow your body to expend more energy on the battle with the cold viruses, but that is probably the extent of the curative powers of these various remedies.
So I am left wondering about my daily dose of Echinacea. Is it really working? I just don’t know. I went down with a minor respiratory viral infection last week, even though I had been taking these high dose Echinacea tablets for about a month. Of course, though, Echinacea, even if it works, will not stop you being infected with a virus, it will only help your body fight the viral infection.
If Echinacea isn’t going to stop me getting colds, then is it doing any potential harm? Unfortunately, I don’t know that either. So all things considered, the potential downside of Echinacea overrides the potential upside and I have decided that I will no longer take it.
I just hope that I don’t go down with a cold in a few days!
November 10th, 2006
Written By: chris
Music is making news in the world of modern medical science.
After I talked about a British study in my last blog a study has established that listening to soothing classical music can reduce chronic pain by upto 21% and depression by 25%. There have been studies earlier, too, that show that patients exposed to music of their choice experience less intense pain and hence use far lower doses of painkillers than those who prefer silence.
According to the director of a coronary heart unit of a US hospital, half an hour of classical music produces the same effect as 10 milligram of Vallium. An Arts Council has reported that the patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis found significant reduction in pain after listening to their favourite music for 20 minutes. Even singing was shown to increase the quality of life of the patients suffering from progressive dementia.
The music magic has also been reported to help you exercise more effectively, perform stressful tasks, be less aggressive, eat less and shop differently. Thus dieters have been advised to listen to Mozart or Enya, as they are slow and soothing, for the meal times. Those with high BP have been advised to try Fur Elise by Beethovan. Studies show the music can lower BP and stabilize the heart rate. Another study discovered that short bursts of Mozart’s Sonata K448 decreased epileptic attacks.
Theories about how music works the way it does abound. The one doing the rounds most is that music helps increase production of endorphins.
Mine and a number of others’ experience with yoga in matters of pain, stress and depression have been similar. Aalom Vilom, one of the breathing exercises particularly I have found works within a few minutes to half an hour to give relief in case of pain and stress.
Our findings point to the increased levels of endorphins and cortisones in our body after a session of pranayama, the breathing exercises, which work to bring relief in pain, stress and a number of other conditions.
November 7th, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
The British Journal of Psychiatry reports a study whereby music therapy is helpful in easing the depression, anxiety and emotional withdrawal symptoms of schizophrenia.
Undertaken by British scientists in four hospitals, the study indicates that encouraging patients to express themselves through music helps them mitigate their symptoms.
Dr Mike Crawford, the author of the study says, “We have known for sometime that psychological treatments can help people with schizophrenia, but these have only been used when people are fairly stable”. The study establishes that music is quite effective in working with schizophrenics to give them relief.
About 1% of people in Britain and the US are affected by schizophrenia, which is marked by hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices and significant changes in the behaviour of the patients. The disease mostly affects the youngsters from their late teens to early 20s.
Amongst the conventional line of treatments, patients of schizophrenia are given antipsychotic drugs which work to ameliorate the symptoms. The drugs are known to have possible side effects like sexual dysfunction, increased risk of diabetes and weight gain.
The patients in the British study were administered music therapy over eight to 12 music sessions. Marked improvements in the symptoms of the patients were recorded.
Under the regime of Yoga we have had an experience of treating severe cases of chronic depression and quite a few among them suffering from early to late stage of schizophrenia.
Among the breathing exercises, called pranayama under the regime of yoga, Aalom Vilom was found to be most effective in bringing relief to the patients over a period of three to eight months.
It is not difficult to understand that the music therapy in the British study works on the same lines as the pranayama, which is known to increase the flow of endorphins, the “happy hormones”. Our own findings indicate that breathing exercises are effective in balancing your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which control the functioning of our vital organs, as an involuntary feature of our body. Such a balance is specially vital in achieving improvement in nervous conditions.
November 3rd, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
