25th March 2008
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a subtype of mood disorder consisting of recurrent major depressive episodes of varying severity, which occur with a seasona...
25th March 2008
The SAD season is upon us again - depression (sometimes to the point of mania), lethargy, fatigue, cravings for sweets and carbohydrate in general, headaches, sleep problems and irritability – sounds familiar doesn’t it? As daylight hours gradually de...
25th March 2008
The Dead Sea is the lowest inhabited place on earth (about 400 m below sea level). Lying in the southern part of Israel, and part of the Great Rift Valley which extends from Western Syria to the East African Lakes, it is the most saline lake (with salinit...
25th March 2008
Balneotherapy
Derived from the Latin word balneum meaning bath, balneotherapy (sometimes referred to as water therapy or spa therapy) involves the immersion of patients in thermal or mineral waters for the treatment of various illnesses (psoriasis being ...
25th March 2008
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin produced by the human skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight and can be found in food. It exists in several forms and each form has a different level of activity. The most active form...
25th March 2008
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a combination of physical discomforts and emotional symptoms, which occur in the latter half of the menstrual cycle (late luteal phase), and reduce or diminish during the first few days of menstruation. Symptoms of PMS are s...
25th March 2008
The use of light as a therapeutic agent can be traced back over thousands of years. Indeed, the sun has been an omnipotent, almighty deity throughout the world since the start of human history. From the time of the Pharaohs, most ancient civilisation and ...
25th March 2008
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic illness, which causes immense physical pain and unbearable fatigue. The word ‘fibromyalgia’ actually means “pain in the fibrous tissues in the body” and as such does not involve the joints, as rheumatoid arthritis an...
25th March 2008
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease of the brain that causes dementia, gradually destroying a person’s memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgements, communicate and carry out normal daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most ...
25th March 2008
For many people, the importance of indoor air quality does not become apparent until they discover that they or someone close to them has one form of allergy or the other. The link between a wide range of allergies and the quality of the air we breathe is...
25th March 2008
Bedding is an important habitat for house dust mites (HDM), and indeed acts as a sink for mite allergens. Dust from the bed often has higher allergen concentrations than other parts of the house. They are also the only site where allergen levels are assoc...
25th March 2008
is a physical expression of personality and social role and for many, it is central to feelings of attractiveness and self-esteem. Alopecia (baldness or hair loss) has negative attributes and can bring about low self esteem in affected individuals [1, 2]....
25th March 2008
Thunderstorm-related asthma simply refers to the triggering or worsening of asthma due to rainfall or thunderstorm. Thunderstorms have been linked to asthma epidemics, particularly during the pollen seasons. A few of these epidemics have been well documen...
25th March 2008
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease, characterised by recurrent breathing problems. Asthma results when triggers (or irritants) cause swelling of the tissues to the air passages of the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Typical symptoms of a...
25th March 2008
Epidemiological evidence suggests that certain viral infections not only trigger asthma-related symptoms but also contribute to allergic sensitisation and the development of asthma.
Read about the role of viruses in the development of allergic sensitis...
