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Lousy Problem

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Itchy scalp? Scratching in public? And people looking askance at you? The problem could be dandruff or seborrhic dermatitis. Or worse, it could be lice.

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Lice (singular: louse) are ectoparasites — that is, they live on the outside. Each insect is about the size of a sesame seed, with six legs and no wings. Human lice cannot survive on other animals such as cats, dogs and birds. They are also specific to the area they infest. They may live on the head (head lice). A slightly different variety lives in the genital area (pubic lice). A third type (body lice) lives only on the body.

School-going children are particularly likely to pick up head lice. In India, 60 per cent of girls in the age group of five to 11 are infested. This is, however, wrongly attributed to poor hygiene and low socioeconomic status. The social stigma attached to lice infestation and accusing letters from school authorities add to the psychological trauma of the child and her parents.

Lice feed on human blood and live for 30 days. If they fall off the body, they can survive on clothes, combs, crash helmets, bed sheets or pillows for two days. Each pair of lice lays about 100 eggs. These characteristics make them a tough species. They have managed to survive unchanged for more than 2,000 years. Archaeologists have found evidence of lice on Egyptian mummies, which are identical to the ones seen today.

The spread of lice occurs only if there is close contact with infested persons or their personal belongings. A louse cannot jump or fly. It has to crawl to its next victim. Once the insect has settled, it immediately starts to bite and feed. Lice release chemicals from their saliva which can cause intense scratching. This introduces bacteria to the skin which may cause secondary infection. The lymph nodes may become enlarged and appear as painful lumps in the neck.

There are many home remedies for lice. Mixtures of oils or ghee are sometimes applied in the hope that it will smother the lice. Others may shampoo frequently, thinking it will drown or wash away the insects. These, however, do not work.

The “lice comb” is a traditional and effective method. The comb may be made of metal, plastic or wood. Combing has to be done every day for two to three months. When the adult lice fall off, they have to be killed. Removing nits with a comb is difficult, tedious, time consuming and somewhat painful. Moreover, the child may not cooperate.

There is another effective method. Often in traditional families, all the members get their heads tonsured under some religious pretext. No hair, no lice.

Many chemicals are known to eradicate lice. Kerosene, for example, is effective when applied to the whole head and left for two or three hours. The head should be tied up securely in a cloth. But the method is dangerous as kerosene is highly inflammable.

Medicated “lice treatment” shampoos and lotions contain malathion, lindane and permethrin and can be applied to the hair. These chemicals paralyse the lice. The motionless insects must then be removed by washing or combing as they can recover movement in two or three hours.

The medications, however, do not remove all the lice. Only about 20 per cent are susceptible to the commonly used chemicals. The tough survivors mutate, thrive and multiply even in the presence of these chemicals. Higher concentrations offer no greater benefit. Instead, they seep through the skin and may build up to toxic levels. Also, the chemicals cannot be used in pregnant women and children under one. Treatment has to be repeated after 10 days to kill any newly hatched lice before they start to reproduce. Body and pubic lice respond poorly to lotions and shampoos.

In all the three types of lice infestation, relapse, recurrence and re-infection are common. This makes dealing with the parasite both embarrassing and frustrating.

Commercially advertised “herbal” products appear safer than chemicals and gullible sufferers opt for them. A few harmless ingredients like neem and tulasi are mentioned on the package. The rest are not. Their sale and production are not regulated. Their safety is questionable and side effects undocumented.

Lice can be effectively eradicated using an oral dose of 200 µgm/kg body weight of the tablet Ivermectin. It cannot be given to pregnant women or children whose weight is less than 15kg. The medicine acts only on live lice. A repeat dose is required on the eighth day when the eggs hatch.

Source : The Telegraph ( Kolkata, India)

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Overcoming Oedema

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Swollen feet — medically called  oedema — can make life miserable. Shoes and slippers don’t fit — they are tight and uncomfortable and sometimes impossible to put on. The feet feel like dead weights, and walking becomes a Herculean task. It is much easier to simply sit. But inactivity makes the swelling worse, and the sufferer is caught in a vicious cycle of swelling-inactivity-more swelling.

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The fluid that accumulates and causes oedema leaks from tiny blood vessels called capillaries. This can occur as a result of increased pressure, damage to the vessels or a fall in the protein concentration of the blood. As soon as the body senses that the capillaries are leaking, compensatory mechanisms come into play and fluid is retained in the body by the kidney. The amount of fluid circulating in the body therefore increases. This, in turn, causes the capillaries to leak more. This fluid from the capillaries leaks into the surrounding tissue, causing the swelling. At least five litres of fluid need to be retained before actual swelling appears.

Feet swell before any other part of the body. This is because the hydrostatic pressure on the blood vessels of the lower limbs are, by virtue of gravity, one metre more than the pressure on the face. Also, when we sit and stand, our feet are at a lower level than the heart and this aggravates the problem.

To demonstrate oedema, press firmly with your forefinger and maintain the pressure for 10 seconds. A persistent dimple like depression indicates the presence of oedema.

However, swollen feet do not always indicate disease. Overweight individuals may develop some amount of swelling at the end of a stationery day. (Fat is fluid at body temperature). This can be normal. The swelling can extend up to the knees.

Salt also causes fluid retention. If you consume a lot of salty snacks and pickles, the kidney is not able to handle the sodium overload and fluid is retained.

Women are more prone to develop oedema than men. The female hormones oestrogen and progesterone cause fluid retention. Women tend to “swell up” during the pre-menstrual period, pregnancy and if they are on hormones, either as oral contraceptive pills or as part of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This can extend to the hands, making finger rings tight. The face may also appear puffy. This type of oedema disappears spontaneously in a few days once menstruation occurs, the baby is born or the hormones discontinued.

Oedema can be a side effect of prescribed medication like nifedepine, amlodepin and other anti-hypertensives. Medicines for pain belonging to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) group can also cause fluid retention. Some like diclofenac may damage the kidneys. If you develop swelling while on medication, consult your doctor.

At times, oedema can be the first sign of a serious underlying medical condition. If the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, blood can accumulate in the capillaries of the legs, ankles and feet, causing oedema.

The liver regulates the protein content of the blood. It is also responsible for adjusting the hormones and chemicals that regulate the fluid content of the body. The organ can become damaged as a result of alcoholism, hepatitis B infection or other diseases. This injury results in scar formation and is called cirrhosis. Fluid can then accumulate in the legs and abdomen. But two of the causal factors can be prevented — don’t drink excessively and take your hepatitis B immunisations.

Damaged kidneys cannot excrete excess fluid. The oedema then occurs typically around the legs and eyes. Kidney damage can occur for a variety of reasons. Preventable causes are uncontrolled, neglected diabetes and hypertension.

The veins in the leg may be damaged or weak. Sometimes the valves in these veins — which prevent back flow of blood — may be inefficient. Chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins can result in swelling.

Excess fluid from tissues is cleared by the lymphatic system. These drain into lymph nodes and eventually into the large veins. Infections like filaria can damage the lymphatic system. The nodes can be infiltrated by cancerous deposits. The nodes may have been removed or damaged during surgery. All this can result in swelling. Usually this is present in any one limb and not symmetrically on both sides of the body.

Always keep in mind:-
• Oedema can be treated if the causal factor is removed

• Reduce weight if the BMI (body mass index or weight divided by height in metre squared ) is more than 23

• Walk, jog or swim for 40 minutes a day

• Try to move the legs every half hour during the day

• Do not add extra salt to food and avoid salty snacks

• Keep the feet elevated

• Use elastocrepe bandages or compression stockings on affected limbs

• Do not consume NSAIDs unnecessarily

• Seek medical advice immediately for filaria

• Use diurectics to get rid of fluid only if prescribed by a doctor

• Control diabetes and hypertension.

Source: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Prevention is Better Than Cure

Latest Cancer Info…

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO COMBAT CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY…

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:-

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1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc., and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

 

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:–

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.

To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water–best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

 

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.  Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

 

Source:Medical Journal

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Sweet Danger

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“I cannot have diabetes,” exclaimed the middle-aged gentleman. “The laboratory results are wrong. My parents did not have diabetes, I am a vegetarian, and I do not even eat sweets.”

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Well, this man is living in a soap bubble that is about to burst. None of the reasons cited protects from the onset of diabetes. As far as family history is concerned, awareness and routine laboratory tests for metabolic diseases are a relatively new phenomenon. His parents may have had diabetes and may have died quietly of an undiagnosed complication like a heart attack.

India has 30 million known diabetics, the largest number in the world. The figure is mounting daily and is slated to escalate by 200 per cent. Most of the affected will be in the economically productive age group of 30-60. We have to find out ways to combat this epidemic, halt it and prevent our children from falling prey to it.
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Studies have shown that the possibility of developing diabetes depends on one’s genes, which are inherited from both parents, and the nurturing environment provided first in the womb and later by the mother.

To begin with, women should have the correct BMI (body mass index — weight divided by height in metre squared) of 23 before they become pregnant. Some women are undernourished and eat poorly. Their calorie intake is only 70 per cent of the required amount (2,000-2,200 calories for an active adult female). The protein content may be less than the recommended 075-1gm/kg. Both these situations result in poor foetal growth and an SFD (small for dates) baby.

Compensatory mechanisms come into play in SFD babies and they develop relative insulin resistance so as to maintain normal blood glucose concentrations. Vital organs like the brain and heart receive sufficient nutrition, but it is diverted away from the muscles.

These small babies exhibit a phenomenon called “catch up growth”. If fed adequately after birth, they attain normal weight for age and height within three years. In the process, they can develop impaired glucose tolerance as early as seven years of age.

Today’s teens have a different story. They are becoming obese on a diet of fast food and “time pass” television. Many girls are overweight when they get married. Pregnancy and well meaning advice to “rest and eat for two” do not help matters. Those who are obese (BMI more than 29) or diabetic during pregnancy can produce large babies (LFD or large for dates). These babies are exposed to excess nutrition in the womb. They secrete excess insulin, can develop insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. The problem is compounded if they are growing up in a family with faulty eating habits and little or no regular exercise.

Since we now know that the majority of us carries a gene which predisposes us to develop diabetes, it makes sense to thwart the march to disease.

Check your blood sugars once a year after the age of 25, even if you are asymptomatic, to be sure you don’t fall in the “prediabetic” category. Those who are prediabetic have a fasting blood sugar between 100 and 126mg/dl and a two-hour post prandial or oral glucose tolerance test value between 140 and 200mg/dl. Abnormal values may occur 15 years before the onset of overt diabetes. Without active intervention eventually 35 per cent go on to develop the disease. With effort and a change in lifestyle, 45 per cent can revert to normal.

Medical complications — which cause heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular diseases, and eye and kidney problems – begin to set in during the prediabetic stage. Early identification and treatment can reduce the damage.

The BMI should be maintained at 23. This can be done by keeping the caloric intake between 1,500-2,000 calories a day. The diet should be low in fat, and contain four to six helpings of fruit and vegetables. But dieting alone will not help, as weight loss through starvation cannot be sustained. Food restriction should be combined with physical activity for 60 minutes every day. A brisk walk (five kilometres), or one hour of swimming or cycling will do the trick.

Blood pressure should be maintained at 130/80 or less. Salt restriction and weight loss alone may be sufficient to achieve this. If not, medication may be needed.

Lipid levels also need to be monitored in prediabetes as dyslpidaemia and altered glucose tolerance go hand in hand. Elevated lipid levels predispose to a stroke and heart attack. LDL should be below 100 mg/dl, HDL above 40mg/dl (above 50 mg/dl for women), and triglycerides below 150mg/dl. Reducing the total oil intake to 500 ml a month, checking labels for hidden fats in processed foods, and eating more soluble fibre (beans and oats) will help. If levels remain high the statin group of medications can be started.

If parents adopt a healthy lifestyle, children will soon follow suit. Perhaps this way we can reduce the impact of this devastating disease in the next generation.

Source:The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Hourglass Figure not Always Healthy

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Having an imperfect body may not be all that bad, says a new article, which claims that ‘imperfections’ come with substantial benefits for some women.
………..
The report has been published in the December issue of Current Anthropology. The hormones that make women physically stronger, more competitive and better able to deal with stress also tend to redistribute fat from the hips to the waist, according to Elizabeth Cashdan, an anthropologist at the University of Utah.

So in societies and situations where women are under pressure to procure resources, they may be less likely to have the classic hourglass figure.

Cashdan’s hypothesis aims to explain a peculiar observation. Women around the world tend to have larger waist-to-hip ratios—more cylindrical rather than hourglass-shaped bodies—than is considered optimal.

Medical studies have shown that a curvy waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 or lower is associated with higher fertility and lower rates of chronic disease. Studies have also shown that men prefer a ratio of 0.7 or lower when looking for a mate.

The preference makes perfect sense, according to evolutionary psychologists, because the low ratio is a reliable signal of a healthy, fertile woman.

But in data that Cashdan compiled from 33 non-Western populations and 4 European populations, the average waist-to-hip ratio for women is above 0.8. If 0.7 is the magic number both in terms of health and male mate choice, why are most women significantly higher? That’s where the hormones come in.

Androgens, a class of hormones that includes testosterone, increase waist-to-hip ratios in women by increasing visceral fat, which is carried around the waist. But on the upside, increased androgen levels are also associated with increased strength, stamina, and competitiveness. Cortisol, a hormone that helps the body deal with stressful situations, also increases fat carried around the waist.

“The hormonal profile associated with high WHR (waist-to-hip ratio) may favour success in resource competition, particularly under stressful circumstances,” writes Cashdan.

“The androgenic effects—stamina, initiative, risk-proneness, assertiveness, dominance—should be particularly useful where a woman must depend on her own resources to support herself and her family,” the expert added.

In other words, trading the benefits of a thin waist for better ability to collect resources may be a good deal in certain societies and situations. And there is evidence that male mate preferences may reflect this trade-off, according to Cashdan.

Source : The Times Of India

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