The pectoral muscle is the large muscle in the chest; that appears just below the collar bone and runs down through the sixth rib. This muscle is used when you flex and raise your arms over your head.
A strain on this muscle is self-treatable in most cases. The most common cause of pectoral strain is its overuse. Bodybuilders who perform extensive strength training are more prone to pectoral strain due to heavyweights they lift on a regular basis.

Lack of adequate warm-up before exercising can be another cause of this condition.

Symptoms
Pain in the chest is one of the most significant signs of pectoral strain. At times, shoulders and front of the arm may also be hurt if one has ruptured the pectoral muscle. Injuring the pectorals makes it difficult in moving the arms. According to diagnosis, although first degree strain on the pectoral muscles does not lead to a loss of muscle power, a more serious second or third degree tear in the pectoral muscles can cause significant weakness in the muscle strength.

Treatment and cure
A natural treatment for treating pectoral muscle strain at home is to put a temporary hold on all the workout regimes and allow the muscle to heal on its own. During this time, icing the inflamed zone can also help to control the pain. Icing the inflamed pectoral muscle for two to three days along with an application of a compression bandage helps in reducing the swelling.
In worst cases, surgical intervention may also be required for third degree muscle tear in the pectoral zone, especially when other tendons are also involved in the injury.

Prevention
One should always remember to stretch the muscles properly before any extensive workouts, to prevent this particular condition. Doing a chest stretch exercise helps in loosening the pectoral muscles in a faster and effective way.

Pectoral Strain - Signs You Are Suffering From It!

Scabies is a skin condition that causes the skin to itch. It is caused by a tiny burrowing mite, which is called Sarcoptes scabei. The presence of the mite in the burrowed areas causes intense itching, especially at night. This a contagious condition, which can quickly spread through physical contact in places like nursing homes, schools, prisons etc. Scabies is easily treatable by applying lotions to the skin that may kill the mite. Yet, one may still experience itching for several weeks.

The eight legged mite that causes the condition is microscopic. The female mite burrows just beneath the skin and makes a tunnel where it deposits eggs. These eggs hatch, mature and spread to the other areas of the skin or to the skin of other people. The body's allergic reaction to the mites, their eggs and wastes causes the itching.

Symptoms
Some of the symptoms of the conditions are severe itching, narrow irregular burrow tracks, which look like blisters or bumps on your skin. The burrow tracks generally appear in the folds of the skin. The common sites of the condition are between the fingers, armpits, around the waist, soles of your feet, knees, shoulder blades etc.

Complications
Some of the complications of the condition are:
1. Vigorous scratching, which can break your skin and can cause a secondary infection such as impetigo. This superficial skin infection is usually caused by the staphylococci bacteria.
2. Severe scratching can also lead to damaged and reddened skin, which in severe cases can start to bleed.

Risk factors
Crusted scabies, also known as Norwegian scabies is a severe form of the condition, which affects certain high risk groups, such as:
1. People with chronic medical conditions, such as HIV/Aids or chronic leukemia
2. Older people in nursing homes
3. People who are very ill

Risks and Complications of Scabies

In our bodies, the vascular system is composed of vessels. This system is comprised of a complex network of veins and arteries. The arteries transport oxygenated blood away from the heart and spread it throughout our bodies and veins brings the deoxygenated blood (oxygen-poor) back to the heart for purification. Whenever this complicated process gets disturbed, pain, dysfunction of the system, and other complications may occur.

Most common complications among all are:
1. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: This condition is when there is a  bulge  formed in the weak area of the largest artery in the abdomen and keeps on increasing with each pressure flow of blood from that artery. This condition weakens the artery further and massive internal bleeding may occur.

2. Carotid Artery Disease - Stroke: This condition arises when the main blood vessels flowing blood to the brain develops a plague caused due to hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). The continuous increase of plague can cause a stroke.

3. Peripheral Arterial Disease: This condition occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood is insufficient to the lower limbs of the body due to hardening of the arteries in that area. This can cause difficulty in walking, foot ulcers, infections and can even lead to amputation.

The complication of these types are corrected by the vascular surgeon with the process is commonly known as vascular surgery. However, this condition is sometimes medically managed by an innovative, less invasive procedure called Endovascular surgery. 

Vascular Surgery-
Vascular surgery is generally the traditional surgery that corrects the diseases outside of the heart and the brain. This procedure is more invasive as it involves incisions that are surgical in nature. Vascular surgery comprises of the surgery of the aorta, carotid arteries, and other small diametric arteries. This surgery also involves surgery of veins for treating various conditions such as varicose veins and May-Thurner syndrome.

Endovascular Surgery:
However, this type of surgery is an innovative way to treat medical conditions related to the vascular system. For instance, during the procedure of treating the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, it involves making a small cut near the hip area and inserting the endovascular graft through the arteries and is positioned inside the aorta, in a catheter, which is a flexible, long, and narrow tube. The endovascular graft is a tube device made up of special fiber and is framed within stainless steel self-expanding stents. The grafts expand and seal off the aneurysm. This stops the internal bleeding the system and the graft remain in the aorta permanently.

This method has a short recovery time, smaller incisions, less discomfort, less stress on the heart and has fewer risks. This surgery is appropriate for the patient who is at high
risk of complications. 

Take Away-
Diseases related to artery and veins are now being treated with various methods such as angiography, stenting, sclerotherapy in various countries. These days vascular surgeons have become proficient with the endovascular surgical methods. Endovascular surgery is durable and less painful and stressful when viewed with the context of vascular surgery. However, the cost of staying longer at the hospitals is somewhat got balanced by the high cost of imaging equipment and other high financial expenses in the endovascular surgery.

Endovascular VS Vascular Surgery - Know The Difference!

There was an era where we had deadly infections like plague and polio causing death of thousands of people. We still have occasional outbreak of swine flu, but by and large, infections are quite controlled. The new killer diseases are caused because of the lifestyle we have adapted and the damage we have done to the environment. High intake of processed foods, artificial chemicals in our foods, sedentary lifestyle with very minimal to no physical activity, couching over the computers; the list is quite long. All these have led to diseases like diabetes and cancer that were not so common about say few decades ago.

Detailed observation has revealed that both these new epidemiologic diseases have a close correlation. There are factors, which induce diabetes and diabetes in turn and in some cases, diabetes inducing agents, can cause cancer also. It has also been observed that mortality is severely increased if diabetic patients are diagnosed with cancer. There are two types of diabetes. While type 1 is mostly hereditary, type 2 is lifestyle induced and the age at which this is being diagnosed is taking a severe plunge. Adolescents and teenagers are being diagnosed for diabetes. Cancer, on the other hand, is of various types (leukaemia, melanoma, etc.) and can affect various organs (lung, breast, prostate, stomach, liver, etc.).

The medical community is yet to decipher the disease pattern of both these conditions. While there is no definite correlation between diabetes and all types of cancer, some types of cancer are definitely correlated with a definite reason identified, pancreatic and liver cancer for instance. The high amounts of insulin that diabetic patients are exposed to causes changes in liver and pancreas including fatty liver and cirrhosis, here the incidence of cancer is higher. The linkage is not very clear in lung and intestinal cancers and also there is no link between prostate cancer and diabetes.

Diabetes is considered as a state of chronic inflammation and leads to conditions like hyperinsulinemia (higher levels of insulin in the blood) hyperglycemia (higher levels of sugar in the blood). These are believed to aggravate the neoplastic process of cancer formation, thereby inducing cancer at a greater pace and also increasing the mortality rates.

The following are risk factors that are applicable to both age, physical activity, diet, obesity, drinking and smoking. It is also possible that onset of one can be followed by the other. As noted earlier, more detailed research is awaited to establish a definite linkage, but the correlation cannot be ignored at all.

Both these new epidemics are here to stay and since they have a common set of factors, we need to work on ways to contain them.

Diabetes and Cancer: The New Epidemic?

One of the most pervasively contagious diseases known to affect our lives, chickenpox affects almost every 9 out of 10 children. Even adults suffer from this disease occasionally. Caused by a special breed of the herpes virus, chickenpox manifests itself on the infected person in the form of reddish blisters all over the body. Moderate fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness are some of the most common symptoms of chickenpox. A general feeling of malaise prevails in the course of the disease.

It is recommended that the infected person is kept in isolation for a span of seven days. While recuperation usually happens in the natural process, it is time sustaining. One also has to partake numerous antiviral drugs and paracetamols to abate the symptoms of chickenpox. One of the most prominent side effects is acute weakness. Thus, as an alternative therapy, one may approach homeopathic remedies. These not only heal in the most natural way, but also avert all kinds of possible side effects. Homeopathy helps in rebuilding the body s immunity system for a speedier recovery.

Some of the most reliable remedies are listed as follows.

    Aconitum: This largely helps in keeping the body hydrated and therefore keeps the signs of weaknesses at bay. It also keeps the temperature fluctuations in control.
    Antimonium Crud: Antimonium Crud reduces the skin irritability and itchy pustules which are symptomatic of chicken pox. It also relieves the patient of white disposition on the tongue and thus helps in gaining back the appetite. However, the patient must be at rest throughout for Antimonium Crud to work effectively.
    Apis: Certain bouts of chicken pox leave an unhealthy stench on the patient s body. Apis helps in bettering it. It also soothes the sting that one might have to endure from the scabs of chicken pox.
    Belladonna: Certain chronic forms of chicken pox result in hot flushes, headaches and sleeplessness. Belladonna helps in curing all such symptoms and palliating all such sufferings during chicken pox.
    Rhus Tox: One of the reliable remedies for the extreme itching sensation that affects the patient suffering from chicken pox, Rhus Tox is extremely beneficial for regaining body strength also. 

Chicken Pox - How Homeopathy Can Help Treat it?

With the super busy lifestyle that everybody is gravitating to, there is less and less time for everything, including cooking and eating. Thus, more and more processed foods are finding their way into our refrigerators, as they can just be picked up and eaten anytime hunger pangs are felt. And, we do not immediately realize that processed foods are devoid of all the essential ingredients. What we end up eating has less fiber, more salt, and more preservatives (generally not very safe for all), all leading to an unhealthy lifestyle.

Refined flour, white sugar, cheese, canned juices, frozen foods, cheese laden pizzas and breadsare all yummy, but not something that is readily accepted and digested by your stomach. Try eating pizza with loads of cheese for two days and experience the bloated feeling for yourself. Not to scare you, but imagine this; you would have to eat an entire medium pizza to get 2 g of fiber. Where as, your body requires about 25 to 40 g of fiber per day for regular health maintenance.

Biologically, our digestive system requires a lot of fiber, which adds to the roughage. This is very important as it helps in digestion and aid in cleansing the bowel later. The function of the large intestine is to remove water and essential ingredients when food passes through it. Junk food passes through quite quickly, thereby, leading to loss of water and ingredients. A lot of digestive issues are also related to lack of fiber in the food, like polyps, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol, and obesity. 

Most of us are aware, but tend to ignore the fact that junk food is as the name suggests, junk. There is hardly anything of nutritious value in it. On the contrary, it contains lots of salt, fat and artificial chemicals, which though, make it very tasty, but has zero nutrition value. 

Try to eat only junk food for about a week regularly, and you will surely feel:

1. Bloated (a lot of gas due to indigestion)
2. Dehydrated (excessive salt needs more water, which we don't realize)
3. Constipated (lack of fiber leading to reduced bowel movement)
4. Weak and lousy (due to lack of nutrition)

This of course does not include the harmful effects on skin, hair, looks, etc. It does not mean you have to stop eating junk completely and eat only healthy food all the time. The human body is adaptive and can adjust to a lot of variations. It is not wise to try the example above (eating pizza for a week), however, binging on junk food once a week would definitely not hurt. Use your discretion as nobody knows your body as well as you do.

Constipation and Junk Food

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