Thursday, February 18, 2010

Chickenpox

Some basic information about the disease.
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Chickepox (or Varicella) is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, resulting in an itchy, blister-like rash, and in fatigue and fever. It spreads from person to person by direct contct or through the air (via coughing or sneezing). It takes from 10 to 21 days after contact for someone to develop chickenpox.
Once infected, a person is considered contagious one to two days before the rash appears and entail all blisters have formed scab. Fo most people, one infection gives lifelong immunity, but there have been cases of individuals getting chickenpox more than once.
The illness commonly lasts about 5 to 10 days with about half of patients having high fever, severe itching, dehydration, or headache. Although uncommon, complications may arise; more prone are infants, adolescents, and adults with weak immunity systems. Call the doctor if:
Fever lasts longer than four days or rises above 39ÂșC
rash becomes very red, warm, tender, or leaks pus
Child appears extremely ill, is diff cult to wake up or is confused, has difficulty walking, has a stiff neck, vomits repeatedly.
Child has difficulty breather or has a severe cough.
Treatment
Scratching the blisters may cause them to become infected, so keep fingernails trimmerd short. Calamine lotion and oatmeal baths may help relieve some of the itching. Do not use aspirin or aspirin-containing products to relieve your child’s fever.
Vaccination
If your child has never had chickenpox and has been exposed to classmates with chickenpox, theillness can be prevented or modified by vaccination with Varicella Zoster Immune Globulin (VZIG) as soon as possible, but not later than 96 hours after exposure. However, it is costly and only provides temporay protection. It may also cause side efects, including a milk fever two weeks after vacination.
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Who should be vaccinated?
All children below 12 months and 13 years old should have one dose. Children who have had chickenpox do not need the vaccine. People 13 and older who have not had chickenpox should get two doses of the vaccine four to eight weeks apart. However, not everyone should receive the vaccine.
those with serious allergic reaactions to chickenpox vaccine, neomycin, or gelatin.
newborns whose mother had chickenpox three days prior to delivery.
children with leukemia or lymphoma who have not been vaccinated.
Persons with immune problems, and persons receiving drugs, including steroids, that suppress the immune system
Help keep the pox at bay by strengthening your child’s immune system with a healthy and balanced diet that contains five to nine servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables a day. Nutritional supplements will help, especially if your child is a picky eater.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Amazing Health Benefits of Rhubarb

A new study shows that rhubarb has some little known health benefits. Discover what they are.
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Rhubarb may not be the most popular vegetable on the produce stand, but it still makes a pretty tasty jam. Rhubarb lovers, take heart. This underappreciated vegetable may soon be getting the respect it deserves if the results of a new study hold true. According to new research published in the journal Food Chemistry, rhubarb could be important in the fight against cancer.
The Health Benefits of Rhubarb: Does It Ward Off Cancer?
Researchers have discovered that British rhubarb has natural chemicals called polyphenols that may help destroy cancer cells. To best harness the effects of the cancer blasting polyphenols in this veggie, rhubarb needs to be exposed to heat – by baking it in the oven. Researchers are hoping that the polyphenols found in British rhubarb can be used to create new anti-cancer drugs that will work when cancer cells become resistant to commonly used cancer chemotherapy drugs.
Health Benefits of Rhubarb is Enhanced by Baking It
Most people think that eating vegetables raw is better for you. Not so in this case. The anti-cancer benefits of British rhubarb are enhanced by baking it in the oven for twenty minutes. Researchers are hoping the polyphenols in baked British rhubarb are powerful enough to stop the growth of leukemia cells so that new drugs can be developed in the fight against this deadly form of cancer.
Other Health Benefits of Rhubarb: It’s Nature’s Laxative
Chinese medicine doctors have prescribed rhubarb for their patients who are constipated for many years. Rhubarb is a good source of compounds called anthraquinones that have natural laxative properties. Rhubarb is even available in an extract and as a capsule at many health food stores to be taken as a laxative.
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Good for the Heart?
Another health benefit of rhubarb? It helps to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting certain enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis. Animal studies and small human studies have both shown this to be true.
Is Rhubarb Safe?
Some people have heard that rhubarb is poisonous. This is true – but only the leaves – not the stalks. Taking rhubarb extract as a laxative or for lowering cholesterol levels does have some side effects. Rhubarb extract can interact with certain medications – particularly heart and blood pressure medications. Rhubarb is also high in oxalates which can increase the risk of kidney stones in people who are susceptible to them.
Health Benefits of Rhubarb: The Bottom Line
British rhubarb and the natural compounds it contains may one day help in the battle against cancer. In the meantime, rhubarb is not only a good laxative, but may help to lower cholesterol levels as well. Add a little baked rhubarb to your diet if you don’t have kidney stones, but hold off on taking rhubarb extract unless you get the okay from your doctor.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

How to cure Burns

Damage caused to the skin as a result of heat, electricity or chemical substances is known as burns. Burns are generally not serious. Various herbal ointments and components of vitamins and minerals could help cure burns. Burns generally cause in home due to our carelessness. They are classified into three kinds namely first, second and third degree burns. First degree burns damage the outer skin alone and these are caused due to exposure to sun, second degree burns affect the underlying layer of the skin causing further damage. Third degree burns is a serious condition where the skins, muscles, nerves, blood vessels and in extreme cases even the bones get damaged. This requires emergency medication and it requires a treatment called skin grafting to aid recovery and minimize scarring.
CAUSES:
Burns are mainly caused due to exposure to sun, coming into contact with hot oil, hot food stuffs, certain chemical substances etc.,
Serious cases are the result of fire, hazardous chemical substances and steam.
Other form of burns where the skin damage is minimal but they cause internal injuries is due to electrical burns, which are caused due to coming into contact with faulty or uninsulated wires.
SYMPTOMS:
FIRST DEGREE:
Redness.
Swelling.
Tenderness.
SECOND DEGREE:
Redness.
Pain.
Swelling.
Blisters.
THIRD DEGREE:
No blisters but very serious swelling.
There won’t be any pain, as the nerves may be damaged.
Charred skin.
In certain cases red or white skin.
SUPPLEMENTS:
Aloe vera gel – Apply to the affected skin as required.
Calendula – Apply cream to the burns. Cream must contain 2% calendula. Do not use if you are allergic to daisy flowers.
Gotu kola – 200mg extract or 400-500mg crude herb twice a day. Extract must contain 10% asiaticosides.
Vitamin A – 50 000 IU a day with food for not more than 10 days. It is advised to take 30mg zinc along with the dose per day. If pregnant or considering pregnancy, only 2500 IU of vitamin A must be consumed a day.
Vitamin C – 1000mg 3 times a day till the burns get healed. Reduce the dosage if diarrhoea develops.
Vitamin E – 500 IU a day with food until burns get healed. It actually prevents scarring.
Zinc – 30 mg a day. Researches say that more than 150mg zinc should not be consumed by humans per day.
Chamomile – It is an herb which must be mixed with tea under hot condition and the tea soaked cloth must be applied to the burn for about 15 minutes.
Echinacea – 200mg 3 times a day. It must be standardised contain 3.5% echinacosides.
OTHER REMEDIES:
Avoid bathing in hot water if you have burns.
Drink a lot of water while your skin is healing.
Clean the burns with water gently without breaking blisters if any.
It is advised to use sterile gauze dressings to keep burn dry and as a protection against dirt and bacteria.
HAVE YOU HEARD?
In olden days it is believed that people use butter to cure burns, but don’t use it because butter has a tendency to trap the heat, thus slowing down the healing process resulting in further infection.How to cure Burns5.051

Sexual Urges of Children during Adolescence

ORGANS RESPONSIBLE:
The pituitary gland, the ovaries and the testicles begin to secrete larger quantities of the sex hormones and thus bring on the changes seen in adolescents. Both boys and girls tend to develop pimples and blackheads during this period. This condition is called acne. Special diet, special methods of keeping the face clean and medications prove helpful.
Sexual curiosity is part of that desire to learn more about the opposite sex and does not necessarily lead to complete sexual relations. During this period, sexual curiosity should be controlled gently, and children should be directed so that their curiosity does not result in harmful pursuits

Types of Deliveries

Once the pregnancy has not established, the production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone continue but there is no shedding- the menstruation stops and a woman is said to have conceived. The fertilized ovum gradually grows into the fetus and it takes about 266 days for a fertilized egg to grow into a fully developed baby.
Normal Vaginal Delivery:
It is aided with a small cut of the vaginal outlet sometimes, the process is known as Episiotomy. Episiotomy is done to help quicker delivery and undue downward pressure on uterus and adjoining parts like bladder and rectum.
Suction Delivery:
It is a process in which suction is applied to the low descending head of the baby to hasten deliver. It is also called vacuum method of delivery and helps the mother to deliver quickly. Anesthesia is not required in most of the cases.
Forceps Delivery:
In this type the baby’s head is helped out with the use of forceps e.g. a large pair of tongs, which grasp the baby’s head for applying a downward pull. Mild anesthesia is given to the mother to avoid excessive pain.
Tubal delivery:
It is a rare complication in which the fertilized ovum or embryo becomes blocked in its passage through the fallopian tube. There the embryo continues to grow as it normally would within the uterus. However, the space between the tubes is too small to allow expansion that may rupture, causing a serious hemorrhage and also intense pain in the pelvis. This may also result acute appendicitis. Consult a doctor for necessary surgery as soon as a tubal pregnancy is suspected before the occurrence of hemorrhage.
Induced Delivery:
In this connection, labor is brought on or induced artificially by rupturing the membranes and letting out a little amniotic fluid, which stimulates labor pains. When the pains are too feeble or the delivery is overdue, labor is induced by administrating medicines, which contract the uterus.
Premature Delivery:
The termination of pregnancy after the fetus has become viable such as capable of living independently is called premature birth. And if the fetus is born dead, it is still-birth. Causes which produce abortions can endanger the growth of the fetus resulting in still birth or a premature delivery. Premature delivery is usually the problem with the placenta, the faulty blood supply to the fetus, defective hormone production and effect of injurious toxins and chemicals through the blood to the fetus.
Causes of Premature Delivery:
Obliquity of the uterus.
Uterus subseptus.
Premature fetus.
Dead, macerated and flaccid fetus.
Hydramnios.
Placenta praevia.
Pelvic tumor.
Breech Delivery:
Most babies are born in head-first position instead of feel-first or shoulder first. If the birth canal is adequate and the baby is small, there may not be any serious difficulty because of breech position. If the baby is bulky and the birth outlet small, this could be dangerous to both mother and the baby. Avoid traveling or bulky jerks during the last few days

Treatment for Bee Stings

Most of the people don’t remove the stinger immedialtely after the bee sting and thats a big mistake.
Take a plastic card such as credit card or driving license. Stinger can be removed by scraping the skin with the card edges.
Make a paste of baking soada, honey and papaya. Just crush the papaya amd mix all these. Dont make it too liquid. Ity should have some consistency so that you can apply over the affected area.
When you get sting from a bee immediately apply this paste over the inflammation area so that the poison wont spread further in the body. This treatment can be done 3 or 4 times so that you will get relief. If the pain is too intense then you can consult a doctor.
Generally if you are allergic to bees make use of EpiPen. It is always better to carry it when you are in travel.
Often clean your skin four or five times

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Grey Hairs at Young Age?

Some people have some issues with their hair. Although they are young but their hair had already started to become grey. How can this happen?
1) Genetic factorsA difficult factor to avoid. If a mother or father suffered grey hairs at young age, then the possibility for their children to get grey hairs is higher.
2) Lack of vitaminsHair hairs can be caused by lack of vitamin B and iron. People who suffered from anemia often get this kind of hair.
3) Lack of nutritious foodProtein is essential for the production of enzymes that form the pigment. If someone got not enough protein, grey hairs will start more quickly.
4) LifestyleStay away from cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke can increase the free radicals in the body not only to smokers but also those around them.
5) Inappropriate treatment People who like to change the colour of their hair may be exposed to these symptoms. Chemicals in hair dyes may not be good for the head skin.
6) Effects of radiationThose who got cancer tend to be more exposed to having grey hair than other people at their age.