AID - Iron Cross - Terrapin Trail - 1200 steps - Ayer Itam

Ayer Itam Dam (AID)

Mid-way up Iron Cross

At the Iron Cross

End of Terrapin Trail




Enroute to 1200 steps








1200 steps





No ride is complete without a sumptuous meal

Blue Mountain - Bukit Jambul - Bukit Gambir - Ayer Itam

The climb up to Blue Moutain

Red is the colour of choice today


Regrouping on top of Blue Mountain

Group pic mid-way of the decent to Bukit Jambul

Why MTB?

13 May

A REPORTER’S ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN ON THE 13 MAY INCIDENT

The following statement is a factual account of the above-mentioned event given to me by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (first Prime Minister of Malaysia) during an interview at his residence in Penang in 1972. I requested to discuss the above incident and was surprised when the appointment was given within three days.

His Secretary, a Chinese gentleman, allotted me one hour and advised me not to go into too much detail as this would tire the Tunku unnecessarily. In fact, the interview lasted three and a half hours. Because of the very surprising details provided to me, I think it would be best to report in a first-hand manner based on my notes written immediately after the interview.

“It was clear to me as well as the police that in the highly charged political atmosphere after the police were forced to kill a Chinese political party worker on May 4th, 1969, something was bound to happen to threaten law and order because of the resentment towards the Government by the KL Chinese on the eve of the general election. This was confirmed at this man’s funeral on the 9th May when the government faced the most hostile crowd it had ever seen.

Therefore, when the opposition parties applied for a police permit for a procession to celebrate their success in the results of the general election, I was adamant against it because the police were convinced that this would lead to trouble. I informed Tun Razak about this and he seemed to agree.

Now, without my knowledge and actually “behind my back”, there were certain political leaders in high positions who were working to force me to step down as a PM. I don’t want to go into details but if they had come to me and said so I would gladly have retired gracefully.

Unfortunately, they were apparently scheming and trying to decide on the best way to force me to resign. The occasion came when the question of the police permit was to be approved.

Tun Razak and Harun Idris, the MB of the state of Selangor, now felt that permission should be given, knowing fully well that there was a likelihood of trouble. I suppose they felt that when this happened they could then demand my resignation.

To this day I find it very hard to believe that Razak, whom I had known for so many years, would agree to work against me in this way. Actually he was in my house, as I was preparing to return to Kedah, and I overhead him speaking to Harun over the phone saying that he would be willing to approve the permit when I left. I really could not believe what I was hearing and preferred to think it was about some other permit. In any case, as the Deputy Prime Minister, in my absence from KL, he would be the Acting PM and would override my objection.

Accordingly, when I was in my home in Kedah, I heard over the radio that the permit had been approved.

It seems as though the expected trouble was anticipated and planned for by Harun and his UMNO Youth. After the humiliating insults hurled by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, and after the seeming loss of Malay political power to them, they were clearly ready for some retaliatory action.

After meeting in large numbers at Harun’s official residence in Jalan Raja Muda near Kampong Bahru, and hearing inflammatory speeches by Harun and other leaders, they prepared themselves by tying ribbon strips on their foreheads and set out to kill Chinese. The first hapless victims were two of them in a van opposite Harun’s house who were innocently watching the large gathering. Little did they know that they would be killed on the spot.

The rest is history. I am sorry but I must end this discussion now because it really pains me as the Father of Merdeka to have to relive those terrible moments. I have often wondered why God made me live long enough to have witnessed my beloved Malays and Chinese citizens killing each other.”

This was a conspiracy at the highest level and nothing short of a power struggle, with the ‘Young Turks’ then forming the pressure group. To achieve their ends, they very cleverly used race to make the Malays rise and push the Tengku aside.

Today, they are doing it again. This is dangerous politics. It may backfire and, instead, it may make the Malays rise against the non-Malays, like what happened in 1969 -- a fire raging out of control with no fire extinguisher in sight.

We must never allow our country to be turned into a racial battlefield again. Let politics be issues concerning policies, civil rights, good governance and justice. Let us not allow anyone to bring race and religion into our politics lest we suffer the fate of many countries around us where mass murders of entire families are made in the name of ‘bangsa’ and ‘agama’.

Gut Health

All of the nutrients our body needs to stay healthy are absorbed through the intestines. Apart from digesting the food we eat to provide the body with essential nutrients, the intestines also remove waste materials and toxins. Keeping our gut healthy is essential in order to keep our body healthy.

The gut or Gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a tube that runs from our mouth to our anus. The inside of this tube is coated with a thin layer of sticky, viscous mucous. Covering this mucous and imbedded in it are millions and millions of bacteria.

Just as there is a direct link between intestinal disease and bad bacteria, there is also a positive role beneficial gut bacteria play in our health and well-being. Gut health is becoming increasingly important as we are more inclined to consume a diet that is high in fat and low in fibre. This type of diet creates an imbalance of “good” bacteria versus “bad” bacteria in the gut, which has been shown to have a direct link to the rise of chronic diseases.

An Inside Look

In the course of our lives, the bacteria or micro flora in our intestine live, grow, carry out their metabolism, and excrete beneficial and nonbeneficial compounds into the gut. The intestinal micro flora consists of:

• Health-promoting (“good”) bacteria
• Potentially harmful or pathogenic (“bad”) bacteria

Maintaining a healthy digestive system depends on keeping a balance among the billions of bacteria that live in the intestines. On top of digestion and absorption, interaction with the body’s immune system is one of the most important functions gut bacteria play.

When the number of good bacteria outnumber the bad bacteria, our immune system is at its optimal level. These good bacteria form a protective barrier to keep harmful bacteria out, which helps maintain a healthy intestinal tract and stimulate the body’s natural defenses. There are over 400 to 500 strains of bacteria living in our intestines. Of this, a handful is classified as harmful. These bad bacteria have the potential to cause disease and illness.

Harmful bacteria can enter the body via the diet or the environment. Salmonella, E-Coli, Listeria and Clostridia are foodborne pathogens. It is widely believed that diets high in red meat and fat can increase the chances of contact with these harmful bacteria. The main types of beneficial bacteria include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus and its substrains. The more good bacteria in the intestines, the less space there is for harmful strains to stay and cause health problems. If the balance between good and bad bacteria is disturbed, the body may become less efficient in absorbing the nutrients it requires, which may lead to digestive and health problems.

Factors that affect the balance of intestinal bacteria include:

• Stress
• Changes in eating habits
• Travelling
• Smoking
• Alcohol consumption
• Over-the-counter medications
• Antibiotics
• Infections
• Aging

Understanding Probiotics and Prebiotics

PROBIOTICS
Live organisms that help improve the environment of the intestinal tract

• Help maintain microbial balance in the intestines
• Help inhibit growth of harmful bacteria
• Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus are probiotics

PREBIOTICS

Food sources that stimulate the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria in the intestines

• Influence intestinal bacteria by helping probiotics to grow
• Not digested by the human digestive enzymes, hence they pass unchanged into the intestine, enabling probiotics to utilise prebiotics as food sources
• Can be derived from non-digestible fibre e.g. inulin, raffinose, galactooligosaccharides or fructooligosaccharides

• Fructooligosaccharides:

1. Refer to short chains of oligosaccharides, which comprise D-fructose and D-glucose
2. Resistant to digestion in the upper GI tract
3. Stimulate growth of Bifidobacterium bacteria in the large intestine

Lactobacillus
Helps decrease the number of harmful bacteria e.g. Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter, which are all foodborne pathogens, by producing lactic acid to alter the intestinal environment, making it unsuitable for pathogenic bacteria.

• Studies have shown improved lactose digestion with consumption of probiotic organisms like Lactobacillus Acidophilus, which breaks down milk sugar lactose by helping to metabolise the enzyme lactase. Hence, Lactobacillus Acidophilus may be helpful for people unable to digest milk products.
• Helps relieve diarrhoea resulting from changes in eating habits or stress.

Bifidobacterium
The body’s first line of defense against harmful bacteria like Salmonella and E-Coli.

• The predominant organism in the large intestine that helps the body maintain a
• healthy balance of intestinal bacteria by producing organic compounds e.g. lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid.
• These acids decrease the pH of intestines, making the environment unsuitable for and suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria. By decreasing harmful bacteria,
• Bifidobacterium helps suppress production of harmful toxins and substances, which not only reduces the amount of toxins going into the liver, but also helps protect intestinal cell integrity and maintain good intestinal health.
• Helps produce immunostimulating properties by increasing phagocyte activity i.e. cells that engulf or digest foreign harmful substance.
• Helps decrease incidences of diarrhoea and maintain or re-establish the balance of
• intestinal bacteria.

Streptococcus
Long used as a culturing agent in dairy products, as it ferments quickly.

• Helps reduce lactose intolerance and reduce incidences of diarrhoea.
• Supports digestion of dairy products.

Potential Users

Who needs to have a healthy balance of good bacteria in their intestines? Everyone!
Especially those who:

• are interested in increasing their intake of prebiotics and probiotics
• wish to support their immune system
• have poor diet habits with tendency to consume high fat and low fibre diet
• experience changes in their diet
• are frequent travellers or vacationers
• experience stress
• experience lactose intolerance
• take medications like antibiotics
• wish to maintain the bacteria population in their intestines at a healthy level to enhance
• their health
• are aging, as the aging process changes the pH of their intestines

Benefits of Good Gut Health

Better stress management
One of the more common symptoms of a body under stress is diarrhoea. In fact, stress
is said to be a leading cause of Digestive Stress Disorders. Stress depletes the immune system, which is inextricably linked with digestive health. When one isn’t functioning optimally, it would inevitably influence the other and become the precursor to health problems.

Stronger immune system
Incorporating a probiotic supplement in your diet helps to enhance your immune
system as a weak digestive health would cause a decline in the immune system,
leaving the body more vulnerable to illnesses, allergies and more prone to fatigue and slow wound healing, among others.

More energy
When your body is functioning at its optimum, it takes 80% of your energy to digest and eliminate your food. The figure will increase in times of stress or illness, leaving less energy for the body’s other important functions. Probiotics can bring this figure back to the normal level, giving your body enough energy for other important functions, for instance, the rest and repair mechanisms.

Getting over antibiotics
Antibiotics not only kill off the bacteria that cause an infection, but also eliminate
healthy bacteria from the digestive tract. Supplementing the diet with a probiotic will
help to restore the balance and put the good bacteria back in control.



also check out: Why Prebiotics are Essential to Your Heart Health & Immune System

Maintaining Good Liver Health

How Well Do You Know Your Liver?

The liver is the second largest organ in the body, after the skin. It is located in the upper right region of the abdominal cavity, just below the diaphragm. It is an extremely important organ, being responsible for a sizable number of vital functions in addition to its role in digestion.

Everything that enters the blood from the digestive tract passes through the liver before being transported to other regions in the body. It holds about 13% of the body’s blood supply at any given time.

The liver acts as a dumping site for toxic waste. Insecticides, preservatives and other toxins might build up and impair the liver. Even though a particular toxin may not accumulate in the liver, liver function may suffer if these toxins adversely affect the functioning of other organs, especially the pancreas or kidneys.

Therefore, the liver is also an important protective organ, containing active phagocytes that remove bacteria and other foreign materials from the blood as it passes through the liver.

The liver produces several important blood proteins and other molecules, stores iron and certain vitamins, eliminates old haemoglobin, detoxifies many drugs and toxins, and is the major site for the metabolism of the products produced by the digestion of carbohydrates,
proteins and fats.

Fats cannot be digested without bile, which is made in the liver, stored in the gall bladder and released as needed into the small intestine. Bile is also essential for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K, the fat soluble vitamins. After digestion, bile acids are reabsorbed by the intestine, returned to the liver and recycled as bile once again.

What is Liver Detoxification?

In this age and time when most food are processed for convenience, the human body and its detoxification systems are easily overloaded. Thousands of chemicals are added to food and hundreds have been identified in drinking water alone! All this can lead to the destruction of delicate vitamins and minerals, which are needed for the detoxification pathways in the liver. The liver must try to cope with every toxic chemical in our environment, as well as damaged fats that are present in processed and fried foods.



As a detoxifier, the liver breaks down or transforms substances like ammonia, metabolic waste, drugs, alcohol and chemicals, so that they can be excreted.
Causes for liver infection:

• Infections with parasites often come from contaminated water supplies found in large cities. Other dangerous organisms may find their way into your gut and blood stream from these sources.
• High loads of unhealthy microorganisms can also come from eating foods that are prepared in conditions of poor hygiene by persons who are carrying bacteria, viruses or parasites on their skin.
• Foods, especially meats that are not fresh or are preserved, also contain a higher bacterial load, which will overwork the liver filter if they are eaten regularly.

Did you know?

If you examine the liver under a microscope, you will see rows of liver cells separated by spaces which act like a filter or sieve, through which the blood stream flows. The liver filter is designed to remove toxic matter such as dead cells, micro-organisms, chemicals, drugs and particulate debris from the blood stream.

Nowadays, it has become highly fashionable for people to detoxify their bodies by fasting or cleansing the bowels with fibre mixtures. Fasting can only be a temporary method of cleansing the body of waste products, and for many people, causes an excessively rapid release of toxins which can cause unpleasant, acute symptoms. The liver filter, like any filter, needs to be cleansed regularly, and it is much easier and safer to do it everyday. This is easily and pleasantly achieved by adopting a daily eating pattern that maintains the liver filter in a healthy clean state.

Although it is crucial to keep the intestines moving regularly and to sweep their walls with high fibre, it is important to remember that the bowels are a channel of elimination and not a cleansing organ. In other words the bowels cannot cleanse, filter or remove toxic wastes from the blood stream. Only the liver can purify the blood stream.

Therefore, an efficient liver detoxification system is vital to health. In order to support this process, it is essential that many key nutrients are included in the diet.

Importance of a Healthy Liver

The liver influences almost every part of the human body. It serves as your body’s internal chemical power plant and acts as a filter to remove alcohol and toxic substances from the blood by converting them into substances that can be excreted from the body, therefore preventing against certain diseases. It’s vital to have this organ perform its role with efficiency because:

• Toxins enter the body every day and the liver has the responsibility of filtering them out of the bloodstream.
• Hormones influencing both our physical and emotional well-being are activated and broken down in the liver.
• Many vitamins, including some in the B complex family rely on the liver to activate them.
• The metabolism of fats and carbohydrates depends on a liver that performs well, which affects energy levels and the body’s ability to use fat for fuel.

Does your liver need extra attention?

People who need to be especially careful about the health of their
liver include those who:

• Eat fatty foods or have a generally poor diet
• Have a poor digestive function
• Need to lower their cholesterol levels
• Use oral contraceptives, Hormone Replacement Therapy or other hormonal drugs
• Drink alcohol on a regular basis
• Are exposed to pesticides, solvents or other environmental pollutants
• Are trying to reduce body fat

Poorly Functioning Liver Possible Signs and Symptoms

• Hepatitis A, B and C – swelling of the liver
• Cirrhosis or scarring of the liver often resulting from excessive alcohol consumption
• Skin pigmentation
• Eczema
• Dark circles under eyes
• Poor gall bladder function
• Constipation
• Fat intolerance
• Itchy skin
• Feeling nauseas

Herbs for a Healthy Liver


Milk Thistle (Silybum marinum) is a tall plant with a thistle-like appearance. Native to Europe, the Milk Thistle plant commonly grows from 2 to 7 feet in height, with spiny leaves and reddish-purple, thistle-shaped flowers. Native to Europe, Milk Thistle has a long history of use as both a food and a medicine. At the turn of the twentieth century, English gardeners grew Milk Thistle to use its leaves like lettuce (after cutting off the spines), the stalks like asparagus, the roasted seeds like coffee, and the roots (soaked overnight) like oyster plant. The seeds and leaves of Milk Thistle were used for medicinal purposes as well, such as treating jaundice and increasing breast milk production.

What is Milk Thistle used for?


Milk Thistle is used as a complementary treatment for liver problems, particularly long-term (chronic) hepatitis and cirrhosis and inflammation of the bile ducts (cholangitis). Research on silymarin suggests that it may protect the liver from inflammation.

Research in animals and preliminary research in humans suggests that silymarin is an antioxidant, which helps protect the body from cell-destroying substances called free radicals. Silymarin also may reduce inflammation and block the effects of toxins that harm the liver.

Based on the extensive folk use of Milk Thistle in cases of jaundice, European medical researchers began to investigate its medicinal effects. It is now widely used to treat alcoholic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, liver poisoning, and viral hepatitis, as well as to protect the liver in general from the effects of liver-toxic medications.

According to some research, treatment produces improvements in symptoms of chronic liver disease, such as nausea, weakness, loss of appetite, fatigue, and pain. Liver enzymes as measured by blood tests may improve, and if a liver biopsy is performed, there may be improvements on the cellular level. Milk Thistle is taken in tablets, capsules or as a tincture (combined with alcohol).

Silybin

The active chemical compound in Milk Thistle is silybin, which functions as an antioxidant and is one of the most potent liver protection agents known. Silybin is a part of the mixture flavonoids referred to as silymarin. Clinical trials have proven silybin to be effective in protecting the liver from toxic chemicals.

What is Dandelion?


Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is also known as lion’s tooth, blowball, cankerwort, priest’s crown, swine snout, and wild endive. The plant grows to a height of about 12 inches, producing spatula-like leaves and yellow flowers that bloom year round. Upon maturation, the flower turns into the characteristic puffball containing seeds that are dispersed in the wind. The leaves and roots are used in herbal supplements. It is a good food source and its leaves are often used in salads. Its dried ground roots have traditionally been used as a coffee substitute and with a vitamin A content higher than the levels found in carrots, it appears to be very nutritious.

Health benefits of Dandelion

For centuries, dandelion root has been regarded as an effective, gentle laxative. The roots and leaves are most often used to treat liver conditions such as jaundice and hepatitis, and to encourage normal digestion. The yellow flower also contains beneficial compounds. All parts of the plant have high concentrations of vitamin A, choline, and vitamin B that stimulates the liver.


Dandelion has been used for its nutritional value as well as for water retention, regulation of blood glucose, upset stomach, urinary tract infections, kidney and bladder stones, liver and gallbladder complaints, and loss of appetite.


Turmeric


Turmeric is a slightly bitter spice taken from the root of a plant in the ginger family. This spice is used to flavour baked goods, curries, fish, poultry, gravies, salads, and dressings. In the bright yellow pigment of Turmeric are curcuminoids, which are antioxidants with the property of scavenging the free radical nitric oxide. The action of Turmeric is not only in blocking nitric oxide directly, but also the enzyme that produces it. Curcuminoids also appear to have a role in attacking invading micro-organisms.


How to choose a herbal supplement to support liver health

If you’re choosing Milk Thistle or Dandelion extracts, make sure it is standardised. This ensures:

• product is consistent in the concentration of active ingredients,and
• that you are receiving a product that has been thoroughly researched and carefully developed for your health.

Precautions

Who should not take Milk Thistle?

• Milk Thistle may inhibit the metabolism of certain drugs. Before taking the herb, ask your doctor or pharmacist if any drugs you are taking have a direct interaction with Milk Thistle.
• Before taking Milk Thistle, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or health care professional if you have allergies (especially to plants), have any medical conditions, or if you take other medicines or other herbal/health supplements.
• Do not take Milk Thistle without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant or intending to become pregnant. It is not known whether Milk Thistle will harm an unborn baby.
• Do not take Milk Thistle without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby. It is also not known whether Milk Thistle will harm a nursing infant.

Possible side effects of Milk Thistle

Milk thistle has the potential to raise or lower levels of many drugs, including ones used for HIV infection. Therefore, people with HIV/AIDS who are taking anti-HIV drugs should consult their doctors and pharmacists about possible interactions with milk thistle.

Who should not take Dandelion?

• Do not take Dandelion without first consulting your doctor if you:

1. have gall bladder problems
2. are diabetic or take medication to control blood sugar levels
3. take a diuretic (water pill)
4. take an anticoagulant (blood thinner)

• You may not be able to take Dandelion, or you may require a dosage adjustment or special monitoring during treatment if you have any of the conditions listed above.
• Before taking Dandelion, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or health care professional if you have allergies (especially to plants) or if you have any other medical conditions or take other
• medicines or other herbal/health supplements. Dandelion may not be recommended in some situations
• Do not take Dandelion if you are pregnant, intending to become pregnant or breastfeeding.

Possible side effects of Dandelion:

• Although rare, allergic reactions to Dandelion may occur. Stop taking Dandelion and seek emergency medical attention if you experience symptoms of a serious allergic reaction including
• difficulty in breathing; closing of your throat; swelling of your lips, tongue, or face; or hives
• stomach upset
• rashes
• heartburn

Ways to Protect Your Liver

• Drink plenty of clean and purified water.
• Avoid or limit alcohol consumption to reduce any further liver destruction.
• Avoid or limit your exposure to environmental toxins, including exhaust fumes as well as pesticides, pollutants and solvents.
• Incorporate a diet low in fat and high in fibre.
• Take antioxidants such as vitamins A,C, and E.
• Take herbal supplements to support a healthy liver.

Source:
www.mayoclinic.com
www.naturalfacts.com.au
www.liverfoundation.org
www.yalenewhavenhealth.org
www.butler.org
www.liverdoctor.com

Winning the COLD war

The Common Cold

The common cold is one of the world’s most prevalent ailments. Cold symptoms are due mainly to the body’s response to an infection. When a nasal cell is infected by a cold virus, the body responds by activating parts of the immune system and some nervous system reflexes.

Common cold: fast facts

• A common cold is an illness caused by a virus infection located in the nose. Colds also involve the sinuses, ears, and bronchial tubes.
• The symptoms of a common cold include sneezing, runny nose, nasal obstruction, sore or scratchy throat, cough, hoarseness, and mild general symptoms like headache, feverishness, chilliness, and not feeling well in general.
• Colds last on average for one week. Mild colds may last only 2 or 3 days while severe colds may last for up to 2 weeks.
• A cold is a milder illness than influenza. Influenza typically causes fever, muscle aches, and a more severe cough. However, mild cases of influenza are similar to colds.
• Adults average 2 to 3 colds per year and children 6 to 10, depending on their age and exposure. Children’s noses are the major source of cold viruses.
• There are over 100 different cold viruses. Rhinoviruses are the most important and cause at least one-half of colds.
• Cold viruses can only multiply when they are inside of living cells. When on an environmental surface, cold viruses cannot multiply. However, they are still infectious if they are transported from an environmental site into the nose.
• Cold viruses live only in the noses of humans and not in animals except chimpanzees and other higher primates.

Source: www.commoncold.org

Did you know?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22 million school days are lost annually in the United States due to the common cold.

Is it a cold or the flu?

The common cold is an inflammation of the mucus membranes caused by a number of viruses. The symptoms include:

• nose and throat irritation
• watery eyes
• fever
• muscle aches
• chills

Influenza is an acute viral infection of the respiratory tract. The symptoms include:

• high fever
• hoarse cough
• aching back, arms and legs
• enlarged lymph glands

The Resurgence of Herbs

Herbs have a long history of traditional usage for health problems. For thousands of years, our ancestors did not have medicine cabinets and turned to plants for medicine. The plants that were beneficial were passed down through generations and became traditional medicine. Herbs are the highest quality food known to man and work to regain your body’s inner balance. As we progress further into civilisation, herbal products are fuelling in growth. Factors which have led to this surge in herbal remedies include:

• increased interest in natural products worldwide
• increasing scientific proof of traditional benefits of herbs
• people taking a more pro-active role in maintaining their health
• popularisation of alternative medicine forms of health maintenance
• growing concern about the effects of prescription drugs on our body
• escalating costs of conventional medicine treatment
• new formulas, better research and product development, and more powerful extracts have improved the efficacy of herbal supplements

The scientific community is contributing the lessons learned to further help the advancement of herbal research. Groundbreaking research into the benefits of herbs is beginning to confirm what common sense has told us all along: h-e-r-b-s w-o-r-k!

What is Echinacea?


Echinacea is the scientific name for the purple coneflower indigenous to eastern and central United States and southern Canada. Its common name comes from the purplish pink ray-like petals that surround a centre cone. Echinacea has 2-5 feet long stems covered with dark green leaves.



Types of Echinacea

There are nine different species of Echinacea, though only Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida, and Echinacea purpurea are popularly used for medical purposes. Echinacea is harvested for its roots, flowerheads, seeds, or juice of the whole plant and can then be made into capsules, extracts, tinctures and tea. Native Americans used it to treat everything from colds to other ailments.


Echinacea entered formal medicine in 1895, becoming the best-selling American medicinal plant prescribed by physicians into the 1920s. It was later replaced by antibiotics. Traditionally, herbalists considered it a blood purifier and an aid to fighting infections.



How to choose a good Echinacea product?

Since there is no single active ingredient, the extract of standardised Echinacea is the best. Standardisation guarantees that the amount of active ingredients stated on the label is actually in the product.

Quality products normally pass the independent lab test conducted by reputable, non-profit and independent labs such as www.consumerlab.com. The test would normally compare the quality and amount of Echinacea in each tablet as opposed to the claims on the label.

The purity of product is also tested i.e. if there are any contaminants such as lead or microbes.

Health Benefits of Echinacea

Echinacea increases the “non-specific” activity of the immune system. In other words, unlike a vaccine which is active only against a specific disease, Echinacea stimulates the overall activity of the cells responsible for fighting all kinds of infection. Unlike antibiotics, which are directly lethal to bacteria, Echinacea makes our own immune cells more efficient in attacking bacteria, viruses and abnormal cells.

Echinacea facilitates wound healing, lessens symptom and speeds recovery from viruses. Anti-inflammatory effects make it useful externally against inflammatory skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. It may also increase resistance to candida, bronchitis, herpes, and other infectious conditions.

Primary uses of Echinacea:

• Colds, coughs and flu and other upper respiratory conditions
• Enlarged lymph glands, sore throat
• Urinary tract infections
• Other minor infections
• May help combat herpes and candida

Precautions

Like most drugs and herbs, there can be side effects after consuming Echinacea. Minor side effects can include an upset stomach, nausea and dizziness. Serious side effects can include allergic reactions such as rash, swelling and difficulty in breathing. If you have a history of allergy to daisies, ragweed, marigolds, chrysanthemums or related plants, you may be more at risk of having an allergic reaction to Echinacea.

Caution needs to be exercised for asthma patients as studies have shown that Echinacea can precipitate asthma attacks. You should not take Echinacea in any form, for more than two consecutive weeks.

If you are regularly taking other medicines, check with your doctor before taking Echinacea. You should also tell your doctor if you drink beverages that contain caffeine or alcohol, if you smoke or if you use illegal drugs. These substances may affect the way Echinacea works.

Echinacea may not be helpful if you have any of the following conditions - an autoimmune disorder (such as lupus), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, Echinacea is not recommended.

When to see a doctor?

• your cold lasts for more than seven days
• your mucus is yellowish or greenish in colour
• your cough is severe and long lasting, and is accompanied by shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain or tightness, high temperature, headache or weight loss.

Additional Nutrients to Keep Cold at Bay

Citrus Fruits
The term citrus fruit includes different types of fruits and products. Although oranges are the major fruit in the citrus fruits group, accounting for about 70% of citrus output in the world, the group also includes small citrus fruits (such as tangerines, mandarins, clementines and satsumas), lemons and limes and grapefruits.

Why is an orange good for you? Citrus fruits and citrus juices have several beneficial health and nutritive properties. They are rich in vitamin C or ascorbic acid and folic acid, as well as a good source of fibre. They are fat free, sodium free and cholesterol free. In addition they contain potassium, calcium, folate, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, magnesium and copper. They may help to support a healthy heart. They are also helpful in reducing the risk of pregnant women having children with birth defects.

Garlic and Licorice

Garlic has natural antibiotic properties that help fight infection while licorice helps to soothe the throat and clear mucus.

Zinc
Zinc is generally known to boost your body’s natural defense system.

Antioxidants
Antioxidants such as beta carotene, vitamins C and E are all implicated in the immune response via a wide variety of mechanisms including cytokine production.



How to Fight a Cold Naturally

The common cold is caused by a virus not bacteria, so it’s best to work on building up your immune system and relieving your symptom. Try the following steps if you feel a cold coming.

1. Take time off. Getting adequate rest will help you get over your cold faster.
2. Drink more water than you usually do. Eight glasses a day is standard when you’re healthy, so try to drink more than that.
3. Substitute herbal tea or juice for water to meet your liquid intake.
4. Let your appetite dictate how much you eat. If you are not hungry at all, try eating something that’s easy to digest like a banana. Sugar may have a negative impact on immune system, so limit sweet.
5. Eat chicken soup if it makes you feel better. It can’t rid your body of the virus, but it’s easy to digest and may soothe your throat.
6. Take Echinacea supplements.
7. Take vitamin C - it may reduce the severity or duration of cold.
   

Did you know?

• Because cold germs on your hands can easily enter through your eyes and nose, keeping your hands away from those areas of your body may help prevent colds.
• Washing your hands with soap and water is the simplest and possibly most effective way to avoid from getting colds and giving them to others. Wash your hands more often during the cold season and teach your children to do the s ame.

Health is Wealth

You can pump all kinds of drugs and herbs into your body to ward off ailments and diseases but ultimately, there is nothing like a balanced lifestyle for optimal health. Try to be healthy physically, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. You have to take control and make time for yourself. No one else is going to do it for you. It’s better late than never so start now!

Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure

Study found a small but significant reduction in deaths; parallel study on cholesterol-lowering statin found no beneficial effect.

By Ed Edelson, HealthDay Reporter

SUNDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found.

But a cholesterol-lowering statin drug had no beneficial effect in a parallel heart failure trial.

"This confirms what we've been seeing for a couple of decades in observational studies," Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, said of the fish oil trial. "There is a benefit of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for heart failure patients."

Both findings were published online Aug. 31 in the journal The Lancet and presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, in Munich, Germany.

The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) study, done by a consortium of 357 Italian cardiology centers, enlisted more than 7,000 people diagnosed with heart failure, which is the progressive loss of the heart's ability to pump blood. Half took a daily capsule containing omega-3 PUFA, the other half took a capsule with a placebo. The death rate in the PUFA group was 27 percent, compared to 29 percent in the placebo group.

That reduction might not seem like much, but it impressed Mozaffarian, who has done his own PUFA studies.

"There are few treatments we have in medicine that affect total mortality in patients," he said. "Just a handful of treatments affect total mortality. Even a small move percentage-wise is a very important effect."

In absolute terms, the Italian researchers reported that 56 people with heart failure would have to take PUFA supplements for about four years to avoid one death. The supplements also reduced hospitalizations, with one less hospitalization or death for every 44 people taking the supplements for four years.

Similar results have been reported in two earlier trials, Mozaffarian said. But they did not have the strict conditions of the Italian study, which were placebo-controlled and "double-blind," meaning that neither the physicians nor the participants knew who was getting the active substance rather than the placebo.

"You always like to have a placebo-controlled trial," he said.

But the positive trial results don't mean that anyone with heart failure can start taking fish oil supplements on their own, said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote an editorial accompanying the journal report.

"They used a specific formulation, a prescription formulation," Fonarow said. "Heart failure is a very high-risk condition. It is absolutely critical for patients, whether it is a prescription medicine or modification of diet or a supplement, that they consult their physician."

The negative results of the statin trial were a surprise, Fonarow said. It included more than 4,500 people with heart failure, half of whom took the statin rosuvastatin (Crestor), while the other half took a placebo. The death rate was 29 percent in the statin group, 28 percent in the placebo group.

The result doesn't mean that a statin should not be prescribed for someone with heart failure and high cholesterol, Fonarow said. "There were no safety concerns," he said. "The drug was well tolerated. It indicates that heart failure, in and of itself, should not be reason to start a patient on a statin."

The study "doesn't shut the door" on the use of statins for heart failure, Mozaffarian said, "but it closes it partly. Maybe another statin would have a benefit. It definitely makes us question the benefit of statins in heart failure, but it doesn't close the door completely."

Another report in the same issue of the journal that was led by British cardiologists described a trial of the drug ivabradine, which reduces the heart rate, in people with coronary artery disease and an unusually fast heart rate. The drug reduced deaths and hospitalizations significantly, the researchers said.

More information

Learn more about heart failure and its treatment from the American Heart Association.

The art of breathing in qi healing.

Just breathe

The art of breathing in qi healing.

WE breathe to live, and live by breathing. Breathing is regulated by the respiratory control centres located in the two lowest segments of the brain stem. Our minds and will can override the rhythms generated by these control centres.

The autonomic nervous system consists of a vast network of neurons that controls viscera, blood vessels, and glands throughout the body. Interestingly, research shows that breathing can influence the autonomic nervous system. Slow, soft and deep breathing will reduce blood pressure and achieve calmness.

The best breathing method to produce a beneficial effect on the autonomic nervous system is 2:1 breathing; take twice the time to exhale as to inhale. This method allows our lungs to fill to its full total lung capacity. This method of breathing is one of the qigong breathing methods, called Qigong Normal Abdominal Breathing method that is taught in traditional qigong training for health improvement.

Breathing exercises are the best and simplest way to reduce anxiety, agitation and stress, and for promoting relaxation, calm and inner peace.

Too much attention on upsetting thoughts may cause anxiety, guilt and unhappiness. Get in the habit of shifting your awareness to your breath whenever you find yourself stressed.

One breathing exercise I highly recommend is the 3-3-6-3 breath. It is very simple, requires no equipment and can be done anywhere. Although you can do the exercise in any position, sit with your back straight while learning the exercise. Place the tip of your tongue against the upper palate just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there throughout the entire exercise. You will inhale and exhale using the nose. Keep your breathe slow, gentle and soft.

1. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose to a mental count of three.

2. Hold your breath for a count of three.

3. Exhale completely through your nose to a count of six.

4. Hold your breath for a count of three.

5. This is one breathe. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle five more times for a total of six breathes.

Note that the tip of your tongue stays in position the whole time.

Exhalation takes twice as long as inhalation. If you have difficulty holding your breath, speed the exercise up but keep to the ratio of 2:1 for exhalation and inhalation. With practice you will get used to extending your inhaling and exhaling longer and deeper.

Practise at least twice a day. Without supervision or consultation by a qualified qigong Master, do not do more than six breaths at once for the few weeks of practice. Later, if you wish, you can extend it to twelve breaths. If you feel a little lightheaded when you first breathe this way, do not be concerned. Eventually, you will change your breathing pattern to this way through out the day.

Breathing is one of the basic techniques of qigong practice. Practitioners use different methods to achieve different results. The most popular and commonly use methods are: normal breathing, also called chest breathing; normal abdominal breathing; reverse abdominal breathing; embryonic breathing; skin breathing; and third eye breathing.

Each method has its specific purpose. In medical qigong, normal abdominal breathing is commonly used for healing purposes. In this method of breathing, the abdomen expands when you inhale and withdraws when you exhale.

Qigong normal abdominal breathing is also commonly known as Dan Tian breathing. It consists of five types of breathing methods namely, Fu, Chui, Tu, Pi and Si. Each has its purpose as described below.

1. Fu breathing is the basic and most important of the above breathing techniques. It is for circulation (energy and blood); aids relaxation; stimulates the nervous system to maintain cerebral balance; and facilitates meditation and relaxation.

2. Chui breathing lowers and balances blood pressure and heart rate and relieves general tension. It also stimulates the heart and lungs.

3. Tu breathing is most beneficial for the kidney, liver, spleen and immune systems. Also helps to relieve lower back pain.

4. Pi breathing stimulates the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems.

5. Si breathing stimulates the thyroid and thymus gland, improving the immune system.

Each of the above breathing methods also activates one of the five elements, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire or Earth. We shall discuss in more detail in the next article on how to use each of the elements for healing purposes.

• Master Tan Soo Kong is the founder of Wellness Medical Qigong (WMQ). For further information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my.