Herbal Medicines For Blood Problems
Problems with the blood, as opposed to the supply or circulation of blood, are normally the result of something wrong in the chemical composition of the blood so that either it does not flow as it should (it may clot too quickly or not fast enough) or it does not have the right amount of chemicals to nourish and protect the body or itself properly.
Serious blood problems such as hemophilia (an inherited deficiency in which blood will not clot properly, resulting in excessive bleeding), agranulocytosis (which is the result of a white blood cell deficiency), leukemia, polycythemia (high altitude or mountain sickness, from having too many red blood cells), and septicemia (blood poisoning, the result of an overload of disease-causing bacteria in the bloodstream) are relatively rare but need medical help, mostly urgently. They are really not suitable subjects for treatment by alternative therapies.
Anemia
Anemia, which simply means lack of blood, is not a disease so much as a disorder. It is caused by a deficiency of the red oxygen-carrying pigment in blood (hemoglobin), often from lack of iron in the diet. It is more common among women than men and can be a particular problem for women with heavy periods. Iron-deficiency anemia may also be caused by blood loss into the gut in conditions such as peptic ulcer and stomach cancer.
Symptoms of anemia are a "tired-all-the-time" feeling, pale skin, shortness of breath, dizziness, poor concentration, recurrent colds and infections, and white eyelid linings.
Sickle Cell Anemia
Several blood disorders are the result of a single gene. Sickle cell anemia causes a distortion of the red blood cells into sickle shapes (a sort of half-moon shape), slowing the blood flow and decreasing the amount of oxygen the red cells are able to carry. It is much more common in Africans, Caribbeans, and people of middle Eastern descent; in the United States, 1 in every 400 Afro- Americans has this disease. There are several forms of sickle cell anemia, ranging from mild to severe. Symptoms of the severe form, which usually begins at about six months of age, include organ dysfunction, pain, and jaundice, eventually leading and extreme lethargy.
Sickle cell anemia cannot be cured, but most sufferers maintain a good lifestyle with regulerers transfusions. It is often suggested that sufferers, take specific inoculations in order to avoid infection. Dehydration and coldness may cause painful sickle cell crises in the sufferer, and should be avoided.
Treatment
Diet and Nutrition The treatment of iron-deficiency anemia is to take more iron in food or as food supplements, ideally in a multimixture that includes a complex of B vitamins, especially B12 and folic acid, vitamins C, vitamins E, copper, and selenium. Supplements may be taken tablets or liquid tonic. Iron - rich foods include liver beef, and chicken. The best non-animal sources are soybeans, corn flour, spinach, black kidney beans, rhubarb, dried fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables. Biochemic tissue salts may also help. Avoid tea: it cuts down the amount of iron the body can absorb.
Consult a qualified practitioner/therapist for:
Traditional Chinese Medicine Chinese herbs (gui pi wan or "Return spleen tablets") may help.
Acupuncture Some find this therapy helpful.
Iron Pills Can Harm
Many people remember the old "tired blood" advertising claims and still believe that iron pills will help if you suffer from chronic fatigue.
You should not take iron pills without a specific diagnosis. Several studies have shown that iron deficiency can be healthful. Before the bad LDL cholesterol can form plaques in arteries, it must be converted to oxidized LDL and iron causes this reaction. Lack of iron reduces your chances of forming plaques in your arteries and suffering heart attacks and strokes.
Less than 50 percent of the iron in your body is in your red blood cells. Most iron is in your iron reserves in your liver, spleen and other tissues. Your body needs iron to make red blood cells and if your body does not contain enough iron, you will become anemic, but you will not become anemic until you have depleted all your iron reserves. You can be iron deficient but not anemic when you have an adequate supply of red blood cells, but no iron reserves. Iron deficiency does not make you tired unless you are also anemic, but it can tire athletes exercising at their maximum.
Blood iron levels are part of routine blood tests. If your blood iron levels are low and you are not anemic, you need a special test called ferritin to measure iron reserves. If your ferritin is low, your doctor will look for a source of bleeding such as heavy menstruation or bleeding in the intestinal tract. If no serious source is found, you need no treatment unless you are a highly competitive athlete.
Your body has no way to rid itself of excess iron, so it is stored in body tissues, especially the liver, heart, and pancreas. Hemochromatosis is an inherited disorder that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. It is not common and is easily treated by donating blood, but undiagnosed, it can lead to severe organ damage. This is just one more reason why you should not take iron pills without a specific diagnosis.
Anemia Cure with Natural Food
Quick effective cure for anemia with natural food
Blood is the fluid tissue of body, responsible for the very existence of life. Blood is life. Blood travels throughout the body through blood vessels called arteries, capillaries and veins, taking with it essential nutrients, oxygen, minerals, hormones and vitamins essential for the healthy survival of bodily cells. Blood also removes the carbon dioxide and other cellular wastes from the cells to the lungs and kidneys, where the wastes are released through exhalation air or urine.
Red blood cells (henceforth RBC) have a special component called hemoglobin that helps in oxygen exchange. Anemia is the condition characterized by lower than normal levels of RBC in blood. Anemia can be caused due to loss of blood due to external or internal bleeding, destruction of RBC or slow production of RBC in body. Production of RBC can lower with Vitamin B12 deficiency and folic acid deficiency. Deficiency of vitamin B12 also affects protein synthesis in body. One particularly difficult condition is anemia during pregnancy.
Body tries to restore the amount of blood. But the body produces only an excess amount of blood plasma. This plasma doesn't have enough RBC. In anemic cases, the body needs to be prepared for the production of RBC. Natural food practices are the best way to restore RBC count in blood.
Natural food items for iron deficient anemia control - organic milk, pomegranate, sesame seeds, black grape fruit and ghee. One can use triphala as a mild laxative. Other Ayurvedic herbs for quick rebuild include Asparagus racemosus, saffron and punarnava can offer quick cure to anemia.
Ayurveda suggests taking beef liver as a medicine for anemia. Also use mutton liver, red meat and bone soup can also help rebuild RBC. However Ayurveda doesn't approve the use of red meat as daily food.
Leafy vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, turnip greens, spinach, collards), legumes (beans, green peas, peas), walnuts, cashew nuts, raisins, peanut, egg and seafood like sardines, shrimp, etc are rich sources of iron and especially beneficial in healing iron deficient anemia.
If anemia is due to slow production of RBC in blood, you can try fasting for a few days. This will help improve vitamin B12 assimilation and helps the body fast regain essential RBC count. Fasting is not recommended during pregnancy.
If you have internal bleeding due to ulcer or fracture, you need to take special treatment to cure such bleeding. Slowest rate of bleeding can cause anemia.
Children’s Sickle Cell Anemia – When Low-Calorie Diets Can Be Deadly
Sickle-cell anemia is a hereditary condition causing red blood cells to be misinformed. Healthy red blood cells have a contour roughly resembling a doughnut. They are flexible and can pass through narrow passageways in the bloodstream. Sickle cells develop an elongated, bent shape like a sickle.
These blood cells are fragile and are easily broken. They fail to deliver adequate amounts of oxygen, and the kidneys are severely strained by the need to clear proteins from broken blood cells out of the bloodstream. Sickle-cell anemia begins before birth and causes numerous health complications throughout life.
Persons of African descent are most likely to have sickle-cell anemia, but it is also relatively common among people of Mediterranean, Arab, and South Asian ancestry, and it is not unknown among Caucasians. Inheriting a gene for sickle-cell anemia from both parents results in full expression of the disease. Inheriting a gene for sickle-cell anemia from only one parent causes changes in hemoglobin that are identifiable by blood tests, but does not cause symptoms.
increase the child's need for energy by about 50 calories a day, but many children with sickle-cell anemia suffer developmental setbacks because they are not fed enough when they are sick.Medically prescribed hydroxyurea treatment can reduce, but not eliminate, a child's need for extra calories and encourage growth.
Zinc deficiency is another common cause of delayed development in children with sickle-cell anemia. Without zinc, the immune system cannot activate natural killer cells and macrophages to fight infection, and other immune cells tend to mature and die early.
Reduced resistance to infection diverts nutrients needed for growth. Children who receive supplemental zinc grow taller and have stronger knees and arms. The difference between receiving adequate zinc and zinc deficiency amounts to only a fraction of an inch of growth per year, but the benefits of zinc supplementation throughout childhood and adolescence can be substantial.
Since zinc is critical to the child's development but it has an unpleasant taste, it is usually best to give this supplement in the form of a fruit-flavored syrup. Cherry-flavored zinc syrups are available from sickle-cell treatment specialists and compounding pharmacies. Be sure the child receives at least 10 milligrams of zinc per day, but do not overdose.
Very little research has been done concerning the nutritional needs of adults with sickle-cell anemia, although a study in the late 1980s found that most people with the disease suffer various antioxidant deficiencies. Moderate amounts of antioxidant supplementation may reduce the severity of some symptoms of sickle-cell anemia.
Some additional tips for dealing with this condition:
Maintaining body fluids is a special problem for people with this condition. Be sure to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day in hot weather, and to avoid heat as much as possible. People with sickle-cell are more likely to get cavities and gum disease. Regular dental care improves quality of life. Teenagers with sickle-cell anemia usually need more calories than other teens even when they get less exercise.Although vigorous physical exercise by itself does not aggravate anemia, confounding factors such as heat stress, dehydration, viral illness, and poor physical conditioning can cause serious complications.
Causes and Symptoms of Blood Transfusion Reaction
What is this Condition? Transfusion reaction accompanies or follows intravenous administration of blood components. Its severity varies from mild (fever and chills) to severe (acute kidney failure or complete vascular collapse and death), depending on the amount of blood transfused, the type of reaction, and the person's general health.
What Causes it? Hemolytic reactions (red blood cell rupture) follow transfusion of mismatched blood. Transfusion with incompatible blood triggers the most serious reaction, marked by intravascular clumping of red blood cells. The recipient's antibodies (immunoglobulin G or M) adhere to the donated red blood cells, leading to widespread clumping and destruction of the recipient's red blood cells and, possibly, the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation and other serious effects.
Transfusion with Rh-incompatible blood triggers a less serious reaction within several days to 2 weeks. Rh reactions are most likely in women sensitized to red blood cell antigens by prior pregnancy or by unknown factors, such as bacterial or viral infection, and in people who have received more than five transfusions.
Allergic reactions are fairly common but only occasionally serious. Febrile nonhemolytic reactions, the most common type of reaction. apparently develop when antibodies in the recipient's plasma attack antIgens.
Bacterial contamination of donor blood, although fairly uncommon, can occur during donor phlebotomy. Also possible is contamination of donor blood with viruses (such as hepatitis), cytomegalovirus, and the organism causing malaria.
What are its Symptoms? Immediate effects of hemolytic transfusion reaction develop within a few minutes or hours after the start of transfusion and may include chills, fever, hives, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, tightness in the chest, chest and back pain, low blood pressure. bronchospasm, angioedema, and signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis, shock, pulmonary edema, and congestive heart failure. In a person having surgery under anesthesia, these symptoms are masked, but blood oozes from mucous membranes or the incision.
Delayed hemolytic reactions can occur up to several weeks after transfusion, causing fever, an unexpected decrease in serum hemoglobin, and jaundice.
Allergic hemolytic reactions typically don't cause a fever and are characterized by hives and angioedema, possibly progressing to cough, respiratory distress, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vascular instability, shock, and coma.
The hallmark of febrile nonhemolytic reactions is a mild to severe fever that may begin when the transfusion starts or within 2 hours after its completion.
Bacterial contamination causes high fever, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and, possibly, shock. Symptoms of viral contamination may not appear for several weeks after transfusion.
How is it Diagnosed? Confirming a hemolytic transfusion reaction requires proof of blood incompatibility and evidence of hemolysis. When such a reaction is suspected, the person's blood is retyped and crossmatched with the donor's blood.
When bacterial contamination is suspected, a blood culture should be done to isolate the causative organism.
How is it Treated? At the first sign of a hemolytic reaction, the transfusion is stopped immediately. Depending on the nature of the person's reaction, the health care team may:
o monitor vital signs every 15 to 30 minutes, watching for signs of shock
o maintain an open intravenous line with normal saline solution, insert an indwelling urinary catheter, and monitor intake and output
o cover the person with blankets to ease chills
o deliver supplemental oxygen at low flow rates through a nasal cannula or hand-held resuscitation bag (called an Ambu bag)
o administer drugs such as intravenous medications to raise blood pressure and normal saline solution to combat shock, Adrenalin to treat shortness of breath and wheezing, Benadryl to combat cellular histamine released from mast cells, corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, and Osmitrol or Lasix to maintain urinary function. Parenteral antihistamines and corticosteroids are given for allergic reactions (arlaphylaxis, a severe reaction, may require Adrenalin). Drugs to reduce fever are administered for febrile nonhemolytic reactions and appropriate intravenous antibiotics are given for bacterial contamination.
Lack of Energy-Causes and Treatments
What would you do with more energy? Perhaps get more work done, do something fun, work out, play with the kids more.
Ever had lots of stuff to do, but you were just didn't have the energy to do anything? Many people wish they could have more energy, like a toddler does. A common complaint doctors hear is a lack of energy and feeling fatigued.
Lack of energy is not an uncommon problem. The problem may be figuring out why there is a lack of energy.
There are many possible causes. One of the main causes of a lack of energy is a deficiency in certain vitamins. If you are not eating healthy, well balanced meals with the vitamins and minerals your body needs, reduced energy and feeling tired much of the time is a result.
In an age where fewer people are eating nutritious, healthy meals every day, it's not surprising to know how common a lack of energy is. A deficiency in vitamins can lead to disease and illness, so it's crucial for your health you get enough vitamins in your body everyday.
A condition called anemia often results when you don't get enough of certain crucial vitamins and minerals, especially iron. Anemia means that your blood doesn't have enough hemoglobin, which is in red blood cells. People who have anemia feel very tired and have little energy.
Certain vitamins prevent anemia and fatigue and fight if off. If you have a problem with having enough energy, there are certain vitamins you need to take which are iron, vitamin B2, folic acid, and biotin. Iron produces red blood cells, and red blood cells mean energy. A lack of iron means our body is not producing enough red blood cells. A simple blood test can tell if you have an iron deficiency.
Vitamin B12 is also important for increasing energy because it also produces red blood cells like iron, as well as processes carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
Folic acid is also in the B vitamin family. It makes new cells in your body and works with vitamin B12 to produce hemoglobin in red blood cells.
Biotin is another B vitamin that helps your body cells produce energy.
If you are not getting enough of these vitamins in your diet, it may very well be the reason you don't have enough energy.
There are lots of foods you can increase in your diet which are high in these important vitamins.
o Iron- green leafy vegetables such as spinach, liver, meats, sea food, beans, whole grains, nuts, fortified cereals.
o Vitamin B12- meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, fortified cereals.
o Folic acid- Liver, kidney, meats nuts, lentils, whole grains, raw fruits and vegetables.
Biotin- Nuts, seeds, eggs, whole grains, and fortified cereals.
The best way to make sure you get enough vitamins to fight off fatigue and regain energy is to take a daily multi vitamin, regardless of your eating habits. This way you know for sure you get getting enough vitamins and minerals.
The sooner you start taking a daily multi vitamin the better, because increased energy means you can get a lot more out of life.
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