Herpes Virus: HSV1 causes cold sores. It spreads by direct contact with fluids of a cold sore or skin eruption from someone who carries the virus. HSV2 genital herpes, is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a strain of the herpes simplex virus.

This virus enters the body through small cuts in the skin or mucous membranes.

Pregnant women can also pass this virus to their babies during vaginal delivery. Both men and women can become infected. The condition requires careful management. Once an individual is infected by the virus it remains in the body, usually dormant, until some other factor such as stress, sun, infection, or weak immunity, triggers an outbreak.

Experts do not know exactly what causes the virus to lie dormant for long periods and then abruptly awake. Many think that a weakened immune system is the cause. Therefore, it would be wise for you to keep your immune system strong and under control with a well-rounded diet, lots of rest and relaxation, and regular exercise. This program below assists in acute outbreaks and long term care for HSV1 and HSV2.  Read more...

Alternative medicines are healing therapies such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, ayurvedic medicine, bodywork, chiropractic, Dietary improvements, energy therapies, herbal therapy, homeopathy, naturopathic medicine, mind-body therapies, massage therapy, traditional Chinese medicine and yoga. All of these practices are diverse in belief or structure but have one thing in common: they are used for medical intervention, to promote good health, and to prevent disease.

There are other things that alternative medicines have in common. All of these practices are not considered to be a part of conventional, traditional Western medicine. There are some basic belief’s that they all adhere to including that they are all focused on the ability of the body to heal itself, are natural methods that do not rely on prescription drugs, or surgery and do not require any of the traditional medical procedures to be applied in order to bring about healing of the body. Alternative medicine seeks to look for the underlying cause of a symptom or illness by exploring the whole person including the mind, body, emotions, and sprit in order to heal the entire person.  Read more...

Never heard the term, “homeopathy”? Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine that is based on the thesis that a person who is ill can be treated by a substance that if given to a healthy individual would make that person ill with the same symtpoms that the person who is ill is suffering from. The physical and psychological state of the patient is considered when deciding on a treatment.

A detailed examination is how homeopathy begins. This examination includes a physical, mental and emotional state assessment. A formula of symptoms is then formed including body type, predispositions, likes and dislikes. Drugs are matched from these symptoms to the drugs in the homeopathic materia medica.

There are two types of homeopathy, the “Classical” and the “clinical”.

The symptoms and the corresponding drugs designed are what make the choice of remedy the correct one for the particular patient. The homeopathic practitioner relies on the Materia medicae and the repertories. the homeopathic Materia medica is a collection of drug pictures that have been sorted by remedy and describes the symptoms they coorelate to. the homeopathic repertories are indexes of disease symptoms and a list of remedies for each specific symptom.  Read more...

Thyroid hormone is used either to replicate the function of a thyroid that is not functioning properly or to prevent further growth of thyroid tissue. These therapies are called replacement therapy and suppression therapy respectively.

Thyroid treatment for hormone replacement is required in cases where the thyroid does not produce enough hormones for healthy functioning of the body organs. This condition is known as hypothyroidism. In such cases the goal of thyroid medications is to replace hormones and this can be in shape of either synthetic hormone pills or natural hormones.

Replacement therapy is entirely different from taking medication and proper care has to be taken with regard to the dosage. Any increase in thyroid hormone can cause an excess supply resulting in hyperthyroidism, which in turn brings its own set of symptoms and problems.

Alternative thyroid treatments for hormone replacement include hormones derived from pigs and natural products. There is an ongoing debate between the proponents of conventional therapies and those fighting the case for natural therapies with regard to all treatments, and hypothyroidism is no exception. Whereas conventional medicine refutes the efficacy of such hormone pills prescribed as part of natural thyroid medication,the naturopaths highlight the strong and dangerous side effects of synthetic medications.  Read more...

Even though the prescribed medications help in providing relief from the symptoms of ADD, child ADHD treatment is not complete until you consider and include various kinds of natural treatments in the overall scheme of cures. A holistic approach is likely to benefit your child to a much larger extent teaching adaptive techniques along with alleviating the symptoms of ADD. Although natural treatment for ADD, include therapy, lifestyle homeopathy and mind-body techniques, nutrition management is one of the most accepted and well-researched ADD treatment being used today. This helps in augmenting and complementing the prescribed medication without really interfering in the process.

This nutritional alternate therapy comes in handy especially with children who are at a higher risk to exhibit side effects due to prescribed medication. There are two aspects of this nutrition management – diet restriction and supplementation. In an observation study conducted as early as 1975, it was shown that a large proportion of children showed signs of improvement in symptoms of ADD when artificial food coloring and flavors along with naturally occurring salicylates were eliminated from their diet. In a recent clinical, children were administered a placaebo and tartrazine and their behaviors were observed over time. It was noted that when children were given tartrazine, about 50% of them showed signs of irritation and restlessness.  Read more...

Do you or someone you know suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? There are many names used to describe this syndrome including immune dysfunction syndrome, CFIDS, CFS, and Myalgic encephalomyelitis.

What makes this syndrome difficult to treat is that it involves the brain and also multiple body systems and is an incapacitating fatigue that lasts for six months or longer. This is why many turn to alternative medicine when conventional medicine fails to relieve all the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Typical symptoms that may be relieved by alternative medicine are allergies or sensitivities to food, bloating, brain fogginess, dizziness, chronic cough, headaches, irregular heartbeat or heart palpitations, jaw pain, muscle pain, tender lymph nodes of the underarms or neck, sore throat, and a severe fatigue that is chronic.

Despite the fact that the exact cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not known it is suspected that viral infections, immune dysfunction, or hormone imbalances may be involved and not knowing the exact cause does not stop alternative medicine from being able to relieve the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. Another reason individuals seek alternative medicine when diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome is that there are no conventional treatments for this syndrome that have been effective.  Read more...

Complementary and alternative medicine practices are the terms used for products and practices that are not part of traditional standard care offered through Western medicine. Standard care is defined as wide medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy and allied health professionals consider good practice. Alternative medicine practices are treatments that can be used instead of standard practices and complementary medicine is nonstandard treatments that are used alongside of, or in adjunct to, standard medical practices.

Commonly these alternative medical practices are untested using clinical trials. There may be case study information available by its these case studies do not control for variables making the application of the practice more hit and miss. Because pharmaceutical companies provide the majority of the financial backing for clinical research, and because most alternative and complementary medicine practices do not involve the purchase of pharmaceutical drugs, these companies do not have a financial stake in supporting million-dollar research programs to demonstrate that products freely available in a health food store will perform as claimed.  Read more...