Hypertension: Shifting From Prescribed Medications To Natural Remedies

You have hypertension when the blood pressure within your arteries gets higher than normal. This condition can lead to heart attacks, strokes and even leg pains while walking. Because it doesn’t manifest any symptoms until it has done much damage, having your blood pressure checked from time to time is one of the best health investments that you can make.

Although the use of prescription medication may be necessary to manage hypertension, there are also natural ways to control it. You can use prescribed medications to lower your blood pressure initially. When it reaches its normal level, natural remedies can be used to keep pressure at a healthy level and enable you to taper off the medicines.

Regrettably, most doctors only cure the symptoms of the disease but are not really able to identify the deep-seated cause of hypertension. In each visit, the average patient-doctor consultation takes less than seven minutes. Pharmaceutical giants who manufacture blood pressure lowering drugs invest a lot of money in educating doctors about their latest medications, and virtually nothing on teaching alternative natural cures. Sadly, doctors have been reduced to somebody who simply writes medical prescriptions.

Unlike medications that are passed as a cure for anxiety, but can cause more harm than good for most sufferers, hypertension medications really do help a lot of people. For hypertensive conditions, be sure to take first the medicines that lower blood pressure, and follow up with the natural remedies described below. In a few months, you can gradually reduce your intake of prescription medications and still stay within normal pressure levels.

Natural therapy that can bring down high blood pressure

Obesity can cause blood pressure to soar. If you are obese or overweight, exercise and the right diet can help shed off excess pounds and control your hypertension. A change in the foods you eat will also be beneficial. You should start including low sugar, low fat and high fiber foods in your diet. Quitting smoking and consuming alcohol in moderation must also be considered. Also, salt is one of the silent demons in your diet and should be avoided if possible. If you must use salt, then consume very moderate amounts.

By shifting to less fattening and more nutritious foods, you can eat your way to a trimmer and healthier you. You can also lower your blood pressure and be less prone to heart diseases if you take the following nutritional supplements.

• A healthy supply of vitamins A, C, and D with magnesium is available in powder supplement form.

• 500 to 1,000 mg of calcium can be taken partly during a meal, with the rest taken at bed time.

• Eating a banana and a cup of tomato has enough daily dose of potassium which can help lower blood pressure.

• Coenzyme Q10 is the rising star as far as lowering high blood pressure is concerned. 200 mg is the required daily dose. There were serious cases where pressure was lowered by up to 40 points. The supply of Coenzyme Q10 in the body gets depleted of cholesterol-lowering drugs are taken regularly.

• While dark chocolate only reduces blood pressure by 3 to 4 points, it makes up for its rich supply of antioxidants.

You should also consider the role of emotion in hypertension. Some people are like pressure cookers when they get angry. They keep all that pent-up anger inside until the pressure builds up. People may seem calm from their outside appearance but they are actually almost ready to keel over due to blood pressure that has gone through the roof. The best way to deal with anger is not to allow it to build up inside but to blow off some steam and let all that anger out. This way, you get to lower your blood pressure and reduce the risk of a stroke. Know more about panic attacks, depression, stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness Therapy For Stress Reduction

We all have stress in our lives on a day to day basis. We inevitably all experience pain or worry to a certain degree as a result of this stress. Sometimes the cause of this worry is something small and manageable and other times there are life situations that cause us as individuals to experience pain and worry that is significant enough that it seemingly takes over who we are. In either case when left unchecked these worries can have a negative overall effect on our well-being. Mindfulness therapy can help us deal with these problems weather the stress you may be experiencing is large or small in nature.

The key to mindfulness therapy is learning how to become aware of the present moment in life. All too often we tend to focus our attention on the pain of the past and the worry of the future. When this happens we spend a significant amount of time and energy dealing with our own self talk or mental chatter. Self talk is the internal silent dialogue of thoughts that we have with ourselves throughout the day. When this internal self talk causes us to suffer by strongly resisting pain, sadly it can cause us to miss out on the experiences of the present moment. Sometimes people go through their entire lives in this manner being constantly stuck in the past or worried about the future. This can lead to problems with both depression and anxiety.

Mindfulness therapy can help in both of these situations. Mindfulness practice is best achieved through daily meditation. This practice has been in existence for thousands of years. Many people, particularly in western culture are somewhat skeptical of mindfulness meditation. There are preconceived notions that mindfulness meditation is an unorthodox far eastern religious practice. In fact this practice has nothing to do with religion and has been well adapted to fit the Western Culture. Additionally some are intimidated by the idea of mindfulness therapy meditation because of the misconception that only highly spiritual individuals can practice meditation in an effort to achieve enlightenment or that it is difficult. These ideas simply are not true.

Mindfulness meditation is easy to do and can be practiced by anyone. For beginners guided meditation is very effective at reducing stress, and anxiety. With guided meditation you simply find a comfortable chair to sit in, close your eyes and listen to an audio recording of a meditation instructor. There is usually an emphasis placed on noticing your breathing to help the practitioner become more acutely aware of the present moment.

Additionally there are usually some words that you will be instructed to focus on, also with the goal of decreasing your mental chatter and increasing your awareness of the present. Guided meditation recordings are usually 20 minutes long, and it is recommended that you make time for yourself to do this 2 times a day in order for the practice to be effective.

I have personally found it very rewarding to make it a priority to devote at least 40 minutes a day to my own personal well being. I recommend the guided meditations by Christopher Germer or Tara Brach. They both offer free guided meditations that you can download to your computer or an MP3 device. Christopher Germer also has a book that I found helpful in explaining the principles and benefits of this practice. You can read more such type of health articles on www.newsmicks.com

Reasons Of Testosterone Deficiency And Their Remedies

Testosterones are the sub type of human growth hormones often referred to as male or sex hormones. It is actually testosterones that impart male characteristics in men. Furthermore, they are also vital for immaculate performance of sexual system. Testosterones are also indispensible for overall well being of the body.

Disadvantages of Testosterones Scarcity:

The deficiency of testosterones in the body can create many problems for your health. For instance,

• Dearth of testosterones can result in reduced libido and erectile dysfunction
• Testosterones deficiency can cause obesity
• Testosterone deficient body will have lean muscles lacking any real strength
• Weak bones with low bones density
• A spree of diseases can attack your body like diabetes, all sorts of heart problems and cancers
• Insomnia may also drop in your body due to shortage of testosterones
• Testosterone deficiency can cause stress, anxiety, depression and curtailed performance of brain
• Total degeneration of body

Reasons of Testosterone Deficiency:

There are many reasons that can lead to dearth of testosterones.

• One of the most obvious reasons is the process of aging. Testosterone decline naturally as you age.
• Obesity due to any reason can also force testosterone reserves to decline
• Mental stress is another major factor for testosterones to shrink in number
• High cholesterol levels in the body adversely affect the production of testosterones
• Lack of physical activity also makes testosterone levels to deplete
• Imbalanced diet that is rich in fats is another apparent reason
• Smoking and alcoholism also have devastating consequences for testosterone secretion

Remedies:

There are many methods that can be brought into the use to restore testosterone levels in the body.

• Regular exercise can cause testosterone levels to shoot up
• Use of balanced diet can also help
• You should take ample sleep as production is maximum during sleep
• Avoid stress and mental depression
• Keep weigh in control

Testosterone Therapies:

As most people especially senior citizens cannot sustain all the above mentioned requirements, they can undergo testosterone treatment therapy to regain what they have lost. In these therapies, artificial testosterones are inserted to replace lost natural testosterones.

Conclusion:

Testosterones regulate almost every function and organ of human body and thus adequate levels should be present in the body all the times. You need to follow above mentioned tips to alleviate the symptoms of low testosterones where testosterone treatment therapy can especially help. Furthermore, avoid anything that can inflict some damage to your testosterone reserves.

By Ali Ahmed

Impotent at 24 years old?

Please read the following article to see if any of the items listed apply to you. If they do - then a lifestyle change for you is imminent. It shows how smoking, alcohol, drugs, prescription medicines, etc can affect a guy's penis and reproductive system. Stress, anxiety, depression, diet, lack of exercise all play an important role in your sexual health also.

Definite DON'Ts

Smoking - Nicotine reduces arterial pressure and as a result, prevents blood circulation to the penis. In addition, toxic substances from smoking are detrimental for sperm maturation.

Alcohol - Alcohol kills reproductive cells and decreases sperm viability. It also disrupts the link between the brain and the penis. Excessive use of alcohol inhibits the creation of the male sex hormone, androgen.

Marijuana - Sharply reduces the level of male sexual hormones, disrupts chromosomes and promotes undesired genetic changes.

Overweight - Being overweight can disrupt your hormone balance and, as a result, the production of hormones necessary for achieving erection can become insufficient.

Anabolic Steroids - Anabolic steroids bear a close resemblance to testosterone and as a result, the body stops its natural production causing impotence to occur.

High Cholesterol - Too much cholesterol blocks the vessels providing blood to the penis and thereby reduces the blood flow necessary to maintain an erection.

Chemical drugs - Studies show that out of two hundred most used medicines; as many as sixteen are likely to cause impotence. Among the most risky are drugs used for the treatment of high blood pressure, depression, insomnia, ulcers, tumors, plus a couple of medications used to combat allergy.

Spouses of heart attack survivors

Spouses of heart attack victims have an increased risk of depression and anxiety, even if their partner survives, Danish research suggests.

The study found that in the year after losing a spouse to a heart attack, partners were three times more likely to start taking anti-depressants.

Even if their partner survived, the use of anti-depressants still increased by 17%, compared with the year before.

The use of anxiety drugs also went up, the European Heart Journal reports.

There are about 340 heart attacks in the UK every day - approximately 13% are fatal.

Care needed
Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "A heart attack can impact the whole family, and this study emphasises the importance of caring for the partners of heart attack sufferers.

"We know that people can feel anxious or helpless when a loved one has a heart attack. It is essential they receive the emotional and practical support they need during this often traumatic time."

This is the first study to look at the health of spouses after their partner survives a heart attack.

It also found men were more susceptible to the effect than women.

Report author Dr Emil Fosbol, from Duke University Medical Center, said: "This is a major public health issue for which there seems to be very little awareness among doctors and policy makers.

"The most important finding of this study is that the system needs to consider the care needs for the spouses too, not only when a patient dies from a [sudden heart attack], but also when the patient is 'just admitted' to hospital [after a sudden heart attack] and survives."

Using Danish registries, including the National Civil Status Registry that shows whether people are married or not, researchers studied 16,506 spouses of people who died from a sudden heart attack between 1997 and 2008 and 44,566 spouses of patients who survived a sudden heart attack.

Extreme health impact
They also looked at the use of anti-depressants and drugs to treat anxiety before and up to a year after the event, and medical records for depression and suicide.

The scientists also compared this data with the health of 49,518 people whose partners died from causes unrelated to a sudden heart attack, and 131, 563 spouses of people admitted to hospital for a non-fatal condition unrelated to a sudden heart attack.

If the partner had a heart attack, the spouse's health was more seriously affected than those whose partners died from or survived other medical conditions.

The researchers speculate that it is the sudden and unexpected nature of a sudden heart attack that causes the more extreme impact on the spouse.

Dr Fosbol said: "If your partner dies suddenly from a heart attack, you have no time to prepare psychologically for the death, whereas if someone is ill with, for example, cancer, there is more time to grow used to the idea.

"The larger psychological impact of a sudden loss is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder."

By Anna-Marie Lever, BBC News

5 Reasons You Need Your Sleep, and 5 Reasons You May Not Be Getting It

Fall bustles with the start of school and the continual grind at work. It's easy to skimp on your rest. We've got five reasons for you to make sleep a priority, and five health issues that could be ruining your rest.

1. Plenty of R&R (rest and relaxation) can boost your mood, focus and energy. Conversely, people with poor sleep habits experience higher levels of stress, depression and anxiety.
2. Want your kids to get A's and B's? Make sure they catch their Z's. Well-rested equals alert in the classroom, and a regular sleep routine may boost math and literacy scores. Some schools are even starting later in an effort to help kids improve learning.
3. Reap the benefits of beauty sleep. When the body is sleep-deprived it produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol can cause weight gain and oily skin.
4. Getting your eight hours in could cut your risk for chest pain, heart attack and stroke. A recent study by West Virginia University indicates that people who sleep five hours daily are more than twice as likely to experience these problems.
5. Rest is a responsibility, and apparently so is justice. In a study that appears in SLEEP, Swedish naval officers were more likely to act morally and make moral judgments when fully rested.

Maybe you want to get your shut-eye but can't quite get your eyes to shut? Sleeplessness plagues 60 million Americans. These are just a few health problems that could be keeping you up at night:

1. Your thyroid helps regulate your sleep patterns. An overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can cause difficulty sleeping, fatigue and irritability.
2. Believe it or not, menstruation can affect your sleep patterns. Two in three women experience menstrual insomnia disturbed sleep due to tossing and turning and general menstrual discomfort.
3. Maybe you do sleep, but continue to experience tiredness regardless of how much sleep you get? If you snore, have a dry throat on waking or regularly become irritable, you may want to talk to your doctor. This could be a symptom of sleep apnea.
4. Your sweetie slumbers soundly while you lay awake at night, so you decide to wake him up. Sound familiar? Ladies, you may have a case of sleep envy. You're not alone, either. Up to 40 percent of women envy the ease with which their darlings doze. Jealous much?
5. Some people toss and turn through the night before finding sleep. If this is caused by painful or irritating tingling or tugging in your lower limbs, you may have a condition known as restless leg syndrome (RLS).

Want to keep up with the latest sleep science? Visit the National Sleep Foundation site or check out the journal SLEEP.

Can't Sleep? Afraid of the Dark

For some adults, insomnia may be caused by a fear of the dark, finds a new study by researchers at Ryerson University in Toronto.

In the study of 93 students, nearly half acknowledged being afraid of the dark, and they were more likely to poor sleepers than good ones. "We never thought we would see this," says Dr. Colleen Carney, assistant professor of psychology at Ryerson University. "We didn't think people would admit or acknowledge this fear. They would say it's for kids, or be too embarrassed."

The participants filled out questionnaires on their sleep behavior, whether or not they had been afraid of the dark as children and they were still afraid of the dark. They also completed an insomnia assessment; based on their responses, the researchers divided the participants into two groups: good and poor sleepers.

Following the questionnaires, the participants confirmed the participants' fear of the dark by putting them in either a dark or lit lab room and subjecting them to unexpected bursts of white noise. The researchers measured the students' blinking patterns, paying close attention to how they changed in response to the noises. "If you're already a little anxious, the noise will make you flinch. We looked at eye reactions because it is one of the most robust ways to measure this anxiety. If you blink immediately after the noise, that means it startles you," says Carney.

The researchers found that when the lights went out, the poor sleepers were more easily startled than the good sleepers. The poor sleepers became increasingly anxious during their time spent in the dark, while the good sleepers responded less and less to the noises and appeared to get used to them. There was no difference between the groups' reactions in the light."People who were poor sleepers experienced anticipatory anxiety in the dark, and based on the evidence, seem to be afraid of the dark," says Carney.

This got the researchers thinking. If some people with sleep disorders like insomnia have an active and untreated phobia of the dark, then treatment methods for some patients should be re-evaluated.

Insomniacs tend to have lots of fears that keep them up at night, and in some cases they may be traced back to a fear of the dark. "A phobia or fear of the dark is different from a fear of spiders. People don't necessarily know they have it," says Carney. "An individual may not be able to fall asleep once it's dark and their mind starts to wander. They think, 'What if someone breaks into my house?' Instead of realizing these associations may indicate a fear of the dark, they skip a step and assume they have a fear of burglars."

Thankfully, phobias are treatable. Most can be cured through cognitive behavioral therapy, like exposure therapy. Some people can even cure their phobias themselves without medical help.

The researchers note that there are several highly effective insomnia treatments, but that a further exploration of insomniacs' fear of the dark may help refine them. "This is not on our radar as insomnia treatment," says Dr. Carney. "We have very effective insomnia treatment. About 70% of patients are responsive. But, why are 30% still not responding? Why are some of these insomnia treatments not useful for some people?"

It could be that some insomnia treatments are counterproductive for people who actually dread the dark. For instance, some of the most effective treatments encourage restless sleepers to leave their dark bedroom and go into another lit room until they feel calm or sleepy. "A phobia is maintained through avoidance," says Dr. Carney. "By not facing the phobia, it's going to stick around."

The study sample was small and much more research is needed to confirm the finding, but the authors believe they have stumbled upon an unrecognized treatment need for those who toss and turn.

The study was presented Monday at SLEEP 2012, the 26th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), in Boston.

By ALEXANDRA SIFFERLIN