Kwicksilver’s Alternative Health

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I was reading an article about how saw palmetto may be a man’s best friend. Now I don’t know about most of you but I had never heard of this herb before reading the article. Saw palmetto comes from a palm-like plant that grows in the southeast United States. The berries of this plant are used to make the capsule form of saw palmetto.
It’s the primary herb helping men maintain prostate health that’s very popular throughout Europe for its ability to relieve symptoms associated with enlargement of the prostate. Saw palmetto is gaining popularity in North America showing it provides relief from short-term urinary symptoms and other symptoms associated with enlargement of the prostate. It also promotes hair growth in men with thinning hair or baldness. It provides these benefits safely, naturally and with no noted side effects.
The herb works by converting testosterone, the male sex hormone, to a more potent metabolite, dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In addition, it blocks receptor sites on cell membranes required for cells to absorb DHT. An excess of DHT is believed one of the primary causes of prostate problems as well as the cause of male baldness.
Another great thing about saw palmetto as well as rye grass pollen extract, and pygeum is that it relieves symptoms such as urinary hesitancy, weak stream, nocturia, incontinence, and recurrent urinary tract infections.
Now get ready for the bonus part of this herb. While the testosterone to DHT conversion creates hair loss on the head, it also promotes the growth of hair in places where it is not wanted; it is able to get the hair off men’s backs and back on their heads. Some studies have shown it to be as effective as Propecia and Rogaine. People using it for prostate issues who started reporting the regrowth of hair on their heads discovered this aspect of saw palmetto.
Shampoos and lotions containing saw palmetto are available at health food stores and on line. Saw Palmetto is available as a supplement. The dosage amount for men is 300 to 500 mg. per day.
I find this article of particular interest since I’m at the age that all these things are sup-posed to appear. The hair growth is a bonus that many balding men will appreciate.

EatTheWeeds: Episode 48: Saw Palmetto

Saw Palmetto & Nettle Root

Coming from a family that has inherited both types of diabetes( type 1 and Type 2) In the last twenty or so years ,whenever I see a story about a new discovery that would lead to a cure I get exited. for the world of diabetics as well as myself.
I usually follow the story anxiously with baited breath for a few weeks, dreaming about the possibility that this time there on the right track until the trail gets cold and everyone’s hopes fade away.
Its been the story of most breakthrough’s in Diabetic Cure discoveries in the past twenty years but this one might prove to be the one that succeeds.
Recently scientist at a Toronto hospital have proven that they could trigger diabetic mice to became healthy virtually overnight after being injected with a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Dr. Michael Salter, a pain expert at the Hospital for Sick Children and one of the scientists. “Mice with diabetes suddenly didn’t have diabetes any more.”
The researchers caution they have yet to confirm their findings in people, but say they expect results from human studies within a year or so. Any treatment that may emerge to help at least some patients would likely be years away from hitting the market.
Unfortunately, for the suffering public, this is always the unacceptable response that accompanies these discoveries. The results are then passed on to pharmaceutical companies where the cure will linger in the corner of a lab and be forgotten forever. It’s not good business for giant pharmaceuticals to invent cures. If a cure works they will effectively have gotten rid of their customer base. It’s better for big Pharma to produce better controls, and they are extremely good at this, better meters, long lasting insulin, ect.. to keep us alive longer so wee can continue to buy their products.
How this research differs from all the heartbreaking failures that came before it is that their conclusions upset conventional wisdom that Type 1 diabetes, the most serious form of the illness that typically first appears in childhood, was solely caused by auto-immune responses — the body’s immune system turning on itself.
They also concluded that there are far more similarities than previously thought between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and that nerves likely play a role in other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and Crohn’s disease.
Suspecting a link between the nerves and diabetes, Dr. Hans Michael Dosch and Dr. Salter injected capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers, to kill the pancreatic sensory nerves in mice that had an equivalent of Type 1 diabetes
So next they injected the neuropeptide “substance P” in the pancreases of diabetic mice, the results were dramatic. The islet inflammation cleared up and the diabetes was gone. Some have remained in that state for as long as four months, with just one injection.
They also discovered that their treatments curbed the insulin resistance that is the hallmark of Type 2 diabetes, and that insulin resistance is a major factor in Type 1 diabetes, suggesting the two illnesses are quite similar.
Now here comes the heartbreaking part of this story . While some of the pain scientists have been receptive to the research, the doubting Thomas’s immunologists have voiced scepticism at the idea of the nervous system playing such a major role in the disease. Editors of Cell put the Toronto researchers through vigorous review to prove the validity of their conclusions, though an editorial in the publication gives a positive review of the work.
This is usually were you never hear from exiting discoveries again.
“It will no doubt cause a great deal of consternation,” said Dr. Salter about his paper.
The researchers are now setting out to confirm that the connection between sensory nerves and diabetes holds true in humans. If it does, they will see if their treatments have the same effects on people as they did on mice.
Nothing is for sure, but “there is a great deal of promise,” Dr. Salter said
About two million Canadians suffer from diabetes, 10% of them with Type 1, contributing to 41,000 deaths a year. Can you imagine the monetary saving alone if this group of people would have the ability to get a cure? No more costly hospital stays. We could free up thousands of nurses and doctors . This would cut our yearly Medicare cost by billions a year, and this is for just one type of disease.
I’m not much of a conspiracy nut but if this one gets in the hands of a pharamacompanie , would someone let me know the odds that this method will disappear just like all its predecessors, never to be heard of again.

Faces of Diabetes Lets stop the decades old broken promise of a cure and give them the gift of life.

I’m usually extremely leery of any establishment story on alternative medicine. I find that if you dig deep enough the reporting establishment is in bed with the pharmaceutical company. When they report the detrimental effect of a specific herb and how it can harm you they intentionally do not report all the harm that their own over the counter drug does.
This little film about research done by Dr Brent Bauer, MD of the Mayo Clinic examines herbal supplements, acupuncture, chiropractics and massage. It used to be that alternative therapies like these were ignored by many doctors. But that’s changing. Thanks to public demand and an increasing amount of positive research, many doctors are embracing some alternative therapies. So how do you know if the herb you’re taking or therapy you’re trying is safe?
In The Mayo Book of Alternative Medicine they try to report what is safe for use in the alternative field. I have not read this book so I cannot say if it’s biased towards traditional medicine or if it shows an impartial look at both fields of practice.
Like most things in life you’ll have to make the final descision on this one but at least your gaining knowledge on the subject before making up your mind.

Alternative Medicine-Mayo Clinic

Good morning and welcome again to our new alternative health blog. Today I’m going to be speaking about St. John’s wort as an alternative to Prozac. 

St Johns Wort does not seem fashionable with doctors as they say it’s dangerous to take with other prescription medications and yet I’d place a wager that if doctors researched its interaction with other drugs they would not have too worry about two or three prescription medications playing up with each other.

One thing that you have to remember and I will be emphasizing this in later articles is to always check with your doctor first before taking St Johns Wort or any other alternative therapies that you wish to explore.  The reason I say this is I’m a firm believer in the medical profession but  I wish he there were more classically trained doctors that would see the benefits of the various alternative therapies.  I personally have encountered some forward thinking doctors that embraced both fields of medicine and proceeded to combine them successfully in their own practice.  My own naturopath is also a medical doctor.  When I  visit him he will usually offer both alternative and conventional methods of treatment, and then we can decide on a method of action should be taken.  This really reassures me that I am getting the best of both worlds when it comes to treatment.  It’s as if I have an automatic second opinion built-in with every visit. 

St Johns Wort is an ordinary shrub-like recurrent that bears yellow flowers.  It has been used since ancient times in order to help sooth the mind. With a 2,400-year history of safe and effective use, the prescribing of St Johns Wort has risen dramatically recently, especially in Britain. It’s good as a defence against infection.  In many cases this herb has been found to be as effective as prozac in treating mild to moderate depression.  It’s cheaper, and also has a fewer side effects – the kind which most anti depressant user don’t want. 

St. Johns Wort is good especially when a woman is suffering from premenstrual syndrome.  It will not only lessen depression but will also help ease any extensive muscle pain that is associated with the syndrome and may help reduce the despair and apprehension that is usually accompanied by these conditions. It encourages good sleep for most users and has properties that are both antibacterial and antiviral.

And this concludes my short look at St. John’s wort. As with all alternative therapies as well as conventional methods of treatment a lot of thought and research should be put into its application before any use.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and we shall be writing for you again next week.

   Here’s a little video I found that confirms my views that the medical profession is becoming more aware and accepting, howerver reluctantly, of alternative treatment.

Welcome to the alternative health site at that we’ve created.  As we proceed with this blog, we will discuss several alternative health practices, and we shall describe and hopefully discuss with our readers the different methods and level of acceptance in the alternative healthcare field.  Feedback is extremely important for this particular type of blog.  So we would welcome any ideas that you have for new subjects that we should research and you would like to read about.

For the first blog I’m going to discuss several different aspects of alternative medicine.  This will be a loosely associated group to start off with and as we progress we are going to try to narrow down the fields and explore the different applications of alternative medicine more closely. 

I’m really hoping not to make this a dry subject and hopefully we can actually enjoy the progressions of this particular blog. 

So here we go, and I hope that you really enjoy these articles

One of the reasons that I am writing this is specifically about the drugs and medicinal side effects associated with today’s new drugs. Alternative health care is a great option for people who feel they are out of substitutes with conventional medicine.  A lot of conventional doctors even advocate some alternative health care options for their patients.  Some of the policies are still in a formative stage that it is not totally clear who fits under that umbrella term. In fact, some groups now use complementary and alternative approaches to denote alternative health care providers.

Alternative health includes several different practices including naturopathy, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, Indian ayurveda, which are really about holistic health. Practices like acupuncture and aromatherapy are example of alternative health care that some insurance policies are starting to cover. Other things, like alternative medication, are something that most insurance companies will still not cover.  It is a slow process, but as we can see the field is growing more acceptable in some traditional medicine circles.

Individual therapies like reiki and reflexology, homeopathy, hypnotherapy, massage, meditation, acupuncture and aromatherapy have proved beneficial.  It’s extremely important to consult the treating physician before using alternative therapies and to check out all additional treatment, so that there is no adverse or cross-reactions that affect the treatment.  So on up upon saying this, many of us are looking for more forward thinking doctors that are willing to take a look at some of these alternative methods.

In conclusion, if we combine conventional and alternative medicines, we should be able to create a happy marriage and hopefully obtain  the best of both worlds.

As you may or may not have noticed we at Kwicksilver are starting a new blog that will include several themes . Most will have to do with Alternative Health.