About Health

Sprains and strains

Sprain refers to damage or tearing of ligaments or a joint capsule. Strain refers to damage or tearing of a muscle.

When excessive force is applied to a joint, the ligaments that hold the bones together may be torn or damaged. This results in a sprain, and its seriousness depends on how badly the ligaments are torn. Any ligament can be sprained, but the most frequently injured ligaments are at the ankle, knee, and finger joints.

Strains are tears in the muscle. Sometimes called pulled muscles, they usually occur because a muscle lacks the flexibility, strength, or endurance to perform a certain activity. The majority of strains occur where the muscle meets the tendon, although they may occur in the middle of the muscle belly as well.

Squawvine

Squawvine (Mitchella repens) is a plant that is native to North America. It is an evergreen herb belonging to the madder or Rubiaceae family. It grows in the forests and woodlands of the eastern United States and Canada.

Squawvine is usually found at the base of trees and stumps. Although squawvine grows year round, herbalists recommend collecting the herb when the plant flowers during the months of April through June.

Squawvine’s name refers to its use by Native American women as a remedy for a range of conditions. Squawvine is also referred to as “partridge berry” because some people consider the other name to be insulting to Native American women. Squawvine is also known as squaw vine, squaw berry, checkerberry, deerberry, winter clover, twinberry, and hive vine.

Spirulina

Spirulina is a genus of blue-green algae used as a nutritional supplement. Blue-green algae, which are microscopic fresh-water organisms, are also known as cyanobacteria.

Their color is derived from the green pigment of chlorophyll, and the blue from a protein called phycocyanin. The species most commonly recommended for use as a nutritional supplement are Spirulina maxima and Spirulina platensis.

These occur naturally in warm, alkaline, salty, brackish lakes, but are also commonly grown by aquaculture and harvested for commercial use. Spirulina contains many nutrients, including B vitamins, beta-carotene, gamma-linolenic acid, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium, zinc, bioflavonoids, and protein.

St. John’s wort

Hypericum perforatum is the most medicinally important species of the Hypericum genus, commonly known as St. John’s wort or Klamath weed. There are as many as 400 species in the genus, which belongs to the Clusiaceae family. Native to Europe, St. John’s wort is found throughout the world. It thrives in sunny fields, open woods, and gravelly roadsides.

Early colonists brought this plant to North America, and it has become naturalized in the eastern United States and California, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, eastern Asia, and South America. As of 2004, St. John’s wort is one of the most commonly used herbs in the United States, especially among women.

The entire plant, particularly its round black seeds, exudes a slight turpentine-like odor. The woody-branched root spreads from the base with runners that produce numerous stalks.

Sties

Also known as an external hordeolum, a stye is an infection or small abscess formation within the hair follicle glands on the free edge of the eyelid. These sebaceous glands are also known as Zeis’s or Moll’s glands.

A stye may develop on or under the eyelid with an eyelash within a yellow point. The area becomes red, warm, swollen, and painful. It may also cause blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelid.

Causes and symptoms

A stye is caused by staphylococcal or other bacterial infection of the sebaceous gland. This infection may be only on the eyelid, or may also be present elsewhere in the body. The presence of a stye may be a sign of the need for glasses, or indicate declining overall health status.

Staphylococcal infections

Staphylococcal (staph) infections are communicable infections caused by staph organisms and often characterized by the formation of abscesses. They are the leading cause of primary infections originating in hospitals (nosocomial infections) in the United States.

Classified since the early twentieth century as among the deadliest of all disease-causing organisms, staph exists on the skin or inside the nostrils of 20–30% of healthy people. These bacteria are sometimes found in breast tissue, the mouth, and the genital, urinary, and upper respiratory tracts.

Although staph bacteria are usually harmless, when injury or a break in the skin enables the organisms to invade the body and overcome the body’s natural defenses, consequences can range from minor discomfort to death.

Stomachaches

Stomachache is pain or discomfort in the stomach that is a symptom of many different gastrointestinal diseases or conditions.

Stomachache, also called dyspepsia, is a symptom of an underlying disease or condition of the gastrointestinal system. Stomachache is defined as pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen. Discomfort refers to any negative feeling including fullness, bloating, or early satiety (quenched thirst or appetite).

Dyspepsia accounts for 2–5% of all visits to a physician. Unfortunately, no cause is found for 30–60% of patients with dyspepsia. When no cause is found, the disorder is termed nonulcer dyspepsia. Several factors may lead to nonulcer dyspepsia.