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Acne Medicine

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Acne is a combined term that is used to describe a number of skin conditions, like blackheads, blemishes, lumps, and whiteheads. Teenagers and adults can have acne. Stress, hormonal activity, bacteria, steroids, and overactive glands can cause acne.

The various forms of acne are:

Blackheads due to melanin pigment

Whiteheads due to the bacteria inside a blocked pore

Papules are tiny, tender and red spots.

Pustules are red spots filled with pus, and inflamed.

Nodules are bumps under the skin which are large and hard.

Cysts are nodules accompanied by severe inflammation and infection.

The different types of acne include:

ACNE VULGARIS: is a chronic inflammatory condition wherein fluid (sebum) is created by overactive oil and sweat glands.

ACNE ROSEACA: is similar to acne vulgaris, but people also experience skin flushing and a general redness of the area. Sufferers should avoid spicy food and alcohol.

ACNE COSMETICA: is due to the prolonged use of cosmetics, especially those containing isopropyl myristate or greasy ingredients such as lanolin. The best treatment is to stop using the cosmetic causing the acne.

ACNE EXCORIEE: is caused when the skin is damaged by the fingernails and unable to heal due to persistent scratching, which leaves a broad, shallow scar.

CYSTIC ACNE: Cystic acne usually occurs in males. It generally persists beyond 20 years of age and may lead to permanent scarring. This type of Acne can be medically treated with a specialists advice.

OCCUPATIONAL ACNE: This is a common condition suffered by motor mechanics who are frequently exposed to oils and grease.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Changes of climate can cause acne, particularly when one moves to a warm climate from a cool one. This is because warm skin releases more oils and sweat, to keep the body cool. One should use a light moisturizer and cleanse the skin regularly.

Alexandria Alternative Medicine Practitioners

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Traditional practitioners commonly treat pain and other ailments. However, Alexandria alternative medicine practitioners offer more choices for the individual who wishes to take a different path toward wellness. Among the alternatives offered for medical treatments are acupuncture, acupressure, massage, bodywork and therapeutic massage.

Acupuncture is a Chinese medicine practice used to relieve pain. It is alternately used for therapeutic purposes. The procedure consists of inserting thin, disposable, stainless steel needles into specific points of the body in a near-painless experience. The needles are then manipulated to control what is known as “qi” or blood flow. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on treating “patterns of disharmony” instead of biomedical treatments.

Acupressure, on the other hand, can be thought of as a mixture of acupuncture and pressure together. It is another alternative medical technique that is derived from acupuncture, only physical pressure is applied to the points in the body that would normally be treated with needles during acupuncture. In acupressure, these areas are called, “acupoints.”

The practice of acupressure is controversial, as are most alternative treatments. However, many people report to have benefited from the practice.

Massage or massage therapy is another alternative medicine treatment that is used to treat stress, headaches, muscle aches and other pains, as well as for total relaxation. It is also used to alleviate lower back pain, which helps improve range of motion. Pregnant women often use massage therapy to help them during labor to have easier experiences. It also serves the purpose of helping to ease the dependence on addictive medications. The motion of massage therapy is said to enhance immunity by positively affecting the lymph flow. It has also been used to help athletes recover from injuries.

Massage therapy has also been known to help people who suffer from depression and anxiety as well as migraine headaches.

Bodywork is a therapeutic treatment that focuses on manipulating the energy fields that are associated with the body. The therapys practitioners hold the view that a lot of health conditions result from issues with the physical aspects of ones body such as tight muscles, tension or a blockage of some times. Types of bodywork include Rolfing, lymph massage, Shiatsu, lomi-lomi and other deep tissue massage techniques. This method of treatment is being used more and more in mainstream sports medicine.

Therapeutic massage is used in the same way as bodywork, but does not always include deep tissue massage. It is used to treat tension, anxiety, stress and any number of other ailments. While used in some mainstream practices, therapeutic massage is ultimately considered an alternative medicine practice.

STANDARDIZATION OF HERBAL MEDICINE

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STANDARDIZATION OF HERBAL MEDICINE

Herb is a plant that is valued for flavor, scent, or other qualities. Herbs are used in cooking, as medicines, and for spiritual purpose. Medicinal plants, herbs, spices and herbal remedies are known to Ayurveda in India since long times. The value of medicinal plants, herbs and spices as herbal remedies is being lost due to lack of awareness, and deforestation. The result is many valuable medicinal herbs are becoming rare and precious information is lost. Less pollution we make, more ecological balance we maintain, will add to happiness of humankind. Preserve the knowledge of medicinal plants, herbs, spices and herbal remedies, which humankind has received from the past generations, for posterity. Infusions are steeping herbs or spices, with parts like leaves and flowers with boiling water for some time. Filtered or unfiltered use this water extracts of spices as herbal remedies. Decoction is boiling roots, bark and hard parts of herbs and spices with water for along time. Infusion and decoction both are known as herbal teas. Some times essential oil of herbs and spices are also used as herbal remedies. Action of herbal remedies may vary from human to human and care should be observed in using it. Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual usage. Culinary herbs Culinary use of the term “herb” typically distinguishes between herbs, from the leafy green parts of a plant, and spices, from other parts of the plant, including seeds, berries, bark, root, fruit, and even occasionally dried leaves or roots. Medicinal herbs Plants contain phytochemicals that have effects on the body.. For instance, some types of herbal extract, such as the extract of St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum) or of kava (Piper methysticum) can be used for medical purposes to relieve depression and stress Sacred herbs Herbs are used in many religions – such as in Christianity myrrh and frankincense which was used to honor kings. In Hinduism a form of Basil called Tulsi is worshipped as a goddess for its medicinal value since the Vedic times. Pest control Herbs are also known amongst gardeners to be useful for pest control. Mint, Spearmint, Peppermint, and Pennyroyal are a few of such herbs

INTRODUCTION ON HERBAL STANDARDIZATION

Standardized Herbal Drug: It means the manufacturer has verified that the active ingredient believed to be present in the herb is present in the preparation and that the potency and the amount of active ingredient are assured in the preparation.

The Herbal Standardization Process

Over the past years, recognized world authorities on botanical alternative medicine have defined, and established, specific standards of excellence for herbal extracts. Most importantly, we should standardize for the individual key compounds which have been empirically and scientifically proven to be the most advantageous for the human system.Our standardization process should guarantee a consistent and appropriate level of each plant’s medicinal elements within each of the product formulations we sell.

Standardization Standardization of herbal products is a controversial issue. On one hand, herbalists sometimes feel that highly purified and standardized extracts don’t genuinely represent all the best qualities of herbs and can sometimes lead to safety issues, especially when they are highly concentrated and purified. On the other hand, when herbs are harvested and shipped overseas to faraway places and then made into commercial products such as capsules or tablets, it is very difficult to follow what happens to those herbs along the way. For instance, how long ago were those herbs harvested, how long they have been stored in the warehouse, and what adverse environmental conditions such as excessive heat could have contributed to the degradation in the quality of the herbs.

Modern Testing Today, we have highly sensitive analytical equipment such as high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) to ensure proper identification, levels of active constituents, and purity of the finished product. This can be accomplished without materially altering the internal balance of the original herb. Many modern standardized products today do follow a philosophy that takes the whole plant as the best standard for quality, not isolated and purified individual constituents, though these types of products also are sold. Look at the label, and if you see products where the active constituent is 40 or 50%, even up to 80% of the total weights of the product, then you have a highly purified standardized extract. Need of Standardizations In the global perspective, there is a shift towards the use of medicine of herbal origin. As the dangers and the shortcoming of modern medicine have started getting more apparent, majority of Ayurvedic formulation are prepared from herbs. It is the cardinal responsibility of the regulatory authorities to ensure that the consumers get the medication, which guarantee purity, safety, potency and efficacy. Herbal product has been enjoying renaissance among the customers throughout the world. However, one of the impediments in the acceptance of the Ayurvedic formulation is the lack of standard quality control profile. The quality of herbal medicine i.e. the profile of the constituents in the final product has implication in efficacy and safety. Standardization and Quality Control of Herbal Crude Drugs

According to WHO, it is the process involving the physicochemical evaluation of crude drug covering the aspects, as selection and handling of crude material, safety, efficacy and stability assessment of finished product, documentation of safety and risk based on experience, provision of product information to consumer and product promotion.

?Macro and Microscopic Examination: For Identification of right variety and search of adulterants. ?Foreign Organic Matter: Remove of matter other than source plant to get the drug in pure form. ?Ash Values: It is criteria to judge the identity and purity of crude drug – Total ash, sulfated ash, water soluble ash and acid insoluble ash etc. ?Moisture Content: To check moisture content helps prevent degradation of product. ?Extractive Values: These are indicating the approximate measure of chemical constituents of crude drug. ?Crude Fiber: To determine excessive woody material Criteria for judging purity. ?Qualitative Chemical Evaluation: It covers identification and characterization of crude drug with respect to phytochemical Constituent. ?Chromatographic Examination: Include identification of crude drug based on use of major chemical constituent as marker. ?Qualitative Chemical Evaluation: Criteria to estimate amount the major class of constituents. ?Toxicological Studies: Pesticide residue, potentially toxic elements, and Microbial count approach to minimize their effect in final product.

Physical evaluation: Each monograph contains detailed botanical, macroscopic and microscopic descriptions of the physical characteristics of each plant that can be used to insure both identity and purity.

Microscopic evaluation Full and accurate characterization of plant material requires a combination of physical and chemical tests. Microscopic analyses of plants are invaluable for assuring the identity of the material and as an initial screening test for impurities. Most manufacturers of herbal products lack the quality control personnel to accurately assess plant identity and purity microscopically. Ideally, submitted materials should be in their whole or semi-whole form for microscopic assessments.

Chemical evaluation A chemical method for evaluation covers the isolation, identification and purification. The chemical tests include colour reaction test, these tests help to determine the identity of the drug substance and possible adulteration.

Biological evaluation Pharmacological activity of certain drugs has been applied to evaluate and standardize them. The assays on living animal and on their intact or isolated organs can indicate the strength of the drug or their preparations. All living organism are used, these assays are known as Biological assays or Bioassay.

Analytical Methods Critical to compliance with any monograph standard is the need for appropriate analytical methods for determining identity, quality, and relative potency. There are a plethora of analytical methods available. However, it is often difficult to know which is the most appropriate to use.

Chromatographic Characterization

Chromatography Chromatography is the science which is studies the separation of molecules based on differences in their structure, composition. Chromatographic separations can be carried out using a variety of supports, including immobilized silica on glass plates (thin layer chromatography), very sensitive High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC), volatile gases (gas chromatography), paper (paper chromatography), and liquids which may incorporate hydrophilic, insoluble molecules (liquid chromatography).

Purity Determination Each monograph includes standards of purity and other qualitative assessments which include when appropriate: foreign matter, ash, acid-insoluble ash, moisture content, loss of moisture on drying, and extractives.

Quantitative Analysis The primary goal of the method is to provide validated methods to be used for the quantization of the compound most correlated with pharmacological activity or qualitative markers as determined by the primary pharmacological literature, constituent declaration in product labeling, and a survey of experts.. In this context, validation consists minimally of a two-lab validation using the same procedures, samples, and reference standards. Primary factors for considering a method as appropriate include accuracy of the findings, speed, basic ruggedness, applicability to a large segment of the manufacturing community, and avoidance of the use of toxic reagents and solvents. In an attempt to promote harmonization, primary consideration is given to those methods which are already accepted in official pharmacopoeias. When necessary, comparative tests shall be conducted to determine which of the available method is most appropriate. The validation process minimally includes: standard precision, linearity, sample precision using replicate samples, sample linearity, selectivity , retention times, and limits of detection..

Difference between a herbal extract and standardized herbal extract “Herbal extract” is sometimes also referred to as a tincture, or liquid herbal extract. This is a preparation where a whole herb is steeped in alcohol, water or a combination. A “standardized herbal extract” is a measurable marker substance that is extracted from the herb. This marker may be an active ingredient, or just one that is easily determined, but often, it is a compound that has been used in scientific research.

HPTLC ANALYSIS ON HERBS HPTLC is the most simple separation technique today available to the analyst. HPTLC is a qualitative tool for separation of simple mixtures where speed, low cost and simplicity are required and it is also a tool for quantitative analysis . High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography for the analysis of medicinal plants presents the theoretical and technical information needed to perform reliable and reproducible results in order to establish the identity, purity, quality, and stability of raw materials, extracts, and finished botanical products.

Major features High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) is valuable quality assessment tool for the evaluation of botanical materials. It allows for the analysis of a broad number of compounds both efficiently and cost effectively. Additionally, numerous samples can be run in a single analysis thereby dramatically reducing analytical time. With HPTLC, the same analysis can be viewed using different wavelengths of light thereby providing a more complete profile of the plant than is typically observed with more specific types of analyses.

APPLICATIONS OF SPECTROFLUORIMETRY ON HERBS When a beam of light is incident on certain substances, they emit visible light or radiations. This phenomenon is known as fluorescence. In fluorescence measurement two wavelengths are involved i.e. the excitation wavelength (?ex) and emission wavelength (?em).The fluorescence phenomenon involves the absorption of excitation radiation by molecule which then loses energy by internal conversion processes, before emitting a photon of radiation at lower energy. The excitation wavelength maximum (?ex) is lower than the wavelength of maximum fluorescence emission (?em) Advantage High Sensitivity Substances that are reasonably fluorescent in the herbals like flavonoids, tannins, steroids, etc. may be determined at concentrations up to 1000 times lower than those required for absorption spectrophotometry.

Selectivity The facility to vary independently the wavelength of excitation and the wavelength of fluorescence allow the analyst to select the optimum combination of wavelength for the analyte and to reduce interference from other fluorescing species in the sample.

Cancer Treatment With Alternative Medicine

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People suffering from any type cancer may be breast cancer or lung cancer and even prostate cancer or colon cancer highly depend on traditional cancer treatments namely radiology or chemotherapy. But many search for other solutions like various forms of complementary and alternative cancer treatments to relief them from pain. There are few alternative cancer medicines that are safe and provide benefits as well to cope up with various signs and symptoms that are brought about by cancer. The very common symptoms of cancer are anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, pain, stress and vomiting.

Patients must use alternative cancer medicines as an add-on to cancer that he is getting from doctors. But such treatment cannot be used as a replacement treatment.

Cancer alternative treatment include strict diets as well as the macrobiotic diet, nutritional supplements, bio-electromagnetics, mind-body interventions and even acupuncture that helps greatly in reducing nausea or pain. Other types of alternative cancer treatment are massages, meditation and even aromatherapy with taking additional supplement of vitamin and mineral to help enhance the efficiency of the particular traditional treatment undertaken by a patient.

Today, people are seen to combine traditional treatments with the usual alternative cancer treatment based on the severity of the cancer and its types. It is highly recommended to take active advice of medical practitioner before partaking alternative cancer treatment to fight cancer.

Another effective alternative cancer treatment is to use “laetrile”, a substance available in some fruits that can provide relief from few cancer symptoms or after effects of painful chemotherapy and radiology.

An effective cancer alternative treatment involves the active use of shark cartilage. The hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a very effective treatment method that involves the use of high pressure oxygen that is available in such atmosphere of the earth which is much higher than sea level.

Some of the alternative cancer treatments are not proven and you might be requested to volunteer in a clinical trial by your doctor to test the side effects and its efficiency. You should never hesitate thinking negatively that it would make you feel worse as you could even feel much better by adapting to such treatment techniques.

Plant Medicine Helps Body Destroy The Molluscum Virus Fast

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Molluscum contagiosum is a skin infection that causes small pearly or flesh-colored bumps. The bumps may be clear, and the center often is indented. The infection is caused by a virus. The virus is easily spread but is not harmful. Symptoms of molluscum contagiosum include bumps that are most often found on the trunk, face, eyelids, or genital area in temperate climates and on extremities in the tropics. In children, bumps usually appear on the trunk, face, and arms. In sexually active teens and young adults, the bumps are usually located in the genital area.
Bumps usually go away on their own in two to four months, although they may last longer. Bumps may develop along with eczema, and you may not notice them as much as the eczema. Molluscum contagiosum in people who have an impaired immune system, such as HIV infection, can be more serious. The bumps are widespread and can mimic other serious diseases of people with HIV infection. Conditions that may appear similar to molluscum contagiosum include warts, chickenpox, genital warts, basal cell skin cancer, and lichen planus.
Molluscum contagiosum is usually diagnosed during a physical exam. If you have bumps in your genital area, your doctor may check for other sexually transmitted diseases, such as genital herpes. Some doctors may consider testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) if you are at risk for the condition and you have bumps on your face or other symptoms of a severe case of molluscum contagiosum. A biopsy may be done if the diagnosis is unclear and other conditions are suspected.
Treatment for molluscum contagiosum is not always needed because most bumps will go away within two to four months, although they may last longer. But if bumps are visible or embarrassing, or in order to prevent their spread, you may want them removed. Removal or other treatment is recommended for bumps in the genital area. Treatment varies depending on your age and health and the location of the bumps. There has been little research on how well any of the treatments work or how they compare to each other.
You apply the nonprescription medicine, such as salicylic acid, directly to the bumps. It is usually not painful and is often regarded as the first treatment to try. Immunotherapy triggers your immune system to fight the virus causing the skin growth. Imiquimod is applied three times a week, left on the skin for six to ten hours, and washed off. A course may last from four to sixteen weeks. Small studies have shown that it is successful about eighty percent of the time.
Manual extrusion means that the viral material is removed by squeezing the bumps with fingers or a forceps. This is done carefully by a doctor to avoid scarring and keep the infection from spreading. Curettage means that the viral material in the center of the bump is scraped out. A local or topical anesthetic can be used to numb the area. A small scraping instrument called a curette is used to quickly remove the bumps. This procedure may cause scarring.
Your doctor may apply a chemical to the bumps. This destroys the top layers of the skin, allowing a new layer to form. When the chemical is applied, you may feel a burning sensation. Side effects may include mild scarring. Home treatment for molluscum contagiosum involves taking care of the bumps if they have been treated and preventing them from spreading to other parts of your body or to others. If the bumps have been treated, it is important to keep the area clean and protected.
For recent years, plant medicine is considered to be very important because of the unique advantage in the treatment of molluscum. It is natural and does not have significant toxicity and side effects. Plant medicines, just as the name imply, are bulk drugs and preparations that take plant primary metabolites such as protein and amylose and secondary metabolites such as alkaloid, phenols and terpene as active ingredient. It plays a dominant role in natural drugs.
It is clear that chemical drugs can cause serious harm to the body at the time of dealing with animal diseases. The toxicity issue of chemical drugs is an increasing concern. While, natural drugs are not for destroying enemy but for mobilizing autologous tissue or self-recovery capability. Additionally, natural drugs have an effect to improve effect and decrease toxicity by compatibility of medicines and reduce side effect further. To learn more, please go to http://www.naturespharma.org.