healthy living

Recognizing Liver Disease Symptoms and Conditions

Liver diseases are among the most dangerous medical conditions. They tend to develop over a long period of time, and sufferers do not even notice when liver disease symtpoms appear. The majority of people do not have any symptoms at all. Others may feel heaviness and discomfort in the liver area. In some cases, the liver gets enlarged, and this condition is known by medical professionals as hepathomegaly.

Among the liver disease symptoms is pain in the right hypochondrium (below the last rib in the liver area). This pain may be permanent or in the form of sudden fits. Constant pain might be a signal of disease processes affecting the Glisson’s capsule (a capsule that covers the liver’s external surface). Such diseases are abscesses, cancers, etc. With intermittent pain – you feel it getting stronger and gradually fading away. This pain signals that there is a disease process taking place in the biliary tracts.

People who suffer from liver diseases have bad breath, bitter taste in the mouth, nausea, heaviness in the stomach after eating, constipation, or diarrhea. One of the reasons why these symptoms occur is insufficient amount of bile entering the intestines. The patient’s eyes may get a yellowish coloration, the urine becomes dark colored, and the stool is light. Some patients also complain from persistent skin itching. This itching may be due to irritation of the skin’s nervous endings, caused by some substances produced by the gall (biliary acids). They are dissolved in the blood and circulate in the blood stream. Some of the liver disease symptoms that patients notice are weakness, headache, bad mood, etc. These symptoms are caused by the toxic substances affecting the nervous system. Overeating damages the gastro-intestinal tract and is an occasional cause for liver diseases. The insufficient intake of proteins and vitamins which is typical for malnourishment is another reason for liver malfunctioning. Liver pathology is also associated with alcoholism, chronic intoxications, and chronic inflammations of the stomach and intestines. Infectious diseases such as infectious hepatitis, syphilis, tuberculosis, dysentery, etc. also damage the liver.

If you experience some liver disease symptoms, you need to consult with a physician. Finding the exact cause for the medical condition is essential. Then, you will have an effective treatment prescribed, a special diet to follow, a regime of physical exercises, and regular post-treatment check-ups and tests. Post-treatment, you may go back to your usual daily activities, but it is essential that you wait until your liver indicators go back to normal. You have to be particularly cautious. Sticking to a special diet and avoiding harmful and toxic substances is important. Full recovery takes a long time, and you have to stick to your prescribed treatment or the disease may become chronic. If some liver functions are affected, the capacity of the organ to neutralize toxins will be affected. The absorption of useful substances is also reduced. The organ’s recovery is a slow process, and some foods have to be included in the diet while the consumption of others limited. It is also recommended to avoid heavy physical exercise.

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11
Oct 11

Flu Injections: Should You Get a Vaccine?

Flu vaccines or flu vaccines protect people against the pneumococcal bacteria, also knows as Streptococcus pneumoniae. These are single-cell micro-organisms and more than ninety different subtypes have been found. Although many of the sub-varieties can make a person sick, just several types are responsible for most infections. In fact, ten of the most common bacteria cause more than sixty percent of the pneumoccocal infections on a global scale. These airborne bacteria enter the body through the respiratory tract. The period of incubation typically lasts between 1 and 3 days. The most common symptoms of the subsequent disease include: quick heart rate, general weakness, sudden fever, coughs, pain in the chest, and chills. The fatality rate is estimated at five to seven percent of all cases.

Some people suffer from respiratory diseases and bronchitis more than three times a year. In such cases, experts in the field recommend having a flu injection. The pneumococcal vaccine, for example, protects against 23 types of viruses. The pneumococcal bacteria are responsible for approximately 70 percent of all cases of pneumonia and 15 percent of bacterial meningitis. In addition, the pneumococcal bacteria are responsible for diseases such as arthritis, Plevritis, and myocarditis. Experts claim that this vaccine reduces the risk of respiratory diseases by more than two times. Sinusitis will occur 8 times less often, bronchitis – 12 times, while pneumonia will affect us 6 times less. Moreover, a single dose of the vaccine protects us for four to five years.

You can have the vaccine in the winter as well. However, it is best to have it made during the summer period. It takes at least a month to build up your immunity against the pneumococcal bacteria. In autumn, we already see sneezing and coughing people all over. So, we are late already. Moreover, we get cold more easily because our resistance against the bacteria isn’t built up yet.

The vaccine is especially beneficial for children, old people, and patients with chronic diseases. It helps avoid possible complications that come with respiratory infections. It should be noted that about 30 percent of the population is infected with flu viruses every year. Close to 95 percent of the infected people get sick and various complications occur in over 40 percent of the cases.

The pneumococcal vaccine cannot make your children sick. It contains non-infectious, dead viruses that prepare your organism for the real viruses. The anti-flue vaccines are safe, and side effects occur rarely. Side effects include redness or soreness on the site where flu injection was administered, rash, fever, and some allergic reactions.

It is important to remember that viruses mutate constantly. To put it in simple words, new viruses appear every year. The World Health Organization, therefore, lists the most active viruses for every season. They are included in the new seasonal flu injections as to attain high level of protection.

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10
Oct 11

Aspergers Symptoms in Infants and Children

Aspergers symptoms and criteria for diagnosis

Infantile autism is reported to affect 2-4 individuals per population of 10000, while the combination of mental retardation and autism up to 20 per 10000. This disorder occurs most often in boys, with the ratio being 3-4:1.

The diagnosis of autism in children (Kanner’s syndrome, RDA) is based on three main symptoms: presence of stereotypical behaviors, lack of communication, and lack of social interaction. These are common developmental features, manifested in many situations, but they may vary in severity. Regardless of the absence or presence of mental retardation, congenital rubella, tuberous sclerosis, epileptic seizures, cerebral lipidoza, fragilnoy X chromosome, which are associated with children’s autism, the disorder is diagnosed only at the presence of the above behaviors.

Typically, Aspergers symptoms occur in the first year of the child’s life and by the third year, they become apparent.

Early infantile autism and manifestations (Kanner’s autism)

The child’s appetite can be poor, with the infant often being selective, and some foods are even categorically rejected (for instance, fish, milk, or meat). Many youngsters develop problems with their gastrointestinal tract: regurgitation, frequent constipation, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some of the possible sleep disorders are: the child cannot sleep, day or night, or constantly shouts and confuses day with night. Instead, the infant may lie in the crib for hours, with eyes open and no anxiety signs. Various responses to external stimuli are observed: from fear of the smallest rustle and skittishness up to absent reactions. In addition, the child might give the impression of being deaf or blind. Responses to discomfort can also be different: violent manifestations of discontent at the smallest inconvenience or absent response to cold, hunger, and wet diapers. Often, parents may think that their child is happy, quiet, and unproblematic. In addition, these children have a disposition to allergic reactions.

Absence of social interaction is expressed in limited contact with external reality. The youngster, as if aloof to the outside world, lives in a “shell”. Parents may be left with the impression that their child fails to notice the persons around, as the little ones are focused only on their own needs and interests. Attempts to “infiltrate” his or her world or to engage the child’s attention result in an outbreak of aggressive and self-aggressive behaviors, together with anxiety. When the parents approach the kid, he or she does not respond to their voices, does not smile back, or smiles at the empty space. It is difficult to meet the eyes of the child and to attract his or her attention.

Eye contact

In the future, establishing eye contact may be difficult as well: the youngster looks as if past the person, with his mind detached or floating. Simultaneously, the kid can give the impression of being very intelligent and thoughtful. Often times, he or she takes more interest in objects rather than people. For instance, the child may follow the movement of dust particles in a beam of light for hours.

Physical contact and communication

Among other Aspergers symptoms, some children dislike physical contact and try to avoid it. Sometimes, he or she would like to play with other children and watch what they do. The youngster is eager to communicate with kids of the same age. In other situations, the little one is afraid of children, cries, and tries to escape. Many parents report that their child is very sensitive to their mood and shows empathy. At the same time, his or her behavior in public may not be adequate. He or she can scream at the store or grab things off the shelves. And if someone pays attention, the child gets nervous. At the kindergarten, the kid will not follow rules, listen to teachers, or get involved in classroom activities. He or she can sit, for example, in the closet.

Finally, the child may have a good command of vocabulary, but the words are often not connected in a logical manner. Some kids engage in word-creation, inventing their own names. For a long time, the child may not use the pronoun “I”, speaking of himself or herself in the second or third person: “Nick wants to walk,” “go home”, “sit down.”

Aspergers symptoms and memory

On the other hand, one can get an impression that the kid speaks fluently. Thanks to their excellent memory, youngsters remember long sentences, poems, and whole pages from books, and they are phantastic in reproducing them.

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2
Oct 11

Why Some People Overeat and Others Drink?

There are people who overeat on a regular basis and people who cannot sit down for a meal without a glass of wine…or two, or five. When does a hearty appetite become a compulsive eating disorder and when does the appreciation for good quality liquor turns into alcohol addiction?

It cannot be said there is a point in time when you – reconsidering things – can look back and say, “This is when I became an alcoholic” or “This is when I developed CED”. This is a gradual process with many underlying factors. Most of the time, people do not even realize they have these problems. If you try to talk to them about it, they get defensive or lapse into denial. “So what if I enjoy a good meal?” says your friend, tipping the scales at 100+ kilos at 1.60 m. Very rarely is obesity, which is the prime factor underlying coronary disease after genes, caused by hormone problems. The latter include polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Cushing’s syndrome, and hypothyroidism. Most often, obesity results from energy input exceeding energy output chronically – in other words, overeating on a regular basis. This is quite common in the Western culture. We all know, especially women, that a bar of chocolate makes the bad mood go away. With CED this is taken to the extreme. People with this disorder eat when they are bored, sad, stressed, angry, and happy. If you are not overeating, you have the feeling that something is missing in your life. If you are happy, you could feel happier. If you are sad, you could feel less sad. Food is entirely a source of comfort. People with CED have not learned how to cope with stressors effectively.

If your child is gaining weight fast and constantly eating junk food, you should take notice. This can have repercussions beyond looking unattractive. The problem is that in many cases, the parents are obese themselves. Not getting enough exercise is another factor.

It is estimated that around 5 percent of the people who consume alcohol on a regular basis are addicts. The WHO has established six criteria: an overwhelming compulsion to drink, inability to stop drinking, withdrawal symptoms (cold sweat, tremors, panic attacks), increased tolerance for alcohol (you need to drink more and more to achieve the same effect), loss of interest in all other aspects of one’s life, and prolonged consumption despite obvious negative effects on one’s health. If you meet three or more of these criteria, then you are considered an addict. Again, there is a fine line between enjoying a drink on a regular basis and this.

So why do some people develop CED, while others turn to alcohol for solace? It is difficult to generalize across populations. It would make sense that alcoholism occurs more often in collectivistic cultures as it is a social habit and that CED is more common in individualistic cultures. However, there are no official statistics to this end. Everything depends on the individual with a wide variety of biological, psychological and social factors involved. Biological factors include a genetic predisposition, manifested in a number of obese or alcoholic family members. Psychological factors refer to individual personality traits, while social factors involve the social setting. If your friends have a habit of getting together for a drink a few times a week, the probability of you becoming an alcoholic is greater than it would be if none of your friends drank.

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30
Sep 11

Healthy Cooking on a Budget

Cutting down on expenses does not always mean cutting down on quality as well. More and more of us are starting to save and sometimes this means cooking on a budget. The good news is that this can be done! What is more, eating on a budget can even improve your health. You have no excuse for drinking excessively or eating junk food. Use sugar and salt in your recipes sparingly and do not buy very salty and sugary foods. Avoid saturated fats, as they are a source of bad cholesterol.

Now that you are on a budget, you will need more time to cook and shop. Start by thinking about when and where you buy products. You do not need to drive miles and miles to a cheaper store – few people realize this, but you are actually more than making up for the discounts in gas expenses. Instead, hit your local supermarket, but watch the time of day, week, and month. Usually the grocery store is least busy in the mornings and in the middle of the week. It is very busy at the beginning of the month because that is when most people get their salaries or pensions. Avoid the first and second of each month at any rate, or else you will find yourself dodging retirees in every aisle.

The following foods and ingredients are cheap and healthy: rice, beans, lentils, whole-wheat pasta, some meats and fish, eggs, natural seasonings, some canned foods, soup, and sometimes fresh fruits and vegetables. As for the last, perhaps you shouldn’t go for organic; their prices are over the top. Surf the Internet for recipes with these specific products. Watch for special discounts on meats and breads (again, not all types). Lentils and beans can make nourishing soups that are easy to prepare or can be served as a main source with rice on the side. Rice is much healthier than bread and potatoes and much cheaper. Brown rice is better than white rice, albeit a little more expensive. It also makes for a great side dish or main course, if prepared with vegetables and eggs. Another low-cost and easy to make grain, best if bought fresh, is millet. Before you use it in a recipe, it must be rinsed and toasted. Pasta is great with vegetables, minced meat and herbs and most importantly, it is easy to fix. Buying a pasta sauce is also an option. Do not neglect condiments – be sure to keep a selection of spices, marinades, dried herbs, curry powder, soy and tomato sauces and vinegar. Go for blends of all natural seasonings. A typical kind of all natural seasonings would contain onions, pepper, parsley, celery seeds, basil, bay, marjoram, oregano, savory, thyme, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, garlic, carrots and more. All these ingredients are healthy and delicious and the seasoning blend can transform even the simplest dish into something amazing.

If you prepare a big meal, you could freeze half or eat in later in the week for lunch or dinner. Make sure to buy food items in bulk – this comes cheaper most of the time.

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21
Sep 11

Liver Problems and Symptoms to Watch for

This is the organ that doesn’t hurt but suffers.
We often hear someone saying that their liver is hurting. Actually – these people are wrong. Pain in the liver area signals problems with the biliary tract and pancreas. The liver itself does not suffer as it has no nervous endings. Therefore, with liver problems, we can only feel heaviness in the right part of the chest. But in most cases, we can’t even know that the liver suffers and hence problems are difficult to spot.

How can we check whether our liver is functioning well?

Here are some warning signs.

To find out if you have liver problems, look at the following symptoms:

· Bitter taste in the mouth;

· weakness, feeling tired;

· red spots on the skin;

· palms are too smooth;

· yellow circles around the eyes while the white part is red;

· recurring headaches and heaviness in the temples.

If these symptoms begin to appear more frequently, you should have a biochemical analysis of the blood. It is a good idea to have an ultrasound as well. In this way, you can see if the structure of your liver is damaged, is there dystrophy, and if you have hepatitis or cirrhosis. This is necessary to prevent a serious failure of the liver because it is very difficult to treat.

FIVE GOLDEN RULES

You should remember that your health depends on your lifestyle and habits. To help your liver function normally, it is important to take good care of it. To this purpose, you can fast or at least avoid eating meat every day.

And are there specific dietary rules?

Rule one: do not overeat!

It is not surprising that yoga practitioners like to say: if you overate, you poisoned yourself. In the spring, the cells of your liver contain surpluses of fat and sugar, preventing its normal functioning.

Rule two: use vegetable oils!

The level of cholesterol is much lower in them, and toxins are easily cleansed from the body.

Rule three: avoid eating fried food!

Don’t stuff yourself with fried meatballs, potatoes, toasts, etc. The substances that form with frying are harmful to your liver.

Rule four: Have dinner before 7 pm.

Digestion is slowed down afterwards and fat accumulates in the liver.

Rule five: Start the morning with breakfast!

If you do not eat in the morning, it is best to skip meals the whole day. This way, you will cleanse your body from toxins. Have fruit juices and water with lemon and honey. Then, you will have a good appetite on the next morning.

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20
Sep 11

Alcoholic Cirrhosis and Hepatitis

Alcoholic cirrhosis is a progressive disease of the liver whereby alcohol damages the liver and blocks metabolism. The amounts of alcohol, which are dangerous to the body, depend on the person, his/ her history of liver diseases, age, genes, sex, etc.

The disease begins slowly and gradually. In the initial stage, common liver disease symptoms are anorexia, bitter taste in the mouth, nausea, diarrhea, and constipation. Sometimes, patients feel heaviness or dull pain in the area of the liver. Common complaints are related to the nervous system: fatigue, headache, drowsiness, and dizziness. These symptoms are due to the intoxication of the nervous system because of the liver condition.

A large percentage of the cirrhosis cases are due to viral hepatitis B, C and D, which cause inflammation o

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16
Sep 11

Addictions and the Lonely Life of an Addict

Dependencies? We all depend in one way or another on people, events, and circumstances in the outside world. We depend on society for interactions and support. And we depend on employers as to meet our financial needs. We have to take weather conditions into account. We have to check the weather forecast if we are going to travel, have meeting, or have to go to the bank.

But when do we talk about addiction as a medical condition? How do people get addicted and isolate themselves on the lonely ”island of addiction”? They want to go back, get on that boat that will take them back to reality, but they cannot do it. When do we talk about addiction as a disease?

When a substance /alcohol, drugs, food, medicine/ or some action /gambling, Internet use/ starts to control one’s life, we can speak of addiction. The body, thoughts, and feelings of addicts need the substance on all three levels – mental, physical, and emotional. These people have become addicted to the substance or activity, and its absence leads to emotional pain and withdrawal symptoms.

Oftentimes, before they isolate themselves from the rest of the world, living on their island of loneliness, they drag their families to this world, making them develop the signs of addiction. The family may choose to leave the addict, after multiple attempts to save him/ her. Then, the addicts are alone with their disease.

Medical conditions that they develop are: alcoholism, drug addiction, or dependency on drugs, anorexia, bulimia, hyperphagia, and gambling addiction. Others conditions that are described as addictions are: addiction to intimate relationships and love, as well as smoking. There is a new type of addiction: addiction to Inernet and the cyberspace. Another new addiction, which is particularly common among children and teenagers, is the addiction to computer games.

Surfing the net for an hour – an hour and a half is normal, but more than that signals a problem. It is also important how many times the person opens a browser to look for something. Also, some people browse the web for no obvious reason, and this is a sign of addiction. Warning signs are insomnia, anxiety, depression, isolation – these are the symptoms of the new addiction. Sometimes, they make the social life of the addict impossible.

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11
Sep 11

Asthma and the Respiratory System

Asthma is a chronic lung disease, meaning that you can breathe but with difficulty. In other words, this condition affects the regularity of breathing in children and adults. Asthma is caused by hyper sensitivity in the patients’ airways, which triggers spasms and obstructs breathing, given an external irritation. The irritating factors vary and depend on the specific characteristics of the disease. The underlying factors which provoke asthma crises are complex and intertwined. Mostly, the combination of genetics and environment are crucial. You can breathe normally up to the moment a seemingly irrelevant change in the environment takes place. Irritation might be caused by cigarette smoke, strong odors, change in temperature and humidity, smog, various fumes, and viral infections. An asthma crisis is directly provoked by inflammation of the bronchial wall, violent contractions of the muscles around the bronchi, or by the excess of secretion (mucus). The immediate symptoms are tightening in the chest, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

Asthma Attacks

When persons experience an asthma attack, they are very likely to panic and worsen the situation. Even for this psychological reason, asthma is very dangerous, especially in the case of children. Furthermore, it is often an underestimated condition. When asthma is ignored or poorly treated, the consequences might prove fatal.

Testing for Asthma Fits and Medical Treatment

Besides medical history and comprehensive medical examinations, there are different tests for both bronchial hyper sensitivity and unnoticed asthmatic fits. Another very important round of tests finds out the specific allergens, triggering irritation. Asthma treatment is, currently, limited to controlling the severity of the attacks. The most common medicaments, relieving the condition, are anti-inflammatory drugs which ease the breathing, allay the bronchi inflammation, and reduce the irritation. Since asthma attacks are potentially life-threatening, drugs with rapid effect are preferred. The so-called short-acting bronchodilators have an immediate effect, available in the convenient form of inhalers. This group of drugs includes beta2-receptor agonists (salbutamol, clenbuterol, etc.) and anticholinergic preparations (atrovent). Typically, they are not prescribed for daily use, but only in the event of attack. A more stable alleviation can be achieved through strict environmental control. The patients have to be very well-informed about their condition and to change their lifestyles, if needed, in order to avoid irritation.

Hypothetical Causes of Asthma

There have been various interpretations and reflections on what might be the underlying cause of asthma, some of which not medical. Some psychologists call it a timidity illness. The patient, they claim, is often feeling insignificant and vulnerable. In such cases, an asthmatic attack comes as a defensive reaction of the organism.

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6
Sep 11

Dealing with Food Intolerance

Have you ever had a headache after eating? Did your stomach swell after having dinner? Do you get a rash after having a bar of chocolate?

And do you sometimes feel weakness, fatigue, apathy, headaches, depression, or muscle pain for no apparent reason?

If some of these symptoms sound familiar to you, the problem can some food, with your body giving you signals that it doesn’t take it well.

Unlike food allergies, which represent the body’s immediate reaction to any food product, food intolerance occurs more slowly – from several hours to several days after the time you had the food in question. The most common foods to which the organism shows intolerance are wheat, milk products, chocolate, eggs, citrus fruit, additives to foods and beverages, nuts, alcohol, tea and coffee.

The symptoms associated with food intolerance are much more varied than those of the classical allergies, and the body may react in a different way every time, even if you consume the same product. Moreover, if you have certain food over a long period of time, the substances in it accumulate. So, even if you are not intolerant to certain substances in small amounts, you might get food intolerance by consuming them in large quantities. As you may know, the key to good health is moderation.

If you suspect that your body shows intolerance to a specific food or food groups, you should not ignore the problem. If you can’t figure out which foods cause discomfort, it is best to seek expert help and talk to your doctor about the symptoms. The presence of more than one symptoms may suggest what form of food intolerance you suffer from. Even if that cannot be confirmed by a routine medical checkup, there are other methods to have you diagnosed.

Food intolerance is diagnosed with the help of a blood test which helps identify the foods to which your organism has intolerance. It is completely painless and safe. To have it done, a few drops of blood from your finger will be taken. The results are ready in just 45 minutes!

The test may show increased response of your antibodies to certain food or food groups. The reaction ranges from mild to moderately severe or severe. It is recommended to avoid these foods for at least 3 months.