Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin disease marked by intense itching, red rashes, and skin dryness. It affects 20% of the Malaysian population. Although eczema is a common skin disease, there is still a general lack of awareness about it. This results in an average gap of 9 months before patients seek medical help after first experiencing symptoms.


The staphylococcus aureus bacteria is present on the skin of more than 95% of eczema patients. These bacteria enter the skin damaged by scratching. They then secrete toxins which cause further swelling, intense itching and infection. In time, the skin becomes thickened, scaly and crusty. Eczema patients suffer emotionally, psychologically and socially as they are embarrassed about their condition and often feel exhausted from dealing with it.

What Cause Eczema?

The exact cause of eczema is unknown, but it's thought to be linked to an overactive response by the body's immune system to an irritant. It is this response that causes the symptoms of eczema. Families with a history of asthma or other allergies are more prone to eczema. However, the condition is not contagious.

Some situations that cause a "flare-up" of the itchy rash include:

• coming into contact with rough or coarse materials
• feeling too hot or too cold
• exposure to certain household products like soap or detergent
• having upper respiratory infections or colds
• coming into contact with animal dander (loose skin cells like dandruff)
• stress

Is There a Cure for Eczema?

There is no cure for eczema. Hence treatment of the condition may be challenging for many. In managing eczema, it is important to adopt a daily skincare routine and eliminate things that make the eczema worse. Exposure to allergens should be kept to a minimum and irritants avoided and substituted.


(Source:
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/atopic-dermatitis-eczema
Itchy Skin, StarFit4Life 6 May 2012)

Please email me at laifuiping@gmail.com on how to purchase Yung Kien Ganoderma, your solution for eczema. Click here to refer to Shuang Hor company's website for Product Description and Price.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or lupus for short, is a life-long, life-threatening disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. The reason why this happens is still not fully known. More than 5 million people worldwide battle lupus, of which 90% are females.

Exposure to sunlight can trigger SLE in those who are genetically predisposed to it. Lupus may also be triggered by infections and certain drugs. Unfortunately, lupus often goes unrecognized because its primary symptoms (joint pain, fatigue, skin rashes and fever) mimic many common illnesses. This can lead to wrong diagnosis and people receiving treatment for conditions they don't have. Early diagnosis and treatment leads to a better prognosis for the patient and better survival rate.

Presently, the conventional medicines do not provide any known cure for lupus. The goal of treatment is only to control the symptoms. The medications used to control lupus depend on the severity of the disease. These medications unfortunately have side effects that could affect the patients physically, emotionally and psychologically. Steroid medications for lupus often cause serious side effects, which may result in patients undergoing joint replacement and cataract operations.

(Sources: 
Shades of Lupus, StarFit4Life, 6 May 2012
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001471/)

A Solution?

The good news is, scientific researches have shown that ganoderma (lingzhi) has the ability to modulate the functions of our T-Cells and as such, contributes to preventing allergic conditions such as SLE when the T-Cells are optimally balanced.

For more info, please click on this link for the article on How Ganoderma Modulates Our Immune System. Look under the section "Second Line Defence: T Cells".

Or you may email me at laifuiping@gmail.com for details or if you want to buy ganoderma / lingzhi to address your lupus. Click here to refer to Shuang Hor company's website for Product Description and Price. I am an Authorized Distributor of the company.

Email askfuiping@gmail.com to buy Lingzhi / Ganoderma to prevent or handle stroke.

Our brain single-handedly controls all our body's function and it is what makes us human. Different parts of the brain have different functions:

1) Frontal lobe - thinking and problem-solving.
2) Parietal lobe - sensory and motor function.
3) Hippocampus - memory.
4) Thalamus - relay station for almost all information coming into the brain.
5) Hypothalamus - relay stations for the systems regulating our body's functions.
6) Midbrain - relay specific sensory information from the sense organs to the brain.
7) Pons and medulla oblongata (hind brains) - control breathing and heart functions.
8) Cerebellum - controls movement and cognitive processes that require precise timing.

The brain's functions depend on a constant blood supply to bring the oxygen and nutrients needed by its cells. A stroke happens when there's a restriction or stoppage of this supply, which leads to damage/death of the brain cells.

Strokes are the 3rd most common cause of death in Malaysia. It is estimated that there are about 52,000 strokes per annum.

There are 2 main types of stroke:
1) Ischaemic Stroke - when blood supply to the brain stops because the vessel is blocked by a blood clot. It is the most common type. This may be due to:

(a) Thrombosis - blood clot forms in one of the brain's arteries.
(b) Embolism - blood clot formed elsewhere in the body gets into the brain's arteries.

Blood clots form where the arteries are narrowed, and this is hastened by factors like:

• high blood pressure
• poorly controlled diabetes
• raised blood cholesterol
• smoking
• excessive alcohol intake
• obesity
• family history of diabetes or heart disease.

Transient ischaemic attack (TIA or mini-stroke) - temporary interruption of blood supply to part of the brain.
2) Haemorrhagic Stroke - when a blood vessel of the brain bursts, resulting in bleeding in the brain itself (intracerebral haemorrhage) or brain surface (subarachnoid haemorrhage).

The main causes are:

• High blood pressure - the primary cause. Risk factors include smoking, overweight, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol intake and stress.
• Blood-thinning medicines. 
• Blood vessel malformations in the brain.
• Aneurysm (ballon-like swelling of a blood vessel).
• Trauma.

Risks of Stroke which are Not Preventable:

• Age - the older a person, the higher the risk.
• Ethnicity - Indians and Malays have higher risk as the incidence of diabetes and hypertension are higher in these groups.
• Medical history - higher if one has had a heart attack, stroke or TIA.
• Family history - higher if a close relative has had a stroke.

Signs and Symptoms

• Face - inability to smile, open the mouth, or the face or eye may hang downwards.
• Arms - inability to lift arms due to numbness or weakness.
• Legs - inability to move legs due to numbness or weakness.
• Speech - slurring of speech or inability to talk at all.
• Others - sudden vision loss, dizziness, difficulty talking and understanding what others say, difficulty swallowing, balancing problems, sudden and severe headache, blacking out.

Complications of Stroke

• Dysphagia - swallowing problem, which can cause lung infection (pneumonia).
• Hydrocephalus - excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain's ventricles. CSF is a fluid produced by the brain which is continuously drained away and absorbed by the body. When its drainage is stopped following a haemorrhagic stroke, the excess CSF causes headache, loss of balance, nausea and vomiting.
• Deep vein thrombosis - blood clot formation in the legs. The features include swelling, pain, tenderness, warmth and redness.

So many women just learn to live with constant knee pain without seeking any help for it. They just accept it as part of growing old. However, ignoring knee pain doesn't make it go away, it only makes it worse.

Do you know that research has shown that if you walk more slowly (for any reason), then you will also live a significantly shorter life? Yes. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2011, researchers found that 87% of men at age 75 who walked fast lived another 10 years, whereas those who walked slowest had only a 19% chance of surviving 10 years.

The knee cap (patella) is actually a bone. The ligaments and tendons surrounding the kneecap protect the knee and prevent knee injuries from occurring. Ligaments hold our bones together and also bind our bones to cartilage. Tendons connect muscles to bones. Cartilage is a tough but flexible tissue that covers the ends of our bones in our joints. The cartilage in our knees degenerate due to wear and tear of the joints, causing pain in the knee cap.

Why does your knee hurt?

• A lot of daily walking, especially going up and down stairs cause the cartilage to wear out faster.
• Being overweight also wears down the knee cap faster. 
• Malformation of knee cap, where the bone rides too high or too low and may dislocate.
• As women have a wider pelvis than men do, it places more stress on the knee joint, leading to the degeneration of the cartilage.

Psoriasis is a common skin disease that causes our cells to build up rapidly on the surface of our skin, forming thick silvery scales, and itchy dry red patches that are sometimes painful. Normal skin cells mature and shed in an ongoing cycle of 28 to 30 days. In psoriasis, skin cells mature in just 3 or 4 days.

Psoriasis is a long-lasting, non-contagious and often misunderstood disease. Many psoriasis sufferers have low self-esteem and constantly hide their body under long sleeves, long pants and high-collar. They avoid social situations due to discomfort and embarrassment.

Psoriasis patients are also at increased risk for other diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and myocardial infarction (heart attack).

I will share briefly what are the causes and triggers of psoriasis.

What Causes Psoriasis?

Colby Evans, MD, a dermatologist in Texas, USA said that psoriasis was originally thought of as a hyperproliferative disease i.e. the skin making too much skin by proliferating rapidly. So, most of the treatments at that time were directed at that problem. We now know that psoriasis is a malfunction of the immune system, and T cells (a type of white blood cell) are the root of it. Normally, T cells travel throughout the body to detect and fight off viruses and bacteria. If you have psoriasis, the T cells will mistakenly attack healthy skin cells, as if to heal a wound or to fight an infection.

Overactive T cells trigger other immune responses. It results in an increased production of healthy skin cells, more T cells and other white blood cells. This causes an ongoing cycle in which dead skin can't be shed off quickly enough and hence build up in thick, scaly patches on the skin's surface.

What Triggers Psoriasis?

Researchers think genetics may be a cause of psoriasis. Apart from that, other triggers of a flare-up of psoriasis include:

1) Stress
2) Medications, including:

• Lithium, used to treat certain psychiatric disorders.
• Antimalarial medications.
• High blood pressure or heart medications such as inderal or quinidine.
• Indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

3) Infections e.g. strep throat.
4) Injuries e.g. at scars from surgeries; from vaccinations, bug bites, sunburns or cuts.
5) Allergies.
6) Diet.
7) Dry and cold weather.
8) Smoking.
9) Heavy consumption of alcohol.

(Source: 
WebMD - http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/psoriasis-treatment-11/causes
Mayo Clinic - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/psoriasis/DS00193/DSECTION=causes
New Biologic for Psoriasis, StarFit4Life 8 April 2012)

Solution for Psoriasis Sufferers

As you can see, the causes and triggers of psoriasis are many and varied. They are not easily identified and addressed.


The good news is, researches have proven that lingzhi / ganoderma is able to regulate our immune system. Specifically, Yung Kien Ganoderma is able to modulate the T cells functions such that they don't overgrow and mistakenly attack healthy skin cells. All the T cells will achieve an optimal balance and hence, avoid such immune disorder diseases.

Please click here for more information on How Ganoderma / Lingzhi Modulates Our Immune System or email me at laifuiping@gmail.com on how to purchase Yung Kien Ganoderma.
Click here to refer to Shuang Hor company's website for Product Description and Price. I am an Authorized Distributor of the company.

When one of the smaller blood vessels supplying oxygen to our brain gets blocked off, there is a temporary interruption of blood supply to part of our brain. It will lead to a "mini-stroke" or Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA). This blockage is temporary (lasting a few minutes) and blood supply is restored soon after. This is unlike a stroke, in which the blockage lasts much longer.

However, TIA is a crucial warning that a stroke is on the way. Strokes are the 3rd most common cause of death in Malaysia. It is estimated that without treatment, the likelihood is 1 in 10 that a stroke will occur within 1 month after a TIA.

Causes of TIA

The brain's arteries are narrowed or blocked by cholesterol deposits on its inner lining. Everyone's arteries get narrower with age, but the process is hastened by factors like:

• high blood pressure
• poorly controlled diabetes
• raised blood cholesterol
• obesity
• smoking
• excessive alcohol intake
• family history of diabetes of heart disease.

What Happened

The occasion was a wonderful birthday party for a group of "April babies". Lots of sumptuous food paired with free-flowing delectable wines. Everyone was mingling and moving around. Then it happened. The full force from the sharp spike of a girlfriend's 4-inch stiletto landed on my big toe. I felt a shooting pain, then nothing. I thought, ok, I'm fine, it's only a little scrape. Until 30 seconds later. Aarrgghhh.. the searing pain...


I limped to my chair. Peered at the damage. OMG! Even in the semi-dimness of the restaurant, I could see it was much worse than I thought. The blood was starting to flow out. Tissues tissues... Ouch oucchh ooucchhh... I spent the remaining of the night with my foot resting on another chair. Despite the incident, it was still a lovely night. Must be the wine..


The Remedy

I thoroughly cleansed off the grime and blood the instant I got home. Then I spread a big dollop of Greenzhi Toothpaste on the wound, bandaged it and went to sleep. I changed the dressing the next morning then went about my daily activities. No more limping. In the evening, another change of dressing.

The Day After


Hey check out my toe! Isn't it fantastic? The wound pretty much healed in less than 2 days. I am so pleased! The Neem Extract in this toothpaste did a superb job of reducing the inflammation caused by the injury, prevent further bleeding and lessen the pain.

Neem plant

About 2 months ago, just before Chinese New Year, the very same Greenzhi Toothpaste "rescued" me from another problem - sore throat. Click here to read about it.

Or email me at laifuiping@gmail.com should you want to buy Greenzhi Toothpaste.
Click here to refer to Shuang Hor company website for Product Description and Price.