What Kind of Disease is HFMD?

A child infected with HFMD

Several weeks ago, HFMD (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease) has been the talk of the town when actress and TV host, Ms. Kris Aquino admitted that her children have had HFMD. Many people have been wondering what this disease is and some have been alarmed and confused.

While watching Pinoy MD, I’ve learned that intestinal viruses of which, the most common are Coxsackie A and Enterovirus 71 cause HFMD. The disease usually affects infants and children and is moderately contagious. It spreads through direct contact with the saliva of feces of the infected patient. Although, it occurs mostly in children, older persons with weak immune system may also acquire the disease.

It is also important to stress that HFMD is different from the Hoof and Mouth Disease that plague swine and cattle.  

A child infected with HFMD would begin to have fever and sore throat. Normally, the child loses appetite and becomes melancholic. After two days, lesions or sores would appear on the hands, feet and mouth particularly inside the cheeks. The child may become irritable because of these painful sores. Occasionally, diarrhea may also follow.

Doctors treat patients with HFMD with the usual medical treatment for fever. It doesn’t require hospitalization. However, we have to be careful also because patients are susceptible to acquire infections, which may result in severe complications like viral meningitis or even encephalitis, which can be fatal. It can also result in paralysis and pulmonary hemorrhage.

I guess, cleanliness can prevent diseases like this. Wash hands thoroughly before eating and don’t experiment on medicines or self-medicate. Seek professional help when necessary. 

Image above courtesy of:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hand_Foot_Mouth_Disease.png

Don’t Take Breast Discomfort for Granted

Image from ABCNews Blogs

Brassiere provides support for the breast in women, to enhance the size of the breasts, restrict movement during physical activity, push the breasts up to augment the cleavage or lift sagging breasts from the chest wall. Manufacturers continually work on designs that would provide both functional and visual appeal.

Brassiere is essential not only for aesthetic purposes but also for good body posture. It is especially helpful for those who have relatively large breasts because women with large breasts tend to lean forward and that put a big strain on the backbone.

However, there are instances that women feel discomfort on their breasts because of tight brassieres. These minor discomforts can lead to dermatological infections if left unchecked.

Thus, it is particularly essential that women wear the right size of bra to avoid discomfort. Experts say that in order to know the right bra size, a woman should get the measurement of her breasts (apex), and her measurement below the breasts. Example: A woman measures 36 inches (apex), and the measurement below her breasts is 34 inches. Subtract 34 from 36 and the difference is equivalent to her cup size. So, her bra size is 36B.

Apex:     36 in.

Below:   34in.

              _____

                   2in.

1 inch = cup A

2 inches = cup B

3 inches = cup C

4 inches = cup D

Minor skin irritation can cause serious infections that pose a hazard to a woman’s health. It is essential that women wear the bra that fits their size right.

Can Breast Cancer be Avoided?

Like any other disease, breast cancer has a number of risk factors that we can try to manage in an attempt to avoid it. Yes, we can avoid breast cancer if we will be conscious about our individual lifestyle and the risk factors that may be affecting us.

The hormone estrogen acts like food for breast cancer cells so breast feeding helps reduce the risk of breast cancer since breast feeding lowers estrogen level. Pregnancy reduces the number of menstrual cycle in a woman’s lifetime so it practically lowers the risk of developing the disease.

Obesity could be a factor too. Women with large breasts also have a higher risk since more fats in the breast cause increase in estrogen level. Fat tissues become the main source of estrogen especially after menopause since the ovary has stopped producing the hormone.

Unhealthy diet is also a suspected contributing factor to develop cancer in the long run. Too much fat and cholesterol in the food can increase the risk in developing cancer cells. Even alcohol intake is a potential risk since it hampers the liver’s ability to check estrogen in women.

Medical practitioners also say that taking artificial birth control pills may be a potential risk factor. The risk of breast cancer is related to a woman’s natural hormones and the fact that pills manipulate these natural hormones may elevate the risk considering that not having children alone is already a potential risk in women. However, recent study reveals that such risk is only for a limited period of time.

Early detection is still crucial to an effective treatment. Doctors encourage women to self examine. Example, raise the left arm to examine the left breast. Gently massage the breast in circular motion from the nipple to the outer section and try to feel if there is any lump or cyst. Do the same on the right side. They should do it one week after menstruation. If you feel a lump regardless of size, see a doctor for proper diagnosis.

Together as a human society, we can help each other avoid breast cancer.

Image: (top)

http://www.topnews.in/files/Breast-Cancer103.jpg

Image: (below)

http://breast-cancer-treatments.net/breast-cancer-prevention-still-needs-more-attention/

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I have an aunt who lost both of her breasts due to breast tumors. It’s a good thing that on those two incidents, both have been benign. However, I have heard about cases of women who have not survived malignancy.

Breastcancer.org. explains that:

“Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells...

Cancer occurs as a result of abnormal changes in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy. The genes are in each cell’s nucleus, which acts as the “control room” of each cell. Normally, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process of cell growth: healthy new cells take over as old ones die out. But over time, mutations can “turn on” certain genes and “turn off” others in a cell. That changed cell gains the ability to keep dividing without control or order, producing more cells just like it and forming a tumor.

A tumor can be benign (not dangerous to health) or malignant (has the potential to be dangerous). Benign tumors are not considered cancerous: their cells are close to normal in appearance, they grow slowly, and they do not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. Malignant tumors are cancerous. Left unchecked, malignant cells eventually can spread beyond the original tumor to other parts of the body.

The term “breast cancer” refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast.”

Millions of women around the world have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are suffering from it and around 1 out of 8 cases, the patient dies. Present medical studies have done great technological advances in the cure of the killer disease but still early detection is crucial for a complete cure.

The Pink Ribbon is symbol of Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns

Disease Prevention and Dietary Supplement: What Benefits Would I Get from taking Food Supplements?

Several weeks ago, I heard two radio program hosts discuss food supplements in their program. They insisted that people should be careful about taking food supplements because these products do not have “approved therapeutic claims”.

I understand their word of caution. I cannot discount the fact that there are unscrupulous people who make unclean profit by selling adulterated food supplements. However, while we need to avoid cheats, we should not refuse food supplements altogether because the health benefits of these supplements are true and backed by thorough research and study.

Sadly, it seems that many people are doubtful over the promised effects of food or diet supplements because they have not fully appreciated the principle behind them.

Image from www.cs.iusb.edu

We always hear the phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and I can safely conclude that we all believe that statement. Let’s look at an apple: it is a powerful antioxidant. 100 grams of apple is equivalent to about 1, 500 mg of Vitamin C. It is rich in fiber and other minerals that strengthen the blood. Daily consumption lowers cholesterol and improves the skin. Indeed, an apple can help ward off many diseases. The question: Is Apple a medicine? NO, but adding an apple to our daily meals can help strengthen the body against diseases. Along that principle, apple is a good form of dietary supplement.

All the energy that the body needs to function normally comes from the food that we eat and our bodies need a lot of other nutrients aside from what an apple can give. However, we cannot eat all the nutritious foods at the same time in one meal or even within the three meals we normally have in a day. We cannot stuff our stomachs too much too!

Since, we cannot eat all the beneficial foods that we need (in fact, we even eat unhealthy food most of the time that introduces toxins inside the body), it would be wise to take dietary supplements to provide the necessary vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to sustain good cellular activity and fight toxic substances in the body.

Food supplements provide the body with the necessary nutrients that it needs to build a strong immune system and prevent a lot of diseases from setting. Everyone needs it and that includes YOU. Prevent disease now and avoid spending a fortune for cure.

If you’re not taking any food supplement yet, you can try any of our products. Please click the link below:

GREEN WORLD PRODUCTS

Make Your Blog Carbon-Neutral

Healthy living doesn’t involve merely our own bodies. It radiates in the way we care for our environment. A dirty surrounding becomes a breeding ground for disease causing microorganisms so it’s incongruous that we take a bath everyday and follow a healthy diet yet we scatter our garbage around.

In recent years, we have taken into focus global warming and its adverse effect on climate. Scientists project that at the rate it is going, we may experience about 3°to 5° C temperature increase by the year 2100. They also calculate a 25-meter rise of sea level by the same year. Primarily, atmospheric gases cause global warming. These gases absorb the heat energy that should have been normally released into space; thus, generating a greenhouse effect causing temperature increases on the earth’s surface.

These gases are naturally present in our atmosphere; however, studies show that human activity has largely increased the concentration of these gases in recent years. The largest contributing factor to the greenhouse effect is the burning of fossil fuels, which leads to CO₂ emission. CO₂ is responsible for about 9–26 % of the greenhouse effect.

Do you know that “According to a study by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, an average website causes about 0.02g of CO₂ for each visit? Assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly CO₂ emissions of 3.6kg. This can mainly be tracked back to the immense energy usage from (mainframe) computers, servers, and their cooling systems.” (www.kaufda.de)

CO₂ emissions will continue to increase unless we do something about it. What can we do? The “My Blog is Carbon-Neutral” is a web-based initiative that aims to make every blog carbon-neutral by planting a tree for each blog that will join. The initiative aims to reforest 5,500 acres of Plumas National Forest in Northern California, which has been severely devastated by forest fire a couple of years ago. The “Arbor Day Foundation,” a non-profit conservation and education organization, will undertake this project. The foundation intends to plant 792,000 trees. 

Join the initiative and Make your blog Carbon-Neutral.

(http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/how-you-can-join/).

Which Weight Loss Program is the Most Effective?

Image from: Brothersoft.com

For the past years, I noticed that while people begin to expand in size not only in terms of population but also in body measurement, different weight loss diet plans and programs came out. Each promised a pleasurable yield that it became so hard to choose which one would be most effective.

One important factor that determines a weight loss program’s effectiveness is discipline. The effect of a particular weight loss program is largely commensurate on the person’s determination to achieve his goal. Even if he signs up with an expensive health club or diet plan, but if he wouldn’t stick to it, he won’t see any effect.

Another would be the practicality of the diet plan. If you would need to follow strict measurement in terms of grams per meal, it could tire you out after a while. However, if you can do it, that’s good for you.

Image from: ifitandhealthy.com

Manuel Uribe, the world’s heaviest person has found the Zone Diet effective for his own personal weight loss program. By following the Zone, he has lost about 570 lbs, almost half of his original weight. Celebrity news says that Jennifer Aniston is on the Zone too.  The diet plan is a low carb diet plan with equal proportions of protein and fat (40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat). The person on diet must maintain a meal that will not go over 500 calories, and a snack that will not exceed 100 calories.

Image from: zonedietprogram.net

According to Zone Diet Info, excessive carbohydrates produce too much insulin in the body, which triggers the body to convert carbohydrates into fat and stores them around the body. On the other hand, the protein stimulates the hormone glucagon, which stimulates the body to release the carbohydrates around the liver. That signifies that energy supply is full, therefore the body stops to crave for food. Zone aims to control hunger by keeping the body chemicals, insulin and glucagon in balance. The process would cause fat and weight loss.

Watch what you eat and keep your body moving. That is the only way weight loss programs can become effective.