E-Healthsite Resource Blog

Manipulating the body’s “energy pathways” with hair-thin needles - as esoteric as

that sounds - is easily the most well respected complementary therapy popular in many countries around the world. Even NIH researchers, America’s medical standard bearers say - there’s plenty of evidence that acupuncture works (much of it in the more than 2300 studies conducted on the technique). Dr. Hiranandani, a renowned acupunturist pioneered the use of Laser & Ultrasound in acupuncture area and is now a standard text in acupuncture institutes all over the world. Most common uses of this technique is in back pain, asthma, headaches, bladder problems. Dr. Hiranandani’s studies led him to -

“the conclusion that few illness had single causes and that healing the mind body and soul required help from many sources.”

According to him acupuncture can relieve migraine headaches and can often lead to a cure. One study found that after several treatments, women who had three or more urinary tract infections in a year, all experienced less pain and fewer recurrences. Plan on 6 to 10 visits before seeing results in some instances of acute migraine attack, says Dr. Hiranandani,

“pain relief may occur within 5-7 minutes which is faster than any drug.”

As small as the needles are, acupuncture isn’t always painless. It’s usually not awful, just a dull ache. But it’s the action behind that ache that counts. The needle, paced at key points on the body, is thought to stimulate the release of chemicals and balance energy flow (or qi) , says Marshall H. Sager, D.O., President of the AAMA. Charles May, MD, a family physician in Cleveland, finds the therapy soothing and ha sought treatment for muscle injuries, even bronchitis and the flu:

“I didn’t know what to expect my first time, but I found it incredibly relaxing and there was minimal discomfort.”

Scientists have found a vital information about Insulin, the essence of life force. Presence of less insulin, the glucose-regulating hormone, in brain may be the cause for long life. This tremendous information is reported in the journal “Science” by a group of researchers headed by Dr. Morris White, a Howard Hughes Institute investigator at Children’s Hospital in Boston, USA. The group picked up mutant mice that over-ate, became fat and got symptoms of diabetes but yet lived 18% longer than their normal lab nice. The secret behind this is that these mice lacked a key gene that affects insulin. This new information raises question about how desirable it is to use insulin for treating type-2 diabetes. It is known to the Doctors that people doing exercise regularly live longer on average. The researchers also know that putting animals on a strict diet makes them live longer, though this has not been shown to work in human beings. So, Dr. Morris White’s group wanted to see if the two effects were linked. They had looked at Insulin because both fasting and exercise make cells more insulin-sensitive, meaning they respond more effectively to the effects of insulin.

The group made effort to look at the entire insulin pathway-a series of actions in the cell that control the body’s use of insulin. The team investigated mice that had no working copies of one of the genes involved in this pathway, called insulin receptor substrate 2 or Irs2. The group found that mice with no copies of Irs2 got defective brains and also diabetes. But mice having one working copy lived 18% longer than normal lab mice even if they could shorten their lives being overweight and having higher insulin levels in their blood. Read more…

According to a recent study by a group of scientists led by Kerry Ressler of Emory University in Atlanta, it has been found that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or more popularly known as PTSD is a result of both genetic as well as environmental influence on the patient suffering from despair.

The findings published in the Journal of The American Medical Association have re-affirmed that environmental factors coupled with genetic variants affect tremendously on mental health. The findings also states that, no single factor of genetic or environmental can result in serious stress related disorder. All people who have had unpleasant experiences like war, accidents, terrorist attacks or natural disaster might not develop PTSD. Only those with genetic background are at risk of developing the dreaded condition that might stop someone from leading a normal life. The traumatic experiences of the past leads to nightmares, flashbacks, depressions or mood swings. But everybody who experiences bad or horrific experiences suffers from PTSD. It has been found that identical twins sharing all their genes and serving the Vietnam War were likely both to suffer more than their fraternal peers. But genes alone are not the cause for such traumatic and depressive life.

The research team had studied 900 adults who grew up in deprived urban communities and faced difficulties during their growing up periods. They were asked to answer a questionnaire that detailed their life including child or sexual abuse at one stage or the other.

Dr. Ressler also examined the gene variants known as FKBP5 normally related to how a body responds to stress. The team found that the gene made little or no effect in isolation to many. But when gene and environmental factors were put together, they made big difference in either raising or reducing the risk of PTSD on people. Dr. Ressler says

“These results are early and will need to be replicated, but they support the hypothesis that combinations of genes and environmental factors affect the risk for stress-related disorders like PTSD”

Scientists of East China Normal University, Shanghai have found that the normal Asian pumpkin may someday replace insulin intake for diabetic patients. The scientists has experimented this on rats suffering from diabetes. Some sick rats were fed on pumpkin extracts for 30 days and some sick rats were fed normally. After 30 days, the rats taking pumpkin supplements had 36 percent increase in plasma insulin compared to rats on normal supplement! This has been reported in the July edition of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Scientists discovered that the Asian pumpkins contain a compound which can promote the regeneration of damaged insulin producing pancreatic beta cells resulting in the improvement of level of insulin in blood. Prof. Tao who led the research however insists that further research is needed to evaluate the usefulness of pumpkin compound on human cells. But he believes that it could promote the pancreatic B cells in human also. These pancreatic B cells generate a hormone called insulin that controls blood sugar. in type1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks those pancreatic cells that wreck the insulin making process which result in blood sugar being uncontrolled and hence regular intake of insulin shot becomes necessary.

However, scientists believe that Asian common pumpkins may  reduce the need for daily intake of insulin injections for millions of diabetes worldwide.

For centuries, people thought it to be a demonic act. But today it has come out of the closet and has become a worrying fact for many societies around the world. Hollywood star Cameron Diaz opens doors with her elbows for fear of contamination: Michael Jackson goes through surgeries to look better – Is it madness? Till fifteen years ago, many thought so. But recent studies ad new frontiers in gene research, scanning technologies and treatments have shown that it is a disease known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). “OCD stands as a condition where the brain tries to do something it’s wired to do – warning you of danger – but goes overboard in the process.” According to World Health Organization (WHO) – OCD has become one of the top 10 debilitating diseases in the world.

Actually, it is kind of a “mental hiccup”. OCD throws up persistent, distressing thoughts, images and ritual behaviors that a person is driven to perform. “Everyone has intrusive thoughts, but people can ignore those and move on with their lives. For those with OCD, the thoughts become their lives.’ Says Dr. Ramesh Sagar, associate professor of psychiatry at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. It is an obsession because the sufferers recognize these as a mental projection and try to ignore those without much success. It’s a compulsion, because the repetitive, seemingly purposeful acts follow rigid rules.

An OCD patient’s life is torn with fear, guilt, doubt, distasteful images, depressions and a sense of defeat and the suffering and anguish is far worse than one normal human being can imagine. Obsessions and compulsions parade as infinitely personalized variations on a number of morbid themes – from aggression, harm avoidance, contamination, unpleasant or excessive sexual ideation, religious concerns, compulsion to collect, need for symmetry or order, to fear of illness. Contamination and fears of harming oneself or others are the most common obsessions, while cleaning and checking are the most common compulsions.

Research shows that, moderate amount of anxiety helps people to complete their assignments more efficiently. So all anxieties are not cases of OCD. Indeed it’s a bit of difficult to diagnose OCD. However, the key to diagnosing authentic cases of OD is how great imact odd behaviors have on people’s lives. The question is – why do some people get over-active internal alarms than most others? The answer lies in a small structure in the brain called the amygdale, where danger is processed. “If this risk centre is overactive, it would keep on alerting you to peril even after you have attended to the problem” points out Sagar. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show that apart from amygdale, there are other anatomical hot spots involved in the disorder: the orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, anterior cingulum and thalamus. Together, this wiring regulates your response to the stimuli around you, including how anxious you are I the face of threatening or frustration.

No other mental disorder hides as stealthly, delays diagnosis, or causes as much embarrassment. But better treatments are breaking its hold. Treatment for OCD is a long process divided into several stages from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitions (SSRI) to cognitive behavioral therapy. Researchers are working on the possibility of using surgery and a technique called deep brain stimulation.(apply low doses of current) to calm the OCD tossed brain.

Some Facts About OCD:

Common Compulsions:

• Washing and cleaning 41%
• Checking 38%
• Repeating 16%
• Ordering 16%
• Counting 5%
• Hoarding 3%

Common Obsessions:

• Contamination 45%
• Pathologic doubt 35%
• Aggression 32%
• Sex 20%
• Religious 17%
• Symmetry/exactness 14%
• Hoarding 3%

Primary Causes for OCD:

• GENES: can run in the family
• STRESS: in about one in 3 cases
• LIFE CHANGES: sudden role change, puberty, child birth, new job etc.
• BRAIN CHANGES: imbalance of a chemical called serotonin
• PERSONALITY: Obsessive, perfectionist, high on morality and responsibility.

Cure Conundrum:

• Routinely mislabeled as other disorders –depression to schizophrenia
• Underdiagnosed and undertreated due to stigma and lack of awareness
• OCD striking a young person mean an entire childhood lost.
• The disease often leads to breakdown of family life and causes job-related problems

Rethinking Remedies:

• New research has revealed genetic links, one in four children with OCD has a first-degree relative with a similar condition
• Modern scans can show up the landscape of OCD
• New treatments with anti-depressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are in force
• Cognitive behavioral therapy is proving effective.

FactFile:

• Just 20 years ago OCD was considered a rare disorder, affecting only 0.5% people.
• Now it is believed to affect 2-3% of the total population and 1% children
• Who says- OCD is one of the top 10 causes of disability
• Over 12 million Indians suffer from it in one form or another
• 58% patients seeking treatment come from urban background
• Average timelag between onset and a proper diagnosis is 17 years.
• 40% patients recover completely
• 30% show good improvement

This writing is inspired by a report on India Today magazine, issued on March3, 2008.