When a person has difficulty in moving and seems to lose balance then it may be an indication of Parkinson’s disease. It is because of problem to certain nerve cells in the brain. Dopamine is the chemical that sends signals to the brain for movement. The signals lets your muscles move smoothly at the correct speed and the way you desire. When a person is afflicted with Parkinson’s then the nerve cells are damaged, which means dopamine is no longer available and thus you have trouble moving your limbs at desired speed  or they may tremble involuntarily.

Parkinson’s is a progressive disease and it slowly advances and gets severe over time. This happens over many years and today there are good therapies that can help a Parkinson’s patient lead a fuller life.

What Causes Parkinson’s?

It is yet to be found what exactly causes the nerve cells to break down. Researchers are investigating the causes which include aging and pollutants or poisons in the atmosphere. There is a probability of some abnormal genetic make-up or genes that leads to Parkinson’s disease in few people. So far there is no concrete proof that Parkinson’s disease can be inherited.

What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s?

There are certain marked symptoms of Parkinson’s disease like tremor or trembling of the arms, hands or legs, sometimes the patient may have stiff muscles, movements get slowed and there can be a problem with balancing while walking. Tremors are said to be the first symptom and the most common one but not everyone will have tremors to begin with. Parkinson’s also affects the muscles all through the body and cause trouble swallowing or later constipation. In advanced stages the patient will have a fixed gaze or blank expression and trouble speaking. Some people may show signs of dementia.

The symptoms usually appear between the ages of 50 and 60, though there are several cases where the disease symptoms manifested earlier than that.

How to treat and manage Parkinson’s?

Your doctor can detect Parkinson’s by observing your movement asking for some brain scans etc. At present there is no definite cure for the disease but there are several medicines that can control the symptoms which affect your daily life. Certain specialised treatments like deep brain stimulation may also be used depending on the nature of the individual’s disease.

The patient is usually advised to get good diet, enough of rest, conserve energy and sometimes given physical and occupational therapy.

For ages salt or sodium has been pointed out as the villain who causes the life harming hypertension. Though recent studies which took a deeper look into the issue shows that the story is more complex. The latest study results actually take the blame away from sodium being the sole cause of hypertension.

New angle to Sodium and Hypertension

In a focused study recently the team found out those research participants who consumed less than 2500 milligrams of sodium every day had much higher blood pressure than those who consumed sodium in higher quantities. The results were counterintuitive as the dietary sodium intake which was positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure proved to be the opposite.

In fact the researchers came to the conclusion that there was a relationship between cardiovascular risk and sodium which means that low-sodium diets and very high sodium diets both carry a higher risk of heart disease. When a person consumes sodium moderately then you sit in the middle of the curve and your risk for cardiovascular disease is on the lowest side.

Importance of Potassium

The importance of potassium in our daily diet is highly emphasised. The research studies proved that the individuals with the lowest blood pressure were those who had the optimum intake of sodium and potassium. On the other hand those with very low consumption of dietary sodium and potassium had the highest blood pressure. Similarly magnesium and calcium intake was also of prime importance and found that higher intakes meant lower blood pressure.

The study recommended not below 2.3 milligrams sodium intake per day for healthy adults. This shows that there is definitely an inverse association between sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and blood pressure.

Dietary Adjustments

There is no denying the importance of increasing the intake of foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium which will help in maintaining a healthy blood pressure. Certain people may be sensitive to sodium and they should reduce the amount of salt in their diets. Not too long in the future there will be systems to screen the salt sensitivity which will help in finding out which person has to curtail salt in the diet.

Thus the association of salt or sodium to high blood pressure is now not so vital but depends on a lot of associated things and dietary habits.

It is trend today to look for alternate medicine for every medical issue; likewise many people turn to natural remedies when they have asthma. The alternative medicine for asthma may include herbal medicines, dietary supplements, acupuncture, yoga, massage therapy, biofeedback, homeopathy, nutrition and botanicals.

Here is a closer look at some of the more popular remedies.

HERBS AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

There are wide and varied choices in herbs, plants and supplements that have been used as a cure for asthma. Deeper studies have looked at using magnesium, omega – 3 fatty acids and antioxidant supplements like vitamin C and vitamin E to treat asthma symptoms. Though there is not much extensive evidence to prove the efficacy of these alternatives for asthma treatment.

YOGA PRACTICE

There is always stress in daily life and when this stress is continuous and goes beyond a certain threshold it causes asthma symptoms. It is found that many breathing exercise especially yoga breathing exercises help the patient control their breathing, relieve stress and controls asthma.

DIET CHANGE

Many people are allergic to certain foods and avoiding these foods while using alternate diet can prevent allergic reaction due to choice of food. Since allergies give rise to an asthma attack it is best to avoid these foods and control the asthma.

BIOFEEDBACK

The process of controlling your heart rate can help in asthma management but nothing conclusive has been proven about this option.

SAFETY OF USING NATURAL REMEDIES

Many of the herbs and medicines have not been thoroughly tested hence cannot be taken as authorised medication for treating asthma. Some of these herbs are found to react with drugs already being used and cause complications. Like an herb used for treating inflammation is found to cause bleeding in those patients who are already taking blood thinners. The liquorice roots which are considered to ease breathing can actually increase the blood pressure. It is thus always better to take herbal medicines in consultation with your doctor.

SYMPTOMS OF COMPLICATIONS

If an herbal medicine is causing any sort of complication then there are symptoms like nausea, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, insomnia, diarrhoea and skin rashes which can caution the patient and can be immediately stopped.