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Cold sores certainly affect your personal and social life. They always appear seemingly at the worst possible times.

Painful and ugly, cold sores normally break out on the edge of the lip or nose. Cold sores will occur and reoccur at the site of initial infection.

HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS FAMILY

The virus responsible for all cold sores, fever blisters and oral herpes is the herpes simplex virus - type 1 and type 2. Although type 1 is more common for facial sores, either type will create identical sores.

When you are infected, the virus will claim a nerve fiber nearby and make it a lifetime residence. All cold sores caused by this herpes virus family will appear on the surface end of that nerve fiber.

The herpes virus lives and operates inside the actual nerve cell. Usually it is dormant and hiding in the nerve roots.

Because it has your nervous system bugged, it can tell immediately when the conditions are favorable for becoming active and replicating.

HOW A COLD SORE IS CREATED.

When this parasite virus senses the opportunity, it will rush to the surface and enter the nerve cells there. The herpes virus cannot reproduce its own kind so it forces the cells to create copies of itself.

The cells continue to build new virus until they are full - using arginine (an amino acid). The virus then bursts the cell open to release hoards of new virus copies. It is this destruction of a large number of cells that creates the open cold sore blister.

Cold sores, fever blisters and oral herpes are very painful because they form on the end of nerve fibers. It is similar to the pain from a tooth nerve.

DANGEROUS AND CONTAGIOUS COLD SORES.

This is a very contagious virus. You must be very cautious during the entire cold sore process - from the first itching to final healing.

If you spread the herpes virus to your eyes, it can be quite dangerous. There are many cases of this and it often causes permanent damage to the cornea.

You can get cold sores anywhere on your body where the virus can get through the skin - fingers, cheek, neck - anywhere the virus can get into the mucus membrane below the skin. Victims report fingertip cold sores are MUCH more painful than the lip ones.

Kissing is the most common way of spreading this virus. This is why the lip is the most common place to see them. By the time most people are 12, they are infected. You can thank kissing relatives and friends.

Contaminated fingers are the second most common way of spreading the virus. This is how you normally infect your eyes and other parts of the face or body.

HOW STRESS CAUSES COLD SORES.

Stress causes your body to burn a lot of vitamins as it gears up for battle. This weakens your immune system and gives the herpes virus a chance to replicate.

More importantly, stress lowers your body pH into an acid state. This lowers your oxygen levels and opens the door to cold sores and many other diseases.

Besides stress, a diet high in acid food and drink (soda and coffee) can cause your body to become acid. Vegetables rich in calcium (cabbage, asparagus) can prevent this from happening.

HOW TO GET RID OF COLD SORES

Apply ice or any cold object at the first inkling of a coming cold sore. Once the sore breaks open stop the cold and start applying heat using a warmed up tea bag.

There are many ways to speed the healing process. Putting garlic or oregano oil on the cold sore will chase the virus back into hibernation and will help keep the scab from cracking.

Keep in mind that cold sores are best treated by natural remedies. But also keep in mind that each one works differently for different people.

Continue searching and trying different cold sore treatment methods. You can greatly reduce or eliminate oral herpes cold sore events once you find the program that works best for you.

Resources: Want more cold sore home remedies? Go to Denny Bodoh’s popular ANSWER site loaded with FREE information about Cold Sores and some great Cold Sore Treatment tips you can use immediately.

Estimates show that almost 75% of adults over the age of 40 suffer from gum disease. There is a huge lack of knowledge when it comes to this condition, how it develops, the different forms of treatment, and the repercussions of not seeking treatment. Many people are not usually even aware they have gum disease. When neglected, gum disease can negatively affect a person’s health and can cause the loss of teeth.

This article explores this condition, including some common myths about it. It covers the difference between periodontitis and gingivitis, the symptoms to be on the lookout for, the best way to avoid gum disease, and how a periodontist can help.

The Truth About Gum Disease

Strangely, a number of myths about periodontal disease have appeared recently. Many people believe it only develops because of not brushing when in fact 25% of the population has a genetic predisposition for the condition. Many others believe it is only a minor problem that will eventually disappear on its own. Actually, it won’t just disappear. Gum disease is an infection and just like other infections, it can spread if it isn’t treated. This can have a serious impact on your health, your appearance, and can lead to your teeth falling out. Lastly, some people believe the treatment for gum disease is painful. With IV sedation from a periodontist, this just isn’t true.

Gingivitis And Periodontitis

While both are gum disease, gingivitis is the initial manifestation of the disease. Most people with gingivitis don’t feel any discomfort so they usually don’t know they have a problem until diagnosed. Gingivitis can often be treated at home with several methods from a periodontist.

Periodontitis is advanced gingivitis and it can be serious when left untreated. The plaque on teeth starts to affect the gum line and the bacteria of the mouth begin to produce toxins that break down the structure and support system of your teeth. At this stage, treatment from a periodontist is crucial.

The Warning Signs

Look for swelling or bleeding after brushing your teeth and notice whether your gums seem to be receding, making your teeth look longer. Another sign of early periodontitis is teeth feeling loose and the gums feeling squishy. If you notice any of these symptoms, make an appointment with your dentist or periodontist immediately to discuss treatment options.

Prevent With Good Oral Habits

The prevention of gingivitis and periodontitis come largely down to good brushing and flossing daily. This stops the spread of plaque and prevents bacteria from producing harmful toxins that will deteriorate the tissue and bone that surround your teeth.

You can usually keep plaque and bacteria in check with twice daily brushing and flossing along with visiting your dentist or periodontist twice per year. In addition, use mouthwash daily to kill bacteria and stop plaque from spreading.

The Job Of A Periodontist

A periodontist serves several roles in your dental care, including providing advice and guidance that can help you prevent gum disease, diagnosing this condition, and providing the treatments necessary for eliminating it. These dental professionals often also offer smile makeovers, laser dentistry, dental implants, and other dental procedures.

If you have the symptoms of gum disease, make an appointment with your periodontist right away for painless treatment to resolve a potentially serious problem.

Resources: Christine O’Kelly is an author for Smile In The City, a New York periodontist group that specializes in laser dentistry. New York is home to millions of people who need dental implants, teeth straightening, and other procedures and this dental group can help.

My husband suffered strokes in August 2006 that resulted in total loss of short-term memory, slurred speech, and difficulty walking. The doctors said he may never recover, and if he did it would take at least two years. Now, after only two months of hyperbaric therapy his memory is back, and his speech and walking are normal. His energy has improved.

Conditions that harm the brain have a wide reach. Whether from a stroke (vascular accident) or a traumatic brain injury, the results impair the whole family. The loss, or potential loss, of hopes, dreams, and expected joys and accomplishments is a loss suffered by all of those who care.

Brain damage has a wide reach; it damages the whole family.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is not a cure but it can often help.

Following is a MUST SEE video from the Montel Williams Show.

Even though science now knows better, the “old-school” idea still often remains: that once an area of the brain has been damaged by a stroke, TBI (traumatic brain injury), or near drowning, that nothing or very little can be done to restore the function of that area.

Recent scientific research has demonstrated that while the core-area of the damaged brain tissue may be irreversibly damaged, there is an area surrounding this tissue that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can restore and these neurons (brain/nerve cells) can re-establish their function.

The majority of tia, stroke and brain injuries are caused by blood vessel obstructions, such as a blood clot, that cuts off blood flow and oxygen to parts of the brain. This results in the death of nerve cells within a very short time. These dying brain cells begin to swell due to their cell walls breaking down, allowing fluid to move into the cells. As these cells swell, they begin to expand into the surrounding tissues.

This causes constriction of the blood vessels in the surrounding tissues, which then causes a lack of oxygen to these previously normal cells. These surrounding cells then begin to swell as well. This gradually increasing, damaged, hypoxic tissue surrounding the original injury is called the “ischemic penumbra,” and contributes up to 85% of the disability resulting from a stroke. The cells in this secondary area have the potential of being restored to near-normal, and sometimes normal function.

The neuroscientist Dr. Cyril B. Courville wrote, “crippled nerve cells may persist in the margins of wounds of the brain for many years.” Astrup, Siesjo and Symon suggested that within these damaged margins, idling neurons are present. They are metabolically lethargic and are non-functional, because of low oxygen levels and secondary damage. But they remain viable and are subject to being revived with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Proof of this dormant life of the brain’s cells has been demonstrated with the use of SPECT brain scans done before and after a series of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. In the journal Stroke, Dr. Richard Neubauer, a pioneer in the use of this therapy for treating various neurological diseases, reported outstanding results in a group of 122 stoke patients treated with HBOT. In one case, significant functional improvement was noted when Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was used 14 years after the initial stroke.

These studies by Dr. Richard Neubauer conclusively demonstrate the development of new blood vessels to the rim of tissue surrounding the area of the brain that had been damaged.

These newly formed blood vessels resulting from the hyperbaric oxygen therapy can then bring fresh blood (oxygen) and nutrients to the damaged tissue. The tissue begins to repair itself and returns to normal or near-normal. These “resuscitated” neurons gradually reconnect to the rest of the brain. These revived neurons and their connections help to return the use of lost cerebral and bodily functions.

Hyperbaric therapy does not resurrect dead brain tissue, but it can facilitate the functioning of those dormant, idling nerve cells that have suffered secondary damage by stroke due to diminished oxygen. Oftentimes, the brain area suffering secondary damage is a larger part of the brain than that which suffered the primary damage. This area of secondary damage to the brain (the ischemic penumbra) is the area that HBOT helps.

Improvements have been achieved, gains have been made, even with patients who are more than a decade post-stroke.

Note: TIA: Transient Ischemic Attack, is a “mini stroke”, or “warning stroke” that often produces mild stroke-like symptoms but usually no lasting damage. A TIA is often a forecast of a full-fledged stroke on the horizon, which makes this a good indicator for beginning this therapy.

Day after day, patients are overcoming the bleak forecasts about recovery from their stroke or traumatic brain injury, using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Resources: Educational Cell Phone Digital Book by Paul Fitzgerald, EMF expert, graduated from NJIT in Newark, NJ. He has been studying EMF’s for over 15 years.. He has done over 100 radio shows in 2006 and released his book CellPhone Lies To learn more go to EMF Radiation News.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy clearly stated as a treatment mode in which the patient is completely enclosed in a pressure chamber breathing oxygen at a pressure greater than one atmosphere. Breathing 100% oxygen at one tmosphere or applying oxygen outside a pressurized chamber are not considered hyperbaric oxygen.

Hyperbaric oxygen chamber is a process in which only one patient is placed and pressurized oxygen is applied into the chamber. Access to the patient is made from he outside via ports and pass-through.

In a hypoxic environment, wound healing is halted by decreased fibroblast proliferation collagen production, and capillary angiogenesis. Hypoxia also allows growth of anaerobic organisms, further complicating wound healing.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps to increase in tissue oxygenation in the hypoperfused, infected wound. It influences the rate of collagen deposition, angiogenesis, and bacterial clearance in wounds. The greatest benefits are achieved in tissues with compromised blood flow and oxygen supply.

Following wounds can be healed by H.B.O therapy-

1.Diabetic wounds–
The increased wound oxygen tension achieved with HBO promotes wound healing, increases the host antimicrobial defenses and has a direct bacteriostatic effect on anaerobic microorganism.

2.Venous stasis ulcers–
It is only indicated in highly selected patients in the preparation of a granulating bed over debrided venous ulcer for eventual skin grafting.

3. Pressure ulcers–
HBO therapy may be of benefit in selected cases, especially when a wound fails to heal despite maximum revascularization.

4. Arterial insufficiency ulcers–
HBO therapy may be of benefit in selected cases, especially when a wound fails to heal despite maximum revascularization.

Treatments—-
HBO treatments are performed at 2.0 to 25 ATA for 90 to 120 minutes of oxygen breathing. The initial treatment schedule is dictated by the severity of the disease process. In the presence of limb-threatening infection after debridement or compromised surgical flaps following amputation the patient should be treated twice daily. When the infection is under control and the soft tissue envelope improves, once daily treatments are adequate.

Resources: Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber Therapy helps Autism, Cerebral Palsy, MS, Parkinsons, Athletic Performing, healing of wounds, used as immune defense and much more. Visit our site at Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber Articlesto learn more about our lowest market priced single and double chambers.

Does it come as a surprise to you that the cosmetics that you use may be hazardous to your health? Believe it or not, not all cosmetics are safe. Safe cosmetics are, in fact, hard to find.

How can this be? Why in the world would the cosmetics that you use be dangerous? Surely the FDA regulates anything we use in or on our bodies to make sure that they are safe for us to use?

Sadly, no. Yes drugs are regulated and the drug companies need to conform to certain safety standards, but those standards don’t apply to either companies making cosmetics, or companies making skin care products or personal care products and health and beauty products.

Basically these companies can use any ingredient in their cosmetics, regardless of whether they’ve been shown to be safe for human use. And big multi nationals being what they are, if there is an ingredient that they can use in their products that is cheaper than a safe alternative they’ll use it.

Regardless of whether it results in some risks to users.

Here’s an example. A recent study found lead in over 50% of big brand lipsticks tested. Lead? Are you kidding? In our lipsticks? Sadly again it’s true. Some of the biggest names in lipsticks contain lead.

This prompted the California legislature to legislate against lead in lipsticks.

Regulation on safe cosmetics ingredients is sadly lacking in the US. Standards are much much stricter in Europe. So the cosmetics that you and maybe your daughters use can contain dangerous ingredients.

I have personal experience of this. My then 7 year old daughter was due for her first ballet concert and they used all the normal cosmetics on her and within half an hour she had a terrible rash all over her face. We removed the cosmetics, the rash disappeared and hasn’t reappeared.

We now use safe cosmetics for her ballet concerts.

The problem is so bad that there are now whole organizations set up to promote safe cosmetics and alert the public to the danger of the big brand cosmetics. And do the cosmetics companies change their behavior? Do they use safe ingredients in their cosmetics? Still no. They don’t.

One such organization is called the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. They attempt to expose as many of the risks of dangerous cosmetics as possible, to try and force our government to regulate the industry and the companies to produce safe cosmetics. And they run a Compact for Safe Cosmetics. Cosmetic companies that are prepared to dedicate themselves to produce only safe cosmetics can sign the compact to evidence their commitment to safe cosmetics.

And there is an organization called Teens Turning Green which helps direct teenagers towards safer cosmetics and other products, amongst their goals.

So how do you find out if the cosmetics you are using now are safe cosmetics or dangerous cosmetics. There is a way. There is a database called the cosmetic safety database, and you can use their database to search either the product that you’re worried about, or the name of the company that makes them.

I just searched the Avon Ultra Moisture Rich Lipstick by way of example. On a scale of hazard from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest hazard, it rates a 9. High hazard. I’m told the ingredients in this lipstick are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity and a whole host of other hazards including neurotoxicity and more.

Scary isn’t it. However there are cosmetics companies dedicated to making safe cosmetics and personal care products. Dedicated to using such ingredients as certified organic ingredients and natural ingredients that are proven to be safe before they are used. That set their highest goal as producing high quality safe cosmetics and personal care and beauty products, rather than just focussing on profits.

There’s not many, but there is some. And if you’re worried about the safety of the cosmetics that you, or maybe your daughters uses, you need to find them. Now.

Resources: Want to know where to find the Best Safe Cosmetics? Visit Peter’s Website Natural Health-Natural Skin Care and find out more about Safe Skin Care Products as well.

To quit smoking will take hard work and determination. But, it doesn’t have to be extremely difficult. If you are aware of the steps to take in order to quit smoking for good, your chances of success are exponentially higher.

If you are fully aware, ahead of time, that problems may arise that you will have to deal with, your chance of overcoming them are better and your ability to quit is possible.

The first step is to make a plan. It is also wise to come up with a Plan B just in case. If you can create a plan of attack prior to actually putting out that last cigarette, the better off you will be. You need to decide what method you will use to quit, what day you are going to quit, what goals you want to meet, how you will reward yourself for goals met, and what you will do when something doesn’t go according to plan.

The second step is to find support. Going through the process of quitting smoking may be emotionally draining for you if you don’t have the support of friends and family. Friends and family can help you hold yourself accountable. They can cheer you on as you make yourself healthier. However, not all friends and family will be supportive, either because they have never smoked and don’t understand your frustrations, or maybe because they too are smokers but are not ready to quit like you are.

If either of these examples relate to you, you may want to consider joining a community stop smoking group or possibly one of the thousands of online stop smoking support groups. Any Google search will direct you to e-groups and forums of people just like you.
The third step is to use a journal or start a blog about your endeavors to quit smoking.

In the blog or journal write the date you decided to quit smoking, why you came to this decision, a full outline of your plan, and then continue on inserting entries as you carry out the plan. This journal will help you to stay focus and motivated as you quit smoking

Step four is one of the most important ways to ensure success. Rewarding yourself for goals met is one of the best ways to keep you on track and encourage you to succeed. The method of reward you choose will be a personal choice. Not all smokers want the same rewards.

You know that after 4 days of not smoking your body has rid itself of all nicotine, also, after you have quit smoking and washed all your linens and surfaces your house and home will no longer reek of cigarette smoke. But, one of the best rewards is that in 5 to 10 years your health should be like the health of someone who has never smoked a day in their life! But, for short term goals, like your 24 hour goal, your one week with no smoking, and for those goals met rewards should be something you decide on.

Take the money you saved by not smoking and buy something for yourself. Or save the money over a period of time and go on vacation. Your reward is solely up to you, unless you are rewarding yourself with a cigarette or something equally unhealthy. Those rewards, of course, should not be allowed.

Resources: Want to find real user submitted reviews of top stop smoking products? Visit http://www.best-stuff.us/smoking and finally kick the smoking habit for good.