Cupping
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:
The
Prophet said, "Healing is in three
things: cupping, a gulp of honey or cauterization, (branding with fire) but I
forbid my followers to use cauterization (branding with fire
Cupping
Treating Patients with Cupping Cupping is an ancient technique that is still
used today. Cups are used to expel areas of local stagnation such as upper back
tightness, or disperse the external pathogenic factors of Wind and Cold invading
the Lungs, a pattern commonly seen during a common cold. During a treatment
session cupping is typically combined with acupuncture for best results.
How Cupping Works Cups are usually made of strong glass and come in a variety of
sizes. A small flame is inserted inside the cup and then withdrawn. Then the cup
is placed on the patient. The flame exhausts the oxygen in the cup, thus
creating a small vacuum. The strength of the vacuum is modulated by the size of
the flame, the length of time the cup is exposed to the flame, and how quickly
the cup is placed on the patient. Then we make small incision The cups are
retained on the patient for a few seconds to a few minutes depending upon many
variables. Often the area to be cupped is first coated with a lubricant allowing
the cup to be moved over a larger area. We get blood according to the area how
much can give and this is the different between blood donation and cupping
because cupping take blood according to body need not like blood donation we
forced the body to give blood
Cupping Caveat The strong vacuum created by the cupping can leave the
patient with minor bruises. The bruises will usually clear in a few days, but
can take as long as one or two weeks. If we feel that a patient could benefit
from cupping, we will discuss the pros and cons of this procedure before any
treatment takes place.
Health
Blood donors 'can beat iron danger'
People should donate blood to eliminate an increased risk of heart disease,
cancer and stroke brought on by eating too much iron, researchers have said.
The suggestion
came after scientists established that one person in 10 has double the risk of
such conditions thanks to a faulty gene that interferes with the body's ability
to regulate iron levels.
They had
previously thought the risk factor - caused by a mutated gene - only applied to
one person in every 250.
Pairs of the
mutated gene can prevent the body processing iron correctly in a condition known
as haemochromatosis.
But now doctors
have found that even with only one copy of the gene - which a tenth of the
population has - the risk of the condition is doubled.
Donating blood
could reduce iron levels and so reduce the risk of disease, they said.
Double
investigation
Two teams of
scientists have been studying the condition, and they published their findings
in the medical journal Circulation.
Both discovered
that a much greater proportion of the population was at risk from the
haemochromatosis gene than had previously been thought.
The condition
can lead to people having far too much iron in their blood's haemoglobin - most
people have two to four grams of but those with haemochromatosis may accumulate
20 grams or more.
It is not easy
to spot the condition because it has no real symptoms, although in some cases
the patient's skin will turn rusty orange.
It can prove
fatal in itself since severe iron overload can lead to cirrhosis of the liver,
liver cancer, heart failure and diabetes.
Risk levels
shoot up
Dr Mark Roest
and colleagues at Utrecht University Medical School in the Netherlands studied
12,239 middle-aged women and found that carriers of one copy of the gene had
double the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke.
Those who had
the gene and two other risk factors - smoking and high blood pressure - were 19
times more likely to die from these causes.
"This is the
first large study to find a significant association between women who are
carriers of the gene and cardiovascular disease," Dr Roest said.
The study also
supported the theory that women before their menopause are protected from heart
disease because they lose iron during menstruation.
The effect on
men
The other team,
from the University of Kuopio in Finland, had earlier discovered that people who
donated blood were less likely to suffer a heart attack.
They checked
for the haemochromatosis gene in 1,150 men.
"Carriers of
the gene have more than twice the risk for a heart attack compared to
non-carriers," Dr Jukka Salonen and colleagues said.
Commenting on
the study, Dr Jerome Sullivan of the University of Florida said: "Based on what
we know now, a strong case could be made for recommending blood donation as a
way to lower iron levels, thus lowering heart attack risk."