Caffeine and Headaches

Caffeine is one of the most consumed substances of all times. Through the years, people have consciously and unconsciously taken caffeine in the form of coffee, tea, softdrinks and other colas.

Caffeine intake has rapidly become popular that every now and then, critics and health experts have constantly warned about it. A number of health professionals insist that the substance can do harm to the body.

The first blow to the intake of caffeine is the claims that it induces addiction. Thus, many people seem to be pretty hooked up at drinking softdrinks and coffee.

Moreover, people should be aware about the benefits and detriments of taking caffeine.

Caffeine headaches

Caffeine has been found to cause headaches and the claims that the substances causes addiction is linked to this assertion. The idea that what is called as 'weekend headaches' are caused by caffeine is linked to the addiction allegation against the substance.

Experts believe that weekend headaches come as office buffs, who become used to consuming cups and glasses of coffee and sodas everyday in the morning and during breaks, suddenly stop taking caffeine during weekends. Usually, workers sleep and take rest during weekends, so they are not drinking coffee or sodas to be awake.

The migraine triggered by such a cause can be alleviated by taking caffeine. Quitters to caffeine intake also suffer headaches as a form of withdrawal symptom to the allegedly addictive caffeine.

Just like when smokers suddenly quit smoking, caffeine consumers also experience severe or even mild effects on health.

Moreover, too much caffeine consumption may also cause intense stress, especially when the person significantly lacks sleep and proper nutrition. Such stress can lower the body's resistance to the usual causes of migraines, making the person suffer occasional, and eventually, regular episodes of headaches.

Stimulant

You may probably heard from experts that caffeine is an effective stimulant, a group of substances that raise heart beats and makes people awake. Stimulants help people combat sleepiness within a few hours after intake.

Thus, that explains why you feel very much awake and invigorated after drinking that cup of coffee in the morning. Softdrinks also produce a different kick within you. People then take caffeine whenever they need to stay awake during office hours or during over time sessions at work.

Caffeine should not be taken if you are about to sleep or if you have been encountering difficulties in inducing sleep. You may notice that even the aroma of the coffee can almost invigorate you.

Caffeine as headache treatment

It can almost be confusing, but did you know that if caffeine can cause certain types of headaches, it can also help treat headaches? How dos it work?

Migraines are caused by enlarging blood vessels that affect the nerves around them. These nerves then trigger the sensory of the head, producing headaches.

Caffeine works by constricting the blood vessels, making those vessels return to normal and healthy sizes. You may prove this when you encounter a minor headache.

Notice that at least about 30 minutes after you have taken coffee or colas during an episode of headache, you may feel relief.

In other cases, certain medications need the help of caffeine so those treatments can be utilized appropriately by the body. There are various kinds of drugs that are manufactured with added caffeine for them to be effective.

Examples of such drugs are Tylenols, Florinol, Cafergot, Excedrin and Dristan.

Simple over the counter medicines also become more potent when taken with softdrinks or coffees.

Caffeine is indeed a wonderful substance. They may be bad or good, depending on how your body utilizes them and how you take them. Everything should be taken in moderation though. Experts believe that about two to three cups of coffee can still be happy. Anything more than that can lead to addiction and excessive caffeine intake.

Caffeine is certainly a good subject for discussion over a cup of coffee. You may benefit or be harmed by it. Just recognize the fact that as a stimulant, take it to invigorate your energy. Never take it on empty stomach though.

That can be the reason why your grandma always has cookies when serving coffee or tea.

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A List of Unique Alternative Medicine

A list of some of the alternative medicine practices you're likely to encounter in the United States. Some of these are considered border-line acceptable even in the professional medical field, and many understand that this is unfortunate.

Mostly these are just scams, quackery, and nonsense, which unfortunately gullible people believe in if they are desperate and grasping at false hope. Keep your eyes peeled for any of these, and be prepared to stamp out the harmful ones.

Doman-Delacato Treatment
This approach, also called "patterning," was developed during the mid-1950s and is still offered at the Institutes for Human Potential in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its proponents claim that the great majority of cases of mental retardation, learning problems, and behavior disorders are caused by brain damage and poor neurological organization. The treatment is based on the idea that high levels of motor or sensory stimulation can train the nervous system and lessen or overcome handicaps caused by brain damage.

Parents following the program are advised to exercise the child's limbs repeatedly and use other measures said to increase blood flow to the brain and decrease irritability. In 1982 and 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued position statements concluding that "patterning" has no merit, that its proponents' claims are false, and that the demands on families are so great that in some cases there may be actual harm in its use. In 1996, neurologist Steven Novella, M.D., reviewed the scientific literature and concluded that "patterning" was a pseudoscience.

Orthomolecular Therapy
Orthomolecular therapy is defined by its proponents as the treatment of disease by varying the concentrations of substances normally already present in the human body. Its proponents claim that many diseases are caused by molecular imbalances that are corrected by administration of the "right" nutrient molecules at the right time.

Orthomolecular therapy dates back at least to the early 1950s when a few psychiatrists began adding massive doses of nutrients to their treatment of many severe mental problems. The original substance was vitamin B3, and the therapy was termed "megavitamin therapy." Later the treatment regimen was expanded to include other vitamins, minerals, hormones, and dietary supplements, any of which may be combined with conventional drug therapy and even electroshock treatments. A few hundred physicians now use this approach to treat a variety of conditions, both of a mental and physical aspect.

Raw Milk
Raw milk is milk in its unpasteurized state. Public health authorities advocate pasteurization to destroy all disease-producing bacteria that may be present. Health faddists claim that it destroys the essential nutrients. Although about 10% to 30% of the heat-sensitive vitamins, which are vitamin C and thiamine, are destroyed in the pasteurizing process, milk is not a significant source of these nutrients in the first place.

Contaminated raw milk can be a source of harmful bacteria, including those that cause undulant fever, dysentery, salmonellosis, and tuberculosis. "Certified" milk, obtained from cows certified as healthy, is unpasteurized milk with a bacteria count below a specified standard, but it still contains significant numbers of disease-producing organisms.

Rife Frequency Generator
The Attorneys General of Wisconsin and Minnesota have sued to stop an unlicensed woman, Shelvie Rettmann, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, from representing that she cures cancer. In December 1997, Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle showed that a Wisconsin resident who was diagnosed with advanced colon and liver cancer used Rettmann's services after being told that she could cure the woman's cancer. Although medical doctors had recommended chemotherapy, Rettmann had told her otherwise.

At their first meeting, Rettmann photographed the woman and her daughter with a Polaroid camera and put the photos in a cup fastened to a radionics machine. After informing the mother that she had colon and blood cancer and the daughter that she had breast cancer, Rettmann allegedly advised both to have treatments with a Rife Frequency Generator, a special diet, dietary supplements, a regimen of baths, and something called 'foot zoning', which is a type of foot massage claimed to break up accumulated deposits at the end of foot nerve endings in order to help heal the body.

VAX-D Therapy
The VAX-D Therapeutic Table is a motorized traction device which is used to stretch the lower back. VAX-D is an acronym for "vertebral axial decompression." The device is a two-part table in which the upper part is fixed to the table frame and the lower part slides back and forth to provide sudden intermittent traction. The patient is then anchored to the lower part by a pelvic harness.

VAX-D therapy is usually provided on an outpatient setting for the purpose of relieving back pain. Its providers, including chiropractors, medical and osteopathic physicians, and physical therapists, commonly recommend twenty sessions of 30-45 minutes, with a total cost of several thousand dollars. During the treatment, the patient lies face-down with the upper part of the body on the stationary portion of the table, and with arms overhead, grasping handles attached to the this part of the table. A pneumatic cylinder drives the two parts of the table apart and together to provide gradual stretching alternating with relaxation of the stretching. A typical cycle includes a minute of each half.

Auditory Integration Training
Abbreviated as AIT, this was developed as a treatment for autism by Guy Berard in France in the 1960s and since was introduced into the United States in 1991. It has also been advocated for children and adults with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, depression, migraine headaches, and many other mental conditions.

Proponents claim that individuals with these disorders have hearing that is disorganized, hypersensitive, different between the two ears, or otherwise abnormal. The first step in AIT is an audiogram, a diagram that determines the auditory thresholds to more frequencies than are typically measured during hearing tests. Suitable individuals then undergo training sessions, which are typically two half-hour sessions per day over a 10-day period, that involve listening to music that has been computer-modified to remove frequencies to which they are hypersensitive.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Audiology have warned that no well-designed scientific studies demonstrate that AIT is of any use. AIT devices do not have FDA approval for treating autism, attention deficit disorder, or any other mental condition. In 1997, the FDA banned the importation of the Electric Ear or any other AIT device made by Tomatis International, of Paris, France, and they are now illegal.

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Natural Holistic Approach to Treating Cancer

Cancer research has uncovered many links between what people eat and their risk of then getting certain cancers. As a result, you can find literature that's full of facts about how to avoid cancer and how to go forth for a natural cancer cure. In my research, most of this literature has a great deal of information about the natural holistic approach on ways to prevent and heal cancer.

Many researchers have provided information about studies done by the National Cancer Institute. In one study using 35,000 male subjects, the Institute looked at the ability of selenium to prevent cancer. The investigators found that a low intake of selenium can cause a great increase in a male's risk for getting prostate cancer.

Another breakthrough study was performed at the Northern California Cancer Center in Fremont, California. The data compiled by those California researchers has indicated that exposure to the sun can help to prevent prostate cancer as well, which is something considerably new in the cancer research field. Further studies have shown that a generous amount of Vitamin D, such as what one gets from sunlight, will cut a man's chances in half for getting prostate cancer.

As physicians and researchers begin to make greater use of the new drugs for treating cancer, it becomes obvious that medicine needs to pay closer attention to holistic cancer cures in addition to these traditional treatment methods. Holistic cures take into consideration all of the parts of the body, not just the specific body part that has the cancer. But the mind and spirit is as well.

The case of one woman in California illustrates the need for a holistic approach to cure cancer. The woman has been receiving chemotherapy for a lung cancer. She
has learned that the drug that is helping to fight her cancer has also created changes in her blood. Her blood is getting thicker.

As a result, that California patient must avoid eating foods with Vitamin K, a vitamin that helps to thicken blood. The woman continues to sacrifice by not eating certain foods that she loves such dark green vegetables. If one can understand that this particular woman is affected by what she eats, researchers and physicians should be aware that what humans eat may have more of a relevant link to cancer than they
first thought was the case.

Research has also found that smokers have a greater chance for getting cancer, especially lung cancer. But there are some things you can do starting now by changing your habits toward a healthier you.

Start With These Tips:

1. Eat balance meals
2. Cut out the sweets
3. Watch your cola intake
4. Take supplements
5. Exercise regularly
6. Stop Smoking

Trying to prevent cancer is always the best step in the right direction

Homeopathic Medicine

Have you ever heard of homeopathy? You probably have, but have no idea what it really is. Homeopathy is a system of medicine that treats an illness or condition with highly diluted concentrations of natural ingredients that mimic the symptoms of the condition being treated. It seems like an odd premise, but in spite of the unusual mechanism behind it, it is a very effective method for treating disease.

How do you cure someone of an illness by giving that person a tiny concentration of something that actually causes the illness? According to proponents of the science, homeopathy not only works, but works better than conventional medicine. They say that somewhere along the line the pharmaceutical industry got involved in medicine, at which point natural remedies were abandoned in favor of chemical formulations.

If you browse through your local pharmacy, you will notice that there are actually quite a few products in the Cold & Flu aisle that are homeopathic. The easiest way to to find out if a product you are interested in is homeopathic is to read the label on the back and take a look at the ingredients. In homeopathy, all of the ingredients are diluted, so each ingredient in a homeopathic product has the letter X or C after it.

So, if one of the ingredients is Zinc 20X, that means the product contains Zinc that has been diluted 20 times. One of the most popular cold medicines on the market, Zicam, is actually a homeopathic remedy that consists of nothing more than homeopathic zinc in a nasal gel. Most people that use Zicam do not even realize that it is a homeopathic product.

There are homeopathic remedies available for almost any condition you can think of. Cold, flu, allergy, even bedwetting; there is a homeopathic remedy available for almost every condition. Homeopathy is universally recognized as being safe because the ingredients are always natural substances diluted many times over.

The big drug companies claim that any relief felt from the application of a homeopathic medicine can be attributed to the placebo effect. And, because the FDA does not require homeopathic products to undergo a clinical trial before being sold to the public, the detractors feel that homeopathy is junk science. So, is homeopathy a bunch of hodgepodge, or does it really work?

In my opinion, it works. There have been several clinical trials done over the years to test the efficacy of homeopathic products. Liddell Laboratories makes a product called Vital HGH which contains homeopathic HGH. Vital HGH is designed to treat the symptoms of aging and/or a rundown condition. In a small clinical trial performed years ago, a group of test subjects who were deficient in human growth hormone, ranging in age from 45 years and up, were given the Vital HGH formulation.

The results speak for themselves. During the five month clinical trial, the levels of HGH in the blood increased in every test subject, and more than doubled the average level of HGH. I personally have used homeopathic remedies to treat my allergies, and not only do they work, but they seem to prevent the symptoms from returning for an extended period of time.

The main reason why big drug manufacturers try to downplay the effectiveness of homeopathic medicines is so they will not have to make them. Most homeopathic products are incredibly cheap to manufacture and the profit margins are extremely small. A prescribed conventional medicine costs a lot more.

If the public began demanding natural, homeopathic remedies for their ailments, drug companies would have to make these kinds of products to stay in business, and then their revenues would tumble and their profits would shrink.

Imagine if Pfizer had to stop manufacturing Viagra, which they sell at $20-$30 per pill, and instead make a homeopathic product that would retail for only $20 for a one month supply. That is why drug companies often spend significant money to debunk claims that homeopathy works, using misinformation tactics to instill a belief in the public that homeopathy is a sham. This simply is not true. Homeopathy works, and is much more affordable.

Conventional medicines are still necessary because sometimes homeopathy does not work for each and every individual. But, next time you go to the pharmacy, take a look at some of the homeopathic brands on the shelf and give them a whirl. For common ailments that are not life threatening, homeopathy is probably a cheaper and more effective alternative.
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