By john sweet

Naturally occurring in the body, cortisone or adrenal corticosteroids are produced by the adrenal glands. It is a type of steroid which is released from the adrenal gland when your body is under stress.

Synthetic cortisone is not a pain-relieving drug as many think, but rather a powerful anti-inflammatory medication.It can be used to replace steroids in conditions of adrenal insufficiency (low production of needed steroids produced by the adrenal glands). It also modifies the body’’s response to certain immune stimulation. It is used for a variety of ailments today from endocrine and rheumatic disorders to collagen and gastrointestinal diseases.
Cortisone is classified in a group of drugs called steroids and is a trade name for the generic chemotherapy drug Hydrocortisone.

As wonderful as cortisone is as a drug, there are some side-effects associated with its use. Repeated cortisone injections multiply these effects and increase the risk of potential problems. The side effects are usually limited to chronic ( that is;repeated or prolonged) use; short term use is usually without major problems.

Corticosteroids can be taken by mouth, inhaled, applied to the skin, given intravenously (into a vein), or injected into the tissues of the body.

Skin diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo, urticaria, lichen planus can all be treated with cortisone but users should be aware of the side effects which continued use can have and should seek alternative natural remedies.

The skin becomes very delicate and bruises easily and cortisone can cause atrophy of hair follicles and sebaceous glands, which leads to alopecia (hair loss). Another common side-effect is whitening of the skin where the injection is given. It is used as treatment of certain kinds of autoimmune diseases, skin conditions, asthma and other lung conditions. Tissue repair and healing may be delayed with an associated increase in the liability to infection.

The use of corticosteroids may cause psychic derangements ranging from euphoria, insomnia, mood swings, personality changes and severe depression to frank psychotic manifestations.

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have any medical conditions, especially if any of the following apply to you: if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. if you are taking any prescription or nonprescription medicine, herbal preparation, or dietary supplement.

Also if you have allergies to medicines, foods, or other substances if you are scheduled for a vaccination with a live virus vaccine (eg, smallpox) if you have a history of an underactive thyroid, liver or kidney problems, heart problems or heart attack.

Cortisone is used to stimulate appetite in cancer patients with severe appetite problems. Other side effects that are less serious, but if they don'’t subside should be looked at by your doctor include these include insomnia, nausea, vomiting, or stomach upset fatigue.

The following are less common side effects (occurring in 10 to 29%) for patients receiving hydrocortisone: Headaches, Dizziness, Mood swings, Cataracts and bone thinning.

Side effects that you should report to your prescriber or health care professional as soon as possible: bloody or black, tarry stools, confusion, excitement, restlessness, a false sense of well-being.

If you experience symptoms or side effects, especially if severe, be sure to discuss them with your health care team. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. Some people taking cortisones for short periods have no unpleasant side effects; however, disturbances of sleep patterns and increased appetite are common.

Cortisone is a powerful drug. It is useful in suppressing inflammation in the short term, and in the long term, dissolving scar tissue, stabilizing the body’’s defenses, speeding the healing process, and is very effective in causing certain cysts to disappear. It is an excellent drug in many cases but is neither a pain medication nor an anesthetic.

A natural alternative to steroids in cases of topical skin problems such as psoriasis and eczema is crocodile oil. Although there has not been a great ammount of recent research on this natural remedy, it is now widely reported that the results have been very beneficial without any side effects.

About The Author

John Sweet is a researcher of natural remedies for skin problems. For more information on crocodile oil, visit http://www.crocodileoil.com

By Joni Bell

We all want our immune systems to function well. After all, it is our immune systems that keep us from getting ill. It is easy to see which people have stronger immune systems sometimes. For example, take a look at teachers in an elementary school building. Some teachers may come down with every cold, flu, or bug that is going around these are typically the newly hired teachers or teachers who are new to that particular school system. The other teachers who rarely get ill have stronger immune systems in relation to those types of illnesses because their bodies have adapted to that specific setting.

There are ways to boost the immune system, though methods through which anyone can work to try to strengthen his immune system so as to be less susceptible to both regular, everyday types of illnesses and more serious illnesses such as cancer.

You can boost your immune system through the use of apricot seeds. Though many conventional doctors may not subscribe to this theory, it does work (and anyway, conventional doctors nearly always reject alternative therapies out of hand, don'’t they?).

Taking apricot seeds works to prevent bad cells in your body from forming, thus strengthening your immune system. Apricot seeds have the toxin cyanide as part of their structure; this cyanide, though, is only released when the amygdalin of the apricot seeds comes into contact with a bad cell in your body. At that point, the cyanide works to destroy the bad cell.

If you take apricot seeds on a regular basis, your body will remain detoxified and free of the bad cells that commonly cause the more serious types of illnesses, including cancer.

There are hundreds of different types of cancer. The odds of getting some type of cancer at some point during your lifetime are relatively high especially considering what scientists tell us.

They tell us that our bodies are continually making cancerous cells. That is pretty scary, isn'’t it? Well, there is a way to prevent those cancerous cells from ever developing into cancer and that way is to destroy those cells before they have a chance to do any harm. It involves the use of apricot seeds.

Normally our immune systems can deal with the cancerous cells that our bodies are producing, scientists say. However, what if yours cannot? That means you will develop some type of cancer. So, perhaps you should try taking apricot seeds as a method of cancer prevention just in case.

Any Apricot Seeds?

Now, before you head off to your local health foods store or nutrition store and grab whatever bag of apricot seeds you can find, there are a few things you need to know. First and foremost, the apricot seeds you would find at your local store are not the type of seeds you could use for cancer prevention.

Health food stores carry either sun-dried or roasted apricot kernels. While these may have nutritive benefits, they do not have any type of cancer preventive properties. Instead, you need raw apricot seeds.

Why Raw Apricot Seeds?

Raw apricot seeds have a special construction that allows them to destroy cancerous cells in the process of roasting the seeds or sun-drying the seeds, this special construction is, itself, destroyed. Roasted and sun-dried seeds do not have the component that is necessary to destroy the cancer cells.

Raw seeds are comprised of amygdalin. Amygdalin has cyanide locked away that only cancer cells can unlock. When the amygdalin comes into contact with a cancer cell, the cyanide comes and destroys the cell. It is this component that the roasted and sun-dried apricot seeds are lacking. Amygdalin is also called B17. In its extracted, pure form it is also known as laetrile. Laetrile has been used to treat cancer sufferers in some cancer clinics.

About The Author

Joni Bell has many years of extensive study in the area of natural cancer prevention and treatment. He has numerous success stories of people being diagnosed living cancer free with use of alternative methods. http://apricotpower-info.com/