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Robert McDowell's Herbal Treatments 29 May 2005 Herbal Help for Humans and their CompanionsRight now in my region of Australia we are experiencing heat wave conditions with local towns recording extreme top temperatures.The elderly and young especially but anyone suseptible to it are suffering from heat stress or exhaustion. Under heat stress our bodies sweat in an effort to cool blood temperatures. They also experience symptoms of fatigue, weakness, anxiety and a faint feeling. While sweating our bodies lose salt (electrolytes) and water which must be replaced ideally by slightly salty drinks such as tomato juice or cool soups . At the very least keep up the drinks of water. It also gives relief to mist our skin with a fine spray bottle of water . As a family with young children and a car with no air conditioner we found that the mister bottle was life saving on many occasions. I've seen people walking around town with a wet towel around their neck --another good trick! We may also suffer from prickly heat which results from trapped sweat.. The best way to reduce this is to keep the skin cool and dry as much as possible, soothing relief may be gained from the product below. http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_skin_allergy_irritation_acute.html Heat cramps may also occur in manual workers under extreme heat. Have a read of the site below. http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_nighttime_muscle_cramping.html This week we feature:-
Home Remedies - Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Sleep apnoea is defined as the cessation of breathing during sleep. The most common type of sleep apnoea is called obstructive sleep apnoea. Obstructive sleep apnoea is characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep due to the obstruction and/or collapse of the upper airway (throat), usually accompanied by a reduction in blood oxygen saturation, and followed by an awakening to breathe. People who snore have at least one of the following problems:- 1. Excessive bulkiness of tissue in the throat, such as large tonsils and adenoids, big uvulas (the part that is hanging in the throat), or excessive length of the soft palate. 2. Low muscle tone in the muscles of the tongue and throat (Alcohol and other drugs relax these muscles even further, causing increased snoring); 3. Obstructed nasal airways. When the mucous membranes become stuffy and swollen, the air passages become smaller. You then have to breathe with exaggerated force to move the air through the narrow hole. This explains why some people only snore during hayfever season, or when they have a cold. 4. Anatomical deformities in the airway. Some people have a broken or crooked nose, which cuts down on the airway size. 5.Being overweight can also cause snoring, because fat deposits around the upper airway make the airway smaller. About half of all adults snore occasionally, and one out of four snores regularly. Snoring is much more prevalent in men than in women until menopause, when almost as many women as men snore. Children may snore if they have enlarged tonsils or adenoids. Some common-sense things which you can do to help your problem: - Try increasing the humidity in your bedroom. Dry and swollen membranes can cause snoring. - Check for allergies - they can cause swelling of tissues. - Try to sleep on your side. - Avoid smoking and drinking- both can aggravate snoring. - Be sure to exercise regularly. It will help you to lose excess weight. - Avoid tranquilizers and sleeping pills before bed time. How do I know if I have it? One of the best people to help you answer this question is your bed partner. People with sleep apnoea generally have the following symptoms: * Loud, frequent snoring * The pattern of snoring is associated with episodes of silence that may last from 10 seconds to as long as a minute or more. * The end of an apnoea episode is often associated with loud snores, gasps, moans, and mumblings. Not everyone who snores has apnoea, by any means, and not everyone with apnoea necessarily snores (though most do). This is probably the best and most obvious indicator. * Your bedmate indicates that you periodically stop breathing during your sleep, or gasp for breath * Excessive daytime sleepiness/fatigue: Falling asleep when you don't intend to. Even if you don't literally fall asleep, excessive fatigue (that is, you got plenty of sleep and you're still really tired) could be an indicator. * Unrefreshing sleep with feelings of grogginess, dullness, morning headaches, severe dryness of the mouth. * Body movements often accompany the awakenings at the end of each apnoea episode, and this, together with the loud snoring, will disrupt the bed partner's sleep and often cause her/him to move to a separate bed or room. Australia now has a national group for support, education, and advocacy and their site Sleep Disorders Australia is worth a visit. Several regional groups for support and membership. Many benefits from joining, for example, the printed newsletters are of the highest quality. * For information, contact:-Leslie Louttit * Sleep Disorders Australia http://www.span.com.au/apnea http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/ http://www.snoringpillow.com.au/aus/ Canine - Chilblains . Chilblains normally signify poor circulation in the area and an improvement in circulation in a dog's ears may be achieved by an internal blood tonic like: http://www.herbal-dogkeeping.com/dog_blood_circulation_quality.html plus a daily gentle massage with Rosemary Oil diluted into some plain oil like Olive Oil to stimulate the circulation. I should very much like to follow up any cases as I have not treated chilblains in our canine friends ears and would like to see if it works as well as the same idea works with humans. Wheatgrass will help with healing following any damage but does not act on the circulation as such. Equine - Snake Bite After a major health episode which can include a venomous bite, pasture poisoning, stress founder or whatever and a whole lot of treatment and tests you end up in the position where you are treating a whole bunch of symptoms on several different fronts and it seems impossible to get on top of them. My approach is to address the fact that the whole metabolism may be out of balance and it is therefore the imbalance and not a specific history or symptom is really the problem now. I make up a mixture which I call the Re-Conditioning mix which stimulates and nourishes all the processes involved in the metabolism; Digestion, Kidneys, Adrenals, Liver, Pancreas, Spleen, Bone Marrow and Parasympathetic Nervous System. This was originally formulated to help horses recovery from poisoning which leaves the metabolism severely out of balance and I have dozens of times taken horses with a whole range of symptoms and turned them completely around.. This Condition Mix is described and may be ordered from my website at the following link: http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_conditioning_blend.html Along with the Blood Cleanser that will need to be run for a full blood cycle of 12 weeks, this can be found at: http://www.herbal-horsekeeping.com/horse_blood_cleanser.html New Topics of Interest Deep Vein Thrombosis and Embolism Herbal Treatment: http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_embolism_thrombosis.html Arteriosclerosis and Atherosclerosis Herbal Treatment: http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_arteriosclerosis_atherosclerosis.html Human - Anal Fissures An anal fissure is a small split or tear in the anal mucosa that may cause painful bowel movements and bleeding. There may be blood on the outside of the stool or on the toilet tissue following a bowel movement. Anal fissures are extremely common in young infants but may occur at any age. Studies suggest 80% of infants will have had an anal fissure by age one. Most fissures heal on their own and do not require treatment, aside from good diaper hygeine. However, some fissures may require medical treatment. In adults, fissures may be caused by constipation, particularly when passing large, hard stools, or by prolonged diarrhea. In older adults, anal fissures may be caused by decreased blood flow to the area. Anal fissures are also common in women after childbirth and people with Crohns Disease. Anal fissures may be acute or chronic . An acute fissure is usually due to altered bowel habits while a chronic fissure may be either due to poor bowel habits, overly tight or spastic anal sphincter muscles, scarring or an underlying medical problem. Suggestions:- * Try to keep your bowel movements soft by eating high-fiber foods. Food examples are fruits, vegetables, bran, and whole-wheat grains. Drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water will soften movements. * Apply our Comfrey Skin cream for healing http://www.herbal-treatment.net/herbs_comfrey_skin_healer.html * Aloe compresses on the anus to soothe the inflammation. * Removing all dairy from the diet helps many people as well as easing constipation. * Folk are getting good results using the wheat grass skin healing mix which is a powerful healer and also convenient to use and I find that if they apply paw paw ointment after spraying then the skin in the area remains for flexible and this also promotes healing. :http://www.altivoe.com/herbs_scar_recovery.html The Paw Paw ointment (also called Papaya) is a soothing vasaline based ointment . If you have contributory problems like chronic constipation then it would be wise also to address this situation at the same time. FeedBack We value your feedback so much that we are making it easier for you to send us a sentence or two. Please fill in the form below and click 'Send' All the best in health and happiness to all readers and their companions. Yours Truly, Robert McDowell |