What are Liver spots ??.

Liver spots vs melasma

 Liver spots also known as Senile  spots, Solar lentigines, Age spots.It refers to the flat brownish spots that, over time appear on your face and body
Cause- They develop as a result of overexposure to the sun's UV rays.They differ from cholasma that occur in females from hormonal changes as in during pregnancy or taking estrogen containing oral contraceptive pills. Melasma also get worsen due to exposure to sun. 

Melasma

Liver spots

Our skin has ‘melanin pigment’ which absorbs sunlight and helps naturally protect our skin from UV rays. But as we age, our skin's natural ability to fend off UV rays from the sun begins to deteriorate, and thus, we see the development of age spots. When the sun attacks  light-skinned people, some having almost no melanin pigment,their body does not know how to respond properly as a result it can cause abnormal melanin pigment in the form of freckles and brown spots.Dark-skinned people do a much better job of protecting themselves from the sun.

Liver spots are very common after age 40.But ‘Age Spots’ actually have nothing to do with how old you are, they have to do with how long you've been in the sun.And these spots have nothing to do with liver. Liver spots are not related to the liver physiologically, but you can say they do have a similar color :)

Common sites are the ones that have had the greatest sun exposure, such as the: 

• Face
• Back of hands
• Forearms
• Forehead
• Shoulders

Liver spots are harmless and painless, but they may affect the appearance. This can cause emotional distress.The most important thing if you see any pigmented lesion on your skin is to not assume that it’s benign, it can be cancerous If you notice a lesion on your skin, especially if it has any changes in color or shape, you should see a doctor to determine if they are cancerous or something to be concerned about.

Prevention of  age spots

• Wear sun-screen,sun tan lotion,sun-block all the time. The higher the SPF(Sun protecting factor atleast 30), the more protection a sunscreen offers against UVB.Apply sunscreen at least a half hour before exposure, and reapply often.
• It requires sun avoidance and sun protection. Most of the sun damage we receive occurs while we are driving. Car window glass protects us from 100% of the UVB light (the light which causes a burn) but none of the UVA, the light responsible for sun damage and aging skin. A UVA- protecting film can be installed on the car windows for prevention in sensitive individuals.
•  Use sunglasses to protect your eyes.
•  Wear protective clothing such as hats, long-sleeved shirts to protect youe skin from the sun.
•  Eat a diet high in vegetable protein and that consists of  raw fruits and vegetables, fresh grains, cereals, seeds, and nuts.
•  Aloe vera gel often has excellent results in improving aged spots.

Commonly used Homeopathic medicines:
Sepia,Natrum-hydrosulph, Lycopodium, Argentum nitricum., Copaiva officinalis, Plumbum metallicum

Gossip is good for you..

 

 Gossip is just news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress.  ~Liz Smith

 Gossip is often considered an undesirable, unattractive feature of society, amounting to idle chatter that undermines trust and damages reputations, but now a new study suggests it has an upside, it helps maintain social order by keeping bad behavior in check, and preventing exploitation. And it also lowers stress. You can read how researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, arrived at these findings in January's online issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
 "Spreading information about the person whom they had seen behave badly tended to make people feel better, quieting the frustration that drove their gossip."
Co-author and social psychologist Robb Willer and colleagues found gossip has a therapeutic effect: volunteer's heart rates rose when they observed someone behaving badly, but then the heart rates lessened somewhat when they warned others about what they had witnessed.
Willer points out, however, that the study was focused on the positive sides of gossip, passing on useful information or "prosocial" warnings about untrustworthy or dishonest people. The study did not look at the typical tabloid type gossip involving celebrities and their personal issues
It seems as social animals we have a strong urge to pass on unsavory information to others, and people even spent their own money in the study, using a "gossip note" they had to pay for during an economic game in which participants could warn people about to play against cheaters. The researchers suggest that people shouldn't feel bad about passing on information if it is likely to help those involved, exposing vices or protecting someone against exploitation.

The researchers at Berkeley used a set of games in which players were rewarded by generous behavior towards each other, measured by how many dollars or points they shared. 51 volunteers were attached to heart rate monitors - when they saw one player cheating their heart rates increased. They then had the opportunity to warn the honest player that their opponent was cheating, by way of the gossip notes. As the note was passed their heart rates dropped.
 The second experiment had 111 participants answer questionnaires about their level of altruism and cooperativeness. They then went to watch the economic trust game - the more sociable observers reported feeling more frustrated by the cheating.
Matthew Feinberg, a UC Berkeley social psychologist and lead author of the paper said :
"A central reason for engaging in gossip was to help others out - more so than just to talk trash about the selfish individual ... Also, the higher participants scored on being altruistic, the more likely they were to experience negative emotions after witnessing the selfish behavior and the more likely they were to engage in the gossip."
The third test raised the stakes and had participants use a portion of their pay from being involved in the experiments to cover the "cost" of the warning notes. Although they could not affect the outcome of the game, they still wanted to send the gossip.
 As Willer says, the results from all experiments show that:

"When we observe someone behave in an immoral way, we get frustrated ... But being able to communicate this information to others who could be helped makes us feel better."

Source: The Virtues of Gossip: Reputational Information Sharing as Prosocial Behaviour,

Putting Insomnia to sleep..

Does it take you more that 30 minutes to go to sleep or to fall back to sleep after waking in the night? Does this happen more that three times a week, leaving you distressed and agitated the next day? If so, you are likely to have insomnia.

• Insomnia  is a common sleep disorder.
• People who have insomnia have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both.
• As a result, they may get too little sleep or have poor-quality sleep. 
• They may not feel refreshed when they wake up.It is important to know that insomnia is a symptom and not a disease.

Insomnia can be acute (short-term) or chronic.Acute insomnia (lasts for days or weeks) is common and often is brought on by situations such as stress at work, family pressures, or a traumatic event.

Chronic insomnia lasts for a month or longer. Most cases of chronic insomnia are secondary, i.e they are the symptom or side effect of some other problem. Certain medical conditions, medicines, sleep disorders(Restless Legs Syndrome which causes itching, burning, tingling, and movement in the limbs. This can, be an obstruction to sleep,Sleep apnea)and substances can cause secondary insomnia.Many life changes can trigger primary insomnia, including long-lasting stress and emotional upset. 

We go through two distinct phases of sleep.The first - characterised by rapid eye movement - is known as REM sleep, the second, non-REM sleep.On average it takes 90 minutes to complete a full cycle of REM and non-REM sleep. It is during REM sleep that we dream. As dawn approaches, we also tend to sleep more deeply, immersed in REM sleep.

• Insomnia can cause daytime sleepiness and a lack of energy.
• It also can make you feel anxious, depressed, or irritable.Sleep onset insomnia is a common symptom of anxiety disorders whereas those with depression usually experience early morning awakening insomnia.
• You may have trouble focusing on tasks, paying attention, learning, and remembering. These problems can prevent you from doing your best at work or school.
• Slower reaction time while operating any machinery and higher risk of accidents.
• Psychiatric problems such as depression or anxiety disorder.

See if there are any triggering factors influencing their sleep. It could very well be an environmental factor such as being in a new place, the bedroom being too warm or too cold, just the simple yet untimely caffeine or alcohol intake. So it is important to investigate the background cause of insomnia.
Shift workers should stress the importance of good sleep habits with regular bedtime and awakening.Bright light is a potent stimulus to circadian rhythm. Bright light is being examined as a rhythm synchronizer.
Chronic insomnia is usually tied to an underlying psychological or physiological problem.Lifestyle changes, including better sleep habits, often help relieve acute insomnia.Insomnia,if it lasts longer than three to four weeks, or sooner if it interferes with a person's daytime activities and ability to function,seek help of your doctor.

 General recommendations for prevention of insomnia.

• Work to improve your sleep habits. 
• Learn to relax. Self-hypnosis, and relaxation breathing are often helpful. 
• Control your environment. Avoid light, noise, and excessive temperatures. Use the bed only to sleep and avoid using it for reading and watching TV.
• Go to the bed the same time every night.
• Avoid large meals, excessive fluid intake, and strenuous exercise before bedtime and reduce the use of stimulants including caffeine and nicotine
• Avoid TV & Media Before Bed: Viewing T.V., the Internet, or video games before bed can wake up your brain, so try to avoid any media for about an hour before bed.
• Limit daytime naps to less than 15 minutes unless directed by your doctor.
•  Drinking a glass of warm milk at bedtime has long been known as a good way to fall asleep quickly. Adding a half teaspoonful of cardamom may make the treatment more effective. 
•  If you can’t sleep you need to resolve yourself to that fact and get out of bed before you condition yourself and connect being in bed with not sleeping.
•  If you do not fall asleep within 20 to 30 minutes, try a relaxing activity such as listening to soothing music or reading.
•  Do Some Progressive Muscle Relaxation- Get into a comfortable position in the bed and start contracting and relaxing each individual muscle in your body one at a time starting with those in your toes and moving slowly up your body all the way to your ears and scalp. Try to contract quickly and gradually relax them. The time spent relaxing them should be at least double the time spent contracting them. This technique will work to shut off your thinking brain and help you to calm down and relax. 

Commonly used medicines-

• Aconite is used in conditions where sleep eludes due to shock, grief, anxiety or restlessness.
• Arnica is most effective for sleep issues due to jet lag and tiredness. It is also used when the bed feels uncomfortable to sleep.
• Arsenicum Album is best suited to conditions where the individual is sleepy during the day but unable to sleep in the night
• Belladona is used for sleeplessness due to congestion, restless sleep, spasmodic motions, frightful images upon closing the eyes and violent throbbing in the brain.
• Chamomilla is used mainly for children .It is an antidote for overuse of coffee.who cannot sleep due to pain or those who have sleep tormented by vivid, fanciful and anxious dreams.
• Cocculus If exhaustion is related to changing work shifts or too many nights of staying awake.
•  Ignatia Sleeplessness caused by shock, emotional stress, or grief, where the person has become overwrought and moody.
• Nux vomica Excellent for the person who is irritable and sleepless from stopping sedatives, or from too much mental stress, alcohol.
• Coffea sleeplessness due to inability to relax due to over-excitement caused by good news or abundance of ideas.

P.S  There are no disease specific medicines in homeopathy.Every case calls for detailed study of the patient individually.Homeopathic medicines do not contain steroid.The alcohol base in homeopathic remedies is required  as a preservative in liquid formulas.
Adopt these precautions to have a sound sleep and stay healthy  :)

Like fatty food????? Blame your taste buds

Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds. Our tongues apparently recognize and have an affinity for fat, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have found that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat.

The study is the first to identify a human receptor that can taste fat and suggests that some people may be more sensitive to the presence of fat in foods. The study is available online in the Journal of Lipid Research.
Investigators found that people with a particular variant of the CD36 gene are far more sensitive to the presence of fat than others."The ultimate goal is to understand how our perception of fat in food might influence what foods we eat and the quantities of fat that we consume," says senior investigator Nada A. Abumrad, PhD, the Dr. Robert A. Atkins Professor of Medicine and Obesity Research. "In this study, we've found one potential reason for individual variability in how people sense fat. It may be, as was shown recently, that as people consume more fat, they become less sensitive to it, requiring more intake for the same satisfaction. What we will need to determine in the future is whether our ability to detect fat in foods influences our fat intake, which clearly would have an impact on obesity.

 The researchers studied 21 people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, which is considered to be obese. Some participants had a genetic variant that led to the production of more CD36. Others made much less. And some were in between.
Participants were asked to taste solutions from three different cups. One contained small amounts of a fatty oil. The other two contained solutions that were similar in texture to the oil but were fat-free. Subjects were asked to choose the cup that was different.Her team masked input that might help participants identify fat by sight or smell. To eliminate visual cues, they lit the testing area with a red lamp. Study subjects also wore nose clips so that they could not smell the solutions.

Fat is an important component of the diet, and both humans and animals usually prefer high-fat, energy-dense foods. Scientists have believed that people identify those high-fat foods mainly by texture, but this study suggests that the presence of fat can change the way our tongues perceive the food, just as it does for the tastes sweet, sour, bitter, salty and savory.Up to 20 percent of people are believed to have the variant in the CD36 gene that is associated with making significantly less CD36 protein. That, in turn, could mean they are less sensitive to the presence of fat in food.
"Diet can affect sensitivity to fat, and in animals, diet also influences the amount of CD36 that's made," Pepino says. "If we follow the results in animals, a high-fat diet would lead to less production of CD36, and that, in turn, could make a person less sensitive to fat. From our results in this study, we would hypothesize that people with obesity may make less of the CD36 protein. So it would seem logical that the amounts of the protein we make can be modified, both by a person's genetics and by the diet they eat."

ATOPIC DERMATITIS (ECZEMA)

Atopic dermatitis is an inflammatory skin condition which manifests as a red, scaly rash that is normally very itchy.It tends to be an inherited condition which runs in families along with asthma and hayfever.

Atopic(which runs in families) + dermatitis (Inflammation of skin)

The Greek term eczema means "boil out".Eczema is defined as a reaction pattern of the skin characterized by erythema(redness), edema(swelling), vesiculation(fluid containing sac), oozing, crusting, papules(solid circumscribed bump in the skin), scaling and lichenification(thickening of skin).

In general, it occurs first on the face in infants and then on the front of the elbows and behind the knees (the flexures) with increasing age. It can occur on any part of the skin at some stage, depending on age and exposure to environmental irritants. For example, in mothers with young babies, or hairdressers, it may occur on the hands.

 Frequency, severity and morbidity

The prevalence peaks at about 12 months of age and then slowly decreases. It is uncommon after the fifth decade.

The biggest risk factor for developing infant eczema is a family history of allergies, including eczema, hay fever, and asthma.

The severity tends to vary with age. Although the proportion of those affected with disease classified as severe is around 2% in all ages, infants and children have a higher proportion with moderate

disease than older people.

Triggering Factors :

1. Dry skin
2. Seasonal allergies
3. Soaps and Cosmetics 
4. Cold weather
5. Stress and emotional factors

Atopic dermatitis  though seems to run in families is definitely not contagious and it cannot be passed from one person to another through skin contact. 

Symptoms:

Itchy red skin.scratching and rubbing in response to itching worsen the skin inflammation, leading to teh itch scratch cycle. Some may develop red, scaling skin, Others develop thick and leathery skin as a result of constant scratching and rubbing. This condition is called lichenification.A few develop papules(small raised bumps on skin) or vesicles (fluid filled papules). When the papules and vesicles are scratched, they may open and become crusty and infected.

Areas commonly afected-(flexures) folds of the arms, the back of the knees, wrists, face, and hands.

Precautions one can take

1. Excessive washing should be avoided. Try to avoid long showers. Use of a soap substitute such as Aqueous Cream can help
2. Avoid prolonged sun exposure.
3. Avoid scratching.Keep your fingernails short to prevent your skin break if you scratch an itch.
4. Avoid things that can irritate your skin, such as contact with scratchy fabrics (like wool) or dust mites in your bedsheets.Wool and nylon against the skin aggravate eczema. Cotton is best.
5.  An ice pack made by putting ice cubes in a plastic bag and placing it on the itchy area makes an inexpensive and effective itch fighter.
6.  Apply Coconut oil to the portions with eczema. 
7.  Carrot juice and spinach juice in combination ,Orange juice and plenty of water is beneficial in eczema. 

Commonly used drugs

Graphites, Mezereum, Sulphur, Kali sulph, Silicea, Lycopodium, Echinacea.

P.S  There are no disease specific medicines in homeopathy.Every case calls for detailed study of the patient individually.Homeopathic medicines do not contain steroid.The alcohol base in homeopathic remedies is required  as a preservative in liquid formulas.

The Insatiable Itch

Itching, medically termed as Pruritis has innumerable causes..
Infections (Fungal infections,Psoriasis), infestations (Scabies, head lice, pubic lice, cercarial dermatitis commonly known as swimmer's itch), insect bites (mosquito, flea bites), chronic disease conditions (uremic pruritus, cholestatic pruritus, hyperthyriodism, diabetes, pruritus associated with polycythemia vera etc.), sun exposure, corticosteroid meditation ,stress and dry skin are a few to name.
Itch is a separate modality from pain, rather than a submodality of pain as a few believe. A specialized subpopulation of unmyelinated chemonociceptors and dedicated spinal neurons which are responsible for the itch sensation have been identified recently.The specific pathway of "pure," histaminergic itch is traced from the mechano-insensitive nerve fibers in the skin to their central cortical projection.Itch may be accompanied with burning or pain.

In easier terms itch can be described as an irritation in skin which creates a urge to scratch.It can occur with or without any skin lesions.Just like itch has countless causes, it has multitudinous presentations, locations.. What helps us in homeopathy to treat it favorably is the presentation of this itch in the patient ie its location, condition which precipitate it say stress, exercise etc. plus other features associated with it, modalities (situations which tend worsen or better the condition.)

Vicious itch-scratch cycle
Itch leads to this insatiable urge to scratch which can initially feel satisfying, but prolonged scratching leaves you with irritated skin that often worsens itching. It provides only temporary relief, it is best to avoid scratching if at all possible.And since skin is the first line of defense, if scratching breaks open the skin, bacterial infection can set in leading to secondary infection. Chronic itching may develop thickened skin (lichenification) or pigmentation of the area.The best way to allow irritated skin to heal is to stop scratching it.

Cold application to the part helps in providing temporary relief to the urge for itching since both itch and cold sensation travel along the same nerve fibers. Ice packs,cool bath cool showers thus tend to help. Hot water may feel good to some initially but it often tend to leave you more itchier later.
A few homeopathic drugs which are commonly prescribed are Ars alb, calendula, cicuta, echinecea, hepar sulph, rhustox, sulphur, urtica urens .
Remember a constitutional treatment is best for you which can only be provided after a detailed case taking by your doctor.