When is a headache not a headache?  When its a migraine.  Migraine is a complex condition with a wide variety of symptoms.  Migraines are the 3rd most common illness in the world!  For many people the main feature is a painful headache, but its way more than a headache, migranes are debilitating in a way headaches aren't - migranes are the 7th most disabling illness!   While there are no typical symptoms, sufferers can get disturbed vision, sensitivity to light, sound and smells, feeling sick and vomiting. Over the next couple of weeks, I want to explore natural ways what can help migrane sufferers. Butterbur Butterbut is a herbal hay fever remedy which scientific studies show prevents migraines.  Pitted against a placebo, a standardised extract of butterbut (Petasites Hybridus) significantly reduced the frequency of migraine attacks, with either no side-effects or just the odd bit of burping. References

High blood pressure is known as the silent killer becuase of its the link to heart attacks and strokes. The causes of high blood pressure are: Mental stress: Stress can have a severe impact on blood pressure, especially when it is chronic. It can occur as a result of both socioeconomic and psychosocial factors. Some aspects of sex: In general, high blood pressure is more common among adult men than adult women. However, after the age of 55 years, a woman's relative risk of hypertension increases. A recent study compared the impact of medication and exercise for reducing high systolic blood pressure.  The researchers reviewed 197 exercise randomised control trials and 194 randomised control trials looking at medication. While anti-hypertensive medications achived hight reductions in blood pressure that exercise.  Researches concluded that modest but consistent reductions in systolic blood pressure can be achieved with exercise. Reference

In my previous post I said that the activity you do to chill out doesn't matter it you just need to enjoy it and it absorbs you. So why not consider paying video games, yes video games.  If you ask any gamer, who enjoys playing them and they will tell you it help them relax or de-stress.  I know this may sound unlikey.  However that is scientific research to support the idea that regularly playing video games can help people unwind an dimprove their ability to handle everyday stress. In 2010 Associate Professor Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson of the Texas A&M Public Research Facility demonstrated that both men and women who play violent video games long-term seem to be able to adopt mental skills to handle stress, become less depressed and get less hostile during stressful tasks.  In 2014 reserarchers from University College London  found that people who played video games after work experienced faster recovery from work related stress. While there are a number of video games on the market which are specifically aimed at helping people unwind and manage stress, it seems that almost any form of game playing will do the trick.  Spending half an hour each day on a video console could be be as effective as going to the gym for helping you “chill out” at the end of a busy day. References http://www.christopherjferguson.com/hitman.pdf http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1418103/  

In part 1, I introduced the topic of period pain.  In this blog post, I want to explore the topic from the perspective of functional medicine practitioners who believe that period pains are caused by certain nutritional deficiencies particularly vitamin B, magnesium and essential fatty acids. There is evidence that magnesium can reduce the sensitivity to pain.  In one study 21 out of 25 women treated with magnesium for six months saw a reduction in the period pain. In one scientific study over 500 women aged between 12 to 21 with moderate to severe period pain took vitamin B1.  87% were completely cured after 3 months.  Just 5% saw no effect at all, while 8% saw their pain reduced.  There is also scientific evidence that vitamin B6 may be useful too. Finally, there is scientific evidence that Acupuncture can be a safe and effective treatment for period pain. References Magnesium reference see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27978803,  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11687013, Vitamin B reference see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8935744, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1459624/ Acupuncture references see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29879061 and https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2017/1791258/abs/