Does Someone You Know Have Asthma?

This information comes from Asthma Society of Canada

"Doctors define asthma as a "chronic inflammatory disease of the airways" . It is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions affecting Canadians. Asthma can be diagnosed at any age, but often starts in childhood. Its prevalence in Canada has been increasing over the last 20 years and it is estimated that currently over 3 million Canadians have asthma.

"The three strongest risk factors for developing asthma are family history, exposure in infancy to high levels of antigens such as house dust mites, and exposure to tobacco smoke and/or chemical irritants.

"We're all pretty familiar with allergic triggers of asthmatic symptoms, such as mould, animal dander, pollen, dust mites, etc., but perhaps less familiar with non-allergic triggers such as certain drugs, chemicals, fumes and odours, respiratory viral infections, certain weather conditions, strenuous physical exercise, tobacco smoke, and air pollution.

"Urbanization appears to be correlated with an increase in asthma. The nature of the risk is unclear because studies have not taken into account indoor allergens although these have been identified as significant risk factors.

"Experts are struggling to understand why prevalence rates world-wide are, on average, rising by 50% every decade."

At first reading, there isn't much extremely shocking in this report. But with a little research, in my opinion it becomes alarming.

First of all, the report was updated in April of 2005, yet most of the footnoted references are from the mid to late 90's. So the report is about "Canadians" in general; children are still not identified as a unique segment of the population, their needs, habits and susceptibilities are not taken into special consideration, even though the studies all concur that asthma often starts in childhood.

Next, approximately 3 million Canadians have asthma. You have to put that into the context of how many Canadians there are, which in the year 2000 was about 31 million, with an annual growth rate of approximately 1%. So about 9.6% of all Canadians have asthma. Almost one out of 10. If one out of 10 Canadians were in a wheelchair, or wearing a cast, we would take notice. Alarming, since we treat it so casually. It's a chronic disease, which means lifelong constant management and medication

The world's current (overall as well as natural) growth rate is about 1.3% per year, while prevalence rates of asthma world-wide are, on average, rising by 50% every decade. So asthma is occuring over 3 times more than can be accounted for by population growth. These are rough figures, just to give us an idea of what we're looking at.

And this is only about asthma. It isn't about illness from chemical poisoning, or deaths from poisoning, or lung cancer, or...

So it's time to take steps to prevent asthma and other illnesses and diseases. At the very least, search for and buy the least toxic cleansers for household use. Get educated! Then, store all chemicals safely and securely away from children and pets.

Don't allow smoking in your home, and be aware of and avoid air pollution, both inside and out. Air out your home completely three times a day. Did you know that cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 chemical agents, including over 60 carcinogens? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Science's National Toxicology Program, and the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen-a category reserved for agents for which there is sufficient scientific evidence that they cause cancer.

The U.S. EPA has estimated that exposure to secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers and is responsible for up to 300,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children up to 18 months of age in the United States each year. If you have to smoke, just dig your own grave, don't drag others with you!

Hemorrhoids and Enlarged Rectal Veins

Hemorrhoids, in the rectum, occur when the veins are not returning enough blood back to the heart. When this happens, the vein walls do not receive enough oxygen and release a substance into the blood that causes them swell and become inflamed. This swelling weakens them and their more likely to break when they are rubbed, like during a bowel movement.

If your stools are hard, you have a higher chance of breaking a swelling vein. For this reason getting your stools softer is one step in clearing your hemorrhoids. You can do this by eating a diet and using remedies that help relieve constipation.
Hemorrhoids, which are enlarged or swelling can exist,

On the inside just above the muscle that closes the anus and into to the rectum. They are near the surface of the rectum mucus membrane
On the outside, they occur on the skin that surround the anus and protrude or hang outward.

In a way, hemorrhoids can be considered varicose veins of the rectum. Just like varicose veins in the legs, the rectum veins become enlarged and come to the skin surface and bulge out.
Hemorrhoids occur when you are constipated for long periods, sit for long hours, lift heavy items, or are pregnant.

If you're constipated, you're probably having a difficult time having a bowel movement. And when you do, your stools are usually small, hard, and dry. If you have to push and strain or sit on the toilet for 10-15 minutes, then expect to have hemorrhoids at some point. Two to three minutes is all you normally need to have a natural bowel movement. <

Over 85% of the population has hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are a sign that fecal matter is not passing through your colon like it should. Simple hemorrhoids are not dangerous to your health, but hemorrhoids that have been building for a while will cause you some discomfort, such as,
Mucus discharge

Bleeding showing up in your stools or dripping into the toilet water
Itching on the outside of the rectum
Pain in the rectum area and during a bowel movement
Pain in the rectum area, when you sit
Soft bulging area in the rectum or anus that give you a sensation that something is there

See your doctor if your hemorrhoids are painful, have excess bleeding, or stools have change in color from medium brown to dark brown or black.

Just be aware of any growth in the rectum, bleeding during a bowel movement, and a change in your stools color. Then take action to take care of these changes.

Eczema and Psoriasis - An Inexpensive and Effective Treatment

The purpose of this article is to tell the world what I have learned from my own personal experience about an inexpensive and effective treatment for eczema. Because psoriasis is a very similar affliction, there's a good chance that this treatment would be effective for psoriasis too. Eczema is a skin irritation characterized by red, flaky skin that sometimes has cracks or tiny blisters. It's believed to be hereditary and if both parents have it, there is an 80% chance that their children will have it too.

Once upon a time, I had medical insurance coverage and I was able to afford any medication my doctor prescribed. I used to have a slew of little bottles and creams that were somewhat effective in relieving the itching, but nothing I ever tried had any effect whatsoever in terms of reducing the severity or frequency of eczema attacks. Topical applications of cortisone cream have a limited effect in terms of relieving the itching, but cortisone just suppresses eczema and can actually cause it to spread. There's a theory that eczema can be brought on by stress, and I believe that may be true. After experiencing a year long constant virulent attack during 2004 through 2005 when I was under severe stress, I decided to seek medical help in order to find out whether anything new had been discovered regarding eczema treatment. The only treatment I didn't already know about involves exposure to ultraviolet light radiation which is very expensive. For many years there have been medications that are taken internally, but all of them require regular blood testing for possible liver damage. For me, this is out of the question because any medication that is capable of causing liver damage comes under the category of unacceptable.

One day I was returning from a doctor visit when I passed a health food store, and I had some time to spend so I went in. The woman behind the counter turned out to be a certified nutritionist so I asked her whether she knew anything about eczema treatment that the doctors don't know about. She said "Yes, I do." I said "Really. Tell me." She brought out a small bottle of liquid zinc and told me that some of her customers had reported success with topical applications on their eczema sores. So I bought a bottle. I figured "What have I got to lose? Nothing. Twenty bucks, maybe." To my surprise, it relieved the itching and seemed to have some limited effect in reducing the inflammations. The health food store lady had told me that zinc is a healer so I started thinking about it. I remembered that Desitin is a very effective and well known treatment for baby rash and that the active ingredient is zinc oxide. I thought "If liquid zinc is effective topically, how much more effective could it be if I take it internally?" Being inherently cheap, I was a bit bothered by the idea of buying another small bottle of liquid zinc and I knew that zinc tablets are inexpensive. And that certainly appealed to my wallet. I discussed my idea with the nutritionist who agreed that it could work. So I began with the 75 mg. daily dose that the woman recommended and gradually worked my way upwards until I reached 200 mg. a day

Eczema makes me so angry that I often curse "the eczema Nazis" each time the first blister occurs with the unmistakable itch that feels like it originates in my bones. I say to myself, "Damnation, I'm under attack again!" Now I say "Come on zinc, be John Wayne and kill every last one of those eczema Nazis!" Eight months after I began my inexpensive experiment with zinc taken internally, I can report real progress. Where previously one tiny eczema blister always signaled a serious outbreak, now it stops without spreading any further and heals very quickly. The indicative first blister is not necessarily accompanied by itching either. To me, this is very significant because it constitutes a completely new pattern that has never before manifested in my entire life.

If you want to try taking zinc internally, I'd recommend "chelated" zinc because zinc is a mineral and minerals are not easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Back in the early 1980's, the health food industry discovered that if minerals are chemically linked to something the body can easily absorb, they are far more effective. The chemists who invent these things decided to use amino acids which are natural proteins, and proteins are easily absorbable. The process of chemically linking a mineral to an amino acid is called chelation. I've written all this with a sincere desire to help others benefit from my experience and I really hope that somebody out there has found my article to be valuable.

Why I Recommend Energy Healing

ally changed my life. It raised my vibration and raised my consciousness. It gave me the power to leave victim consciousness. It gave me the strength in finding my own self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem and self-respect. It empowered me – because it taught me to empower myself! I AM free.



So how does energy healing actually do this? We ARE energetic beings and everything IS energy. Scientists have proven this to be truth and this article is not about proving this fact. To keep this as simplistic as possible, we have an invisible energy body surrounding our physical body. In this energy body are layers. Each layer has different functions and each layer is associated with a different chakra and each chakra and layer both have an effect on areas of the physical body. The chakras and acupuncture points are openings for energy to flow into and out of the aura (energy body). This energy is associated with a form of consciousness, thus we experience the exchange of energy in the forms of seeing, hearing, feeling, sensing, intuiting or direct knowing. It is important to open the chakras and increase our energy flow, because the more energy we let flow, the healthier we are. Illness in the system is caused by an imbalance of energy or a blocking of the flow of energy. In other words, a lack of flow in the human energy system eventually leads to disease. It also distorts our perceptions and dampens our feelings and therefore interferes with a happy experience of living a joyful life.



So what causes an imbalance or block in the flow of energy? The majority of people today have been conditioned to react to unpleasant experiences by blocking our feeling and emotions which stops a great deal of our natural energy flow. An example of this, a person is rejected many times when she tries to show her love to another, she eventually stops showing her love by trying to stop the inner feelings of love. In order to do this, she will have to stop the energy flow through the heart chakra. When the energy flow is stopped or slowed down, the development of the heart chakra is affected which eventually a physical problem will very likely result if the energy does not start to flow smoothly again. This same process works for all the chakras. Whenever a person blocks whatever experiences he is having, he in turn blocks his chakras, which blocks the flow of universal life force energy. Disrupted, weakened, blocked or imbalances in the chakras can all be caused from many situations occurring in our lives, such as: emotional or physical trauma, injury, negative self-talk, toxicity, nutritional depletion, destructive lifestyle and relationships, neglect of self and lack of love for oneself or others, from emotions that are not expressed in a healthy way, childhood traumas, cultural conditioning, limited belief system, bad habits or even just a lack of attention all contribute to blockage. Difficulties abound in life, for each one of us, we develop a coping strategy. If these difficulties persist, these coping strategies become chronic patterns, anchored in the body and psyche as defense structures. It is important to recognize the blocks we carry, find and understand their source then heal them.

Energy healing is excellent for healing any physical, mental, emotional and spiritual issues. I recommend starting off with the Clearing Program. This program is very in-depth and intense and goes back in time. I also suggest regular energy healing therapy like Reiki Energies. Long term practice of whole-body energy healing will restore the general condition of the body. It will open the energy channels and this will allow the body to deal properly and naturally with stress and the build-up of toxins along with coping with anxiety and depression.



Some of the health benefits from receiving energy healing:



- Creates deep relaxation and aids the body to release stress and tension
- It accelerates the body's self-healing abilities
- Aids better sleep
- Reduces blood pressure
- Can help with acute injuries and chronic problems (asthma, eczema, headaches, etc.) and aides the breaking of addictions
- Helps relieve pain
- Removes energy blockages, adjusts the energy flow of the endocrine system bringing the body into balance and harmony
- Assists the body in cleaning itself from toxins
- Reduces some of the side effects of drugs and helps the body to recover from drug therapy after surgery and chemotherapy
- Supports the immune system
- Increases vitality and postpones the aging process
- Raises the vibrational frequency of the body
- Helps spiritual growth and emotional clearing
- And more!



Energy Healing works. It changes you from the inside out. The main thing to remember is that body, mind and soul together with the energy body, are one invisible whole. This simple, non-invasive healing system works with the Higher Self of the receiver (person) to promote health and well being of the entire physical, emotional, mental and spiritual body. Therefore it is truly a system of attaining and promoting wholeness. It is an extremely powerful, yet a gentle energy that can be easily channeled to yourself and others, just by intention. When it is combined with the sincere desire of the healee, who is willing to effect a cleansing within their consciousness, a total healing can occur. A total NEW you will in time Emerge!

in Alternative Medicine

Moving Back To The Nature Through Aromatherapy Skin Care

In the mid east, there is the custom of wearing hijaab among women. It is a kind of veil that covers the entire face. Though it has taken many a connotations with time (largely controversial), the very basic purpose of it was to protect the facial skin from the sun.

Skin care, as can be seen, has been accorded wide importance at all times. In addition, it has been an ubiquitous phenomenon as no part of the world is unaffected with the concern for their skin. Skin care with herbs and plant extracts is finding growing popularity in recent years. This is termed as aromatherapy skin care.

Aromatherapy skin care is not a recent concept. Only that we were so engrossed in artificial and synthetic products that we forgot the huge resource of our nature. Artificial skin care products are easily available. This was the primary plank on which these became the order of the day. For the natural remedies for skin care, one had to visit their source, i.e. the forest. This was an impossible task for a common person. So, artificial moisturizers, artificial lotions, artificial sunscreens, and several other artificial skin care products almost enveloped the market.

It was because of constant research on the subject that people understood the adverse effects of artificial products. Now, people who are concerned about their skin and are willing to spend that extra buck for the correct remedy for their skin, have voted for natural skin care products and aromatherapy skin care.

If seen from the point of view of cost, then aromatherapy skin care will turn out to be the cheapest. If one wants then he can prepare an all-natural skin care preparation at home. Does this demand time? No! Devote your weekend to skin care (your skin truly deserves that). Many preparations last for a few days to certain weeks. So, one may keep them for use during the weekdays. This will ensure that you do not get late for office while readying your skin for the day.

Simple techniques are involved in aromatherapy skin care. While taking a bath, sprinkle two drops each of lavender, bergamot, and cedar wood. This will keep you refreshed all day. If you are feeling nervous, then use of essentials oils of geranium and basil is recommended. Similarly, there are baths aimed at relieving people of insomnia or fatigue.

If using a skin softener, look for sweet almond oil in the product. Being rich in Vitamins A, B1, B2, and B6, your skin will glow. Exposing ones skin to steam is also helpful. This helps open the pores in the skin and thus prevents skin inflammations. A cleanser too works in the same manner. It helps keep the skin clean. Always use a chemical free and soap free cleanser. One may have a vast choice from natural cleansers available in the market.

All these attempts to keep your skin healthy and glowing will go waste if you are stressed. Stress shows on your face (unless you are a master deceiver). Go for a spa and rejuvenate yourself.