This therapy can slow your ageing process

Tickling ear with small electric current seems to rebalance the autonomic nervous system for the people over 55, potentially slowing down one of the effects of ageing, suggests a study.

The study has found that a short daily therapy delivered for two weeks led to physiological improvements, including a better quality of life, mood, and sleep.

The therapy, called transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), delivers a small, painless electrical current to the ear, which sends signals to the body’s nervous system through the vagus nerve.

“The ear is like a gateway through which we can tinker with the body’s metabolic balance, without the need for medication or invasive procedures. We believe these results are just the tip of the iceberg,” said the study’s lead author.

The autonomic nervous system controls many of the body’s functions, which don’t require conscious thought such as digestion, breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

It contains two branches, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, which work against each other to maintain a healthy balance of activity.

The sympathetic branch helps the body prepare for high intensity ‘fight or flight’ activity, whilst the parasympathetic is crucial to low intensity ‘rest and digest’ activity.

As we age, and when we are fighting diseases, the body’s balance changes such that the sympathetic branch begins to dominate. This imbalance makes us more susceptible to new diseases and leads to the breakdown of healthy bodily function as we get older.

The study recruited 29 healthy volunteers, aged 55 or above, and gave each of them the tVNS therapy for 15 minutes per day, over a two week period. Participants were taught to self-administer the therapy at home during the study.

The therapy led to an increase in parasympathetic activity and a decrease in sympathetic activity, rebalancing the autonomic function towards that associated with healthy function. In addition, some people reported improvements in measures of mental health and sleeping patterns.

Being able to correct this balance of activity could help us age more healthily, as well as having the potential to help people with a variety of disorders such as heart disease and some mental health issues.

Additionally, improving the balance of the autonomic nervous system lowers an individual’s risk of death, as well as the need for medication or hospital visits.

One of the senior authors on the study, said: “We believe this stimulation can make a big difference to people’s lives, and we’re now hoping to conduct further studies to see if tVNS can benefit multiple disorders.”

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                      FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                    

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Probiotics not just good for gut, but for your mood disorders too

The effect of probiotics or good bacteria is conveyed to the brain through the gut brain axis

Probiotics may be good for more than just your gut health. They may also help treat bipolar disorder and other psychiatric mood disorders, because of the intimate relationship between gut health and brain health. There is in fact a connection called the “gut-brain axis” (GBA), allows for crosstalk between the endocrine, immune, and autonomic nervous systems.

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition characterised by dramatic shifts in mood from depression to mania. Currently, the standard treatment includes a combination of psychotherapy and prescription medications such as mood stabilisers and antipsychotics.

However, an emerging field of research is exploring the use of probiotics — often thought of as “good bacteria” — as a potential new avenue for treatment of bipolar and other psychiatric mood disorders.

There is also mounting evidence linking imbalances in the microbial species that make up the gut microbiome to a number of health problems including allergies, autoimmune disorders, and psychiatric mood disorders

A study found that a probiotic supplement may reduce inflammation of the gut, which is known to exacerbate bipolar disorder.

Probiotic organisms are non-pathogenic bacteria that, when present in the gut flora, are known to improve the overall health of the host.

The GI tract is also home to the intestinal microbiome, a complex population of roughly 100 trillion microorganisms (more than ten times the number of cells that make up the human body) that interacts with the mucosal lining of the GI tract. Studies have shown that the intimate association between the gut microbiome and GI tissue has a significant effect on the GBA.

There is also mounting evidence linking imbalances in the microbial species that make up the gut microbiome to a number of health problems including allergies, autoimmune disorders, and psychiatric mood disorders.

In the case of bipolar disorder and the GBA, previous studies have shown that inflammation, or over-stimulation of the body’s immune system, is a contributing factor in the disease.  With this in mind, researchers developed a probiotic supplement aimed at reducing inflammation caused by microbial imbalances in the gut.

 THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                     
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Diabetic neuropathy- symptoms, causes, risk factors, complications

There are four main types of diabetic neuropathy. You may have just one type or symptoms of several types. Most develop gradually, and you may not notice problems until considerable damage has occurred.

The signs and symptoms of diabetic neuropathy vary, depending on the type of neuropathy and which nerves are affected.

Peripheral neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy is the most common form of diabetic neuropathy. Your feet and legs are often affected first, followed by your hands and arms. Possible signs and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include:

• Numbness or reduced ability to feel pain or changes in temperature, especially in your feet and toes
• A tingling or burning feeling
• Sharp, jabbing pain that may be worse at night
• Pain when walking
• Extreme sensitivity to the lightest touch — for some people, even the weight of a sheet can be agonizing
• Muscle weakness and difficulty walking
• Serious foot problems, such as ulcers, infections, deformities, and bone and joint pain

Autonomic neuropathy
The autonomic nervous system controls your heart, bladder, lungs, stomach, intestines, sex organs and eyes. Diabetes can affect the nerves in any of these areas, possibly causing:

• A lack of awareness that blood sugar levels are low (hypoglycemia unawareness)
• Bladder problems, including frequent urinary tract infections or urinary incontinence
• Constipation, uncontrolled diarrhea or a combination of the two
• Slow stomach emptying (gastroparesis), leading to nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite
• Difficulty swallowing
• Erectile dysfunction in men
• Vaginal dryness and other sexual difficulties in women
• Increased or decreased sweating
• Inability of your body to adjust blood pressure and heart rate, leading to sharp drops in blood pressure when you rise from sitting or lying down (orthostatic hypotension) that may cause you to feel lightheaded or even faint
• Problems regulating your body temperature
• Changes in the way your eyes adjust from light to dark
• Increased heart rate when you're at rest

Radiculoplexus neuropathy (diabetic amyotrophy)
Instead of affecting the ends of nerves, like peripheral neuropathy, radiculoplexus neuropathy affects nerves in the thighs, hips, buttocks or legs. Also called diabetic amyotrophy, femoral neuropathy, or proximal neuropathy, this condition is more common in people with type 2 diabetes and older adults. Symptoms are usually on one side of the body, though in some cases symptoms may spread to the other side too. Most people improve at least partially over time, though symptoms may worsen before they get better. This condition is often marked by:

• Sudden, severe pain in your hip and thigh or buttock
• Eventual weak and atrophied thigh muscles
• Difficulty rising from a sitting position
• Abdominal swelling, if the abdomen is affected
• Weight loss

Mononeuropathy
Mononeuropathy involves damage to a specific nerve. The nerve may be in the face, torso or leg. Mononeuropathy, which may also be called focal neuropathy, often comes on suddenly. It's most common in older adults. Although mononeuropathy can cause severe pain, it usually doesn't cause any long-term problems. Symptoms usually diminish and disappear on their own over a few weeks or months. Signs and symptoms depend on which nerve is involved and may include:

• Difficulty focusing your eyes, double vision or aching behind one eye
• Paralysis on one side of your face (Bell's palsy)
• Pain in your shin or foot
• Pain in the front of your thigh
• Chest or abdominal pain

Sometimes mononeuropathy occurs when a nerve is compressed. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common type of compression neuropathy in people with diabetes.

Signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include:

• Numbness or tingling in your fingers or hand, especially in your thumb, index finger, middle finger and ring finger
• A sense of weakness in your hand and a tendency to drop things.

When to see a doctor
Seek medical care if you notice:

• A cut or sore on your foot that doesn't seem to be healing, is infected or is getting worse
• Burning, tingling, weakness or pain in your hands or feet that interferes with your daily routine or your sleep
• Dizziness
• Changes in your digestion, urination or sexual function

These symptoms don't always indicate nerve damage, but they may signal other problems that require medical care. In either case, early diagnosis and treatment offer the best chance for controlling symptoms and preventing more-severe problems.

Even minor sores on the feet that don't heal can turn into ulcers. In the most severe cases, untreated foot ulcers may become gangrenous — a condition in which the tissue dies — and require surgery or even amputation of your foot. Early treatment can help prevent this from happening.

Causes of Diabetic Neuropathy

Damage to nerves and blood vessels
Prolonged exposure to high blood sugar (glucose) can damage delicate nerve fibers, causing diabetic neuropathy. Why this happens isn't completely clear, but a combination of factors likely plays a role, including the complex interaction between nerves and blood vessels. High blood glucose interferes with the ability of the nerves to transmit signals. It also weakens the walls of the small blood vessels (capillaries) that supply the nerves with oxygen and nutrients.

Other factors
Other factors that may contribute to diabetic neuropathy include:

• Inflammation in the nerves caused by an autoimmune response. This occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks part of your body as if it were a foreign organism.
• Genetic factors unrelated to diabetes that make some people more susceptible to nerve damage.
• Smoking and alcohol abuse, which damage both nerves and blood vessels and significantly increase the risk of infections.

Risk factors

Anyone who has diabetes can develop neuropathy, but these factors make you more susceptible to nerve damage:

• Poor blood sugar control. This is the greatest risk factor for every complication of diabetes, including nerve damage. Keeping blood sugar consistently within your target range is the best way to protect the health of your nerves and blood vessels.
• Length of time you have diabetes. Your risk of diabetic neuropathy increases the longer you have diabetes, especially if your blood sugar isn't well controlled. Peripheral neuropathy is most common in people who have had diabetes for at least 25 years.
• Kidney disease. Diabetes can cause damage to the kidneys, which may increase the toxins in the blood and contribute to nerve damage.
• Smoking. Smoking narrows and hardens your arteries, reducing blood flow to your legs and feet. This makes it more difficult for wounds to heal and damages the integrity of the peripheral nerves.

Complications

Diabetic neuropathy can cause a number of serious complications, including:

• Loss of a limb. Because nerve damage can cause a lack of feeling in your feet, cuts and sores may go unnoticed and eventually become severely infected or ulcerated — a condition in which the skin and soft tissues break down. The risk of infection is high because diabetes reduces blood flow to your feet.
  Infections that spread to the bone and cause tissue death (gangrene) may be impossible to treat and require amputation of a toe, foot or even the lower leg. More than half the non-traumatic lower limb amputations performed every year in the United States are due to diabetes.
• Charcot joint. This occurs when a joint, usually in the foot, deteriorates because of nerve damage. Charcot joint is marked by loss of sensation, as well as swelling, instability and sometimes deformity in the joint itself.
• Urinary tract infections and urinary incontinence. Damage to the nerves that control your bladder can prevent it from emptying completely. This allows bacteria to multiply in your bladder and kidneys, leading to urinary tract infections. Nerve damage can also affect your ability to feel when you need to urinate or to control the muscles that release urine.
• Hypoglycemia unawareness. Normally, when your blood sugar drops too low — below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or below 3.9 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) — you develop symptoms such as shakiness, sweating and a fast heartbeat. These symptoms alert you to the problem so that you can take steps to raise your blood sugar quickly. Autonomic neuropathy can interfere with your ability to notice these symptoms. This is extremely serious — untreated hypoglycemia can be fatal.
• Low blood pressure. Damage to the nerves that control circulation can affect your body's ability to adjust blood pressure. This can cause a sharp drop in pressure when you stand after sitting (orthostatic hypotension), which may lead to dizziness and fainting.
• Digestive problems. Damage to the nerves in the digestive system can cause a range of problems, including severe constipation or diarrhoea — or alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhoea — as well as nausea, vomiting, bloating and loss of appetite. One particularly serious digestive problem is gastroparesis, a condition in which the stomach empties too slowly or not at all. This can interfere with digestion, cause nausea and vomiting, and severely affect blood sugar levels and nutrition.
• Sexual dysfunction. Autonomic neuropathy often damages the nerves that affect the sex organs, leading to erectile dysfunction in men and problems with lubrication and arousal in women.
• Increased or decreased sweating. When the sweat glands don't function normally, your body isn't able to regulate its temperature properly. A reduced or complete lack of perspiration (anhidrosis) can be life-threatening. Autonomic neuropathy also causes excessive sweating, particularly at night.
• Social isolation. The pain, disability and embarrassment caused by nerve damage can rob people — particularly older adults — of their independence, leaving them increasingly isolated and depressed.

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