MEDICAL NEWS

"True karate is this: that in daily life one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice."--Gichin Funakoshi Karate can also be described as a martial art, or fighting method, involving a variety of techniques, including blocks, strikes, evasions, throws, and joint manipulations. Karate practice is divided into three aspects: kihon (basics), kata (forms), and kumite (sparring). The word karate is a combination of two Japanese characters: kara, meaning empty, and te, meaning hand; thus, karate means "empty hand." Adding the suffix "-do" (pronounced...

PROTEOGLYCAN /pro·teo·gly·can/ (pro″te-o-gli´kandorland()) any of a group of polysaccharide-protein conjugates present in connective tissue and cartilage, consisting of a polypeptide backbone to which many glycosaminoglycan chains are covalently linked; they form the ground substance in the extracellular matrix of connective tissue and also have lubricant and support functions.(Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers। © 2007 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc। All rights reserved.)Proteoglycans are glycoproteins that are heavily glycosylated. They have a core protein with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan...

Researchers from the University of Leeds, UK, the Charite University Medical School and the Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin, Germany, have discovered a new driving force behind cancer growth.Their studies have identified how 'junk' DNA promotes the growth of cancer cells in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Professor Constanze Bonifer (University of Leeds) and Dr Stephan Mathas (Charite, MDC) who co-led the study suspect that these pieces of 'junk' DNA, called 'long terminal repeats', can play a role in other forms of cancer as well. The work is published in Nature Medicine.*The researchers uncovered the process by which this 'junk DNA' is made active, promoting...

Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a term used to describe a yellowish tinge to the skin and sclerae (the white part of the eye) that is caused by hyperbilirubinemia (an excess of bilirubin in the blood). Body fluids may also be yellow. The color of the skin and sclerae varies depending on levels of bilirubin; mildly elevated levels display yellow skin and sclerae, while highly elevated levels display brown.Bilirubin (bil-ih-ROO-bin) is a yellow colored substance that is responsible for the yellowing of the skin and sclerae. Bilirubin is a waste product that remains in the bloodstream after the iron is removed from the hemoglobin, which is released from the degradation of erythrocytes...

Herbal medicine -- also called botanical medicine or phytomedicine -- refers to using a plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. Herbalism has a long tradition of use outside of conventional medicine. It is becoming more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with advances in clinical research show the value of herbal medicine in the treating and preventing disease.What is the history of herbal medicine?Plants had been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. Ancient Chinese and Egyptian papyrus writings describe medicinal uses for plants. Indigenous cultures (such as African and Native American) used herbs in...

Swimming is good exercise (that's obvious). Swimming is a lifetime sport that benefits the body and the whole person! But what is it that makes swimming good, specifically? That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.Swimming is a healthy activity that can be continued for a lifetime - and the health benefits swimming offers for a lifetime are worth the effort it takes to get to the pool.Why do you swim? For the health benefits to your heart and lungs? For the chance to be with some of your friends at the pool? Because, in your case, running everyday hurts? Because you like the feeling of floating and sliding through the water? Or is it...

An obese person has accumulated so much body fat that it might have a negative effect on their health. If a person's bodyweight is at least 20% higher than it should be, he or she is considered obese. If your Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 25 and 29.9 you are considered overweight. If your BMI is 30 or over you are considered obese.People become obese for several reasons, including: 1. Consuming too many calories. People are eating much more than they used to. This used to be the case just in developed nations - however, the trend has spread worldwide. Despite billions of dollars being spent on public awareness campaigns that attempt to encourage people to eat healthily, the majority...

For the nation's 25 million Type 2 diabetics, and an estimated 57 million pre-diabetics, achieving healthy blood sugar levels and maintaining them is a daily battle. Today, NaturEra, one of the nation's dietary supplements leaders, is announcing for the first time in the U.S. the availability of its Sugar Crush and Sugar Crush Daily products specially formulated and clinically proven to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels overall*. NaturEra's Sugar Crush products have been designed to be a preventative measure for at-risk patients and are backed by clinical research conducted in Israel, that has been accepted for review by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Association...