The natural supplements glucosamine and chondroitin appear to
beat the leading prescription drug for very painful forms of
arthritis, according to a study sponsored by the US National
Institutes of Health.
Looking at nearly 1,200 patients with osteoarthritis of the
knee, the two alternative remedies failed to offer much help.
But in smaller group of patients with moderate to severe
pain, about 79 percent of those who took both supplements
experienced relief, compared to 69 percent of those who took
Celebrex. The natural duo was also better than taking either
supplement alone.
What is clear is that proper/specific physical activity and
losing weight are the safest and most effective route for
pain relief.
Allergies
An allergy is when your body sees an ordinary substance as
foreign. And because it sees the substance as foreign, it
does anything it can to combat it.
It's an inherited tendency, but you don't specifically
inherit allergy to things like penicillin, or an allergy to
grass pollen. You inherit a general tendency of the immune
system to overreact.
When the immune system does overreact and cause allergy, the
allergy patient makes too much of a substance called,
allergic antibody. We call it IgE antibody. It's a protein in
the blood.
In the case of grass pollen, you'll have too much of it in
your nose. So when grass pollen enters, it'll bind with this
allergy protein, which releases a lot of chemicals. Most
people are familiar with one, histamine. It also induces a
lot of itching eyes, itching nose, and sneezing. And if you
breathe it down into the chest, you very easily get
asthma.
If you breathe in a great deal or, more commonly, you take
something by mouth — such as a medicine or get an
injection — you can have a whole body reaction that
really can be life- threatening. This we call anaphylaxis.
Hyperactivity in Adults
It's a common notion that attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder is a problem that mostly affects children. But
increasingly the syndrome is being recognized and treated in
adults. Although the exact prevalence in adults is unknown,
epidemiologic studies thus far reveal that the condition,
marked by inattentiveness, difficulty getting work done,
procrastination, or organization problems, probably exists in
about 2-4 percent of adults. The condition persists to
adulthood in about half of children diagnosed with the
disorder.
Contact R. Brunner at: POB 1903, Jerusalem, 91314, Israel;
Tel: (02) 652-7684; Mobile: 052 2865-821; Fax: (02) 652-
7227; Email: FitnessDoctor@hotmail.com
