pressawaypain.com

Is Ginkgo the marvellous herbal remedy for loss of memory that we have all been led to believe? First used for medicinal purposes by the Chinese over 5,000 years ago, Ginkgo has long been considered to be of vital importance in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and circulatory problems.

But press reports in February 2008 questioned the value of Ginkgo biloba by suggesting it has limited effect on those with memory problems, whilst at the same time maintaining it increases the risk of a stroke.

In this article we’re going to briefly review the pros and cons of these findings, and look at an unusual exercise that can help you reap the benefits Ginkgo offers, without actually having to take it.

What set off this press speculation was a research study published by Oregon State University. It reported that of 59 volunteers given three Ginkgo tablets a day over a three year trial, seven suffered a stroke or mini-stroke, whereas of the 59 who were not given Ginkgo, but a placebo instead, none suffered strokes.

On the face of it this seems to establish that taking Ginkgo tablets or supplements does indeed increase the risk of a stroke. But the defenders of this well-known herb argue that strokes are caused by blood clots, which are not a known side effect of taking Ginkgo. It is known for sometimes causing excessive bleeding, but that in itself is not connected to strokes.

As to the herb’s effect on memory, 21 of the men and women aged 85 and over who comprised the volunteers developed memory problems over the three year period, but only 7 of them were in the group that were taking the genuine Ginkgo tablets. And there is a question mark, apparently, over whether all the volunteers remembered to take all the tablets as instructed.

So the only thing most commentators, whether pro or anti herbal remedies, can agree upon is that further tests should be carried out. After all, it’s no good taking Ginkgo biloba to improve your memory or prevent Alzheimer’s disease if you’re thereby increasing the risk of a stroke coming along and undoing all the good work.

Although a stroke doesn’t necessarily affect memory, it doesn’t do much for your mental (or physical) health either.

Are there any other herbs that can improve your memory apart from Ginkgo biloba? There are three other main herbs that have been known to have beneficial effects, and they are Bacopa Monniera (known as water hyssop), Club Moss and Siberian Ginseng. There’s also Lecithin, an extract of soya beans, which can help prevent age-related memory disorders, as can large doses of vitamins C and E.

No recent studies appear to have been done on any of these, so it may be unfair on Ginkgo to highlight its possible defects when similar studies on any of the alternative treatments could well throw up disadvantages just as serious.

Be that as it may, there is an alternative method for fighting memory loss and preventing diseases such as Alzheimer’s. It involves nothing more than a few very simple exercises you can do almost anywhere. One of these can improve your memory over time, help dissolve headaches, and even relieve arthritic pain that in itself often impedes concentration.

Locate the two hollows at the base of your skull on either side of the very top of your spine. They’re usually two to three inches apart, depending on the size of your head. With your fingers spread upwards towards the top of your head, press with your thumbs into these hollows for one minute.

All the while breathe deeply through the nose and relax. You can close your eyes if it helps, but the important thing is to relax and breathe deeply, using your full lung capacity. If you do this once or twice a day you should find that it’s not long before you experience all the benefits of a better memory, easier concentration and a distinct lack of headaches. All the things that Ginkgo promises, in fact.

Philip Gegan

Learn how to press away all kinds of pain and enjoy good health effortlessly, harnessing the powerful forces of nature, at http://www.pressawaypain.com.

In the first post of this two-part posting we covered lemon balm and its properties in inhibiting the spread of the herpes simplex virus (cold sores).

Another antidote is liquorice, well known for its general anti-inflammatory properties. In studies it has been shown to inactivate the herpes simplex virus. Look for commercially available treatments containing liquorice. The best are those you can use to apply a liquorice compress or poultice several times a day. Place 2 teaspoons of dried, chopped roots in 0.25 litres of hot water for 15 minutes, and drink 3 cups of this tea each day.

There are other herbal remedies that may be just as effective, including those utilising Mullein, St John’s Wort, and Garlic, but let’s now consider a few immediate measures you can take to give yourself the best chance of showing your cold sores the door in a matter of days rather than weeks.

Keep the area around your cold sore clean and dry. Don’t expose it to harsh sunshine or abrasive winds. Replace your toothbrush with a new one when the cold sore first appears and again when it has healed. And don’t keep your toothbrush in the bathroom – it’s far too damp, and that helps the virus to survive. Keep it somewhere dry.

Your toothpaste tube can harbour the germs as well. Don’t touch the tube opening with your toothbrush (or your fingers) and use small tubes to ensure you replace them regularly.

In fact anything you dip your fingers into can be contaminated by the virus if you use the same fingers to touch the cold sore. So use different fingers in turn, or a cotton bud, to apply any lotions, and this applies particularly to petroleum jelly, a popular treatment to cure cold sores.

Other treatments include applying a water based zinc solution, available from drug stores, and breaking the surface of the sore and applying witch hazel or surgical spirit to dry it out.

Following this advice and applying these remedies in turn should have you free of cold sores within a matter of days. That’s well and good, but what if they keep coming back? Again, consider the likely causes and see if you can counteract them. It seems the major immediate causes are stress and lack of exercise. If you can schedule your life to include sufficient relaxation and exercise, whilst avoiding stress, then your cold sores will soon be a thing of the past.

One highly effective relaxation exercise is to grasp the back of your neck with one hand in the area of the ropey neck muscles. Squeeze them firmly, with all your fingers on one side and the heel of your hand on the other. Do this for about a minute two or three times a day. All the while breathe deeply in and out through the nose. You’ll be surprised at how much this can help you relax, and it has a positive effect on your skin and nervous system as well.

So, what are you waiting for? You can start the relaxation exercises right now. And when you start applying these remedies there really will be light at the end of the tunnel. Remember, the important thing is to find a cure that works for YOU. Let’s hope that the guidance set out here will help you do just that.

To find that you have cold sores on your lips can be not only painful, but severely embarrassing. And that applies especially to young people who have a lot of friends and an active social life. To make matters worse, the general perception is that there is little you can do about it other than to treat it with drugs (whether prescription or over-the-counter) and hope they’ll go away as quickly as possible.

But if you wish to avoid the unpleasant side effects of “orthodox” drugs, which can range from loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting through to diarrhoea, headaches and even allergic reactions, then you’ll want to know about some alternative remedies that have been proven to work.

While there may be no quick fix available to deal with the Herpes Simplex virus (to use its proper name), there are a number of things you can do to heal it naturally and minimise the chances of it recurring.

This two-part post will look at two herbal remedies, either of which may work for you. Then we’ll examine one or two practical things you can do to become free of cold sores. Remember, it’s not a case of applying every conceivable remedy you can find, but rather finding just one that works for YOU.

First of all, though, set out to find the cause of your affliction. It may be that you were doing something different from usual at the time the virus entered your body. See if you can avoid such activities, or amend them so as to avoid coming into contact with the suspected conveyor of it again. However, you have to accept that you have it and the next step is to find a suitable remedy that doesn’t have unpleasant side effects.

One herbal remedy that works for a majority of sufferers uses lemon balm, which is available from most drug stores. This inhibits the spread of a number of viruses, including herpes simplex. In one study where people with cold sores (and people with genital herpes) were treated with cream containing 1 per cent lemon balm extract, 60 per cent reported their cold sores healed within 4 days. Nearly all were free of cold sores after just 8 days. That’s an impressive result.

If you have access to fresh lemon balm then you can make use of a most effective way to treat your cold sores with it. You can make a compress or poultice from its leaves by placing 1 to 2 spoonfuls of dried leaves in 0.25 litres of hot water for 10 minutes. Drink 3 to 4 cups of this tea each day until your cold sores have gone.

In the second of these two posts we’ll cover another herbal remedy and some very practical advice for you to follow and get rid of your cold sores for good.

The wild ginger plant can help everyone who has to deal with pain.

Ginger originates in south east Asia but has been available in the West for 2,000 years. It’s long been known for its healing qualities, particularly in the treatment of indigestion, nausea and colds and ‘flu, but it can also be used to treat pain generally.

A new study from the University of Georgia published in May 2010 details an experiment in which a group of patients were given ginger to treat sports-related injuries. It was found that patients who were given 2 grams of ginger in order to relieve pain  benefited from a 25 per cent reduction in levels of pain compared to patients given a placebo.

In fact the pain-reducing qualities of ginger have been known for centuries by the folks who, before the advent of modern medicine and doctors, were known as healers (usually women) to whom others went for help when they were ill or injured.

Even Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the seventeenth century in his famous “Culpeper’s Complete Herbal”, says that ginger “helps digestion, warms the stomach, clears the sight, and is profitable for old men: heats the joints, and therefore is profitable against the gout, expels wind; it is hot and dry in the second degree”.

Now this study has confirmed the pain-reduction qualities of this neglected herb, people who have to live with pain can, if they don’t already, turn to it for some measure of relief.

Philip Gegan