subject: Botanical and Nutritional Therapy for Varicose Veins [print this page] Botanical and Nutritional Therapy for Varicose Veins
There are many traditional treatment methods for varicose veins. A low fiber diet can result in small hard stools that can cause patients to strain during bowel movements. This strain increases intra-abdominal pressure, subsequently increasing pressure on the veins of the lower legs. Over time this can deteriorate vascular integrity. A high fiber diet is an important component to the prevention and treatment of varicose veins. This in addition to hydrotherapy, proper anal hygiene, and avoiding activities that require the patient to strain are the foundation of the approach of many family practitioners to these conditions.
As a result, diet therapy is a widely accepted modality in the management of varicose veins. Many physicians consider the first line of therapy to be a high fiber diet with commercial fiber supplements and enough oral fluids to produce soft, but well formed and regular bowel movements. What's more, the warm sitz bath is the hydrotherapy indicated for conditions associated with increased pelvic congestion. The warm sitz bath is an effective non-invasive therapy for uncomplicated varicose veins, but requires a high degree of patient compliance.
Standard treatment methods for varicose veins are surgery, mechanical compression, or sclerotherapy. Painful varicose veins with recurrent phlebitis or skin changes are considered indications for surgery. General practitioners must refer to a vascular surgeon for surgery and should consider this only if indicated. Compression therapy is achieved with lightweight hosiery for small, mildly symptomatic varicose veins. Advanced cases require a heavier elastic support stocking. Mechanical compression is inconvenient, uncomfortable, and subject to poor compliance.
Additionally patients can apply the elastic bandage too tightly, producing a tourniquet effect. Even when applied correctly, bandages can rapidly loosen and become ineffective. Injection sclerotherapy is used to treat all degrees of primary varicose veins. The aim of sclerotherapy is to destroy the vein by fibrosis. Sodium tetradecyl sulfate 1% solution is injected, while the vein is emptied of blood, causing damage to the intima of the vein and permanent fibrosis. Sclerotherapy does not require hospitalization, and the patient resumes normal activity after the procedure.
A safe and effective therapy for varicose veins, that is often overlooked, is botanical and nutritional therapy, such as plant medicine for varicose veins. Plant medicines play a dominant role in natural drugs. For recent years, plant medicines are considered to be very important because of the unique advantage in the treatment. Several botanical extracts have been shown to improve microcirculation, capillary flow, and vascular tone, and strengthen connective tissue of the perivascular amorphous substrate. The goals of botanical and nutritional support are consistent with the philosophy of treating the cause of a disease.
Conversely, the bulk of standard treatments for varicose veins are geared toward removing the problem or palliating the disease. Additionally, the low compliance associated with treatments such as hydrotherapy, mechanical compression therapy, and diet and lifestyle changes renders oral dietary supplementation an attractive option. Early intervention with conservative therapies may prevent time-consuming and expensive complications of varicose veins. The use of plant medicine for the treatment of varicose veins is possibly the missing link to an effective conservative approach to these diseases.
Figures show that the increment speed of plant medicine market all over the world is apparently higher than that of world pharmaceutical market, of which the United States is up to 20%-50%. In other countries and areas, such as Korea, its main exporting products is ginseng with rapid export growth in recent years. The plant medicine market in Middle East and Africa also develops quickly and the increment speed of Africa is about 12%. Europe plays a vital role in the world plant medicine market with the use of plant medicine for several hundred years.
The U.S. herbal market began to develop from around 1960 and many major drug companies are interested in this sub-markets. Consumers are more willing to accept cheaper alternatives to prescription drugs which have fewer side effects. An estimated, 5,000 million people in the United States don't have health insurance. These people try to avoid doctors and solve health problems by themselves. Social and economic composite factors make them turn to natural alternative medicine. To learn more, please go to http://www.naturespharma.org.
