Anaemia (Low Haemoglobin) - Symptoms and Treatment

Anaemia is probably one of the most common diseases in India inflicting more females than males wherein Haemoglobin levels are lower than the normal range. Approximately 40% of India's female population and 30% of male population are suffering from Anaemia. There are multiple types of Anaemias like

• Iron deficiency anaemia
• Thalassaemia
• Aplastic anaemia
• Haemolytic anaemia
• Sickle cell anaemia
• Pernicious anaemia
• Fanconi anaemia

We will talk today about the most common type of Anaemia which is Iron-deficiency Anaemia.

Symptoms of Iron Deficiency Anaemia.

• general fatigue.
• weakness.
• pale skin.
• shortness of breath.
• dizziness.
• strange cravings to eat items that aren't food, such as dirt, ice, or clay.
• a tingling or crawling feeling in the legs.
• tongue swelling or soreness, etc.

Diagnosis - A simple blood test can determine Haemoglobin levels.

Home Remedies

1. Have a glass full of pomegranate juice every day early morning on an empty stomach. For patients suffering from constipation, have 1 tsp of Triphala powder with water prior to drinking the juice.
2. Make a glassful soup of Carrot and Beetroot. Add to this 15 ml of Amla juice. Have half a glass after or during lunch and half a glass after or during dinner. Doing this will increase the haemoglobin levels within 15 days.

Rashes and Eczema - Symptoms and Treatment

Rashes and Eczema are a common problem that increases in the summer season and also the September October region in India. It is a common problem but can cause a lot of problems and is associated with multiple diseases.

Major symptoms -
1. Burning at rashes site
2. Itching at rashes site
3. Reddish or Blackish discoloration of the skin
4. Skin becomes Scaly

Associated Symptoms -
1. Acidity
2. Headaches
3. Hairfall
4. Burning of palms of hands and sole of feet
5. Anger/ Irritation increases
6. Lack of quantity of sleep
7. Excessive fatigue
8. Urinary Tract Infection (Burning urination)

Dont's -
1. Do not scratch the rash
2. Do not eat sour food or fruits
3. Avoid spicy food at all costs
4. Avoid fermented foods like idli, dosa, dhoklas, alcohol, bread and bread items, dahi (curd, yogurt) and dahi items like buttermilk, lassi, kadhi etc.
5. Do not stay up late at night or stay hungry for long durations.
6. Avoid salt intake as much as possible
7. Stay off sweets for the duration of the rash.

Home Remedies -
1. Take 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds with 8 dried black seeded grapes and soak them overnight in a small bowl of water. Early morning eat the fennel seeds (saunf), the grapes (munakka) and drink the water it was soaked in.
2. A paste made from malai mixed with haldi (turmeric) should be applied locally and kept for 20 minutes minimum a day. On the second day application of honey must be done. Third day repeat the malai and haldi mixture and keep doing such alternate day applications daily.
3. Have more of cow's ghee and cow's milk in daily diet.

PCOD/PCOS - Symptoms, Complications and Treatments

What is PCOD??

PCOD(S) also known as Polycystic Ovarian Disease or Syndrome is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with multiple cysts formed on its outer edges.
It is important to know and to cure as it affects 1/3rd of the Female population in India.

PCOD is generally termed incurable and self-resolving by Doctors, but in Ayurveda, we are famously known to cure this "Incurable" condition in as soon as 1 month, with the average span of treatment being 3 months.


Why treat PCOD??

1. It increases greatly the risk of contracting Type 2 Diabetes
2. There is an increased chance of complications during pregnancy
3. Increased chance of Endometrial Cancer
4. Conception becomes difficult and sometimes complications can make it potentially dangerous.
5. Can cause venous thromboembolism.

What are the symptoms of PCOD??

1. Irregular period cycle
2. Extra facial hair
3. Acne (Pimples)
4. Excessive weight gain
5. Darkening of skin

How to find out??

Do a simple Sonography called - USG Pelvis to find out whether you suffer from PCOD.

Treatment of PCOD

1. A person suffering from PCOD must compulsorily drink water in a sipping fashion ensuring that not more than half a glass is consumed in one go.
2. 1 tsp of Triphala powder, 1 tsp of dry ginger powder should be mixed. This powder should be made into a round ball by mixing it with til oil and jaggery. Have one such medicine ball twice a day just before lunch and dinner.

Using these home remedies, within a month, you should find that the cysts in the ovaries and the bulkiness of the ovaries start reducing and you can actually solve this "incurable" disease very easily.

Kindly share these remedies as it could help people tremendously changing their lives completely.

Cough, Cold & Sore Throat - Treatment

A cough and a cold are one of the most commonly encountered diseases, yet unfortunately, they are not the most pleasant to encounter. Coughing can keep you up at night, disrupt daily activities and ruin your day. A cold can add a lot of distress, inconvenience and also a quite a lot of tissue papers.

The most common symptoms that accompany this illness are sinusitis, cough (dry or wet), headache, congestion, sore throat, breathing difficulties, body ache, lack of energy and drowsiness. Fever is also a common symptom that occurs post being infected by the virus.

For a headache, due to inflamed sinuses, refer to this video for home remedies:

Home Remedies for Cough and Cold :

For sore throat use these home remedy

In case of a Fever, please refer to this blog

http://drmanaangandhi.blogspot.in/2017/10/fever-ty.html

Intestinal Gas, Bloating and Pain in the Stomach - Causes and Treatment

A lot of times we encounter a niggling pain in the stomach or a pricking piercing pain in the abdomen which does not last for too long, this may be due to gas accumulation in the intestines. Intestinal gas can also cause a lot of bloating of the stomach many-a-times giving us the feeling of being fat.

Causes - 

Intestinal Gas can be caused due to many reasons which are mostly related to diet and lifestyle.

1. Incompatible food - Every individual has some type of food which is not easily digestible by the person. Having such type of food is bound to produce Intestinal Gases.

2. Beans - Beans are well known to cause a lot of Intestinal Gas and hence must be avoided in such cases.

3. Dry foods - Foods like sev, mumra, popcorn, makhana, kurmura, chevda etc causes the formation of gases.

4. Lack of lubrication - More often than not, it's not what you have but what you do not have that causes the problem. In a tropical country like India, there is a lot of requirement for lubrication in the body. Water does not and can not bring about lubrication despite the common misconception that it does. Hence substances like ghee, olive oil, coconut oil etc are extremely important to maintain this lubrication.

5. Stale food - Food that is cooked more than 8 hours ago and eaten later despite being re-heated is still considered stale food. Stale food causes tremendous amount of gas and a constant habit of eating stale food will in all likelihood result in disease.

6. Long Gap between meals - Keeping a gap between meals by more than 6 hours is considered to be a long gap. Keeping long gaps and frequent fasting causes the production of Intestinal gases.

7. Late Nights - Staying awake late at night causes both acidity and gas.

8. Stress - Stress is also known to produce abdominal pain and gas.

9. Constipation - Arguably the biggest contributor to the Intestinal gas formation, is constipation. When motions are not clear, the disintegration of stools causes a tremendous amount of gas. Clearing the motions as soon as possible must be the first priority if diseases are to be avoided.

Treatment - 

First of all, identify the cause and change your diet and lifestyle to avoid causes for the constant formation of gas.

For treatment, please refer to the home remedies mentioned in the video below.

For constipation, please refer to the home remedies mentioned in the video below

Gallbladder stones - Should you really operate?

Gallbladder stones are nothing but a calcified mass present in the gallbladder (a small organ below the liver responsible for storing bile).
Bile is not produced by the gallbladder but simply stored there. The work of bile is to emulsify and hence digest fats.

Gallbladder stones are very common occurrences with most people having them and not realizing it, sometimes throughout their lives. In more than 90% of cases, gallbladder stones are incidentally found when scanning for some other problem.

Such accidental incidences become goldmines for people looking to make money from ignorant patients. The reason behind my writing this blog is simply to make the readers aware of the facts so they are well-informed themselves and can guide others in taking the correct decision.

Let us classify Gallbladder stones into 2 types

1. Asymptomatic - This is the majority of people suffering from gallbladder stones. They do not have a single instance the typical pricking, debilitating pain of gallstones and are absolutely symptom-free. They may have 1 or even multiple stones in their gallbladder, yet they have no problem whatsoever in terms of digestion and are absolutely normal.

2. Symptomatic - This is a very small minority of people who have typical gallstone symptoms which include a sharp pricking pain suddenly on the right-hand side just below the liver area. They also tend to have such a pain on increased consumption of fats in their food.

If you fall into the first type - DO NOT GET OPERATED UPON.
There is no need to undergo an operation to extract your entire gallbladder "just in case". Most people live and die with gallstones and suffer no problem. Going under the knife also may cause several complications and with the removal of the organ, your digestive system and health may go completely haywire. On top of this, you will become incapacitated to digest fats or at least your fat digestion power will decrease substantially. Removal of the gallbladder puts a lot of pressure on the liver as there is no storage left in the body.

If you fall into the second type - Consult an ayurvedic doctor.
Although the conventional medical system will tell you that no matter what you do, no medicine can reach the gallbladder, my experience talks differently. There are ayurvedic medicines, albeit only a few, that does help in reducing the gallstones and melt them down completely. I also have reports and case studies of a few of my patients who were cured using these powerful herbs. The chances of these medicines reducing gallstones may not be 100% but its a great alternative before opting for surgery as you can save the organ.

So next time you hear anyone talking about accidentally finding gallstones without suffering from any symptoms, please stop them from undergoing any unnecessary surgeries.

Fever - Important Steps to take

Fever is an extremely common symptom in a number of diseases and fever itself is also considered a disease. Being a humongous topic, we will deal with it by talking about the most commonly seen types of fever and how should one deal with it.

Fever is nothing but an increase in the body's basal temperature from the normal 98.4-98.6 C range. This can be measured and objectively be diagnosed using a thermometer.

Do's and Dont's of fever change according to the type of fever you have, so do the medication. Till the reports suggest the cause of the fever and for a typical viral fever follow these steps given below.

Steps to be followed in fever.

1 - The most important step to follow in fever is to make a note of the symptoms... For example
a. Chills
b. Yellowing of urine
c. Lack of perspiration
d. Weakness
e. Body Pain
f. Nausea, etc.
and report them to an Ayurvedic Doctor for any worrying signs.

2 - Always get a "Fever Profile" blood test done. This test covers normal CBC report along with ESR, Malarial Parasite Test, Test for typhoid and paratyphoid, Dengue Test, etc. to find out the cause of the fever.

3 - After figuring out the reason behind the fever, take specific ayurvedic treatment for the fever.

4 - During the fever try to starve and not each much. It is best to stick to rice water and green gram (moong) soup during the course of the fever. Contrary to the belief that it helps digestion and is good for the stomach, please avoid curd in all forms.

5 - Avoid taking antipyretics (like paracetamol)unless the fever crosses 102 C or has stayed on for more than 3 days. A lot of people have a habit of popping a Paracetamol tablet or an Ibuprofen tablet as soon as fever strikes and sometimes even when they "think" it "might" come. This habit is extremely dangerous and can cause a host of other problems.

Fever is a defense mechanism of the body to raise the body's temperature in order to destroy any pathogens in the body. Instead of facilitating the body in the destruction of the pathogens we end up suppressing our own defense mechanism by "popping the pill."

6 - Try to rest more and reduce physical activity. Resting will allow your body time and space to heal itself.

7 - It is a must for the body to remain in a hot environment without the fan or the air conditioner. Lying under a thick blanket is preferred as it will stimulate perspiration. (Do not expose to direct sunlight for the same). As the sweating breaks out, the fever will start subsiding.

For treatment and home remedies for a viral fever kindly refer to the video given below

For understanding Dengue and what to do, click here