Dr M K Saxena

Diabetes or madhumeha, is a serious disease that affects many people worldwide today. Diabetes, which is referred to as maha-roga is the excess of glucose in blood. As a result, you cannot consume sweetened food, get excess urges to drink water or urinate. However, Ayurveda has the most effective solutions to control diabetes naturally.

Read on to know what best natural medications are there to cure diabetes.

1. Gymnema Sylvestre or Gurmar: It is one of the most effective remedies to diabetes. It is a hypoglycemic component, which makes it ideal for treating diabetes. It helps in reducing dependency on insulin by regeneration of residual beta cells of the pancreas.
2. Coccinia indica: It is another herb, which regulates diabetes very well. This plant contains components, which after consumption of carbohydrates, prevent the sudden increase in blood glucose level. It can also prevent any adverse effect on other organs of the body due to diabetes. It is found to reduce oxidative stress amongst diabetes patients by surging the vitamin Clevels in the plasma, and also prevents the fluctuations in fatty acid levels amongst diabetes patients.
3. Azadirachta Indica or neem: It is one of the most common household antiseptics and a wonderful cure for diabetes. It enables high glucose tolerance, and also prevents diabetic neuropathy, which may cause severe fatalities.
4. Morus Indica or Mulberry: It is a food that is experimentally proven to reduce diabetes. Daily consumption of mulberry leaves for 15 days at a stretch are beneficial in limiting approximately 38% of diabetes cases among its consumers. It also protects you against oxidative stress by building the antioxidant defense system of the body and is also known to correct any lipid profile abnormality. It also delays the possibility of the appearance of cataractas a result of diabetes.
5. Momordica Charantia or bitter gourd: It is another common remedy found in most Indian households. Even though it is extremely bitter in taste, its medicinal properties are exemplary, and are extensively used in Ayurvedic medicines. It also targets the beta cells of the pancreas to help boost up insulin secretion by increasing their number. Bitter gourd also helps to release more insulin by way of regeneration of the pancreas.
6. Eugenia Jambolana or Indian Jamun: This Ayurvedic cure reduces blood sugar level and increases the release of insulin. The extract of "jamun" seeds help in healing of wounds quicker, usually impaired by diabetes.
7. Trigonella Foenum or methi: It is another household ingredient that serves medicinal purposes in case of diabetes patients. Even 1gm of fenugreekseeds could reduce diabetes sharply in a short span of 2 months. This benefit is because of the presence of diosgenin, a compound with hypoglycemic properties.

However, all these medicinal plants should be consumed under proper guidance from professional practitioners only.

Allergies are a reaction of your immune system to any foreign matter, such as pet dander, pollen or bee venom, and not everyone is affected in the same way.

Antibodies are substances produced by your immune system to protect you from harmful invaders that can cause infections or make you ill.

The immune system produces antibodies when it comes into contact with allergens. Your immune system can recognise any allergen as threatening even if it’s not. As a result, your skin, airways, digestive system or sinus gets inflamed.

Allergies can vary greatly in severity—from mild irritations to anaphylaxis (a likely life-threatening emergency). Allergies are mostly incurable; however, there are various treatments available to alleviate allergy symptoms.

Causes-

Common triggers of allergy include:

1. Airborne allergens, such as mould, dust mites, animal dander and pollen.

2. Certain foods, especially milk, eggs, shellfish, fish, soy, wheat, tree nuts and peanuts.

3. Insect bites, such as wasp stings or bee stings.

4. Medications, specifically penicillin-based antibiotics or penicillin.

5. Latex, or any allergen you touch, causes skin infections.

Symptoms-

Symptoms of allergy depend on its type.

• Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) symptoms include:

  • Sneezing

  • Itching of the roof of the mouth, eyes or nose

  • Stuffy, runny nose

  • Swollen, red or watery eyes (conjunctivitis)

• Symptoms of food allergy include:

  • Tingling mouth

  • Swollen throat, face, tongue or lips

  • Hives

  • Anaphylaxis (a critical, deadly allergic reaction)

• An allergy caused by insect stings can manifest in symptoms such as:

  • Swelling at the site of the sting

  • Hives or itching

  • Breathing problems, wheezing, coughing or chest tightness

  • Anaphylaxis

• A drug allergy can lead to symptoms such as:

  • Hives

  • Itchy skin

  • Rashes

  • Facial swelling

  • Wheezing

  • Anaphylaxis

• Atopic dermatitis (skin allergy) symptoms include:

  • Itching

  • Reddened skin

  • Peeling or flaky skin

Treatment-

Treatments of allergy include:

1. Avoiding Allergens: Your doctor can help you take necessary steps to recognise and avoid the allergens that trigger allergies. This is usually the most relevant step in the prevention of allergic reactions and reduction of symptoms.

2. Medicines to Lower Symptoms: Eye drops, nasal sprays or oral medications are commonly prescribed to reduce reactions and alleviate symptoms.

3. Immunotherapy: If the allergy is severe or other treatments fail to relieve symptoms, allergen immunotherapy is recommended. In this treatment, you get injected by a number of clarified allergen extracts over the years.

4. Emergency Epinephrine: If your allergy is severe, your doctor will provide you with an emergency epinephrine shot that you can carry with you everywhere.

If you thought that chest pain occurred only due to a heart-related issue like a heart attack, you are wrong. Chest pain is one of the most common reasons that people visit the emergency services and it can be caused due to problems with your heart, lungs and digestive system. 

Chest pain can be due to either of these two main reasons:

Heart- related Issues

1. Heart attacks called myocardial infarctions are very common reasons for chest pains. During a heart attack, the blood supply that serves the heart with oxygen is cut off due to plaque build-up in heart arteries causing the death of heart muscles. 

• Other reasons for heart attacks are blood clots or torn blood vessels. 
• Not all people having a heart attack have symptoms. Usually, people report symptoms like chest pain, upper body pain, nausea, sweating, fatigue, and trouble breathing.
• A heart attack is a serious medical emergency for which immediate care is needed.

2. Angina pectoris is a type of chest pain that results from reduced blood flow to the heart. Low blood flow means your heart doesn’t get enough oxygen. The angina pain is often triggered by physical activity or emotional stress and feels like a vice squeezing your chest or a heavy weight on your chest. It can also spread from your chest to your neck, arms, and shoulders. Other symptoms are fatigue, dizziness and nausea and these normally last up to 15 minutes only.

3. Unstable angina which causes crushing chest pains suddenly and even when you are not doing anything strenuous is a medical emergency as it can lead to a heart attack. This usually shows that your heart, arteries are narrowing alarmingly.

4. Other heat-related reasons for chest pains are-

• Mitral valve narrowing or stenosis
• Heart arrhythmias
• Coronary Artery disease
• Inflammation of heart muscles or pericardium and weakening of the heart muscles. 

All of these are emergencies and need immediate medical attention to prevent a fatality.

Not Heart- related:

1. Lung conditions like Pneumonia, Bronchitis, Pulmonary embolism. 

• Pneumonia is an infection in one or both lungs caused by fungi, bacteria, or viruses. It causes inflammation in your lung’s air sacs and makes them full of pus which makes it difficult to breathe and causes chest pains, amongst other debilitating symptoms.
• Bronchitis is an inflammation of your bronchial tubes. It can be chronic or acute and it can cause a cough with mucus and chest pains. 
• Pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that occurs in the lungs. It can go on to damage parts of your lung due to limited blood flow. Apart from this, it can also decrease oxygen levels in the blood and affect other organs. 

It can be life-threatening due to permanent lung damage. The most common symptom of a pulmonary embolism is gradual or sudden shortness of breath. 

There is also- 

• bluish skin tone 
• anxiety
• fainting
• hest pain that extends into your arm, jaw, neck, and shoulder
• lightheadedness

2. Rib cage inflammation or Costochondritis is also known as Tietze’s syndrome. It is an inflammation of the cartilage in the rib cage. Patients experience chest pain in the upper and middle rib area on either side of the body due to this. The pain can also radiate to the back or the abdomen, getting worse if you move, stretch, or breathe deeply.

3. Food pipe disease or Esophagitis is any inflammation or irritation of the oesophagus, a tube that sends food from your throat down to your stomach.

Common causes of food pipe disease are acid reflux or GERD and bacterial or viral infections. 

GERD- This condition occurs when the stomach contents and acids back up into the oesophagus. This causes chest pain that can mimic a heart disease. There may also be oesophagal spasms due to GERD.

For most people, a prolonged sexual act is one of the most pleasurable acts. However, though not might admit it, there could be multiple reasons due to which this might not be possible. In males especially, premature ejaculation is very common, which does not allow for a prolonged sexual experience. There are multiple causes for this
, some physiological and some psychological.

Given the private nature of the topic, many would not admit to the issue in the first place. Even with the couple, many would be reluctant to discuss it. For many men, close friends might often be the only one who knows about it. Someone else who has had similar problems might suggest a solution. The Internet, given the privacy it offers, could be another forum for discussion and seeking solutions. So what happens is they end up trying solutions from either of these two sources. However, what is important to understand is that each person’s body is built and wired very differently. What worked for a friend or for another person in some other part of the world might not work for you too.

The first point of coping begins with acknowledging the problem. When the ejaculation happens soon after the penetration, well before the partner is satisfied, it is known as premature ejaculation. In some cases, there might not even be adequate stimulation. While it is a matter of self-esteem for the male, for the female it is often an unsatisfactory experience. Knowing some of the possible causes helps understand the problem and then work towards a solution. Some of the most common physiologic and psychologic causes are listed below.

• Performance anxiety: In many cases, especially when with a new partner, premature ejaculation is very common. However, gradually, with familiarity, this improves.

• The prolonged duration between sex episodes: If the person has not engaged in sex for quite a while, there are chances of premature ejaculation.

• Guilt: Past sexual experiences could lead to guilt, which also can cause premature ejaculation.

• Hormonal: Hormonal imbalances also can lead to an inability to sustain and/or maintain an erection.

Most men experience some degree of PE in their early years when they start off their sex lives, but this gradually improves with age, as they learn to control.

Coping with it begins with one round of diagnosis. If there is no serious underlying cause, then simple measures like relaxation techniques and quitting smoking can be used to control ejaculation.

Talking to the partner and easing out stress during the act also can go a long way.

If these do not help, seek counselling or behavioural therapy. You can definitely manage better performance with support of the partner and the counsellor.

Diabetes is a disease that affects the way your body deals with glucose in the blood and the glucose absorbed from the food you ingest. Diabetes is generally of two basic types - Type 1 and Type 2. Apart from these two types, there are other kinds as well including gestational diabetes that some women suffer from during their pregnancy. Type 2 Diabetes is a condition where the cells of the body do not make proper use of the insulin being produced by the pancreas. Living with this kind of a condition may seem debilitating at first, but here are a few things you can do to make life easier despite Type 2 Diabetes.

-Weight: Being overweight is one the foremost side effects and sometimes, even cause of Type 2 Diabetes. To make your life easier, you can lose weight so that the complications involved are that much less. Diet and exercise are key for appropriate weight loss. Watch your diet so that you can eliminate high cholesterol as well. This can ensure that unnecessary amount of fat does not stick to your muscles and organs, which in turn will fuel better functioning of the same.

-Health Care: Being fit with Type 2 Diabetes does not merely mean staying within your normal weight range. It also means taking care of your medication and insulin doses so that you can function in a more normal way. Make your family and friends your support system as you go about life so that people can help you and recognise symptoms when something goes wrong. Be in constant touch with your health care providers and the general physician you see so that they are in the loop and you know exactly what to do in case there is an emergency.

-Exercise: Being active is a great way to keep your blood sugar level low even as you ensure that you heart is in good condition. This will further eliminate the risk of heart disease, hypertension and high cholesterol. Sweating it out also helps the insulin work in a better manner within your body.

-Balance: While you may be asked to remove sugar from your diet, there is no need to stay away from proper meals. You can have a fibre rich diet that also has plenty of fruits and vegetables so that you get your due nutrition and maintain a fit body.

Watching your lifestyle is the main thing you need to do if you are suffering from Type 2 Diabetes.