Month: January 2007

Categories
Health Problems & Solutions

First aid In Fever

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Fever is one of your body’s reactions to infection. What’s normal for you may be a little higher or lower than the average temperature of 98.6 F (37 C). That’s why it’s hard to say just what a fever is. But a “significant” fever is usually defined as an oral or ear temperature of 102 F or a rectal temperature of 103 F. For very young children and infants, however, even slightly elevated temperatures may indicate a serious infection. In newborns, a subnormal temperature   rather than a fever   also may be a sign of serious illness.

Don’t treat fevers below 101 F with any medications unless advised to do so by your doctor. If you have a fever of 101 F or higher, your doctor may suggest taking over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others). Adults may also use aspirin. But don’t give aspirin to children. It may trigger a rare, but potentially fatal, disorder known as   Reye’s syndrome.

How to take a temperature
You can choose from several types of thermometers. Today most have digital readouts. Some take the temperature quickly from the ear canal and can be especially useful for young children and older adults. Other thermometers can be used rectally, orally or under the arm. If you use a digital thermometer, be sure to read the instructions, so you know what the beeps mean and when to read the thermometer. Under normal circumstances, temperatures tend to be highest around 4 p.m. and lowest around 4 a.m.

Because of the potential for mercury exposure or ingestion, glass mercury thermometers have been phased out and are no longer recommended.

Rectally (for infants)
To take your child’s temperature rectally:

* Place a dab of petroleum jelly or other lubricant on the bulb.
* Lay your child on his or her stomach.
* Carefully insert the bulb one-half inch to one inch into the rectum.
* Hold the bulb and child still for three minutes. To avoid injury, don’t let go of the thermometer while it’s inside your child.
* Remove and read the temperature as recommended by the manufacturer.
* A rectal temperature reading is generally 1 degree F higher than an oral reading.

Orally
To take your temperature orally:

* Place the bulb under your tongue.
* Close your mouth for the recommended amount of time, usually three minutes.
* If you’re using a nondigital thermometer, remove it from your mouth and rotate it slowly until you can read the temperature accurately.

Under the arm (axillary)
Although it’s not the most accurate way to take a temperature, you can also use an oral thermometer for an armpit reading:

* Place the thermometer under your arm with your arm down.
* Hold your arms across your chest.
* Wait five minutes or as recommended by your thermometer’s manufacturer. Then remove the thermometer and read the temperature.
* An axillary reading is generally 1 degree F less than an oral reading

Get medical help for a fever in these cases:

* If a baby is younger than 2 months of age and has a rectal temperature of 100.4 F or higher. Even if your baby doesn’t have other signs or symptoms, call your doctor just to be safe.
* If a baby is older than 2 months of age and has a temperature of 102 F or higher.
* If a newborn has a lower-than-normal temperature — less than 95 F rectally.
* If a child younger than age 2 has a fever for longer than one day, or a child age 2 or older has a fever for longer than three days. If your child has a fever after being left in a very hot car, seek medical care immediately.
* If an adult has a temperature of more than 104 F or has had a fever for more than three days.

Call your doctor immediately if any of these signs or symptoms accompanies a fever:

* A severe headache
* Severe swelling of the throat
* Unusual skin rash
* Unusual eye sensitivity to bright light
* A stiff neck and pain when the head is bent forward
* Mental confusion
* Persistent vomiting
* Difficulty breathing or chest pain
* Extreme listlessness or irritability
* Abdominal pain or pain when urinating
* Any other unexplained symptoms

Source:MayoClinic.Com

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News on Health & Science

Pain Relief Found In Nature

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The recent removal of several high profile and popular prescription pain medications of the same pharmaceutical family, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, from the buyer’s market has left many people searching for a safer alternative for powerful, fast and effective pain relief. The most recent removal was Pfizer‘s pulling of Bextra, citing serious skin reactions, sometimes fatal, and two others, Vioxx and Celebrex have been linked to heart related risks.

The dangerous side effects of this particular family of medications is definitely cause for alarm, and has many seeking alternatives that will manage their pain effectively, without the serious risks of several pharmaceutical pain killers.

While there have always been natural and homeopathic pain relief remedies, there has never really been a powerful and viable alternative for people with chronic pain related to ailments ranging from back pain, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia, to rheumatism and hundreds of other joint, muscle, and nerve related ailments.

These individuals are in need of serious pain reduction therapy on an ongoing basis, and the typical natural remedy simply cannot compare to the speed and effectiveness of prescription pain medications and narcotic drugs, which suppresses pain by targeting the central nervous system. That is, until now.

Before we get into that, let’s look at some of the more widely known natural and herbal remedies for pain relief. These include varying dosages and combinations of “Devil’s Claw”, Willow Bark, the ayurvedic compound Boswellia, Camomile, Bromelain, St. John’s Wort, Horsetail, and numerous others too abundant to mention.

As previously mentioned, these herbs and natural compounds can soothe minor pains and aches, but do not work as effectively as their man-made prescription couterparts. There is now a natural pain remedy on the market that is actually highly effective, and has worked very well for many as a natural pain relief alternative by utilizing a specific blend of several high-grade botanicals designed to aggressively manage pain throughout the day.

These people not only are enjoying the benefits of it’s natural pain relief, but also, and perhaps even more importantly, they are enjoying the peace of mind knowing that they are not seriously endangering their health in other ways simply so they can manage their pain.

No one want to be incapacitated and limited by pain, but who wants to endanger their health just to manage it and live a fulfilling life, and why should you have to? Well, now these people have a natural pain relief solution that has literally been harvested from the land, unaltered, and in it’s purest state. Now, doesn’t that sound healthy?

You may visit Strong Natural Pain Reliever for more information on the natural pain reliever mentioned in this article. And see Herbal and Natural Remedy site Herbal- for Therapeutics Effective Herbal Remedies.

Source:EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danna_Schneider

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Fibrocystic Breasts

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Most doctors no longer call the pain and lumpiness of fibrocystic breasts a disease because this condition affects virtually half of all women under age 50. Selected supplements and a shift in diet may help diminish the symptoms of this disorder.

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Symptoms
Breast lumps or nodules that may be tender or not painful at all.
An increase in the size of lumps or in breast discomfort a week or so before a menstrual period.

When to Call Your Doctor
If a new lump develops, especially if you have not always had lumpy breasts.
If a lump grows larger, hardens, or does not diminish after your menstrual period ends.
If you have any discharge from either nipple.
If your breast pain is severe.
Reminder: If you have a medical condition, talk to your doctor before taking supplements.
What It Is
Such premenstrual changes have long been labeled fibrocystic breast disease. But this condition is not a disease, and it doesn’t increase your risk of breast cancer (though having lumpy breasts may make identifying a cancerous growth more difficult if one develops). Normal lumps can usually be distinguished from cancerous ones because they move freely in the breast, changing with the menstrual cycle.

What Causes It
Fibrocystic changes in the breast are linked to the rise and fall of hormones associated with the menstrual cycle. Women who produce a particularly high level of estrogen in conjunction with a low level of progesterone after ovulation may suffer more. This combination can cause the body to produce too much prolactin, a hormone that triggers milk production in new mothers but increases breast tenderness in women who are not breast-feeding. Many experts think caffeine stimulates the growth of lumps or fluid-filled breast cysts (and some women showed improvement when they eliminate caffeine), but other researchers maintain there’s no firm evidence of any connection between caffeine and breast tenderness.

How Supplements Can Help
All the supplements listed can be used together and as needed; you should see improvement in a month or two. Many women report relief from breast pain after taking vitamin E. Just how it works is unknown, but some experts believe this vitamin blocks the changes in breast tissue possibly caused by caffeine.

What Else You Can Do
Eliminate caffeine and see if that helps. Besides coffee and tea, caffeine is found in chocolate, colas, and some over-the-counter medications. Be patient: Six months may pass before you notice any improvement.
Wear a bra with good support when your breasts are tender.

Supplement Recommendations
Vitamin E
Chasteberry
Essential Fatty Acids
Magnesium
Vitamin B6

Vitamin E
Dosage: 400 IU twice a day.
Comments: Check with your doctor if taking anticoagulant drugs.

Chasteberry
Dosage: 225 mg standardized extract each morning.
Comments: Also called vitex. Should contain 0.5% agnuside.

Essential Fatty Acids
Dosage: 1,000 mg evening primrose oil 3 times a day; 1 tbsp. (14 grams) flaxseed oil a day.
Comments: Or use 1,000 mg borage oil once a day for primrose oil.

Magnesium
Dosage: 600 mg a day.
Comments: Take with food; reduce dose if diarrhea develops.

Vitamin B6
Dosage: 100 mg twice a day for 1 week.
Comments: Take this amount only the week before menstruation; this dose can cause nerve damage if taken daily over the long term.

Source:Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs(Reader’s Digest)

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.

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News on Health & Science

Engineered Chickens Make Cancer Drugs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A team at the institute that cloned Dolly the sheep have made a genetically engineered chicken that produces cancer drugs in its eggs.

The chickens produce the cancer drugs in their egg whites, the team at the Roslin Biocentre in Edinburgh reported.

The drugs include a monoclonal antibody — themselves lab-engineered immune system proteins — and a human immune system protein used to treat cancer and other conditions, the researchers report in the upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

These drugs are not easy to make in the lab. “Many human therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, are produced in industrial bioreactors, but setting up such systems is both time-consuming and expensive,” the researchers wrote.

Scientists have been trying to find good ways to turn animals into factories instead — given that animals naturally make such proteins anyway.

Cattle, sheep and goats all have been genetically engineered to produce human proteins in their milk, including insulin and drugs to treat cystic fibrosis, but the Roslin team thought chickens, with their shorter life cycles and egg-laying prowess, also might be useful.

Helen Sang and colleagues at Roslin made the genetically engineered or transgenic hens by inserting the genes for the desired proteins into the hen’s gene for ovalbumin, a protein that makes up half of egg whites.

They wanted to ensure the hens made the proteins in their egg whites and nowhere else.

The proteins they chose were miR24, a monoclonal antibody with potential for treating melanoma, and human interferon b-1a, an immune system protein from a family of proteins that attacks tumors and viruses.

They used a virus to infect very early chicken embryos. The virus inserted the genetic material into the DNA of chick embryos in newly laid eggs.

The researchers hatched these chicks and found the male chicks who had indeed incorporated the new DNA in their semen.

These cockerels were then bred with normal hens and they screened the resulting chicks to see which ones still carried the two new genes. The researchers have now bred several hundred chickens that can produce the desired proteins.

They worked with Viragen (Scotland) Ltd., a subsidiary of the U.S. biotechnology company Viragen and Oxford Biomedica Ltd.

Other companies have created animals and plants that produce human and animal proteins, as well as vaccines.

Source:The New York Times

Categories
Positive thinking

Creating Connections While Apart

Life’s journeys may sometimes take us away from our families and friends, but there are many ways to stay connected. Aside from making use of the technology available—speaking on the phone or seeing each other from across cyberspace—we can create simple ceremonies using nature and our own thoughts to connect our hearts across the miles.

The first step in creating your ceremony is to look to nature for similarities in the different surroundings. The second step is agreeing upon something that is meaningful to all involved. If your mother loves birds, then perhaps each time you hear a bird chirp, you can think of her and mentally send love. You may choose the sight of a butterfly, the feel of a breeze or raindrops, or the scent of flowers to remind you of a special someone. The pink glow of sunset might be your favorite time to send a thought, or perhaps the warming oranges of sunrise. We can all see the sun, the moon, and an array of twinkling stars when we look to the skies. The monthly full moon may be your time to connect with your loved ones, or the first star you see each night, knowing that they, too, are gazing into the night sky and sending love. You could choose a day that you would usually celebrate together, such as a holiday or a solstice. If you once shared Sunday brunches in the garden, you can! each seek out a garden on Sundays. Or you can choose a specific time and account for the time difference in order to connect by heart and mind at exactly the same moment.

With practice, we may learn to recognize the feeling that comes when a loved one sends energy our way, and the feeling of soul-to-soul communication. In this case, distance may indeed make our connections stronger. There is certainly much to make us think of our close friends and loved ones often, but when we decide upon a reminder together, we create a simple ceremony of connection that defies any distance.

Source:Daily Om

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