How does salt help in clearing skin?

Of all the health problems current lifestyle poses, one that harasses both men are women, at times even in their 30s, is marks or blemishes on the face. Acne and blemishes have become almost constant features on the skin, all thanks to the irregular eating habits, junk food, alcohol, late nights and of course, pollution. It is one of the lesser known facts that salt helps clear up the skin. Sea salt and epsom salt are the ideal salts to be used. Let us see how.

1. Salt for bathing - adding salt to your bath is advised for physical and spiritual cleansing. After you are done with your usual bath and washed off the soap, have a bath with salt mixed water. This not only clears the complexion overall but also lightens dark marks on the body.
2. Salt for application - two teaspoons of sea salt mixed with water and applied on the face with cotton, three times a day is said to treat the problem of acne. Having the natural ability to reduce moisture, salt does wonders to your skin by drying out the oils. This eliminates chances of pores getting clogged, closes them and increasing bacterial buildup.
3. Salt as a mask - salt when mixed with honey makes a great mask for the skin. Since both the ingredients have anti-inflammatory properties, this mask soothes the skin, retains hydration in the skin and balances the oil production. A couple of teaspoons of finely ground sugar, when mixed with double the amount of raw honey, makes a perfect balancing mask for the skin.
4. Salt as toner spray - a teaspoon of sea salt mixed with some warm water in a spray bottle until the salt is dissolved makes for a perfect spray toner. Make sure to avoid the eyes, though.
5. Salt for exfoliation - salt is known to be a skin-exfoliate and is often found in body scrubs. One can also make scrubs at home by mixing together aloe vera juice or gel, salt, oil of your choice, essential oil and dried lavender flowers.

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Do You Know Salt Is Only God For Clear Skin?

If your doctor ever diagnoses you with chronic kidney disease, he/she will give you two options to choose from. The first option is to undergo dialysis for the rest of your life, while the other option is to undergo a kidney transplant. While you may prefer avoiding a major surgery, such as a transplant, dialysis is not the best solution for your condition.

Here are some reasons why you should consider kidney transplant surgery over dialysis if you are looking for better health for the long-term:

1. Increases your life expectancy: What you may not know is that people on dialysis treatment have a severely reduced life expectancy. For instance, if you are 30 years old when dialysis starts, the treatment will keep you alive at most for 15 more years. Therefore, you may not even survive until your fifties with dialysis treatment for your damaged kidneys.

However, if you transplant a healthy kidney your life expectancy increases by 30 to 40 years. Keep in mind that kidneys from living donors are better and will help you live longer.

2. Eliminates the need for undergoing dialysis: If you choose dialysis over transplant surgery, you will need to undergo the treatment on a daily basis. This is not only costly but also affects your quality of life. For instance, a patient on dialysis will need to make special arrangements if he/she wants to go on a vacation with family so that his treatment continues even during the trip.

With a kidney transplant surgery, once you recover from the operation, you can live a normal life, without the need for daily treatment.

3. Lower cost of treatment: While you may think kidney transplant surgery is the costlier option between it and dialysis, you would be wrong to assume so. In kidney transplantation surgery, you pay a hefty amount at the time of the operation. However, in the case of dialysis, you pay smaller sums over very long periods. When you add up these small sums over 10-15 years of dialysis, you will find that transplantation is the cheaper option.

If you are young and have a long life ahead of you, kidney transplantation should be the first and foremost choice of treatment for chronic kidney disease. You can undergo dialysis while you wait for a donor and then receive a healthy organ.

Why Kidney Transplant Should Be Preferred Over Dialysis?

GERD or acid reflux is caused by the regurgitation of acidic liquid stomach contents back up into the esophagus. It is a long-term condition where stomach contents come back upwards from the gastro-intestinal tract resulting in either symptoms or complications. It is a commonly occurring digestion condition. A burning sensation in the chest is usually caused by acid reflux which radiates up from the stomach to the mid-chest or throat. This condition is also known as the heartburn. A sour taste in the back of the mouth is a common experience amongst the patients. Long term reflux of gastric contents causes the condition to become chronic which can lead to difficulty in swallowing. In some cases the erosion of the tract lining can also cause breathing problems.

Symptoms:

Heartburn is a burning sensation felt in the retrosternal area. Most commonly it occurs post-prandial or nocturnally. Consumption of fatty foods, spicy foods, acidic foods aggravates the condition. Burning sensation is relieved with antacids, water or milk.
Perception of gastric content reflux in the mouth or hypopharynx is termed as acid regurgitation. It is also known as water brash. A bitter or acidic taste is felt in the mouth.
Other symptoms include dysphagia, odynophagia, nausea, chest pain, dyspepsia, epigastric fullness, bloating, frequent belching
Extra-esophageal symptoms like chronic cough, hoarseness, laryngitis, dysfunction of the vocal cords, bronchospasm can also be observed.
Complications:

Peptic stricture
Ulcers of the esophagus
Metaplastic disease (Barrett s esophagus)
Dysplastic disease (Adenocarcinoma)
Laryngitis or bronchitis
Pulmonary disease
Fluid in the sinuses and the middle ear
Diagnosis:
The diagnosis of GERD is made by its most commonly presenting symptom- heartburn. To confirm the diagnosis of GERD, the physicians treat patients with medications for suppression of the production of acid by stomach. If heartburn diminishes to a large extent by the medications, diagnosis of GERD is considered confirmed.

Conditions like an ulcer caused by bacterial infection, mimic the symptoms of GERD. To get a clearer diagnosis, an endoscopy is then performed. The common diagnostic modality for GERD is Upper intestinal gastro-endoscopy. A tube containing an optical system for visualization is swallowed, the tube progresses down the gastrointestinal tract, and then the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum can be examined. A normal esophagus is observed in most patients with symptoms of reflux. 

However, sometimes the lining of the esophagus appears inflamed. If erosions (superficial breaks in the esophageal lining) or ulcers (deeper breaks in the lining) are seen, a diagnosis of GERD can be made definitely. Other complications of GERD like ulcers, strictures, and Barrett's esophagus are also identified. Biopsies also may be obtained. Other common problems that may be causing GERD like symptoms can be diagnosed (for example ulcers, inflammation, or cancers of the stomach or duodenum) with EGD. Previously, barium meal x-ray was undertaken to diagnose GERD. It is now discontinued.

Other tests that are carried out are esophageal acid testing, esophageal motility testing, gastric emptying studies and acid perfusion test.

Treatment:

Lifestyle modifications   Avoiding acidic foods, quitting smoking, weight loss, abstaining from alcohol consumption improves symptoms in people with GERD.
Medications   Proton pump inhibitors (Pantoprazole, Omeprazole, Rabeprazole), H2 receptor blockers (Ranitidine, Cimetidine) and antacids.
Surgery   In cases where the proton pump inhibitors are unsuccessful in relieving symptoms of GERD, a surgical procedure called Nissen fundo-plication is done.

GERD - Complications Associated With It!

While you cannot cure breast diseases, family history and maturing, but there are some hazards or risks that you can control. Keeping in mind the fact that there is no certain approach to forestall breast cancer, there are things you can do that may bring down the hazard. Here are five approaches to ensure your breast's well-being:

Watch your weight: Being overweight or hefty expands breast cancer chances. This is particularly true after menopause and for women who have put on weight as grown-ups. After menopause, the vast majority of your estrogen originates from fat tissue. Having more fat tissue can heighten your chances of getting breast cancer by raising the estrogen levels. Additionally, women who are overweight have a tendency to have more elevated amounts of insulin, than other hormones. Higher insulin levels have been associated with a few tumors, including breast cancer.
Exercise routinely: Many reviews have found that exercise is the sign of having a healthy breast. Studies show that one to two hours of energetic walking each week, lessened a woman s cancer risk by eighteen percent. Walking ten hours seven days decreased the hazard all the more.
Constrain liquor: Women who have two to five mixed beverages every day have a higher danger of breast cancer than women who have just one drink a day or none . As much as three to six glasses of wine seven days have been found to somewhat increase breast cancer chances. It is not clear how or why liquor raises the hazard. In any case, constraining liquor is particularly essential for women who have other hazard variables for breast cancer, like, breast cancer running in their families.
Restrain time spent sitting: Research has shown that sitting time, regardless of how much exercise you get when you are not sitting, increases the probability of growing cancer, particularly for women. Women who sit six hours or more a day outside of work have a ten percent more serious risk for breast cancer compared to the ladies who sit under three hours a day, and an increased hazard for other cancer types as well.
Stay away from or confine hormone substitution treatment: Hormone Replacement Treatment (HRT) was utilized frequently in the past to control night sweats, hot flashes, and other troublesome manifestations of menopause. In any case, specialists now realize that postmenopausal ladies who take a blend of estrogen and progestin might probably create breast tumors or cancer. Breast cancer disease seems to come back within five years in the wake of ceasing the blend of hormones. Therefore, get a breast cancer test even if you feel a small lump.

5 Ways to Decrease The Chance of Breast Cancer 

The condition of enlarged prostate occurs due to the enlargement of a man s prostate gland, with the passage in time. Also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), it is more common in men over the age of 60. Some cases might have symptoms and others may be symptomless. Although the causes are relatively unknown, it is evident that BPH is not a form of cancer, neither does it cause cancer. The prostate is located below the bladder and is responsible for producing the fluid needed by semen. The growth of the prostate tissue that is associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia begins near the inner prostate which is a tissue ring around the urethra. Its growth is generally inward.

Causes
It is of common knowledge that in males, the urine originates from the bladder and flows through the urethra. BPH is a condition where the prostate experiences a benign i.e. non cancerous enlargement which leads to blockage of urine flow through the urethra (the urinary duct). The resultant enlargement, caused due to the gradual multiplication of cells, subjects the urethra to extra pressure. Further narrowing of the urethra causes more contraction of the bladder, resulting in the urine being forcefully pushed out of the body.

With time, the condition leads to the bladder muscles gradually becoming thicker, stronger and oversensitive. Contraction occurs even due to the presence of small amounts of urine, giving rise to frequent needs of urination. At one point, the bladder muscle is unable to overcome the effects of the narrowed urethra. Due to this, urine does not pass properly and the urethra is not emptied.

Some of the common symptoms of enlarged prostate include:
1. Frequent urination
2. Urgency to urinate
3. Difficulty during urination
4. A slow or weak urinary stream
5. Requirement of extra effort to urinate
6. Interrupted sleep due to need of urination

Further risks
Sometimes, when the bladder is not emptied completely, a risk of urinary tract infections develops. Some other serious problems which can be a result of enlarged prostate include blood in urine, bladder stones as well as acute urinary retention (inability to urinate). In some rare cases, kidney and/or bladder damage might also result from such a condition.

Frequent Urination - Can it be a Sign Enlarged Prostate

Breast examination is a way of detecting early changes that help in detecting lumps or other growth in the breast. This is a manual form of examination that may be carried out by the doctor or even by the patient. This kind of examination helps in detecting the onset of breast cancer and helps in successful treatment of the same. It is an essential screening strategy that all women must go through. Let us cast a glance on the various details regarding this examination, and also how frequently it must be conducted.

Age: Women who have reached the age of 18 are said to have matured physically and sexually. They should perform this examination once they have reached the said age in order to detect any anomalies in the way the physical changes occur in the breast tissue.
Procedure: One should begin by looking at one's reflection in the mirror to find any rashes or dimpling in the breasts. The shape, size and colour of the breasts and nipples must also be studied so as to check for any anomalies. Inverted nipples, redness and soreness must also be reported to the doctor. Once you are done checking the visuals, you can raise your arms and look for any changes. Then, you will need to lie down and feel your breasts by using a circular motion. The finger pads must be used in order to check for any lumps. One must start from the centre and move the breasts sideways. Any wet and slippery feeling must be reported to the doctor immediately.
Pressure: During the breast examination, you must use light pressure for the skin and tissue that lie beneath the breasts, while medium to moderate pressure should be used for the middle portion of the breasts. One must use a firm hand to check the tissue that lies at the back of the breasts, near the rib cage.
Frequency: One must get into the habit of conducting a breast examination at least once a fortnight or once a month, without fail. You can also go to the gynaecologist for an examination in case you are not confident of conducting it on your own with proper movements and accuracy. You may also journalise your breast examination findings.
Menstrual Cycles: When you are going through your menstrual cycle or period, it is important to remember that your breasts can become tender just before or after the start of the cycle. So, do not panic if you think you have found a lump or any other growth at this time. It is best to check again after a week and then visit the doctor about checking the same.

How Frequently Should a Breast Examination Be Done?

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