|
|
An Introduction to First Aid Kits
To truly be prepared, you need a well-stocked, easy-to-reach first aid kit for the home, car, and when you vacation. First aid kits contain all the tools needed in any emergency. The kit may be used for a minor scrape on the knee or, more seriously,...
Flu Prevention and the Gym Member
Health officials' warning this month of a potentially harsh flu season should be a red flag to avid aerobic-bunnies and gym-jocks alike. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warn that the flu is transmitted when flu virus in the air is inhaled...
How to Benefit from The Mind-Body Connection
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of "Love, Medicine and Miracles" was once a distraught surgeon who fretted over his inability to effectively serve his cancer patients. Dr. Siegel's recognition and growing understanding of the mind-body connection...
What is Reiki?
The question is an intellectual one. Our conditioning always looks for quantifiable evidence. Yet given the nature of Reiki and the priorities as well as capabilities of today's science this evidence is scarce. Another type of evidence, however, is...
Why Modern Medicine is the Greatest Threat to Health
There is the underlying assumption that modernity translates into better health. A corollary of this logic is that we can live our lives pretty much as we want because we can always buy a repair. You know, the car won't start, the TV is broken, the...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Memory Herbs: Why Gingko Doesn't Always Work
Q: When reading, I can't seem to focus or retain information as I once did. I was wondering if you had any suggestions, herbal remedies, or insight to offer. I appreciate your assistance.
A: Memory function is a complex issue that an overly simplistic herbal approach cannot solve.
Why Gingko Doesn’t Always Work For Memory Popular magazines said that gingko was the herbal memory cure, but people's experience and science have not borne this out. I'm not surprised. In Chinese medicine, we recognize that one symptom can be have multiple causes. We have to look for the root, and look at the surrounding symptoms and signs to find the appropriate cure.
Your memory loss/concentration could be due to something that gingko can address, or to something else. If you give it to a bunch of people without first differentiating the cause of their problem, you won't know who will get better and who won't. Although gingko is a Chinese herb, we generally don't use it for memory or concentration problems. It does "move the blood," though, so problems due to "blood stagnation" might improve with it.
The Root Causes of Memory and Concentration So what are the causes of memory loss and concentration problems? The disease of Impaired Memory (Jian Wang) is subdivided into:*
Heart/Spleen vacuity: Caused by overthinking, overwork, insufficient nutrition. Symptoms of palpitations, insomnia, fatigue, poor appetite, loose stool.
Kidney jing vacuity: Caused by overwork, disease, ageing, too much sex. Symptoms of loose teeth, loss of or early greying of hair, low back and knee weakness and soreness, weak bones. Non-interaction of Heart and Kidneys: Caused by constitutional (genetic) weakness, disease, too much sex, or extreme emotional disturbances. Symptoms of dizziness, ear tinging, palpitations, low back and knee soreness and weakness, feel hot in afternoon and evening, sweat while sleeping, insomnia. Phlegm: Caused by excess emotions, anger, frustration, digestive deficiency. Symptoms of sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, reduced appetite, phlegm in
throat. Blood stasis: Caused by stagnation, stress, emotions, trauma. (This is the most likely of the five that might respond to gingko) Symptoms of sudden and enduring impaired memory, abdominal fullness and pain, easy defecation of dark stool. Concentration is very similar, and the above patterns more or less fit. For more information along the lines of attention deficit disorder, see this vast bunch of info.
For herbal remedies, see an acupuncturist/herbalist. They can make sure which type you have, and help you get better.
Chinese herbal remedies are personalized, synergistic, balanced... the best way to go in my opinion - much better than a number of single herbs from the health food store.
Difficulty Reading Although not as likely in your case, since you used to do better with reading, many people learned to read wrong. They learned to visualize the entire word as a picture (using the wrong part of the brain), instead of sounding it out (phonics - using the correct part of the brain). If you use the visual part, it takes more mental effort, and makes you sleepy. So it is possible that as you age, or if you get worn out, using the visual part of the brain for reading would be more and more impossible.
If this is your problem, you may want to see a specialist, or look into various phonics products - they say you can re-learn reading even as an adult. But this isn't my area of expertise. It's just a supplemental idea for you to think about, and pursue with others.
*Source of the Pattern Differentiation: The Treatment of Disease in Chinese Medicine, Vol 1 by Philippe Sionneau and Lu Gang.
About the Author
Acupuncturist, herbalist, and medical professor Brian B. Carter founded the alternative health megasite The Pulse of Oriental Medicine (http://www.PulseMed.org/). He is the author of the book "Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs, and Acupressure" (November, 2004). Brian speaks on radio across the country, and has been quoted and interviewed by Real Simple, Glamour, and ESPN magazines.
|
|
|
|
|
National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health |
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ... |
www.nlm.nih.gov |
  |
Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com |
Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns. |
www.medicinenet.com |
  |
Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory |
Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ... |
dir.yahoo.com |
  |
MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine |
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications. |
medlineplus.gov |
  |
Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Journal Home - Nature Medicine |
Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ... |
www.nature.com |
  |
The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ... |
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ... |
content.nejm.org |
  |
eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base |
eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ... |
www.emedicine.com |
  |
Open Directory - Health: Medicine |
the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ... |
dmoz.org |
  |
the www virtual library biosciences medicine |
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages |
|
  |
Medicine - home |
Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice. |
www.md-journal.com |
  |
Institute of Medicine |
The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health. |
www.iom.edu |
  |
ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News |
Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily. |
www.sciencedaily.com |
  |
Google Directory - Health > Medicine |
Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ... |
www.google.com |
  |
the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine |
www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages |
|
  |
PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal |
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ... |
medicine.plosjournals.org |
  |
Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal |
Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com. |
www.priory.com |
  |
Entrez PubMed |
PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ... |
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
  |
Stanford University School of Medicine |
Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine. |
med.stanford.edu |
  |
Medicine OnLine |
Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ... |
www.meds.com |
  |
|