photo credit: thegoinggreenboutique

I always thought that a stroke was simply a blood clot in the brain, but on researching for this article I found that a stroke falls under two main types, ischemic and haemorrhagic.

An ischemic stroke is when a major blood vessel supplying blood to the brain is blocked with a blood clot. A haemorrhagic stroke is where the blood vessel bursts.

A stroke is known in the medical profession as a CVA, which means a cerebrovascular accident. When this happens the result is the oxygen supply to the brain is halted which causes the brain cells to start to die.

Now we come to the good news, bad news part. An ischemic stroke where the blood vessel becomes blocked is treatable if diagnosed quickly enough, and chances of a recovery are good. The bad news is that a haemorrhagic stroke where the blood vessel bursts, and which causes internal bleeding in the brain is dangerous and risky to try and treat, and unfortunately with this type of stroke the outcome is usually not good.

People with high blood pressure and atherosclerosis, (a hardening of the artery walls), are at a high risk for a haemorrhagic stroke. Advances in treatment are being made, but the outcome is still poor.

So how do I recognize the early signs of a stroke?

First of all like most medical conditions early detection means a much better chance of successful treatment. One of the earliest warning signs is feeling sudden weakness. It may be accompanied by, or could be followed by numbness or paralysis of the face, and the numbness will probably be experienced in an arm or a leg on one side of the body.

You may become dizzy and lose your sense of balance, or you may suddenly become clumsy for no apparent reason.

Another early sign of a stroke is a loss of vision in one eye, or a sudden headache which just happens rather than builds up progressively.

If you take a stroke you may lose your ability to speak. Depending on the severity, you may even lose your ability to understand what is going on.

If you are at risk from stroke, it is a good idea to wear some sort of device which will summon help should you become incapacitated. Some at risk persons’ homes have long pull cords extending from the ceiling to the floor in each room which when pulled can summons help in a similar manner, even if you’re on the floor and have to crawl to reach it.

This reminds me of a story concerning an apartment I sold several years ago. It was a third storey apartment and had steps outside down to the street as well as private internal steps to the apartment. The owner took a stroke in the bathroom and was luckily able to summon assistance by telephone, though it took him a while to crawl to it. He managed to crawl down the stairs but was unable to open the door to allow the ambulance team to enter.

The warning device could have saved him a lot of anxiety and allowed someone with a key to enter quickly render assistance. Fortunately his stroke was the ischemic type and he made a recovery.

There is a time period here which comes into play for the best chances of a recovery of an ischemic stroke victim. There are drugs available which can break up the clot which is blocking the blood flow to the brain. How ever the victim must arrive in the emergency room within three hours of experiencing the symptoms, and meet other specific criteria, for treatment to have the best chance of success.

Therefore become familiar with the contents of this article, even read again, because being familiar with the warning signs of stroke may save your life or the life of a member of your family. The sooner you detect it and get treatment, the better chance you or the victim has to survive it.

Tags: atherosclerosis, blood, blood clot in the brain, signs of a stroke, early signs of a stroke, ischemic stroke, sudden headache, bleeding in the brain, internal bleeding in the brain, sign of a stroke, sudden weakness, haemorrhagic stroke, cerebrovascular accident, artery walls, high blood pressure, loss of vision,



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Technorati Tags: artery walls, atherosclerosis, bleeding in the brain, blood, blood clot in the brain, cerebrovascular accident, early signs of a stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, high blood pressure, internal bleeding in the brain, ischemic stroke, loss of vision, sign of a stroke, signs of a stroke, sudden headache, sudden weakness

The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) is aware of the research presented to the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona today (8^th July) and is dismayed that the practice of acupuncture is being questioned in this way.

There has been significant research* which has found that acupuncture treatment can have a positive affect on those trying for a baby and can actually aid the conception process.

Fertility focused acupuncture treatment has been found to help increase blood flow to the reproductive organs, balance hormone levels, regulate the menstrual cycle and help improve the lining of the uterus and quality of eggs released. Additionally, conditions such as polycystic ovaries and endometriosis have also been shown to improve with acupuncture.

photo credit: ggvic

BAcC practitioners recognise that there are many factors which may cause infertility such as stress, irregular hormone levels and disrupted menstrual cycles. As a holistic therapy, acupuncture helps to identify underlying health issues which may cause disruption to the body’s natural balance, resulting in symptoms such as infertility.

Many BAcC registered practitioners have experienced positive results with their fertility patients when conventional methods alone have not been successful: Zita West, practicing midwife and acupuncturist, BAcC member and founder of the Zita West fertility clinic in London offers acupuncture treatments to her patients as one of the treatments which may improve the chances of conception.

“Many women we see at the clinic who have experienced IVF both with and without acupuncture frequently report that they are convinced that acupuncture made a difference.”

For further information about the British Acupuncture Council, visit www.acupuncture.org.uk

*Research

Previous studies have proved the effectiveness of acupuncture for infertility.

1. A 2008 study published in the British Medical Journal found that acupuncture given with embryo transfer can improve rates of pregnancy by 65% in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

2. A 2005 study conducted by Shanghai University in China found that acupuncture also helped treat male infertility. Of the men who participated, those who had acupuncture had an increased percentage of sperm in their semen; their sperm structure and morphology was also healthier than their counterparts who did not undergo acupuncture infertility treatment.

3. A 2004 study conducted by the Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Center in Colorado found that 51% of women who underwent both IVF and acupuncture treatment at the same time became pregnant, while only 36% of those who only underwent IVF did. The latter group also had higher rates of miscarriage and stillbirth (20%) compared to those women who had received acupuncture (8%).

4. A report published in the journal Fertility and Sterility (2002) found the pregnancy rate in the group receiving acupuncture group was 42.5%, compared to the group which did not receive the therapy, where the rate was 26.3%.

Paul Joseph

Consultant
Direct line: 020 3128 8131
Mandate switchboard: 020 3128 8100

Visit our website: www.yourmandate.com

The Engine Group, 60 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7RT.

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Technorati Tags: acupuncture, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, Alternative, Alternative medicine, Health, IVF, Therapy, Traditional Chinese medicine

photo credit: uLe @ Dortmund

Red wine may help prevent breast cancer new research shows. A team of researchers from the University of Nebraska has found that in the test tube studies in relation to breast cancer and estrogen, resveratrol which is an antioxidant found in red wine, blueberries, cranberries, red and purple grape juice, peanuts, and which is also available as a supplement, keeps estrogen from causing breast cancer in their test-tube research.

One of the major risks to breast cancer is continued and prolonged exposure to estrogen because interactions take place between estrogen and estrogen receptors in breast cancer cells.

In a woman’s body when the body’s system for keeping estrogen in balance becomes erratic, toxic compounds called estrogen metabolites begin to appear. DNA in breast cells in the act with these estrogen metabolites causing the growth of tumours.

Now the team of researchers at the University of Nebraska headed by Eleanor G. Rogan, PhD, have found that the antioxidant Resveratrol frustrates the formation of the toxic compounds and tends to block interactions between the cellular DNA and between the toxic compounds themselves.

Perhaps equally as important it has also been found that the resveratrol helps to increase the production of an enzyme which destroys the estrogen metabolites. In other words a resveratrol helps stop the first steps in the process leading to breast cancer.

Additionally the results were achieved with low levels of resveratrol.

While this research shows promising results from test-tube experiments and breast cells actually grown in a laboratory, further research is still needed. However these are promising results indeed towards the progress to eradicate breast cancer.

Tags: resveratrol, red wine, antioxidants, breast cancer



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Technorati Tags: Antioxidant, antioxidants, Breast, breast cancer, cancer, Conditions and Diseases, Estrogen receptor, Health, red wine, resveratrol, Wine