Category: Health

If you constantly panic and get anxious even about small things, then you need to be aware of certain natural ways to cure anxiety. It is important to take timely measures to overcome anxiety as it affects an individual in a number of ways. Worrying too much about every small thing can be a symptom of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Not treating this condition can lead to various health problems.

Causes and Symptoms of Anxiety

If you don’t learn to stay calm and composed in situations that cause panic in you, it can eventually lead to anxiety disorder. There are a number of reasons why a person might feel anxious. Too much stress, negative experience in the past, low self-confidence, low self-esteem, etc. can all cause anxiety disorder. The most common symptoms of anxiety include clammy hands, sweating, muscle tension, dizziness, nausea, nervousness, insomnia, and constant irritability.

Although there are many medicines available in the market to cure anxiety, most of them produce side effects. The safest and most effective way to ease the symptoms of anxiety is to opt for natural remedied explained below.

Healthy Foods that Ease Anxiety

Deficiency of niacin or vitamin B3 often causes anxiety. Foods like salmon, mushroom, and chicken are very rich sources of this vitamin. Sunflower seeds, dried pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, spinach, and lentils contain good amount of magnesium, which is a mineral that promotes relaxation of the brain and muscles. Some other foods that help to enhance the mood include fish oil, avocado, and turkey. You should try and limit your consumption of refined sugars, caffeine, and alcohol, as all of these are known to increase stress and anxiety.

Herbs that Ease Anxiety

The health benefits of age-old herbs are well-known to all of us. Passionflower, valerian, Kava kava, lemon balm, catnip, and skullcap are some of the best herbs to fight anxiety. Not only do these herbs help to ease anxiety, but they also have many other positive effects on your mind and body. Some of these herbs soothe your nerves, while some others have a calming effect and promote good sleep.

Relaxation Techniques that Ease Anxiety

Yoga, deep-breathing exercises, Tai Chi, and meditation are some good ways to overcome anxiety. These relaxation techniques help you to manage and deal with every day stress by calming your mind. Besides improving your frame of mind, these techniques also boost your overall health.

Getting proper sleep is not only important your physical well-being, but it is also essential for maintaining good mental health. A sound sleep is the best way to give your mind and body the necessary rest after working throughout the day. Being sleep deprived will only increase the symptoms of anxiety.

Therapies that Ease Anxiety

There are quite a few therapies that help to deal with anxiety in a better way. Hypnotherapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, crystal healing, reiki, aromatherapy, and color therapy are all popular ways of fighting anxiety.

Exercise to Ease Anxiety

Exercise is a very popular way of improving your frame of mind. Physical activities make the brain secrete chemicals that relive anxiety, stress, and depression. Lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem are two of the major reasons for anxiety. Exercise increases confidence level by making you feel a lot better about your physical appearance. Just 15-30 minutes of regular exercise will reduce your anxiety symptoms.

A person might suffer from panic attacks due to many reasons. Although different factors cause panic attacks in different people, anxiety is considered to be the most prominent reason for this disorder. Panic attacks build up sudden and intense fear in an individual for no apparent reason. Experiencing an anxiety attack can cause great level of discomfort. Shortness of breath, shaking, sweating, nausea, dizziness, hot or cold flashes, and extreme fear are some of its most common symptoms.

Causes of Panic Attacks

The main reason behind panic attacks varies from individual to individual. Chronic stress, tension, fatigue, and things that cause the brain to become tired are some of the main culprits. Major life changes like shifting to a new city, changing jobs, retiring, getting married, having a baby, etc. can cause panic attacks. Divorce, demise of a loved one, losing your job, etc. are also known to trigger this disorder.

Panic attacks can be triggered anytime and anywhere. In fact, a person might experience a panic attack even while sleeping. Fortunately, most causes of this disorder can be taken care of through several treatment methods.

Curing a Panic Attack

Mild panic attacks can be taken care of through relaxation techniques and alternative therapies. Sever cases, on the other hand, demand treatments along with suitable medications. What most people don’t know is that this problem can be cured through several natural ways too.

Most people tend to overlook the role of a healthy diet for treating panic attacks. There are quite a few foods that can trigger anxiety attacks while some healthy ones can reduce the frequency of this disorder. Foods rich in B complex vitamins are necessary for reducing the symptoms of a panic attack. A healthy diet for controlling this problem should contain fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, rice, seafood, meat, dairy products, and poultry.

Smoking cigarettes and having caffeinated beverages are known to trigger panic attacks. If you are susceptible to anxiousness, then you should limit your caffeine consumption and quit smoking at the earliest.

Medications for Overcoming Panic Attacks

Medications prescribed by the psychiatrist can also help to cure panic attacks. These medications usually consist of antidepressants that have calming effects on individuals and help them to gather their thoughts. Your doctor is likely to prescribe central nervous system antidepressants. The only problem with antidepressants is that they can have some side effects on your body.

In most cases, medications are accompanied with psychotherapy. Since panic attacks are related to the mind, psychotherapy can prove to be very beneficial. Therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy performed by a psychiatrist have helped many people to reduce the frequency of panic attacks.

Natural ways to Overcome Panic Attacks

There are several ways to treat panic attacks naturally without making use of prescribed medications. Relaxation techniques are among the easiest ways of treating this disorder. These include stress management through deep breathing, visualization, etc. Relaxation techniques help you to focus on positive thoughts and improve your frame of mind.

Meditation and yoga are two other effective natural cures for panic attacks. Meditating or practicing yoga in the morning can reduce the tension and help you to stay fresh the entire day. This will automatically help to overcome anxiety attacks. Spending just about 20 to 30 minutes daily on these relaxation techniques will go a long way in helping you to ease panic attacks.

Anyone who has experienced backache knows that it is something that can ruin the day. Back pain makes you feel uncomfortable and disturbs your normal routine. A major problem with back pain is that most people tend to ignore it until the pain becomes extremely severe.  Taking certain healthy steps early enough can help you to get rid of the backache. Some proven natural remedies to ease back pain are explained below.

Make Use of Ice Packs

Applying ice pack to the area that is causing pain is an excellent way or relieving the pain and discomfort. Put some ice cubes in a plastic bag, seal it up, place a thin cloth on your back, and place an ice bag above it.

Take a Hot Bath

The heat that your muscles feel when you soak yourself in hot water can help to increase their elasticity. Taking a hot bath is one of the best ways to relax your muscles. Moreover, it will also give a boost to blood circulation. Apart from easing the backache, a hot tub bath will make you feel stress-free and relaxed.

Massage

Getting a massage on your back muscles will give you fast relief from back pain. It will also relieve stress and encourage mind and body relaxation. Since incorrect massage techniques will only increase the back pain, it is highly recommended to get it done by a professional masseur.

Relax

In some cases, back pain is a result of mental stress. Family problems, business issues, exams, workload, etc. might all trigger backache. Learning and practicing simple relaxation techniques like deep-breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga will help to ease tension and improve back pain.

Exercise

Exercise is often advised by doctors to ease strained muscles. To attain best results, it is necessary to accompany medicines with a proper exercise routine. People who experience frequent backaches should perform simple physical activities like walking and swimming. Swimming is the best aerobic exercise for back pain, as it strengthens and tones muscles of the abdomen and back. To ensure that you don’t aggravate your backache by over-exerting the body, inform your doctor about your exercise routine and get his approval.

Maintain a Healthy Body Weight

Back pain can be triggered or aggravated because of excess body weight. Managing your body weight is one of the easiest ways of reducing your chances of experiencing back pain. Some good ways to maintain your body mass index is to eat healthy, avoid overeating, and exercise.

Be Careful and Alert

Not being careful and alert while performing your daily activities is one of the main reasons for back pain. You should be careful while you sit, get up, walk, bend, sleep, wake up, twist, or turn. Also, try to avoid any activity that has caused backache in the past.

Get Sufficient Sleep

Getting a sound sleep at night is very important to heal back pain. You need to get sufficient sleep to give your body enough time to repair itself and recover after a long and tiring day.

Avoid Bed Rest

Many people believe that getting bed rest will help to ease back pain. However, bed rest is highly opposed in case of back pain. Doctors always recommend patients to move around and stay active. Lying down and not performing any physical activity for a long time can actually worsen the pain.

Millions of people from all parts of the world suffer from diabetes. This common health issue can be categorized into type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes develops in either childhood or early youth due to the complete non-production of the hormone insulin. Type 2 diabetes takes place due to the body’s failure to produce enough amounts of insulin. Diabetes can happen to any person regardless of the gender, weight or age.

Diabetes is one of the most feared health problems because it requires the patient to make some serious restrictions. However, a lot of diabetes patient tend to become overprotective because of various myths that surround diabetes. Having knowledge about these myths can help a diabetic to manage the problem in a better way. Explained below are some of the most common myths about diabetes.

Myth 1: Since diabetes is so common, it is not a big deal at all.

The fact that more and more people are suffering from diabetes these days does not make this problem any less serious. Diabetes is still one of the leading causes of deaths and should be taken seriously. If not controlled in a proper manner, diabetes can cause some serious conditions like nerve damage, amputation of limbs, blindness, kidney deterioration, and heart diseases.

Myth 2: Diabetics have to be very restrictive about their diets.

Like anyone else, diabetics have to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet. Although diabetes patients should closely monitor their meals, there is no need for them to make drastic dietary changes. Making big dietary changes becomes necessary only when the patient has the habit of eating a lot of unhealthy foods. A healthy diet for both diabetics and non-diabetics is one that consists of the right amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fiber. Junk food should be completely avoided as it is high in salt, trans fat, and saturated fat.

Myths 3: Diabetics must completely avoid having desserts.

Consuming sugar causes a spike in the levels of blood glucose. This is the main reason why diabetics are advised to limit their intake of sweets. However, this does not mean that diabetics should completely avoid having desserts. It is fine to eat a small portion of desserts after having a low-crab meal. Diabetes patients will not have to completely avoid sweets as long as they strictly monitor their sugar intake.

Myths 4: Only people who eat a lot of sugar suffer from diabetes.

Consuming too much sugar is not the only reason for suffering from diabetes. Type 1 diabetes happens due to genetic and some other unknown factors, while type 2 diabetes is usually a result of genetic and unhealthy lifestyle habits.

Myth 5: Thin people can’t get diabetes.

Many people believe that only overweight people can develop diabetes. This is not at all true and might make thin people complacent about their routine check-ups. Although being obese is known to increase the risk of diabetes, being thin does not guarantee immunity.

Myth 6: Diabetes ruins your life.

Just because you suffer from diabetes does not mean that your life is ruined. Although uncontrolled diabetes can cause various health issues, taking necessary measure can allow you to live a healthy life. Eating a healthy diet and maintain an exercise routine will help you to reduce the effects of diabetes. Taking healthy steps makes it a lot easier to manage and control diabetes.

Changes in fingernail color and condition can be considered as the first clue of serious illnesses. In most of the cases the patient will notice other signs and symptoms of diseases before the changes in the nail become evident. Nail color can be grouped into black, grey, brown/copper, yellow, blue, pale, green, blue-green, purple or red groups, and each color indicates different illnesses.

Whenever your healthy fingers begin to change their color or texture, the most underlying cause of it is nail fungus, which may cause mails to peel, crack, change its color or texture, etc. Common disorders that can be identified with these changes in the nail is thyroid diseases, it can also cause abnormalities in both toe-nails as well as in finger-nails, it make your nails dry, brittle and one that crack and split easily.

Blue nails

Blue nails may indicate pulmonary obstruction, emphysema or lung disease. It may also symbolize a type of cyanosis caused due to lack of circulation oxygen in the red blood cells as well as high level of hemoglobin.

Black nails

Black nail indicates high signs of vitamin B-12 deficiency, bacterial infection, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, silver deposits (heavy metals), adrenal gland problems, cancer or melanomas, anemia, trauma, etc.

White nails

This may specify signs of liver or kidney disorder or anemia. Or if there is a white line bands across the nail may indicate protein deficiency.

White spots on nails

This in in case if there is zinc or iron deficiency or injury to the nail bed. It can also contain some internal problem related to arthritis.

Gray nails

Gray mails may indicate cardio-pulmonary disease arthritis problems, lung problems, glaucoma, malnutrition, post-operative effects, emphysema, edema, etc.

Yellow nails

Yellow nails will specify problems with lymphatic system, diabetes, respiratory disorder, liver disorder, etc.

Purple nails

This is due to oxygen deprivation, congenital problem and blood circulatory problem.

Red nails

Large possibilities of brain hemorrhage, high blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke, lung diseases, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc.

Darkening of nails

Mainly indicates kidney disorder.

Red or brown line on nails

These line indicate splinter hemorrhage, may be caused due to endocarditis or trichinosis. It can also be a sign of skin cancer or some heart diseases.

Here are some of the essential tips that will help you maintain healthy mails and improve the appearance of your nails.

• Always keep your nails dry and clean.
• Avoid and quit bad habit such as nail biting and nail picking.
• Avoid making use of nail polish remover as it contains acetone or formaldehyde.
• Get your own personal manicure kid if you get to done frequently.
• File your nail round rather than filling the tips pointed.
• If you are having artificial nails then check regularly for green discoloration, it is the sign of bacterial infection.
• Having a well balanced and proportionate diet and take vitamin containing biotin.
• Regularly apply a moisturizer to your nails.
• Be very careful while you are trimming your nail, do not trim them too deep you might hurt yourself.

Be careful about such indications and it is always advisable for you consider your doctors suggestion over these color signs over your nails.