Multiple sclerosis sufferer Tracey gets a helping paw from clever Kofi

8:36am Thursday 1st March 2012 in News by Sally Clifford

Tracey Robinson, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, with her specially-trained labrador Kofi

They say a dog is man’s best friend. Tracey Robinson’s beautiful black labrador, Kofi, is much more than that.

Kofi collects the post and can open and shut doors – little things Tracey often finds difficult in her daily struggle with multiple sclerosis.

Tracey was 25 when she was diagnosed with the debilitating condition which her mum, Shirley, also suffers from. Shirley was diagnosed in her 40s, and Tracey says being able to talk to her mum and share experiences helps them both.

Tracey’s initial instinct that something was wrong stems from an episode of double vision when she was 15. she had an operation to correct a squint and saw a neurologist, but it would be many years later before she was diagnosed with MS.

around 100,000 people in the UK have MS. it is normally diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

MS is a complex condition with many symptoms which can include fatigue, dizziness and vision problems. Balance can be affected, along with the bladder. it can also cause stiffness and spasms.

While nursing, Tracey noticed her leg dragging after a shift and pins and needles in her hands, but she put it down to the effects of having done a long shift.

Dizzy spells and the loss of the use of her right side were symptoms she couldn’t ignore, and after being referred to another neurologist, Tracey was diagnosed with MS.

Her eldest child, Sam, now 25, who runs the family pub in East Bierley, was six months old at the time, but Tracey never let it stop her living her life and copes with it as best she can.

Her daughter Kate is now 20. Both have been to university and Tracey is proud of them and continues to give herself goals.

“I used to have goals in my head – ‘I have got to wait until they are both at school before I get really bad’, ‘I have to wait until they have both left home’ – and now I think, ‘I have to wait until they are married before I get really bad’. It’s moving goals on,” says Tracey.

Her mobility is severely affected. she has an electric wheelchair and a scooter to go out and she never goes out alone.

Tracey has a supportive network around her with friends and family and Kofi, of course.

he joined the family three years ago after Tracey’s husband, Nick, found out about the charity Dogs for the Disabled.

“You hear about dogs for the blind, but I’d never known about them,” says Tracey, referring to Dogs for the Disabled.

“Nick went into it and said the dogs could pick things up for you. Bending down can be really bad for me. if I knelt down to pick something up, I wouldn’t get back up again,” she explains.

Kofi is specially trained to help Tracey around the house, and he can open and shut doors for her.

“If I drop something like the remote control or the phone he will pick it up for me and he fetches the post when it comes,” says Tracey.

“He’s also company for me. I know he is there.”

Tracey tells how Kofi is constantly by her side. he waits while she gets showered and changed on a morning, making sure she is all right.

“He is a lovely dog. he is so gentle,” says Tracey.

Kofi has a special coat so people know he is a working dog. around Tracey’s home village he has become a mini-celebrity. “Everybody likes him,” says Tracey. “He is just somebody else to watch over me.”

since its inception in 1988, Dogs for the Disabled has trained more than 575 assistance dogs. There are currently more than 250 working partnerships and teams across the UK.

Assistance dogs are provided for adults and children. The charity also offers an autism assistance dog service for children with an autistic spectrum condition between the ages of three and ten.

at eight weeks old, the puppies are given to a puppy socialiser, a family who volunteers to look after the puppy for a year, getting it used to sights and sounds in preparation for it becoming a qualified assistance dog.

Opening and closing doors; helping a person dress and undress; barking to raise the alarm in an emergency; picking up items such as mobile telephones or dropped articles like keys or a bag; loading and emptying the washing machine; retrieving slippers, gloves or a remote control; switching lights on and off; fetching the post; pressing a pedestrian crossing button; reaching up to shop-counters with items such as a wallet and helping people to walk by providing a constant forward motion are just some of the tasks the dogs are trained to do.

but the cost of training an assistance dog is £18,000 and the charity receives no Government funding, relying on voluntary donations to fund its work.

since 2004, Dogs for the Disabled has had runners taking part in the Great North Run to support its cause and the charity is appealing for people to participate in this year’s run on Sunday, September 16, to help raise much-needed funds to enable it to improve the quality of many more lives.

To find out more, visit dogsforthedisabled.org/support-us and click on ‘Raise money for us’, e-mail , or call (01295) 252600.for more information about multiple sclerosis, visit mssociety.org.uk.

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New research offers hope for the first pill to treat a common problem in young women: fibroids in the uterus. the growths can cause pain, heavy bleeding and fertility problems, and they are the leading cause of hysterectomies.

In two studies, a lower dose of a “morning after” contraceptive pill stopped the bleeding and shrank the fibroids. It worked as well as shots of a hormone-blocking drug that has unpleasant side effects.

“This is very, very good news. the results are better than we expected,” said research leader Dr. Jacques Donnez, of Saint-Luc hospital at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels.

He’s now testing intermittent long-term use of the pill to see if that could help women avoid surgery.

The pill is called Esmya, and it is awaiting marketing approval in Europe. It’s a low-dose version of an emergency birth control pill called ella that came on the market in the United States about a year ago. the new fibroid pill still needs to be tested in the U.S. and won’t be available anytime soon.

Fibroids are benign growths in the uterus that are common in women during their childbearing years, mostly in their late 30s and 40s. they usually go away after menopause. Treating fibroids isn’t easy. Removing the uterus is the only cure; other treatments include surgery to remove them or procedures to shrink them with ultrasound or pellets that cut off their blood supply.

With the discovery that the hormone progesterone, as well as estrogen, promotes fibroid growth, scientists have been looking at a class of drugs that can block progesterone’s effect on the uterus.

Donnez and his colleagues in several European countries tested Esmya, made by Swiss-based PregLem. their findings are in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

The two studies involved about 550 premenopausal women whose fibroid symptoms were serious enough that surgery was planned.

One study compared two doses of Esmya with a dummy pill for three months. the second tested Esmya against a monthly hormone-blocking shot that shrinks fibroids but causes hot flashes and, with long-term use, can thin bones.. Women in that study got a daily Esmya pill and a dummy shot each month, or a hormone shot and a dummy pill.

In both studies, Esmya stopped the bleeding and shrank fibroids in most patients and worked as well as the shot, but with fewer side effects. Menstrual bleeding was controlled in over 90 percent of the women on Esmya – many within a week, compared to 19 percent of those who took a dummy pill.

At the end of the three months, only about half of the participants went ahead with any kind of fibroid surgery. that allowed the researchers to observe whether improvements lasted over the next six months. they did for many of the Esmya patients, while fibroids started growing after a month in the group that got the hormone shot.

Donnez is now studying whether Esmya could be used long-term, given periodically if symptoms return, until menopause, when fibroids usually disappear. that means some women, depending on their age, might avoid having surgery at all, said Donnez. he does between six and 10 hysterectomies a week for fibroids.

Despite newer, less invasive alternatives, the rate of hysterectomies remains high, Dr. Elizabeth Stewart, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Mayo Clinic, wrote in an editorial in the journal. There’s a need for good medical treatments and the new research “represents an important step in that direction.”

“It’s amazing to me that so many women have uterine fibroids and yet the treatments we have available are pretty few and far between,” she said.

The new pill is awaiting final European approval as a treatment before surgery, following a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency in December.

In the U.S. and Canada, Esmya will be developed by Watson Pharmaceuticals inc., which also sells prescription ella, the contraception pill that helps prevent pregnancy for up to five days after sex.

Watson spokesman Charlie Mayr said the company will soon start a study of the fibroids pill in the United States, but it will be several years before it is ready for government review. It will seek approval in Canada early this year, he said.

Drugmaker PregLem paid for the latest studies. the researchers included company employees; Donnez and others have been on its scientific advisory board.

What’s Herbal Prostate Therapy?

Herbal prostate therapy is 1 of the most proactive when it comes to sustaining prostate wellness. Although no natural prostate treatment can guarantee results your greatest bet would be to select a herbal prostate treatment that’s made from great stuff.

Herbal Prostate Review

Every year thousands of males are treated for inflamed prostates, in most cases those instances of prostatitis could have been prevented with the assist of dietary supplements for prostate wellness. A healthy prostate is of the utmost importance. Men suffering from prostatitis frequently endure from sexual dysfunction, difficulty urinating as well as chronic abdominal and back again discomfort. Prostate health should be important not just to elderly males, but also individuals as young their 40s. In order to encourage a wellness prostate, much consideration ought to be provided to supplements for prostate health. the first action to some healthy prostate ought to be one’s nutritional routines. Recent research has shown that the foods we consume have a strong effect on prostate wellness. Afflictions of the prostate are most commonly found in developed countries whose nutritional habits concentrate on red meat and dairy items. Contrast that having a nation whose diet plan focuses on fruit and veggies and it’s simple to determine that natural foods can encourage a wholesome prostate. A diet with substantially higher amounts of calcium will also cause increased odds of developing prostatitis. Foods with tomatoes, pink grapefruits as well as watermelons are rich in Lycopene, which is an antioxidant. Lycopene and nutrients like zinc and selenium are available in dietary supplements for prostate health. A deficiency of vitamins like nutritional vitamins D and E can also lead to an increased opportunity of developing an enlarged prostate. Herbal prostate treatments have lengthy been discovered effective as dietary supplements for prostate health. In nations such as the United States natural dietary supplements are often regulated to “dietary supplement” status, meaning many will not discover the incredible advantages that an herbal supplement might supply. In some cases, herbal treatments are more effective then the most well-liked manufacturers of prostate medications obtainable. A lot treatment should be taken to completely research any herbal regiment. Make no mistake, herbs are as effective and in some cases are more effective then prescription medication. look for just about any supplemental info available on natural remedies, prior to including them as dietary supplements for prostate wellness.

Herbal Prostate Ingredients

You are able to preserve your prostate wellness normally with herbal treatments and extracts. Some happen to be utilized effectively for thousands of many years. They’re totally safe and they match up in clinical testing:·    Saw palmetto. the “gold standard” in organic prostate treatment arrives in the berry of a palm tree in South Florida. Native Americans utilized it back in the 1700s to treat enlarged prostate and erectile dysfunction. Dosage: 350 mg every day of berry extract.·    Nettle root. the root extract and leaf powder of the stinging nettle may be a broadly used efficient therapy for years overseas. Dosage: 50 mg nettle root extract and 5 mg of nettle leaf powder daily.·    Pumpkin Seed Oil. Wealthy in important fatty acids and in zinc each linked to prostate wellness and enlargement prevention. Dosage: 25 mg every day.·    Pomegranate Juice. A recent study showed just 8 oz a day time can work wonders. This anti-oxidant slowed prostate cancer cell growth, lowered PSA, and improved sexual function of men who’d already undergone surgery or radiation treatment after 15 month

Usually seek advice from a physician prior to attempting any herbal prostate treatment to make sure what you’re doing won’t interfere with other drugs or health conditions.

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There are often questions women have about menopause as they enter their 40s. KBTX’s medical contributor joined Brazos Valley this Morning Tuesday to answer some of them.

Dr. Alan Xenakis from the Texas A&M Health Science Center provided some facts and debunked some myths in his regular appearance.

Click on the video with this story to hear what Doc X had to say. you can also read on to check out some information provided by Xenakis.

Medically speaking, menopause is the permanent end of your menstruation and fertility. Menopause is defined as occurring 12 months after your last menstrual period. Menopause is not a permanent end to femininity and sexuality! In fact it can be a time of increased femininity and sexuality because of the freedom it brings into your life and liberation to stop worrying about pregnancy and periods. yes, as a woman, chances are you will spend approximately one third of your life in menopause. this time has increased with the phenomenon of your increasing longevity to 79 years. yet the actual age of menopause is approximately 50-51 years and has not changed since antiquity. the symptomatic transition to menopause usually starts at approximately age 45.5-47.5 years. Menopause is a natural biological process, not a medical illness. even so, the physical and emotional symptoms of menopause can disrupt your sleep, sap your energy and at least indirectly trigger feelings of sadness and loss. even though menopause is not an illness, you shouldn’t hesitate to get treatment if you’re having severe symptoms. Many treatments are available, from lifestyle adjustments to hormone therapy.

Technically, you don’t actually “hit” menopause until it’s been one year since your final menstrual period. In the United States, that happens about age 51, on average.

The signs and symptoms of menopause, however, often appear long before the one-year anniversary of your final period. they include:

Increased abdominal fat

Loss of breast fullness

Natural decline of reproductive hormones. as you approach your late 30s, your ovaries start making less estrogen and progesterone, the hormones that regulate menstruation. during this time, fewer potential eggs are ripening in your ovaries each month, and ovulation is less predictable. also, the post-ovulation surge in progesterone the hormone that prepares your body for pregnancy becomes less dramatic. your fertility declines, partially due to these hormonal effects.

These changes become more pronounced in your 40s. your menstrual periods may become longer or shorter, heavier or lighter, and more or less frequent, until eventually, your ovaries stop producing eggs, and you have no more periods. It’s possible, but very unusual, to menstruate every month right up to your last period. More likely, you’ll experience some irregularity in your periods.

Hysterectomy. a hysterectomy that removes your uterus, but not your ovaries, usually doesn’t cause menopause. Although you no longer have periods, your ovaries still release eggs and produce estrogen and progesterone. but an operation that removes both your uterus and your ovaries (total hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy) does cause menopause, without any transitional phase. your periods stop immediately, and you’re likely to have hot flashes and other menopausal signs and symptoms.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These cancer therapies can induce menopause, causing symptoms such as hot flashes during the course of treatment or within three to six months.

Primary ovarian insufficiency. Approximately 1 percent of women experience menopause before age 40. Menopause may result from primary ovarian insufficiency when your ovaries fail to produce normal levels of reproductive hormones stemming from genetic factors or autoimmune disease, but often no cause for primary ovarian insufficiency can be found.

Stages of menopause:Because the menopausal transition occurs over months and years, menopause is commonly divided into these stages:

Perimenopause. this is the time you begin experiencing menopausal signs and symptoms, even though you still menstruate. your hormone levels rise and fall unevenly, and you may have hot flashes and other symptoms. Perimenopause may last four to five years or longer. during this time, it’s still possible to get pregnant, but it’s quite unlikely.

Postmenopause. once 12 months have passed since your last period, you’ve reached menopause. your ovaries produce much less estrogen and no progesterone, and they don’t release eggs. the years that follow are called postmenopause

Chronic medical conditions associated with menopause

Cardiovascular disease. When your estrogen levels decline, your risk of cardiovascular disease increases. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women as well as in men. yet you can do a great deal to reduce your risk of heart disease. These risk-reduction steps include stopping smoking, reducing high blood pressure, getting regular aerobic exercise, and eating a diet low in saturated fats and plentiful in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Osteoporosis. during the first few years after menopause, you may lose bone density at a rapid rate, increasing your risk of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis causes bones to become brittle and weak, leading to an increased risk of fractures. Postmenopausal women are especially susceptible to fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. That’s why it’s important during this time to get adequate calcium and vitamin D about 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium and 800 international units of vitamin D daily. It’s also important to exercise regularly. Strength training and weight-bearing activities, such as walking and jogging, are especially beneficial in keeping your bones strong.

Urinary incontinence. as the tissues of your vagina and urethra lose their elasticity, you may experience a frequent, sudden, strong urge to urinate, followed by an involuntary loss of urine (urge incontinence), or the loss of urine with coughing, laughing or lifting (stress incontinence).

Weight gain. Many women gain weight during the menopausal transition. you may need to eat less perhaps as many as 200 to 400 fewer calories a day and exercise more, just to maintain your current weight.

What to expect from your doctor

Some potential questions your doctor might ask include:

Are you still having periods?

When was your last period?

How often do you experience bothersome symptoms?

How uncomfortable do your symptoms make you?

Does anything seem to improve your symptoms?

Does anything make your symptoms worse?

The signs and symptoms of menopause are enough to tell most women they have begun going through the menopausal transition. if you have concerns about irregular periods or hot flashes, talk with your doctor. In some cases further evaluation may be recommended.

Under certain circumstances, your doctor may check your level of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estrogen (estradiol) with a blood test. as menopause occurs, FSH levels increase and estradiol levels decrease. your doctor may also recommend a blood test to determine your level of thyroid-stimulating hormone, because hypothyroidism can cause symptoms similar to those of menopause.

Menopause itself requires no medical treatment. Instead, treatments focus on relieving your signs and symptoms and on preventing or lessening chronic conditions that may occur with aging. Treatments include:

Hormone therapy. Estrogen therapy remains, by far, the most effective treatment option for relieving menopausal hot flashes. Depending on your personal and family medical history, your doctor may recommend estrogen in the lowest dose needed to provide symptom relief for you.

Low-dose antidepressants. Venlafaxine (Effexor), an antidepressant related to the class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), has been shown to decrease menopausal hot flashes. Other SSRIs can be helpful, including fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), paroxetine (Paxil, others), citalopram (Celexa) and sertraline (Zoloft).

Gabapentin (Neurontin). this drug is approved to treat seizures, but it also has been shown to significantly reduce hot flashes.

Clonidine (Catapres, others). Clonidine, a pill or patch typically used to treat high blood pressure, may significantly reduce the frequency of hot flashes, but unpleasant side effects are common.

Bisphosphonates. Doctors may recommend these nonhormonal medications, which include alendronate (Fosamax), risedronate (Actonel) and ibandronate (Boniva), to prevent or treat osteoporosis. These medications effectively reduce both bone loss and your risk of fractures and have replaced estrogen as the main treatment for osteoporosis in women.

Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). SERMs are a group of drugs that includes raloxifene (Evista). Raloxifene mimics estrogen’s beneficial effects on bone density in postmenopausal women, without some of the risks associated with estrogen.

Vaginal estrogen. To relieve vaginal dryness, estrogen can be administered locally using a vaginal tablet, ring or cream. this treatment releases just a small amount of estrogen, which is absorbed by the vaginal tissue. it can help relieve vaginal dryness, discomfort with intercourse and some urinary symptoms.

Before deciding on any form of treatment, talk with your doctor about your options and the risks and benefits involved with each.

Lifestyle and home remedies

Fortunately, many of the signs and symptoms associated with menopause are temporary. Take these steps to help reduce or prevent their effects:

Cool hot flashes. get regular exercise, dress in layers and try to pinpoint what triggers your hot flashes. for many women, triggers may include hot beverages, spicy foods, alcohol, hot weather and even a warm room.

Decrease vaginal discomfort. Use over-the-counter water-based vaginal lubricants (Astroglide, K-Y) or moisturizers (Replens, Vagisil). Staying sexually active also helps.

Optimize your sleep. Avoid caffeine and plan to exercise during the day, although not right before bedtime. Relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, guided imagery and progressive muscle relaxation, can be very helpful. you can find a number of books and tapes on different relaxation exercises. if hot flashes disturb your sleep, you may need to find a way to manage them before you can get adequate rest.

Strengthen your pelvic floor. Pelvic floor muscle exercises, called Kegel exercises, can improve some forms of urinary incontinence.

Eat well. Eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and that limits saturated fats, oils and sugars. Aim for 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium and 800 international units of vitamin D a day. ask your doctor about supplements to help you meet these requirements, if necessary.

Don’t smoke. Smoking increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, cancer and a range of other health problems. it may also increase hot flashes and bring on earlier menopause. It’s never too late to benefit from stopping smoking.

Exercise regularly. get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days to protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and other conditions associated with aging. More vigorous exercise for longer periods may provide further benefit and is particularly important if you’re trying to lose weight. Exercise can also help reduce stress.

Try yoga. Preliminary studies show that yoga an exercise regimen that involves controlled breathing, posing and meditation may be effective in decreasing the number of hot flashes in perimenopausal women. Yoga classes are often offered at health clubs or through community education programs. Sign up for a class to learn how to perform yoga postures and breathing correctly.

Schedule regular checkups. Talk with your doctor about how often you should have mammograms, Pap tests, lipid level (cholesterol and triglyceride) testing and other screening tests

Many approaches have been promoted as aids in managing the symptoms of menopause, but not all of them have scientific evidence to back up the claims. Below are some complementary and alternative treatments that have been or are being studied:

Phytoestrogens. These estrogens occur naturally in certain foods. There are two main types of phytoestrogens isoflavones and lignans. Isoflavones are found in soybeans, chickpeas and other legumes. Lignans occur in flaxseed, whole grains and some fruits and vegetables. whether the estrogens in these foods can relieve hot flashes and other menopausal signs and symptoms remains to be seen. most studies have found them ineffective. Isoflavones have some weak estrogen-like effects, so there’s some concern about cancer risk. if you’ve had breast cancer, talk to your doctor before supplementing your diet with isoflavone pills.

Vitamin E. this vitamin occasionally provides relief from mild hot flashes for some women. However, scientific studies haven’t proved its overall benefit in relieving hot flashes, and taking more than 400 international units of vitamin E supplements daily may not be safe.

Black cohosh. Black cohosh has been used widely in Europe for treating hot flashes and has been popular among women with menopausal symptoms in the United States. while its safety record has been good, there’s no longer much reason to believe that it is effective for menopausal symptom relief.

You may have heard of or even tried other dietary supplements, such as dong quai, licorice, chasteberry, evening primrose oil and wild yam (natural progesterone cream). Although some might swear by these remedies, scientific evidence of their safety and effectiveness is lacking.

Be sure to consult your doctor before taking any herbal treatments or dietary supplements for signs and symptoms of menopause. Herbal products can interfere or interact with other medications you may be taking.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Bridget Location: Santa Rosa, CA on Jan 11, 2011 at 01:56 PM I really appreciate you putting out more information about menopause. Women seeking information about an effective way to perform Kegel exercises to treat urinary incontinence, may want to check out BestKegelExercises.com where they can see a video introduction to a very affordable and effective program for strengthening the pelvic floor that incorporates Kegel exercises, which are mentioned in your story. Posted by: AgeNation Team Location: Sante Fe, NM on Jan 11, 2011 at 12:25 PM great information! Readers might also like to check out this article by Gail Edgell – Perimenopause – what is that [agenation.com/magazine/perimenopause-what-is-that/] – includes a useful list of symptoms and how to combat them.

Study Shows Demanding Relationship With a Partner May have an Impact on Heart Health

Dec. 23, 2010 — just in time for those holiday family gatherings comes news that family stress — especially stress involving spouses and children — may hurt the heart.

People in a Danish study who reported having a worrisome or demanding relationship with a partner had a more than threefold increased risk for developing the severe chest pain condition known as angina.

Angina is both a warning sign and symptom of heart disease.

Researchers followed more than 4,500 men and women in their 40s and 50s with no known heart problems for six years. Those with the most stressful close family relationships had the highest risk of developing angina.

Study researcher Rikke Lund, MD, PhD, says it has long been known that positive social relationships are good for the heart. “We wanted to look at it another way and examine the impact of difficult social relationships on cardiovascular risk,” she tells WebMD.

Family Stress and the Heart

The randomly selected study participants were followed from 1999 to 2006, when they were asked about both their heart health and the quality of their relationships with the people in their lives, including partners, children, other relatives, friends, and neighbors.

Participants were specifically asked about the level of demand placed on them by family members and friends, the degree of worry associated with each relationship, and the degree and frequency of conflict.

During the six years of follow-up, roughly one in 10 study participants developed chest pains associated with angina.

Not surprisingly, older participants were more likely to report the condition than younger ones.

Having a worrisome or demanding relationship with a spouse or partner was associated with a more than 3.5-fold increase in angina risk, while a similar relationship with a child was associated with a twofold increase in risk.

The association was not quite as strong for other family members, and the impact of worries and demands involving non-family members was negligible.

Surprisingly, conflict with family members was much less strongly linked to angina risk than being in a worrisome or demanding relationship. People who reported having frequent arguments with a partner had a 44% increase in angina risk.

Second Opinion

Psychologist William R. Lovallo, PhD, who wrote the 2004 book Stress and Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions, says the study provides more evidence linking social relationships with health.

But he adds that it is not clear if the quality of these relationships has a direct impact on conditions like angina.

Lovallo is with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oklahoma City and the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center.

“It is tempting to assume that bad social relationships cause medical symptoms, but we have to be careful about making this association,” he tells WebMD.

Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune skin disease that is characterized by red itchy patches on the skin. it is a non contagious diseases caused due to genetic as well as environmental factors. Sometimes, low immunity can also give rise to psoriasis. Let us have a look at the causes and symptoms of psoriasis in detail.Psoriasis Causes and SymptomsPsoriasis is not so common chronic skin disorder which can be seen in people of any age group (more commonly in adults in their 30s and 40s). once contracted, it can last for a long time and flare up at regular intervals. Genetics is the most important cause of psoriasis as sudden mutation in certain genes can give rise to psoriasis. Among the environmental causes, sun burn, chronic skin rash, weather changes, stress, infection as well as side effects of certain drugs can give rise to psoriasis. The symptoms of psoriasis include red patches on the skin which are covered with white silvery scales. These patches are mostly seen on joints like elbows, knees, knuckles and genitals. however, they can be seen in any part of the body. Similarly, the severity of the disease varies from person to person. In some people, the symptoms are seen only in some parts of the body while in some other cases, they may be seen all over the body. People suffering from psoriasis are otherwise healthy and do not experience any other symptoms. Read more on psoriasis: symptoms, causes and treatment.

Psoriasis TreatmentPsoriasis can be treated using different combination therapies and treatments depending on the severity of the disease, the age and the gender of the person. Prescription medications, drugs or steroids are given in case of severe psoriasis. In milder cases, lotions, creams or without prescription ointments can also be used. In some cases, phototherapy is used which makes use of light to treat psoriasis. Sometimes, even injections are used to treat psoriasis. These treatments are used singly or in combination. however, one can even go for certain home remedies or natural methods that help in reducing itchiness caused during psoriasis. Let us have a look at it.

Psoriasis Home RemediesThe following are home remedies and natural psoriasis cures that are easier to put into practice.

Coconut OilCoconut oil is found to be beneficial in treating several skin problems. it is also one of the most effective psoriasis home remedies. One can apply virgin coconut oil to the skin or even consume it through several products. One can even use organic soaps made of pure coconut oil and coconut extract as scalp psoriasis home remedies.

Olive OilOlive oil helps in softening skin and hence, is effective in getting rid of the flakes caused during psoriasis. One can heat olive oil to make it lukewarm and apply it to the affected area. Secondly, olive oil supplements can also be taken. once the skin becomes soft, it is easier to treat psoriasis quickly. along with olive oil, tea tree oil is also one of the best nail psoriasis home remedies.

GarlicGarlic is one of the most efficient products used in natural treatments. its blood purifying properties help in washing out the toxins form the body. One can eat 2-3 garlic cloves every morning to treat psoriasis.

Sea SaltsAccording to recent researches, it has been found that sea salts are very effective in reducing the red patches on the skin. Having a bath with sea salts mixed in water cures the itchiness to a great extent. on the other hand, having it regularly can also helps in preventing the recurrence of psoriasis. Read more on dead sea salt psoriasis cream.

VitaminsIt is essential to have sufficient intake of vitamin D and vitamin E to treat psoriasis. Doctors advise patients to have regular exposure to sunlight to get sufficient vitamin D. Vitamin E can be obtained from almond, spinach, sunflower seeds, etc. This will help in curing psoriasis quickly.

These were some of the effective psoriasis home remedies. however, they alone are not beneficial in treating psoriasis. One should also follow the regular treatment prescribed by the doctor.

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