Medicity World Around You

Homeopathic Home Kit

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The following remedies are advised to be kept for minor illnesses, first–aid and as specific remedies. Homeopathic remedies have an almost indefinite shelf–life. Unless the pills turn brown, they are quite safe to take even years after purchase. Tinctures may be made into ointments by mixing into pure petroleum jelly, using a sterile instrument.

Pills ::

* Aconite 30
* Allium cepa 30, 200
* Antim Crud 30
* Antim Tart 30
* Arg. Nit. 6, 30
* Arnica 30, 200
* Arsenic Alb. 30, 200
* Belladonna 30
* Bryonia Alba 30, 200
* Cantharis 6, 30

* Chamomilla 6, 30
* Cina 6
* Gelsemium 30, 200
* Hamamelis 6, 30
* Hepar Sulph 30, 200
* Hypericum 30
* Ipecac 30
* Kali Phos 6,30
* Kreosote 30
* Mag Phos 12, 30

* Nat. Mur. 30, 200
* Nux Vomica 30, 200
* Podophyllum 30
* Pulsatilla 30
* Rescue Remedy (Bach)
* Rhus Tox 30, 200
* Silicea 30
* Spongia 30, 200
* Thuja 30

Sources Of Homeopathic Medicines

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Plant Kingdom::
There are over 2000 homeopathic drugs that have been proved and are in use world over. The process of preparing is unique. The mother tincture, which is the core extract of the plant that may come from the roots or stem or leaves or fruit or the entire plant is prepared and then is diluted with alcohol to form various higher potencies by giving what is called as succussions. Succussions are repeated beatings given to the bottle containing the mixture (mother tincture of the drug diluted with prescribed amount of alcohol) to extract the hidden medicinal powers or energy of the drug. It comes in various potencies starting from 6x to 12x to 30c to 200c to 1000c(1M) to 50M to CM in the ascending order. Some examples or drugs from plant kingdom are Arnica montana, Bryonia alba, Cinchona officinalis, Pulsatilla nigricans, Rhus tox, Symphytum etc.

Animal Kingdom::
Several homeopathic drugs are prepared from the animal kingdom which are prepared in the similar manner as that of the plant kingdom the only difference being here the part of the whole animal is taken to prepare the medicine. A few examples of drugs are, Latrodectus mactans, Tarentula hispania (Spanish spider), Tarentula cubensis (Cuban spider), Naja tripudians (King Cobra), Vipera (Russell’s viper), Sepia (Dried inky juice of cuttle fish), Cantharis (Spanish fly).

Mineral Kingdom::
The drugs under this category are very useful and have a good medicinal effect. Individual drugs or compounds are taken and medicines are prepared. It also contains elements such as Phosphorous. A few examples are Calcarea carbonica (Calcium carbonate–CaCo3), Phosphorus (Phosphorus), Calcarea phosphorica (Calcium phosphate–Ca3 (PO4)2), Natrum muriaticum (Sodium chloride–NaCl). Acids are also included in this category such as Nitric acid (Nitricum acidum), Phosphoric acid (Acidum phosphoricum), etc. Also metals are included in this category such as Copper (Cuprum metallicum), Iron (Ferrum metallicum), Gold (Aurum metallicum) and Silver (Argentum metallicum). These metals are potentized with Saccharum Lacts (Lactose sugar) a procedure which minimizes the toxicity of the metals and lower concentration that is higher potencies are prepared where the medicinal powers of these metals are obtained.

Nosodes::
These are drugs prepared from morbid parts or secretions of animals. The extract is similarly diluted to remove the toxicity of the drug and thereon with further succussions higher potencies are produced. A few examples of these are, Anthracinum (Diseased spleen of sheep), Medorrhinum (Morbid Grease of horse).

Sarcodes::
These are drugs prepared from healthy parts or secretions of animals. E.g Pancreatin (secretion of the pancreas). Higher potencies are efficacious in treatment of various disorders.

Imponderabilia::
This is a very important and unique feature of Homeopathy. Drugs are actually prepared from universal energies. That is for example, Alcohol is exposed to X–rays to have a drug called X–ray. Drugs are even prepared from Moon rays.

Prostate Cancer

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An estimated 180,400 new cases in the US during 2000. Prostate cancer incidence rates
remain significantly higher in African American men than in white men. Between 1989
and 1992, prostate cancer incidence rates increased dramatically, probably due to earlier
diagnosis in men without any symptoms, by increased use of prostate-specific antigen
(PSA) blood test screenings. Prostate cancer incidence rates are now declining; rates
peaked in 1992 among white men and in 1993 among African American men.
An estimated 31,900 deaths in 2000, the second leading cause of cancer death in men.
During 1992 to 1996, prostate cancer mortality rates declined significantly. Although
mortality rates are declining among white and African American men, rates in African
American men remain more than twice as high as rates in white men.

Signs and Symptoms:-

Weak or interrupted urine flow; inability to urinate, or difficulty starting or stopping the
urine flow; the need to urinate frequently, especially at night; blood in the urine; pain or
burning on urination; continual pain in lower back, pelvis, or upper thighs. Most of these
symptoms are nonspecific and may be similar to those caused by benign conditions such
as infection or prostate enlargement.

Risk Factors:-

The incidence of prostate cancer increases with age; more than 75 percent of all prostate
cancers are diagnosed in men over age sixty- five. African Americans have the highest
prostate cancer incidence rates in the world; the disease is common in North America and
Northwestern Europe and is rare in Asia, Africa, and South America. Recent genetic
studies suggest that strong fa milial predisposition may be responsible for 5 percent to 10
percent of prostate cancers. International studies suggest that dietary fat may also be a
factor.

What about treatment for HIV during pregnancy?

2010-06-26T11:33:00.000+05:30

One of the greatest advances in the management of HIV infection has been in pregnant women. Prior to antiviral therapy, the risk of HIV transmission from an infected mother to her newborn was approximately 25%-35%. The first major advance in this area came with studies giving ZDV after the first trimester of pregnancy, then intravenously during the delivery process, and then after delivery to the newborn for six weeks. This treatment showed a reduction in the risk of transmission to less than 10%. Although less data are available with more potent drug combinations, clinical experience suggests that the risk of transmission may be reduced to less than 5%. Current recommendations are to advise HIV-infected pregnant women regarding both the unknown side effects of antiviral therapy on the fetus and the promising clinical experience with potent therapy in preventing transmission. In the final analysis, however, pregnant women with HIV should be treated essentially the same as nonpregnant women with HIV. Exceptions would be during the first trimester, where therapy remains controversial, and avoiding certain drugs that may cause greater concern for fetal toxicity, such as EFV.
All HIV-infected pregnant women should be managed by an obstetrician with experience in dealing with HIV-infected women. Maximal obstetric precautions to minimize transmission of the HIV virus, such as avoiding scalp monitors and minimizing labor after rupture of the uterine membranes, should be observed. In addition, the potential use of an elective Caesarean section (C-section) should be discussed, particularly in those women without good viral control of their HIV infection where the risk of transmission may be increased. Breastfeeding should be avoided if alternative nutrition for the infant is available since HIV transmission can occur by this route. Updated guidelines for managing HIV-infected women are updated on a regular basis and can be found at http://www.hivatis.org/.

Purpose Of Medicine

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Improving and Maintaining Health

It is never too early (or too late) to think about how to improve your health. But looking at how to cure disease is only one part of a healthy lifestyle. It is also important to maintain health through several different methods that are readily available to us. Hahnemann was a pioneer in demanding a health-conscious lifestyle from the people he was around.

An increasing trend that has surfaced in health care management organizations is the belief that we have diseases that can be categorized and related to any ultimate cause of death. Most of us can live out our lives without chronic disease or disability and succumb only to old age when the time is finally up. The goal of a healthy life is as Dr. Ernst Wynder, president of the American Health Foundation put it, to “die young as late in life as possible.”

90 percent of your health is determined by factors beyond medicine’s control: your genetic background, the healthfulness of your environment, and most important, how you live – what and how much you eat, your drinking and smoking habits, how much your exercise, and how you relax.

As homeopaths, we may hold the key to many paths away from disease but in promoting good health through lifestyle choices we can keep people from getting on the path to disease in the first place. Our genes predispose us to certain types of disease but unless we encourage them to do their dirty work, they will never express their dissatisfaction with our choices.

You’ve heard that our life expectancy has increased over the time when homeopathy was introduced and many principles were adopted by conventional medicine. That’s true but it’s been due to fewer deaths in infancy, in childhood, and after childbirth – the result of improved sanitation, immunizations, and antibiotics. Among middle-aged Americans, however, men live only four years longer, and women only seven years longer that did their counterparts at the turn of the century. It is more of our responsibility to improve and keep our health that it is of the physician’s. Remind yourself often that a pill will never be the solution to any ailment that you may have.

The recommendations that make up for a healthy life are based around a few principles:

* Avoid hazardous behaviors such as cigarettes, excess alcohol and calories, mind-altering drugs, unsafe driving and recreational practices, misuse of dangerous tools.

* Pursue health-enhancing activities, such as regular exercise, a proper diet, and protective health measures such as routine check-ups.

* Get proper diagnosis and treatment. Know the limits of what you can do and don’t hope for any more when your or another person’s health is at risk.

A personal health inventory is a way to check your health so that you know of the hazards you or the people you work with are exposed to. This determines your health age. It should be no greater than your chronological age, and the lower it is than your chronological age, the better.

Homeopathic Medicines : Introduction

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A study of any field of alternative medicine such as homeopathy is likely to take the student into a whole host of derivative concepts ranging from ancient religious rituals to quantum physics. Almost any book on the subject is going to contain a full range of holistic jargon that has no agreed upon meaning by people in the field. "We are fields of energy with a reality separate from the mind" we might be told.

There is nothing wrong here in the sense that any assertion can be proved or disproved. The problem is that people are answering a question that we don't know about yet. Does the answer tell us why we get sick and what the process will be to get better? Are we accepting the process on faith as a substitute for what we might discover is a principle that can be used to improve our current health practice?

The establishment doctors have stayed away from developing the same sort of holistic principles and rely on chemical effects and lab tests resulting in more detailed information. They look on the alternative field with cynicism and containing a lack of ability to provide the bridge that would they would like to arrive at so that the laws of healing would derive benefit to the unquestionably disordered bodies they see but have no hope of helping.

The current popularity of mind-body study has not brought a solid bond between the need of logical inquiry and the desire to understand the murky connection between the curative powers of the mind and the illness. Instead it has opened the door to the dialog of internal mythologies which ends in belief or disbelief by a matter of faith.

What about treating non-HIV-infected people exposed to the blood or genital secretions of an HIV-infected person?

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Recently, a great deal of interest has focused on preventing transmission to uninfected people who are inadvertently exposed by the early administration of antiviral therapy. Because the risk of infection after most isolated exposures is relatively small and the number of patients needed for study would be great, formal studies are difficult to perform. Animal studies and some human experience, however, suggest that post-exposure treatment may be effective. In fact, the current recommendation is that health-care workers who experience a needle stick from an infected person take antiviral medication for four weeks in order to reduce the risk of infection. Guidelines now recommend similar preventive treatment for people with sexual exposures to HIV. Those individuals considering this type of preventative treatment, however, must be aware that post-exposure treatment cannot be relied upon to prevent HIV infection. Moreover, such treatment is not always available at the time most needed and is probably best restricted to unusual and unexpected exposures, such as a broken condom during intercourse. Although regimens with two or three drugs generally are recommended for those exposed in the health-care setting, the best therapy for sexual exposure still is unknown and ideally should be initiated within hours of exposure and certainly within the first several days. Updated guidelines are published and available at http://www.hivatis.org/

HIV at Glance

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The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a type of virus called a retrovirus, which infects humans when it comes in contact with tissues such as those that line the vagina, anal area, mouth, or eyes, or through a break in the skin.

HIV infection is generally a slowly progressive disease in which the virus is present throughout the body at all stages of the disease.

Three stages of HIV infection have been described.

1.)The initial stage of infection (primary infection), which occurs within weeks of acquiring the virus, and often is characterized by a "flu-" or "mono-"like illness that generally resolves within weeks.

2.)The stage of chronic asymptomatic infection (meaning a long duration of infection without symptoms) lasts an average of eight to 10 years.

3.)The stage of symptomatic infection, in which the body's immune (or defense) system has been suppressed and complications have developed, is called the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The symptoms are caused by the complications of AIDS, which include one or more unusual infections or cancers, severe loss of weight, and intellectual deterioration (called dementia).

When HIV grows (that is, by reproducing itself), it acquires the ability to change (mutate) its own structure. This mutation enables the virus to become resistant to previously effective drug therapy.

The goals of drug therapy are to prevent damage to the immune system by the HIV virus and to halt or delay the progress of the infection to symptomatic disease.

Therapy for HIV includes combinations of drugs that decrease the growth of the virus to such an extent that the treatment prevents or markedly delays the development of viral resistance to the drugs. The best combination of drugs for HIV has not yet been defined, but one of the most important factors is that the combination be well tolerated so that it can be followed consistently without missing doses.

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

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A medical exam is the first step in diagnosing an asbestos-related illness.

The process of mesothelioma diagnosis usually begins with a review of a patient’s medical history followed by a physical examination.

If a problem is suspected, a doctor may request several diagnostic tests. These typically include medical imaging scans such as:

X-rays

CT scans

PET scans

MRI scans

A combination of these tests is often used to determine the location, size and type of the cancer. Biopsy procedures are

often requested following an imaging scan to test samples of fluid and tissue for the presence of cancerous cells.

Human Body Diseases

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Human body diseases vary in both severity and diversity. Any body part or function can contract a disease or have a disorder. We are more capable today than ever before of combating these diseases and medicine is advancing every day.

Below are articles on diseases and disorders:

Skin Disorders

The skin is susceptible to physical injury and to infection by bacteria, virus, fungi, and exposure to sunlight. Rashes can be caused by allergic reactions and some skin disorders are hereditary.

Nervous System Disorders

Damage to the nervous system through physical injury or disease can impair both physical and mental function. The nervous system can be affected by infections, injury, tumors, and degenerative conditions.

Cardiovascular Disorders

Common heart diseases include structural defects, damage due to restricted blood supply, heart muscle disorders and viral infections. What we eat and the amount of exercise we get can affect our cardiovascular system.

Infections and Immune Disorders

Our bodies can be infected by bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Our immune systems work to combat these viruses. Our immune systems can also develop disorders and there are two types of immune system disorder; allergies and autoimmune diseases where the immune system over reacts and immunodefficiency diseases where it underacts and is too weak to cope with a threat.

Digestive Disorders

Problems with our digestive systems occur frequently mainly due to the food we consume. Viral infections and cancer can also affect our digestive systems.

Mesothelioma Types

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There are five known types of mesothelioma. The four listed below are malignant cancers, and benign mesothelioma is a non-cancerous condition.

Once asbestos is inhaled it can effect many of the bodys different organs including the throat, lungs, stomach, heart and testicles.

Pleural Mesothelioma: This type of mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lungs, known as the pleura. It is the most common form of malignant mesothelioma, with around 75 percent of cases being pleural in origin.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Comprising approximately 20 percent of mesothelioma cases, this form of mesothelioma develops in the lining of the abdominal cavity, known as the peritoneal membrane.

Pericardial Mesothelioma: This form of mesothelioma develops in the lining of the heart, known as the pericardium. Approximately 5 percent of all mesothelioma cases are pericardial.

Testicular Mesothelioma: Testicular mesothelioma develops in the tunica vaginalis of the testicles and is the rarest form of

the cancer.

Mesothelioma Causes

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Mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure which occurs when fibers are inhaled or ingested into the body and become lodged in body cavities, causing inflammation or infection. Asbestos is a naturally-occurring fibrous substance that was widely used

in the 20th century in a number of different industries. When the public became aware of the hazards associated with the mineral, warnings were issued in the mid-1970s and use of the product began to decline.

More than 30 percent of those diagnosed with mesothelioma are veterans. Please visit the page on asbestos for additional information about the mineral.

Mesothelioma Definition

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Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that typically affects the lining of the lungs, heart and abdomen. Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the United States, comprising around 3 percent of all cancer

diagnoses. This cancer occurs about four times more frequently in men than in women and all forms of mesothelioma, except for benign mesothelioma, are invariably fatal.

The life expectancy for mesothelioma patients is generally reported as less than one year following diagnosis, however a patient’s prognosis is affected by numerous factors including how early the cancer is diagnosed and how aggressively it is treated.

Mesothelioma Treatments

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After a patient begins to demonstrate mesothelioma symptoms and a diagnosis occurs, the next step is often exploring applicable treatment options to create the best treatment plan possible. Treatment options range from surgery to chemotherapy and Asbestos.com offers mesothelioma patients and their loved ones comprehensive information about current treatment options and new developments in a complimentary informational packet available here.

There are a variety of treatment options for mesothelioma patients including radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. The most common mesothelioma treatments recommended by doctors for patients include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Experimental procedures, including immunotherapy and gene therapy are also utilized by mesothelioma patients. Patients often undergo multiple treatments to combat the disease.

Experimental treatments are also available to patients who participate in a clinical trial, conducted to test up-and-coming procedures and medications.