A Clinical Study of Effect of Sesame on Knee OsteoarthritisOsteoarthritis is an inflammatory, degenerative joint disease.  When it affects knees; it restricts movement or even causes immobility.

Drug therapies, surgery or joint replacement are different methods of treatment. But they are expensive and cause complications; especially the painkillers

Thus there is a need for a safer, natural supportive treatment that is cost-effective.

Sesame is a traditional health food because of anti-inflammatory properties. But there were no clinical studies done before to confirm the healing effects of sesame.

Hence we conducted a clinical trial. The venues were  Shohada and Shahid-madani Hospitals in Tabriz, in north-west Iran. 

 Ethics Committee of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran approved the trial.

There were 50 volunteers (40 women and 10 men) aged 50-70 years. They all showed knee osteoarthritis symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Volunteer were random-placed in two groups - Sesame treated and Control group. Each group had 25 volunteers.

Volunteers in the control group consumed two lots of 500mg acetaminophen (painkiller) twice a day. They also took one glucosamine 500 everyday.

The Sesame group volunteers took 40 gm of Sesame powder every day.

The clinical study had three tests.

1.       Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

The test measured pain, symptoms (swelling, immobility), daily activities functions, sports and recreation function. It also gauged the knee-related quality of life. 

2.       Timed Up and Go (TUG) 

 The test measured the time person took to get up from the chair. Walk around for 3 minutes. Come back to seat and sit down.

3.       Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

The test measured the rate and intensity of pain on a scale from 0 to 10.

The result

Volunteers in the Sesame group showed marked decrease in the pain intensity. This was evident from the fact that volunteers took less time was to complete the TUG test. 

VAS values (before and after trial) validated the TUG test. Volunteers in the sesame group showed less pain than control group during the trial.

Conclusion

Consumption of Sesame seed decreases knee joint inflammation and improves mobility.

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3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Roll Out Your Lower Back

Foam rolling relieves muscular tension. The motion stimulates the sensory trigger points in the skin and muscles. The nervous system decreases heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension. At same time it induces more blood flow to area.

But that is fine with the parts of body that have more muscle mass in them; like legs, arms, chest, hips and upper back.

What about the lower back? Does foam rolling help there?

It is not advisable, because of three simple reasons.

1.      Foam rolling fails to address the root cause of the back problem

The root cause of majority of back problems is not of muscular nature. It is more of mechanical deformation. Due to bad sitting posture, a fall, an accident, long standing hours at work or lifting heavy loads. Hence it is better to take help of a professional chiropractor. His or her hands are more trained than a person who rolls the foam roller on your back.

2.      Foam rolling can aggravate lower back pain

If you suffer from spondyarthritis avoid foam rolling. Mechanical pressure will only aggravate the condition.

3.      Foam rolling is not a safe destressing tool for a sensitive area like lower back

Unlike the chest, your lower back is not protected by a rib cage. It has vital organs like kidney and liver. A muscular layer on them may not safely soak the sudden compressive force from the foam roller. It better to rely on smaller customized tool that expert uses to identify and relax the area in your lower back.

Eclipta Alba or Monodixil 2% for Alopecia - A Clinical StudyAlopecia is a medical condition in which the hair falls out in round patches. When the hair loss happens in patches on the scalp, then such condition is Alopecia areata. It is caused by overactive immune system that attacks the hair follicles.

Alopecia totalis causes complete baldness. In Alopecia universalis the person loses all hair on the body.

Consequences of Alopecia

Hair is important part of your personality. Its loss can give you an identity crisis, inferiority complex or loss of confidence. And even cause depression.

Causes

There are many causes of Alopecia.  The major ones are hormone imbalance, emotional stress and malnutrition due to poor lifestyle. Besides this chemotherapy and genetics also are responsible for it.

Medication

Minoxidil 2% foam lotion is FDA approved. It is an over-the-counter drug used for treatment of Alopecia. You have to rub it twice a day on the affected area on your scalp for 16 weeks to get peak growth of hair. You have to keep using the lotion to sustain hair revival. Once you stop applying, the patches reappear.

Minoxidil is a vasodilator. It dilates the blood vessels in the scalp and induces more blood flow. The hair follicles get more nutrition and this may stimulate the growth. This action-mechanism is not yet proved.

Side- effects of Minoxdil

There are some known side effects of Minoxidil topical lotion. Prominent one is scalp irritation or itching. The lotion also stimulates see unwanted hair growth in adjacent skin of face and hand. If, you are a cardiac patient and if you overuse the lotion you may get a rapid heart rate and chest pain. Minoxidil can also give you lightheadness.

 Avoid Minoxidil if you:

are pregnant or breast-feeding 18 years old or under take cardiovascular drugs have sudden hair fall or a receding hair line have alopecia aerate (an autoimmune disorder)

The limitations and side-effects of Minoxidil make it necessary to find a natural treatment. One that is better, safer and more effective.

A clinical trial of Eclipta Alba versus Minoxidil as topical application in Alopecia

Two groups of male albino rats were treated with two different medications.

One of them was Eclipta Alba (L.) Hassk. The other was topical lotion Minoxidil 2%.

Eclipta Alba is a weed of medicinal value. It is also known as false daisy in English and Bhringraj in India.

 Researchers added 5% ethanol extract from the Eclipta Alba to a creamy base. They applied it on the shaved skin of one group of albino rats. The rats in other group, called the control group were applied with Minoxidil 2% foam lotion.

Two time-based values mentioned below were recorded for both the groups

1.      The time in days required for growth initiation

2.       The time required for completion of hair growth cycle.

The findings on the rats in Eclipta Alba group were:

Significant reduction in the hair growth initiation time   Faster completion of hair growth cycle. 

Researchers noted that rats in Eclipta Alba group grew new hair in half the time compared to the control group.

They also noted that greater numbers of hair follicles grew in the rats treated with Eclipta Alba.

In other words Eclipta Alba induced greater hair growth at faster rate than Minoxdil 2%.

Result

 Ecliptic Alba showed better results compared to Minoxdil 2%.

Conclusion

Eclipta Alba offers a better, safer, faster and more effective treatment for Alopecia than Minodixil 2%