If you have been feeling off balance off late, chances are you might have vertigo. A person suffering from vertigo has a false sense of spinning dizziness. In this, the person feels that they are spinning, or that the world around them is spinning. It is not as commonly believed a fear of heights, but can occur when looking down from a great height. There are various reasons why a person may start to show vertigo symptoms:

Causes of vertigo

Vertigo most typically happens when there is something wrong with the inner ear, brain or the sensory nerve pathway.

Most common causes of vertigo are:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV): This is a problem in the inner ear, that sends signals to the head and body regarding movements in keeping in tune with gravity. BPPV means that tiny calcium particles have collected in the canals of the inner ear.

Labyrinthus: Technically known as vestibular neuritis, this happens due to a viral infection in the inner ear that weaken nerves important for the body sense balance.

Meniere’s disease: Due to the buildup of fluid and changing pressure in the inner ear, a person might start to feel giddy. In this, vertigo might be followed by ringing in the ears and even hearing loss.

However, there are some less common causes that people have reported like:

• Head or neck injury
• A migraine headache
• Stroke or tumour
• Medications that might have caused ear damage

 

Symptoms of vertigo

Vertigo can be a symptom of other conditions or has a set of specific symptoms of its own. Common symptoms include:

• Spinning or swaying
• A feeling of being tilted or pulled to one direction
• Unbalanced
• Feeling nauseated
• Abnormal or jerking eye movements
• Sweating
• Ringing in the ears

 

How does vertigo impact your life?

Vertigo can happen at any age, but it is the age group of 65 years and above that most exhibits this condition. Vertigo may come and go – it can be a temporary or long-term. Persistent vertigo is often linked to mental health issues and may require medication. Vertigo can hinder day to day functioning and could lead to anxiety and even depression if not dealt with properly.

 

How can vertigo be treated?

Most commonly, vertigo comes and goes. But treatment would depend on the cause. Medication to treat the underlying cause definitely helps. Physical therapy might also be prescribed to strengthen the vestibular system. In rare cases, inner surgery is carried out to treat patients with intractable benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

The outlook for people suffering from vertigo is certainly positive with some lifestyle changes involved. These people should refrain from driving. Certain changes can be made at home and cane can be employed while walking to prevent falls. They are also advised getting up slowly, and not making sudden changes in head position!

Our body is constituent of various small and big compositions of several liquids, molecules and particles and the harmonical synthesis of these creates an equilibrium that our body follows and adheres to, however, an abnormality or disruption in any aspect of our internal bodily often causes changes in our body and its appearances that is most often quite noticeable! Boils can occur to anyone at almost any age but the younger you are, the more likely you may be to getting boils on your skin!

This article aims to shed light on a topic that is most commonly searched about on the web and is a frequent phenomenon in both men and women- occurrence of boils. To understand why such a thing transpires in our system, we need to delve into what it is and how it is caused.

 

So, what are boils?

The simplest way to define a boil is a minor skin infection in one’s hair follicles or in the oil gland that causes redness and slight swelling followed by a pus formation inside the lump caused by the skin infection. They can occur or appear in any part of the body and the most common place of occurrence is the face, armpits, thighs and eyes which is referred to as a “sty”.

 

What causes boils?

Staphylococcal bacteria is often the cause for most of the boils one gets. It’s basically a germ that enters the hair follicles through pores or smaller nicks and cuts on the surface of one’s body causing an irritation, leading to a pus formation in most cases. The size of a pus may vary from one person to another, the area affected or the size of one’s pores. Boils may also be prevalent in those who have a particular type of skin that attracts more external particles or dust towards them such as those with an oily skin or a combination skin type.

 

What are the symptoms & who are more likely to be affected?

Boils usually appear as tiny red lumps, that are slightly hard to touch and painful in most cases. The size of the boil generally increases almost up to two-three times its initial size in a couple of days time and gradually tends to form a pus inside it!

People in their initial puberty stage are likely to get boils more often, people who are diabetic might suffer from boils, someone lacking a particular nutrient or an undernourished person is also likely to be susceptible to getting boils and those who tend to be on the oilier side of things also might be prone to boils a bit more than the rest. Pregnant women, smokers, alcoholics, and women in menopause are also more vulnerable to getting boils.

 

Is it harmful & are home remedies enough to treat them?

No, boils alone may not be a harmful condition. They are almost a part and parcel of everyone’s life and usually come and reduce on their own. A large number of people also turn towards natural and homemade remedies to treat boils and are often quite effective! The right ingredients in the right measurements are highly likely to treat the boil and help reduce or completely eradicate the boil and most people choose these remedies as they are easily available, inexpensive and most importantly, they are effective! However, home remedies such as applying honey, calcium, toothpaste, curd, etc can be highly useful for those whose boils are temporary and have not been prevalent for a long time. It is imperative, however, to consult a doctor if it’s a recurring and painful occurrence each time. The following are signs or indications for seeking medical assistance:

• If you get a fever
• The boil turns extremely red and painful
• If the pus does not naturally drain out
• If another boil erupts beside the first one
• If the boil turns bigger and red streaks appear around it

 

Boils may not be harmful by themselves but can be a potential indication that your body is going through some kind of a change internally and must be addressed immediately as ignoring a big, painful or recurring boil can lead to some other health condition eventually. It is best to treat your skin with care, using natural and chemical-free products as much as possible and by eating healthy and a balanced meal.

Did you know that though menstruation is a common phenomenon for most woman, it’s very different from one person to another? Each woman goes through menstruation but the experience or feeling is varied depending on several other things! Menstruation is a symbolic process that transpires in a woman’s body once she hits puberty as it’s the body’s way of communicating to you that it is now prepared to produce fertile eggs and can bear children henceforth. Menstruation, however, comes with various mild to moderate issues along with it that are known to cause slight distress and pain in women. Symptoms range from soreness in the breasts, gas formation, loose motions/diarrhoea, nausea, bloating, stomach cramps and several similar conditions. All of which are natural and do not pose any threat to the body when occurring in a regular timeline, however, any irregularity or change in the flow of period blood needs to monitor and consulted by an authorized gynecologist immediately.

The menstrual cycle of some women may change or face some irregularity in cases where the woman is under some sort of medication that may have a direct effect on her hormonal balance, etc and one must be sure to understand all the side effects that any medication they are prescribed may have before consuming them. One such symptom that is highly noticeable in women during their menstruation period is diarrhoea and this article is mainly focussed on discussing whether diarrhoea during periods is normal or if there’s something that you should be worried about!

 

What causes Menstrual Diarrhoea?

Menstrual diarrhoea is not a concrete process or mechanism that has been pinpointed with a specific cause by researchers and doctors, however, changes in hormone levels are believed to be the factor responsible for these gastrointestinal symptoms related to your menstrual cycle.

It is believed to have been caused by a chemical named as prostaglandin, that gets released during the time of menstruation and it stimulates a contractile activity in the colon, which can lead to further lead to diarrhoea. Another reason as to why women excrete more often during their menstrual cycle is due to the fall of progesterone levels in their body alongside the contractions in the uterus that ceases the blood flow for a short span causing pain in most cases. Prostaglandin is known to be the main cause for pain and cramps and it is a lipid that your body uses to prevent loss of blood and promotes clotting. It helps by making the blood vessels narrow down causing contractions and after the ovulation period, the periphery of your uterus is flooded with prostaglandins. Which is when this tissue disintegrates and you begin to menstruate, the prostaglandins have released that signal to smooth muscle tissue in the uterus internally.

 

Is it harmful or a cause of worry?

No! Not unless it is in moderation and does not cause you extreme pain, discomfort or bleeding. There might be spots or traces of blood during your menstruation but that is natural especially during that time of the month, however, if the bleeding from your anus or the amount of blood in your feces is noticeably more or drastic then it is best to get it checked as it may be an indication of some other health problem that you may be suffering from. The real reason why you might have an irritable bowel movement during your periods is that, when you’re on your period, your body is not producing enough progesterone which leads to discrepancies in both your uterus and your gastrointestinal tract moving much more freely causing an unregulated flow of excreta. As most gynecologists suggest, menstrual diarrhoea is a natural phenomenon and does not have to concern you immensely!

Menstruation is dealt in different ways by different people and that’s how the world works but it is also a precious span of a woman’s life as some may believe that it is when a girl truly becomes a woman! This natural process may cause some disruptions to a woman’s regular life for a few days every month but it surely has a great pay off when you think of the fact that it ensures that your body is regularly filtering out the unused eggs and replacing it with a set of new ones, so you can bear a child when you are completely ready for it!

If you know a little bit about a human’s anatomy, you would be aware that structurally we are all very similar. Every egg is born as a female and a distinct reaction or process then determines whether it turns into a female or a male fetus. This is precisely why men also have nipples but the extent of which they are formed or sized vary from that of women! Breasts are what females are bestowed with and the same is referred to as “chest” for men. However, in this article, we talk about breast cancer and how it is not only a “woman’s disease” but can be as threatening to men, even if the chances of occurrence are rare. It aims to clear the fog around it being a woman’s condition and help spread more awareness regarding the condition that can be as risky to either gender.

Breast cancer is commonly associated with women for obvious reasons but it is quite possible for men to be detected with breast cancer as well. Although rare, about 350 men get detected with breast cancer in the UK, suggests studies.

 

To be able to identify if you or a loved one is showing signs of breast cancer, it is important to know the following sign:

• A lump formation in the armpits, chest or nipple area
• Dimpled or puckered skin.
• The appearance of red, scaly nipple or skin.
• Noticing any type of fluid discharge from the nipples.

 

The Male Breast Cancer Study researched and found more about what causes it and identified its risk factor based on the genders. The lack of awareness regarding the subject is quite often the reason why a lot of men carry a stigma around the same, however, here are things that you must know about the risks involved in breast cancer in men:

• Exposure to radiation.
• Being developed with diseases that raise estrogen levels
• It may also be hereditary and depend on having more than one female relative detected with breast cancer.
• A sedentary lifestyle may also add to the risks especially if you are extremely obese

 

Breast cancer may not be completely avoidable or prevented but there are several habits and ways in which you can drastically reduce the chance of being detected with any form of cancer. The ways in which you can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer are:

• Avoid/Do not indulge in smoking. It is a world known fact that smoking contains carcinogens apart from a range of other harmful chemicals that aid cancer.
• Limited alcohol consumption is advised.
• Watch your weight from an early age, avoid eating heavily processed foods, saturated fats and chemical-laden food items that aid in weight gain.
• Live and follow a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, avoid being exposed to direct pollution for a prolonged time span.
• Do not engage in extensive hormone therapy

 

As common as it is to hear about breast cancer under a cloud of pink, due to its overly gendered approach, it is essential that we make ourselves informed about the truth of this fatal condition so that we can share this knowledge and help those who need to know about this and become aware of it. A healthy lifestyle is one of the most basic yet most ignored factors in our lives which when taken care of, can reduce the risk of developing a lot of health conditions and diseases!

Loss of any kind of vitamins and minerals in the body can lead to complications, most often avoidable. The loss of iodine is no exception. Certain amount of iodine is needed in the body for it to carry out important functions – like making a chemical known as thyroid hormone. Low levels of iodine in the body can cause abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland, along with other problems relating to the gland. This usually happens with adults. In children, it causes mental disabilities.

How much iodine does the body require?

Since the body can’t naturally make iodine, one should make sure that they include iodine in their diet. There are several types of eatables, including iodized salt, that contain iodine and should be consumed on a regular basis. These foods include fish, eggs, nuts, meats, seaweed, bread and dairy products.

While adults should consume 150 micrograms (mcg) of iodine per day, pregnant and breastfeeding women need 200 mcg per day. However, even after consuming the daily required dosage of iodine, some poeple fall prey to this disease when their bodies are not capable of correctly processing iodine!

What are the symptoms of IDD?

• Hypothyroidism which is low levels of thyroid hormones. This comes with signs such as fatigue, puffy face, thinning hair, pain or stiffness in the joints, constipation, dry skin, weight gain, elevated blood cholesterol levels and sometimes even depression.

• In infants, it can also show up in the form of frequent choking, large tongue or extreme sleepiness.

• As for children, this condition causes poor growth and development as well as delayed puberty.

• Swelling of the thyroid gland causing a visible lump called goitre on the neck.

• Cognitive symptoms, most often in children that include low IQ and other forms of mental impairment reducing intellectual capacity at home, school or work.

How can IDD be treated?

IDD is a fairly preventable disease and easily treatable when caught early. Most poeple can tackle it by changing their diet and adding iodine supplements to it. Adding potassium supplements helps in better absorption of iodine in the body, so look to add some potassium iodide and potassium iodate supplements as well. But make sure you don’t exceed the required dosage of 150mcg of iodine per day!

What are the complications if left untreated?

• People who suffer from iodine deficiency the most include vegans, vegetarians and pregnant women.

• Iodine deficiency disorders when left untreated can jeopardize children’s mental health and often their very survival.

• IDD complications during pregnancy can lead to stillbirth and spontaneous abortion.

• Cretinism is a grave and irreversible form of mental retardation that affects people living in iodine-deficient areas of Africa and Asia.

• Myxedema is also a rare and life-threatening complication of hypothyroidism that is caused by iodine deficiency.

IDD has been affecting about 2 billion people worldwide and today, we are on the verge of eliminating it from the world. This is being touted as one of the major triumphs in public healthcare sector.

Can hand washing help prevent infections?
All of us deserve to lead healthy lives. A simple step like washing hands when inculcated as a habit goes a long way in maintaining healthy body and mind on a regular basis.

How hand washing prevents infections?
We are surrounded by germs all the time, but our immune system helps to safeguard us from these germs. Our skin acts as a first line of defence. But often there is a breach in this protection when germs enter inside our body. Hands are the most common source for transmission of germs. Food touched by unwashed hands will contain germs which are then transferred to internal body parts through the mouth when eating. Your hands might appear visibly clean but these germs cannot be observed under the naked eye. Food prepared and consumed without washing hands spoils the food. The infectious agents will often find food materials conducive for their growth. This can lead to transmission of infection in the entire family. So, this indicates a high significance of washing hands especially before eating or preparing food.

You just need to do a gentle anti-bacterial cleansing of your hands to remove the gross impurities as well as the germs hidden inside the nails or web of the fingers. Washing hands before touching your eyes is also very important. The eyes are very sensitive, contact with dirty hands could lead to inflammation. Kids require special guidance on hand hygiene especially after using toilets and this instruction needs to be reinforced time and again.

What are the proper techniques of hand washing?

There is a greater probability of infection spreading from the patient to the doctor, nurses or any visitor and vice versa, inside the hospitals. Today in many hospitals, acquired infections have been lowered to almost 1-2% by adopting simple hand washing techniques. One such technique advised by the World Health Organization to follow universally in hospital setups is the 5 Moments of Hand Hygiene - before clean/aseptic procedures, after body fluid exposure/risk, after touching a patient, and after touching patient surroundings.
Similarly, schools and colleges need to adopt hand hygiene program as children spend more than half of their day inside the premises of their educational institutions. A proper effective hand hygiene program should describe the method and instances when children need to wash their hands. Entry to pets inside the schools should be avoided as children often like to play with them. The non-vaccinated pets carrying germs can transfer these to the children and cause infections.

Hence, a greater emphasis on the promotion of hand washing is required. An appropriate training methodology deployed in various places of work, study and play can help achieve the goal of institutionalising this as a regular practice.

How to ensure your pregnancy weight is not too much

No matter what stage of pregnancy you’re at, or how many times you’ve been pregnant before, weight gain would most definitely be a part of your journey. Sometimes managing it during, and losing it afterwards, can be a struggle. All doctors would advise you to be better informed from the word go, and keep weight in check even when you in the process of planning a baby. Apart from that, here are some other tips to better tackle your pregnancy weight and ensure it is not too much!

Start pregnancy at a healthy weight –
Any would-be mother would want to do anything for their baby. For that, you have to start with yourself. Maintain a healthy BMI even when you’re not pregnant. Schedule an appointment with your doctor who will help you do the same.

Eat moderately and frequently
Just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean you have to eat for two! For normal-weight patients, they should gain 25-35 pounds during the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Too much weight during pregnancy puts the mother at a high risk of developing diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Also the baby will be bigger that could lead to complications during delivery. The would-be mother needs only 300 calories extra a day to make a healthy baby. Small, frequent meals that are high in lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables would do the trick.

Know how to hydrate
Just like your calories, your water intake too needs to be increased during pregnancy. This will keep you fuller between meals. Avoid too many fruit juices that are loaded with sugar. Experts recommend eating whole fruits with a glass of water alongside. Getting enough fluid, as much as 3 litres of water daily, would also keep any uncomfortable bloating at bay.

Make your cravings constructive
No doctor would advise you to curb your pregnancy cravings. But satisfying your urges along with getting the healthy fats and proteins you and your baby needs will help in moving things along faster. Take a nutrition class if need be, the nutritionist will help explain better how you could combine something of high nutritional content with one of your less healthy cravings as part of your pregnancy diet.

Exercising, even though lightly, is the key
For fewer aches and cramps, it is imperative for pregnant women to stay active. Walking is the best form of exercise for expecting women – it is easy and definitely yields results like the natural release of insulin after 15 minutes!

Breastfeeding will help manage weight loss goals in the long run
Although this tip won’t hold valid during pregnancy, it is a proven fact that breastfeeding is the best fix for losing the extra weight gained during pregnancy. Breastfeeding alone can help the mother lose upto 500 calories a day!

The physical and mental toll on the body during pregnancy can be overwhelming – so don’t fight too hard. Enjoy your pregnancy in a way that makes you better prepared for what’s coming after!

A familiar scenario prevails today where we often observe people consuming unhealthy food from the restaurants or local street vendors. Today meals are commonly eaten on the go because of lack of time to cook at home or excess work pressure. And so it is important to understand the nature of unhealthy dietary habits and how to alter these to protect your immune system from its damaging effects.

What do poor eating habits include?

Poor eating habits include over-eating or under-eating and not consuming healthy diet and eating food rich in fats & drinks high in sodium or sugar. Junk food is indeed tastier because of the high fat content in it. But it does not fulfill your nutritional requirements as it is processed really fast inside the body. It leaves your hungry within an hour or two after your last meal. So essentially, it is food that has been consumed in vain as it doesn’t nourish your body. Instead the high fats in the unhealthy food can lead to deterioration of the body cells. Studies have also indicated that junk food being is associated with the growth of cancer cells. Under-eating too deprives your body directly because of the consumption of nutrients lower than the optimum levels required for maintaining normal body functions.

What are the effects on the immune system?

Your body is comprised of protective cells called the immune cells. The immune cells also require nutritional elements such as vitamins and minerals for their growth, just like any other body cell. When you consume junk food that comprises of only certain food groups, you deprive your body of nutritional gain. Due to this, immune cells fail to mature or are formed in insufficient numbers to defend the body against various ailments. Also, the organs in your immune system such as Thymus, Lymph nodes, Spleen, which are actively involved in filtering out of infectious agents, start malfunctioning. This can have chronic and irreversible harmful effect on the immune system.

Excessive eating habits also lead to weight gain. Obese people find it increasingly difficult to perform day-to-day activities and become susceptible to diseases like autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, hypertension, diabetes and innumerable other ailments. These illnesses further weaken your immune system.

How to cope and change your poor eating habits?

Poor eating habits can become the perpetual cause of stress in your lives as the body continues to get overweight or underweight. As your body shape can get deformed, you may suffer from self- esteem issues and lack of self confidence. This indirectly affects your social connections at family or work So, to be ahead in this competitive time, you need to actively involve yourself in seeking a healthy lifestyle by opting out of unhealthy eating habits.

• Consume balanced diet rich in fibre, vitamins and mineral content

• Include lots of green leafy vegetables and fruits in your diet.

• You should neither skip your meals nor do binge eating on multiple occasions.

• Devise a plan to restrain your temptations to consume unhealthy food and set realistic goals.

• Discuss with your physician as well as dietician and seek health advice & perform medical tests if advised.

• Discuss with your family to seek emotional support during the habit transformation.

Our body is strong enough to fight most of the harmful diseases and ailments that affect humankind. It is up to us to build its strength through the right diet and self care.

 

More often than not, vision problems in children can go undetected for a long time. The reason

could be that your child might not be vocal about the vision problems they might be facing in

and out of the classroom, or even you might not be able to identify the early signs of any vision

Impairment.

Detecting a child’s vision problems can be a daunting task for parents, yet it is important. It is

better to know all signs that your kid might be showing that hint towards a poor/hindered vision.

Here are some of them that you must take note of immediately:

Squinting:

Squinting is a defense mechanism on your kid’s part to focus on an image better. Doing this

could mean that your little one has a refractive error which he is temporarily and impulsively

trying to correct to improve his/her clarity of vision. If you see them squinting to see something

on more than one occasion, this definitely needs investigation.

Tilting head on one side:

This is another way kids adapt to compensate for eye misalignments. This could be a sign of

eye muscle imbalance or a lazy eye. Tilting head on one side means the kid wants to see past

the eyelid that might be in the way or to make an object appear directly in front of him. This also

provides respite from double vision even though for a short while.

Headaches/eye pain:

This happens due to overexertion that the eyes are put throughout the day. To improve focus

and clarity your child might be putting an extra burden on the eyes, while a headache could be

due to added frustration due to blurred vision and resultant poor performance.

Holding books or devices too close to the eye:

People who have myopia or nearsightedness have clear vision at close range and poorer vision

at a distance. If your kid keeps the book too close to the eye or sits too close to the TV, this is

his/her attempt to see things bigger and clearer.

Rubbing eyes excessively:

Rubbing eyes if they are itchy or watery could be a sign for several eye conditions such as

allergies or even conjunctivitis. However, it is also a clear indication of eye fatigue that the organ

goes throughout the day because of poor vision.

If your little one is exhibiting any of these signs, yes, they definitely need glasses. Even with

vision screening that most schools hold imperative for a child’s eye health, some of the vision

problems might still be hidden, and only adding to your little one’s frustration as they struggle to

read the blackboard. Don’t look at it in a negative way, if your kid starts wearing glasses, there

eyesight might just improve or strengthen with time while being protected from poor vision!

 

Obesity is the condition in which your body’s weight increases and tends to have adverse effects on your overall health. Obesity can put your body under several other risks such as arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, obstructive sleep apnea, depression, and several others. Obesity is considered to be unhealthy as it is most often the result of following a sedentary lifestyle, lack of activity, heredity and irregular and unhealthy food habits. However, there are several other aspects that affect one’s body weight and may cause obesity which is often neglected by people but are genuine, factual causes of obesity such as severe hormonal imbalance, PCOS, depression, types of thyroid and several such physiological aspects. Apart from obesity being a taboo subject, there are several myths that revolve around it.

This article is directed towards debunking the myths regarding obesity.

Some of the common myths that are often related to obesity and being fat are:

1. Weight gain is all about calorie in and calorie out

This is a common belief but it is not true. Weight gain can be due to varied factors and especially if the food you eat is predominantly unhealthy or fails to provide you with the necessary nutrition.

2. You cannot lose weight if you don’t have a strong willpower

This again is absolutely untrue! The truth is that your willpower along with various other factors plays a role in deciding your weight.

3. Setting realistic goals in obesity treatment is important because otherwise patients will become frustrated and lose less weight.

However, to goal-setting theory, unachievable goals recede performance and discourage goal-attaining behavior; when losing weight, the expected and one’s actual weight loss is assumed to undermine the patient’s perceived capacity or ability to attain a certain goals which may further lead to a discontinuation of the required behavior or strategy needed for weight loss.

4. All fat people are unhealthy

No, fat may be caused due to various reasons and the effects and appearance of it can vary from case to case. Fat people may weigh excessively due to a certain reason but at the same time can be highly active, agile and healthy.

5. Evaluating the stage of change or diet willingness is important to help patients seeking weight-loss treatment

A lot of people believe that people who wish to undergo weight loss are not as ready to make drastic lifestyle changes as required which again is a completely personal choice and generalizing the same on everyone may not hold good.

The truth is that weight loss and fat loss and two different things and a lot of people often confuse the same. The necessity or willingness to reduce weight must solely be based on the drivenness of the individual in need of weight loss. It must not be due to societal pressure or self-doubt but only as an attempt to keep oneself healthy and active in order to assure longevity and an active lifestyle in the long run.