Herbs that Heal: Natural Remedies For Good Health | Author: B K Bakhru | Pages: 238 | ISBN: 9-788122-201338 | Publisher: Orient Paperbacks | Price: INR 130

This book, written by H.K. Bakhru – a healthcare enthusiast and a naturopath, has useful information on over 100 herbs, sorted alphabetically as well as disease-wise, providing an account of their healing properties in a comprehensive manner. Divided into two parts: the first part of the book has a detailed explanation of the strong healing properties of 66 important herbs including the widely available Asafoetida, Babul, Bamboo, Banyan, Cardamom, Cloves, Ginger, Holy Basil, Onion, Pepper, Sandalwood, Turmeric, Winter Cherry, Wood Apple and their likes; while the second part has brief descriptions of 41 other plants like Indian Aloe, Jaundice berry, Lemon grass, Linseed and Marigold with milder healing properties.

The book unleashes the magic of herbs recognized and practiced since times immemorial across various ancient civilizations – including the Indian, Egyptian, Chinese, Greek  and Roman. As mentioned in the book, “Plants were the mainstay of medicine and credited with mystical and almost supernatural powers of healing.” Illuminating its ancient heritage the author in the book’s introduction suggests that as early as in between 3500 and 1800 BC there have been references of the curative properties of over 700 ancient herbs in the Vedas as well as in Charaka and Sushruta Samhitas. In almost the same period, around 2800 BC, Chinese had developed a compilation of over a 1000 plant medicaments and instructions on their use in the Pen Ts’ao Ching. Further down the years, Hippocrates, the Greek physician and father of modern medicine, in 460 BC, also listed several hundred herbal remedies.

The rich ancient heritage of herbs is not only an evidence of its immense potential in healing human ailments, but also, provides it a credibility as a budding alternative to conventional medicine which has several serious side effects. The author describes in the book, how the widely available, often routinely used plants, can be utilized wisely in times of need.

For example: Coriander – an annual as well as perennial herb is rich in various food elements. As per the author, “an analysis of coriander leaves shows them to contain moisture 86.3 %, protein 3.3%, fat 0.6 %, minerals 2.3 %, fibres 1.2% and carbohydrates 6.3 % per hundred grams. The mineral and vitamin contents include calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin C. They also contain sodium, potassium and oxalic acid…” The value contained in Coriander is little known and often ignored in the presence of say – much less nutritive French fries or Burgers. Further, the author enlists its healing properties, Coriander leaves “..are stimulant and tonic. They, strengthen the stomach and promote its action, relieve flatulence, increase secretion and discharge of urine, and reduce fever.”

Coriander also acts as an aphrodisiac, helping in the removal of catarrhal matter and phlegm from the bronchial tubes thereby counteracting any spasmodic disorders. The book explains ways in which when consumed, the said plant could have curative effects, such as: a teaspoonful or two of coriander juice added to fresh buttermilk, is highly beneficial in treating various digestive disorders like indigestion, nausea, dysentery, hepatitis and ulcerative colitis; a teaspoonful of coriander juice, mixed with a pinch of turmeric powder, is an effective remedy for resolving skin issues such as pimples, blackheads and dry skin; decoctions prepared from freshly dried coriander is an excellent eye-wash in conjunctivitis; and many others.

Besides highlighting the curative properties of Coriander, the author also points out that dry coriander should be sparingly used by persons suffering from bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis. Now, all these lesser known aspects of coriander upon reading make it but only – extremely desirable in our daily diets.

Similarly, several other plants have been covered in this book with descriptions of their healing properties. Additionally, a mention of their botanical names, trade names and Indian names, along with information on their origin, distribution and composition makes this book reader friendly, enabling the readers to easily recall the herbs, refer their uses and procure them from appropriate geographical regions if required.

Healing properties of herbs have also been categorized under an alphabetical index of diseases, in the beginning of the book, before the Introduction. Some of the common ailments include: Acne which responds to herbs like Cinnamon, Coriander, Fenugreek and Sandalwood;  Anemia which is countered by Ash Gourd, Celery, Chicory, Dill, Fenugreek, Hog Weed, Onion and Wormwood; Cataract which can be treated with herbs like Aniseed, Fenugreek, Garlic and Parsley; Diabetes which can be taken care of with Curry leaves, Fenugreek, Indian Gooseberry, Tenner’s Casia and Butea; and many other such diseases.

With all the necessary explanations in easy English, in a systematic manner, this book indubitably, reaches out to the common masses, who hesitate to delve in too much of complex science and technical verbosity. But, to the scientists, medical professionals, naturopaths and meticulous explorers, this book may be more of a vague venture with limited scope for in-depth insights.

However, the efforts that the author has put in to bring forth the public such a compact and highly valuable guide on natural way of healing is admirable. One may find numerous books on herbs and naturopathy; but this book stands out in terms of comprehensive information, categorization according to diseases and healing properties with is availability and competitive price.

To sum it up, this book is a value-buy and a good-read for precise information on natural remedies for good health; specifically so for laymen.

Book Reviewer, Priyadarshini Pai, is Founder-Editor of FolksHealth.Com and Vice President (Healthcare Media) at Folks Media Ventures. 

The date was chosen for observance, in 1982, on the one-hundredth anniversary of Robert Koch’s presentation, at the ‘International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease’ (IUATLD), to commemorate the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch’s announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through various countries in Europe and the America, causing the as many deaths as of one out of every seven people. Koch’s discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and treatment of tuberculosis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) joined with the IUATLD and a wide range of other concerned organizations to increase the impact of World TB Day, in 1996. Today the ‘Stop TB Partnership’- a network of organizations and countries fighting TB, of which the IUATLD is a member, organizes the day to highlight the scope of the disease and measures of its prevention and cure.

Since its coining, over a period of time, every year, different themes have been observed such as “Forging new partnerships to Stop TB” in 2000, “DOTS: TB cure for all” in 2001, “Stop TB, fight poverty” in 2002, “DOTS cured me – it will cure you too!” in 2003, and more recently, “On the move against TB: Innovate towards action” in 2010 and “On the move against TB: Transforming the fight towards elimination” in 2011. This year, the theme allocated is “Stop TB in my lifetime Call for a world free of TB”.

As an Indian, with my country topping the list of South East Asian countries affected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), I would like to take this opportunity to urge my countrymen, to have a look at the alarming TB disease extent and treatment scenario, and meditate on its systematic elimination. Just by spreading a word on the pathogenesis of this disease; taking a note of its classic symptoms like chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats and weight loss etc; as well as, appropriately dealing with risk factors such as HIV infections, malnutrition, overcrowding, diabetes, smoking and alcoholism, too, would take us long way towards TB eradication. However, efforts at disease prevention through vaccination and early screening are indubitably, undeniable.

My message to all the readers on this day:

 “Stay aware and stay healthy! Be prompt at your medical screening, disease treatment as well as routine healthcare. Do away with your fears of disease acquisition; and stay informed of your wellness and that of the environment you live in. Exploiting nature to override your fears does not do any good. What matters in the long run is only – how you take care of yourself, your surroundings and the mother-nature!” 

 

The prevalence of MDR-TB is approximately 2.3 per cent among new cases and 12-17 per cent among re-treatment cases. However, due to the size of the population and the number of TB cases reported every year, India ranks second among the 27 MDR-TB high-burden countries globally, after China.

On an alarming note, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) cases have also been reported from India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand from the region; bringing to light the need for capacity expansion of quality-assured drug susceptibility testing in the regions. This has to be done in order to efficiently estimate the reach of drug-resistant TB.

Considering the widespread availability and use of second-line drugs and expansion in laboratory capacity for screening, it is expected that additional number of patients with XDR-TB would be identified. As per the reports, the percentage of MDR in newly recorded TB cases in India, estimated to about 2.1 (1.7- 2.5) per cent, while the percentage of MDR among previously treated cases was 15 (13 -17) per cent.

With availability of the medical treatment services for MDR-TB patients limited to only 10 states, by end of 2009, the situation has indeed become quite tricky. Some of the major challenges posing India are: enforcement of regulations for prescription and sale of anti-TB drugs; and promoting rational use of first-and second-line anti-TB drugs outside the programme to prevent MDR and XDR-TB.

In view of the current TB healthcare scenario, the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme has developed a plan to scale up considerably MDR-TB services in order to treat at least 30,000 MDR-TB patients in the country, every year.  This has the support of the Global Fund Round 9 and the UNITAID; for enabling a rapid expansion of MDR-TB services in the next few years.

According to the report, “Tuberculosis Control in the South East Asia Region 2012”, as on September 2011, 34 Indian states are providing MDR-TB diagnostic and treatment services and a cumulative total of 5810 MDR-TB cases have been initiated for treatment. The report also suggests that the South East Asia region registered about 5 million prevalent and 3.5 million incident TB cases in 2010. Further, it points out that – though the death rates in the region have declined due to successful implementation of the DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course), the disease still claims about half a million lives annually in this region.

India, with a population of approximately 1.2 billion, is the largest country in the region, as well as the largest TB burden country in the world, in terms of absolute numbers of incident cases that emerge each year. It also contributed one-fourth of the estimated global TB cases in 2010. The revised  estimated prevalence and incidence rates of all forms of tuberculosis were respectively 256 and 185 per 1,00,000 population in 2010, as on July 2011 in India. However, the recent WHO estimates for TB incidence, prevalence and mortality have not yet been officially approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, and should, therefore, be considered provisional, the report remarked.

While the reports are approved, the fact still remains that there is a lot that needs to be done towards improving the TB medical treatment in India. And if we wish to see this disease wane, the remedial measures have to be prompt as well as intense.

In their study, which included almost 1,100 breast cancer patients, they found that 17 percent needed hospital care for potentially fatal infections after treatment with three widely used chemotherapy drugs and 15 percent of women in the study had a gene variant linked to the worst side effects.

These interesting findings were hoped to be released at the 8^th European Breast Cancer Conference in Vienna, Austria, on this Friday. The lead researcher Vulsteke said that this study is indeed – an important step towards a safer and better personalized medicine.

Although the primary focus of this new complex is on improving the coaching standards, it will also swank a noteworthy medical facility, which the F.A. considers, will gain the prestigious F-MARC for excellence from world governing body FIFA.

Dr Beasley believes that the medical attention Bolton Wanderer Muamba received at White Hart Lane saved his life, but he also feels, St George’s Park will be the medium for even superior improvement. He said, “We will be able to monitor players from a much younger age and in far more detail. We will have the capacity to view their skeletons, monitor their heart rates, give them cardiac tests; from the youngest teams, right up to the national side.”

Further, he added, “If they are part of an academy the information will go onto the passports they receive under the Elite Player Performance Plan. St George’s Park is something very close to my heart and whilst I have been to many FIFA centers of medical excellence around the world, it has the ability to be much better.”

In a recent study, researchers explored and observed various cardiovascular parameters in six astronauts, of age group 41-55 years, on long-term missions ranging from 52-199 days, aboard the International Space Station. Their findings reveal that long duration space flights do affect cardiovascular parameters and responses, but these weren’t as dramatic as the scientists initially speculated them to be.

Their study began with medical data collection on the cardiovascular health of these six astronauts, about a month before their journey in space. Observations were recorded during their spontaneous and paced breathing, both sitting up and lying down, so as to reflect a variety of conditions and cardiovascular stresses. Parameters like finger arterial blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular ejection time, and cardiac output were noted.

The process was repeated, independently, for all the six astronauts, a few weeks after they arrived to the space station as well as a few weeks before they returned to Earth. A final assessment was also carried out post their landing on Earth. While in space, these six astronauts were each allotted 2.5 hours per day to set up for exercise, complete a workout, and clean up after the session, with options to exercise on a cycle, treadmill, or doing resistance training.

Results of their studies showed that heart rate, blood pressure, and arterial baroreflex response (the body’s natural way to regulate heart rate and blood pressure based on continuous sensing of both) were unchanged from pre-flight to in-flight. The left ventricular ejection times and cardiac output both increased in-flight, while the time between heartbeats, arterial pulse pressure, and the blood pumped from the heart decreased. In the post-flight testing compared to pre-flight measures, heart rate and cardiac output increased slightly, while arterial baroreflex response decreased by about a third, but only in the seated position. The exercise sessions that these astronauts were subjected to, appear to have kept them relatively healthy and prepared for return to Earth, despite the potentially negative effects of a low-gravity environment.

Researchers told the media, “These post-flight changes were somewhat less than expected based on short-duration flights and early reports of long-duration missions and suggest that the current countermeasures on the ISS, which include exercise training, are keeping cardiovascular control mechanisms well prepared for return to Earth”.

These interesting findings appear in a detailed article, in the current edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, published by the American Physiological Society.

Dr.Pradip Awate, the State Swine Flu surveillance officer, said, “While the cases detected by NIV are being treated as outdoor patients without admission, other cases, which include two critical ones, call for a greater surveillance, as Pune had not reported any fatality on account of Swine flu in the last year.”

Health officials have also said that of the three critical patients, two have been admitted to ICU in different hospitals, and were put on ventilators. They further added that the general practitioners, treating seasonal influenza cases have been advised to screen patients for H1N1 infections as well.

Since the first fatality of this dreaded contagion in 2009, Pune has become the epicenter of Swine Flu cases, accounting for the employing of rigorous surveillance measures that eventually brought about a check in disease transmission.

Australian scientists who discovered the YSR gene said that this gene could account for the “fight or flight” responses exhibited by men under stressful situations. While it is more likely that the women would try and pacify the state of affairs, this gene that is present only on the Y chromosome, and hence, only in males, facilitates the secretion of the neurotransmitter dopamine, as well as, norepinephrine and epinepinephrine, all three of which are important in regulating how our bodies respond to stress; these scientists added.

This gene which was earlier thought to be involved only in the development of male characteristics in the womb has now shown to play an important role in the body’s stress response. A new study led by Prof. Joohyung Lee of Prince Henry’s Institute in Melbourne and Prof. Vincent Harley of Monash University, showed that YSR gene proteins are present in the brain as well as other organs of adult males. Adding remarks on the YSR gene expression, these scientists said that this male-only SRY gene might be involved in “priming” the male body towards exhibiting a more aggressive response under stress.

Senior author of this experimental study conducted at the Duke University, Seok-Yong Lee, said, “Knowing the structure and properties of the transporter molecule may be the key to changing the way that some chemotherapies, for example, could work in the body to prevent tumor growth.”

The transporter molecule also transports nucleoside-like chemotherapy drugs through the cell membranes. Once inside the cells, the nucleoside-like drugs are modified into nucleotides that are incorporated into the DNA, in ways, that prevent tumor cells from dividing and functioning.

Lee also suggested, “We discovered the structure of the transporter molecule, and now we believe it is possible to improve nucleoside drugs to be better recognized by a particular form of the transporter molecule that resides in certain types of tissue. Now we know the transporter molecule has three forms, which recognize different drugs and reside in different tissues.”

 The team determined the chemical and physical principles a transporter molecule uses to recognize the nucleosides, “so if you can improve the interactions between the transporter and the drug, you won’t need as much of the drug to get it into the tumor cells efficiently,” Lee added. Further, he said that knowing the shape of the transporters will let scientists design drugs that are recognized well by this transporter. Since the drugs enter healthy cells as well as tumor cells, giving a lower dose of drug that targets the tumor tissue would be the best scenario.

Lee, who is also a member of the Duke Ion Channel Research Unit, remarked, “Healthy cells don’t divide as often as tumor cells, so lowering the amount of drug given overall would be an effective approach to killing tumors while protecting patients.”

These researchers studied transporter molecules from Vibrio cholera, a comma-shaped bacterium, commonly found in nature. The transporter molecules from bacteria, serve as good model systems for studying human transporters, because they share similar amino acid sequences. The scientists also found that both the human and bacterial transporter use a sodium gradient to import nucleosides and drugs into the cells. Their interesting findings have been published in journal Nature online.

 Read further details on http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10882.html

Khosrow, is an associate medical professor and Chemistry, Physiology and Pharmacology coordinator at the City College of New York. The new aspirin developed by his team has been named “NOSH”- that stands for Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulphide.

In their report, Khosrow’s team of scientists have suggested that loading aspirin with gas boosts its cancer-fighting ability and might even reduce the harmful side effects of its routine use such as ulcers and gut-bleeding. They have tested the new drug on cancer cells from colon, pancreas, breast, lung and prostate. Interestingly, the drug turned out to be significantly more potent than aspirin alone. Kashfi said that with colon cancer, NOSH- aspirin was 100,000 times more potent than the original drug, causing the cells to stop dividing, wither and die. The cause of increased potency, however, remained unclear. But it was evident from the results that lower doses of new aspirin would be needed to fight cancer than the regular one.

 An added advantage of this new drug, observed in Kashfi’s experimental studies, is that it appeared to be not harmful to the native cells. In mice with colon cancer, daily doses for 18 days reduced the size of the tumor by 85% with no gut damage.

 In view of these promising results, Kashfi also added, “We could be looking at a human trial within two years.”