Study highlights how lower back pain and sleep are closely related

Yoga and physical therapy(PT) are effective approaches to treating co-occurring sleep disturbance and back pain while reducing the need for medication, a new study suggests.

Published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the research from Boston University in US, showed significant improvements in sleep quality lasting 52 weeks after 12 weeks of yoga classes or 1-on-1 PT, which suggests a long-term benefit of these non-pharmacologic approaches.

In addition, participants with early improvements in pain after six weeks of treatment were three and a half times more likely to have improvements in sleep after the full, 12-week treatment, highlighting that pain and sleep are closely related.

“Identifying holistic ways to treat these conditions could help decrease the reliance on these medications as well as keep patients safer and more comfortable,” said study lead researcher Eric Roseen.

Sleep disturbance and insomnia are common among people with chronic low back pain (cLBP).
Previous research showed that 59 per cent of people with cLBP experience poor sleep quality and 53 per cent are diagnosed with insomnia disorder.

Medication for both sleep and back pain can have serious side effects, and risk of opioid-related overdose and death increases with use of sleep medications.

In the current study, the randomised controlled trial included 320 adults with cLBP and seven surrounding community health centres.

At the beginning of the study, over 90 per cent of participants with cLBP were found to suffer from poor sleep.

Participants were assigned one of three different therapies for cLBP: Weekly yoga, physical therapy or reading educational materials.

In this study, results for sleep improvements were compared over a 12-week intervention period and after 1 year of follow-up.

“The high prevalence of sleep problems in adults with chronic low back pain can have detrimental effects on a person’s overall health and well-being,” said Roseen.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Guide to Relaxation

Call it what you like - Stress, tension, anxiety or worry. It all comes down to you feeling bad both physically and mentally. Anxiety has become one of the most prevalent forces in modern life, with more and more people feeling overwhelmed and anxious when dealing with the many challenges and problems life puts on their path. When this happens, don't blame yourself, many are in the same boat. Read this guide and you'll find there are many ways to reduce your worries and anxiety.

Part A: Symptoms

If you're not sure you really are disproportionately anxious, know that anxiety can manifest in three types of symptoms:

Emotional Symptoms

•    A sudden feeling of apprehension, dread or unexplained guilt.

•    Feeling worried for large periods of time without the ability to stop the worrying thoughts.

•    Intrusive thoughts about things that make you anxious even when you're in the middle of doing something else.

•    You find uncertainty intolerable, if there is a problem, you must know about it right away. 

Behavioral symptoms

•    Finding it extremely hard to relax or enjoy a quiet time.

•    Frequently putting things off because you feel overwhelmed.

•    Avoiding situations that make you anxious.

Physical symptoms

•    Feeling like your muscles are tense, that your body aches from being held rigid.

•    Having trouble either falling or staying asleep, as your mind will not stop working.

•    Feeling cranky, edgy or jumpy. 

•    Stomach pain, nausea, and other stomach issues often occur. 

Part B: Treating the Anxiety

We often feel like our worries are generated from the outside. From other people, problems or situations that trigger this worried anxiety within us. But the truth is that worrying comes from within. There are triggers all around us, but it is the anxiety machine within us that spins it over and over again, making a running dialog that produces worry.

Once you realize that your worries are not really helping you plan but are just wasting valuable energy, you can start dealing with the irrationality of these worrying thoughts. This may mean challenging these irrational thoughts, learning to accept uncertainty, and postponing the act of worrying.

Step 2: Physical Relaxation Techniques

A big part of anxiety is how we physically feel when it happens. Anxiety is our body's reaction to perceived danger. It used to help us escape predators. Our hearts pound in our chests, we breathe faster, more shallow breaths, our muscles tense up and we feel light-headed. All these things are great when you're escaping an angry tiger, but in everyday life, this reaction can also be triggered by much smaller threats, like being late to work or doing something embarrassing in front of other people.

That is why it is important to know a few techniques to physically relax your body. The most important thing is REPETITION AND REGULAR PRACTICE. Set aside 30 minutes once a day, or when you're anxious, to practice some of the following:

Progressive muscle relaxation

Start releasing all the muscles in your body. First clench your toes, as hard as you can. Then unclench them. The move to your calves and do the same. Repeat this for every part of your body that has muscle, working your way from the toes to the legs, the middle of your body, up to your arms and hands and finally neck and head. Do it patiently, give attention to each muscle as you clench it. This will help relax your body and with it your mind.

Deep breathing

When we're anxious, we start breathing faster, causing hyperventilation. This, in turn, leads to symptoms such as lightheadedness, feeling out of breath, dizziness, and tingly extremities. These scare us, creating a loop of anxiety that gets higher and higher. By forcing your breath to become slower, deliberate and coming from your diaphragm, you'll be signaling to your body that it is time to relax, and you'll be surprised how effective it can be.

Meditation

Countless studies have proven beyond doubt that there are many kinds of meditation that lead to reduced anxiety. Meditation can not only reduce your physical symptoms but, over time, help you control the flow of thoughts in your head. As you gain more control over your thoughts, you will be able to stop their persistent nagging.

Use your senses to calm yourself down quickly.

Sight: Look at something you find beautiful, walk around somewhere pretty or look at photos that make you feel good, such as family photos or treasured photos from your past. Animal photos have also been proven to have a calming effect on our psyche.

Sound: Listen to something relaxing. Slow music, the sounds of nature. Listen to crashing waves and the wind passing through the leaves.

Smell: Certain smells reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. A great example is lavender, which is great for relaxing both body and mind, as well as promoting healthy sleep.

Taste: Cook yourself something delicious. Slowly eat a favorite treat. Do NOT start treating anxiety with sugary sweets, because you will create a sugar spike that will only lead to more anxiety later on. Not to mention you can develop a nasty habit of calming yourself down with fattening foods. Eat something slowly, enjoy the taste and let it overwhelm everything else.

Touch: Take a hot, scented bath. Pet your dog or cat. Wrap yourself in something soft like a good blanket. Enjoy a good massage or sit outside and feel the wind caress your skin.

Step 3: Connecting with others

Being under stress, being worried and feeling anxious is worst when you are dealing with it alone. Without any objective feedback, everything just becomes bigger and worse in our minds. A quick and honest evaluation from someone else can drastically reduce the amount of time we spend obsessing and worrying over a problem.

However, being anxious can also negatively impact your relationships with others. You may seem cranky, or you may come across as needy and weak. That is why many don't disclose their anxiety, fearing to be judged.

Build a strong support system

Offer your trust and your help to others, and use them to lean on when your anxiety gets too bad. Have people you trust and who you find steady and calming to help you through this difficult time.

Talk about your worries

This may sound easy, but many find it hard to talk about their deepest, darkest anxieties because they are afraid to make them more real. The truth is usually the opposite, and when things come out and you tell someone about what's bothering you, it usually makes your problem seem much smaller and a lot less scary.

Avoid those who make you feel anxious

Certain people may make us more worried and increase our anxiety. Remember, you probably picked up your anxiety from someone in your life, and so that person may make you more anxious if you're around them. Similarly, some people may make you feel guilt, shame or fear, and they too should have limited appearance time in your life. So considering who to turn to for that talk, remember those people that make you feel safe.

Step 4: Change your lifestyle

A huge part of our anxiety stems from improper lifestyle choices. These can be easily fixed by:

Adopting healthy eating habits

Don't skip breakfast, and continue having small meals throughout the day. Going too long without eating may lead to low blood sugar levels, which will make you feel anxious and cranky. Eat lots of complex carbs such as fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. 

Limiting your caffeine and sugar intake

Carbonated drinks, coffee, and tea can increase your anxiety and disrupt your sleep. Sugary snacks and treats will spike your blood sugar levels and then crash, leaving you feeling drained.

Similarly, avoiding alcohol and nicotine

Alcohol may be used by many to 'drown their sorrows', but it actually increases anxiety as it leaves you. Drinking away your worries may also take you on the path to alcoholism. Cigarettes may seem like they have a calming effect, but, in fact, are stimulants, even powerful ones, and will eventually lead you to more anxiety, not less.

Getting enough sleep

We can't stress this enough. A lack of sleep or disrupted sleep will have a terrible effect on your anxiety and will always make it worse. Also, your ability to deal with anxiety and with problems, in general, will decrease once you are sleep deprived, which will, in turn, make you feel helpless, increasing the anxiety.

Part C: When should you seek professional help?

Knowing the difference between being worried and having a condition is hard. What started as normal worrying can become what's known as 'General Anxiety Disorder' or GAD. People who suffer from GAD cannot stop worrying, and this worry becomes a normal state for them. GAD is a well-known condition and is very common these days, especially in Western society. It can be handled with either medication or therapy.

The first and most important sign that you need to seek some help is the length of time you've been feeling anxious. If you have been having this feeling for over six months, that's a clear sign that something is wrong and that you need some actual help.

Another sign is that your worries are significantly disrupting your everyday life, job, relationship or other social activities.

So if you find that you can't stop worrying, and nothing you do will stop these obsessive thoughts and tense muscles. Please don't try to fight it alone. Never be ashamed to ask for help. It is not your fault, it's a fault in your brain chemistry that you have no control over. Do the brave thing and go seek some medical assistance.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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Tobacco plant may aid in treating diabetes, arthritis

Tobacco plants can be used to produce an anti-inflammatory protein that can have powerful therapeutic potential for treating conditions like Type-2 diabetes, stroke, dementia and arthritis, more effectively and at an affordable price, researchers say.

A team of researchers used tobacco plants to produce large quantities of a human protein called Interleukin 37, or IL-37 — naturally produced in the human kidney in very small quantities.

“This protein is a master regulator of inflammation in the body, and has been shown in pre-clinical models to be effective in treating a whole host of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases,” said a Professor.

“The human kidney produces IL-37, but not nearly enough to get us out of an inflammation injury.”

While IL-37 has shown promise in animal models, it’s use clinically has been limited because of the inability to produce it in large quantities at a price that is feasible clinically. Currently, it can be made in very small amounts using the bacteria E. coli, but at a very high cost.

That’s where the tobacco plants come in and pave the way to provide treatments that are effective and affordable, according to the study published recently.

“The plants offer the potential to produce pharmaceuticals in a way that is much more affordable than current methods,” said  a scientist.

“Tobacco is high-yield, and we can temporarily transform the plant so that we can begin making the protein of interest within two weeks.”

The team is now investigating the effect that IL-37 has for preventing organ injury during transplantation. When an organ is removed for transplantation and then transferred to a recipient, inflammation occurs when the blood flow is restored to the organ.

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/           

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Scientists discover new compound that could help treat ovarian cancer

A new research now finds scientists  discover a compound that could be more effective in treating a few types of cancers than standard chemotherapy.

While chemotherapy is still the first line of defense for most cancer tumours and is often highly effective, many cancers are naturally resistant, or develop resistance, to commonly used first-line chemotherapy drugs like cisplatin.

Researchers identified new drug-candidates that would work against these types of treatment resistant cancers.

In the study, scientists screened new compounds made in the lab against a “panel” of cancers that were sensitive and resistant to standard cancer therapy. They further tested the compounds with non-malignant cells to see how toxic they were to normal cells.

They found two lead compounds that had low toxicity to non-malignant cells but were highly active against cancer cells sensitive or resistant to standard treatment.

Speaking about it, a Prof. said, “Many cancer cells – about 20 per cent – become resistant to common treatments by learning to ignore the internal signals that tell them to undergo programmed cell death, known as apoptosis.

He further added, “We have identified a compound that kills cancer cells that avoids the need for apoptosis, and so the usual resistance mechanism doesn’t work against our compound.”

According to the Prof., the compound is as potent as common current chemotherapeutics, but crucially retains its potency against treatment-resistant cancers.

By looking at the cellular response from the cancers the researchers found the new drug lead works by two different mechanisms simultaneously, making it much more difficult for cancers to develop resistance toward them during treatment.

“We think this compound could be particularly effective against ovarian cancer,” he added.
The team used a technique called “proteomics” to determine how thousands of proteins in the cells responded to exposure to the drug lead.

Professor said, “Proteomics is a remarkably powerful approach we have  to identify how living things respond to new drug candidates. The multiple mechanisms of action of the new molecules was an unexpected and exciting result.”

Researchers now want to carry out further studies to find out if the compound can be used in combination with current treatments to improve their performance.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com