Stomach Cramps

At Home Comfort Measure

You hurt bad you are doubled over knotted up. You want to scream You want to sleep. Anything to get rid of this plan; Stomach Cramp can career around your abdomen like a ball on a billiard table. Almost every woman has had cramps sometime. If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intolerance or even have the occasional bout of PMT, you know a cramp when it grips you. The exact diagnosis or cause of stomach cramps may or may not be obvious. It could be stress, or a virus, or something else.

Stomach cramps will go away on their own after a few hours or days. But you don’t have to suffer that long. Women doctors offer these comfort measures. A cramp is really just a knotted muscle. If stomach muscles are making you crampy lying in bed with a hot water bottle on your stomach may help ease the pain. A hot water bottle is much safer than a heat pad, because it cools down, while a heat pad stays hot and can burn you if you fall asleep or use it overnight. Stick to the BRAT diet, that’s bananas, applesauce and dry toast foods that are easy to digest and won’t hurt your tummy. High fibre foods like popcorn, nuts or cabbage can be hard to digest and make cramping worse. Drink plenty of water, if you cramping stems from constipation or diarrhea, the best way to ease the cramping are by drinking water, water and more water. Water gets the waste products moving through your intestines, which should ease your constipation. If you have diarrhea, drinking of water will keep you from becoming dehydrated.  

Cook up a batch of chicken soup, it works and nobody knows why, but chicken soup soothes stomach and abdominal cramps and cleans out the digestive system. If you have diarrhea or lactose intolerance, you’ll find that milk and other dairy products such as cheese and milk are hard to digest and often cause cramping. So until your cramps subside, go easy on the white stuff. If you have bowel spasms or trapped wind, peppermint oil stops the aching. Peppermint oil is available in capsule form in health food shops. Take one capsule two or three times a day between meals until your cramping goes away. Valerian fennel, ginger, chamomile, rosemary, peppermint and lemon balm teas also relieve wind and stop spasms of mild stomach cramps.

Depression

Treat an Illness, Not a Weakness

If you are depressed to the point that you can’t sleep can’t concentrate and don’t want to get out of bed, you are not alone. More than twice as many women as men have severe depression that can linger for several months, even years. If not treated, sometimes depression can lift only for symptoms to recure, when feeling bad is good. Women are also more likely than men to experience mild depression to feel overwhelmed, powerless, discouraged, ineffective or sorrowful and possibly angry or guilty. These feelings last longer than the blues but typically lift after many hours or days. A study suggests that our genes and biochemistry, our circumstances and our personal history can all independently or in combination contribute to depression. It’s an illness, not a character flaw, and experts say that it runs in families. People with severe depression seem to have a brain chemistry that predisposes them to bouts. Hormonal changes that precede menstruation and follow pregnancy also appear to play some role. Losses disappointments, difficult relationships, stress and past trauma can all contribute. So can other illnesses or certain prescription drugs including oral contraceptives. We don’t know why depression is more common in women, but a number of theories exist. In addition to hormonal and biochemical differences it may be caused by the added stress in a society where women don’t get the same opportunities and respect that men do. Differences in the ways that boys and girls are soclialised may also leave women more vulnerable.

Then there are relationships unhappily married women run 25 times of risk of depression that happily married ones do. It’s not a big surprise, but it doesn’t end there; dissatisfaction with other roles as mother or as employee can have a similar effect. A study comparing stay at home mums and working mothers found that the mothers who were most depressed were those who were unhappy with their roles whatever they were.

What you can do for mild depression; studies suggest that depression takes a toll on the immune system, leaving us more susceptible to illness, and may increase our risk of heart disease. If severe, it can lead to thoughts of suicide, so severe depression warrants professional treatment. Mild depression can respond to some tender self care. Here’s what experts suggest. Studies show that exercise alleviates depression by reducing stress and raising levels of feel good substances in the brain notes. So get up and walk, even if it’s the last thing that you feel like doing. Remind yourself I can do this it’ll be worth it. I only have to take a few steps. Set a goal of exercising 20 minutes a day three times a week. If you don’t feel like yourself it may not be enough to sit down and ask yourself, why am I feeling different? Am I depressed? It can help to write about or illustrate your feelings in a diary, note the time and place and situations in which you feel out or sorts. Eventually patterns may emerge. You may find that you’re likely to get depressed in certain circumstances. The writing stops you from obsessing and ruminating so much so the issues become clearer. If you can determine what is contributing to your depression the next is to figure out how to address it. When you’re depressed bed may seem the safest place. It isn’t,social isolation contributes to depression. If you’re down make a particular point of seeking out and confiding in supportive friends, even if only by phone. While it’s important to get out there and be with people, avoid taking on too many responsibilities, since stress feeds depression. The conventional wisdom is that large social network is a buffer against depression, but that isn’t necessarily true for women. For many women a large social network means a lot of responsibility for children who can create anxiety, for parents who need to be taken care of and so on. Try to avoid relationships that are all work and no gain. By all means, don’t let guilt or a sense of obligation keep you in a relationship that you don’t enjoy. They will make you feel worse not better.

When to see a Doctorty

If you have five or more of the following symptoms for more than two weeks, experts recommend that you consult a physician or counselor.

Persistent sad, anxious or empty feelings

Loss of interest or pleasure in activities

Feelings of hopelessness and pessimism guilt, worthlessness or helplessness

Insomnia or oversleeping

Appetite loss or overeating

Fatigue

Restlessness

Irritability

Difficulty concentrating or remembering

Persistent headaches digestive trouble or chronic pain that won’t respond to treatment

Even if you have none of the above symptoms but have thoughts of death or suicide, you should seek help stresses.

Depression interferes with your work or relationships.

You experience periods of depression alternating with periods of extreme euphoria or mania.

Your doctor should first attempt to identify or rule out physical illnesses like thyroid disorder that can cause symptoms similar to those of depression. If your GP diagnoses depression doctor may prescribe anti-depressant medication to correct brain chemical imbalances that can perpetuate it along with talk therapy or cognitive or behavioral therapy.

Hangnails

Be your own Manicurist

Because hangnails are dead skin and are therefore painless, you may not even realize that you have one until you snag your tights. A hangnail occurs when the cuticle around your nail grows out onto the nail plate. Don’t try to chew off a hangnail with your teeth or pick at it. When removed improperly, hangnails can cause an unsightly bloody mess on your finger. Or they can get infected. With proper cuticle care, hangnails don’t have to ever become troublesome, follow the expert advices. It takes power to resist the urge to tear or bite off a hangail, so it’s good idea to have a bandage or two in your cosmetic bag for this very purpose. If you discover a hangnail, put the bandage over it to keep yourself from picking at it until you can treat it properly.  The first line of defence is a good manicure. It’s also very helpful to smooth around the nail with cream and to buff the whole nail area. Don’t cut cuticles when they are dry. It recommend softening them first by soaking them in warm water and olive oil. Since the idea is to remove only the dead skin that makes up the hangnail and not to injure the living tissue around it, clip closely without going too far down. You don’t want to leave anything to play with. If a mishandled hangnail gets infected, apply an over the counter antibiotic cream and keep it bandaged.

Heart Palpitations

Calming strategies for skipped Beats

It’s long past midnight and you’re lying in bed, wide awake and frightened. You can’t fall back to sleep because something seems to be wrong with your heart. It skipped a beat when you first woke up, and now you’re lying in the darkness, waiting to see if it’ll fall into that distinctive rhythm again.

So now you worry that you’re having a heart attack you’re going to die or you’ll die of embarrassment if you go to the accident and emergency unit and find out that nothing is wrong after all. Chances are, none of the above will occur. Skipped heartbeats generally referred to as palpitations are incredibly common and they’re not cause for panic.

Any strange heartbeat that occurs once or twice and attracts your attention qualifies as a palpitation. The heart isn’t actually skipping a beat; what you feel is a less forceful beat followed by one with more force than you’re used to. Whether your heart seems to be skipping, flipping or leaping into your throat, you probably aren’t in danger. Peoples frequently notice what feels like a skipped beat when they wake up after a bad dream, especially if they’ve been lying on their left side. Your heart is close to the chest wall on the left and if you’re lying on that side, you are more likely to notice a skipped beat.

What can you do to prevent these frightening but harmless palpitations from recurring? Here’s what some palpitations are caused by anxiety, just taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling will relieve tension and discourage future skips. Spending too little time at exercise (like walking) or other active pursuits like gardening can cause palpitations simply because your heart which is after all, a muscle is out of shape. To put your heart in peak condition, try to exercise 3 to 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes. You should work your body at 50 to 75% of its aerobic capacity. Translation? If you re walking, walk fast enough so that you can talk but not sing. Drinking alcohol can cause palpitations, and so injurious for entire body, don’t use alcohol at all, alcohol can cause palpitations. Over indulgence leads to what doctors have bubbed holiday heart irregular heartbeat experienced by those who over indulge at holiday parties and then end up in the emergency unit. But it can happen any time of the year.

There’s no way to tell exactly how much alcohol it takes to interfere with your heartbeat, because alcohol is bad in all conditions, nor can doctors tell in advance who will develop alcohol induced palpitations and who won’t. So to help kep your heart on an even keel, many experts believes drinking alcohol is so injurious for your heart and caused palpitations. A drink is generally considered to be one measure of spirits or its equivalent in a cocktail; one 350 ml can, bottle or mug of beer or 150ml of table wine. Caffeine is what gives coffee, tea, chocolate and even some over the counter drugs headache remedies for example their stimulating effects. So if you’re bothered by palpitations it makes sense to avoid anything containing caffeine. Nicotine and other chemicals in cigarette smoke can constrict arteries and encourage heart palpitations. So if you smoke quit. If you exercise regularly, don’t  over indulge and your doctor has determined that you don’t have heart disease, yet your heart seems to occasionally skip a beat, chances are that your palpitations are nothing to worry about. If you don’t dwell on them you’re less apt to notice repeat episodes.

You need to see your doctor when if your heart seems to skip a beat, more than just momentarily or more than once in a while, you should see a doctor. Medical attention is also in order if your heart skips a beat and;

You feel as though you are about to pass out

You also have swollen ankles or shortness of breath

You have any form of heart disease

You have chest pain or pressure.

Nicotine Dependency

Quit Smoking Once and for all, when it comes to incentives to quit smoking scare tactics don’t work. Women know that smoking causes lung cancer. They know that it raises their risk of stroke and heart attack a whopping tenfold if you also take birth control pills. Smokers and non-smokers alike are also now learning that smoking contributes cervix and pancreas. What’s more, it can lead to early menopause, fertility problems and miscarriage. Chances are, if you smoke, you’ve tried to quit several times but just couldn’t kick the habit. In a survey 73% of the 22 million American women who were smoking in one year said that they wanted to quit. But 80% of those who had tried to quit said that they couldn’t even manage to cut back. More than a third reported significant withdrawal symptoms; irritability, anxiety, hunger, fatigue, dry mouth, headaches, insomnia, constipation, of course cigarette cravings.

The truth is, cigarettes are just as addictive as cocaine or even heroin and equally hard to ditch. Studies show that it’s very difficult for people to stop using products containing nicotine. Also, fear of weight gain a common occurrence among ex-smokers also keeps many women from quitting. But it’s worth efforts to quit again. Smoking can lead permanent damage. Nicotine withdrawal, by contrast, is only temporary. Here’s what you can do to minimize withdrawal symptoms and avoid weight again. A few weeks before you plan to quit, try switching to a brand that’s lower in nicotine than what you currently smoke. Just make sure that you don’t smoke more cigarettes than usual or inhale more deeply, since that defeats the purpose. If you can quit cold turkey, consider yourself lucky. More than likely, you’ll need to cut back gradually to ease withdrawal symptoms. Smoking only half of each cigarette, or allowing yourself too smokes only during certain times of the day. Or putting a progressively lower limit on the number of smokes that you’re allowed daily, once you’re down to five to six quit altogether.  If you’ve just quit, and your mouth feels dry and woolly, or if your throat, gums or tongue hurts, try sipping ice-cold water or fruit juice. Make sure that you have lots of low calorie snacks on hand fruit, cut-up raw vegetables, small packages of lat bread, skimmed milk or sugarless gum. By taking the low cal route, you can eat more without gaining more. But don’t automatically reach for food when you think that you’re hungry. Try having a no-cal drink preferably water first. Drink through a straw if that helps. You may think that you’re hungry but you really need a drink or you simply want something your hand or mouth. Exercises relieve irritability and anxiety, and it helps you avoid adding extra pounds when you quit. Increasing the amounts of aerobic exercise that you do is one of the best ways to control your weight. If you walk for 20 minutes three times a week, make it to 30 minutes a stretch or do 20 minutes 4 times a week. Aspirin and other pain relievers can soothe a nicotine-withdrawal headache. A warm bath or shower may also do the trick.

Relaxing in a hot bath can also help ease anxiety and irritability, if there’s no bath in sight, try visualizing yourself in a soothing pleasant place. Or relax with some deep breathing. Take a long, deep breath, count to ten and release, repeat it 5 times. Most relapses happen the first week after you quit, when withdrawal symptoms are the strongest. Make quitting easier by avoiding things that you associate with cigarettes like alcohol or other smokers. Most people make four or five attempts before they succeed in quitting. One cigarette doesn’t have to lead to a pack and relapse doesn’t mean that you’re never going to quit.

Reward Yourself along the way; No doubt about it giving up cigarettes can be rough. Just ask Anne Geller, a neurologist. Dr Geller experienced nicotine withdrawal first hand when she quit a 17 year cigarette habit in 1980 and learned some withdrawal coping strategies in the process. When she was quitting, she soaked away the irritability and anxiety in a nightly hot bath. I also found that exercise was another wonderful antidote to the irritability and anxiety. After I quit I was more interested in pudding than I had been, while I was smoking, my after dinner cigarette had always been my goodies. So that she wouldn’t be tempted. She stopped making desserts. And once a week, Dr Geller says that she would take the money that she saved on cigarettes and spend it on a record or some other small treat. If you’re quitting smoking, try to build some pleasurable activities little purchases, so don’t feel you’re deprived.

Sprains Easy Doest It

Sprains occur when you stretch or tear a ligament, a tough band of fibrous tissue that attaches one bone to another at a joint, such as the ankle or knee. You’ll feel sharp pain, especially if you try to use the joint, and it may swell and turn black and blue.

Speed Healing; A sprain can take anywhere from two to eight weeks to heal completely. If you can take more than three steps, you may be able to care for the sprain yourself. If it is painful, don’t put weight on the injured joint. Ice it immediately ice a sprain to relieve the pain and decrease the swelling. Keep the ice on for 20 minutes and re-apply three or four times a day until pain and swelling has decreased.

If you sprain your knee, ankle or another joint so badly that you experience extreme pain and cannot take even three steps on it, or if the injured joint looks disfigured, go to a hospital emergency department, it might be a fracture. Make sure that you wrap the ice in a cloth so that it isn’t in direct contact with your skin, and you don’t end up with frostbite.

Elevate the sprained joint, to reduce pain and swelling, you should raise your sprained joint above heart level. Bandage it, wrapping your sprained joint with an elasticated bandage will compress the area around your joint and decrease the swelling. The wrapping should be snug around the joint, but not so tight that your blood can’t circulate freely.

Take a pain reliever, anti – inflammatories such as aspirin and ibuprofen also will ease the pain, use the dosage recommended on the package or ask your physician. If you have a history of peptic ulcers, paracetamol would be a more appropriate choice.

Ingrown Hairs

Straighten out Wayward Fuzz

New high-tech razors make shaving a dream. A little lather, and they give legs the closest shave ever. No stubble! But you do have a line of tiny blemishes on your left calf. What did you do wrong? You probably shaved too close, and result is ingrown hair. An ingrown hair occurs in one of two ways. When you shave too close, you can nick the top of the hair follicle and cause it to become partially obstructed. That forces the hair inside to grow at an angle. Eventually instead of growing straight up through the hair follicle, the hair pierces the side of the follicle and buries itself in your skin and your skin reacts by setting up an inflammation that may appear as a tiny red bump. An ingrown hair can also occur when an individual hair grows straight up out of a follicle, then curls back down and re-enters the follicle.

Women with thick, curly hair are particularly prone to this latter type of ingrown hair. But anybody who shaves any part of her body uses wax to remove unwanted hair or plucks rather than trims hairs that appear on her chin, is also likely to get an ingrown hair. Ingrown hairs are also common around the upper, inner thigh also known as the bikini line. Sometimes because of rubbing that occurs in that area, the follicles close up a bit, which tends to encourage the hair to bend and grow through the side of the follicle rather than straight up through what’s left of the opening.

Taming Errant Hairs

Fortunately ingrown hairs can be cleared up within a week or two here’s what doctors suggests.

Use an antibacterial bar. To help clear up the inflammation, wash the ingrown hair area twice a day with an antibacterial soap containing benzoyl peroxide found at your local chemist. Most ingrown hairs straighten out within a week or two. If an ingrown hair persists or becomes infected, check with your doctor. You may need medication to clear up the infection and prevent scarring.

Dab on some cortisone cream. Apply an over the counter hydrocortisone preparation around the ingrown hair according to package directions. It will soothe any inflammation and speed healing.

Change your blade. If ingrown hairs are inflamed and infected change your razor blade each time you shave until the ingrown hair is gone. Otherwise you can reinfect yourself.

Preventing future problems, As with many skin problems preventing an ingrown hair is fairly simple, here’s what women doctors suggest. Shave don’t wax. If you’re prone to ingrown hairs, remove unwanted hair by shaving rather than waxing. Waxing is traumatic, it rips out your hair at an angle. When the hair grows back, it grows back at the same angle instead of growing straight up, piercing the side of the  air follicle instead of reaching the opening on the surface of your skin. Try to protect your hair follicles by keeping a barrier of moisture between you and the blade. You can use the expensive foams and gels if you like, but a mild soap like Cetaphil will also do the job.

                                                                                                                                           

Bags under the Eyes vanquish Permanent Puffiness

Women and women doctors alike often talk about puffy eyes and baggy eyes interchangeably. But there is a difference. Puffy eyes primarily stem from fluid retention they’re temporary. Bags under the eyes develop over the years, as fat accumulates in the eye area. Not everyone develops baggy eyes. But unfortunately, once bags form, there’s no diet or workout to decrease them. Short of cosmetic surgery, there’s not much that you can do about bags under your eyes, says dermatologist Dr. Marianne O’Donoghue, expect the following.

Pat on concealer. Concealer is more opaque than a foundation and meant to be used sparingly, says Fatima Olive, product developer for Aveda Corporation a cosmetic and health products manufacturer. For best results select a concealer that’s just one tone lighter than your foundation. Or, if you’re wearing concealer alone, match the concealer to your shade of skin. Since baggy skin tends to be darker, you want to blend it correctly. Using an eyeliner brush apply concealer to the dark areas, then blend with your little finger, patting very lightly. Finish with foundation and with light power, or alone, to set the concealer.  

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Bad Breath

Help for stubborn Halitosis

Even women who aren’t normally concerned about their breath worry when they reach for a wedge of garlic bread, a dollop of onion dip or a helping of their favourite curry.

Contrary to what you might think, popping a breath mint or swishing mouthwash may not always be the best answer. Used too often several times a day mints and rinses mask the problem and don’t get to the cause. Just as you would hunt for the source of an odour in your kitchen, your best bet is to figure out what’s causing your bad breath. Smoking and drinking alcohol are common but obvious causes.

Researchers have always suspected that the true culprit behind or dinary bad breath may live on your tongue. This hypothesis gained support in a study by Dr Erika H DeBoever, which was conducted at the department of Biologic Materials sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr DeBoever studied 16 men and women with bad breath, most of whom had already tried regular mouthwash, mints and gum. She found that the problem was most noticeable in those whose tongues were naturally coated with a film of bacteria and whose tongues also contained deep fissures in which organisms could hide. If you have bad breath more than just occasionally and you don’t smoke, and your doctor has ruled out an underlying medical cause, such as gastrointestinal upset, medications, gum disease, infected or decayed teeth or a respiratory tract infection try these tactics suggested by women doctors.

Start with the basics, occasional use of odour masking rinses can help, but it’s also important for women to pay strict attention to good dental hygiene. Start by brushing and flossing your teeth and scrubbing your tongue.

Brush with mouth rinse. A recent found that people who brushed their tongues and rinsed with mouth rinse after breakfast and before going to bed reduced foul mouth odour. Specifically, people in the study followed theses steps. They brushed their teeth with a tooth paste of their choice. Then they dipped their toothbrushes in a mouth rinse with .012 per cent chlorhexidine gluconate such as corsodyl and brushed their tongues. Then they rinsed for 60 seconds with the same rinse. Last they refrained from eating drinking or rinsing with water for at least a half hour. When the men and women in study followed this ritual for seven days, the suspect organisms in their mouths were significantly reduced, and so was their bad breath.

Switch to a rubber tipped brush. Use a toothbrush with a rubber pick on the end to do a little housecleaning when you say “ah” says internist. Food can gather not only in your teeth and gums but also in hidden folds near your tonsils “anywhere in the little pockets in the back of your mouth, she says. Left there, it can cause bad breath. A water pik-type device works, too. Snack on a sprig. For basic food related odours munching on some parsley a folk remedy of sorts really does clear the air.

Make water your after dinner drink, merely swishing your mouth with good old H 2 O will freshen your mouth after a meal or a coffee break. As an added bonus, it also helps remove plaque the sticky build up of bacteria and tartar that leads to tooth decay, gum disease and bad breath.  



Lactose Intolerance

More Calcium, Fewer Cramps

As a child you could drink a milk shake or eat a bowl of ice cream, no problem. Now the same foods leave you as bloated as the Agfa blimp. Or running to the nearest loo with diarrhea or crampy and uncomfortable; What’s going on? As you grow older, your intestines begin to produce smaller than usual amounts of lactase, a special purpose digestive enzyme required to break down lactose, the natural sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Symptoms such as bloating, cramp and diarrhea usually appear anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours afterwards as your intestines react to the undigested sugars.

If you feel ready to explode, it’s too late to put that bowl of ice cream that you just consumed back in the freezer. So for quick relief of lactose induced discomfort, women doctors offer this fast action advice. Head for a chemist and try Bragg’s Charcoal tablets or biscuits, over the counter pills that can help absorb gas trapped in your colon and reduce bloating. If you’re feeling bloated and windy, a half hour stroll often will calm your distress. If you have stomach cramps, sometimes the best thing that you can do is nothing at all. Rest relax, have a bath put your feet up, go to bed whatever it takes to wait out the cramps caused by lactose intolerance.

After you’re feeling better, here are some suggestions on how to find out if you can’t digest dairy products. To find out if milk and ice cream are causing your distress, write down everything that you eat, when you ate it and if you experienced any symptoms. If you keep careful track, you should know if you have the problem within a week or so. Don’t have time to track your symptoms? Simply stay away from milk, cheese and ice cream for a week or two. If you stop feeling like a helium balloon, and cramps and diarrhea subside, you probably should stay away from the dairy counter. Foods could contain hidden lactose, whey used in cottage cheese is often an ingredient of canned foods. Non-fat milk solids, soured cream, some breads and salad dressings also contain dairy products.

All milk skimmed, low fat or whole has the same amount of lactose. But even if you have severe symptoms, you may be able to maintain some dairy in your life. An American study found that among a group of 30 individuals thought to be lactose intolerant, almost everyone could comfortably drink a 250 ml glass of low fat milk every day.

Doctors there tested 30 people who consistently reported symptoms including wind pains after drinking less than a glass of milk and found that the symptoms were minimal when they drank a glass of milk everyday at breakfast for a week.

Bridge the Calcium Gap

If you’ve determined that you can eat or drink little more than a glass of milk or its equivalent per day, women doctors says that you still have to address your need for calcium, normally provided in dairy products. Calcium is essential to protect against osteoporosis and heart disease. If lactose intolerance has forced you to cut back on milk, you need to find other ways to reach the 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day that woman doctors say you need. Live yogurt with active cultures is lower in lactose than most other dairy products, and you may be able to eat that. But don’t try frozen yogurt all the active cultures’ are eliminated in the freezing process. Lactase on If you’re not manufacturing much on your own, buy the enzyme in tablet or liquid form. Lactase supplements such as Lactaid are available in some supermarkets and from chemists. Two tables with a glass of milk will improve your tolerance of milk the liquid form converts 70 to 90 percent of the lactose, depending on the number of drops that you add to the milk, so experiment and decide which form is most effective for you. Many juices are now fortified with calcium. Together with lactose reduced dairy products, calcium-enriched orange juice and other juices can help bridge the calcium gap sometimes created by lactose intolerance.

Prostate cancer

 

More than 70 % of cancer of the prostate a male gland located below the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum is diagnosed in men who are 65 or older. Prostate cancer usually grows more slowly than other cancers, taking as many as 10 to 30 years before tumors get large enough for doctors to diagnose them, or for the symptoms to show up. More than half of men who reach 80 years old have some cancer in their prostate.

Symptoms

• Urinating frequently, especially at night
• Difficulty holding back urine
• Slow start, weak or interrupted flow of urine
• Pain or burning sensation when urinating
• Difficulty having or sustaining an erection
• Painful ejaculation
• Blood in urine or semen
• Frequent pain or stiffness in lower back, hips or upper thighs

Patients with prostate cancer will normally have to undergo prostatectomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove the tumor. The emergence of new surgical instruments means that in most cases, this will involve minimally invasive surgery, which in turn means shorter hospital stays, less discomfort and bleeding, and faster recovery. Another option is brachytherapy, which is radiation therapy delivered from a short distance. Doctors place radioactive seeds or sources in or near the tumor, and increase the radiation dose to the tumor while minimizing radiation exposure to healthy tissues nearby.

Pancreas cancer

Cancer of the pancreas can be difficult to diagnose, as the pancreas lies behind other organs including the stomach, gallbladder, liver and spleen. 

Symptoms

• Nausea
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss for no apparent reason
• Pain in upper or middle abdomen
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin)

Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to treat as it is usually discovered late. Symptoms often do not emerge early, and screening tools tend not to be effective. Depending on how advanced the cancer is and whether it has spread beyond the pancreas, options for treatment include surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Bladder cancer

Cancer of the bladder which holds urine usually hit those older than 40, and mostly in those between 50 and 70 years old. Men are five times more likely to be hit by bladder cancer than women in Singapore.

Symptoms

• Blood or blood clots in urine
• Difficulty passing urine
• Pain during urination
• Pain in lower back

Treatment usually consists of one of the three standard treatments surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy – or combinations. New forms of treatment have also emerged, including one called photodynamic therapy, which combines special drugs and light therapy to kill cancer cells. Doctors inject a drug that makes cancer cells more sensitive to light into a patient's bladder, then train a special light on the bladder, which targets the cancer cells and kills them.

Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma can strike both young and old people, but occurrences increase with age. Most patients with this cancer are above 60 years old. The cancer starts in a person's lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system that fights infection and diseases.

Symptoms

• Swollen, painless lymph nodes in neck, armpits or groin
• Constant fatigue
• Unexplained weight loss
• Sweating at night
• Coughing and breathing problem
• Chest pains
• Swelling or feeling of fullness in the abdomen

Treatment for lymphoma usually revolves around chemotherapy: Drugs are either injected intravenously or given in pill form. Doctors may also combine targeted chemotherapy with standard cytotoxic chemotherapy, which has given encouraging results. Doctors may also prescribe bone marrow transplants when lymphoma patients have a relapse or are struck by aggressive lymphomas. Not all patients, however, will be suitable for this combination of a transplant with chemotherapy, as high-dose chemotherapy drugs can also kill healthy bone marrow. New drugs have also emerged, along with better supportive treatment that allows doctors to administer chemotherapy at shorter intervals to achieve better results.

Liver cancer

There are two types of liver cancer: Primary liver cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma, which begins in the liver; and secondary liver cancer, which is the result of cancer spreading from other cancerous organs or sites. Men are much more likely to get primary liver cancer, especially if they are older than 40. Liver cancer is closely linked to chronic Hepatitis B infection, which can lead to cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver, liver failure and liver cancer. People usually acquire the Hepatitis B virus during birth or in early childhood - one in 35 adult Singaporeans is a carrier of the virus. The Hepatitis B virus can be transmitted through blood or bodily fluids. As it may not show any noticeable symptoms, Hepatitis B and liver cancer patients are often diagnosed only when they donate blood or undergo health screening. Hepatitis B, however, can be prevented through vaccination. The Hepatitis B vaccine, which is administered in three doses, is 95 per cent effective in preventing children and adults from getting chronic Hepatitis B infection.

Only early liver cancer can be cured, mainly through surgery, which enables up to 80 per cent of the affected liver to be removed. Patients, however, can take assurance from the fact that the liver can re-grow – in fact, it is the only organ in the body that does this – even after half of it has been removed. If surgery cannot remove advanced liver cancer, doctors may prescribe chemotherapy, usually chemoembolisation, which targets the area with the cancer. Some patients with advanced liver cancer may not be suitable for surgery or chemotherapy, but can take heart: There are more options. They include percutaneous ethanol injection, in which ethanol is injected through the skin directly into the liver. The alcohol dries out the tissues and stops the blood supply to the cancer, thus killing it. This is effective for patients who have few or small tumors measuring less than 3 to 4 cm. Another option is radiofrequency ablation, which uses heat to destroy the cancer cells. Radio waves from a laser light are directed through a needle inserted into cancer cells, destroying them in the process.

Treating prostate cancer 

What is good care for prostate cancer? For many men with prostate cancer, no treatment will be necessary. Good care will mean keeping an eye on the cancer, ensuring that it does not develop into a fast-growing cancer. When treatment is necessary, the aim is to cure or control the disease so that it does not shorten life expectancy and it affects everyday life as little as possible. Sometimes, if the cancer has already spread, the aim is not to cure it but to prolong life and delay symptoms. People with cancer should be cared for by a multidisciplinary team (MDT). This is a team of specialists who work together to provide the best treatment and care. The team often consists of a specialist cancer surgeon, an oncologist (a radiotherapy and chemotherapy specialist), a radiologist, pathologist, radiographer and a specialist nurse. Other members may include a physiotherapist, dietitian and occupational therapist. You may also have access to clinical psychology support. When deciding what treatment is best for you, your doctors will consider:

• The type and size of the cancer
• Your general health
• Whether the cancer has spread to other parts of your body
• What grade it is good care for prostate cancer includes giving information to men and their partners or carers about the treatment of prostate cancer and its effects on:
• Sex life
• Physical appearance
• Ability to control urination and bowel movement
• Other physical and psychological aspects of masculinity that might be affected by sex hormone treatment
• Your MDT will be able to recommend what they feel are the best treatment options, but ultimately the decision is yours.

In 2008, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) made recommendations about treatments that are offered to men with the three main stages of prostate cancer: localized prostate cancer that is just in the prostate gland, and locally advanced prostate cancer that has spread beyond the prostate capsule, but is still connected to the prostate gland and relapsed cancer that has returned after treatment and metastatic prostate cancer (cancer that has spread outside the prostate gland, with no remaining link to the original cancer in the prostate gland). Different types of cancers tend to hit different categories of people. Knowing the risks and recognizing the signs could be critical. This is the fourth of a four-part series looking at common cancers that hit women, men, children and the elderly. Older people face a higher risk of cancer. About 77 per cent of all cancers that are diagnosed are found in those who are 55 years and older. If you are 65 or older, the chances of getting cancer are 10 times more likely than if you are under 65. Cancer patients above the age of 65 are also 15 times more likely to die from the disease. This is because the longer exposure to environmental and dietary factors produces a cumulative effect on the body. Older people are also less able to repair cellular damages, which can result in cancer if not removed.

Diabetes; Smart Self-Care

Easy ways to control Blood Sugar

Diabetes is metabolic problem that affects your body’s ability to make or respond to insulin, a hormone. Insulin regulates the delivery of blood glucose to your body’s organs and tissues, where it’s used for energy. Type 1, or insulin dependent, diabetes, is an inherited disease that affects the pancreas, destroying that organ’s ability to make insulin. Type 1 diabetes usually occurs during childhood or adolescence. 

Smart Self-Care

Women doctors say that if you have been diagnosed with diabetes of either type, you should be under medical supervision usually a GP, and often a registered dietitian, a nurse and an eye specialist, all working as a team. Change in diet, exercise and other self-care strategies that follow are important, but should be checked with your doctor or other health care professionals, particularly if you plan to have children. With proper blood sugar management, women with diabetes can get pregnant and deliver healthy children. Make sure that your blood sugar is meticulously controlled before you get pregnant. Women can do to control diabetes, lose fat, lose weight and four out of five women with type II diabetes are overweight, and they may even control their diabetes or reduce their medication if they lose weight. Calorically, fat is denser than protein or carbohydrates, so if you reduce the grams of fat that you eat, you automatically reduce calories. To lose weight, aim for a diet with fat grams comprising 20 to 30% of your total calories. Foods high in fibre may help people with diabetes control their blood sugar, fibre slows the absorption of carbohydrates that you ingest. And after eating a high fibre meal, you feel full. This can also help with weight loss.

Eating a big bowl of high fibre cereal for breakfast and a big bowl of chili for lunch, could help keep your blood sugar levels stable. According to one study, People with Type II diabetes who ate meals with 20 grams of fibre had significantly lower post meal blood sugar than others who ate meals with only 10 grams of fibre.

We use uncooked corn flour from the supermarket in people being treated for diabetes who experience episodes of hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar. Uncooked corn flour is a very slow release type of sugar it takes up to 6 hours for your body to break it down and absorb it. Stir one or two teaspoons of uncooked corn flour into a glass of milk or sprinkle it into a pudding suggest consuming corn flour with an evening snack to prevent low blood sugar during the night, or before exercise, which affects blood sugar levels.

Consider a chromium supplement, tests show that people with diabetes may have lower blood levels of chromium than people without diabetes. Chromium may help people with Type II diabetes, because the body needs chromium to be able to respond to insulin. It is sometimes difficult to get beneficial amounts of chromium from food, so look for a multivitamin that supplies the recommended amounts for chromium 50 to 200 micrograms daily.

In the past, people with diabetes were told that they could not eat certain foods namely, refined carbohydrates like biscuits or sweets. But research shows that all carbohydrates will elevate blood sugar the same way; a biscuit is equal to a piece of bread, which is equal to a piece of fruit. If there’s food that you really like, make sure to include it in your diet. If your favorite snack food is biscuits but you never eat them, it’s easy to feel deprived and frustrated, and that can lead to bingeing. Have one bickie and enjoy it. The key here is to treat yourself in moderation don’t eat the entire packet.

Walk, swim, cycle, dance, and do some exercises burns fat and calories and can help you lose excess pounds. For women with diabetes, exercise offers added bonuses; Exercised muscles are more sensitive to insulin, improving the way our body metabolizes sugars. Plus, regular exercise lowers the risk of heart disease, a special concern for people with diabetes. The current recommendation is to exercise at least three times a week for about 30 to 40 minutes. Start out slowly. According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 8.4 million women in the US have diabetes, but only half know it. See your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms for than a week and then work your way up. Walk swim, cycle, dance do whatever you enjoy. This should be done under a doctor’s supervision, she adds as your medication and diet may need adjustment to accommodate your increased activity.

1.     Increased thirst, urination or appetite

2.     Dry Mouth

3.     Vomiting

4.     Diarrhoea

5.     Blurred Vision

6.     Rapid or irregular heartbeat

7.     Dizziness

8.     Unintentional weight loss

9.     Recurrent yeast or urinary tract infections.

See your doctor if you have diabetes ad you is pregnant or thinking of starting a family. Women with poorly controlled diabetes have higher risk of complicated pregnancies that could affect mother and baby.

Women with diabetes are also prone to problems with circulation or loss of feeling in their feet. So inspect your feet for red, dry, cracked skin; infections calluses or blisters. And see your doctor if you see signs of infection. Untreated even minor cuts or infections can lead to serious medical problems.

Low Blood Pressure

Low Blood Pressure

Pump Up your BP and Your Well-Being

Thirty seconds earlier, Pamela had no idea that she would find herself lying on her back in the middle of a crowd of people waiting for a bus in the midday heat. But there she was, prone on a hot pavement. A month of strenuous dieting and daily tennis matches had left her vulnerable to a abrupt drop in blood pressure, and when it dropped, so did she. In the absence of problems, BP hovers around 120/80 mm of mercury or so. What makes it tumble? In women Pamela’s age in their forties or younger BP can drop below 90/60 mmHg during pregnancy, hot weather or crash dieting. If someone is on high BP medication or has heart issues, the BP drop can be even more significant.

Pump Up the Blood Pressure

Low blood pressure can leave you feeling light-headed, sluggish or headachy. On the other hand, you can walk around with low blood pressure and not know it or feel it unless you happen to have your blood pressure checked for some reason. If you tend to experience bothersome drops in blood pressure, giving it a boost is easy. In that situation you need to drink lots of fluids. When you are sweating your way through a heat spell, BP can plummet quickly because of dehydration. If you are feeling faint, reach for a sports drink or consommé. Replace lost fluids, and your blood pressure will return to normal, relieving your symptoms. The sugar in these drinks will speed fluid into your cells, and the salt will help it stay there. Of course, plain water will also work wonders. Eating and feeling woozy and when was the last time that you ate? If it has been more than a couple of hours since your  last meal or snack, grab a bite to eat, even if it’s just half a sandwich or a piece of fruit. You will feel better in a jiffy.

Stand up slowly. Some people feel dizzy when they first stand up after sitting or lying down, a cardinal sign of momentarily low BP. This is caused by blood rushing to your legs from other areas. But your body can quickly adjust to it If you sit, jiggle your legs for a few moments, then sand slowly. If the light headedness returns, simply sit or lie down again until the feeling of faintness passes. Then stand up more slowly.

If you are repeatedly feel faint and light headed during the day. Check with your doctor. Also see your doctor if are actually losing consciousness upon standing or if you repeatedly feel light headed, tired or weak along with signs of internal bleeding such as dark stools. In younger women low BP may be a sign or chronic fatigue syndrome. In older women especially, symptoms of low BP may suggest the possibility o serious problems such as heart disease.