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 A small flame is inserted inside the cup and then withdrawn.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.

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."