Dr. D Balasubramanian

Patra panda sweda(ela kizhi) is a specialized therapy which is performed for the diseases related to Bones, muscles and nerves. Patra means leaves of medicinal plants. Pinda means a bolus. Sweda means Fomentation or sudation. The swedana karma or sudation therapy which is given by using a bolus which is prepared by the different combination of medicinal leaves which is processed with medicinal oil along with the medicinal herbs is called as patra panda sweda or ela kizhi. This procedure is unique, which comprises both snehana (oleation) and swedana (sudation) (snehayukta swedana)

Benefits of Patra Pinda Sweda:
It strengthens and rejuvenates the bones, muscles and nerves
Strengthens the tissues
Increases the circulation
Provides color and complexion of the skin
Helps to Reduce pain, inflammation and stiffness of the muscles
Induces good sleep and reduces the stress.

INDICATIONS:
Paralysis
Joint stiffness
Swelling
Sciatica
Cervical spondylitis
Lumber spondylitis
Back pain
Arthritis
Sprains and cramps

A mammogram is an imaging test where an X-ray is taken to recreate the internal imagery of your breasts. This is a screening test that is widely used to find the earliest signs of cancer. There have been instances where the early signs of cancer have been found up to three years before the actual development of the same. There are a number of benefits and risks in this screening method. So let us find out more about getting a mammogram, and whether or not you should get one.

• Procedure: A special X-ray machine is used for conducting a mammogram. There is a clear plastic plate on which the specialist will place the breast while another plate will press on the breast from above. While both the plates serve to flatten the breast and hold it still, the X-ray will be taken. Some pressure will be felt and the same steps will be repeated so as to get the side view of the breasts. The same procedure will be repeated for the other breast. Meanwhile, once it is done, you will need to wait so that the technician can check for clarity, and whether or not the procedure needs to be done again. The results of this procedure cannot be relayed by the technician, and all the images will be different because all breasts are slightly different from each other.
• Preparation: You will need to remember that the process can be a slightly painful one, especially once the pressure gets applied. Many women complain of discomfort and pain. Yet, this discomfort gets over before you know it. The pressure and pain will depend on the size of your breasts and how much they will have to be pressed in order to get a picture. The skill of the technician will also come into play here. One must remember not to get this procedure done a week or so before or after the menstrual cycle, as the breasts tend to be tender around this time, and the pain will be much more.
• Radiologist: Within a few weeks after the procedure, the radiologist will usually deliver the result. This is the professional who does an accurate reading of the X-ray.
• Normal and Abnormal Readings: If your mammogram result has a normal reading, then you can resort to getting one done every once in a while. But an abnormal reading will require further X-ray and tests so as to be able to tell for sure.
• Why should I get one: If you are over 40 and have a family history of such ailments, then you will have to get a mammogram done regularly. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.

Uterine fibroids are referred to as benign, abnormal growths which tend to develop in the uterine walls of a woman. The size of such growths can range from a few centimeters to even excess of a few inches. As such, they can cause the uterus to increase to the size of a five month pregnancy. Although, the symptoms of fibroids are not always apparent, they often cause heavy bleeding and pain in women. A recent research concluded that around 60 to 75 percent women contract such fibroids by the age of 50, at least once in their life.

Depending on the site of formation, uterine fibroids are distinguished into different types. Intramural fibroids in the lining of the uterus and subserosal fibroids which develop outside the uterus are the most commonly observed fibroids.

What causes Uterine Fibroids?
Although, the exact reason for the formation of fibroids are obscure, medical professionals have determined certain factors that may affect their formation. Some of them are:
1) Hormones: Progesterone and estrogen, produced by the ovaries regenerate the uterine lining during each menstrual cycle and trigger the growth of fibroids.
2) Family history: If you have had a family history of uterine fibroids, then you're likely to develop the condition yourself as well.
3) Pregnancy: The production of progesterone and estrogen increases during pregnancy which increases the likelihood of fibroids.

What are the signs of the condition?
Depending on the location and size of the tumors, symptoms of such fibroids include:
1) Heavy bleeding and blood clots during periods
2) Pain in the pelvis
3) Frequent menstrual cramps
4) Pressure and pain in the lower abdomen
5) Swelling in the abdomen
6) Pain while intercourse

What is the procedure of the treatment?
Ultrasound and pelvic MRI are common diagnostic procedures to check for uterine fibroids. After diagnosis, depending on your age, size of the fibroid and your comprehensive health, the doctor would prescribe you with appropriate medications. Only after medications prove futile, doctors opt for minimally invasive surgeries. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a doctor and ask a free question.

Breast cancer, is a type of cancer, which is common to women, where cancer cells grow on the breasts or the female mammary gland. It starts out with the formation of a small lump in your breast and can spread out to your other organs very rapidly. It generally affects women above forty years of age. Breast cancer can be classified into two types. They can either start forming on the inner linings of your milk ducts ( known as Ductal carcinoma) or in the lobules which supply milk (known as Lobular carcinoma).

There are many causes responsible for breast cancer they are mentioned below: 

• Obesity or post-menopausal obesity (Learn more about Heart Diseases Post Menopause)
• Exposure to frequent radiation (X-ray)
• Consumption of alcohol
• Being taller than average
• Start of periods at an early age
• Late menopause
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Consumption of birth control pills

The most common symptoms of breast cancer are as follows: 

1. Formation of a lump in your breast
2. Swelling or shrinking of your breast
3. Change of size, shape and color of your nipple
4. Blood or milk discharge from the nipple
5. Breast pain
6. Itching sensation
7. Appearance of rashes (Learn more about to maintain the skin health)

Breast cancer if not diagnosed and treated at an early stage may turn out to be fatal. Ayurveda offers promising cures for breast cancer.

A few of the Ayurvedic remedies are mentioned below: 

1. Include foods, which are well supplied with vitamin D in your diet. Researches show that women with less amount of vitamin D in their bodies are more likely to develop breast cancer. Consider including foods like eggs, orange juice, dairy products and fish like salmon in your diet.
2. Drink more of green tea as it has anti cancer properties.
3. Exercises like walking, yoga, meditation and certain breast exercises can help you to relax the pain sensation, reduce stress and also get cured.
4. Incorporate bitter gourd in your diet. Researches show that bitter gourd can kill those cancer cells, which cause breast cancer.
5. Ayurvedic herbs like Ashwagandha, tulsi, curcumin have certain properties that can destroy cancer cells.

If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult an Ayurveda.

Broken bone is commonly known as bone fracture a d it occurs when an exorbitant amount of force is applied causing the bone to split or shatter. While some minor fractures lead to cracks and crannies, others may lead to complete breakage of the bones. Despite being hard, bones are formed in such a way that they can absorb pressure to only a certain extent, beyond which they break. Statistically, the incidence of broken bones are most common in children and in old age people.

Causes of Bone Fracture
Bone fracture can be caused due to a number of reasons; both intentional and accidental. Some of them include:
1. Accidents and injuries: Sports injuries, being hit by a car and tripping and falling are some of the typical episodes.
2. Old age: Diseases such as osteoporosis and brittle bone disease are common in aged people. As bones tend to become more fragile among the aged, they are at a greater chance of bone fractures.

Type of bone fractures
Primarily bone fractures are of four types, based on the way the bone splits. They are:

1. Complete fracture: This type of fracture refers to a complete breakage of the bone wherein the fracture may occur at various parts of the bone.
2. Incomplete fracture: In this type of fracture, the bone partially breaks instead of splitting entirely.
3. Compound fractures: This is a type of a fracture wherein the bone breaks past the skin. It is also known as an open fracture.
4. Simple fracture: In this type of a fracture, the bone breaks without causing an open wound on the skin.

Treatment of bone fractures
In case of a broken bone, the immediate course of action would be to reach for the first aid box. This can be done to stabilize the bone prior to hospitalization. Icing the injury, elevating the injured area to prevent further swelling and covering the wound with bandages are common measures. In many cases, people also make household splints (made of newspapers) to keep the bone stabilized. Hospitalization and especially surgery, can be also opted for in case of severe fractures. Consult a doctor for more details.

The human brain is the most complex and least understood part of the human anatomy. There may be a lot we don’t know, but here are a few interesting facts that we’ve got covered.

Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Ever wonder how you can react so fast to things around you or why that stubbed toe hurts right away? it’s due to the super-speedy movement of nerve impulses from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa, bringing reactions at the speed of a high powered luxury sports car.

The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. The cartoon image of a light bulb over your head when a great thought occurs isn’t too far off the mark. Your brain generates as much energy as a small light bulb even when you’re sleeping.

The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the encyclopedia britannica. Or any other encyclopedia for that matter. Scientists have yet to settle on a definitive amount, but the storage capacity of the brain in electronic terms is thought to be between 3 or even 1, 000 terabytes. The national archives of britain, containing over 900 years of history, only takes up 70 terabytes, making your brain’s memory power pretty darn impressive.

Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream. The brain only makes up about 2% of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen than any other organ in the body, making it extremely susceptible to damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain happy and swimming in oxygenated cells.

The brain is much more active at night than during the day. Logically, you would think that all the moving around, complicated calculations and tasks and general interaction we do on a daily basis during our working hours would take a lot more brain power than, say, lying in bed. Turns out, the opposite is true. When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists don’t yet know why this is but you can thank the hard work of your brain while you sleep for all those pleasant dreams.

Scientists say the higher your i. q. The more you dream. While this may be true, don’t take it as a sign you’re mentally lacking if you can’t recall your dreams. Most of us don’t remember many of our dreams and the average length of most dreams is only 2-3 seconds–barely long enough to register.

Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. For years scientists and doctors thought that brain and neural tissue couldn’t grow or regenerate. While it doesn’t act in the same manner as tissues in many other parts of the body, neurons can and do grow throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension to the study of the brain and the illnesses that affect it.

Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain center when you cut your finger or burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel pain. That doesn’t mean your head can’t hurt. The brain is surrounded by loads of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are plenty receptive to pain and can give you a pounding headache.

80% of the brain is water. Your brain isn’t the firm, gray mass you’ve seen on tv. Living brain tissue is a squishy, pink and jelly-like organ thanks to the loads of blood and high water content of the tissue. So the next time you’re feeling dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.

The uterus or womb, is a muscular structure and is held in place by ligaments and pelvic muscles. If these muscles or tendons become weak, they cause prolapse and are no longer able to hold the uterus in its place.

Uterine prolapse happens when the uterus falls or slips from its ordinary position and into the vagina or birth waterway. It could be complete prolapse or even incomplete at times. A fragmented prolapse happens when the uterus is just hanging into the vagina. A complete prolapse depicts a circumstance in which the uterus falls so far down that some tissue rests outside of the vagina. Likewise, as a lady ages and with a loss of the hormone estrogen, her uterus can drop into the vaginal canal. This condition is known as a prolapsed uterus.

Risks: The risks of this condition are many and have been enumerated as follows:

1. Complicated delivery during pregnancy
2. Weak pelvic muscle
3. Loss of tissue after menopause and loss of common estrogen
4. Expanded weight in the stomach area, for example, endless cough, constipation, pelvic tumors or accumulation of liquid in the guts
5. Being overweight
6. Obesity causing extra strain on the muscles
7. Real surgery in the pelvic zone
8. Smoking

Symptoms: Some of the most common symptoms of prolapse involve:

1. Feeling of sitting on a ball
2. Abnormal vaginal bleeding
3. Increase in discharge
4. Problems while performing sexual intercourse
5. Seeing the uterus coming out of the vagina
6. A pulling or full feeling in the pelvis
7. Constipation
8. Bladder infections

Nonsurgical medications include:

1. Losing weight and getting in shape to take stress off of pelvic structures
2. Maintaining a distance from truly difficult work
3. Doing Kegel workouts, which are pelvic floor practices that strengthen the vaginal muscles. This can be done at any time, even while sitting down at a desk.
4. Taking estrogen treatment especially during menopause
5. Wearing a pessary, which is a gadget embedded into the vagina that fits under the cervix and pushes up to settle the uterus and cervix
6. Indulging in normal physical activity

Some specialists use the following methods to diagnose the problem:

1. The specialist will examine you in standing position keeping in mind you are resting and request that you to cough or strain to build the weight in your abdomen.
2. Particular conditions, for example, ureteral block because of complete prolapse, may require an intravenous pyelogram (IVP) or renal sonography. Color is infused into your vein, and an X-ray is used to view the flow of color through your urinary bladder.
3. An ultrasound might be utilised to rule out any other existing pelvic issues. In this test, a wand is used on your stomach area or embedded into your vagina to create images of the internal organ with sound waves.

A uterine cyst, also called as ovarian cyst, is the formation of a fluid-filled sac within the ovary of a woman. Uterine cysts may sometimes cause several physical symptoms. They can cause great pain and unpleasant sensations. Most cysts go away by themselves, but still sufficient measures should be taken to deal with the inconvenience caused by a uterine cyst. In severe cases, the cyst can damage the ovaries. Scar tissue is also likely to build up in such cysts to form an adhesion, which causes discomfort.

Uterine cysts can cause great damage to the sexual organs of a woman, and hence, it should never be ignored. Here are 5 ways to deal with uterine cysts:

1. Using Birth Control Pills: In case of recurrent uterine cysts, you can take oral contraceptives with the prescription of a doctor. This will prohibit ovulation, and the development of new cysts will be prevented. The risk of ovarian cancer is also reduced.

2. Laparoscopy: In case the cyst is small, a laparoscopy surgery can be conducted by a doctor. This will enable the surgical removal of the cyst. The process of laparoscopy involves making of a small incision around the navel region. A small instrument or device is inserted into the abdomen, which removes the cyst.

3. Laparotomy: Laparotomy is a surgical procedure of removing a large uterine cyst. This procedure is applied when a cyst becomes too large to be removed using laparoscopy. The procedure involves the removal of the cyst via an incision made in the abdomen. An immediate biopsy is conducted and in case the cyst is found out to be cancerous, a hysterectomy surgery is conducted, which removes the ovaries and uterus completely.

4. Herbal Tea: Moving from medical procedures to natural ways for dealing with uterine cysts, herbal tea is believed to be one of the best natural treatments for uterine cysts. Herbal tea helps in the breakdown of large cysts and the side effects of the cysts such as discomfort or pain are eased. Have a cup of herbal tea every day to get rid of uterine cysts.

5. Diet: Uterine cysts may develop due to an unhealthy diet. Modern food items contain synthetic and natural estrogens, which cause disruption in ovarian health. Consuming adulterated meat, where the animals are given hormones, and antibiotics may result in uterine cysts. Soy contains a great amount of estrogen, which leads to uterine cysts. All the food items which may lead to ovarian cysts should be avoided.

Uterine cysts are common in women and are caused due to several complications. You should not let uterine cysts develop as development increases severity.

How to prevent sagging of breasts?

Home remedies for sagging breasts

Breast sagging is a natural process that happens with age wherein the breasts lose their suppleness and elasticity. Breasts do not have muscle. They are made of fat, connective tissues and milk-producing glands, and they need proper care to keep them in good shape.

Yoga

The benefits of yoga for the entire body have been widely studied, and it is primarily a mechanism of toning the body and increasing flexibility. Some of that toning can occur within the breast, depending on which positions you commonly practice.

Massage

Massage your breasts at least 2-3 times per week with olive oil. It will help add firmness to the skin as well as improve the skin tone and texture. It will also tone your chest and increase the elasticity of the skin.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate is considered a wonderful anti-aging ingredient and can help prevent sagging breasts. Pomegranate seed oil is rich in phyto-nutrients that can lead to firm breasts.

    Make a paste of pomegranate peel and some warm mustard oil. Use it to massage your breasts in a circular motion for 5 to 10 minutes daily before going to bed.
    You can also use pomegranate seed oil to massage your breasts 2 or 3 times daily.
    Another option is to mix 4 teaspoons of neem oil with 1 teaspoon of dried and powdered pomegranate rind. Heat this mixture for a few minutes. Allow it to cool and then use it to massage your breasts twice daily for several weeks.

Avoid loose fitting bra / wrong bra size

Some women feel that they would feel comfortable if they wear loose bra. But this is totally a wrong step. You are going to invite your saggy breast by doing this. Avoid this and go for the best fitting bra to keep your breast stay upright and firm. For more details visit us at www.malhotraayurveda.in