Will crystals really heal?

The better we understand the properties of crystals and the way they work with our bodies, the more effective becomes the healing. Simply picking up a crystal and wearing it for a purpose without cleansing or energizing may not help, and simply rejecting a crystal or gemstone may be due to lack of knowledge.

Here are a few tips which may help

If someone recommends a crystal or gemstone to you, find out why it's been recommended. The more you know, the better and faster is the healing. Simply wearing a pearl because your mom's astrologer told you to, may soothe the anxiety and the anger but when you understand how it may be connected with the placement of the Moon on your natal chart and realize just how it may be strengthening the lunar energies, may yield more effective results.

Don't wear a crystal the minute you buy it, cleanse it thoroughly. Cleansing can range from soaking it overnight in unboiled milk, salt water or running water etc. Find out from the seller, your crystal healer or astrologer how to remove the energies and imprints from the crystal before you wear it.

Do get it energized by a healer or astrologer, who may use hands on healing, a mantra or some other form of programming. This will allow the crystal or gem to work exclusively for you.

Do trust your gut feel about the crystal, if it feels right, it’s working. If it feels heavy, dense or makes you feel uncomfortable remove it. Share your concerns with your healer.

Do not get distressed if your crystal or gem falls off, cracks, breaks or gets lost. Many crystal healers believe its work done.

If you find your crystal pendant or bracelet is bringing in positive results don’t think that by wearing earrings, rings, necklaces of the same stone at the same time will amplify the positivity. You may be overdosing yourself and remember too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

Melanocyte transplant for leucoderma

Finally, those suffering from leucoderma aka vitiligo (white patches on skin) have an answer to their problem. They can undergo the melanocyte transplant (which has been available for the last 10 years) at a Bangalore Clinic. Patients with large patches of leucoderma, which were thought to be incurable, can look forward to getting the normal skin colour.

According to Dr Vivekanand, cosmetic surgeon, “Many patients waste their money on alternate unapproved treatments. They try them to get rid of patches but get disappointed instead when they see no results. There is a notion that allopathy has no cure for lecoderma.”

“In melanocyte transplant, a thin sample of skin is taken from the thigh and a melanocyte cell suspension is developed from this piece. The affected area (white patches) is then dermabraded to remove the upper layer of skin and the cell suspension is applied onto the white patches. Unlike older treatments like skin grafting or punch grafting, with melanocyte transplant, you can get better cosmetic skin colour that matches the surrounding skin. This procedure does not require hospitalisation, and a small donor area of the skin is required to treat large areas of white patches. Thus, this treatment provides a safe and effective solution for leucoderma,” explains Dr Vivekanand.

Acne with rosy cheeks

I’ve had acne since I was a teenager. Of late, my face always appears pink and looks like I’ve applied blush. This is quite embarrassing.
— Madhuri, 45 years

You have an adult acne condition called acne rosacea. When exposed to certain triggers like the sun, a hot bath or anger, there is a sudden increase in blood flowing through the blood vessels under the skin. This causes the blood vessels to become wider, leading to your flushed appearance. Your skin may become sensitive and react to simple products such as lotions and soaps. If untreated, rosacea may lead to rhinophyma, which causes the nose to look enlarged, red and bumpy. With rosacea, you need to opt for medical help as this type of acne may not respond well to over-the-counter products.

My back has large painful boils and scars. I feel ashamed and have not gone swimming for the past two years. I can’t go shirtless even at home.
Eshwar, 37 years

Acne on the back takes several forms, such as blackheads, red pus-filled boils, nodules and cysts, which are painful and form deep under the skin’s surface. These breakouts are usually triggered by excessive perspiration and friction on the back due to tight-fitting clothes that constantly brush against the skin. Back acne tends to be more severe than that on the face. This may be either due to improper skin care as the back is not very easily accessible to cleaning or due to the fact that treatment is usually delayed as it is not an exposed area. So, apart from taking timely medical help, it is important to wear loose-fitting cotton clothes, take two showers daily and use dusting powder liberally to absorb excess perspiration.

Remedies for Scalp infections

Come winter and there is an increase in body infections. Trichologist Dr Shahid Shamsher talks about three basic precautions to help prevent scalp infections from developing during this season.

Don’t keep touching your head.

Some people have an itchy scalp or get small pimples on the head, making them want to scratch it again and again. Others feel like constantly fingercombing their hair. Most of us perform these actions automatically, but our hands are a source of bacteria and viruses. For example, when you hold a pen, touch a keyboard or shake hands with someone, your hands get contaminated. Each time you touch your head, you transfer that contamination to the scalp. We wash our hands several times a day. But how often do we wash our heads?

Don’t share certain things.

Combs, pillow covers, helmets and hair bands are objects that have contact with your scalp. If they are contaminated, they easily transfer the infection to your scalp. This is especially true of people who stay in the same house. Frequent travellers face a similar problem. Even the best hotels fall short on hygienic. There was a sting operation carried out by a popular news channel that showed high amounts of fungal growth on pillow covers and beddings at some top-notch hotels in India.

Stay hygienic

Because of the cold weather, many people stop washing their heads. This is especially true of those who need to leave their homes early in the morning. While it’s understandable that there are genuine concerns about catching a cold in this weather, some level of hygiene has to be maintained. Last week, I met a patient who preferred to wash his head once a month. This is totally unhygienic. Washing the scalp at a different time of day.

Homeopathy cures diseases naturally

We are not just the sum, but also the substance of all our parts. Every part of the body, directly or indirectly, affects the other in health and disease. Homeopathy has always recognised the relationship that exists between the mind and body. It, therefore, focuses its healing powers on the patient’s mental state, even while treating physical problems. Peptic ulcers are evidenced to be perpetrated by stress. Homeopathy treats the root cause (stress). In doing so, it reduces the chances of reappearance. Health is a state of inner balance. Homeopathy is evidently more effective in treating psychosomatic (mind-body) diseases compared to any other system of medicine.

The following chronology provides a classical illustration of disease progression in many patients. As you will see, each disease is distinct or unrelated. The correlation becomes clear when the evolution of the entire picture of the disease is considered.

Patients with bouts of sneezing (allergic rhinitis) are often treated with anti-histamines by conventional physicians. As the allergic state worsens, they may develop bronchitis and even breathlessness. They now seek the advice of chest specialists who may put them on antibiotics, bronchodilators and inhalers. Also, in view of their inherent allergic tendencies, allergies often manifest in these patients in various forms. They are usually treated with steroids. This may trigger weight gain and/or diabetes. A diabetologist may now come into the picture. Besides, with every complication, depending upon the body part involved, the patient may consult specialist dermatologists, cardiologists, ophthalmologists, urologists and neurologists. Each of them will have a drug or two to add, so the patient eventually ends up taking 5-10 medicines every day. This heightens the risk of side-effects or druginduced diseases. Does this not imply that if homeopathic medicines, a safer alternative, were used in the beginning, unpleasant effects could have been possibly avoided and complications nipped in the bud?

Homeopathy has rightfully earned the reputation of being a holistic medical system. It endeavours to rid diseases from their roots, naturally and safely. Its biggest advantage is that it is a single remedy treats a patient’s symptoms on the whole, irrespective of the number of organs or systems involved.

DIY: Cleanse your home

Ever got that spooky or uncomforting feeling when you enter a house? Well it may not exactly be a stray ghost trying to freak you out. But there is certainly a possibility that the house is filled with negative energy. Here are five simple things that you can do to keep your home safe from all the worldly negativity and retain it as a haven of peace and love.

SMELL THE FLOWERS

Try and make it a habit to gift beautiful, fresh flowers to your home every day. Your home deserves some pampering too to keep it looking cheerful and happy. The flowers bring good luck and positive energy with it. So it helps in maintaining an air of freshness in your home. And don’t forget to throw it out when it wilts. A rotting flower is not exactly a great eye pleaser.

MOVE YOUR FURNITURE

At least once every month! Well, just like your body, the furniture need some change too. Plus keeping it in the same place for too long will result in static energy, which eventually results in a feeling of stagnancy in your home.

REMOVE THE EVIL EYE

Place a small bowl of rock salt in every corner of your home. The rock salt helps nullify the effect of bad thoughts and negative energy. Remember to flush the salt after every few days.

A HOLY REMEDY

This is a daily fixation in most religious Hindu households – the sprinkling of holy water in the house. It helps to purify your house. The water element also cools down all the negativity that may have been brewing. Make this as a part of your morning ritual and see the difference in your life.

AFFIRM POSITIVITY AND PROSPERITY

You needn’t be religious and recite a long list of verses or scriptures. Even affirming something as simple and positive like ‘Life is perfect, and I am blessed’ can have a huge and wonderful impact on your home. The affirmations have vibrations which keep the air or the atmosphere of your home charged with good energy.

Taking care of the newborn

Becoming a mother is an ecstatic experience. The joys of motherhood come with the daunting task of taking care of the newborn. Newborns are adorable, but they can be unpredictable too. Innumerable questions pop in the minds of young mothers.

How do I hold my baby?
How many feeding and pooping sessions are ok? What about taking care of umbilical cord? Can I give my baby a pacifier or may be a bottle?

Winter care for neonatal

Winter means more time indoors and people in close proximity to each other. The result often means more than joy is spread: germs often get passed around as well. Here are some health issues to consider this season:

Newborns need to be loved, kept clean, warmed and fed. By doing all this, you are building your child's sense of security required for his/her later development

Allow plenty of rest for your baby and yourself

Frequently feed babies to develop better sleep patterns. Breast feeding is the best option as besides nourishment, breastfeeding may give babies immunity against infections and also gives mother and baby a chance to bond

There should be no frequent outings especially during extreme winters, and should be covered properly while going out. Both baby and mother should share the same bed to have the natural heat and warmth from the mother

There should be minimum visitors at home during winters and least baby handling should be done

Stay away from baby and mother if anybody is suffering with cough and cold to avoid any kind of infection

If the child is totally dependent on breast-milk then it may suffer with transitional diarrhoea which involves number of watery stools in a day. But still consult pediatrician

Infants often have watery diarrhoea intermittently associated with constipation (one stool after 96 hours). They might pass it immediately after waking up and after feeds. They may even pass undigested foodstuff in their stools

Breastfeeding cuts diabetes risk in moms

Now, there is one more reason why mothers should breastfeed their babies for a longer period, as a new study has claimed it could protect women against diabetes in later life.

According to the study, breastfeeding for one month can halve the mother’s risk of pre-diabetes, a condition which can lead to full-blown diabetes and heart disease. The study, carried out over a span of 20 years, found that mothers who did so had healthier levels of blood fats and glucose than those who were bottlefeeding.

The study of 704 women, who were all expecting their first child, looked at the development of Metabolic Syndrome, a pre-diabetes condition, in the two decades after they gave birth.

Gunderson, of the Kaiser Permanente care organisation in California, said it was unclear exactly how breastfeeding affects the diabetes risk factors.

Mouthwash can raise oral cancer risk 9-fold

Mouthwashes may be recommended to treat dental infection and inflammation, but Australian scientists have claimed that frequent use of these solutions, mostly alcohol-based, increases the risk of oral cancer up to nine times.

The dental researchers from the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne said although many popular mouthwashes help in controlling dental plaque and gingivitis, they should only be used for a short time and only as an adjunct to other oral hygiene measures such as brushing and flossing.Among people using alcohol-based mouthwashes, the risk of oral cancer increases nine times if they smoked, and five times if they drank alcohol, the experts warned.

For non-drinkers using such mouthwashes, the risk of oral cancer is just under five times higher, the experts warn.Brands of mouthwash with more than 20% alcohol could have other harmful effects, including the gum disease gingivitis, flat red spots called petechiae and detachment of the cells lining the mouth, they said. “Long-term use of ethanol-containing mouthwashes should be discouraged, given recent evidence of a possible link with oral cancer,” they wrote.

There are many alcoholbased mouthwashes available in the market which contain up to 26% alcohol.

Boosters to build 6-pack abs may cost you kidneys

Many competitive bodybuilders take anabolic steroids to achieve their freakishly exaggerated physiques. That is no secret. But steroids can be only one part of an extreme regimen that can wreak havoc on the body.

Human growth hormone, supplements, painkillers and diuretics can also be used to create the “shrink-wrapped” muscles so prized in the aesthetic. And the high concentration of muscle mass puts stress on the body, as if the lifter were obese.

Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you”, said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.” A relatively rare form of kidney disease forced Wheeler to retire in 2003 at age 37, and he needed a kidney transplant later that year.

Determining the extent of the damage that bodybuilders inflict on themselves is difficult, in part because there is little interest in financing studies on such a group, and because bodybuilders are not always honest about what they take. That is why a case study published last month by a top kidney journal is generating interest in the nephrology and bodybuilding communities. It is among the first to assert a direct link between long-term steroid use and kidney disease.

The study began 10 years ago when a kidney pathologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York noticed that a bodybuilder had an advanced form of kidney disease. Curious, she started looking for similar cases and eventually studied 10 men with serious kidney damage who acknowledged using steroids. Nine were bodybuilders and one was a competitive powerlifter with a similar training routine.

A myth is busted: Testosterone not tied to aggression

A new study challenges the common belief that testosterone causes aggression in humans and proposes instead that the hormone encourages status-seeking behaviour, the journal Nature reported.

The study involving 120 women, also showed that folk wisdom about the effects of the sexual hormone is so strong that people behave more aggressively if they believe they have been given a dose even if they have not, the journal said.

Testosterone is a steroid hormone secreted by the male testes and to a lesser extent by the female ovaries that affects brain development and sexual behaviour. Research has found that it leads to a substantial increase in aggressive behaviour in rodents.

“Folk wisdom generalises and adapts these findings to humans, suggesting that testosterone induces antisocial, egoistic, or even aggressive human behaviours,” says the study published on Tuesday.

This wisdom has even reached the courtrooms because steroid-induced rage has been used as legitimate legal defence in the United States, it says. But research by the universities of Zurich and London shows that the steroid does not have the same effect in humans as it does in animals, it says.

The women, some of whom were administered testosterone and some a placebo, took part in an experiment in which they had to bargain to receive money. Common opinion would have held that subjects who received testosterone would have adopted aggressive, egocentric and risky strategies, regardless of the consequences, experts said.

“The study’s results, however, contradict this view sharply,” the statement says. “Test subjects with an artificially enhanced testosterone level generally made better, fairer offers than those who received placebos, thus reducing the risk of a rejection of their offer to a minimum.”

This suggested that subjects who received testosterone placed a higher value on social status than those who had taken the placebo, with the hormone increasing the sensitivity for status, it says. “The preconception that testosterone only causes aggressive or egoistic behavior in humans is thus clearly refuted,” adds neuroscientist Christoph Eisenegger from the University of Zurich.

For animals with simple social systems, an increased awareness for status may express itself in aggressiveness, the researchers add.

Snoring makes heart and brain stronger

It might be frustrating for the partner, but it seems snoring is actually good for health. That’s the controversial suggestion to have emerged from a recent study on sleep apnoea.

For years, the condition, which causes interruptions in breathing during sleep, has been linked to high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. But the Israeli study of 600 people over the age of 65 has claimed that the risk of early death in people with moderate sleep apnoea was less than half that of people with no history of snoring, the Daily Mail reported.

The study also found that the risk of early death for those with a severe form of the condition was the same as a healthy control group, when it was expected to be higher.

“One theory is that the constant breaks in oxygen and blood supply to organs, caused by the pauses in the breathing, strengthen the heart and brain — if a heart attack or a stroke occurs, the body is better able to deal with it,” said the report.

However, Jim Horne, head of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, said: “It is better to get heavy snoring treated rather than assume it will prolong life.”

An unrelated study has found that a technique can determine whether a child has obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) or habitual snoring by screening their urine.

Researchers at the University of Chicago used asophisticated electrophoresis technique to screen hundreds of proteins in the urine. They found a number of proteins were differently expressed in children with OSA compared to kids with habitual snoring.

‘Crystalline sponge’ can help capture CO ²

To sequester carbon dioxide as part of any climate-change mitigation strategy, the gas first has to be captured from the flue at a power plant or other source. The next step is just as important: the CO has to be released from ² .

whatever captured it so that it can be pumped underground or otherwise stored for the long term.

That second step can be costly from an energy standpoint. Materials currently used to capture CO ² have to be heated to release the gas.

But chemists at University of California, Los Angeles, say that a new class of materials they developed called metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, hold promise for carbon capture. In the study, Omar Yaghi describes the performance of one MOF, which he says can free most of the CO ² it captures at room temperature.

Yaghi described a metal-organic framework as a “crystalline sponge”, a hybrid lattice of organic compounds and metal atoms that has a huge internal surface area where gas molecules can be absorbed. The MOF used in the study contains magnesium atoms, “which make just the right environment for binding carbon dioxide”, he said.

In experiments, the material separated out CO ² while allowing methane to pass. What was really surprising, though, was that at room temperature 87% of the CO ² could be released.

Pulp fact: Paper batteries to power laptops, drive cars

Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by email, ebooks and online news.

Scientists at Stanford University in California reported on Monday that they have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a “paper battery” that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage.

The same feature that helps ink adhere to paper allows it to hold onto the single-walled carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire films. Earlier research found that silicon nanowires could be used to make batteries 10 times as powerful as lithium-ion batteries now used to power devices such as laptops.

“Taking advantage of the mature paper technology, low cost, light and high-performance energy-storage are realized by using conductive paper as current collectors and electrodes,” the scientists said.

This type of battery could be useful in powering electric or hybrid vehicles, would make electronics lightweight and long lasting, and might even lead someday to paper electronics, the scientists said.

Battery weight and life have been an obstacle to commercial viability of electric-powered cars and trucks.

“Society really needs a low-cost, high-performance energy storage device, such as batteries and simple supercapacitors,” Stanford assistant professor of materials science and engineering and paper co-author Yi Cui said.

Cui said in an email that in addition to being useful for portable electronics and wearable electronics, “Our paper supercapacitors can be used for all kinds of applications that require instant high power.” Peidong Yang, professor of chemistry at the University of California-Berkeley, said the technology could be commercialized within a short time.

Antidepressants can change personality

Apart From Easing Symptoms, Drugs Can Even Turn People Into Extroverts, Say Researchers.

Taking an antidepressant can lead to significant personality changes, likely for the better. Antidepressants may go well beyond just easing the symptoms of depression; they may also make people less neurotic, US researchers said.

The study of people who took GlaxoSmithKline’s Paxil, known generically as paroxetine, suggests the drug may treat factors such as neuroticism that make a person more likely to be depressed in the first place.

“Our data suggests that modern antidepressants work partly by correcting key personality risk factors of depression,” said Tony Tang, a psychology professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, whose study appears in Archives of General Psychiatry.

People who are neurotic tend to experience negative emotions and be emotionally unstable, often experiencing wide mood swings in a day. “It’s the basic tendency toward having negative emotions,” Tang said.

He said many studies have suggested that people who are highly neurotic have a higher risk of becoming depressed.

There is also some suggestion that people who are extroverts — those who tend to be both socially outgoing and have a more positive outlook on life — are less likely to become depressed, Tang said. Both personality traits are affected by levels of the brain chemical serotonin, which is the chief target of a large class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.

Tang and colleagues looked to see if the SSRI Paxil, also sold under the brand Seroxat, had any effect beyond just treating depression symptoms. They gave the drug to 120 volunteers with depression and compared their experiences to 60 people who underwent a type of therapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy and another group of 60 who took a placebo.

Their personalities and depression symptoms were assessed before and after treatment.

After 12 weeks, all participants saw improvements in their depression symptoms, but those who took Paxil also saw significant drop in their neuroticism, and a marked increase in extroversion compared with those in the other groups.

“Patients taking paroxetine reported 6.8 times as much change on neuroticism and 3.5 times as much change on extroversion as placebo patients matched for depression improvement,” the authors wrote. “Those are very dramatic, notable changes,” Tang said.

“At the beginning of the treatment, they were way out there. Their neuroticism was abnormally high. By the end of treatment, they moved back into the boundary of the normal range.”

He said many of the drugs in the SSRI class work largely the same way are likely to have the same effect.

Ian Cook of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, who was not part of the study, said the findings may cause some doctors to rethink their assumptions about how antidepressants work. “The conventional wisdom has been for many years that the changes in personality that one sees during treatment tend to be thought of as a reflection of getting the depression under control,” he said.