Month: September 2009

Categories
News on Health & Science

Daily Aspirin Could be BAD for You

[amazon_link asins=’B01MR6XXBO,B00N2G7QKG,B0028AD6YW,B01GA15XZ4,B01GQSV3X2,B00OBTAC3G,B0745ZDW18,B00ENFQ1MO,B074BS421W’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9b334557-1d5e-11e8-a32d-616d1d9bd6bc’]

A British study has found that daily use of aspirin almost doubled the risk of dangerous internal bleeding, while having no effect on heart attacks or strokes.
The results will add to the confusion around the drug.

Millions are prescribed lowdose aspirin after a heart attack or stroke and there is pressure for ‘blanket prescribing’ to all middle-aged people, with one report suggesting most healthy men over 48 and women over 57 would benefit.
But concern has been mounting over the ‘worried well’ who take it, often without being aware of side-effects that can include internal bleeding.
An analysis in The Lancet medical journal earlier this year found that healthy people who took aspirin reduced their risk of heart attack or stroke – already small – by some 12 per cent.

But the risk of suffering bleeding increased by around a third.
In the latest study, by researchers at Edinburgh University, 3,350 middle-aged men and women were given either low-dose aspirin or a placebo (dummy pill) each day.
They were selected after tests of blood pressure in their ankles suggested the arteries in their legs were furred up.
But they had no symptoms of heart disease and had not suffered a heart attack.
Over eight years, they suffered 357 cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes.
There was no difference between the two groups in the rate of problems, but people taking aspirin were at a far higher risk of bleeding in the brain or stomach.

In all, 34 people on aspirin, two per cent of the group, had a major haemorrhage needing hospital treatment, compared with 20 (1.2 per cent) taking the placebo.

A further 14 aspirin takers developed a stomach ulcer, compared with eight on placebos.
The findings support those of other trials which have suggested that aspirin’s side- effects mean there is no net benefit for healthy people taking it.

The Edinburgh University report was presented yesterday at a meeting in Barcelona of the European Society of Cardiology, attended by more than 30,000 leading heart specialists.

Professor Gerry Fowkes, from the Wolfson Unit for Prevention of Peripheral Diseases in Edinburgh, who jointly led the study, said another six trials showed the same findings.

He said: ‘They have shown minor reductions in future cardiovascular events, but this has to be weighed up against an increase in bleeding, some of which can be serious and lead to death.
‘Our research suggests aspirin should not be prescribed to the general population.’
Millions of heart patients and diabetics are currently prescribed aspirin, in line with medical guidelines, because their doctors consider they are at high risk of heart attack.

In secondary prevention studies – where patients were taking aspirin to prevent a repeat attack – the drug has reduced the chances of serious vascular events by about a fifth, and this benefit clearly outweighed the small risk of bleeding.
Aspirin is also an ingredient of the ‘Polypill’, a multi-drug tablet being developed to cut the toll of heart attacks.

Nick Henderson, executive director of the Aspirin Foundation, said last night: ‘Aspirin used to prevent cardiovascular events is appropriate-only where individual patients are considered by their doctor to be a special risk from particular factors such as obesity, stress and family history.

‘The Aspirin Foundation continues to counsel individuals always to seek advice before embarking on a self-medication regime with aspirin for whatever reason.’

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, which helped fund the Edinburgh study, said thousands of ‘worried well’ people took aspirin as an insurance policy against heart attacks without understanding that they could be harmed.

He said the benefit of aspirin use for secondary prevention was wellestablished.
But he added: ‘Primary prevention patients who do not have cardiovascular disease will probably get a reduction in the small risk they have of a heart attack, but they will face a worse risk of harm from haemorrhage and potentially fatal haemorrhage.

‘Because it’s been around a long time people think “it must be safe and it can’t do me any harm”.
‘They are taking it “just in case” but it’s much more dangerous than some other drugs which people get concerned about, like statins.’

Source: Mail Online. Aug.31,2009

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
News on Health & Science

Elderly Skin ‘Raises Cancer Risk’

Older people are more at risk of skin cancer and infection because their skin is unable to mobilise the immune system to defend itself, UK research suggests.

It contradicts previous thinking that defects in a type of immune cell called a T cell were responsible for waning immunity with age.
Elderly skin 'raises cancer risk'
In fact, it is the inability of the skin to attract T cells to where they are needed that seems to be at fault.

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Study leader, Professor Arne Akbar from University College London, said reduced immunity in older people is well known, but why and how it happens is not.

“Going in to intervene may have consequences that we don’t realise and that’s where we need to do more research”says Professor Arne Akbar, study leader.

.

A number of volunteers – one group of 40-year-olds and one group aged over 70 – were injected with an antigen to stimulate an immune response from T cells.

As expected, the immune response in the older group was much less than that in the younger volunteers.

But when the researchers looked at the T cells there was nothing wrong with them.

What had declined in the older group was the ability of the skin to attract T cells – effectively the signals to direct them to the right place were missing.

Reversible
Further experiments with skin samples in a test tube showed that the skin was still able to send the appropriate signals when pushed, suggesting the problem is reversible.

“At the outset we thought it would be the cells responsible for combating infections that might be at fault, but the surprising thing was the T cells were fine but they couldn’t get into the skin – the signals were missing,” Mr Akbar said.

He said it raised the possibility of ways to boost the immune system in older people to give them a better chance of fighting infection and reducing the risk of skin cancer.

“The question that it raises is what survival advantage there is to this, is there a negative reason for having too much immunity in the skin when you get older?

“Going in to intervene may have consequences that we don’t realise and that’s where we need to do more research.”

He added that the same immune problems may be apparent in other tissues in the body.

Steve Visscher, deputy executive at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, which funded the research, said knowing more about the ageing process was vital as people increasingly live longer.

“The more knowledge we have about healthy ageing, the better we get at preventing, managing and treating diseases that are simply a factor of an ageing body.”

You may also click to see:-
>How flesh bug fools immune system
>Immune therapy Alzheimer’s hope
>Hope for test to measure ageing

Source: BBC NEWS: Aug.29 2009

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
Ailmemts & Remedies

Ear Infection

Alternative Names: Otitis media – acute; Infection – inner ear; Middle ear infection – acute
………………...CLICK & SEE
Definition:
Ear infections are one of the most common reasons parents take their children to the doctor. While there are different types of ear infections, the most common is called otitis media, which means an inflammation and infection of the middle ear. The middle ear is located just behind the eardrum.

There are two types of ear infection…Acute & Cronic.

The term “acute” refers to a short and painful episode. An ear infection that lasts a long time or comes and goes is called chronic otitis media.

You may click to learn more about ear infection:

Symptoms
An acute ear infection causes pain (earache). In infants, the clearest sign is often irritability and inconsolable crying. Many infants and children develop a fever or have trouble sleeping. Parents often think that tugging on the ear is a symptom of an ear infection, but studies have shown that the same number of children going to the doctor tug on the ear whether or not the ear is infected.

CLICK & SEE:->

Common Ear Infection

Acute Ear Infection

Cronic Ear Infection

Ear Infection of Bone

Other possible symptoms include:
*Fullness in the ear
*Feeling of general illness
*Vomiting
*Diarrhea
*Hearing loss in the affected ear
*The child may have symptoms of a cold, or the ear infection may start shortly after having a cold.

All acute ear infections include fluid behind the eardrum. You can use an electronic ear monitor, such as EarCheck, to detect this fluid at home. The device is available at pharmacies.

Possible Causes:
Ear infections are common in infants and children in part because their eustachian tubes become clogged easily. For each ear, a eustachian tube runs from the middle ear to the back of the throat. Its purpose is to drain fluid and bacteria that normally occurs in the middle ear. If the eustachian tube becomes blocked, fluid can build up and become infected.
Anything that causes the eustachian tubes and upper airways to become inflamed or irritated, or cause more fluids to be produced, can lead to a blocked eustachian tube. These include:

*Colds and sinus infections
*Allergies
*Tobacco smoke or other irritants
*Infected or overgrown adenoids
*Excess mucus and saliva produced during teething

Ear infections are also more likely if a child spends a lot of time drinking from a sippy cup or bottle while lying on his or her back. Contrary to popular opinion, getting water in the ears will not cause an acute ear infection, unless the eardrum has a hole from a previous episode.

Ear infections occur most frequently in the winter. An ear infection is not itself contagious, but a cold may spread among children and cause some of them to get ear infections.

Risk factors:

*Not being breast-fed
*Recent ear infection
*Recent illness of any type (lowers resistance of the body to infection)
*Day care (especially with more than 6 children)
*Pacifier use
*Genetic factors (susceptibility to infection may run in families)
*Changes in altitude or climate
*Cold climate
*Sudden change of weather

Diagnosis:
Signs and tests
The doctor will ask questions about whether your child (or you) have had ear infections in the past and will want you to describe the current symptoms, including whether your child has had any symptoms of a cold or allergies recently. Your doctor will examine your child’s throat, sinuses, head, neck, and lungs.

Using an instrument called an otoscope, the doctor will look inside your child’s ears. If infected, there may be areas of dullness or redness or there may be air bubbles or fluid behind the eardrum. The fluid may be bloody or purulent (filled with pus). The physician will also check for any sign of perforation (hole or holes) in the eardrum.

A hearing test may be recommended if your child has had persistent (chronic and recurrent) ear infections

Modern  Treatment
The goals for treating ear infections include relieving pain, curing the infection, preventing complications, and preventing recurrent ear infections. Most ear infections will safely clear up on their own without antibiotics. Often, treating the pain and allowing the body time to heal itself is all that is needed:

*Apply a warm cloth or warm water bottle.
*Use over-the-counter pain relief drops for ears.
*Take over-the counter medications for pain or fever, like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. DO NOT give aspirin to children.
*Use prescription ear drops to relieve pain.

ANTIBIOTICS
Some ear infections require antibiotics to clear the infection and to prevent them from becoming worse. This is more likely if the child is under age 2, has a fever, is acting sick (beyond just the ear), or is not improving over 24 to 48 hours.

However, for several years there was a tendency to over-prescribe antibiotics, leading to the increasing numbers of bacteria that are resistant to these drugs. Joint guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians are aimed at using antibiotics for ear infections when they are most needed. If the antibiotics do not seem to be working within 48 to 72 hours, contact your doctor to consider switching to a stronger antibiotic. Usually there is no benefit to more than two, or at the most three, rounds of appropriate antibiotics.

SURGERY
If there is fluid in the middle ear and the condition persists, even with antibiotic treatment, a healthcare provider may recommend myringotomy (surgical opening of the eardrum) to relieve pressure and allow drainage of the fluid. This may or may not involve the insertion of tympanostomy tubes (often referred to as ear tubes). In this procedure, a tiny tube is inserted into the eardrum, keeping open a small hole that allows air to get in so fluids can drain more easily down the eustachian tube. Tympanostomy tube insertion is done under general anesthesia. Usually the tubes fall out by themselves. Those that don’t may be removed in your doctor’s office.

If the adenoids are enlarged, surgical removal may be considered, especially if you have chronic, recurrent ear infections. Removing tonsils does not seem to help with ear infections.

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT:
Click to see:–
Alternative Treatment for Ear Infections :
Alternative to Tubes for Ear Infection Treatment:
Natural Cures For an Ear Infection – More Than Home Remedies:

Prognosis:
Ear infections are curable with treatment but may recur. They are not life threatening but may be quite painful.

Prevention:
What can kids do to prevent ear infections? You can avoid places where people are smoking, for one. Cigarette smoke can keep your eustachian tubes from working properly.
You can reduce your child’s risk of ear infections with the following practices:

*Wash hands and toys frequently. Also, day care with 6 or fewer children can lessen your child’s chances of getting a cold or similar infection. This leads to fewer ear infections.
*Avoid pacifiers, especially at daycare.
*Breastfeed — this makes a child much less prone to ear infections. But, if bottle feeding, hold your infant in an upright, seated position.
*Don’t expose your child to secondhand smoke.
*The pneumococcal vaccine prevents infections from the organism that most commonly causes acute ear infections and many respiratory infections.
*Some evidence suggests that xylitol, a natural sweetener, may reduce ear infections.
*Avoid overusing antibiotics.

Click to see:
Taking Care of Your Ears;
What’s Earwax?;
What’s Hearing Loss?

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.This is purely for educational purpose.

Resources:
http://kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/ear_infection.html
http://healthtools.aarp.org/adamcontent/ear-infection-acute?CMP=KNC-360i-GOOGLE-HEA&HBX_OU=50&HBX_PK=ear_infection_acute
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/ear-infection-acute/overview.html

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
Health Problems & Solutions

Not All Surgery

[amazon_link asins=’B071XKL45Q,B074469Q1L,1500715565,B0089SFJJM,B000J27IR2,1605296759,B000960KLY,1594480389,B00LGD0EO2′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6a64fefe-904b-11e7-9169-33fc3dac968a’]

Shock was writ all over her face and her husband’s. “How can I have diabetes,” asked the young woman. “When I saw the result of the blood sugar test, I thought it was a mistake. No one in my family has diabetes!” Well, that may be true, but it is also a fact that 2 per cent of the Indian population has diabetes and 15 per cent of pregnant women have abnormal blood glucose values.

Despite the epidemic of diabetes in our young urban adults, statistics about the exact prevalence of the disease in pregnancy are difficult to obtain. Many pregnant women are not tested. In centres offering antenatal care, the presence or absence of “sugar” in the urine — an unreliable test at best — is used to diagnose diabetes.

Blood should be tested as part of routine antenatal care. A fasting glucose level of more than 126mg/dL or 7mmols/L in pregnancy is considered abnormal. A blood sample can also be drawn one hour after ingesting 50g of glucose. A normal value is less than 140mg/dL or 7.8mmols/L. If it is higher, it needs to be followed by a three-hour OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) with a 100g glucose load. A positive diagnosis is made if the fasting value is 105mg/dl, the one-hour value 190 mg/dL, the two-hour value 165mg/dL and the three-hour value 145 mg/dL or more.

Some of the women with these values are diabetics who are asymptomatic and unaware of their condition. Others have relative insulin insufficiency, or MODY (maturity onset diabetes of the young), and are already on oral diabetic medications. Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome may be on the oral diabetic drug metformin. They may become overtly diabetic during pregnancy.

Others with abnormal blood sugar levels have gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a peculiar type of glucose intolerance which first appears during pregnancy in an otherwise normal woman. It can occur at any time during the pregnancy, though it is more likely to occur after 24 weeks. The exact reason for gestational diabetes is not known.

Women at risk are those who:-

* Have a family history of diabetes,

* Have a BMI (body mass index — that is, weight in kilogram divided by height in metre squared) of more than 30,

* Are older than 25,

* Have previously had large babies (more than 4kg) or still births.

The glucose in the mother’s blood crosses over via the placenta to the baby. The excess sugar supplied makes the baby grow rapidly. The baby’s pancreas starts to work overtime to lower the sugar to normal by secreting insulin. The excess calories are stored as fat. This gives rise to a large baby (macrosomia) weighing more than 4kg. This in itself increases mortality by 50 per cent. The size may cause the baby to get stuck in the birth canal. Forceful extraction can result in fractures of the collarbone or paralysis of the nerves to the arm. After birth, the baby’s pancreas continues to produce high levels of insulin as it is acclimatised to do so. This may cause the blood sugar levels in the baby to drop precipitously. The baby may then have seizures. In addition, it may develop other problems such as low blood levels of calcium and magnesium. Many babies also die (that is, are still born) while others (up to 50 per cent) may have breathing difficulties.

About 33 per cent may have polycythemia (excess blood) and 16 per cent develop jaundice at birth or soon after.

Mothers with GDM are also prone to develop other complications during the pregnancy such as hypertension. Almost 60 per cent of these women develop GDM in subsequent pregnancies, particularly if there has been maternal weight gain between the two pregnancies. Around 35 per cent will go on to develop diabetes in the next 15 years. The blood sugar in mothers with GDM should be well controlled to prevent complications in her as well as the baby. Diet regulation is needed to keep the sugars under control. Since not all women with GDM are obese, the diet has to be adjusted in accordance with the mother’s BMI. The diet should consist of 40 per cent carbohydrate, 20 per cent protein and 40 per cent fat.

Pregnant women do not really “have to eat for two”. The calorie requirements are

*35kcal/kg/ 24hour for a woman of normal weight (BMI 25).

* 24kcal/kg/ 24hour for overweight women (BMI 25-30).

* 12 to 15 kcal/kg/24hour for morbidly obese women (BMI 30-40).

* 40kcal/kg/24hour for underweight women (BMI less than 25).

A combination of diet control and aerobic exercise such as brisk walking for 45 minutes every day usually keeps the blood sugars normal. If the sugars remain high, insulin therapy may have to be started. Many of the oral diabetic medications cross the placenta and cause hypoglycaemia in the baby. Some of them are, however, used under supervision.

Unlike other forms of diabetes, which are permanent, GDM disappears after delivery. It, however, acts as a warning. Exercise for 45 minutes or more a day, reduce your weight and maintain your BMI at 23. That way, diabetes may not plague you in your later years.
.

Source: The Telkegraph (Kolkata, India)

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Categories
Positive thinking

Tips for Being a More Light-Hearted Parent

Do you want to be a more light-hearted parent; less nagging, more laughing?
CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES
Here are some tips that may help:

1.At least once a day, make each child helpless with laughter.

2.Sing in the morning. It’s hard both to sing and to maintain a grouchy mood, and it sets a happy tone for everyone.

3.Get enough sleep. It’s so tempting to stay up late, to enjoy the peace and quiet. But 6:30 AM comes fast.

4.Avoid feeling cranky by getting organized the night before and making sure you’re not rushed.

5.Most messages to kids are negative: “stop,” “don’t,” “no.” Try to cast your answers as “yes.” “Yes, we’ll go as soon as you’ve finished eating,” not “We’re not leaving until you’ve finished eating.”

6.Say “no” only when it really matters. Wear a bright red shirt with bright orange shorts? Sure. Put water in the toy tea set? Okay. Sleep with your head at the foot of the bed? Fine.

Everyone wants a peaceful, cheerful, even joyous, atmosphere at home — but you can’t nag and yell your way to get there. So think about ways, like those listed above, to cut back on the shouting and to add moments of laughing, singing, and saying “yes.”


Source: The Happiness Project July 15, 2006

You may click to see:-
The Secret of How to Be Happy
Warren Buffett’s 7 Secrets for Living a Happy and Simple Life
10 Keys to Work/Life Balance

Related articles by Zemanta
css.php