Wednesday, May 28, 2014

PROTECT SKIN FROM SUN DAMAGE AND INDOOR TANNING



LOUSIANA  BANS  TANNING  FOR  UNDER 18-YEARS

Lousiana has just passed a law banning indoor tan for minors under 18 years old. It is a well thought out measure to protect its youth from the dangers of indoor tanning.

Tans are caused by harmful ultra violet (UV) radiation from sun or tanning lamps. Both can cause DNA damage to skin.  Many studies have linked Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, to use of indoor tanning. 

There is no such thing as healthy tanning. Indoor tanning provides a sun protection factor of about 3, against the recommended level of at least 15 SPF.  Indoor tanning is designed to give you high levels of UV radiation in a short time. 

Tanning affects the top layer of your skin (epidermis) first and then goes into dermis, next layer of skin under epidermis, to cause damage. Melanoma, which occurs less often than other types of skin, is the most serious and dangerous type of skin cancer, emerging as the leading cause of skin cancer deaths. 

In US, nearly 419,000 cases of skin cancer are reported every year. Other States should also, therefore,  look into the harmful effects of indoor tanning and follow Lousiana lead. 

In HERBALLY RADIANT, we have been advising customers to protect skin from possible damage from sun or indoor tanning.  This could lead to premature skin aging, like wrinkles and spots, changes in skin texture and increase in the risk of potential harm to eyes.  One should apply sunscreen before venturing out in the sun.  The sun protection creams or lotions must provide 30 SPF level which is much safer. Our lotions are organic, most skin friendly and provide best protection to skin from sunburns;  readily available for prompt shipping (www.shop.herballyradiant.com)
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Saturday, May 24, 2014

SKIN PROTECTION FROM SUN DAMAGE




Apart From the beauty aspect, the health of skin should also be essential routine to be taken care of in summer.  In order to look tanned, some women also go for tanning bed which has come under adverse comments from health experts.  One survey reveals that 46 per cent of women using tanning bed had a history of sunburns.  This would raise their risk for skin related disease, including melanoma, considerably.

It is estimated that rates of melanoma have risen by nearly 800 per cent over the past four decades, making it the most common cancer among women in the age group 25-29, and rates of squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas (once considered “old lady” cancers) have shot up 700 and 100 per cent respectively, among women below 40.

Though sixty-one per cent of women admit that they’re not worried about skin cancer because none in their family ever had it, yet the truth is that only 35 per cent of melanoma risk is tied to genetics, the major percentage is due to sunburns, and in the case of non-melanoma skin cancers, genetic reasons accounted for only 10 per cent.

Apart from sunburns, tanning beds also increase skin cancer risk: one indoor tanning session before age 35 ups your odds of melanoma by 75 per cent.  In fact, experts believe that there are now more cancer cases from indoor tanning than there are lung cancer cases due to smoking. It has been estimated that in US, nearly 420,000 new cases of skin cancer every year can be attributed to indoor tanning.

As producer of natural organic skin care products, HERBALLY RADIANT has to offer the advice that one needs to be extra diligent about using sunscreen every day and stay out of tanning beds. Being outside in summer is good for every one which promotes active lifestyle and production of vitamin D.  But there is nothing really healthy about a tan. Experts against tanning say: it’s your body producing pigment to protect your DNA, and the damage from tanning is permanent.

Therefore, before venturing out in the sun, apply sunscreen with SPF 30, or an even sheen of spray, at least 15 minutes before exposing to sun – that will allow time to soak it in. Reapply every two hours if you’ll be outside more.  Please remember that  90 per cent of skin aging is caused by the sun.

The two products launched by HERBALLY RADIANT especially to protect skin from sunburns are: Body Day Cream, and Sunstick – SPF 30.  These contain the essential sun protection ingredients in combination with such rich nutrients for skin as cocos nuficera oil, white beeswax, cetyl alcohol, theobroma cacao, jojoba oil, dimenthicone, tocopherol (vitamin E), rosemary leaf extract.



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Monday, May 19, 2014

MIND-BODY MEDICINE FOR HEALTH

NY Times has carried interesting letters from Dr. James Gordon, Jennifer Roman, Sari Broner, Ed Erwin and others, all highlighting the need to educate people on self-care or self-treatments for many ailments. This is particularly relevant in the light of ever rising health care costs. The surgical and pharmacological interventions are expensive, inappropriate, burdened by side effects and, often, ineffective.  We may support these holistic views coming from psychiatrist, dermatologist, philosopher, or those connected with health care programs.  

People can look for inexpensive self-care strategies - often termed as "alternative therapies" - to deal with many biological and psychological imbalances that can gradually lead to chronic conditions. Right nutrition, exercise and "mind-body" techniques like meditation, guided mental imagery and biofeedback are some of the choices inexpensively available to every one. 

Research studies are now available to highlight that mind-body techniques reduce stress and improve immunity and create cheerfulness. They decrease blood pressure in hypertensives, blood sugar in diabetics and pain. Dietary modification can play a major role in preventing breast, prostate and colon cancer, as well as in diabetes and heart disease. And exercise, which can help prevent all of these, can also alleviate depression. Jennifer, who suffers from chronic back pain, is trying to heal herself holistically through diet, movement and stress management.

Alternative therapies shouldn’t be alternative anymore, but should be thought of as mainstream by now. Taking personal responsibility for one’s health through self-care techniques would be a paradigm shift for most people, but could have a great positive effect on their lives and eventually our national medical economy.

Admittedly, it’s a lot harder to work on yourself than to outsource the work to a doctor, and of course many conditions require intense medical intervention. But for the conditions that Dr. Gordon mentions, there are simple ways that we can help ourselves, such as calming ourselves down during a panic attack, lifting ourselves out of depression without drugs in many (though of course not all) cases, or lowering blood pressure naturally.

Elizabeth Rosenthal, physician for 47 years, has seen these methods (alternative therapies) working effectively. Unfortunately, there is no financial remuneration for spending time with patients to advise their use. And  patients are convinced that newer medications, technologies and procedures are best.
We badly need to change in the direction suggested by Dr. Gordon, which would improve outcomes and lower costs. 

As further studies are undertaken to support these approaches, one would be able to tap into body's own capacity for healing. There has been scientific evidence to support many of the outcomes of alternative therapies - often it is a myth perpetuated by the mainstream media that interventions such as diet, exercise and mind-body techniques have not been scientifically validated. As Dr. Gordon writes, what was considered unexamined and "alternative" is now well researched. 

Dr. James Gordon realizes that there are formidable obstacles in promoting wider application of alternative therapies. Powerful financial incentives urge the ordering of superfluous diagnostic tests, hasten the performance of surgeries that may be unnecessary, and push physicians to quickly write prescriptions rather than patiently teach self-care. He rightly feels that its time for all to act on this life-enhancing, money-saving wisdom.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

REJUVENATING AND RADIANT HERBALLY RADIANT PRODUCTS FOR SKIN REPAIR



Skin is the largest organ of the body. It is alive and quite sensitive to anything that it touches or anything that is applied on it. It has a rhythm, an inhalation and an exhalation. It absorbs oxygen, nutrients, senses light, and regulates heat and cold. It releases carbon dioxide, sheds dead skin cells and completely regenerates itself every 3-4 weeks. 

It is made up of literally millions of tiny dermal passages regulating the inward movement of air, fluids, heat and light.  In healthy skin, these passages are unobstructed, and each breath activates the absorption of nutritive substances and stimulates vital functions of a restorative nature. 

The upper layers of the skin rely on, and are, largely supplied by atmospheric oxygen. This molecular oxygen is vital to support the normal structure and activity of cells. This protective organ of our body interacts with other organ systems, such as digestion, and is the on-site manufacturer of roughly fifty per cent of our immune cells. It is unbelievably flexible, and is resilient fabric providing shape to the skeletal and muscular body. It is in a constant state of homeostasis, displaying exceptional healing abilities.

One of the most important functions of skin at night is to repair and renew. During the night metabolism and respiration slow down, and we are in our deepest rest. Along with the lungs and kidneys, the skin is one of three major pathways the body uses to release metabolic impurities from the digestive process, and it does this through thousands of tiny dermal pores. 

The fundamentals necessary to creating and maintaining healthy skin include a balance of nourishing foods and pure water, time spent in quiet contemplation, and exercise that encourages a healthy sweat and deep breathing.

Most of the chemical or petro-based face creams and similar products spread a coating, or cover the pores of skin, thus interfering with its own natural functions. On the other hand, the fine molecules of natural organic products get absorbed into the skin – two per cent of what we apply on our skin finds its way to our blood stream. Thus the important ingredients in our formulations which are rich nutrients for improving firmness, elasticity and resilience of the skin, making the skin texture soft and smooth, can be applied at night so that they work effectively on the skin, helping it to fight aging signs, virtually rejuvenating it and leaving it with a youthful radiant glow. 

The Signature series of anti-aging products (REJUVENATING and RADIANT) formulated and  marketed by HERBALLY RADIANT have been designed to provide uniquely nourishing natural ingredients to the skin. When applied at night before going to bed, these create wonderful condition for the skin to absorb highly rich nutrients, thereby doing all the skin repairs and creating a radiant glow of it.
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Monday, May 12, 2014

CAUSES OF CANCER, INCLUDING SKIN CANCER, AND TREATMENT COURSES



 
We in HERBALLY RADIANT remain on the look out for the major risk factors which could lead to emergence of skin cancer.  Apart from genetic factors and sun damage, we have noticed that various toxins used in cosmetics could also pose grave risk for this serous skin disorder.

Cancer is a complex disease and there are continuing experiments and research studies aimed at finding the right cure for it. The scientific understanding of cancer cell biology has continued to improve as better ways of targeting cancer cells are found through genetic information, the individual expressions of cancer cells and the micro-environment around the cancer cells themselves. 

Researchers have discovered numerous bio-markers and molecular changes that occur within a person's cancer genetics that can be used to better target treatment. In addition, studies have shown that two people with the same tissue type of cancer and staging may respond to treatment differently based on their own individual parameters. This is one major reason that people respond differently to the same treatment and even have different side effects to the same treatments. 

Improvement in cancer survival has come mainly from early detection and surgical removal in early stages of certain cancers (breast, prostate and colon), however whenever spread is involved with advanced metastatic cancer, the old or rather current chemotherapy practices are not much more effective at aiming for long-term remissions, dare we say cure.

Cancer cells are constantly mutating and becoming more resistant to treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. Studies suggest that every tumor and possibly even different cancer cells within the same patient can be genetically different, expressing different bio-markers and responding to treatments differently.

Most people have a general understanding of chemotherapy. Cancer occurs when your body's cells begin uncontrolled, unchecked growth that is malignant; it is caused by a mix of environmental toxins, infectious agents leading to chronic inflammation and genetic mutations. In fact, these mutations can continue throughout the evolution of the cancer. Chemotherapy is a treatment for cancer using cytotoxic chemicals (poisonous to living cells) and other drugs.

Typically, the problems with high-dose and protocol-driven chemotherapy treatments are the many adverse side effects, which depends on the type of medication used. These side effects become worse when combination of drugs are given to help reduce resistance from cancer cells, but it can often times increase toxicity in the patient. This explains why some chemo drugs work for some, but don't work for others.

Most cancer clinics have a "one-size fits all" approach, but because each tumor is unique (based on specific genetics in the cancer itself, markers on the surface of cancer cells and epigenetic environment around the cancer cells toxins, infections, deficiencies and inflammation factors that cause cancers to spread and mutate) this approach fails to answer the bigger question.
Majority of physicians and treatment centers now tend to toss out chemotherapy as the one and only form of treatment coupled with radiation. Other therapies being resorted to are :
  • Immunotherapy – State of the art forms of immunotherapy to rebuild a patient's immune system. After all, the immune system is the first and last defense against any disease. By strengthening these defense systems, it makes it easier for treatments such as chemotherapy to be effective
  • Nutrition therapy – Modern food is pumped full of preservatives, toxins, GMOs and other horrible things that can severely impact one's health and in some cases, may even lead to cancer. An important alternative is organic and healthy foods that are immune-supportive.
  • Chronic inflammation therapy – Chronic inflammation has been well-recognized as a cause of cancers for a long time. However, agents that cause chronic inflammation not only cause cancers, but also impact its growth, signaling and spread.
  • Oxidative Medicine – Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg famously hypothesized "…the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar," meaning, cancer is caused by a lack of oxygen. Today's modern cancer cell biology has shown he was on the right track as mitochondrial health and shifting to a more oxygen-rich environment may protect healthy cells and further neuter cancer cells.
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