I’m 32 years old and have high blood pressure. I think I’m too young to get this: what is the relationship between age and high BP?

It is a good question. I’m getting more enquiries about this at present and it is mostly from young people. There is no relationship between age and high blood pressure. I have seen persons who have the history of high blood pressure in their family have even mastered to live with normal blood pressure in old ages too. Unfortunately very young people do get high blood pressure now-a-days.

You must avoid these risks to avoid high blood pressure and they include:

• Overweight
• Smoking and other tobacco products
• Excess alcohol
• Stress

If you have these risks you can have high blood pressure even in your twenties. It is in your hands to manage this properly.

High blood pressure has no symptoms and that is why the heart attack age is coming down and down. A good lifestyle can give you long, healthy and happy life.

What should I do is the question from many young people. It is not necessary to run every month to your doctor to control your blood pressure. Buy a standard blood pressure measuring instrument and use it according to manufacturers’ instruction. Your blood pressure value must be below 140/90 mm Hg. Today’s instruments are so handy and you can measure at anytime and everywhere.

After 30 you can go to your doctor once in a year to check the blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and sugar values. Prevention is better than cure and costs less.

What to do if you have high blood pressure? Avoid the risk factors and reduce the weight. Beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and diuretics are good medicines to control the high blood pressure. If used properly you can live decades without any problems.

Right food and physical activity is important to be healthy.

Is there any connection between menopause and joint pain?

There are 360 joints in our body. With increasing age women and men have problems with their joints. There is a connection between menopause and joint pain. But, the exact mechanism is not yet known. Joint pain is a symptom of menopause. Typically a woman approaches menopause between the ages of 45 and 55. The drastic hormonal fluctuations can affect her in many ways. We know well that hormones play a major role in woman’s bone and joint health. With hormonal imbalance during menopause she can get and experience joint pain.

Joint pain often occurs in the knees, hips and back. Many women feel the joints in their hands become stiffer which gives more pain. The age plays a role also here. Joint pain can give many problems and can make simple tasks and movements almost unbearable. The common symptoms of joint pain related to menopause include:

• Pain
• Stiffness, may be also a limited morning stiffness
• Swelling
• Warm joints
• Pain with physical activity
• Pain relief while resting

Estrogen, the female sex hormone has influence on joints. It keeps the joint inflammation low. Inflammation is the major cause for joint pain. As the estrogen levels begin to decrease during perimenopause which normally takes 5 to 10 years leading to menopause the problem starts slowly. The joints get less and less estrogen to control the inflammation and the result is mostly joint pain.

Osteoporosis is also another symptom of menopause which can cause joint pain. It is because of the decrease of bone mineral density due to calcium metabolism.

At the same time, we should think about the other conditions which can also cause joint pain and they include: excess weight, lack of exercise, injury, muscle loss, inflammation of the joints, bone diseases and wear and tear with age. Stress and tumor or cancer can cause joint pain. Heredity can also play a role here.

The first important step is you must consult your doctor. Thus it can be treated in the early stages and cannot become a big health problem. The guidelines to go to your doctor include: the joint pain lasts more than 3 days, joint pain and weight loss or fever and joint pain.

Alternative medicine is also a good option for menopausal joint pain.

What are the treatments for this serious problem? They include:

• Lifestyle changes
• The right food and food or herbal supplements, if necessary
• Regular physical therapy
• Regular walking
• Regular stretching
• Drugs and surgery
• Acupuncture

It is in your hands to do many things properly and then you have the best chance to be healthy irrespective of your age or in the menopause.

Can you tell me the important rules for a healthy life style?

It is very easy to follow a healthy lifestyle. There are only few rules that you must keep in mind. Healthy lifestyle does not mean sacrificing everything.

The important rules include:

1. Fresh foods are the best. Avoid all the junk foods, processed foods and foods where chemicals are added. It is better to eat wholegrain bread than white bread, cooked fish than fried fish and cooked meat than fried meat. Use healthy plant oils to cook and never and olive oil is good for salads. Avoid completely cheap fats and these contains mostly the unhealthy trans-fat. If you have less time you can cook soup from fresh vegetables and can freeze it in portions. Frozen vegetables are good, but here also you have to see the label for added chemicals to increase the deepness oft he colour. With frozen vegetables it is easy to make a good and healthy meal.
2. Do not count the calories always. Fats, carbohydrates, particularly refined sugar and food with hidden calories like fast food and snacks must be eaten in small quantities. Be careful with the amount of rice, noodles, potatoes and bread. You can eat any amount of fresh vegetables and fruits with only few exceptions like root vegetables or bananas.
3. You need not sacrifice your favourite chocolates, cakes, chips or anything you like. Now and then you can eat these also. If you eat more in a day next day you must be careful.
4. Fluid intake must be 3 to 4 litres. 70% of this must be drinking water. Fruit juices are very important. Two cups of tea or coffee in a day is not bad if you like. Avoid all cola and soft drinks. But now and then a glass of cola or soft drinks is allowed.
5. You must have some physical activity everyday.
6. You must reduce your stress whether it is coming from the family, friends or from your company.

You can make your own rules based on this to have a good and healthy lifestyle.

What are the causes for dry skin and what are the right foods?

There are many causes for dry skin. Millions of people suffer dry skin in the world. The causes include:

• Dry skin might be due to a genetic condition
• Due to dry cold weather in winter
• There can be no natural lubrication of the skin and this causes dehydration of the skin
• Environmental factors like exposure to sun, weather, chemicals including cosmetics or excessive use of soaps
• Skin disease like eczema, psoriasis etc. can cause dry skin
• Poor diet with vitamins deficiency can support to form dry skin
• Drugs can have dry skin as side effect
• Diabetes or under active thyroid can cause dry skin

Food and healthy lifestyle can help to have a better skin. A good diet includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. Protein from vegetables is good to skin and increase the intake of raw food. Sulphur containing foods like onion, garlic and asparagus can help to keep the skin smooth. Yellow and orange colour vegetables have many antioxidants. The beta-carotene from carrots is very valuable for skin.

Flax seed oil can be added to salads and other food which need not be cooked. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are necessary to produce Prostaglandins which supports skin health. Vegetables and fruits contain valuable vitamin A and C. Quark, natural plain yoghurt, yeast and wheat germ are rich in pantothenic acid – vitamin B5 which is important for skin health.

Drink 2 to 3 litres of fluids everyday and if you sweat more then drink more. Water keeps the skin well hydrated.

Fried foods, processed foods, animal fats and hydrogenated oils must be avoided. Avoid heating oil and use only cold pressed oils. Junk foods, chips, products with sugar, chocolates and soft drinks must be consumed rarely and it is better to avoid them.

Caffeine and alcohol can dehydrate the body and this is bad for skin health. Avoid all soft drinks which contain caffeine.

Do not take bath in hot water and the shower or bath must be short. Moisturize your skin immediately after your bath or shower.

What are the reasons for grey hair?

Grey hair is a part of human aging process. There are many different factors which play a role in greying hair. Few get grey hair when they are young. Grey hair will not make us wise, but with increasing age it is possible. There is no connection to grey hair and wisdom.

What can we do against getting grey hair? We cannot do much because the primary cause is mostly genetics. But there are ways to stop or slow down greying.

Stress is an important factor to cause premature grey hair. We are extremely busy all the time. Stress starts from kindergarten and ends when we die. We have extreme stress in the school, college, office and family. The stress a woman or man gets when she/he sees her/his first grey hair is great. Many play mad and many spend a fortune to avoid further greying.

There are other factors to avoid premature grey hair and they include:

·        Avoid all sorts of stress

·        Have healthy diet

·        Have enough, regular sleep

·        Good lifestyle

·        Avoid smoking

·        Avoid party and other illegal drugs

·        Avoid excess alcohol

·        Enough physical activity

As you see it is in your hands to avoid premature grey hair.

In our society looking young is valued much. What to do if there is grey hair? Do not spend money in wonder creams or lotions and nothing will help. The best way is to dye your hair and this could be done always without any problem.  Be careful with the dyes and check before whether you have allergy with the chemicals there.  At any cost never keep the on your head than the given time for that dye. Wash generously many times with water till the dye is completely removed. Otherwise also there will be the chance for the allergy.

Grey hair is a part of our life. If you are mentally mature it will not disturb you at all.

What is the connection between chronic low back pain and constipation?

The cause for chronic low back pain is not always the structural problems of the spinal cord.

The constipation can be a reason and the symptoms include:

• There will be no relief after your therapies like physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, acupuncture etc.
• Inconsistent bowel movements
• Difficulty in passing stool

The reason is very simple. If there are no proper bowel movements it leads to bad bacterial overgrowth and inflammation. The intestines can be inflamed and swollen. This can prevent the abdominals from working. You need the abdominals to stabilize the muscles of the back. When they stop working and inflamed your back has no support. This causes chronic low back pain.

Mostly the culprits for the constipation are your bad diet and inadequate intake of fluids. All junk foods, processed foods, refined sugar and flour and excess caffeine can cause constipation. You must change your lifestyle and must take more fresh food. Plant oils are also necessary in your food for good bowel movement. A healthy lifestyle helps to reduce your weight also.

Drink 2 to 3 litres of fluids and 70% must be water. Here the probiotics can help to replace the bad bacteria. Physical activity is vital to stimulate the intestines. Try to avoid stress. If there is stomach problems think about food intolerances also.

It is in your hands to do something good to you.

Is drinking water during or after meal good or bad?

First of all you must drink enough water, 2 to 3 litres everyday. If you sweat much or do hard physical work you have to drink more.

Drinking water during or after a meal will not make any problems for digestion. Indeed, water helps digestion. They will not dilute digestive juices or interfere with digestion. Water and other fluids help to break down the food in your stomach. It keeps also the digestive system healthy.

Eat enough fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables and whole grain products. Healthy life style and enough physical activity will keep your digestion good. Try to live a stress free life.

Do not drink water or eat your food very quickly. If you gulp lot of air with that you may get stomach problems.

So the direct answer is drinking water during or after meal is good.

I’m 24 years old, male and have high BP (190/109), high sugar (170 mg/dl) and overweight. I am unmarried. Do these make problems in my married life?

At first go to your doctor and check the blood pressure and blood sugar. He must check also HBA1c to check the long term sugar level. If he gives medicines you must take them regularly. It is better to control creatinine, cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and homocysteine in your blood.

High blood pressure, diabetes and overweight are risk factors for heart attack and stroke.

Except this question I have no information from you and so I could give you only general advises. You must reduce your weight. Normal weight is, your weight in cm – 100 = Kilos. Reduce the amount of meat and meat products. Twice in a week fish is good. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits and reduce the intake of carbohydrates.

Change your lifestyle. Avoid smoking, alcohol and stress. Daily go for a quick walk or better to a fitness studio for thrice in a week.

Diabetes and the drugs for high blood pressure and high sugar can affect your sexual life. They can cause erection problems. Consult with your doctor.

I am 24 years old woman; do I need food supplements like vitamins and minerals?

Eat normally with fresh vegetables and fruits. 4 to 5 Servings are good in a day. Use whole grains products. Lean meat is good and sea fish is preferred twice in a week. Eggs are also good food.

Eat nuts, seeds, pulses and beans everyday; 20 to 30 g nuts or seeds are good. Avoid processed food and excess milk and milk products. Avoid milled flour and sugar.

Avoid smoking and lead a healthy lifestyle. Learn how to manage stress. Regular physical activity is a must.

If you live like this you need no food supplements.

With increasing age the amount of food intake is reduced, but the micronutrients must be needed in the same amount. Here we must plan what is necessary and what is not. There also you have to consult your doctor.

When we become old food intake is reduced and here the food supplements may be necessary.

When you are older than 35 years then we have to think about vitamin B supplementation. Before you plan a baby folic acid supplement is good and necessary.

Food supplements may have side effects or they may interfere with the absorption of the other micronutrients. They may also interfere with drugs. Excess antioxidants can act as oxidants.

We have to analyse individually each person before we recommend food supplements. It is good for your health and you can save also lot of money.

Can you tell me about the tension headache?

There are more than 300 types of headaches and the most common one is tension headache. If you are under stress this headache comes again and again. This is not very serious, but it can be very painful.

The causes of tension headache are not known. Now it is thought that a change in brain chemicals may be a cause. Otherwise tension or spasms in the muscles of your neck face and head may be the usual causes.

The tension headache symptoms include:

• There is constant pain, but not throbbing. The pain or pressure is felt on both sides of your head
• Pressure which makes you feel like your head in a vise
• Pain at the back of your head, neck or temples

Tension headache comes back if you have stress. They can last 30 minutes to several days. Normally the pain is not severe and does not affect your day-to-day life. If the pain is severe and lasts long go to your doctor.

To prevent tension headache you must learn how to handle your stress. Sleep enough and regular physical activity is important. Eat healthy food on a regular schedule. Whatever you do, try to avoid straining of your eyes. So to say a healthy lifestyle is important.

Tension headache is treated with painkillers like paracetamol or aspirin and these are mostly prescription-free. If you take often painkillers there may be the possibility of getting rebound headaches which are different from tension headache. This type of headache starts when the effect of the painkiller is gone. It is possible that you get headache whenever you stop taking the medicine. For the chronic tension headache you must take stronger painkillers and consult your doctor for that.

Even with medicines you may have headache, but may have it less often. Here every individual is different.

Write a diary about the time, date and the happenings on that day so that later it is useful for your doctor to treat you.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis, is a type of most common arthritis which is caused by the breakdown and eventual loss of the cartilage of one or more joints. Cartilage is a protein substance which serves as a cushion between the bones and the joints.

Osteoarthritis commonly affects the hands, feet, spine and large weight-bearing joints, such as the knees and hips. It worsens gradually with time and no cure exists, but the treatments can relieve pain to lead an active life.

The general symptoms are pain in the joints, tenderness in the joint, stiffness, swelling, loss of flexibility of the joint and the hard lumps which may form around the affected joint.

It is not clear what causes osteoarthritis in most cases, but the factors may be including, the aging process, overweight, heredity, muscle weakness and joint injury or stress. Food, tension and environmental factors play always a vital role.

If you have swelling or stiffness in your joints for more than two weeks, go to your doctor and he will do the needful.

There is no known cure for osteoarthritis, but treatments and lifestyle can help to reduce pain and keep joint movements to manage your daily routine.

Alternative medicine could also help you, normally people try allopathy, if there is no positive result, and they go for the alternative medicines. I know many who are very happy with this.

Can you explain me dandruff? Is it infectious?

Dandruff is scaly dry skin that forms on and flakes off the scalp; it is a common problem affecting millions of human beings, from adolescence to adulthood. It is because of the very quick turnover of the cells there.

Dandruff is more common in men and persons mostly affected have oily skin and immune deficiencies. In few it is a problem of the right hygiene; illness, stress and hormonal changes can also play a role here.

The symptoms of dandruff are white, oily-looking patches on the scalp, which flakes off.

There is no known method to prevent dandruff, but you can control it by shampooing regularly and leading a healthy lifestyle, which includes a healthy diet and manageable stress. With right food and hygiene it is possible to be free from dandruff.

In extreme cases, your skin specialist may prescribe you a cream containing cortisone to manage it.

Dandruff is not an infectious disease.

What are the foods good to the health of my heart?

There are many foods which are good for our heart health. Healthy food along with enough physical activity is the best. Your lifestyle plays also a vital role here.

The good foods are as follows:

Fish – fatty fish is very good because it contains a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. It has preventive and also therapeutic effects against cardiovascular disease. Fish decreases the chances of heart attack at least to 50%. If you are a non-eater of fish, eat fish after a heart attack or at least tablets of fish oil. The effects of fish eating are the following:

It blocks clotting
It reduces blood vessel constriction and increases blood flow.
Blocks cell damage from oxygen free radicals.
It raises the good HDL cholesterol and also lowers triglycerides.
It also lowers blood pressure

Garlic – It reduces or prevents artery-clogging. The several antioxidants present in garlic are being responsible for this positive effect.

Nuts, pulses, beans and seeds – These are good food for persons having heart problems. Groundnuts, almonds and walnuts are commonly consumed and they reduce the risk at least 25%. Nuts have monounsaturated fatty acids, rich in fibre and several antioxidants. Eating nuts mean that one puts on weight and you must be careful with the amount.

Fruits and vegetables – Vegetarians have less heart attack and I am sure their arteries are much cleaner. Fruits and vegetables are good to prevent as well as post heart attack food.

Oils – Olive oil and sesame oil are good food for heart’s health. They lower bad LDL cholesterol and have antioxidants also. Sesame oil is as good as olive oil and the difference is only the composition of the fatty acids.

Alcohol – Alcohol is not necessary for our metabolism. But one or two drinks or a glass of wine or a glass of beer per day is healthy. Alcohol helps to expand the arteries. Two glasses of wine or four drinks per day are harmful to health. Addiction is also a big danger and so it is better to avoid alcohol. Only the resveratrol present in red wine could lower cholesterol. It also only one glass (180 ml) is enough and than one glass is advisable. Excess alcohol narrows the arteries and this is very bad to your health.

Whole grains products are better than milled ones.

What types of food you have to avoid? Animal food should be taken less, lean meat may be taken and the saturated animal fat must be below 10% of the total calories intake.

Skinless poultry meat is good in limited amount.

You must avoid also excess intake of carbohydrates. Excess sugar is converted the lives as blood fat, triglycerides which is a risk factor for heart disease.

Avoid heavy meals.

Avoid excess salt.

Drink 3 to 4 litres of water (unless you are fluid restricted).

What are the warning signals of stroke?

A stroke is a condition where a blood clot or ruptured artery or vein interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain.

A stroke is a condition where a blood clot or ruptured artery or vein interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain.

Main part - The warning signals include:

• Sudden confusion, trouble in speaking or understanding
• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, on one side of the body
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause
• Sudden trouble in walking – loss of balance or co-ordination and also dizziness
• Sudden trouble in seeing in one or both eyes

Anyone can suffer from stroke, but most of the factors could be controlled with proper nutrition, physical activity or with medicines. The risk factors include:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• High blood fat
• High homocysteine
• Diabetes
• Overweight and obesity
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Oral contraceptives
• Hormone therapy
• A family history of stroke
• Excess alcohol
• Abuse of drugs like cocaine, amphetamine etc.
• Smoking cigarettes

We can do a lot with the right food and a good lifestyle.

Symptoms of heart attack in women

Men are considered the prime victims of heart attack, but women are not far behind. Every year around 300000 known cases of heart attack death in women is reported. The symptoms in women are different than in men and are mostly atypical and mild.

The heart attack symptoms in women include:

• Chest pain, only 30% of the women have chest pain
• Tightness in chest
• Shortness of breath, every second women only experience this
• Racing heart and very fast pulses
• Indigestion, normal medicines will not help, around 42% experience this
• Heartburn
• Loss of appetite
• Unexplained weakness
• Excessive fatigue, 70% experience this before a heart attack
• Pain in the inner side of the left arm or sometimes of the right arm
• Shoulder, neck, lower jaw and upper back pain
• Anxiety
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Upper abdomen pain
• Profuse sweating
• Sleep disturbances

A woman may experience only a few of the above symptoms. These are highly unpredictable in women. But in contrast to men the symptoms appear earlier and vague. Mild shortness of breath, unusual tiredness or fatigue and sleep disturbances.

Women interpret these symptoms as beginning of some other disease such as flu or anxiety and neglect mostly.

If the woman has diabetes it makes the things more difficult. Testing the risk factors regularly and once in a year a blood test is advisable.

A good lifestyle, right food and enough physical activity is necessary for every woman.

Symptoms of heart attack in men

When the blood supply to the heart is interrupted heart attack occurs. Here the blood supply in a coronary artery is stopped due to a blood clot. The cells in the heart muscle are damaged or destroyed. This could lead to heart attack and it could be treated immediately. Otherwise it leads to sure death. Men and women are having different symptoms and here we see the symptoms in men.

More than 60% of men experience heart attack symptoms before the actual heart attack. Unfortunately many neglect these symptoms. The symptoms include:

• Chest pain
• Pain in the other body parts – shoulder, arms, back, neck, teeth or jaw
• Pain in upper abdomen
• Shortness of Breath
• Profuse sweating
• Nausea and vomiting
• Lightheadedness, dizziness
• Indigestion
• Anxiety
• Fainting
• Discomfort

Few of these symptoms can come from other conditions. The advice is better to go to the doctor even if it is a wrong alarm. The risk factors like overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, excess alcohol and smoking must be kept always in mind.

A silent attack is one where you have almost no symptoms. It occurs if one has diabetes and there will be no chest pain or other pains. Indigestion, thus gas building and shortness of breath are the two important symptoms here.

The right food, healthy lifestyle and enough physical activity is always good for your health.

Dental filling materials

When the holes are there in your teeth there are two possibilities, our dentist can fill the holes or if it is so worn out he can make crowns or bridges.

Gold and platinum alloy is a good choice but costs more and ceramic, resin ionomers, resin composite and amalgam are the choices.

Dental amalgam is a stable alloy made of combining elemental mercury, silver, tin, copper and zinc. Many people have no problems for so many years but few have problems and some have really allergy with mercury. It is possible to measure mercury in saliva which gives an idea of the mercury vapours in the mouth.

At first we have to see that mercury is realesed from the amalgam fillings in our mouth. The saliva test for mercury is the right one for this. In the morning before brushing the teeth 3 to 5 ml of saliva is collected in a plastic container. After that sugar free chewing gum is given and ten minutes it must be chewed on the surface of the fillings and after that once again 3 to 5ml saliva is collected in a different container. From these and also from blood and urine mercury is estimated to see the general condition in the body.

Removing amalgam teeth fillings could cause problems. The dentist can remove it by drilling but the problem is a high amount of mercury goes inside the body. Most of the mercury goes inside the tissues and will be stored there.

There are different ways to remove mercury from our body. There is a DMPS (Dimaval; 2,3-dimercapoto-1-propane sulfonate sodium salt) test with which your doctor removes the mercury from your body. DMPS is a chelating agent and it forms a complex with mercury which will be excreted through kidneys. But your kidneys must be healthy. Moreover a large amount of essential elements like copper and zinc will also be excreted from the body because of DMPS chelation. Copper and zinc must also be estimated before the test and supplemented if they are low. But, it is very well manageable.

Palladium is not used for the fillings because of its toxicity. The fillings are normally safe if these are done properly even with amalgam. Gold and platinum are the best.

Galloy is a brand new material containing silver, tin, indium and gallium and it is meant for mercury-free filling material. For the industry, amalgam is supposed to be 100% safe, even then they develop an alternative to amalgam and it is very interesting.

Why should amalgam dental fillings be removed? Few have mercury allergy. A mercury allergy test should be made to see whether you have mercury allergy or not and if you have allergy it is better to remove and go for gold or gold-platinum combination.

We must have our lifestyle in such a way so that our oral health prevents teeth holes.

Cannabis and its role in the medicine

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) is attaining once again interest for its medical uses in the recent years. Cannabis based medicines were used for thousands of years in Asia. These were also popular in Western medicine in the mid-nineteenth century.

The results were bad because of the poor standardisation possibilities of the plants with their components. This problem is solved today by the modern techniques of plant breeding. One should always keep in mind the narrow therapeutic window with its desired benefits and the unwanted psychic effects. We know the reason of banning LSD from the medical use because the psychic effects are too much and uncontrollable.

Is there any possibility to use cannabis as medicine? Many say the single components like cannabidiol or delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) could be used wherever it is necessary. The psychic effects are produced by delta-p-THC and so cannabidiol could be used as a medicine. The oral intake is not reliable. If cannabis is smoked the components could reach the blood quickly, but there are many side effects. They include:

• Can lead to bronchitis
• May cause lung, mouth, and airways cancer in he long use
• May make problems with fertility
• Can weaken the immune system
• May alter the human DNA

Smoking 3 to 4 cannabis cigarettes a day brings the same damage to bronchial mucus membrane as more than 20 cigarettes a day.

In the 1990s cannabis receptors have been found in brain and in other organs. This led to the discovery of anandamide, the first endogenous cannabinoids. Synthesis of anandamide-like chemicals may bring a new light in the medicinal use of cannabis. In future if more cannabinoid receptors and more endogenous substances with pharmacological effects found this could lead to new therapeutical chances.

It is a known fact that cannabidiol has good antioxidant qualities. But one antioxidant alone could not change the history of mankind.

Cannabis if smoked is a good painkiller and used to bring appetite in the last stadium of AIDS. The medicinal uses discussed in the literature include the treatment of glaucoma, asthma, vomiting, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), convulsion, muscle spasticity, anxiety, inflammation and hypertension. It is neuro protective and could be used for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, AIDS dementia, stroke, and trauma. It may be useful in all autoimmune diseases.

There are, today, many varieties of cannabis plants with very little delta-9-THC. The oil taken from these plants are used in biscuits, other snacks and used with salads in some European countries.

We should never forget the side effects of cannabis and at the same time more research is necessary to know the medicinal values.

It is bad to hope and believe with one good antioxidant to master all our health mistakes. This is not only childish but also foolish. Our lifestyle must be good always. The risk factors must be minimised. Fast food, junk food, processed food, smoking, excess alcohol and stress must be avoided. More healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains products, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses must be eaten regularly. There are many antioxidants and phytochemicals present here. Enough physical activity does not only good to the body but also to our mind. If everything is so perfect why we need cannabis?

Cannabidiol is patented already in USA but it is still present in Schedule I list and this says everything.

Before abusing cannabis ask your legal adviser the narcotic laws in your country. In some countries abusing cannabis brings death sentence.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS)

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is defined as the cessation of airflow for 10 seconds or more during sleep. Apnoeic episodes could happen many times during the sleep.

It is mostly a male disorder and 1,25% men have this problem. It is not common in premenopausal women. All OSAS patients have narrow upper airways. There are many risk factors for OSAS and they include:

• Hypothyroidism, decreased T3, T4 and increaed TSH
• Narrow upper airway
• High blood pressure and other heart problems
• Cardiac arrhthmias – the heart beat may be rapid or too slow and may be regular or irregular
• Overweight and Obesity

Snoring is a sign of partial upper airway obstruction and it ceases when the obstruction is complete.

The symptoms of OSAS include:

• Morning headache
• Tiredness
• Poor physical performance
• Poor intellectual performance
• Loud and intermittent snoring
• Daytime sleepiness or excess sleep – reason for serious social and economic consequences which include loss of job, road accidents and divorce.
• Impotence
• Libido problems or loss of libido

Today there are many methods to make the necessary distinction between type, frequency and severity of apnoeatic episodes. Go to your doctor and he will do the tests and direct you to the right sleep laboratory.

There are medical and surgicals ways for your doctor to treat this. Medicines are also used. The use breathing machines like the nasal continuous positive airway pressure is effective, but here patient compliance is poor. The use of tongue retaining device is also good and this prevents retrolapse of the tongue during sleep.

Many people benefit from sleeping at a 30 degree elevation of the upper body. By doing so we could prevent the gravitational collapse of the airway. Sleeping on a side as opposed to sleeping on the back is recommended as a treatment for sleep apnoea. It is because the gravitational component is smaller in the side position.

But the most important things to change one’s lifestyle. Losing weight, avoiding alcohol and tobacco and medicines like muscle relaxants help a lot. By many the snoring is vanished. Here a healthy food is very important. Try my metabolism based individual diet to reduce and maintain your weight.

Breasts

Breasts play an important role in sexual life as well as in infant-feeding.

Many young women are not satisfied with the size of their breasts. What is the reason for that?

During puberty every girl thinks it could have been better if she has big breasts. Breasts are also the external sex organs of a woman. The girls and young women consider big breasts are beautiful and attractive. But breasts have a unique place in a woman’s life because it also plays a major role in the beauty of the women, according to men.

During puberty many young women are not satisfied with the size of their breasts. But with increasing age women with small breasts are happy compared to women who have big breasts. The reason is women with big breasts get various problems including back pain and hanging breasts.

Does breastfeeding harm the beauty of the women?

No, it is a myth. Good food and lifestyle with enough exercises keep the breasts always beautiful. Many children and long breastfeeding has no adverse effects if you know what to do.

What about the artificial methods to increase the size of the breast?

There are several methods starting from silica gel pad and these are inserted inside the breasts. Breast tissues are very sensitive and so there are several problems. There are enough women to do this because of different reasons. As a clinical toxicologist I know the adverse health effects and risks also.

Have breasts any reproductive function?

Breasts have directly no reproductive functions. But it is the natural source of food for the infant. Look, a baby has to suck well to get the milk from the breast and it is good for the health of the baby. Bottle-fed babies need not suck and the milk comes automatically and it is not good for the baby.

Breasts are important in a pairs married life. They play a vital role in foreplay and in sex as a whole.