Dont Knock Alternatives For Neuropathy! You Never Know!

Today's short post from themighty.com (see link below) says a great deal in a short piece of text. it's true what she says: if nothing is helping, you'll end up trying just about anything to make life with neuropathy just that little bit easier and if that falls under the category of 'alternative' therapies or supplements then so be it - if it works...don't knock it. Now of course, you should get professional advice; especially if you have other conditions and take other medications but neuropathy is one of those diseases where the patient is at the forefront of the research because the research throughout the  decades just hasn't thrown up anything that truly works in reducing nerve pain for all. So millions of people across the world, are trying this, that and the other remedy because they've heard it benefits some people (this blog is full of them) but gradually, one or more supplements gain a widespread reputation of having an effect and the snowball rolls. (Always avoid anything with the word 'cure' on the label though - it's a lie!) Eventually the science catches up and proves or disproves the theory. It may be risky but neuropathy patients are dogged folk and god loves a trier!!
 

Why I Don't Roll My Eyes at Alternative Treatments Anymore
By Michele Kleinmann Contributor I write about Chronic Pain
 
I used to secretly (OK, sometimes not so secretly) roll my eyes at people who poured money into alternative therapies or swore by specific diets or vitamins. If there wasn’t robust medical literature to back something, I wasn’t buying it. That is, until I found myself buying miso soup on a 100-degree day for the potential benefits of seaweed on my neuropathic pain (as advised by my acupuncturist). Or until I found myself falling asleep every night to my pain relief hypnosis app. Or until I found myself calling the compounding pharmacist, who I’m on a first-name basis with, to ask whether he had any calf-liver pills. That must have been a sight — me standing on a busy street corner yelling into my phone, “C-A-L-F liver, like the cow.” Ultimately, I didn’t proceed with that one, but that’s beside the point.

The point is, I now understand that when you’re desperate for pain relief, you’ll try just about anything. That’s not to say that I don’t still immediately go to PubMed or “Doctor Google” to research whatever has been proposed to me (once a skeptic, always skeptic-ish), but I’m a whole lot more willing to try things. I don’t care if the relief I might find is only due to the placebo effect. The placebo effect can be powerful and, at this point, I say bring it on.

Moving forward, I will try my best to refrain from judging others’ regimens, however strange they may seem. I will instead hope that they are getting relief from whatever it is that plagues them. And I ask that next time you see me buying copious amounts of blueberry juice while on the phone with my acupuncturist, you do the same (hope I get relief, not buy blueberry juice).

https://themighty.com/2016/08/why-i-dont-judge-alternative-pain-relief-treatments-anymore/

Wonder Drugs For Neuropathy Dont Exist

Today's post from neuropathydr.com (see link below) is sage advice from Dr John Hayes jr regarding something we're all guilty of - looking for that one pill or treatment that will free us from those damned symptoms. It doesn't exist, so we should take his advice and look at all aspects of our health holistically and try to make improvements in all areas, rather than relying on the one pain killer, or alternative therapy, or exercise regime, none of which individually work. With the help of your doctor, you need to find the best drug treatment for your particular neuropathy and that means the one that reduces the symptoms to an 'able to live with' level. After that, we need to back this up by looking at our diet and life style to see if we can improve our overall condition and if need be, take advantage of the many supplements that exist (after doing your research and consulting your doctor). Then, looking at the possibilities of acupuncture, or massage or yoga techniques, or anything else that works for you, may help building up beneficial feelings both in body and mind. The point is that no single treatment is enough and what's more, you need more than a few weeks of any particular treatment (whether drug or therapy based) to see if it's beginning to work. If your doctor is unsympathetic, or doesn't take you seriously, then you need to take responsibility for your health yourself and do your research. As John Hayes says: "Become your own neuropathy treatment advocate!"

Stop Waiting for the One Magic Neuropathy “Trick” Posted by john on January 11, 2016
 
So what are the answers— real answers—to become a more informed neuropathy treatment consumer? Become your own neuropathy treatment advocate!

You don’t have to go far to find numerous ads and sales pages for some new magic health cure formula. Weight loss is perhaps is the best example.

Approach any serious underlying condition with curiosity, and uncover all the relative facts.

Nowhere else are there so many gimmicks, offers, and programs available for people who struggle with weight management. Of course, there are many other conditions that fall into this category.

Unfortunately, peripheral neuropathy is no exception. In fact, as I predicted back in 2009, this would be increasingly common, once people figured out good neuropathy treatment is actually possible.

As a reader of neuropathy-related health information you already understand that peripheral neuropathy and many forms of chronic pain have multiple underlying factors.

This makes them necessarily complex to evaluate and treat. This is also why looking for one simple magic formula, or pill to help cure your neuropathy problem is ineffective, at best—and dangerous, at worst.

So what are the answers— real answers—to become a more informed neuropathy treatment consumer? Become your own neuropathy treatment advocate!

You also find that this will make your doctor’s or therapist’s job of providing you an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment much easier.

In this day and age, it is not all uncommon to find patients who know more about an underlying condition than some physicians and therapists. In reality, this is a tremendous opportunity for you or a loved one with peripheral neuropathy who are seeking help.

When you approach any serious underlying condition with curiosity, and uncover all the relative facts, you’ll be far happier and ultimately much more satisfied with any at-home or in-clinic neuropathy treatment.

Join our growing Facebook community!

http://neuropathydr.com/stop-waiting-for-the-one-magic-neuropathy-trick/

WOMEN WITH Y CHROMOSOME DONT THINK LIKE MEN

Women born with a rare condition that gives them a Y chromosome don't only look like women physically, they also have the same brain responses to visual sexual stimuli, a new study shows.

The journal Hormones and Behavior published the results of the first brain imaging study of women with complete androgen insensitivity, or CAIS, led by psychologists at Emory.

"Our findings clearly rule out a direct effect of the Y chromosome in producing masculine patterns of response," says Kim Wallen, an Emory professor of psychology and behavioral neuroendocrinology. "It's further evidence that we need to revamp our thinking about what we mean by 'man' and 'woman.'"

Wallen conducted the research with Stephan Hamann, Emory professor of psychology, and graduate students in their labs. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and Indiana University also contributed to the study.

The Y chromosome was identified as the sex-determining chromosome in 1905. Females normally have an XX chromosome pair and males have an XY chromosome pair.

By the 1920s, biochemists also began intensively studying androgens and estrogens, chemical substances commonly referred to as "sex hormones." During pregnancy, the presence of a Y chromosome leads the fetus to produce testes. The testes then secrete androgens that stimulate the formation of a penis, scrotum and other male characteristics.

Women with CAIS are born with an XY chromosome pair. Because of the Y chromosome, the women have testes that remain hidden within their groins but they lack neural receptors for androgens so they cannot respond to the androgens that their testes produce. They can, however, respond to the estrogens that their testes produce so they develop physically as women and undergo a feminizing puberty. Since they do not have ovaries or a uterus and do not menstruate they cannot have children.

"Women with CAIS have androgen floating around in their brains but no receptors for it to connect to," Wallen says. "Essentially, they have this default female pattern and it's as though they were never exposed to androgen at all."

Wallen and Hamann are focused on teasing out neural differences between men and women. In a 2004 study, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural activity of typical men and typical women while they were viewing photos of people engaged in sexual activity.

The patterns were distinctively clear, Hamann says. "Men showed a lot more activity than women in two areas of the brain -- the amygdala, which is involved in emotion and motivation, and the hypothalamus which is involved in regulations of hormones and possibly sexual behavior."

For the most recent study, the researchers repeated the experiment while also including 13 women with CAIS in addition to women without CAIS and men.

"We didn't find any difference between the neural responses of women with CAIS and typical women, although they were both very different from those of the men in the study," Hamann says. "This result supports the theory that androgen is the key to a masculine response. And it further confirms that women with CAIS are typical women psychologically, as well as their physical phenotype, despite having a Y chromosome."

A limitation of the study is that it did not measure environmental effects on women with CAIS. "These women look the same as other women," Wallen explains. "They're reared as girls and they're treated as girls, so their whole developmental experience is feminized. We can't rule out that experience as a factor in their brain responses."

The findings may have broader applications in cognition and health. "Anything that we can learn about sex differences in the brain," Wallen says, "may help answer important questions such as why autism is more common in males and depression more common in females."

With Neuropathy Dont Let Your Body Fall Into A Disuse Syndrome

Today's short post from neuropathydr.com (see link below) is as good an argument for exercising if you have neuropathy as you'll find. One of the best reasons for exercising (however uncomfortable the idea feels) is that your muscles, joints and nervous system will degenerate through disuse. Especially as you get older and the pain and your lifestyle mean that your life by definition becomes more sedentary, it's important to keep as active as possible. If your neuropathy is affecting more parts of your body than just your feet and legs (autonomic neuropathy) then it's vital to keep moving in some way or other, so that the organs, muscles and joints still have something to work for. The article is short but makes the point very clearly. Well worth a read.

Disuse Syndrome
Posted by john on February 13, 2017

In our last post, we discussed how exercise can help control the symptoms of your underlying illness (whatever caused your autonomic neuropathy). Today we’re going to discuss the effects of not exercising, which are called disuse syndrome.

Use Vs. Disuse

When you’re thinking about starting an exercise program and you’re thinking about how dangerous it can be, you also need to consider the effects of not starting an exercise program.

The effects of not exercising are called disuse syndrome. If your level of activity seriously out of sync with your level of inactivity, you can develop:

• Decreased physical work capacity

• Muscle atrophy

• Negative nitrogen and protein balance

• Cardiovascular deconditioning

• Pulmonary restrictions

• Depression

The effects of any of these symptoms of disuse syndrome in combination with your autonomic neuropathy symptoms can make a bad situation even worse.

The very nature of your autonomic neuropathy can affect the systems that are most sensitive to the effects of exercise. Any exercise program you begin should be designed and monitored by a medical professional well versed in the effects of autonomic neuropathy, like your NeuropathyDR® clinician.

Autonomic neuropathy can have a serious effect on the very systems in the body that are directly affected by exercise. Make sure you talk to your healthcare provider before you start an exercise program and let them monitor your progress.

For more information on coping with neuropathy, get your Free E-Book and subscription to our newsletters at http://neuropathydr.com.

http://neuropathydr.com/disuse-syndrome/

DONT DRINK THE WARM WATER

Americans can take a warning from a University of Florida study of bottled water in China ─ don’t drink the liquid if you’ve left it somewhere warm for a long time.

Plastic water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate. When heated, the material releases the chemicals antimony and bisphenol A, commonly called BPA.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said BPA is not a major concern at low levels found in beverage containers, it continues to study the chemical’s impacts. Some health officials, including those at the Mayo Clinic, say the chemical can cause negative effects on children’s health.

And antimony is considered a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization.

UF soil and water science professor Lena Ma led a research team that studied chemicals released in 16 brands of bottled water kept at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for four weeks, what researchers deemed a “worst-case scenario” for human consumption.

Of the 16 brands, only one exceeded the EPA standard for antimony and BPA. Based on the study, storage at warm temperatures would seem to not be a big problem, Ma said. But she said more research is needed to know if other brands are safe.

Ma’s study found that as bottles warmed over the four-week period, antimony and BPA levels increased.

“If you store the water long enough, there may be a concern,” said Ma, an Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty member who has a research program at Nanjing University in China.

The UF scientist warned against leaving bottled water in a hot garage for weeks on end or in your car all day during the summer.

Because of what Ma calls cultural differences and because Chinese citizens have less faith in their tap water, some leave bottled water in their car trunks for weeks. China consumed 9.6 billion gallons of bottled water in 2011, making that country the commodity’s largest market.

By comparison, Americans drank 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water that year, according to the International Bottled Water Association. While most Americans don’t store bottled water in their cars for extended periods, they often keep it there for a day or two. Drinking that water occasionally won’t be dangerous, but doing so regularly could cause health issues, she said. And it’s not just water containers that merit more study, Ma said.

“More attention should be given to other drinks packaged with polyethylene terephthalate plastic, such as milk, coffee and acidic juice,” she said. “We only tested the pure water. If it is acidic juice, the story may be different.”

Although not part of the study, Ma touts tap water over bottled water. Both are regulated by the federal government, tap by the EPA and bottled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The study is published in this month’s edition of the journal Environmental Pollution.

Dont believe all you read!

Don't you just get tired of clicking on links hoping for information to help your condition and finding that most of them are linked to commercial products, books or services? I don't mind the ones with the flashing lights, Vegas dancers and lurid fonts...at least you can click straight away in disgust but the ones that really get under my skin are the ones which pretend to be kosher. Usually looking like real medical, or research websites, backed up by doctors and specialists and going into great detail about the condition when in fact all they want to do is lighten the weight of your wallet by selling you something!
Just be careful is all I'm saying, some of these sites are really clever in getting you to 'sign up'. This sort of spam is even more insidious than normal because it takes advantage of people who are looking for help.