How Humans Contract Bird Flu

Writen by Michael Colucci

People all over the world have been going nuts for the very few people that the bird flu virus has killed. The media is one of the reasons why people have been going nuts for the very few deaths the bird flu has caused. However maybe the media is just serving as an early warning device to what could be a much worse situation.

The media maybe has gotten paranoid of the fear of previous influenza virus spread that has caused an epidemic way back. That’s why they are helping us have more of an idea of what could be the latest big threat that could kill lots of people.

Thanks to the media we have more of an idea what causes the spread of bird flu influenza virus to humans. The main cause of bird flu comes from the migratory birds such as ducks. These migratory birds often don’t get affected but they spread the virus to domesticated birds such as chickens, turkeys or geese which becomes affected. When the virus spreads to these domesticated birds, they die in large numbers often in just a day.

The bird flu virus was really not much of a worry for humans before. However because of certain people getting infected and dying in 1997 it has become a cause for concern. Since, cases of bird flu were reported throughout Asia, Canada and the Netherlands. Those people who were affected have made contact to infected birds or those areas where the infected birds made contact.

The main reason why bird flu is able to infect humans is because of its property of antigenic shift. Antigenic shift makes it possible for the virus subtype A to merge and create a new virus with a different species.

People who are often affected with the bird flu virus live or work closely with pigs or chickens. Pigs could be the cause of infection as well because they are a great place where both human and bird virus often merge.

In some cases the virus directly transfers to the humans. Here is how that happens.

1. The wild migratory birds shed their virus through their droppings, saliva or nasal secretions.

2. The domesticated birds catch this virus through sharing water, feed or soil that has become contaminated or through inhaling the airborne virus. The flu will then spread quickly from one bird to the other eventually leading to other flocks. The virus can be destroyed by heat but survives when it is in a cooler climate.

3. The virus could then be spread to humans due to the unsanitary open air markets where the eggs and birds are sold. Other reason a person may get infected is by touching an infected bird or its droppings.

If you are a person who works or lives with birds, it is best to remember to have a more hygienic lifestyle to prevent the bird flu virus killing you.

Childhood Depression: What to Do if Your Child is Depressed

Writen by Foras Aje

Like adults, children can suffer from depression, in this case: childhood depression. It’s not uncommon and since children actually are the purest of humans, it might be safe to say if a child is depressed-and they actually tell you that-it’s a rather serious issue.

One of the most common misconceptions about childhood depression is:”what do children have to be depressed about?”. Perhaps this reveals a few misunderstandings about childhood depression and what it is. It is indeed quite similar to clinical depression-borrowing from medical terminology and is not just down moods resulting from a child being ‘depressed’ cause they have just been punished or have been told they can’t have something. No, childhood depression is more intrusive into the child’s very existence, may be long-lasting and if not attended to life threatening.

Perhaps another misconception may have to do with us thinking, being a child is a care-free, trouble free stage of human life. Not necessarily, with peer acceptance, school and family expectations, it is enough to make a kid worry and could be a huge factor to be considered in regards to dealing with a case of childhood depression.

Childhood Depression: Common Causes

1. Family History of Mental illness or suicide.

2. Abuse (physical, emotional or sexual).

3. Chronic illnesses.

4. Loss of a parent at an early age to death, divorce or abandonment.

5. Improper diet and lack of sufficient exercise.

6. Excessive exposure to negative factors such as parents arguing, bad neighborhoods etc.

7. Insufficient parental attention.

Though this is not a conclusive list of the causes of depression in children, perhaps these factors are the most common ones.

Childhood Depression: Common Symptoms

1. Loss of interest in hobbies and activities

2. Abrupt change in Appetite

3. Change in sleep patterns (either increase or decrease)

4. Difficulty concentrating

5. Making depreciating statements like “I’m not good enough, I’m stupid”

6. Persistent Sadness

7. Recurring thoughts of Suicide

8. Excessive clinging or withdrawal

If you notice any of these in your child’s behaviour it may be time to seek help. But, keep in mind, the first step may be a good heart to heart talk with your child.

Reconnect with them. Make plans for a getaway saying things like “How about you and I go to the park, just the two of us eh?”. Now seize this time to carefully see what could be the problem.

Also, borrowing from Yoga principles (Natural Healing as well), now will be a good time to assess your entire families diet. Remember, “you are what you eat”. Diet plays, perhaps the most important role in one’s health, especially children in their growing stages so all efforts should be made to ‘pleasantly’ enforce a proper diet. You may not have to work too hard, most kids LOVE bananas and other sweet fruits and fresh juices. Vegetablesmaybe not so much, but you get my gist. Try to replace processed foods with healthier ones.

Take time out to be there for your child or at least be conscious of who he or she is around the most. Remember children are wonderful imitators.

If you yourself happen to be depressed, I recommend drug-free alternatives such as Yoga, and the previously mentioned proper eating.

Also, look into fasting albeit it short as this works wonders for restoring your emotional balance as result of the body not being taxed with the duties of digestion, assimilation and re-building. Your mind clears and all moroseness disappears and consequently, you tend to find the answers to the problems warranting a treatment for depression in the first place. Keep in mind though; this radical step is suited only for adults not necessarily for kids.

Devote thirty minutes or more a day for open air recreation for yourself and your family. Visits to the zoo, active play, and swimming tend to relieve tension created in the home, school, and work and this may go a long way in assisting in curing childhood depression in the family.

Make efforts yourself to be cheerful as much as possible as kids do mimic what their parents constantly do.

Finally, if you are of a spiritual inclination, try prayer power and introduce your child to it. Hey, the Man did say: “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.” I believe a child connected to God is one sure way of preventing childhood depression. (Of course with the factors previously mentioned.)

Parenting or being a role model to a child is a duty that may be tasking at times, even more say when dealing with a depressed child. However with the suggestions given, if tackled properly, childhood depression need not be a thing your kid has to go through.

In friendship,

Foras Aje is an independent health researcher and founder of Bodyhealthsoul.com. For more information on Depression Treatment, feel free to stop by his website today.

Dental Health

Writen by Damian Sofsian

Dental hygiene is very important if one wishes to have long-lasting and good-looking teeth. This should begin at a very young age even as the first tooth erupts at the age of about 3 months. Healthy teeth can be maintained by simple procedures such as brushing and flossing and visiting the dentist regularly.

Teeth must be brushed twice a day. Ideally, teeth must be brushed after every meal. If a long time passes between eating and brushing your teeth then food particles will remain embedded between the teeth. This enables bacteria to thrive and allows for decay to set in. A toothpaste containing fluoride is advised by most dentists. Fluoride strengthens the teeth and prevents them from decay. Toothbrushes with soft bristles are suitable for children, while adults must use tougher bristled toothbrushes. Teeth must also be flossed twice a day to remove the particles accumulated between the teeth.

It is necessary to visit the dentist on a regular basis. Different people have different dental problems. Hence, the frequency of visits must be discussed with the dentist. Dentists check your teeth for cavities, plaque formation, lesions on the jaws, and stains on the teeth. Plaque accumulation can be removed by the dentist. Such regular visits can also detect budding problems and that may drastically reduce the need for extensive operations such as root canals and crown fillings.

A good diet helps to maintain oral health. Foods having more sugar content must be avoided as these sugars facilitate the growth of bacteria on the teeth. If sugar-containing foods are eaten, teeth must be washed immediately, at least by gargling water in the mouth. Leafy foods such as spinach help in natural cleansing of the teeth. In fact, people in Asian countries like India use twigs of the neem tree to brush their teeth instead of toothpastes.

Smokers should take dental health more seriously. People who smoke frequently may be prone to conditions such as periodontitis, gingivitis, and even oral cancer. A routine dental checkup helps to catch such problems in their initial stages, and perhaps avert them completely.

Home Remedies for Constipation – Chinese Style

Writen by Matthew Scott

These traditional Chinese home remedies for constipation are easy to prepare, safe and effective. Most of them are made from common ingredients with natural, bowel lubricating and moistening actions. Others are exercises and massage techniques you can do to help move your bowels. Also included here is advice on eliminating and relieving primary causes of constipation. This is absolutely necessary if you want to have regular bowel movements AND you want these home remedies for constipation relief to work well. After all, what’s the point in taking a remedy for constipation while at the same time continuing to, for instance, eat foods that cause or contribute to the problem?

Natural Remedies and Constipation

Some of these are adult constipation remedies only, however some may be given to both adults and children. Start with a remedy you feel fits your particular needs and stick with it for a while. If you’ve also made some dietary and lifestyle modifications, as outlined below, and it still doesn’t work then try another remedy. Be patient though – blocked, constipated bowels usually take months, or years, to manifest, so don’t expect to reverse your condition overnight!

Home Remedies For Constipation

Remedy One: Honey Tea

Add 3 grams of green tea leaves and a tablespoon of honey to a mug of hot water. Wait several minutes. Drink warm after meals. Moistens the intestines and frees the stools. Particularly suitable for constipation in the elderly and constipation after child birth.

Remedy Two: Honey & Sesame Oil Drink

Add a tablespoon of honey and a dash of sesame oil to a mug of hot water. Stir well. Repeat every morning before breakfast. Moistens the intestines and frees the stools. Especially suitable for habitual constipation with dry stools.

Remedy Three: Sweet Mulberry Drink

Bring two bowls of water to the boil. Add 60 grams of fresh, ripe, dark mulberries. Continue boiling till one bowl of liquid is left. Strain the dregs, and add white or crystal sugar to taste. Drink frequently. Suitable for adults and children.

Remedy Four: Molasses Drink

Add two tablespoons of molasses to a glass of warm water and stir. Drink twice daily. One of the mildest yet most reliable home remedies for constipation. Suitable for adults and children – give children just one spoon of molasses though.

Remedy Five: Banana & Fig Smoothie

Not really a traditional Chinese home remedy for constipation but effective, and highly nutritious, all the same. Put 2 or 3 fresh figs or dates, a very ripe banana, a spoon of honey or molasses and a cup of water into a blender. Mix well and drink once a day or so. Suitable for adults and children.

Remedy Six: Senna Leaf Tea

Put 1-3 grams of Senna leaf in a mug and add hot water. Let steep for several minutes before drinking. One of the most powerful, natural home remedies for constipation. Good for moving hard stools with signs of heat in the body, e.g. a red face, feeling hot, bad breath, dark yellowish urine. Senna leaf is a strong laxative and not recommended for long term use, though, or during pregnancy or menstruation, or by those who are weak from illness or constitutionally weak.

Remedy Seven: Spinach Soup

Make a simple spinach and water soup and add a little salt. Another gentle yet effective home remedy for constipation relief – soothes and stimulates your bowels. You may also add carrot to the soup to further stimulate and soothe your bowels. Suitable for adults and children.

As mentioned, above, in addition to taking home remedies for constipation relief you should try to identify and eliminate the cause of your constipation. Diet is usually the primary cause, i.e. excessive eating of nutritionally dead foods such as white bread, cakes, cookies, pastries, candy, over cooked foods, over cooked meats and too many pasteurized dairy products like milk, all of which do little more than clog up your colon. The closer your food is to its natural state the better is for you AND your colon!

Emotional stress is another common cause of constipation. Breathing exercises and acupressure are simple yet highly effective ways to deal with stress, anxiety, negative emotions, nervousness and worry. Here are some techniques you can start using right away:

http://chinese-holistic-health-exercises.com/breathing-techniques-reduce-stress.html

Additionally, your body likes regularity so you should try to eat at set times and empty your bowels at set times, e.g. sit on the toilet every morning at the same time regardless of whether or not you feel you need to go.

For exercises and massage techniques to enhance the above home remedies for constipation try the Ab Lift (before meals) and Abdominal Rub (after meals):

http://www.chinese-holistic-health-exercises.com/abdominal-exercises.html

To your health!

Matthew Scott is a professionally trained Chinese medicine practitioner from Australia, living in China since 2000. His website http://chinese-holistic-health-exercises.com offers classic, time-tested exercises & techniques to stretch, strengthen, energize, relax, ease pain & enhance your overall health.

Creatine Reviews

Writen by Jennifer Bailey

Creatine is very widely used by athletes as it offers many benefits with the least number of side effects compared to other drugs. Creatine provides instant energy to the body and is used when an individual is into high intensity sports like bodybuilding or weightlifting. It sets back fatigue and helps a person work out more. Individuals who have undergone surgeries can get back to exercising using this drug. It increases heart function and is widely used by patients post surgery. Athletes would find this drug very useful as it releases bursts of energy that would be required during intense training sessions. Even though it works short term, the drug can be used long term as long as the individual is able to take care of the weight gain, which is the most active side effect of the drug till date.

It is very important to go through the reviews regarding this drug before starting to use it. Even though Creatine is an over the counter medicine, long term usage of the drug might result in a few side effects that are not always favorable to the body. Short term, it can be used in a similar manner as multivitamins as long as the individual does indeed require the excess Creatine during workouts. It is important to note that Creatine is produced by the body and the supplement is only when the body requires that excess Creatine for intense exercises that the athletes put the body through. A physician would sometimes be able to advice on the usage of this drug even though self-medication is a common practice among athletes.

A number of reviews are available on the Internet that would be able to provide an insight of the various Creatine drugs available in the market and their usage options. Creatine products are available in a wide range and an athlete would find these reviews useful to decide on a particular drug and dosage that would be required for a particular body based on the exercises the body is subjected to.

Since Creatine is a dietary supplement, many of these reviews also provide a diet control chart that would result in maximum advantage when used with Creatine. It is very common to find all the ingredients used in a particular Creatine drug, based on which an individual can decide on the best buy.

These reviews help in providing the customer with the advantages in using a particular Creatine drug. Also, athletes currently using the drug would be putting up their reviews online so others browsing the site might find it useful to hear from someone actually on the drug.

Creatine provides detailed information about creatine, creatine benefits, creatine monohydrate, and more. Creatine is affiliated with Body Mass Index Chart.

Chelation Therapy: What Is It?

Writen by Travis Lawrence

Chelation therapy is a procedure with is used to remove toxic levels of heavy metals from within a person. The process happens when the use of chelating agents is used. There are both conventional medicine approaches to using it as well as alternative medicines. In any case, this treatment, when administered properly can help to improve the health and well being of individuals.

During World War I, the use of poisonous gas was in place. Chelating agents were first used during this time period. The first of them was British Anti Lewisite also called BAL. This was the name given to Dimercaprol. This is an organic compound that is related to mercaptans. These mercaptans are organic compounds that contain sulfur. But, what does all of this really have to do with what they can do? Well, mercaptans are able to react to the bad metals that are within the body to capture them or to form compounds with them. In this case, the lewisite gas was an arsenic type of organic compound that was used in poisoning the enemy. BAL was able to bind the arsenic compounds from lewisite within the body. This then allowed them to be removed from the body without any harm being done to them.

Later, there were other chelating agents discovered to be used as well. These bind with metallic ions and render them less chemically reactive. This then allows them to be excreted from the body without any harm.

Conventional Medicine And Chelation Therapy

In conventional medicine, there are several ways in which these chelating agents can be used. Although it is rare for them to be needed and used, they can provide a safe and excellent way to treat several conditions.

They can be effective in treating such conditions as:

• Acute Mercury poisoning
• Plutonium poisoning
• Arsenic poisoning
• Iron poisoning
• And lead poisoning.

They can also be useful in treating other conditions as well as other heavy metal poisonings. In any case that they are used, though, the patient’s health must be in a good deal of risk to warrant them being used. Heavy metal poisoning is quite detrimental to the body. In many cases, significant damage can be done to virtually every organ of the body due to the effects of this poisoning. One example is mercury in which neurodegeneration can happen. Chelation therapy can help to remove these toxic compounds from the body without damage as long as preformed correctly and within the right amount of time. The Chelation therapy can be used to treat in several methods including through intravenously, orally or through intramuscularly.

Alternative Medicine And Chelation Therapy

There is another side to chelation therapy though. It has been used to treat conditions such as coronary artery disease and many other degenerative diseases. In alternative medicine, they are provided through intravenous forms and are believed to reverse or slow down the progression of these conditions including age related disease.

One case in which alternative medicine gives help with the use of chelation therapy is with those children effected by autism. This condition is a neuro-developmental problem. Those that use alternative medicine may believe that the condition is caused by the exposure to heavy metal poisonings. And, for that, the chelation therapy can be helpful.

More and more individuals are seeking out chelation therapy to treat many of their disorders. But, it is a widely debated topic. Some claim that the therapy can help to repair all sorts of damage while others believe it is much too dangerous to do so. There are some dangers that can happen through the use or misuse of chelation therapy. For example, it can decrease blood coagulation and hyprocalcaemia.

Yet, for many, chelation therapy is one in which there is strong hope. The conditions of the use and of the abilities of these treatments range by those who are using them as well as the poisoning that has been had. When it comes to the use of chelating agents in the body, it can be said that there is a good belief that they can help in extracting poisonous heavy metals from the body.

Drug-Induced Liver Disease

Writen by Kevin Stith

The liver is the organ that is responsible for a variety of functions of the human body, including removal of toxins and filtration of waste products. The liver has many enzymes that aid in drug metabolism. With increasing use of various drugs, drug-induced liver disease has become quite common. Symptoms may or may not be similar to other liver diseases. When the symptoms are similar, it becomes difficult to understand whether the symptoms have been caused by disease or drugs. Drug-induced liver disease can be classified as predictable and unpredictable.

Predictable Drug-induced Liver Disease

Intrinsic drug reactions can cause liver damage. Predictable drug-induced liver disease is related to the dosage of drugs that cause liver injury. Certain drugs, when taken in excessive amounts, have toxic effects on the liver. This kind of liver disease can be treated easily upon careful examination of the patient’s drug history. Toxic doses of acetaminophen that result in hepatocellular necrosis is the most frequently recorded case of drug induced liver failure. Other drugs that cause different liver diseases are amiodarone, bromfenac, tetracycline, niacin, cyclosporine, and certain oral contraceptives.

Unpredictable Drug-induced Liver Disease.

Idiosyncratic drug reactions can cause liver injury. This type of drug reaction occurs mostly in persons who cannot tolerate a particular drug. Use of one particular drug may cause liver disease only in a fraction of individuals. It is not related to dosage, i.e., even small amounts of the drug can cause adverse reactions and are usually due to some genetic disorder. Enzymes required to metabolize certain drugs may not be present in liver cells causing damage to the liver. Isoniazid and diclofenac may cause hepatocellular necrosis. Drugs like chlorpromazine and estrogen may cause cholestasis. Use of certain oral contraceptives and anabolic steroids may result in hepatic or liver tumor.

Toxicity of the drug administered is determined and methods are then adopted to detoxify the patients suffering from drug induced liver disease.

Gene’s Diet Plan

Writen by Gene Simmons

Hot dang! If a few hundred other folks can peddle a plan to help people lose weight, there’s no reason I can’t jump on the bandwagon too! So, here’s my plan. All you need to do is send me a certified check for $495.94 and I’ll let you in on my “Secrets to Successful Weight Control”. How’s that sound?

You want a personalized plan? I can do that. You want charts and graphs? I can do that. You want weekly e-mail encouragement and special diet tips? I can do that.

Shall I wait in breathless anticipation for the deluge of checks that are sure to start arriving in the next week or so? No? I am soooo disappointed!

While I’m waiting though, I might as well pass along a few of my personal thoughts on the subject of weight control. Let’s reinforce the “personal thoughts” part of the last sentence. I’m not a physician or a dietitian so I’m not in a position to recommend diddly-squat. These are just opinions

1. Genetics and your early environment both have a lot of influence on whether you’ll have a tendency to put on the pounds. If either of your parents (and maybe grandparents) were (are) fluffy, you may have a life-long weight battle on your hands. This is the result of the ability of your body to absorb nutrients, inherited metabolic rates and lots of other stuff including basic eating/snacking habits.

2. A tendency to continually graze (snack, munch) may be a just a habit (personal programming) or it may be due to mental/emotional influences such as stress, boredom, anger, uncertainty, fear, lack of confidence, or just don’t give a fat rat’s ass any more. Identify your trigger(s) and with professional help if necessary, work to solve the foundation problem. (If you automatically associate watching TV with popcorn, chips, cookies, soda, beer, etc. – it’s probably a habit/addiction thing.)

3. To maintain a given weight, you need to “burn” energy (calories) at the same rate you’re taking them in. To lose weight, you’ll need to burn more calories than are sneaking into your bod. The bottom line – eat less and exercise more.

4. Toss out the scales and get weighed once a year during your physical. Translate this to mean that first you need to involve a physician if you’re severely overweight. Second, focus on how you want to look, not how much you want to weigh. Muscular (or even well-toned) folks can pack a lot of weight into a small frame and look great. Besides, watching the scales show minimal loss or even slight gains from time to time can puncture your incentive to keep doing what you’re doing. If your clothes are getting baggy, you’re losing weight.

5. Eat a balanced diet – bunches of salads and veggies along with a reasonable amount of the rest of the staples. (Emphasis on “reasonable”!) Yep, that includes meats, potatoes, pastas, fruits, whole grained breads – and chocolate. (Chocolate’s one of the basic food groups, you know.) Too much of any one type of food probably isn’t real good for you over the long haul. Watch the drippy, fatty – and slippery, sweet stuff. Limit consumption of anything that oozes down your arm.

6. Eat breakfast. If possible, make lunch your biggest meal and cut back on dinner. Healthy snacks between the main meals will help remind your body that you’re not really starving it between the other meals.

7. Drink enough liquids. Nah, not so much that you unbalance your system and have to take whiz breaks every 30 minutes. Pay attention to your body. If you’re getting thirsty – drink something!

8. A multi-purpose vitamin supplement may not be absolutely necessary, but it won’t hurt.

9. Deserts and treats are OK as long as you’ve planned for them. Remember the calories in – calories burned thing. (Why would anyone force themselves to eat only the 100 percent healthy stuff and pass up the goodies? If that isn’t an incentive to go off a diet, I don’t know what is)

10. Don’t forget the exercise. It doesn’t need to be complicated nor expensive. Walks, jogging and swimming are all good. Twenty to thirty minute workouts a couple times a week can help too. Burn those calories!

11. An occasional “splurge” on a high calorie meal once in a while won’t hurt a thing. Sometimes the body just needs (are you buying this?) a big, juicy hamburger and fries!

12. Pay attention to your body’s needs. Our bodies are smart. If you find yourself hungry for certain foods, go for it. Constant cravings are probably more of a habit thing. You’ll need to be careful here.

13. Don’t overdo it! Just because Hollywood and most advertisers are promoting the slim, sleek, curvy look, that doesn’t mean it has any relation to reality. Be you, be healthy and be comfortable.

OK – that’s it. Probably not nearly complicated enough to ask for the $495.94 though, huh? Dang, I need to work on that. Meanwhile, my body NEEDS a piece of apple pie.

About The Author

Gene, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading self-help blog along with affordable books and materials written to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life’s “secrets for survival” in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. It’s a down-to-earth, simple approach to discovering a better life. You can visit Gene at http://www.nupathz.com/

gene@nupathz.com

From A Coffee Addict

Writen by Frederic Patenaude

You may have heard the expression, “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.” In the same way, you could say “Once a coffee addict, always a coffee addict.”

But before I go any further in telling you my story about coffee and all the whys and hows of quitting it, you should now that now is a good time to quit drinking coffee.

You’ve been eating mostly well, you eat your fruits and vegetables, you’ve been reading Frederic’s newsletter – but you think, “a little cup of coffee once in a while isn’t that bad.” Plus it’s good for the mood.

But I’m telling you right now that that cup of coffee, which I’m sure you’re enjoying more often than you’d like to admit it, is preventing you from achieving the levels of health you desire.

I know because I’m like you. I started drinking coffee in high school. At first, it was to get up in the morning. But one day I discovered the gustatory delights of fancy coffee shops and went deeper down into the wicked universe of coffee. Cappuccino, mocaccino, caffe latte, espresso: a dozen ways to reach heaven for a few minutes at your local caf

Bowel Toxaemia and Skin Health

Writen by Stewart Hare

Bowel toxaemia is caused by improper bowel functions; the most common reasons for this are normally caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, a deficient diet and ignoring the natural urge to defecate. Harmful bacteria replace the beneficial bacteria that are in the bowel due to a deficient diet and not evacuating the bowel properly. This in time leads to bowel toxaemia.

Intestinal obstruction and a certain type of diet result in bowel toxaemia, bacteria in the lumen produce various toxic chemicals. There one of two ways in which these toxins are absorbed into the bloodstream. In the first instance, the liver cannot detoxify all the toxins present and the toxins escape from being detoxified because of the insufficiency of the liver. In the second instance, a toxin escapes the liver due to physiological characteristic of the liver and the liver does not detoxify it. The toxins then enter the general circulation causing harm until it is excreted by the kidneys. The toxin aggravates previous existing conditions or produces pathological changes in the tissues.

Bowel toxaemia leads to autointoxication, when the body absorbs too much of toxic waste it leads to what is known as autointoxication. A toxic bowel produces many chemicals which cause harm to the body; the major chemicals produced are ammonia, clostridium perfringens enterotoxin, indole, indicant, phenol, skatole, hydrogen sulphide, aminoethyl mercaptan and tyramine. This is the result of a faulty bowel and a bad diet, these toxins produce undesirable consequences for the body, many of today’s illnesses and disorders are a result of autointoxication. These illnesses and disorders include those associated with skin health.

An unhealthy digestive system and a build up in the bowel of toxic material can cause skin disorders such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis, eczema and dermatitis. Next to the colon, the skin is the second largest organ to excrete toxins. Rosacea, psoriasis, eczema are all directly related to the cleanliness of the colon. If the body cannot get rid of toxins through the liver or by excreting them from the bowel, then it will get rid of them through the skin causing all types of skin problems.

We are all familiar with acne; it is mainly caused by hormonal changes as adolescence, but by having a healthy diet the skin can be clear of bacteria which cause blackheads and acne. In adults, acne is normally a product of poor colon health and food allergies, also hormone imbalances in middle aged women can cause acne.

The condition of rosacea normally affects adults between the ages of 30 to 40, it makes the complexion in the areas of such as the cheeks, nose, chin and forehead become red and ruddy and red blood vessels may become more prominent. In severe cases, the cheeks and forehead are persistently affected with eruptions with prominent blood vessels, puffiness and redness. The eyes maybe affected by inflammation of the eyelids and conjunctivitis. Fair skinned people seem to be more susceptible and the condition gets worst in time. Research has linked rosacea to body bacteria and digestive disorders such as acid reflux.

The group of skin conditions known as eczema and dermatitis can affect all age groups but is common in infants. The normal symptoms of eczema or dermatitis is dry skin which can become hot, inflamed and has itchy skin eruptions, in more severe forms eczema or dermatitis can make the skin become broken, raw and bleeding. Although the condition of eczema can look very unpleasant, it is not contagious. It is often found on the face, wrists and on the inside of knees and elbows. It is also associated with asthma. Eczema is not only caused by an unhealthy bowel but also by stress, environmental factors, yeast overgrowth, allergies and irritants such as chemicals and detergents. Many individuals who have eczema also have low stomach acid and other disorders such as hives and hay fever. Dermatitis means inflammation of the skin; it is usually associated more with external irritants.

Psoriasis is a condition that affects the skin whose symptoms are red, inflamed skin, covered by scales which flake easily. Affected areas can appear all over the body and can be very itchy but it is mostly concentrated on the arms (elbows), legs (knees) and trunk and occasionally effect the face and scalp. The current theory amongst doctors is that psoriasis is an autoimmune inflammatory response by the body’s own immune system which seems to target its own cells but the exact cause of psoriasis is not known. The response makes the body replicate new skin cells at a very fast rate, 1000 times quicker than normal skin, which leads to a build up of plaque-like flakes within days. For those people who have a suppressed immune system, the symptoms of psoriasis become a lot worst. As well as an unhealthy bowel, incomplete protein digestion, impaired liver function, excessive consumption of animal fats, alcohol, stress, sugar, caffeine and lack of sunshine can make the symptoms of psoriasis flare up. However, people with the condition of psoriasis often do not want to be out in the sunshine where their condition is on show.

In conclusion, it is important to keep a clean and healthy bowel to prevent bowel toxaemia. This will prevent the skin from being affected by disease and to remain healthy. Avoiding irritants that cause skin inflammation and eating a healthy diet will help keep the skin in good condition. Cleansing the bowel and liver with a simple elimination diet and supplements such as psyllium husk powder, lecithin and acidophilus will help to combat any skin problem. Psyllium will add bulk to the diet helping to relieve constipation and removing unwanted mucous and parasites, lecithin will help to support and cleanse the liver and acidophilus will colonise the bowel with friendly bacteria stopping unwanted bacteria from causing harm. Avoiding stress and making sure that the body’s pH levels are correct will also help with the prevention of skin diseases.