Sweet Almond Oil - Clinical Applications

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD can be defined as a condition of mucosal damage produced by the abnormal reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus. According to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation, 5 million Canadians experience heartburn and/or acid regurgitation at least once each week.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the medical name for anxiety. Everyone worries about important things in life, such as family, work, and health. People who have GAD are extremely worried about these and other smaller things, even when there is little reason to worry about them. There are multiple ways in which the worrying of GAD is worse. The first is the intensity of the worry.

Lower urinary tract infections (referred to as UTIs in this article) account for millions of doctor visits per year with the urinary tract being the second-most common site for infection. The term urinary tract infection refers to the presence of a certain number of bacteria in the urine, usually more than 100 000/mL. UTIs can occur in both men and women, however, they are about fifty times more common in women than men.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that may have varying levels of symptom intensity. It causes skin cells to grow very quickly, which results in thick silvery or red patches of skin ^[1]. Usually, skin cells grow and turn over once a month and new skin grows to replace the old skin.

The “stomach flu” or a “stomach bug” are the common names for what is officially known in medicine as gastroenteritis. Gastroenteritis essentially means “inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract”; it usually involves the stomach and the intestines. It causes a set of highly unpleasant symptoms: usually a combination of diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and abdominal cramping.

Uterine fibroids (also known as leiomyomas) are solid pelvic tumors composed of connective tissue and muscle ^[1]. Leiomyomas vary in terms of size, shape, and location; if one leiomyoma is discovered chances are multiple exist. Leiomyomas are either submucosal (under the endometrium), intramural (within the uterine wall), or subserosal (in the outer wall of the uterus).

W. somnifera, also known as Ashwagandha, is an important herb that has been used for over 3000 years. The important constituents of the root are steroidal alkaloids and steroidal lactones referred to as withanolides. It is used for anxiety, inflammation, Parkinson’s disease, cognitive and neurological disorders, and as a supportive adjunct for people undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

You may have witnessed it either on tv or in reality; an emotionally labile woman, frantically scrounging for a tub of ice-cream or chocolate, snapping at any provoking comment regarding her behaviour around “that time of the month”.

Origanum vulgare (the scientific name of oregano) has been studied in depth due to a number of interesting and exciting potential clinical uses. There is also an ongoing interest in a number of industries to replace synthetic chemicals with natural products that have similar properties. Many bioactive compounds can be found in aromatic plants, and there are a number of different ways they can be extracted.

Piper methysticum, commonly known as kava, has been used for over 3000 years. Traditionally, it has been used as a tonic to treat feelings of weakness and nervous exhaustion, and as a sleep aid.

Cervical dysplasia refers to abnormal cells found on the surface of the cervix, that are considered to be premalignant and can progress to cancer.^[1] Cervical dysplasia is primarily caused by a sexually transmitted infection with different strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). However, different strains can be involved in both benign and malignant lesions; therefore, the progression of the disease appears to depend on individual factors. Studies suggest that HPV exposure is the initiating event that can lead to the development of cervical dysplasia, often termed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).

Fibrocystic breasts are characterized as ‘lumps’ or ‘cysts’ found within the breast. Fibrocystic breasts arise from estrogen predominance and progesterone deficiency resulting in hyper-proliferation of connective tissue. This condition can be either asymptomatic or present with breast nodularity, swelling, and pain.

Tinnitus is the medical term used to describe “ringing in the ears.” Tinnitus is defined as the conscious perception of an auditory sensation in the absence of an external stimulus. Tinnitus is a rather common symptom that can be quite persistent and therefore disruptive to daily activities and quality of life. The extent of debility, however, can vary from one person to the next.

A fairly common chronic condition that afflicts people is rheumatoid arthritis (RA); a form of chronic joint inflammation that can have major impact on quality of life. The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, but it has a significant autoimmune component. This is how it differs starkly from the much more common osteoarthritis, which is more of a “wear-and-tear” form of arthritis that results from mechanical use of joints over a long and active life. Rheumatoid arthritis not only affects the joints, but also presents with systemic inflammatory symptoms.

A large portion of people who see naturopathic doctors come with a chief concern of digestive issues. After months of scopes and bloodwork, they are often left without answers from their medical doctor and seek a new perspective. Other times, their diagnostic imaging tests reveal something significant, yet the medical system is still at a loss for treatment options.

And so it begins. You find few strands of hair on your pillow and more than the usual amount on your hair brush. As you are cleaning your house, you begin to notice hair on the floor, in the shower, on your clothes, and then it dawns on you that you are not only leaving behind a trail of hair in every area of the house, but a hairless patch possibly somewhere on your scalp.

Interstitial cystitis is a multifactorial condition and no single pathological process is present universally in patients with IC. It is thus important to determine the root causes of the individual’s symptoms, which commonly include bladder-wall dysfunction and permeability, urine acidity, and infection.

This action that berberine has on AMPK is one of the main reasons that interest in berberine’s effects on blood sugar management have been studied. AMPK activation is one the main mechanisms of action of the popular diabetes medication metformin (Glucophage). In human trials berberine has been extremely impressive in this regard. Let’s take a look at some of the studies.

Chronic pain is a significant health issue, and it is estimated that one-half of those suffering with chronic pain have been suffering for longer than 10 years.^[1] An estimated 54.4 million North Americans have been diagnosed with various arthritic disorders,[2] conditions that are typically treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Endometriosis is a disorder characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue in locations of the body outside the uterus. These lesions of tissue respond to hormonal stimuli, such as estrogen, and can be the cause of extreme pelvic pain in many women.