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  • All About Traditional Chinese Medicine

    All About Traditional Chinese Medicine

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    Traditional Chinese medicine is an alternative to contemporary medicine. The treatment method corrects imbalances in the body and works in different ways that include:

    • Addressing the environment and the external factors of the patient.
    • Helping the patients relate to the internal emotions in a healthier way.
    • Improving the lifestyle of the patients. This includes promoting better diet and exercise.

    The traditional Chinese medicine affects different areas of the body but it focuses on only a few of these areas. The areas include: large intestine, gallbladder, small intestine, lung, liver, spleen, kidneys, and heart.

    Benefits of traditional Chinese medicine

    The treatment option comes with many advantages that include:

    Reduced inflammation: The herbs and mushrooms used in the treatment have antioxidant, antiapoptotic, autophagic, and anti-inflammatory effects on the body. When you take the herbs, you have reduced levels of oxidative stress and inflammation thus you protect the body cells, tissues, and organs from developing diseases.

    Reduction of chronic pain and headache: The use of acupuncture and acupressure plays a vital role in managing pain brought about by arthritis and other medical conditions. Experts have also found that treatment methods such as eating a healthy diet and tai chi aid in reducing chronic tension headaches.

    Hormonal balance: Research studies show that the herbs used in the treatment contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidants that improve the functions within the endocrine and central nervous system. This aids in improving the healing abilities of the body and balances the hormones such as insulin, estrogen, cortisol, and testosterone.

    Improvement of the health of the liver: Since traditional Chinese medicine advocates that you take a healthy diet, the diet aids in improving the health of the liver. Some of the best foods that you should take to improve the health of your liver include: sweet potatoes, healthy fats, spices rich in ginger and garlic, and herbs. You should avoid fried foods, sugary drinks, and snacks, refined oils, alcohol, and processed carbohydrates.

    Tips to consider when engaging in traditional Chinese medicine

    For you to have a great experience with the treatment method, you need to consider a number of tips. Before you settle on a given practitioner, always take your time to research him/her and ensure that he/she is reputable. Experts recommend that you visit a number of facilities and take a look at the displayed certifications. If there are no certifications, you should stay away from the practitioner.

    While the herbs are natural, you should take them under maximum supervision. You shouldn’t take them if suffering from a medical condition or when pregnant. You should avoid medications from an unknown company as they might be containing dangerous additives, lead, cadmium, mercury, and traces of other heavy metals.

    To get the most from the treatment method, you should incorporate different lifestyle and preventative habits such as exercising, eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and taking beneficial supplements.

    Conclusion

    This is what you need to know about traditional Chinese medicine. You should remember that the medications are recommended as complementary treatment methods; therefore, you should try them together with the complementary medications. To avoid complications always follow the doctor’s advice.

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    Source by Idd Aziz

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  • What Is Regenerative Medicine?

    What Is Regenerative Medicine?

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    When Adrienne Shapiro’s daughter Marissa was diagnosed with sickle cell disease, the doctors said that she would not live till her first birthday. However, when Marissa managed to live past that benchmark, it did not mean the end of Adrienne’s worries. In fact, it was the beginning of many painful years of blood transfusions and immunological disorders. When an improperly matched blood transfusion caused a severe reaction leading to the removal of Marissa’s gall bladder and temporary kidney failure, she was unable to receive further blood transfusions.

    However, luckily for Marissa a project sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), headed by Don Kohn, MD at UCLA, was starting a clinical trial. The objective of the project was ‘to remove bone marrow from the patient and fix the genetic defect in the blood-forming stem cells. Then those cells can be reintroduced into the patient to create a new, healthy blood system.’The success of this clinical trial has given hope to Adrienne that with the help regenerative medicine her daughter will be able to lead a healthy and pain-free life.

    The Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes ‘Regenerative Medicine’ as ‘a new scientific and medical discipline focused on harnessing the power of stem cells and the body’s own regenerative capabilities to restore function to damaged cells, tissues and organs.’

    Stem cells that are found in the umbilical cord blood of new born children have the ability to renew and regenerate themselves. A stem cell, through the process of mitosis, can divide itself to either become a specialized cell like a brain cell or muscle cell, or remain a stem cell. They are also able to repair internal damage caused by any type of disease, disorder or trauma. Stem cell transplantation, stem cell grafting and regenerative medicine are some of the ways in which these cells are used to cure disorders and illnesses.

    Regenerative medicine includes a wide range of scientific disciplines, such as biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology and immunology. Scientists from these fields have been conducting research and studies in this domain and have identified three methods of using regenerative medicine. They are cellular therapies, tissue engineering and medical devices and artificial organs.

    Cellular Therapies – In this method, cellular materials, in most cases adult stem cells, are extracted and stored and then injected into the site of injury, tissue damage or disease. These cells, thereafter, repair the damaged cells or regenerate new cells to replace the damaged ones.

    Tissue Engineering – This method is related to the field of biomaterials development and utilizes a combination of functioning tissues, cells and scaffolds to engineer a fully functioning organ which is then implanted into the body of the receiver in place of a damaged organ or tissue.

    Medical Devices and Artificial Organs – When a body organ fails, the most common method of treatment is to replace it with a donor organ. Donor organs are not easily available and can pose as a hindrance in such cases. Even if a donor is available, he or she may need to take immunosuppressant drugs before the transplant and these drugs have been known to cause side-effects. In such circumstances, medical devices that imitate the function of the failed organ can be used, instead of transplantation. An example of one such device is the ventricular assist device (VAD) that is used in place of heart transplants.

    Since regenerative medicine deals with the use of stem cells, it occasionally requires embryonic stem cells for research purposes. This use of embryonic stem cells can often give rise to questions regarding ethics and legality. The laws and regulations concerning regenerative medicine are different in different countries. Creation of human embryos for research is only legally permitted in three countries. Majority of the countries only allow extraction of cells from surplus IVF embryos. A recent study, related to human embryonic stem cells (hECS) research policy, was conducted which revealed that UK, Sweden and Belgium were very permissive in authorizing the creation of human embryos for research, whereas, Luxembourg, Austria, Poland and Ireland had no laws regarding hECS. The legislations regarding hESC in most other countries range between being mildly restrictive to very restrictive.

    Regenerative medicine is the future of modern medical treatments. Scientists are conducting clinical trials and studies every day to further enhance and improve in this area of medicine.

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    Source by Richa Verma

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