Breast Cysts Natural Treatment Options!

Several women experience the formation of breast cysts.

These are benign and most common in pre-menopausal women. Some women experience pain with these cysts.

Proper diagnosis can help in treating the breast cysts.

Breast cysts can develop in one or both the breasts.

Various causes can result in the formation of breast cysts, among those fibrocystic breast diseases or cystic mastitis is the most common one.

The formation of breast cyst is also linked to the onset of premenstrual syndrome. The most common period to develop breast cysts is between 30’s and 50’s.

Fluctuations in hormone levels and consequent hormone fluctuations within the body occur one to two weeks before menstruation. This can cause breast glands to fill with fluid and increase or decrease in size based on the hormone levels. As the breast tissues are very sensitive to the hormone changes, all these changes can result in the formation of breast cysts. During this period your breasts become swollen and inflamed and resulting in varying degrees of pain.

Usually, fluids form your breast tissues are collected and transported out of the breasts through the lymphatic system, if the amount of fluid is greater than the lymphatic system can handle then various places of the breast are occupied with this fluid resulting in the formation of breast cysts. If you think that you have breast cysts, then you should get checked with your doctor.

Also, researchers said that an increase in estrogen and decrease in progesterone hormones and also lactating hormones oxytocin or prolactin can trigger the formation of breast cysts.

In order to detect the breast cysts medically, a needle is inserted into the cyst to take out the fluid for evaluation. Most often, doctors recommend draining of the cyst in order to prevent the reoccurrence of the cyst in future. Apart from medical treatments which are very dangerous, you can consider some alternative and natural treatments. They include:

Herbs to treat breast cysts:

• Vitex: This herb can also be called as chaste berry, which helps to increase the levels of progesterone hormone and corrects the balance between estrogen and progesterone. You are not recommended to use this herb during pregnancy or while getting hormone therapy.


• Black Cohosh: Usually this herb is used as general health booster. You can take the herb in capsule form, drops of tincture, or in the form of tea.


• Evening primrose oil: This oil is a great source of essential fatty acids that have natural antiprostaglandin properties, which help to reduce breast cysts. Prostaglandins are chemicals that your body develops and can cause breast inflammation and lead to breast cysts.


• Butcher’s Broom: This herb contains chemicals that are related to diosgenin, which is a hormone like element of wild yam. It helps to reduce the inflammatory process of the breasts, which can cause the formation of cysts.


• Saw Palmetto: It has anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce breast inflammation. It reduces the effect of estrogen on your breasts.


• Gotu Kola: Also known as Centella asiatica acts as a tonic or health booster.
  

Diet tips to treat breast cysts:

• Stop drinking coffee and black tea, which are higher in Methylxanthines. Methylxanthines can lead to the formation of breast cysts. Methylxanthines can also be found in some chocolates and colas. Also, avoid drinking alcohol. Decrease the consumption of animal meats, dairy products.


• Lack of iodine in your diet can also lead to the formation of cysts. Lack of iodine makes your thyroid gland inactive and lead to the formation breast lumps and cysts.


• Wearing brass that can restrict the circulation of lymph in the lymphatic vessels. Tight brass can block or slow the removal of wastes through the lymphatic system. Women who wear constricting types of brassieres such as under wire and throughout the night, are the most susceptible to breast cyst formation in middle age.


• Consume soy based foods, which are having higher isoflavones. These helps to reduce the effect of excess estrogen. Vegetables like Brussels, broccoli and cabbage contain chemicals called indoles, which help to protect your breasts from excess estrogen.
  

Supplements to treat breast cysts:

• Vitamin A: Helps your breast ducts functioning properly.


• Indoles: Indoles are chemicals that fight against cysts and tumors. They found in cabbage-family vegetables. You can also find these chemicals in capsule form.


• Vitamin E: This is a skin boosting vitamin, which helps to protect your breast tissues. This vitamin has good antioxidant properties and maintains hormonal balance. Regular intake of vitamin E helps to reduce breast tenderness and cysts formation.


• Isoflavones: These compounds are found in soy and tofu. They reduce the formation of breast tumors.
  

Before taking any of these herbs and supplements, you should consult your doctor about the specific dosage.

Menopause And Risk Of Heart Disease!

Recent study confirmed that women who entered into menopause stage are at higher risk of heart disease. Researchers explain that understanding the risk factors is an important step and also there are various methods to lower the risk.

Some women who are younger than 50 and not gone through menopause stage still have higher levels of estrogen hormone, which protects their heart health.

After entering into the menopause stage, levels of estrogen hormone drop significantly and can lead to higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Another factor that can increase the risk of heart disease is weight gain, which occurs after entering into the menopause stage. So, women should maintain a healthy weight once they enter into the menopausal stage.

Additional weight can cause various changes in your body such as high blood pressure, physical inactivity, high cholesterol and diabetes, which are the leading causes of stroke and heart attack.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle can greatly help to decrease the risk of heart disease even you enter into the menopausal stage. Smoking women should immediately stop smoking, consume a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables and regular workouts can help to maintain a healthy body weight.

Consult your health care provider regularly to check the levels of blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol.

Importance Of Annual Physicals!

Yes, health physicals or regular annual physical exams are essential to live a healthy lifestyle, to reduce yearly healthcare costs, to prolong your life, and also to offer you great piece of mind.

The components of a physical exam vary from one person to another.

Some physical exams are standard; some are especially for women while some are especially for men.

Also, tests will vary depending upon the person’s age.

Standard physical examinations for all people:

• Everyone should carefully monitor their blood pressure during every doctor’s visit.


• Height should be measured during every visit, because any decrease in height indicates osteoporosis. Also, spinal cord compression can lead to decreased height.


• Your weight will be measured during every doctor’s visit. Any loss or gain in weight without trying can indicate a serious health problem. Gaining weight can indicate hormonal imbalance, fluid retention, kidney or liver disease, or potential heart. Losing weight can indicate any infection or cancer.


• Have a blood test. Regular blood tests include blood cell count, blood sugar levels to find whether you have diabetes, blood electrolytes panel to find kidney disorders, thyroid function test to exclude any thyroid problems, and any other early heart disorders.


• Have chest X-ray. This is essential to identify emphysema, early tuberculosis and lung cancer.


• You may also receive ECG or electrocardiogram at early ages of 50 to check your heart’s health. After age 50, you should get the test for every 2-3 years.


• Some other tests include: virtual colonoscopies and various methods that use flexible lighted tubes to discover polyps and tumors in your gastrointestinal tract.
  

Health physicals for women:

An annual mammogramphy is recommended for women over 40 years or for women who are at higher risk. An early mammogram performed can decrease the chances of developing breast cancer.

Also, regular Pap smear along with pelvic exam is essential for every year to detect cancer of the cervix, STD’s, vaginal cancer and other gynecological concerns.

Testing bone mass is also essential to detect osteoporosis. This is particularly important for menopausal women.

Is It Safe To Use Bio Identical Hormones?

Nowadays bio identical hormones have become most popular, partly because of increased health risks associated with standard hormone replacement therapy or partly due to celebrity endorsements.

Bio identical means the hormones in the product are chemically similar to those your body develops.

Marketers say that their products are safer than standard hormone therapies because:

• They are made from plant chemicals instead of synthesizing in a laboratory. There are some FDA approved products that are made from plants such as: Prometrium natural progesterone, Estrace, Vivelle-Dot patch and Climara patch. FDA has approved over 20 natural bioidentical hormone products including estrogen, progesterone and testosterone


• These hormones are custom made for you. They are based on an examination of your saliva to assess your distinctive hormonal needs. But, the hormone levels in the saliva do not replicate the levels in the blood or correspond to menopause symptoms.


• These hormones are prepared in various doses and forms that are very much different from some of the FDA approved products. You will get some bio identical hormones without any prescription, but most of them need prescription.


• If you want these hormones in any nonstandard combinations, you need to consider a non-compounding pharmacy. Here you will get medications that are specially customized to satisfy your needs.


• The most familiar bio identical hormones are estrogen and progesterone, which are produced by compounding pharmacies to reduce the menopause symptoms and hormonal imbalances.


• Hormonal imbalances lead to the risk of heart attack, stroke and even breast cancer and when used accurately, bio identical hormone replacement therapy can decrease this risk.


• Bio identical estrogen and progesterone have constantly been shown to lessen and remove the breast-cell proliferation rates whereas synthetic hormones, particularly progestin, have been revealed to raise risk of breast cancer.


• In terms of cardiovascular disease, bio identical progesterone maintains and enhances the heart protective effects of estrogen, decreasing the risk for heart attack and stroke.
  

Bio identical hormones are safe when used properly and under the care of an expert physician trained specifically in bio identical hormone replacement therapy.

How To Diagnose Respiratory Diseases?

Chronic respiratory diseases are chronic diseases of the airways and other structures of the lung.

Among those, the most common illnesses include: respiratory allergies, asthma, occupational lung diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pulmonary hypertension.

The most important risk factors for preventable chronic respiratory diseases include:

• Indoor air pollution


• Allergens


• Tobacco smoking


• Occupational risks


• Outdoor pollution
  

Nowadays, hundreds of millions of people are suffering from chronic respiratory diseases. According to the recent studies, presently 210 million people are suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 300 million people from asthma, and millions of people from allergic rhinitis.

Respiratory system has a great role in our body. Not only it supplies oxygen to various cells of the body, but also it washouts the wastages, supplies air required for speech and filters out infectious agents. So, it is very much essential to protect our respiratory system in all aspects.

In order to investigate your chronic respiratory diseases, you need to undergo one or more of the following tests:

Pulmonary function test: It is a group of tests used to evaluate how well the lungs take in and release air and how well they move gases such as oxygen from the lungs.

Chest X-ray: This test is used to diagnose the conditions that affect your chest, its content and nearby structures. It generates the image of your chest.

Bronchoscopy: This method is used to observe inside of your airways for therapeutic and diagnostic purpose. In this procedure, an instrument is placed in your airways through mouth or nose. With the help of this test, your practitioner can observe the abnormalities of your airways like bleeding, foreign bodies, inflammation or tumors.

Computed tomography scan: CT scan is a medical imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing. This type of digital geometry processing is used to produce a three-dimensional image of the inside of your body from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around a single axis.

Biopsy: In this procedure cells or tissues are removed from the lung or pleura for examination. This method helps to find out the presence of the disease. The cells are examined under a microscope and also analyzed chemically.

Ultrasound: This method is used to detect fluid such as pleural effusion.

Ventilation – Perfusion scan: It is used to evaluate circulation of blood and air within your lungs. Perfusion part assesses how well the blood circulates within the lungs, whereas ventilation part observes whether the air reaches all parts of the lungs or not.

Culture of microorganisms: This method is used to determine the cause of infectious diseases. For instance, your throat culture is taken by scratching the lining of tissue in the back of your throat and blotting the sample into a media to be able to screen for harmful microorganisms, like streptococcus pyogenes, the causative means of strep throat.