Mangosteen juice is one of the latest in a long line of fruit drinks claimed to have therapeutic benefits. Are the claims true? The answer is a bit difficult to determine, but we do know a fair amount about the fruit itself.

The mangosteen fruit should not be confused with the mango, which is an entirely different plant. The mangosteen is part of a family of tropical trees and shrubs group known as the Guttiferae, which secrete an acrid yellow resinous juice. Mangosteen's formal scientific designation is Garcinia mangostana (Campin 2004), and it is supposedly named after a French explorer, Jacques Garcin (1673-1751).

The fruit itself is purple in color and is the size of a small apple. It has a hard rind, or pericarp, and inside there are typically five to seven seeds surrounded by a sweet, juicy cover. In Asia, the mangosteen is called the "queen of fruits" for both its flavor and its profitability. Highly regarded for its flavor, the taste is said to be similar to pineapple or peaches.

While no one knows exactly where and when the mangosteen was first cultivated, one botanist, Julia F. Morton, believes it originated in the Moluccas and the Sunda Islands. Some experts also believe the 18-foot high trees were first domesticated in Thailand or Burma, and we know that wild mangosteen trees can be found in the forests of Malaya. In the 1800's, botanists brought mangosteen seeds to America, and many serious attempts were made to grow the trees there as well as in Africa, the Caribbean and central America. However, the plant is very sensitive - nursery seedlings die at 45º F, which foiled attempts to grow the trees in America. In fact, there are few if any mangosteens growing in the continental US.

The claims that mangosteen has medicinal benefits are many. For years dried mangosteen fruits have been shipped from Singapore to Calcutta and then on to China for medicinal use. In regard to anecdotal uses of mangosteen, botanist Julia Morton has written the following:

"The sliced and dried rind is powdered and administered to overcome dysentery. Made into an ointment, it is applied on eczema and other skin disorders. The rind decoction is taken to relieve diarrhea and cystitis, gonorrhea and gleet [a watery discharge, ed.] and is applied externally as an astringent lotion. A portion of the rind is steeped in water overnight and the infusion given as a remedy for chronic diarrhea in adults and children.

"Filipinos employ a decoction of the leaves and bark as a febrifuge and to treat thrush, diarrhea, dysentery and urinary disorders. In Malaya, an infusion of the leaves, combined with unripe banana and a little benzoin is applied to the wound of circumcision. A root decoction is taken to regulate menstruation. A bark extract called 'amibiasine', has been marketed for the treatment of amoebic dysentery."

Morton also writes that "the rind of partially ripe fruits yields a polyhydroxy-xanthone derivative termed mangostin, also beta-mangostin. That of fully ripe fruits contains the xanthones, gartanin, 8-desoxygartanin, and normangostin. A derivative of mangostin, mangostin-e, 6-di-O-glucoside, is a central nervous system depressant and causes a rise in blood pressure." A more complete listing of constituents is given at ethnobotanist Dr. James Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases (Duke 2004).

More recently, there have been claims on many web sites that mangosteen has positive effects in fighting cancer. Unlike the folk medicine applications described by Dr. Morton, the claim regarding cancer is a bit more serious. Is mangosteen really effective against cancer, or is it simply a wild marketing claim motivated by strong commercial motives?

There are just 29 articles on the topic of mangosteen in PubMed, the US National Library of Medicine database of 14+ million citations. A total of four of these studies relate to cancer. In one test tube experiment it was shown that a chemical compound found in mangosteen kills cancer cells as effectively as many chemotherapeutic drugs. It also appears that compounds found in mangosteen can inhibit the harmful Cox 1 and Cox 2 enzymes, and can also cause programmed cell death (apoptosis) in aberrant cells (Ho 2002). Mangosteen thus joins a fairly long list of naturally derived compounds that might potentially have some anticancer benefit.

Twenty-nine articles does not constitute a wealth of data. For example, by contrast, PubMed lists over 4,600 articles each on the topic of vitamin C, vitamin E and cancer, over 125 of which refer to clinical trials. Reputable researchers the world over, publish in PubMed-listed journals, yet the PubMed does not contain a single clinical trial of mangosteen in the treatment of cancer, or any other disease. So despite what one may read on the many websites promoting mangosteen, very little scientific evidence exists concerning its anticancer activity in humans.

Mangosteen juice is sold on many websites under many different product names, and the medical claims made are many. Unfortunately, there simply still is not enough scientific evidence available to be certain that any of the claims are true.



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You should not get surprised if you hear a fact that about 30 million people in the United State usually suffer from migraine headache. As the treatment is given according to the symptoms, it is very important to know the symptoms. A patient suffering from this ailment may either have unilateral headache (where the pain occurs at one side) or bilateral headache (where the pain occurs at both sides). Sometimes, the pain may even get converted from unilateral to bilateral one. This pain can also move down towards the neck. The pain that a patient experiences while a migraine headache occurs usually interferes with his/her normal physical activities.

Though a migraine headache can occur at any time of the day or night, most of the patients are found to have a headache in the morning. If the pain is ignored or the patient does not get any medical treatment, then the pain may continue till 5 hours or even beyond that time frame. Migraine headache patients are highly sensitive to light as well as sound or may show signs of nausea. So, such a person should be allowed to rest in a dark place, where he/she can lie down in peace. Such patients often loose their concentration while doing their daily activities and may have difficulty to get adequate sleep.



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Pain that occurs in the head is known as headache. It is one of the most common medical complaints. It is a common problem and almost everyone has suffered this ailment sometime or the other in life.

Although the cause of many headaches is unclear, several potential causes have been identified by researchers that include the dilation of blood vessels or the contraction of muscles. In addition to pain, headaches are sometimes accompanied by nausea, running nose, and sensitivity to light or sound.

Headache Causes

Causes for headaches are often due to reactions of the body to some specific factors. Hormonal changes, uncorrected nearsighted or farsighted vision, dietary factors, sensory stimulus and emotions are some of the common triggers of headaches.

Different headaches have different causes of pain and are diagnosed accordingly. Vascular headaches that include migraines and cluster headaches occur due to dilation or swelling of the blood vessels in the brain. The muscle contraction ones include tension headache that develop due to the result of tightening of muscles in the face, neck or possibly from the restriction of blood flow to the brain. The traction ones are due to the pulling or stretching of pain-sensitive parts of the head like tension in the eye muscles etc. The inflammatory headaches and the idiopathic ones are some other types of headaches.

Headache Treatment

Abortive treatment is often used at the first sign of headache for maximum effect. It is aimed at stopping or reducing the pain. Medicines like Analgesics, Triptans, Dihydroergotamine and Decongestants are also used to treat headaches. Other therapies used in conjunction with medication are some relaxation techniques, acupuncture or acupressure, and Botox injections. Though most headaches can't be considered to be life-threatening disorders, some of them may need immediate medical attention if they are accompanied by unusual symptoms like vision abnormalities, speech problems, or numbness.



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Do you want to increase your height? Don't worry. Even I was in your shoes some time ago. You can learn to grow taller like I did. It is possible to increase your height even if you are old.

Many people have the belief that their height growth has been restricted because of their parents and genetics. You are not doomed. You can gain height by following a few methods.

When we were infants we had bones that were made of cartilage. As our body began to grow, our cartilage became hardened into bone. These cartilage growth plates are present at the ends of our bones. These cartilage growth plates are the reason for the increase in growth.

Most of them ignore the fact that their diet plays an important role in height gain. A good diet can stimulate the production of the growth hormones and growth of muscles, bones and organs.

A good diet needs to be balanced and rich in proteins, amino acids and calcium. Calcium is really important for bone growth. Calcium is abundantly available in dairy products. Calcium deficiency can cause your bones to weaken and shrink.

Here is a shocking fact: Colored soft drinks deplete the calcium levels in our body. It is true that calcium is depleted by the colored soft drinks because of the preservatives and acids they contain. If you want to protect your bones and gain height, avoid colored soft drinks.

Drink orange juice and other fruit juices instead of the dangerous soft drinks. Soft drinks can also cause increase in sugar levels in your body thereby causing diabetes. So avoid it.

Exercise is also important if you want to gain height fast. Normal exercises that workout your muscle are effective. Stretching exercises also need to be performed as they make your out of shape spinal cord in to the right shape.



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