Thursday, May 21, 2009

Diet and Hair Loss

Hair loss is a common, emotionally devastating experience in life because it affects the majority of people at one time or another in their lives. Many men are suffering baldness in silence because they are afraid to admit their undue concern over their hair; women are more traumatized than men because their hair loss is often perceived as abnormal by society.

To treat your hair problem, you must understand some of the basics of human hair. Your hair itself is made up of dead cells, although your hair follicles are alive. An average person has approximately one hundred thousand hair follicles, which grow more in spring and less in winter. Normal hair loss is between 50 and 100 strands per day. Do not be over concerned if you find many strands of hair after your shampoo, or on your pillow when you wake up in the morning.

There are different types of hair loss, which can be temporary or long lasting. Temporary loss of hair can be fixed as long as its causes are identified. Unfortunately, early and correct diagnosis is not easy: many symptoms of different types of hair problems may overlap one another; a general practitioner or dermatologist may not be adequately trained in hair loss treatment.

Basically, abnormal or excessive loss of hair will occur due to hormone imbalance, disease, or other conditions such as stress, pregnancy, and medication.

Your hair loss may be directly or indirectly related to your diet.

Your testosterone levels affect hair growth and hair loss. Your testosterone peaks off in the fall and is lowest in the spring. That accounts for the fact that hair grows the most in spring. This is the normal cycle of hair growth and their demise.

Interestingly, Asian men have less body hair and baldness than Americans. The explanation is that the Standard American Diet (SAD), often loaded with fat and animal protein, tends to upset the blood sugar balance in the body, leading to excessive production of the male hormone, Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is an enemy of hair follicles on your head.

Similarly, when your body undergoes something traumatic, such as disease, childbirth, or stress, your body's hormone levels may become upset, causing problems in hair follicles.

Yes, your diet does play a pivotal role in your hair loss. Sugar is a contributing factor to hormone imbalance, which is the root of most kinds of hair loss. The delicate imbalance of male and female hormones is critical to the problems in hair follicles.

Your body converts food and its nutrients into glucose, a sugar, which is used by the insulin in your body to make energy for your body's cells. Accordingly, foods affect your hormones, both short term and long term. Studies indicated that low-fat or vegetarian diets produce lower levels of testosterone in your bloodstream. In addition, a low-fat diet also reduces estrogen levels in both men and women. This explains why obese men have breast enlargement. Another explanation is that a high-fat diet reduces the amount of a certain sex hormone protein, keeping it inactive until your body needs it; more testosterone in your bloodstream means more follicle-killing DHT.

Yes, you can use diet to control your testosterone levels. According to Dr. Sears, author of "The Zone", you may consume a sugar-balancing diet made up of 30 percent protein, 40 percent complex carbohydrates, and 30 percent monounsaturated fat, such as extra virgin olive, almonds, avocados, and macadamia nuts.

Reduce your alcohol consumption to no more than one drink per day. Alcohol plays havoc with your sugar levels by depleting your body of vitamin c, zinc, and folic acid.

Also, limit your caffeine intake, which adversely affects your adrenal glands, and ultimately your DHT levels.

If you wish to keep your hair on your head a little longer, watch out what you put into your mouth.

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Obsessed With Diet

Today’s society might be too obsessed with diet. There are new diet plans emerging all the time. And when you stroll down the health/diet section of your local bookstore, you will probably find hundreds of diet books with names of doctors (or even celebrities) attached to it.

Cabbage Soup Diet is one of the famous diet plans with many books written on behalf of it. Its origin is unknown. However, it has been passed down for decades. There are various versions that emerged, sometimes even with different names.

Anatomy of Diet

According to Melissa Payne, registered dietitian at Orlando Health Care, people want quick fixes and a specific program that they can follow. It is not enough to tell them to watch their diet by eating portion sizes of food as well as increase their exercise activity. People need structure, she added.

For Cabbage Soup Diet, the diet structure looks like this:

Day 1: Cabbage soup with all the fruit you can eat (except bananas). Drink water, cranberry juice, black coffee, or unsweetened tea.

Day 2: Cabbage soup with all the vegetables you can eat (except corn, peas, or beans). Also eat baked potato with butter at dinnertime.

Day 3: Cabbage soup with a combination of fruits and vegetables above.

Day 4: Cabbage soup with bananas (only 8 pieces) and 2 glasses of skimmed milk.

Day 5: Cabbage soup with 20 ounces of chicken, beef, or fish. Also eat 6 fresh tomatoes and drink water (only 6-8 glasses).

Day 6: Cabbage soup with unlimited vegetables and 3 beef steaks.

Day 7: Cabbage soup with brown rice (2 cups only), unlimited vegetables and unsweetened fruit juices.

The promise of this diet is losing about 10 pounds of fat in only 7 days. It is important that you do not follow it for a longer time because the nutrients that your body need cannot be found here.

However, experts say that a healthy person will not really be harmed with a one-week diet like this. In fact, it is likened to a modified fast or a detox diet which is also healthy to do once in a while.

The Lure of Diet

Sometimes you would rather follow a diet than the USDA food pyramid guide. Another thing is that people are confused by nutrition experts and they don’t know who to follow anymore, Payne said further.

People also like the fact that diets offer an instant recipe for success and they often believe the testimonials attached to it, says Joy Short, assistant professor of dietetics and nutrition in St. Louis University. Majority of people are not very patient, and the balance, variety, and moderation they need for success takes a lot of effort and long-term commitment, she added.

Success with Diet

Another diet authority, Jeanne Goldberg, PHD and nutrition professor at Friedman nutrition science school at Boston’s Tufts University, said that losing weight is tough if you like to eat a lot. But there is really some evidence that a lot of people have lost weight on Cabbage Soup Diet. The difficult part is keeping the weight off. And that will be entirely up to you.

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Hair Loss Treatments

It is estimated that about 50% of women and more than 50% of men experience hair loss at some time. Treatment for hair loss seems to be more effective if you begin early, so it is in your best health interest to keep an eye out for hair loss. If you can pinpoint hair loss at the early stage, you will more than likely be happier with the results of your treatment.


1. Growth stimulants and Rogaine. Men and women both can purchase Rogaine over-the-counter at most pharmacies. The active component is minoxidil. Available in 2% and 5%, the application method for Rogaine is right on the scalp. Rogaine and growth stimulants in general do not stop hair loss in the way that other treatments do, focusing instead on encouraging growth, the treatment must be ongoing in order to create and retain hair regrowth. Side effects can include mild skin irritations or, rarely, heart rate fluctuations.


2. DHT inhibitors. Only for use by men at this time Propecia is an oral medication. It disrupts the behavior of a key testosterone that unites with 5-alpha reductase to form dihydro-testosterone, as a DHT inhibitor. Raised levels of DHT bind more with androgen receptors and lead to hair loss. Preventing the overabundance of DHT can bring hair loss to a halt and encourage regrowth, these DHT inhibitors.


3. Propecia has the disadvantage of taking about 6 months before seeing a positive effect. Similar to Rogaine, the Propecia effect will stop working if you quit using it. A lot of men do not have the patience to continue the treatment until they get results. It may be less effective in combating receding hair line than baldness toward the top of the head but the treatment can be quite effective. Anyone pregnant or who may be pregnant should not come in contact with Propecia.

4. Though effective dosage has not yet been determined, a natural product similar to Propecia, is Saw Palmetto which appears to prevent 5-alpha reductase from combining with testosterone to form DHT.

5. What are anti-androgens? The goal of treating with anti-androgens is to stop DHT binding with androgen receptors. A lot of anti-androgens are used all over the world, but they have not yet been approved by the FDA. Spironolactone is in the family of anti-androgens that are used for treating hair loss for females. To learn about the anti-androgen options available to you, you should talk to your doctor.

6. What are some other medical treatments? To provide additional power to combating hair loss, some anti-inflammatory drugs are used. Injections, including cortisone, among other kinds of creams and shampoos for topical treatment, can counter the inflammation that leads to hair loss. These methods are generally used along with another type of remedy. For follicles which are overburdened by DHT, antioxidant SODs (superoxide dismutase) can help. They can assist in preventing hair loss by removing a bit of the superoxide produced during the autoimmune response.

7. Surgery. Hair replacements are very promising indeed and have made great advancements. Methods of transplanting hair which entail moving and grafting tiny sections of the living scalp which are growing have become more advanced. However, there are newer techniques that consist of relocating single follicles - each on its own - which are less intrusive and have had wonderful results. The main thing is to locate an experienced surgeon and prepare to pay much more for this particular hair loss treatment than for the previously noted options.

8. In the foreseeable future – cloning of hair. This may happen in the not-too-distant future - we've all heard a lot about cloning in the past several years. The method of treatment would show itself as surgery where a follicle's stem cells create hair clones that will be implanted into the scalp.

The future for hair treating hair loss is looking ever better. Best options might involve a combined attack of hair loss in its different phases. The nature of your hair loss and prescription of the appropriate treatment would be determined by you and your doctor.

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Parkinson's Disease And Sleep Disorders

Parkinson's disease affects approximately 1.5 million adults in the United States. Due to a deficiency in the chemical dopamine, which controls muscle coordination and movement, Parkinson's disease most often affects motor skills and speech. People with Parkinson's disease often experience difficulties with movement; many of them shake uncontrollably or go rigid. Balance is often affected, causing the afflicted person to fall often.

People with Parkinson's disease also experience speech problems. For example, some people with Parkinson's disease speak softly or unintelligibly. Others have problems with drooling or swallowing. Yes, Parkinson's disease is a very sad affliction. However, these are not the only symptoms that make life more difficult for those afflicted by Parkinson's disease. Many experts have found a correlation between Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders as well.

Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders that are most commonly associated with it cause problems for many adults. Some common disorders that occur as a result of Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders are: insomnia, parasomnia, and daytime sleep disorders.

Insomnia

Of all adults with Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders, approximately 74 per cent have insomnia as well. Insomnia causes one to have difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up at a reasonable time. There are various forms of insomnia that can accompany Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders. For example, the insomnia can be intermediate, initial, or terminal.

Parasomnia

Parasomnia is the occurrence of one of the following during sleep: vivid dreams, nocturnal hallucinosis, nightmares, night terrors, nocturnal vocalizations, sleep walking, sleep talking, panic attacks and rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder. Many people who are affected by Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders report that they are also affected by one or more of these annoyances during sleep. This can cause the patient to feel as though they barely slept, when in fact they slept through the entire night.

Daytime Sleep Disorders

People with Parkinson's disease are also affected by daytime sleep disorders. People with Parkinson's disease frequently have trouble staying awake during the day. This can be a result of many things. Usually, it is because they had difficulties sleeping the previous night, or because of the medicine that is given to treat Parkinson's disease. Also, conditions such as dementia, depression, and sleep apnea can accompany Parkinson's disease and sleep disorders. These conditions can cause the person who is affected by Parkinson's disease to feel tired or drowsy during the day as well.

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Major Causes Of Hair Loss

Hair loss and baldness are two major problems in today’s world, cause of hair loss can be endless. In medical terminology, temporary or permanent hair loss to an excessive degree is defined by the disorder called Alopecia. Many things affect our day to day life and hence create causes for hair loss. Each hair has a limited life, when this is reached the hair falls out to make a room for another one. Upto 100 hair a day can be lost for an average of 100,000 hairs on a head. If your hair fall is more than this ratio, you can consider it as a hair loss.

Causes Hair Loss, Baldness

Heredity
It is the genes we inherit which tells us about the texture, quality and form of hairs. This hereditory factor is greatly responsible for your hair growth. Generally, the problems of concerning hairloss are also passes on from parents to the offsprings. The majot threat to healthy hair comes from diabetes and thyroid disorder.

Stress factor and Trauma
stress has entered into each and everyone’s life and considered to be the most important reason causing hair loss. Any sudden trauma can also cause temporary or permanent hair loss. Any emotional problems, examinations or sickness can provoke genuine hair loss.

Head Infections

there are many bacterial, viral or fungal infections which can cause hair loss but hair loss caused by these infections can be cured. A fungal attack of the scalp as a result of untreated dandruff.

Reaction of certain drugs or chemical
hair loss can cause as most of the antibiotics have adverse effect on the hairs. Chemical therapies given in serious diseases such as cancer also cause excessive hair loss.

Environmental stress

Some, people are unable to cope up with pressure of life. Dust, excessive exposure to sun or weather problems can cause hair loss at the great extent. Rainy season are worst for hairs and hence, result in great mount of hair loss.

Hair loss due to hormonal imbalances
Pregnancy, birth control pill, menopause are the major reasons of hormonal imbalances in the body and hence hair loss starts when imbalances occur. Hair loss in these situations can be easily cured later. During the pregnancy high amount of oestrogen provides for a longer growth period of hairs, this is suddenly interrupted after birth so shortly afterwards large amount of hairs fall. These kind of imbalances are nothing to worry about they are solved along with the imbalances.

Our hairs are precious to us and we don’t want to loose it. Little care and few tips can solve the problems of temporary hair loss but permanent hair loss or baldness should be consulted to the doctor for treatment. Cosmetic and pharmaceuticals preparations which are suppose to encourage the growth of hair roots have had a few individual signs of effectiveness.

Source; www.freeuniquearticles.com

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Adult Diabetes Symptoms

Before telling you what the adult diabetes symptoms are, you are required to be told what the diabetes is. The diabetes actually is related with insulin to be produced by our pancreas. Any disorder in insulin production causes the diabetes. There are three types of diabetes which the children, men and women suffer from. One is caused in children while second in adults of all age and third amongst the pregnant ones(though for shorter period of time).

Diabetes Symptoms,Adult Diabetes

Though the diabetes is directly related with excessive production of glucose, there are different reasons causing the diabetic conditions in different people. Following are the types of diabetes occuring in different people.

Diabetes Due To Scarcity Of Insulin- Such type of diabetes is found to emerge in those children whose pancreas gets futile and stops producing required amount of insulin in their body, which as a result, causes diabetes. To replenish the scarcity of Insulin the children are required to be administered Insulin injections regularly. 

Gestational Diabetes- Such diabetes takes place in the pregnant woman. Despite not being diabetic the woman develop diabetes following a normal level of her blood sugar increasing to a great extent. During the pregnancy stage hormonal changes occur much faster in the body of women, which increases the glucose in her blood substantiating her being diabetic. 
Adult Diabetes- Such diabetes occurs when the pancreas of adults produces insufficient insulin to control excessively produced glucose inherent in their blood. Such failure of keeping the blood glucose controlled oftentimes results into excessive blood sugar called adult diabetes.

What Are The Symptoms Of Adult Diabetes? 

Excessive glucose stored in the blood being not controlled by the insulin to be produced by pancreas enhances the intensity of diabetes causing a variety of complications to the patient. Following are the specific adult diabetes symptoms:

Tiredness or Fatigue.
Urinating frequently especially during the night hours while being on bed. 
Stomach disorder often resulting into vomiting and nausea.
Increased appetite for foods despite inability to digest it. 
Irregular menstrual period in women.
Fingers and toes experiencing numbness. 
Blurred Vision.
Impotence In Men.
Increased Thirst.
Injuries and infections recovering slowly.

Source; www.freeuniquearticles.com

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Saturday, May 2, 2009

About Dementia


Dementia is a clinical syndrome marked by a variety of cognitive disfunction but followed without interference awareness. Yag experience cognitive function disturbances in dementia patients is a function of general intelligence, learning and memory, language, problem solving ability, orientation, perception, attention, concentration and social ability. In addition, patients also personality also affected. If the patient has a disturbance of awareness, the patient is likely to meet Diagnostic criteria for delirium. In addition, the diagnosis of dementia according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder fourth edition (DSM IV) requires that the symptoms that also cause interference or social function yag heavy work, so a decline of function before.

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Drinking Coffee Decrease Risk Alzheimer

"With drinking 3-5 cups coffee per day can reduce the risk of developing dementia and alzheimer disease between 60-65%," said Miia Kivipelto by a professor at the University of Kuopio in Finland.

This study is a collaboration with the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, based on the interview conducted by recurrent orand to 1409 in Finland for more than two decades.

First they asked about their drinking habits at the age of 50 coffee and remember the power that they dites back in 1998, when they are aged 65-79.

Although he can not clearly describe how coffee can reduce or avoid someone from dementia, but that coffee contains antioxidants that can be known that a strong hold's Alzheimer's Disease.

Some studies also show that coffee helps protect the nervous system, which can also help against dementia, and other studies showing that coffee can prevent diabetes, which is also related to Alzheimer's Disease's.

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Questions about the Alzheimer's Disease

What's Alzheimer's Disease?

First to determine the existence of dementia need to be confirmed with a test neuropsychologi. Symptoms include disturbances of mind and cognitive resources.

Whether the early symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease's?

Early symptoms of Alzheimer's is easy to forget things often do, and new things, especially the disorientation of time and difficulties in cognitive functions such as complex mathematics or the activities of the organization.

Are the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease's?

Alzheimer's have a history of amnesia is progressive until the day-to-day activities, people and place disorientation (such as age), and also time. And have problems in self care (eg, forget to change clothes). Changes in behavior such as depression, paranoia, or aggressive.

Whether genetic factors can cause Alzheimer's?

Not clear. People who have a family history have a risk of Alzheimer's occur and Alzheimer's risk is increasing if both parents suffered from Alzheimer's

Whether risk factors for the occurrence of Alzheimer's?

A serious head trauma, postmenopause, defisiensi estrogen, family history with the genotype ApoE-positive, increased serum homosistein, knowledge of low growth, especially in the beginning.

Factors which can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's?

Estrogen Replacement Therapy in the early menopause, anti-inflamatory drug (including the nonsteroid agent), Antioxidant, and statin use.

People who are diagnosed Alzheimer's is:

  • Ronald Reagan (U.S. President)
  • Charlton Heston (Actor)
  • Rita Hayworth (Actress)
  • Immanuel Kant (Filosopi)
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (Author)
  • Maurice Ravel (Composer)
  • John James Audubon (painter)

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Crohn's Disease ; Other Treatment (2)

Crohn's disease can affect every aspect of your life. This can make you feel depressed or terkucil. But you can take steps to improve the skills and the future. You may want to seek professional consultants and social support from family, friends, or clergy. Research has shown that a strong social support can reduce stress and disease activity.

Other Care Options

Nutritional supplements
Additional nutrition or total parenteral nutrition (TPN) with a liquid nutrition, which is more easily digested, either through a tube inserted through the nose and into the stomach or the needle is inserted into the vein.
Complementary medicine (complementary)

Many people with the disease enteritis consider nontraditional or complementary medicine in addition to prescription drugs. They return to this alternative because there is no cure for Crohn's disease. People may also use complementary medicine to help with:

  1. The difficult side effects of standard drugs.
  2. Emotional tension associated with chronic diseases.
  3. Negative impact of severe disease on daily life.

Therapy is not effective for Crohn's disease, but they can improve overall welfare.

Variety of complementary therapy include:
  1. Dietary supplements or special nutrition, such as probiotics, evening primrose and fish oil.
  2. Supplements, such as vitamins D and B12.
  3. Herbal, such as aloe and ginseng.
  4. Massage.
  5. Stimulation of the feet, hands, and ears to try to affect parts of the body (reflection).
What should be thought

Nutritional supplements can help people receive enough essential nutrients, but they are expensive.

TPN can cause metabolic uneven. This can also increase the risk of infection from Catheter blood flow in the blood vessel, which is necessary for the given TPN. Use of long-term TPN dapatmeningkatkan risk of liver problems or liver failure.

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Crohn's Disease ; Other Treatment



Some people who have Crohn's disease need additional nutrition because severe disease prevents their small intestine to absorb nutrients. Additional supply of fluid can be done through a tube placed in the nose and down into the stomach (enteral nutrition) or through a vein (total parenteral nutrition, or TPN). The provision of additional food may be needed if:

- Crohn's disease is not controlled with standard treatment.
- Short bowel syndrome occurs. This occurred when many of the small intestine has been removed through surgery or affected by diseases that can not properly digest food and absorb adequate nutrition.
- Happens sumbatan intestine.

Nutrition therapy can restore good nutrition to children who grow more slowly than usual. This also can build strength if you need surgery or weakened due to severe diarrhea and malnutrition.

Total nutrition from the outside allows the bowel to rest and heal. It may relieve an acute attack and allows the operation be delayed or avoided. But this is a general tendency to occur again when the TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) and stopped to return to a normal diet. TPN does not change the long-term results of Crohn's disease.

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