Aardf Health » Major http://www.aardf.org Healthy Life Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:31:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 The Major Differences Between Chinese Medicine And Western Medicine http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/the-major-differences-between-chinese-medicine-and-western-medicine/ http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/the-major-differences-between-chinese-medicine-and-western-medicine/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:53:25 +0000 admin http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/the-major-differences-between-chinese-medicine-and-western-medicine/
Copyright (c) 2009 Stephen Lau Chinese medicine is one of the most sophisticated medical systems in the world. It has been enhanced through thousands of years of experience and research. Its unique difference from Western medicine is that it focuses on “health” rather than on “healing” because Chinese medicine promotes overall wellness of an individual, as opposed to the approach of Western medicine in treating the symptoms of an illness. As a matter of fact, in ancient China, a physician would not be remunerated for treating his patient who had fallen ill, because it was his first duty to keep his patient from illness. Essentially, Chinese medicine is “heal-all”, while Western medicine is “cure-all.” Another major difference between Chinese medicine and Western medicine is that Chinese medicine focuses on plants as remedies. Plants are essential to life. In fact, nearly all the food you eat comes from plants or animals who eat plants. Accordingly, to the Chinese, plants enhance health. In Chinese medicine, the number of plants used as medicines is greater than the number of plants for food. In Chinese medicine, there is not much distinction between a food and a medicine. Even thousands of years before Christ, the Chinese believed that every single plant on earth has its specific function in the well-being of an individual. For this reason, Chinese physicians have always been on the lookout for a remedy in any herbal plant. Not until recent decades and the opening of China to the Western world, little of traditional Chinese medicine was known to the Western medical community. Initially, Western doctors and scientists were skeptical of the potency of Chinese medicine, which is based on herbal cures and remedies. This is not surprising because in the beginning of the 20th century, Western medical science had dismissed even traditional Western plant remedies as folklore medicine – concoctions only for grandmothers but not for professionally trained doctors. With the emergence of the pharmaceutical industry, Western scientists began to focus almost exclusively on chemical drugs to treat different diseases with different symptoms. A case in point is human cancer. In the early 20th century, cancer was relatively unknown, but the number of cancer cases soon began to explode exponentially. With the growth of the billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry and the need to validate the potency of these chemical drugs, more research studies have to be conducted. Given that Western medicine aims at treating the symptoms rather than eradicating the causes of a disease, and that chemical drugs often generate many adverse side effects, more new chemical drugs have to be developed to treat those new symptoms. Until fairly recently, after many years of concern at the pervasive side effects of pharmaceutical drugs, is there an interest in Chinese herbal remedies and medicinal foods. Such plants include aloes, garlic, feverfew, and licorice, among others. Another major difference between Chinese medicine and Western medicine is that Chinese medicine often incorporates Western medicine into the medical system. For example, in Beijing hospitals, a doctor may carry out surgery in the Western manner with state-of-the-art equipment, while the anesthetist may use acupuncture and herbal preparations for preoperative and postoperative treatments. The Chinese are using the best from over four thousand years of experience to complement Western medicine. Results have proved that traditional Chinese medicine works even though it may not always conform to the current Western scientific theories. According to the Okinawa Centenarian Study, Okinawa, Japan, and Hong Kong are the top three areas of the world in life expectancy. They all share an important common characteristic of incorporating both Eastern and Western approaches to healing in their health care systems. The use of natural or herbal tonics in these populations far exceeds that of North America. Get the best of both Chinese and Western medicine so that they complement each other to give you the best health to enable you to become younger and healthier for longer.

]]> http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/the-major-differences-between-chinese-medicine-and-western-medicine/feed/ 4 Acne: a Major Threat to the Teenagers and Youngsters http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/acne-a-major-threat-to-the-teenagers-and-youngsters/ http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/acne-a-major-threat-to-the-teenagers-and-youngsters/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:33:56 +0000 admin http://www.aardf.org/2010/03/acne-a-major-threat-to-the-teenagers-and-youngsters/

Acne is one of the major health related conditions, which is common in teenagers and youngsters. Acne brings huge problems to teenagers. Teenagers who have acne feel isolated, ugly, and insecure. Who wouldn’t when everywhere you look, only clear faced (skinned) people are put on the pedestal.

Acne is an inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin; characterized by papules or pustules or comedones. Acne is the term for plugged pores (blackheads and whiteheads), pimples, and even deeper lumps (cysts or nodules) that occur on the face, neck, chest, back, shoulders and even the upper arms. Acne can simply be defined as a group of skin rashes which appear basically at the teenage. But it can occur at any age and can happen to anybody.

When people think of acne, usually the figure of a person comes up with an occurrence of red, inflamed pores on his or her face. Though this is the most common form, but is not the only type of acne which people experience. There are various types of acne which people may experience and there are numerous causes reported for acne.

Types of acne:

• Acne Vulgaris – most commonly experienced around puberty, typically of the face and shoulders/chest

• Acne rosacea – a red rash predominantly on the face

• Acne keloidalis nuchae (Pseudofolliculitis nuchae) – a rash caused by shaving

• Acne conglobata (Hidradenitis suppurativa) – chronic abscesses or boils of sweat glands and hair follicles; in the underarms, groin and buttocks, and under the breasts in women

• Acne cosmetica – acne caused by cosmetics

• Acne fulminans – an extreme form of acne conglobata

• Acne medicamentosa – acne caused by starting or stopping a medicine

• Baby acne – a rash seen on the cheeks, chin, and forehead of infants

• Chloracne – an acne rash caused by exposure to chlorinated hydrocarbons such as dioxins or PCBs.

These are the several types of acne but the common type which occurs usually is acne Vulgaris. Acne Vulgaris occurs at the time of puberty. It is most common in the teenagers.

Causes of acne:

As stated earlier, acne can be caused due to numerous reasons. But generally there are four major factors responsible for causing acne. They are:

• Overactive oil glands

• Blockage of the skin pores

• Activity of normal skin bacteria

• Inflammation

They act together to cause the characteristic pimples, whiteheads and blackheads associated with acne.

Treatment:

The treatment procedure of acne started many years ago. Since then the treatment procedure gradually developed into better form. Acne treatments are also of considerable antiquity:

• Ancient Rome: bathing in hot, and often sulfurous, mineral water was one of the few available acne treatments. One of the earliest texts to mention skin problems is De Medicina by the Roman writer Celsus.

• 1800s: Nineteenth century dermatologists used sulphur in the treatment of acne. It was believed to dry the skin.

• 1920s: Benzoyl Peroxide is used

• 1930s: Laxatives were used as a cure for what were known as ‘chastity pimples’

• 1950s: When antibiotics became available, it was discovered that they had beneficial effects on acne. They were taken orally to begin with. Much of the benefit was not from killing bacteria but from the anti-inflammatory effects of tetracycline and its relatives. Topical antibiotics became available later.

• 1960s: Tretinoin (original Trade Name Retin A) was found effective for acne. This preceeded the development of oral isotretinoin (sold as Accutane and Roaccutane) since the early 1980s.

• 1980s: Accutane is introduced in America

• 1990s: Laser treatment introduced

• 2000s: Blue/red light therapy

Some old treatments, like laxatives, have fallen into disuse but others, like spas, are recovering their popularity. Acne responds well to treatment, particularly if treated early, at the onset of the condition. Treatment is offered to:

• Prevent possible scarring

• Deal with inflamed and painful areas

• Limit the formation of new blackheads and whiteheads

• Lessen any stress or embarrassment associated with the acne

Mild acne can be treated with over-the-counter medications. More serious acne requires treatment by a dermatologist.

Mild acne is managed well by over-the-counter preparations such as benzoyl peroxide, Resorcinol, Salicylic acid, Sulfur, etc. Nowadays acne is also treated with Natural Acne Treatment. Natural acne treatment doesn’t have any side affects and it also totally affective in treating acne. Now acne no longer remains a big problem for the teenagers and the youngsters.

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