Cold and Cough: Exposure to cold, in any fonn may cause running from the nose. There may be slight feverishness, ache in the body. The patients feel nin-down and weak. Cough, is only a symptomatic off-shoot of some other disorders. Cough may be due to tonsillitis, laryngitis, throat irritation, exposure, asthma, catarrh etc. may be usual causes or cough may be dry or phlegmatic.
As long the sputum is expectorated, there is not much problem but, when sputum is not expectorated, (as in asthma), there may surface other serious problems. As already mentioned, juice of ginger mixed with basil juice or liquorice with honey may be given. For general and long term benefits juice of apple, grape, lime, garlic, orange should be given.
Catarrh: Due to cold and exposure, the nose may get stuffed up, blocked and may pose problems in breathing process. The nose also inflammes and there may be pain on, in and around (or on entire sinus area), eyes may start watering , ache in forehead and head, slight fever may also occur. Treatment is the same, as mentioned for cold and cough. Try to inhale steam to clear nasal obstruction. Catarrh, if untreated, may lead to other nasal, sinus and breathing problems. This is a disorder that takes place, generally, in winter, hence keep your body fully protected from exposure to cold conditions.
Constipation: It is a symptom of those who lead sedentary life, do not take green leafy vegetables with high fibre content, drink, smoke and lead an inactive life. The peristaltic action of intestines becomes defective. Constipation, if not treated, will create digestive problems like heaviness in abdomen, locking up of wind, with or without pain, sour or acidic eructations and fermentation. Make it a regular habit to visit the closet daily at the same time. Juice of spinach, lime, pineapple is very useful for getting rid of even chronic constipation. Rough cereal can help to remove sluggishness of bowels.
Corns: It is a cone-shaped, hard, painful condition of skin eruptions which is caused by constant by constant friction and pressure on a particular part, as in the case of tight shoes. Corns are horny, irritating, hard, painful and, sometimes, even blood or pus may also form, To get instant relief apply fresh lemon juice over the corns. Do not use tight shoes and keep the feel neat, clean and free dust and bad odour.
Diarrhoea: Loose and frequent motions are caused by climatic changes, abuse of unsuitable medicines, over-eating, food-poisoning, stress and strain, fatigue, excessive use of fats. Take soup of green papaya or plantain, half ripe tomato. Lime juice will also be useful. Do not let electrolytic balance be disturbed, at any cost, or else dehydration will ensue, endangering even life. Jam of raw marmelos is also useful, or else take fresh juice of ripe fruit. Avoid all irritating items from diet.
Diabetes: Diabetes is a well known complication which is caused by defective sugar metabolism which can be either due to indequate secretion of insuln or nutritional or metabolic aspects. There is hardly any organ in human body which can remain unaffected by it. In fact, it affects all the vital organs of body and is thus called ‘A silent killer’ because the damage done to various organs is so slow, but constant, that the patient comes to know of the damage when it has already taken place.Dietary control, with judicious modifications, can go a long way in controlling diabetes which, like hypertension, cannot be cured but can definitely be controlled, if the patient follows directions of his physician.
A word of caution for the diabetics. They must never overeat, nor should they stretch their diet curtailment process to the point of starvation. The latter condition will result in hypglycaemia (low sugar content in the body) and this can even cause instant death, if not managed without delay. So, extreme postures must always be avoided.
Juice of Bitter-gourd (Karela) is a remedy par excellence. A glassful of juice of fresh bitter-gourd will bring down sugar content, regulate urinary flow, improve digestion and also remove constipation. If fresh leaves of marmelos is also mixed (say 5-10 ml juice mixed with a glass of juice of bitter-gourd), it will hasten to provide quicker relief. But, it must be continued for sometime and watch kept over blood sugar levels, by having periodical tests. Once the dose has been stabilised, its quantity should be adjusted as per an individual’s requirements.
The quantity may be raised or tapered according to susceptibility of the case. In addition, a glassful of lime juice should also be taken daily. Efficacy of tomato, lemon, orange, garlic, marindos, lime and papaya is much to be recommended. For further details, reference may be made to Killer Diseases.
Dysentery: In diarrhoea there are loose stools but no blood or mucus. Presence of blood and mucus, consistency in stools (not loose or watery motions) distinguishes dysentery from diarrhoea. There is pain of griping nature, tenesmus, occasional blood and mucus, cramps in calves. It is caused by some infections and is more rampant during summer/rainy season. Soup of raw tomato, papaya or plantain or indian pennywort should be taken. Juice of marmelos is of great help in quelling even obstinate symptoms and complications. Taking a glass of lime juice daily, in addition, will also be helpful.