OVERVIEW Osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are inflammatory conditions affecting the joints and surrounding tissue, causing swelling, stiffness, and pain. However, the two conditions have very different causes. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative, sometimes debilitating condition, where joints gradually lose their cartilage (the gel-like substance which protects adjacent bones from rubbing together). It
OVERVIEW Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs, mainly caused by a virus or bacteria, which can occur on its own or following a bout of flu. Pneumonia causes inflammation in the lung’s air sacs, also known as alveoli, which fill with fluid, causing shortness of breath, chest pain and high fever. Symptoms
OVERVIEW Depression can be a devastating mental health condition, impacting one’s life on physical as well as a mental and emotional levels. Depression not only affects a person’s inner landscape, it can impair the ability to function in daily life. Depression can take many different forms, ranging from an unshakeable long-term ‘low mood’
OVERVIEW There are many types of heart disease, with a condition called atherosclerosis being the most common cause. This is typified by a build-up of plaque in the arteries which thickens and stiffens the artery walls making it difficult for blood to flow freely to the vital organs and tissues. Atherosclerosis can be
OVERVIEW Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes (airways) that causes swelling and narrowing (constriction) of the airways. It can arise at any age, but approximately 50% of asthmatics will start to develop symptoms before the age of 10. Asthma is often more common in boys as opposed to girls as
OVERVIEW Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), has many manifestations such as muscle and joint pain, anxiety and depression. However, the main characteristic is that of extreme and debilitating fatigue that is not relieved by rest; to the extent of seriously affecting an individual's ability to work and go
OVERVIEW Over the past twenty years, fertility problems have increased dramatically. One in six couples now find it difficult to conceive and a quarter of all pregnancies can end in a miscarriage and more and more couples are turning to fertility treatments to help them have a family. From a medical point of
OVERVIEW “Many women develop growths, known as ‘cysts’, in or on their ovaries. These cysts are fluid- (water) filled sacs (rather like a blister). In some women cysts are completely harmless, requiring little or no treatment. These cysts are ‘benign’, or noncancerous. Other cysts, however, can be cancerous, which is why a diagnosis
OVERVIEW According to Ayurvedic Medicine, flexibility and suppleness of the body help our vital force, prana, to circulate more freely through our energetic pathways; the nadi channels or meridian system in traditional Chinese medicine. When the body is limber, your joints are lubricated and you can achieve an extended range of motion. This
OVERVIEW Shingles, known medically as the Herpes Zoster, is a form of the same Herpes Zoster virus that causes chickenpox. The first time a person is exposed to the virus, it causes the typical widespread, itchy sores of chickenpox, but the virus never actually goes away. Instead, it lies dormant in the nerve
