Fibromyalgia is a perplexing disorder that has just begun to make itself known in the medical community. Because of its wide range of symptoms and often intermittent nature, little is known about effective treatments for the condition, but there is evidence that something as simple as a memory foam mattress or topper can help some FMS patients. www.sleepaidfactory.com
Fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread, sometimes debilitating pain in muscles, tendons and other fibrous tissues. Other symptoms may include an overwhelming feeling of fatigue, and difficulty with concentration and complex mental tasks, sometimes referred to as "fibro-fog." As the medical community struggles to learn more about FMS, and to separate it from similar disorders like chronic fatigue syndrome, patients have been left largely to their own devices for treatment.
Through experimentation, many patients have found treatments that are effective on their own FMS. For example, there is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that regular massage therapy from therapists or mechanical massage chairs can help to reduce the muscle pain associated with FMS. Other treatments focus on improving sleep, through the use of pressure point relieving memory foam mattresses or toppers. There are a wealth of options out there, so the best thing for FMS sufferers to do is to seek as much information as possible.
Many doctors believe that the fatigue associated with FMS may be due in part to poor sleeping patterns. Clinical studies have shown that those suffering from FMS have repeated disturbances of phase IV sleep, the deep sleep that we need to feel rested during the day. There is even some evidence that this lack of deep sleep may be a major cause of FMS, and not just a symptom. Many FMS sufferers describe a cycle of sleep loss and muscle pain; those patients who sleep poorly experience more pain during the following day, and therefore sleep less at night, which leads to more pain, and so on.
There is anecdotal evidence that the right mattress can help FMS sufferers sleep more soundly and with fewer interruptions. When we lie down in our beds, our pressure points are always bearing more weight than other parts of our bodies. For example, if you are a side sleeper, most of your body weight will come to rest on your shoulder and hip. Discomfort from these pressure points is responsible for disturbing the sleep of even average individuals through a process called pressure point arousal. Because of already sore muscles, this disturbance is even more pronounced and frequent for FMS patients. Because critical deep sleep is constantly being interrupted, FMS patients may wake up feeling exhausted, even after getting a "full night's rest." Memory foam mattresses www.booksg.com, are unique in their ability to distribute pressure away from pressure points, thereby helping to eliminate pressure point arousal.
Simple Skin Care
Doctors are still struggling to learn more about Fibromyalgia, and a cure may be many years away. Until the medical community can offer real solutions, Fibromyalgia patients will continue to find their own paths to wellness.
Herbs or medicinal plants have a long history in treating disease. In traditional Chinese medicine, for example, the written history of herbal medicine goes back over 2000 years and herbalists in the West have used “weeds” equally long to treat that which ails us. We are all familiar with the virtues of Garlic, Chamomile, Peppermint, Lavender, and other common herbs.
Interest in medicinal herbs is on the rise again and the interest is primarily from the pharmaceutical industry, which is always looking for ‘new drugs’ and more effective substances to treat diseases, for which there may be no or very few drugs available.
Considering the very long traditional use of herbal medicines and the large body of evidence of their effectiveness, why is it that we are not generally encouraged to use traditional herbal medicine, instead of synthetic, incomplete copies of herbs, called drugs, considering the millions of dollars being spent looking for these seemingly elusive substances?
Herbs are considered treasures when it comes to ancient cultures and herbalists, and many so-called weeds are worth their weight in gold. Dandelion, Comfrey, Digitalis (Foxglove), the Poppy, Milk Thistle, Stinging nettle, and many others, have well-researched and established medicinal qualities that have few if any rivals in the pharmaceutical industry. Many of them in fact, form the bases of pharmaceutical drugs.
Research into the medicinal properties of such herbs as the humble Dandelion is currently being undertaken by scientists at the Royal Botanical Gardens, in Kew, west London, who believe it could be the source of a life-saving drug for cancer patients.
Early tests suggest that it could hold the key to warding off cancer, which kills tens of thousands of people every year.
Their work on the cancer-beating properties of the dandelion, which also has a history of being used to treat warts, is part of a much larger project to examine the natural medicinal properties of scores of British plants and flowers.
Professor Monique Simmonds, head of the Sustainable Uses of Plants Group at Kew, said: "We aren't randomly screening plants for their potential medicinal properties, we are looking at plants which we know have a long history of being used to treat certain medical problems.”
“We will be examining them to find out what active compounds they contain which can treat the illness.”
Unfortunately, as is so often the case, this group of scientists appears to be looking for active ingredients, which can later be synthesised and then made into pharmaceutical drugs. This is not the way herbs are used traditionally and their functions inevitably change when the active ingredients are used in isolation. That’s like saying that the only important part of a car is the engine – nothing else needs to be included…
So, why is there this need for isolating the ‘active ingredients’?
As a scientist, I can understand the need for the scientific process of establishing the fact that a particular herb works on a particular disease, pathogen or what ever, and the need to know why and how it does so. But, and this is a BIG but, as a doctor of Chinese medicine I also understand the process of choosing and prescribing COMBINATIONS of herbs, which have a synergistic effect to treat not just the disease, but any underlying condition as well as the person with the disease – That is a big difference and not one that is easily tested using standard scientific methodologies.
Using anecdotal evidence, which after all has a history of thousands of years, seems to escape my esteemed colleagues all together. Rather than trying to isolate the active ingredient(s), why not test these herbs, utilising the knowledge of professional herbalists, on patients in vivo, using the myriad of technology available to researchers and medical diagnosticians to see how and why these herbs work in living, breathing patients, rather than in a test tube or on laboratory rats and mice (which, by the way, are not humans and have a different, although some what similar, physiology to us…).
I suspect, that among the reasons for not following the above procedure is that the pharmaceutical companies are not really interested in the effects of the medicinal plants as a whole, but rather in whether they can isolate a therapeutic substance which can then be manufactured cheaply and marketed as a new drug - and of course that’s where the money is…
The problem with this approach is however, that medicinal plants like Comfrey, Dandelion and other herbs usually contain hundreds if not thousands of chemical compounds that interact, yet many of which are not yet understood and cannot be manufactured. This is why the manufactured drugs, based on so-called active ingredients, often do not work or produce side effects.
Aspirin is a classic case in point. Salicylic acid is the active ingredient in Aspirin tablets, and was first isolated from the bark of the White Willow tree. It is a relatively simple compound to make synthetically, however, Aspirin is known for its ability to cause stomach irritation and in some cases ulceration of the stomach wall.
The herbal extract from the bark of the White Willow tree generally does not cause stomach irritation due to other, so called ‘non-active ingredients’ contained in the bark, which function to protect the lining of the stomach thereby preventing ulceration of the stomach wall.
Ask yourself, which would I choose – Side effects, or no site effects? – It’s a very simple answer. Isn’t it?
So why then are herbal medicines not used more commonly and why do we have pharmaceutical impostors stuffed down our throats? The answer is, that there’s little or no money in herbs for the pharmaceutical companies. They, the herbs, have already been invented, they grow easily, they multiply readily and for the most part, they’re freely available.
Further more, correctly prescribed and formulated herbal compounds generally resolve the health problem of the patient over a period of time, leaving no requirement to keep taking the preparation – that means no repeat sales… no ongoing prescriptions… no ongoing problem.
Pharmaceuticals on the other hand primarily aim to relieve symptoms – that means: ongoing consultations, ongoing sales, ongoing health problems – which do you think is a more profitable proposition…?
Don’t get me wrong, this is not to say that all drugs are impostors or that none of the pharmaceutical drugs cure diseases or maladies – they do and some are life-preserving preparations and are without doubt invaluable. However, herbal extracts can be similarly effective, but are not promoted and are highly under-utilised.
The daily news is full of ‘discoveries’ of herbs found to be a possible cure of this or that, as in the example of Dandelion and its possible anti-cancer properties. The point is, that these herbs need to be investigated in the correct way. They are not just ‘an active ingredient’. They mostly have hundreds of ingredients and taking one or two in isolation is not what makes medicinal plants work. In addition, rarely are herbal extracts prescribed by herbalists as singles (a preparation which utilises only one herb). Usually herbalists mix a variety of medicinal plants to make a mixture, which addresses more than just the major symptoms.
In Chinese medicine for example there is a strict order of hierarchy in any herbal prescription, which requires considerable depth of knowledge and experience on the physicians part. The fact that the primary or principle herb has active ingredients, which has a specific physiological effect, does not mean the other herbs are not necessary in the preparation. This is a fact seemingly ignored by the pharmaceutical industry in its need to manufacture new drugs that can control disease.
Knowing that medicinal plants are so effective, that these plants potentially hold the key to many diseases, are inexpensive and have proven their worth time and time again over millennia, why is it that herbal medicine is still not in the forefront of medical treatments, and is considered by many orthodox medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies as hocus-pocus…. hmmm.
How To Get Fit And Slash Your Health Insurance Costs
Okay, before we start, let me explain the purpose of this article. I want you to get so healthy, you'll never need to make a health insurance claim. You'll save money by increased fitness. You'll save money with a long no-claims insurance history. And you'll look and feel much better.
There's three sides to your maximum health and fitness. Diet, and Exercise. But that's only two ! Let me split Exercise into Aerobic exercise and Aneorobic exercise.
Get all three right. Get the right balance. And you'll get as fit and healthy as your body and genetics will allow.
Whole forests of paper have been filled with advice on each of these fitness factors. Just go into your local bookstore, and see shelves of diet advice. Shelves of exercise advice.
Funny how so much contradicts itself, especially for diet e.g right next to each other on the shelf, you'll find a book advocating low carbs & low fat; another saying high fat is okay if you keep the carbs low. Yet another focuses on high protein, and says carbs don't matter...
* Diet
Let me give you this simple diet advice. Stick to low fat, low carbs and high protein. Many medical and weight loss studies over the last 10-20 years prove this approach. Many other diet myths come from way back in time, and look just plain wrong when analyzed with modern methods.
* Aerobic Exercise
Couch potatoes don't realize how easily they can start feeling fit and healthy. Just walk somewhere 3-4 times per week, for around 20 minutes each time.
Ideally, do some more demanding aerobic exercise. I do a lot of cycling, because it's great low-impact exercise. And I get to see beautiful scenery while I ride.
Running provides even more intensive aerobic exercise, but careful of your joints. Maybe you prefer hiking, to see the local countryside ? Or take up a sport like rowing or tennis. You also get to meet new friends by taking up exercise as a sport.
* Anaerobic Exercise
Many people work on their diet. Many people take aerobic exercise. But many people ignore anaerobic exercise, or weight training.
What makes weight training so important ?
As you get older, muscle mass decreases. Muscle burns fat. So as you lose muscle, it gets harder to keep the fat off. Equally important, weight training can reshape your body.
No matter how much aerobic exercise you do, you'll still be a pear shape (a smaller pear shape) if you started out a pear shape.
Using weights you can flatten your stomach, tone your thighs, bulk up your chest and shoulders, and reshape your body any way you want.
Weight training is incredibly beneficial to your general skeleton strength and conditioning. Older women can reduce the effects of osteoporosis, and older men can maintain their strength and agility.
This short article can do nothing more than provide an introduction to the three keys to your health. Follow these and you shouldn't need to make a healthinsurance claim.
Slash your health insurance costs with a long no-claims bonus. Slash your health insurance costs with any insurer who rates your fitness.