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Chemotherapy is the use of chemical agents to treat or control diseases. It works by killing fast dividing cells like cancerous cells and other healthy cells which include hair follicles, bone marrow, reproductive system etc.

You would get anxious at the mention of chemotherapy for above reasons but there is not much cause for worry as healthy cells regenerate fast after the therapy is complete. Chemotherapy is either used exclusively or in combination with radiation or surgical therapies.

Advantages
Unlike radiation, which kills cancer cells in the target area, chemotherapy is universal and treats the entire body. This attacks the untreated cancer cells from the previous cancer too. Doctors use chemotherapy depending on the spread and type of cancer to

Destroy cancer cells from the body, no withstanding its wide spread
Prolong life expectancy by controlling cancer growth and spread
Alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life

Chemotherapy Types and Methodology
Chemotherapy is not always based on a single drug for the fear of developing resistance to the drug. On the other hand a combination has different actions at the cellular level and kills more cancer cells preventing further spread. Your doctor decides on the combination considering your age, tolerance limit, and health. Mind you, all such combinations are tested on patients with similar conditions.

A few representative types.

1.Alkylating agents, deter the replication of DNA, prevents cancer cell growth.
2.Antimetabolites, block the enzyme supply to cancer cells on which they thrive.
3.Anti-tumor antibiotics change cell membranes by blocking enzyme supply led cell division. These are not the general antibiotics.
4.Nitrosoureas obstruct the ways DNA is repaired by enzymes.
5.Mitotic inhibitors inhibit cell division by hindering enzymes essential in the cell reproduction.

Chemotherapy is administered cyclically considering the type of drugs and your condition. Chemotherapy drugs travel thru the entire body, so there are four ways devised for administration.

1.Intravenous method where drug is injected into your veins.
2.Oral chemotherapeutic pills to swallow.
3.Topical application (ointments) for skin cancers.
4.Intramuscular injection.

Side Effects
On the lighter side there are side effects like vomiting, nausea, hair loss, dry mouth, constipation and loss of appetite etc. Beware, some problems like damages to heart, lungs and kidneys show much after the treatment. Urinating blood and nervous damage and attack of secondary cancers like lymphoma, leukemia is not ruled out.

Alan Ross writes and contribute articles on many topics. He is a nice guy too. Be sure to visit Chemotherapy and You and his other website Chemotherapy for more information.

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As a board certified radiologist, Jennifer Keilp MD sees quite a few stress fractures. Stress fractures can occur from a traumatic event, such as a fall or an accident, but can also occur from over overuse.

What is a stress fracture?

A stress fracture is a common overuse injury often seen in athletes. Usually, a fracture, or broken bone, is caused by an acute event, such as a car crash, a fall or other trauma. When this happens, the bone experiences a very high force that causes the stress fracture. A stress fracture can also occur when the forces are much lower, but happen repetitively for a long period of time; these injuries are also known as “fatigue fractures.” Stress fractures are commonly seen in athletes who run and jump on hard surfaces, such as distance runners, basketball players, and ballet dancers.

A stress fracture can occur in any bone, but is commonly seen in the foot and shin bones. They rarely occur in the upper extremity because the weight of your body is not supported by your arms as it is in your legs. Recently, for a publication, Jennifer Keilp provided photographs of a T1-weighted sagittal magnetic resonance image from an ankle injury. On the photograph provided by Jennifer Keilpphotograph provided by Jennifer Keilp, a stress fracture is noted as a linear area of low signal intensity in the calcaneus.

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The use of herbs as early forms of medicine or healing aid dates back centuries, as far back as the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, East Indian, Chinese, and many South American Cultures. Herbs are generally safe and like warm sunshine, natural and beneficial to mind, body and spirit, not to mention affordable compared to prescription medicine. Herbs can be listed in three main categories, food, medicinal, and poisonous.

Confusion Is Only Illusion

Herb can be pronounced with the “h” (H-E-R-B) or without it (E-R-B). Either pronunciation is correct. You’ll notice that I have “an” in front of the “herb” word when appropriate. I do this for readers that wish to leave the “h” in herb silent and simply pronounce it as “erb”.

The Big Three

Food herbs: Supports the positive aspects of the body, cleanses its system and maintains holistic balance. Food herbs can be consumed in great amounts without fear of losing its benefits.

Medicinal herbs: They are used for a short period of time to fight infections, flu and similar ailments when the need occurs. The time limit is used, because prolong use (overuse), may take away its medicinal benefits.

Poisonous herbs: I know what you’re thinking, why use poisonous herbs at all, because this category of herbs poses no real threat. Like any type of powerful remedy, if they are misused in anyway, they have the potential to foster the decrease of health or even death. Another reason why poisonous herbs are used, is because they promote short term specific benefits.

Therapeutic Synergy

Therapeutic plants are fascinating entities unto themselves. They contain phytochemical properties that were created millions of years ago. These same phytochemical properties have been dancing hand in hand with evolution up to our present time. Providing us and many other animals that consume them, with both healing and health benefits that take our hand and lead us into their therapeutic dance festival.

An herb may contain thousands of phytochemical properties, all existing and working in unison towards the plants own health and existence. The total collection of those phytochemicals within a plant, are usually working together in a synergistic way to provide the therapeutic benefits that we need.

Synthetic Copies

The drug manufacturers may copy some of the benefits of herbs by distilling it down to just a few of its original phytochemicals in order to create a chemical rival for profit. Most often, the chemical counterpart may have a tremendous amount of side effects, because it no longer resembles the original design, created by millions of years of plant evolution. Some herbs have no synthetic counterparts whatsoever. Most herbs unlike there prescription brothers, are non evasive to the human body. Meaning, they cause very little to zero side effects, depending on what and how much dosage you’re using.

Sensibility Is Key

It would be wise to consult your health care professional before undertaking any therapeutic herbal program. Some herbs have a tendency to increase the effects of prescription drugs and others simply to neutralize the drug’s potency. In the worse case scenario, herbs when taken with medical drugs will cause some serious harm and side effects.

Most herbal supplements already have a recommended dosage on the label, but it would still be wise to work with your physician or health care professional, since they may be in a position to know what herbs and drugs cannot be taken together.

Gabriel Foster is the editor for http://www.gabrielfoster.com, the online magazine for both vegetarians and natural health enthusiasts.

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The importance of storing your essential oils in a proper manner can be estimated from the fact that women in the 19th century would ask their jewelers to design special bottles to hold their perfumes and essential oils. Luxury apart, storing essential oils in specially designed bottles helped keep the therapeutic and aromatic properties of the essential oils intact.

It is common knowledge that most of the essential oils become contaminated or their effect gets weakened with time if they are not stored properly. Citrus oils are the most susceptible to early breakdown. They oxidize and begin to lose the aroma and therapeutic properties. The citrus oil becomes cloudy and a sweet fragrance is emitted. This signals towards the deterioration of the essential oil.

Same does not apply to oils such as frankincense, sandalwood, patchouli, and myrrh. They can be stored for a longer time. In fact, they improve with time. In the older times, Egyptians used to embalm the dead people with the essential oils of cedar wood, cinnamon etc. When one such tomb was opened in the early 20th century, traces of the oil were clearly visible.

Will you not like to keep your treasured essential oils in the same manner? Lifetime of the essential oil ranges from 6 months to several years. Through a proper storage, one can increase the shelf life of an essential oil. The following section provides lessons in storing essentials oils.

Dark amber, cobalt blue, or violet glass bottles are the best when it comes to storing essential oils. Sunlight can be very harmful for the essential oils. Ultraviolet rays, which are a part of the sunlight, weaken the essential oil. This explains the reason why it is not advisable to store essential oils in clear glass bottles. Sunlight easily passes through the clear glass bottle, thus producing reaction in the essential oil, and no longer rendering it effective.

Plastic bottles too must not be used as the plastic dissolves with the essential oil and thus is contaminated. One can use aluminum bottles to store the essential oil, but the inner surface of the container must be lined.

Your essential oils need to be kept away from sunlight as far as possible. High temperature can be harmful to the oil. Therefore, the place where the essential oil is stored must not be near any heater vent or any such heat-emitting gadget. Keeping the oil in a refrigerator can help increase its shelf life. Nevertheless, freezing is not acceptable. When cooled at very low temperatures, some essential oils will cloud. It regains its original state when brought to room temperature. Certain citrus oils continue to be cloudy even when brought to room temperature. However, this does not affect their therapeutic properties.

We tend to contaminate the essential oil in the process of using them. The following checklist will be helpful in preventing contamination:

• Never touch the top of the orifice reducer or the inside of the cap.
• Always use separate pipettes for separate oil.
• The pipettes must not be carriers of oxygen. When one uses the pipette for taking out the oil, a few drops of it remain in the pipette. This becomes contaminated when it comes in contact with oxygen outside. When the same pipette is used again, it contaminates the whole bottle.

The cap of the bottle containing essential oils must not be kept open for long. Since they are volatile, they will evaporate.

The cap of the bottle containing essential oil must be selected carefully. Rubber droppers have a tendency to turn into gum when they come in contact with the concentrated essential oil.

Keeping these points in mind, one can surely increase the shelf life of the essential oils. This might require a few extra efforts and might become expensive in some cases, but your treasured essential oils truly deserve this.

Bryan Josling is working with the Horticultural Research Station in Adelaide. He has also been involved with research on plants. To find Aromatherapy essential oils, essential massage oils, essential oils wholesale visit www.ndaroma.com“> www.ndaroma.com

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The method know as 3d ultrasound is used in early pregnancy, it can provide 3d pictures of the unborn child. Most times the ultrasound pictures are rapidly captured and joined together to produce a 4d scan.

Three dimensional scanning works in the same way to the normal ultrasound scanning methods except that the ultrasound scanning waves can be sent from multiple directions. The ultrasound pulses are redirected back and captured and provide information to construct a 3 d picture in very much the same way as 3d pictures. 3d ultrasound was devised in the usa.

It’s important to understand that sonologists worldwide have always pictured 3d images of the body in their minds while doing their 2d scans. However, until recently it was difficult to do this kind of reconstruction on patient data acquired using ultasound scanning. The advent of 4d scans for the first time allowed us a view into the brain of a sonologist and so letting us see the images on the ultrasound machine.

4d ultrasound imaging should utilize ultrasound energy following the same limits as conventional 2d ultrasound to create the 3d images. There is no data to suggest any harm due to 3d ultasound scanning, its use in non-medical situations should be undertaken with an understanding of the risks that exist.

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It is easy to lose weight quickly and naturally if you have a systematic weight loss program. Many people failed to lose weight successfully because of the natural tendency to choose easy quick fix programs such as going on drastic diets, popping diet pills or persuaded to buy some exercise gadgets that simply do not work. In my other articles, I have addressed these issues and why such easy quick fix programs simply do not work in the long term and will not repeat them here.

To lose weight quickly, naturally and easily, you have to combine a healthy eating habit, correct cardio and strengthening exercises. We shall touch on the subject of how to lose weight quickly and naturally through a healthy eating program in this article.

• Increase Your Metabolism - Eat 5-6 small meals daily. It has been scientifically proven that by eating frequently, you will raise your body’s natural metabolism. That means your body will burn more fat naturally. You become a fat burning machine all day long.

• Eat Less Calories - Although you need to increase meal frequency to lose weight naturally, you must be mindful of your caloric consumption. Calories consumed must not exceed calories expanded for your daily energy. So keep your meals small and cut down on dietary fats as each gram of fat contains 9 calories whereas each gram of protein and carbohydrate contains only 4 calories.

• Avoid Starchy And Processed Flour Foodstuffs - These foodstuffs are easy to digest and turn into sugar rapidly and in turn get converted to body fat if these sugar calories are not used up as energy quickly. So ditch your cakes, cookies, pizzas, pastas, white rice etc Replace them with high fiber bread, legumes, brown rice, grains and nuts instead. So stay away from fast food restaurants as most fast food menus offer such foodstuff.

• Avoid All Sugary and Soft Drinks - Reason is obvious. Most if not all of these kind of drinks are heavily laced with sugar and sugar gets converted to body fat very quickly. You have to run on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes just to burn away a can’s worth of calories in a soft drink. Just imagine how much body fat you will accumulate if you drink just three cans of soft drinks a day along with 2 cups of sugar added coffee?

• Avoid All Forms Of Alcohol - There are about 7 calories in a gram of alcohol. Alcohol calories have zero nutritional value. They are just mere empty calories. Indulging in regular alcohol consumption not only wrecks your health, it will set back your weight loss program completely.

Oh….so you think this eating habit is difficult to implement or that you will miss your sugary foodstuffs and soft drinks? Not to worry. You may experience some withdrawal symptoms at first but after a week or two, you will be weaned off your sugar and simple carbohydrate cravings. Once your addictions to these foods are curbed, you will no longer have your sweet tooth and will naturally avoid such foodstuff.

Just by following these healthy eating habits, you will start to lose weight easily, quickly and naturally. Include cardio and weight lifting exercises into your weight loss program and your weight loss will be permanent.

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Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a cancer of the thin layer of tissue that lines the chest and lungs. It is a rare form of cancer that is mostly associated with exposure to asbestos. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a fast-moving cancer with a median survival time of between one and two years.

The majority of mesotheliomas are associated with asbestos exposure. Asbestos was used widely in the United States for insulation, and while awareness of its harmful effects is increasing, asbestos can still be found in older buildings. People who work in industries using asbestos in some form, such as insulation manufacturers, insulation workers, and ship builders, may be at increased risk to develop mesotheliomas. The time between exposure and development of a cancer may be decades, which is why it is usually diagnosed in older people. More men than women get this type of cancer. Close contacts of people who have been exposed to asbestos, such as family members, may also be at risk.

Some symptoms of this cancer are increasing breathlessness, pain in the chest or under the ribcage, an abdominal lump or swelling, fever and unexplained weight loss. Imaging tests like a CT scan may show a collection of fluid in the pleural cavity of the chest. Pleural tissue and fluid is also tested to detect cancerous cells and certain chemicals that can rule out a diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma.

Depending on the extent of spread of cancer, malignant pleural mesotheliomas are conventionally treated with some combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible. Aggressive treatment strategies are the norm, though the exact treatment depends on how far the cancer has spread. A number of experimental treatments are currently being evaluated in clinical trials.

Malignant Mesothelioma provides detailed information about malignant mesothelioma, diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma, malignant mesothelioma diagnosis, malignant mesothelioma lawyer and more. Malignant Mesothelioma is the sister site of Peritoneal Mesothelioma Lawyers.

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Research carried out in 2002 indicated that almost 80% of the world’s population would suffer from some kind of back pain with lower back pain being the most common type. In addition to the high rate of incidence, back pain is also known to have a high rate of recurrence in patients. With patients trying everything from over the counter painkillers to physiotherapy to gain relief from back pain, Acupuncture comes as a welcome change.

Acupuncture is a natural method of treatment that involves no chemicals or surgery. Thin stainless steel needles are inserted into the body at various acupuncture points to stimulate the free flow of Chi or life force through the body. Free flowing Chi results in a healthy and pain free body. Large bodies of research have been able to establish a connection between acupuncture and relief from back pain-especially sciatica.

Sciatica refers to a type of back pain in which the pain radiates from the buttocks down the legs. Sometimes, sciatica pain can also be a consequence of a muscle spasm impinging on the sciatica nerve. Acupuncture can be effectively used to alleviate muscle spasms. The results are almost immediate and can provide relief within minutes.

Back pain is generally caused because muscles that are not frequently exercised and stretched are suddenly put to excessive use. Muscle spasms are common in such cases and result in the individual feeling sore, stiff and a dull ache in the back. Patients suffering from sciatica may even feel a tingling sensation or numbness. This is generally due to the narrowing of the disc space or a disc protrusion in the lumbar region.

Acupuncture is used to improve blood circulation to the entire lumbar region and spinal cord. It relaxes paraspinal muscles and provides relief from muscle spasms. The increased blood flow provides greater nourishment to the discs and increases the elasticity and strengthens the spinal cord. Thus, acupuncture can be extremely effective in reducing back pain symptoms. It is important to remember that different patients respond differently to acupuncture sessions and it can take anywhere between 4-12 sessions to really feel the difference.

Betty Durden is a staff writer for The National Acupuncture Specialists located at http://www.acupuncture-treatment-specialists.com.

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