Showing posts with label back pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back pain. Show all posts

Monday, 9 April 2018

10 Things That Happen to Your Body If You Walk Every Day




Have you ever heard the saying by Hippocrates, “Walking is a man’s best medicine?” We’d go further by stating that walking combined with good sleep and a healthy diet can help you avoid the doctor altogether. As little as 15-30 minutes of walking every day can drastically improve not only a person’s overall appearance but health as well.
We at Bright Side were astonished to find out that kind old walking is a single practice which could significantly benefit the whole body and mind. It’s free, easy and requires little effort.
We’ve created a list of benefits you can literally walk yourself into.

1.   Positive brain changes


As a study reveals, low impact aerobic exercises, like walking, prevent early dementia, reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and improve overall mental health. Not to mention cutting psychological stress and maintaining a higher level of endorphins.


2.   Improved eyesight


Even though eyes might seem like the last thing to be connected with the legs, walking actually benefits their health too. It may also help to fight glaucoma by relieving eye pressure.

3. Prevention of heart diseases



According to the American Heart Association, walking is no less valid than running when it comes to the prevention of heart-related disease or stroke. This activity helps avoid heart problems by lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and improving blood circulation.

4. Increased lung volume


Walking is an aerobic exercise which increases oxygen flow in the bloodstream and helps train your lungs, as well as eliminate toxins and waste. Because of better and more in-depth breathing, some symptoms associated with lung disease may also be relieved.

5. Beneficial effects on the pancreas



It might be hard to believe but walking for exercise turns out to be a much more effective tool in preventing diabetes than running. This research shows that a group of “walkers” demonstrated improvement in glucose tolerance almost 6 times greater (i.e. how well blood sugar is absorbed by cells) than that of a group of “runners,” over a 6 month trial period.

6. Improved digestion




30 minutes of walking every day could not only lower the risk of colon cancer in the future but improve our digestion and constipation by helping to regulate our bowel movements.


7. Toned muscles

Muscle tone and weight loss (in overweight cases) may also be achieved through walking. The practice of walking 10,000 steps a day may be counted as an actual workout in a gym, especially if you add some intervals or walking uphill. Additionally, it’s low impact and there’s no recovery time, which means no sore muscles and regrets for missing tomorrow’s workout due to being too sore the next day.

8. Sturdier bones and joints



Walking can provide more joint mobility, prevent loss of bone mass, and even reduce the risk of fractures. The Arthritis Foundation recommends walking moderately at least 30 minutes a day on a regular basis to reduce pain in your joints, along with stiffness and inflammation.
9. Back pain relief



Walking may become a real life-saver for those who experience back pain during more challenging high-impact exercises. Since it’s a low-impact activity, it won’t cause more pain or discomfort, like running or HIT would. Walking contributes to better blood circulation within the spinal structures and improves posture and flexibility which is vital for a healthy spine.

10. A calmer mind (if it was an organ, to be sure)



If walking improves depression symptoms in patients with primary depressive disorders, just imagine how quickly it could help us cope with feeling down or exhausted. And a joyful walk with a friend or a loved one will only multiply the happy-effect and improve your mood!
We’d love to hear if you have ever tried to substitute a trip to the gym or a run, with walking. Tell us in the comments below if it worked miracles for you or not?

source: https://brightside.me/inspiration-health/10-things-that-happen-to-your-body-if-you-walk-every-day-485010/  


Friday, 6 October 2017

How To Reverse Diabetes Naturally With These 9 Superfoods


Type 2 diabetes is characterized by a lack of or under-utilization of the hormone insulin and increase in blood glucose levels. Have bitter gourd, amla, and the seeds of purslane to regenerate insulin. Jambul, black and Bengal gram, fenugreek seeds, and grapefruit can all maintain a healthy blood glucose level by either checking the conversion of starch into glucose or helping the body use glucose better.
Superfoods For Diabetes

Bitter gourd
Amla
Jambul fruit
Grapefruit
Fenugreek
Bengal gram

Type 2 diabetes, often called non-insulin dependent diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes, affecting 90–95% of the 18.2 million people with diabetes. Unlike people with type 1 diabetes, people with type 2 diabetes produce insulin; however, the insulin their pancreas secretes is either not enough, or the body is unable to recognize the insulin and use it correctly. This is referred to as insulin resistance. When there is not enough insulin or the insulin is not used successfully, glucose (sugar) cannot get into the body’s cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, the body’s cells are not able to function correctly. Problems caused by the increase of glucose in the blood include:
·        Dehydration: The buildup of sugar in the blood can cause an increase in urination (to try to clear the sugar from the body). When the kidneys lose the glucose through the urine, a significant amount of water is also lost, causing dehydration.
·        Hyperosmolar nonketotic diabetic coma: When a person with type 2 diabetes becomes severely dehydrated and is not able to drink enough fluids to make up for the fluid losses, they may develop this life-threatening complication.
Over time, the high glucose levels in the blood may damage the nerves and small blood vessels of the eyes, kidneys, and heart and predispose a person to atherosclerosis (hardening) of the large arteries that can cause heart attack and stroke.
Who Can Get Type 2 Diabetes?
Anyone can get type 2 diabetes. However, those at highest risk for the disease are those who are obese or overweight, women who have had gestational diabetes, people with family members who have type 2 diabetes and people who have metabolic syndrome (a cluster of problems that include high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low good ‘HDL’ cholesterol and a high bad ‘LDL’ cholesterol and high blood pressure). In addition, older people are more susceptible to developing the disease since aging makes the body less tolerant of sugars.
What Causes Type 2 Diabetes?
Although it is more common than type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is commonly caused by multiple factors and not a single problem. Type 2 diabetes can run in families, but the exact nature of how it is inherited or the identity of a single genetic factor is not known.

What Are The Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes vary from person to person but may include:
·        Increased thirst
·        Increased hunger (especially after eating)
·        Dry mouth
·        Nausea and occasionally vomiting
·        Frequent urination
·        Fatigue (weak, tired feeling)
·        Blurred vision
·        Numbness or tingling of the hands or feet
·        Frequent infections of the skin, urinary tract or vagina
9 Superfoods For Diabetes
1. Bitter Gourd
Among the several home remedies that have proved beneficial in controlling diabetes, perhaps the most important is the use of sour gourd. It has lately been established that bitter melon contains a hypoglycemic or insulin-like principle, designated as “plant insulin,” which has been found valuable in lowering the blood and urine sugar levels.
It should be included liberally in the diet of the diabetic. For better results, the diabetic should take the juice of about 4 or 5 bitter gourds every morning on an empty stomach. The seeds can be added to food in a powdered form. Diabetics can also use sour gourd in the form of a decoction by boiling the pieces in water or in the form of dry powder.
2. Indian Gooseberry
Indian gooseberry, with its high vitamin C content, is considered valuable in diabetes. Just 1 tablespoon of its juice, mixed with 1 cup of bitter gourd juice, taken daily for 2 months, will stimulate the islets of Langerhans, that is, the isolated group of cells that secrete the hormone insulin in the pancreas. This mixture reduces the blood sugar in diabetes.

3. Jambul Fruit
Jambul fruit is another effective home remedy. It is regarded in traditional medicine as a specific against diabetes because of its effect on the pancreas. The fruit as such, the seeds, and fruit juice are all useful in the treatment of this disease. The seeds contain a glucoside “jamboline,” which is believed to have the power to check the pathological conversion of starch into sugar in cases of increased production of glucose. The seeds should be dried and powdered. Mix 1 teaspoon of this powder in 1 cup of milk or water or 1/2 a cup of curd, and taken twice daily.
The inner bark of the jambul tree is also used in the treatment of diabetes. The bark is dried and burnt. It will produce an ash of white color. This ash should be nestled in a mortar, strained, and bottled. The diabetic patient should be given 10 grams of this ash on an empty stomach with water in the morning and twenty grams in the afternoon and in the evening an hour after taking meals. An equal quantity of amla powder, jamun powder, and bitter gourd powder also makes a beneficial remedy for diabetes. A teaspoon of this mixture once or twice a day would be useful in checking the progress of the disease.

4. Grapefruit
Grapefruit is a splendid food in the diet of a diabetic patient. If grapefruits were eaten more liberally, there would be much less diabetes. If you have sugar, use 3 grapefruits 3 times a day. If you do not have sugar, but a tendency toward it and want to prevent it, use 3 a day.
5. Fenugreek
The seeds of fenugreek have been useful in the treatment of diabetes. Fenugreek seeds, when given in varying doses of 25 gm to 100 gm daily, diminish reactive hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. Levels of glucose, serum cholesterol, and triglycerides were reduced considerably with diabetes patients when the seeds were consumed.

6. Bengal Gram
Experiments have shown that the intake of water extract of Bengal gram enhances the utilization of glucose in both diabetic and healthy persons. When kept on a diet, which included liberal supplements of Bengal gram extract, the condition of the patient improved considerably and his insulin requirement reduced to about 20 units per day. Diabetes patients who are on a prescribed diet which does not severely restrict the intake of carbohydrates, but includes liberal amounts of Bengal gram extract, have shown considerable improvement in their fasting blood sugar levels, glucose tolerance, urinary excretion of sugar, and general condition.

7. Black Gram
For a milder type of diabetes, 2 tablespoons of a germinated black gram, taken with half a cup of fresh bitter gourd juice and a teaspoon of honey, is said to be helpful. It should be made once daily for three to four months. Try to cut carbohydrates out of your diet. Even in severe cases, regular use of this combination, with other precautions, is used as a health-giving food for the prevention of various complications that may arise due to malnutrition in diabetics.
8. Mango Leaves
The tender leaves of the mango tree are considered useful in diabetes. An infusion is prepared by soaking 15 gm of fresh leaves in 250 ml of water overnight and squeezing them well in the water in the morning. This filtrate should be taken every morning to control early diabetes. As an alternative, the leaves should be dried in the shade, powdered and preserved for use when necessary. Just 1/2 a teaspoon of this powder should be taken twice a day.

9. Purslane
The seeds of purslane are useful in diabetes. Take 1 teaspoon of the seeds every day with 1/2 a cup of water for 3 to 4 months. It will increase the body’s own insulin and help in curing diabetes.
Other Foods
Besides bitter gourd, certain vegetables are beneficial and can improve a diabetic’s health. These include:
·        String beans
·        Cucumber
·        Onion
·        Garlic

·        Tea made of the pods of string beans
     Hope you enjoy reading:)

Sunday, 21 May 2017

Another reason to exercise: Burning bone fat a key to better bone health


Date: May 18, 2017

Source: University of North Carolina Health Care

Summary: It's a fat-burning secret anyone interested in bone health should know. For the first time, researchers show that exercising burns the fat found within the bone marrow and offers evidence that this process improves bone quality and the amount of bone in a matter of weeks.

It's a fat-burning secret anyone interested in bone health should know. For the first time, UNC School of Medicine researchers shows that exercising burns the fat found within the bone marrow and offers evidence that this process improves bone quality and the amount of bone in a matter of weeks.

The study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, also suggests obese individuals -- who often have worse bone quality -- may derive even greater bone health benefits from exercising than their lean counterparts.

"One of the main clinical implications of this research is that exercise is not just good, but amazing for bone health," said lead author Maya Styner, MD, a physician and assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "In just a very short period of time, we saw that running was building bone significantly in mice."
Although research in mice is not directly translatable to the human condition, the kinds of stem cells that produce bone and fat in mice are the same kind that produces bone and fat in humans.


Composite CT scans of mouse femurs are shown. LFD-E refers to low-fat diet plus exercise. DIO-E refers to diet-induced obesity plus exercise. Red, yellow: less fat in bone. Green, blue, and purple: higher fat amounts. Exercise dramatically reduced bone fat.
Credit: M. Styner, et al


In addition to its implications for obesity and bone health, Styner said the research also could help illuminate some of the factors behind bone degradation associated with conditions like diabetes, arthritis, anorexia, and the use of steroid medications.

In her patients, Styner is all too familiar with the chronic toll of osteoporosis and fractures. This new evidence shows it's possible to use exercise to reverse some of the effects on bones.

"I see a lot of patients with poor bone health, and I always talk to them about what a dramatic effect exercise can have on bones, regardless of what the cause of their bone condition is," said Styner. "With obesity, it seems that you get even more bone formation from exercise. Our studies of bone biomechanics show that the quality and the strength of the bone is significantly increased with exercise and even more so in the obese exercisers"

Getting to the marrow of the matter
Bone and marrow are more dynamic than you might think. Morrow, in particular, is a hub of activity, coordinating the formation of bone and cartilage while simultaneously churning out blood cells, immune cells, and cancerous cells.

Marrow also produces fat, which has a lot to do with its vaunted status in cuisines around the world. But the physiological role of bone marrow fat in the body -- and even whether it is beneficial or harmful for one's health -- has remained somewhat mysterious.
Generally, marrow fat has been thought to comprise a special fat reserve that is not used to fuel energy during exercise in the same way other fat stores are used throughout the body during exercise. The new study offers evidence to the contrary.

Styner's work also offers fundamental insights on how marrow fat forms and the impact it has on bone health. Previous studies have suggested that a higher amount of marrow fat increases the risk of fractures and other problems.

"There's been intense interest in marrow fat because it's highly associated with states of low bone density, but scientists still haven't understood its physiologic purpose," said Styner. "We know that exercise has a profound effect on fat elsewhere in the body, and we wanted to use exercise as a tool to understand the fat in the marrow."

Vanishing fat cells
The researchers performed their experiments in two groups of mice. One group was fed a normal diet (lean mice) and the other received a high-fat diet (obese mice) starting a month after birth. When they were four months old, half the mice in each group were given a running wheel to use whenever they liked for the next six weeks. Because mice like to run, the group with access to a wheel tended to spend a lot of time exercising.

The researchers analysed the animals' body composition, marrow fat and bone quantity at various points. Predictably, the obese mice started with more fat cells and larger fat cells in their marrow. After exercising for six weeks, both obese and lean mice showed a significant reduction in the overall size of fat cells and the overall amount fat in the marrow. In these respects, the marrow fat of exercising obese mice looked virtually identical to the marrow fat of lean mice, even those that exercised.

Perhaps more surprising was the dramatic difference in the number of fat cells present in the marrow, which showed no change in lean mice but dropped by more than half in obese mice that exercised compared to obese mice that were sedentary. The tests also revealed that exercise improved the thickness of bone and that this effect was particularly pronounced in obese mice.

According to Styner, all of this points to the conclusion that marrow fat can be burned off through exercise and that this process is good for bones.

"Obesity appears to increase a fat depot in the bone, and this depot behaves very much like abdominal and other fat depots," said Styner. "Exercise is able to reduce the size of this fat depot and burn it for fuel and at the same time build stronger, larger bones."

Setting the stage
The research leaves a few lingering mysteries. A big one is figuring out the exact relationship between burning marrow fat and building better bone. It could be that when fat cells are burned during exercise, the marrow uses the released energy to make more bone.

Or, because both fat and bone cells come from parent cells known as mesenchymal stem cells, it could be that exercise somehow stimulates these stem cells to churn out more bone cells and less fat cells.

More research will be needed to parse this out. "What we can say is there's a lot of evidence suggesting that marrow fat is being used as fuel to make more bone, rather than there being an increase in the diversion of stem cells into bone," said Styner.

But marrow fat, being encased in bone, isn't easy to study. The team's new research represents a leap forward not only in understanding bone marrow fat but also in the tools to study it.

The group's previous work relied on micro-CT imaging, which requires the use of a toxic tracer to measure marrow fat. In the new study, they took advantage of UNC's 9.4 TMRI, a sophisticated MRI machine of which there are only a few around the country. Using MRI to assess marrow fat eliminates the need for the toxic tracer and allows highly detailed imaging of living organisms.

"If we want to take this technique to the human level, we could study marrow fat in humans in a much more reliable fashion now," said Styner. "And our work shows this is possible."

The team also developed techniques to perform a much more detailed assessment of the number and size of fat cells within the marrow and even examined some of the key proteins involved in the formation and reduction of bone marrow fat.

Styner is now working with collaborators to adapt these methods for studying the bone marrow dynamics that might be at work in other conditions, including anorexia and post-menopausal osteoporosis.

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of North Carolina Health Care. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:
Maya Styner, Gabriel M Pagnotti, Cody McGrath, Xin Wu, Buer Sen, Gunes Uzer, Zhihui Xie, Xiaopeng Zong, Martin A Styner, Clinton T Rubin, Janet Rubin. Exercise Decreases Marrow Adipose Tissue Through ß-Oxidation in Obese Running Mice. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.3159




Friday, 5 May 2017

  10 SIGNS YOU MAY HAVE KIDNEY DISEASE


Kidney disease normally has warning signs before striking. Therefore, it is imperative that you know what to look out for in a bid to detect it early and take appropriate action to prevent it from developing into a serious health concern.

Kidneys are tasked with eliminating waste and unwanted fluids from your body through the urine. Risks factors linked to signs of kidney disease include smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. For this article, we present you the 10 warning signs that can help you detect kidney disease early and take necessary action before the situation worsens.
1.  LOWER BACK PAIN

While backaches and joint pains are usually a sign of an injury, they could also be an indication of kidney infection.
2.  DARK URINE

Dehydration can result in dark urine. Likewise, painful urination is a sign of kidney disease.
3.  CHANGES IN QUANTITY OF URINE

When you realise that you’re going to the bathroom more frequently or less frequently than usual, it could be a sign of kidney problem.
4.  METALLIC TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH

Accumulation of waste that is not discarded from the body may result in a sense of metallic taste in your mouth. People around you may also notice that you’ve a distinctive bad breath that smells like ammonia.
5.  NAUSEA AND VOMITING

Waste accumulation as a result of the problematic kidney not functioning well can make you feel nauseated to the extent of vomiting. This is body’s way of trying to get rid of food that can’t be properly processed. Best help is to take Probiotics check the link for a good probiotic => https:// LG365Probiotic
6.  PROTEIN AVERSION

When your body can’t process the protein you are consuming, there’ll be a buildup that will make you have a less desire for protein.
7.  FOAMY URINE

Foamy or bubbly urine could be a sign of protein being passed in the urine. This is a warning sign of impending kidney disease as proteins should be used by the body and not excreted.
8.  FATIGUE

While weakness can emanate from many reasons, you should not ignore a feeling of weakness that is accompanied by other signs listed here. Anaemia can also be related to kidney disease, which is the probable cause of your fatigue.
9.  MENTAL CONFUSION

Kidneys also help blood to carry oxygen. Hence, when the kidneys are unhealthy, the number of red blood red cells reduce. These can lead to mental confusion caused by extreme fatigue.
10.   SWELLING OF FACE, FEET OR HANDS


When your kidneys are not functioning optimally, they become unable to efficiently handle the excess fluids, leading to fluid and salt retention that causes oedema.

                                                                                                                                                              source: kidneyproblems