Monday, March 8, 2010

Water and aging

Water and aging

Aging process is responsible for degeneration and decay. Our body is gifted with the incredible power to regenerate after a bone break or a wound, but, in older years this ability cannot keep up with the wear and tear of the world on our physical systems. Therefore, if we were able to maintain perfect repair of our bodies, we would not age. Water is the main component of our cells which is required for metabolism and also for carrying out certain bodily functions. Water is also essential for body repair process.



Think of the dry, cracked appearance of dehydrated soil. Or the lack of structure of sand. Only when sand is wet can we use it to build castles. It takes moist soil to germinate and grow a seed. Consider the difference between a grape, and a wrinkled-up raisin. Which is more appealing?

From above examples it is clear that our body need water to remain plump and in perfect operation. When we apply a moisturizer on the dry skin  the cells of the skin drink in that moisture and expand so the cracks or lines and wrinkles disappear.



Wee are spending lot of money on chemical like anti aging skin care products and poisons like BoTox, we can have better effects from fully hydrating our bodies.


Water is also essential for keeping our brain healthy. Rehydrating the elderly is certainly a matter of concern for a number of reasons, but if we can slow down or otherwise reduce the effects of Alzheimer's by simply having the patient take in more water.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Water for heartburn

Water for heartburn

Water is used to treat many pains including pain along the digestive tract from esophagus to bowel. Drinking water helps relieve heartburn or dyspeptic pain. If you are suffering from heartburn then try to keep your body fully hydrated.

The main cause of heartburn or acid reflux is the flow of acid from the stomach into the esophagus. This may happen if you lie down after eating. It may also occur if the food in your stomach is so acidic and gas-producing that it fills the stomach and then has nowhere else to go but upward.

Our body is designed in this way so that the acidic substances of the stomach, which are harmful to the tissues of the upper intestine, are neutralized by an alkaline environment produced in the intestine by chemicals from the pancreas. If our body is dehydrated or body without sufficient amount of water, the pancreas cannot do its job, and therefore cannot protect the intestine from the effects of highly acidic matter

passing into it from the stomach. This condition at last results in disease Acid reflux. The first thing you'll want to do when you're awakened by heartburn pain is to stand up. This helps keep the acid at bay while you go and get a full glass of cool water.

For fast pain relief - drink a mixture of ½ tablespoon baking soda in to a glass of water. ( Avoid if your are a pregnant or suffering form hypertension).



Drink plenty of water to keep your body well hydrated.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Water for depression


Water for depression



There are many people around the world those who are continuously facing depression. Depression is a serious illness that is often life threatening, and almost always incapacitating. There are many causes of depression and according to the medical science; depression is caused due to an imbalance of a type of chemical that carries signals in your brain and nerves. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters. Depressed people see no value in trying to improve anything, and in the worst cases, see no reason for continuing to live.

Often, depressed people cannot cope with their families, with any setbacks, or with anything out of the ordinary. Depression is one of the primary side effects of chronic dehydration because needs water to carry out many functions. Using water for depression treatment helps alleviate depression significantly by rehydrating, allowing the natural brain chemicals to do their jobs.


Tryptophan is an amino acid and its function is our body such as regulation of salt content in the body and mood. It is converted in to the neurotransmitters which are necessary for adequate brain function: serotonin, tryptamine, melatonin, and indolamine. Depression and some mental disorders have a direct relationship to the amounts of tryptophan, and its product serotonin, available to the brain.


Tryptophan is broken down more quickly in the liver when you are dehydrated. With severe depression, increasing amounts of expensive antidepressants, most known as SRI’s or Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors, are necessary to replace those chemicals, just to allow the person to function enough to get through the day. Even then, there are side effects that cause other pressures on the patient and their family. If you are deeply depressed, there is nothing to lose by rehydrating. Water is not going to hurt you. No

other changes need to be made, only an increase in the intake of water. For depressed people, one change is about all they can handle at once anyway.

Therefore, increase your water intake. There are many side effects related to the antidepressants use like loss of sex drive, insomnia and much more. But, no such side effect is related to the drinking water for depression.

Once you begin to see changes in your mood, you can discuss with your physician how you should wean off any medications that you may have been taking. DO NOT stop any medication without discussing it with your doctor first, and developing a plan to gradually reduce the dosage, with medical monitoring.

Continue to increase your daily intake of water. Build on it day by day, until you are up to full hydration. Full hydration is half your body weight in ounces of water per day, plus another glass of water for every diuretic drink you consume. Depression is such a soul-destroying disease, that if even only a small hope for relief is offered by drinking more water, it is worth the effort to try it.


Benefits of water therapy


Benefits of water therapy



There are many benefits of water in the treatment of diseases and other health related problems. The treatment of disease through water is called water therapy. Water has been used successfully throughout the centuries for washing away tensions, muscle aches and pains. Water therapy helps in the treatment of arthritis and other debilitating conditions.

The water therapy use 3 important components in order to decrease pain and re-habilitate, these components are resistance, buoyancy, and drag and turbulence.

Water therapy is usually done to rehabilitate a specific area of the body that has been injured or is causing pain due to a condition. Benefits of water therapy is unlimited such as water therapy can help with are fibromyalgia, recovery from strokes, head injuries, spinal cord injury, Chronic Pain Syndrome, arthritis, neck injuries, post surgery rehabilitation, sports injuries etc. in case if you do not have such conditions listed above , you can use water as an soothing agent. \



Components of water therapy:

Buoyancy

- The upward thrust which your body receives in the water, opposite of the downward thrust that body experiences on land due to gravity.

- This buoyancy force helps decrease your weight by ninety percent when in the water.

- With this buoyancy the force of compression on the joints is decreased dramatically, making it possible to reach full range of motion.

- The water acts like a natural supporter for all of your limbs. All of this means that it is possible to move and exercise in water with little risk of injury.


Resistance

Force that works against the muscle making it work harder. Water is denser than air and increases the resistance on the muscles by 12. It is possible to build greater strength in the water than on land due to the resistance factor and the lack of land gravity.


Drag & turbulence

- There both factors works together to give maximum benefits to the body.

- Drag creates opposition to the movements of the limbs in the water.

- Turbulence is the agitation of the surrounding water that can be created in the water that can be used as a hydro massage effect.


Water therapy uses the elements of stretching, exercise and massage to reach its goals.

When the water is kept at or above 86 degrees the muscles loosen and become less tense. It is possible to increase the stretch and lengthen loose muscles that could never be achieved on land. Do some warm up of all joints by water walking, jogging or swimming laps for 7 minutes before doing any deep stretching. It is even more effective to do another set of aerobic exercise in the pool for about 20 minutes and then do an even deeper stretch. Once the body is warmed up the range of motion can be increased on a limb or part of the body that needs rehabilitation.
More and more people are recognizing the benefits of warm water in the massage realm. Massage therapists can conduct a massage in a warm hot tub and really do wonders for tense muscles.






Sunday, January 24, 2010

Water treatment for acute dehydration


Water treatment for acute dehydration



An acute dehydration is a water-related emergency medical condition. Acute dehydration occurs when the body simply doesn't have enough water available to carry out basic bodily functions or life processes, such as body and brain temperature regulation and keeping them operational. Acute dehydration is the first step of the chronic dehydration. There are many factors responsible for body dehydration. Dehydration during exercise may show up as dry mouth, lightheadedness, headache, muscle cramps, or unusual fatigue. In order to prevent these symptoms, try to drink electrolytic fluids such as sports drinks immediately.


More severe symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, incoherence, fainting, or high body temperature. Appearance of these symptoms requires immediate medical attention.

In some cases of acute dehydration, the body simply cannot re-hydrate itself and must be assisted with medical procedures such as intravenous fluids and rapid cooling of the body. We all know that prevention is better than cure therefore acute dehydration is better prevented than treated.

Symptoms of dehydration include concentrated or deeply yellow urine, dry mouth, irritability, thick saliva, weakness and confusion. A person's heart rate may increase, blood pressure can drop and he might feel dizzy when standing.


Water is the first treatment for acute dehydration. Therefore, plan on drinking one eight ounce bottle of water or more per hour of exercise, and include several ounces of juice or sports drink. If you're not exercising, try to drink about 8 glasses of water, tea, or other fluids in a 24-hour period




Friday, January 22, 2010

Benefits of water aerobics



Benefits of water aerobics



Aerobic exercise refers to exercise that involves or improves oxygen consumption by the body. Aerobic means "with oxygen", and refers to the use of oxygen in the body's metabolic or energy-generating process. This types of exercises is used to increase the heart rate and increases the body's intake of oxygen long enough to benefit the condition of the human body. There are many types of aerobic exercises such as jogging, walking dancing, and swimming.

Water aerobic is another type of aerobic exercise that allows a person to get the same benefits as regular aerobic work outs, but there are many benefits of water aerobics.

Benefits of water aerobics:

- Water aerobics allows a person to exercise every muscle and every joint in the body all at the same time.

- Another benefit is that water aerobics helps cool your body which is definitely beneficial for people at hotter areas.

- Water aerobic exercise is an age free exercise which means almost anyone, no matter their age, can perform water aerobics.

- Water aerobics do not put any type of load and strain on the muscles and joints therefore, beneficial for people of older age. The reason for this is because the water causes your body to be buoyant, thus causing less strain and stress on your joints and muscles.

- A person does not need to know how to swim in order to take advantage of water aerobic exercises either. He or she can wear one of many devices that will enable them to stay afloat with little effort. This is turn enables the person to be able to concentrate on his or her routine. Plus, it helps to eliminate the fear of a mishap in the water, especially in the deep water.

- Water aerobics are generally performed in water that is up to a person's waist or maybe even up to their chest, depending on the specific exercise they are doing. Jogging in the water, for example, is done in deeper water so that a person's body stays completely emerged.

- The best location for water aerobics is in an indoor swimming pool where human can easily control the water temperature. Any indoor swimming pool will suffice, though. And, remember to always follow the safety rules of swimming when you are performing water aerobics. Avoid going for water aerobics alone. Other benefits of water aerobics are:

- It helps improve flexibility.

- Improve cardiovascular conditioning for maintaining heart rate.

- Burning calories for weight loss.



So, if you need a new exercise routine to tone up and slim down your body, you might consider water aerobics!




Thursday, January 14, 2010

Water therapy


Water Therapy

What is water therapy?


Water therapy or Hydrotherapy is an alternative way of treatment of several diseases using water. The theory behind it is that water has many properties that give it the ability to heal:

- Water can absorb, store and carry heat and energy.

- Water can dissolve other substances, such as minerals and salts.

- Water is free from side effects.

- Water is found various forms, such as ice, liquid, or steam and we can also change its temperature according to our needs.

- Water can help blood flow.

- Water also has a soothing, calming, and relaxing effect on people, whether in a bath, shower, spray, or compress.



What is water therapy used for?


Water therapy is used to treat many health related problems such as:

- Headaches.

- Acne.

- Depression.

- Back pain.

- Arthritis.

- Colds.

- Stomach disorders.

- Insomnia.

- Joints, muscle and nerve problems.

- ADD & ADHD

- Chronic fatigue.

- Chronic pain.

- Aging.

- Colitis.

- Constipation.

- Cholesterol.

- Acute dehydration.

- Edema.

- Food Poisoning.

- Flu

- Heart burn

- Kidney stones.

- Migraines.

- Morning sickness.

- Nausea.

- Night terrors.

- Post partum depression.

- Quitting smoking.

- Seasonal affective disorder.

- Stress.

- Ulcers.


Also, water therapy is used for relaxation and to maintain health. You can also use water therapy to reduce or relieve sudden or long-lasting pain.


Is water therapy safe?


Water therapy is the safest way of treatment, if done properly. But, it is better to discuss to with your doctor before trying water therapy as different people may respond differently to the length and intensity of treatment. Some people may have headaches, aches and pains, sleep problems, nausea, chilliness, and faintness. Always tell your doctor if you are using an alternative therapy or if you are thinking about combining an alternative therapy with your conventional medical treatment.