The DASH Diet

10 24 12 JB PictureMillions of Americans take prescription medications for hypertension. Find out the right diet can be just as effective a tool for maintaining a healthy blood pressure:

http://www.miamiintegrativemedicine.com/blog/dash-to-lower-blood-pressure/

Posted by: Axiom Health Care Marketing

Exploring Aromatherapy

The practice of integrated medicine involves the use of a wide variety of approaches and treatments to help tap into the body’s own healing power to cure disease and promote optimum wellness. In recent years, one therapeutic approach that has been gaining popularity is the practice of aromatherapy, a form of alternative medicine that employs aromatic oils derived from plants to heal, improve mood and cognitive functioning, and promote relaxation. The oils may be diffused into the air, breathed directly by the patient, or applied topically as part of a massage or bath, for example.

 

aroma2Tapping Nature’s Essence

The oils used in aromatherapy, called essential oils, are extracted directly from plants either by steaming or pressing. Steam distillation, or steaming, is the most commonly used method for extracting essential oils. It involves steaming fresh plants until they decompose, producing oils that are then separated, cooled, and filtered to remove water and other impurities. Pressing, also called expression, involves crushing the plant and squeezing out the oils, in much the same way olive oil is produced. Dozens of different plant oils are used in aromatherapy. Some of the more well-known include chamomile, eucalyptus, tea tree, and lavender.

 

Aromatherapy Through the Ages

Physicians have known about the existence of essential oils for millennia. The first century AD Roman physician Padanium Dioscorides described a number of essential oils and contemporary beliefs about their therapeutic properties is his work De Materia Medica. Dioscorides’ work became the foundation of European knowledge about plant-based medicine until the advent of more scientific investigations in the 1800s. Another early precursor of aromatherapy was the great Arabic scientist and philosopher Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna. In the early 11th century, Avicenna used the newly-invented process of distillation to produce essential oils for the first time. Until that time, all essential oils were produced by expressing.

 

Although aromatherapy had been practiced popularly for centuries, the scientific medical community was slow to recognize it as a legitimate treatment. The first appearance of the word “aromatherapy” in print did not occur until the 1937 publication of the book Aromathérapie: Les Huiles Essentielles, Hormones Végétales. The author, a French chemist by the name of René-Maurice Gattefossé, claimed to have successfully treated his badly burnt hand using lavender oil. Just a few years later another Frenchman, surgeon Jean Valnet, used essential oils as antiseptics to treat wounded Allied soldiers in World War II.

aroma3

Benefits of Aromatherapy

Different essential oils are credited with different benefits and healing properties. Stress and anxiety reduction are two of the most popular applications of aromatherapy. Chamomile, jasmine, lavender, lemon and peppermint oils are commonly used for this purpose in aromatherapy. Controlled research supports the stress reducing and mood enhancing properties of lemon oil. Lavender oil is also used to treat wounds, particularly burns, and as an antiseptic ointment. Tea tree oil and thyme oil are two other popular antiseptics.

 

The exact mechanisms by which aromatherapy operates are not known, but it is thought that the aromas of the essential oils exert an influence on the limbic system, that portion of the brain that regulates emotions. Essential oils are also believed to have a direct pharmacological action on the body. Valnet’s successful application of essential oils as an antiseptic have been supported by more recent studies that confirm the oils’ anti-microbial properties. In addition, preliminary clinical studies of aromatherapy combined with other approaches have shown positive effects in reducing anxiety and improving mood.

Aromatherapy

Safety

There are several safety concerns associated with the use of essential oils. Essential oils are highly concentrated, so if not diluted they can cause skin irritation. For this reason, topically-applied oils are diluted in a “carrier” oil such as olive, coconut, or jojoba oil to protect the skin. One must also be careful not to ingest essential oils. Many are toxic, even at quite low doses. Swallowing even a small amount of eucalyptus oil, for example, can be fatal. Other essential oils that should not be taken internally include cedar, hyssop, and sage. In addition, some oils can have adverse reactions with prescription medicines. Be sure to consult with your physician before using any essential oil if you are also taking prescription or over-counter medications or if you are pregnant.

 

If you are in the Miami area and would like to get more information about aromatherapy or other aspects of integrative medicine, contact Dr. Jorge Bordenave at (305) 446-2444. Let Dr. Bordenave show you how a holistic approach to health that deals with the mind, body, and spirit, can help you achieve total wellness. Call us today to get on the path to optimum health!

 

Posted by: Axiom Healthcare Marketing

 

Slow and Steady for Health

If you are looking for the benefits of an 2005-04-18-leafy-sea-dragon-tai-chi-2exercise program that doesn’t involve running, weightlifting, or intense aerobics, look into tai-chi. The slow and controlled movements of this Chinese martial art have been shown to amazing health benefits and can burn as many calories as skiing. This article can help you learn more about this ancient form of exercise and discipline:

http://www.miamiintegrativemedicine.com/blog/achieving-supreme-ultimate-health/

Posted by: Axiom Healthcare Marketing

Achieving Supreme, Ultimate Health

You likely have seen photos or video from China showing large groups in people exercising in public places. The exercise consists of very slow, controlled movements, almost resembling a ballet or dance choreographed in slow motion. You might be surprised to find that this exercise – practiced widely by all ages, even the quite elderly – is an ancient martial art.  Known as t’ai chi ch’uan, but usually referred to in English simply as tai chi, it has become one of the most popular forms of exercise among the Chinese. In recent years, its popularity has spread worldwide and tai chi is now practiced around the world.taichi

What is Tai Chi?

“T’ai chi ch’uan” can be expressed several ways in English, including “supreme ultimate fist” “supreme ultimate boxing” or “great extremes boxing”.  Not only a fighting technique, tai chi also is practiced as a demonstration art form, for health reasons, and to increase longevity. There are several forms of tai chi training, depending upon the goal of the practitioner. Traditional tai chi training involves five elements:

  • Taolu – Solo exercises using hands, feet, and weapons
  • Shanshou – Self-defense routines
  • Tuishou – Responses and reactions to opponents’ movements
  • Neigong – Breathing and meditation
  • Qigong – Awareness and control of breathing and movement

The slow, controlled public exercises one sees in China are an example of qigong. Not all tai chi exercise is slow, however. The most widely practiced styles of tai chi all feature a faster set of exercises and movements in addition to their slowly paced movement routines.

Origins and HistoryYingYang_7

The origins of tai chi are a subject of dispute, finding popular mythology at odds with the historical record. Tradition holds that the art was invented by an alchemist named Zhang San Feng sometime between 900 and 1300 A.D. However, this name does not appear in any written Chinese records until the late 1600s A.D. The earliest written source that claims Zhang San Feng originated tai chi is dated anther 200 years later. A later edition of this same source, however, asserts that the identity of the originator of tai chi is unknown. In fact, before the mid-1800s, the art form did not even have a name and was practiced by a relative handful of individuals.

Tai chi remained a rather obscure martial art until several Chinese martial arts masters began to tout its health benefits in the early 1900s. They and their students helped spread the art to a much wider circle of participants throughout China. During the 1920s the Chinese military adopted tai chi as part of its standard fitness training, although this involved the faster moving martial form of the art. Tai chi later spread into Chinese civilian life with the development of slow-movement forms of the art. Greater Chinese openness to the West beginning in the 1990s and early 2000s exposed a much wider audience to tai chi, and the practice is now more popular than ever.

Health Benefits of Tai Chi

Traditional Chinese medical practitioners have long claimed that tai chi is effective in promoting health and combating a number of chronic conditions. Modern western experimental studies have confirmed many of these claims. Not surprisingly, research has shown that tai chi helps promote greater balance and flexibility and reduce the risk of falls in elderly individuals. However, many people are startled to learn that tai chi burns more calories than surfing and almost as much as downhill skiing. A program of tai chi paired with yoga has even been shown to reduce levels of LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. Other studies have shown the potential for tai chi to boost immune function in response to certain viruses.

A number of studies also have linked tai chi to pain relief. A 2008 study from Tufts University found that tai chi provided better pain relief than regular stretching exercises for elderly patients with severe osteoarthritis of the knee. A study published in the 2010 New England Journal of Medicine found that tai chi provided similar pain reliving benefits for a group of patients suffering from fibromyalgia.

Slow-Motion Stress Controlbloodpressuretest

Proponents of tai chi cite stress-reduction as a principal benefit of the art, and recent medical studies support their beliefs. A 2010 U.S. government review of seven large-scale studies of tai chi concluded that it “significantly increased psychological well-being including reduction of stress, anxiety, and depression, and enhanced mood in community-dwelling healthy participants and in patients with chronic conditions.” Other studies have suggested that tai chi may help regulate production of hormones that affect mood and heart rate.

One of the most appealing aspects of tai chi is that any reasonably healthy individual can participate and share in its benefits. The extremely low impact nature of tai chi, along with its slow and controlled movements, allows people of any age and many different physical conditions to take part. As the studies cited early demonstrate, you don’t need to become a triathlete, marathoner, or “extreme” athlete to lose weight, get fit, and improve your physical and mental well-being. Practicing tai chi can help you achieve all of these goals in a way that fits your life situation.

2005-04-18-leafy-sea-dragon-tai-chi-2Find Out More About Tai Chi

If you are interested in learning more about tai chi or taking it up actively, it’s best to start by talking with someone experienced in the art form. In South Florida, Dr. Jorge Bordenave includes tai chi as part of a multifaceted, integrated approach to health care and maintenance that deals with the health of the body, mind, and spirit. Contact Dr. Bordenave today to find out how this ancient fighting form can help YOU return to fighting form as well.

Posted by Axiom Health Care Marketing