Are You Getting Frequent Hiccups? Acid Reflux May Be Why
By: Kathryn Whittaker
If you are experiencing hiccups, acid reflux could be a contributory factor and you may need to find a remedy to find relief from this non-serious, yet distressing symptom.
Hiccups, also called hiccoughs, result when the diaphragm suddenly contracts. The diaphragm is the thin muscle located under the heart and lungs that separates the chest from the abdomen and assists with inhaling. After the diaphragm contracts, the top portion of the windpipe known as the glottis, immediately closes which creates the characteristic “hic” sound of hiccups.
A hiccup is a reflex you have no control over and can be hard to stop. That being said, the interesting fact about hiccups is that unlike other reflexes (I.E. sneezing, coughing, etc.), a hiccup does not appear to have a useful purpose.
What is the hiccups acid reflux connection? Most people have a case of the hiccups every once in a while, and in many of these instances, the spell of hiccups is brief, and there is no apparent reason why it was experienced. However, if hiccups are related to acid reflux, it is not uncommon for hiccups to be persistent and last for hours, this could be because of:
- Temporary swollen stomach – This could be caused by eating too quickly, overeating, drinking carbonated beverages, swallowing air.
- Alcohol – This is more common with fizzy alcohol drinks such as beer, sparkling wine, and mixed drinks. Too much air may also be swallowed while drinking alcohol.
- Excessive smoking – taking in too much air
- Emotional stress – when stressed many people tend to overeat, eat too fast, drink alcohol, smoke excessively, and are more prone to gulping air.
How can you treat hiccups? In many cases, there is no need for treatment because hiccups will typically disappear as quickly as they occurred. However, the following are some remedies you can try to treat mild hiccups:
- Drink a full glass of water
- Sip ice water
- Suck on an ice cube
- Hold your breath for 30 seconds
- Breath rapidly
- Breath into a paper bag
- Pull your knees into your chest
- Gasping from sudden fright
- Distract your mind from thinking about the hiccups
The above hiccup remedies will usually only work with short bouts of hiccups, and will not cure persistent hiccups that last for longer than 24 hours, or hiccups that recur frequently throughout the day. If you have persistent hiccups, they could be the cause of acid reflux, in which case you should be experiencing other acid reflux symptoms aside from the hiccups including heartburn, belching, regurgitation, coughing, etc. Therefore, try the following to remedy your acid reflux hiccups:
- Avoid drinking alcohol and carbonated beverages
- Stop smoking
- Eat and drink slowly. You should also eat small portions of food to prevent overeating.
- Reduce stress. Find ways to relax or release bottled up energy through exercise, meditation, or taking part in activities you enjoy.
If you try the above remedies and they do not work, you should see your doctor to discover what the underlying cause of your hiccups are. You may discover that your hiccups and acid reflux are not related. The reason is because there are more than 100 conditions that can cause hiccups. Usually when the underlying cause is identified, persistent hiccups can be cured.
Grab your free copy of Kathryn Whittaker's brand new Acid Reflux & GERD Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you discover more about why hiccups and acid reflux are related and what you can do about it.
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Juniper Berries, The Powerful Kidney Herb
by: Paul Blake
For each organ of the human body there is a herb that outshines all others in its ability to assist that organ when it is diseased. Juniper berries are magic when it comes to the kidney and urinary tract system. I say magic because I have seen it at work and its power to heal the urinary tract system is so powerful and fast that it seems magical.I have seen the power of this herb help many people but the most impressive case I ever saw was a woman (a registered nurse) who had been suffering from urinary tract infections for more then 3 years. She was on antibiotics and had suffered 2 renal failures when I met her. Along with some naturopathic advice on life style I left her with some whole juniper berries. I suggested she take about a half dozen berries 3 times a day and consider that she stop taking the antibiotics.
I got a call 2 days later. She was beside herself because the infection was gone. She could hardly believe that after all those years of suffering that taking a few berries three times a day could stop this infection so quickly. This experience changed that woman's life. The last I heard from her she was studying naturopathic medicine.
But you can see what I am getting at; this berry is a wonderful herb that has the ability to help those who are suffering needlessly with what appears to be an incurable problem. This berry is just a food that has antibiotic and antiviral properties with no side effects.
I do not want to leave you with the impression that I believe in treating a symptom with an herb. Treating symptoms is modern medicine's way of treating disease. As I said above I gave the nurse advice on changing her lifestyle as well as taking juniper berries. If you only treat the symptom you leave the root of the disease to appear somewhere else with more power. So look at your life style that is the root of your urinary problem.
Some Juniper Berry Tips:
If you are taking medication, always check the contraindications of that drug (those things you do not want to take with the medication, such as lithium).
A whole juniper berry that you buy from the health food store (I do not recommend the tea) should be a little bit like a raisin. It should be soft and taste sweet and piney.
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Boosting the Immune System is a Primary Concern in the Natural Treatment of Cancer
Being given a diagnosis of cancer is one of the most difficult things to overcome in life.
One of the first things that a person given a diagnosis of cancer thinks about is ask why? Why me? What could I have done to prevent it? Was there something that I didn't do? Was there something I did to cause it? The reason why cancer appears varies from person to person and it is because of this fact that there will never be one cure-all treatment for cancer.
Another thought of many diagnosed with cancer is what to do about it. Discussions with the person's medical doctors often result in the feeling that there must be an all natural approach to cancer, especially when the treatment options don't look good. They wonder what the alternative health practitioners do to treat cancer patients, thinking there must be another way. The question opens up a whole new world to the cancer patient and his or her family as they search for solutions for the cancer itself and if none are found, they opt for the compassionate thing to do - increase the person's quality of life.
An all natural approach to cancer developed by an alternative health care practitioner often includes herbs, supplements, IV's, diet changes, and stress reduction/relaxation or visualization exercises. Many alternative health care practitioners treating cancer search for the reasons why the person developed cancer in the first place.
When alternative health practitioners use a natural approach for cancer, they have three major goals:
1) boost the immune system
2) detoxify the body
3) fortify the body with nutrients from foods, nutritional supplements, and herbs.
This article will focus on the purpose of boosting the immune system and how to actually boost the immune system using all natural herbs, foods and products.
Why is Boosting the Immune System Important for Cancer Patients?
Our immune system has been very intricately designed by God. There are many cells that directly attack cancer cells and others that assist in immobilizing aggressive cancer cells. There are genes that turn on cancer and genes that turn it off. By increasing the numbers of the cells that assist in immobilizing cancer cells, you boost the body's immune system. This then prevents the body from being in a weakened state during the cancer treatment phases.
Natural killer cells are one of the most important parts of our body's white blood cell army and are known to kill cancer cells. Natural killer cells increase their activity naturally when the body has the right amount of selenium, vitamin C and germanium. In the last decade of my practice, I have seen that greater than 80% of those with cancer have low levels of selenium that shows up on a hair analysis. They also have low levels of germanium, the element that oxygenates the tissues.
While investigating an alternative clinic in Arizona for an article that appeared in Alternative Medicine magazine, I discovered that every cancer patient tested for vitamin C levels in the body had levels so low that 46 grams of vitamin C per day was needed for 2 full weeks in an IV form to reverse the deficiency! That's quite a deficiency! And it makes sense clinically because vitamin C prevents cancer from spreading to other areas in the body.
Reishi mushrooms contain chemical constituents that will also increase natural killer cell count in the body. By increasing the cell count numbers of natural killer cells using an all natural approach to cancer, positive steps toward recovery can often be seen.
Other all natural approaches to cancer include consumption of plenty of organic fruits and vegetables which supply the body with not only vitamin C and other antioxidants, but also plant phytonutrients that fill in the gaps of nutrition that every cancer patient needs. Supplying these in the form of fresh juices that do not raise the blood sugar levels is the key to making this therapy work.
In the last decade, many herbal formulas have come into the limelight to show how they can decrease chemotherapy side effects. These products help by boosting the immune system of the patient, who is usually suffering from a weakened immune system because of chemotherapy and radiation.
Recently I found out about an all natural herbal formula that contains herbs which have been shown in clinical studies to boost the immune system. These herbs include Astragalus, licorice, dong quai, reishi mushroom, tangerine, codonopsis root, psoralea fruit, poria seed, dendroblum stem, ligustrum lucidum fruit, bai-zhu-atractylodes root, rehmannia root and spatholobus stem. The combination together is what results in a boost of the immune system, restoring a healthy balanced state of the activation of T and B cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells. Clinically, this resulted in less fatigue, increased energy levels, recovery of blood cell counts, and the ability to get up out of bed and get back to work.
As more and more patients choose an all natural approach to cancer treatment, they may decide on using the best of both the medical and the alternative health world together. The idea of boosting the immune system will be integral to their success. The all natural herbal formulas that are available are there for the benefit of all.
Dr. Donna Schwontkowski(ret) has a heart for cancer patients who are suffering from the effects of chemotherapy. She is a master herbalist in addition to holding a Master's in nutrition and a D.C. More can be found out about how she may be able to help at her website, http://www.drdonna.info Find out more about how herbs decrease side effects of chemotherapy at http://www.immuneenhance.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Donna_Schwontkowski
7:17 AM | 0 Comments
Hysteria-Diseases
By: David Jones
Hysteria is a neurotic over-reaction to an experience or situation. You are not hysterical in the medical sense of the word if you normally react to moments of stress by weeping uncontrollably or shrieking. Many people tend to over-dramatize their feelings, and they are not mentally ill because of this tendency. The illness known as hysteria, sometimes called a conversion reaction, occurs when someone (who mayor may not be normally "highstrung") reacts to severe stress by developing physical symptoms that cannot be traced to physical factors. Such people do not realize that their symptoms are caused by hysteria. They, and usually their families and friends, simply assume they have been afflicted with a genuine physical disorder. The problem is often of a kind that helps the person with hysteria to escape from a stressful situation. For example, if you see a terrible accident where you work, you may develop a weakness of the legs that prevents you from leaving home the next day or even for much longer. Or a total loss of memory (amnesia) may follow an accident that you yearn to forget.
Do not confuse hysteria with psychosomatic illness . Psychosomatic illnesses, though they are affected by stress, are actual physical disorders. Hysteria is purely imaginary illness.
What are The Symptoms?
The hysterical reaction may be fairly mild (for instance, vague pains, weakness, or dizziness) or extremely severe (paralysis of the limbs, or sudden blindness). Less commonly, there may be loss of memory. Diseases symptoms associated with hysteria are difficult to diagnose, especially since the ill person will deny that there is an emotional problem.
What Should be Done?
If you suspect that the disability of someone in your family is due to a neurotic reaction to some experience or situation, consult your physician. Whether or not your suspicion is correct, never accuse anyone of faking symptoms. Hysterical people are ill and often overly sensitive. Because hysteria is extremely difficult to diagnose, your doctor will probably want to arrange for in hospital tests to rule out the possibility of a physical cause of the symptoms. If the cause appears to be hysteria, the person will probably be referred to a specialist.
What is The Treatment?
The goal of treatment is to discover the underlying problem and help the person solve it. No medical treatment can cure symptoms of hysteria, so everything depends on sympathetic, patient psychotherapy. The only drug that may be prescribed for hysteria is a tranquilizer to help the person relax while the underlying problem is being uncovered and the symptoms gradually eliminated. In rare cases a treatment known as "abreaction," which does involve drugs, may be advised. It works best for people whose hysteria is due to a single, severe emotional shock.
A person undergoing abreaction must lie down in a quiet, darkened room. To overcome resistance to discussing a painful subject, the person is put into a hypnotic state either by breathing ether or being injected with a special drug. Then, when fully relaxed, he or she is asked to recall in detail diseases treatment the incident that triggered the hysterical reaction. Just reliving a suppressed experience in this way often removes symptoms of hysteria. No body knows why this happens, although there are a number of interesting theories.
For more information about diseases symptoms, have a visit at authors site. You will also know about some more articles on diseases prevention tips and causes of diabetes.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com
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