Health Literacy

Take charge of your body and mind, help your doctor make you well and reduce disease incidence in your community. 24 hour guaranteed free response to any question on health that you want to ask

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

A New Idea to Make Your Day!

Writing about your health issues can help you understand medical conditions better. Sharing your symptoms with others can make them more bearable. The Internet makes it possible for everyone to write and to publish useful medical information. Now, a novel service helps you start writing, and to make money out of it as well! Click on the link below, and discover a whole new world of managing your state of health!

http://www.blogsvertise.com/

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Saturday, February 25, 2006

The Many Avatars of Bird Flu

Bird flu and AIDS have scared us all in equal measure, but they have something else in common as well: both are caused by viruses, a mysterious mix between living creature and inanimate object. Biochemists know viruses to be relatively short combinations of ribonucleic acid. A virus lives off a living thing: it cannot survive on its own.

Animal bodies have defense mechanisms against viral attack. Such immunity is very sophisticated in human beings in the form of cells in the blood called T lymphocytes. The latter cells attack invading viruses, rendering them almost harmless, if not exterminating them altogether. Poor nutrition, excessive stress, a lack of exercise, long illness, radiation and some medicines, reduce the number of T lymphocytes in human blood. This provides a window for a virus to enter and multiply rapidly. Fever is a common result, and an untreated viral infection may result in death.

Healthy people, though successful in keeping viruses below the threshold for perceptible symptoms of disease, may act as carriers of viruses. They body fluids such as blood and sputum act as media to spread viral infection between individuals. A carrier may cause another person to fall very sick, and there is no way in which people at large can recognize a carrier.

Higher orders of animals, such as birds, rodents, cattle, cats and dogs complicate matters. They act as carriers as well. People, who can tolerate body fluid contact with other humans, may fall seriously ill when they come in contact with body fluids from another animal. Malnourished children, who live and play with domesticated animals, are at special risk, as are the elderly as well.

Viruses and our immune systems play cat and mouse with each other, and there will be times when large numbers of people succumb to attacks. Vaccination has limited use because like any thief, a virus can change form with ease. This limitation applies to medication as well. Our best hope is to keep our T lymphocyte numbers up to scratch through balanced nutrition, and to use personal hygiene measures to avoid direct contact with body fluids of unknown people and of animals.

Plentiful rest and fluids are often all that a body needs to fight a virus when a fever first surfaces. However a blood test and consultation with your primary care physician cannot be avoided even for seemingly minor episodes of illness, as a lurking virus could strike with sudden ferocity if ignored.

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Thursday, February 23, 2006

An Alternative to Expensive Cholesterol Reducing Prescriptions

High cholesterol is a risk for health and longevity. Your doctor would have to prescribe medicine to get your level back within the normal range, if a test were to show that you are in danger of narrowing arteries due to linings of fat.

Cholesterol lowering medicine is expensive even if your health insurance covers it, because the co-payments and next year’s premium are sure to catch up with you. So health reasons apart, it makes sense to keep fats in your blood down within safe limits from the beginning.

Cholesterol and other fats are essential parts of diet, so it is not as though you should cut out all sources of fats from your diet altogether. The amount of cholesterol that your body can use has a great deal with your lifestyle. The more you exercise, the better your body can handle the cholesterol content in your daily diet.

Balancing a diet can be a tricky task because there are so many things to keep in mind. Your primary care physician is the best person to work things out for you, or to direct you to a diet and nutrition specialist. Remember, you need your doctor’s approval before you start a program of exercise as well. Walking is one of the best forms of exercise to keep cholesterol in check, and most people adjust to a regimen to build up stamina safely and with ease.

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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Autism Need Not be Bad News

Parents rightly dread learning that a child is autistic, because we all look forward to normal lives for our offspring and dear ones.

However, autism does not necessarily mean that a child is retarded, or that he or she cannot grow up in to a productive member of society: on the contrary, am autistic child may have exceptional mental faculties along a plane that others do not have in the same degree. Intelligence, in any case, needs non-standard measures for autistic children.

The cause of autism is not known for certain. It may be genetic or environmentally induced. Parents with such special children can look forward to raising them in joy even as scientists try and figure out the underlying cause for this distressing condition. We have to make searching efforts to find the special abilities and talents of autistic children, and help them and their families to live well with the condition.

Leave a post here if you would like help with a specific case.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The Five Commandants of Better Relationships for Parents, Spouses and Colleagues

It is easy to improve your Emotional Intelligence and to develop better relationships at home and at work as well.

Consider the following list:

Be generous with praise and do not hesitate to tell people how much you like and admire them.
Avoid expressions that can hurt feelings, and do not run-down people in public.
Respond to displays of anger with sympathy and understanding.
Use non-violent means to make your opinions known, and to enforce discipline on people for who you are responsible.
Set aside exclusive time for each member of your family and team, so that you can communicate with them effectively.

Do leave a post here, adding tips of your own, and let me know if my ideas work for you!

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Sunday, February 19, 2006

The Terrible World of Vaginal Infections in Women

This embarrassing condition is so common that some women even take the discomfort and embarrassment of vaginitis for granted. Fungus is a common but not the only cause. The condition is called 'yeast' in common parlance, though bacteria, viruses, protozoans and even the body physiology may cause the foul nuisance.

Fortunately, doctors have reliable means to identify the cause and to treat it effectively. Medicines are so effective, that some women do not even let their prescriptions run their courses! This practice can lead to recurrence, so it is important to take medication for as long as ordered by the doctor, though you may wonder why it is necessary to do this when the problem seems to be over.

Women with high blood sugar and those with occasion to have intimate relations with many partners, are especially vulnerable to vaginitis. Even a single partner can be a source of recurrent infection, if he has poor hygiene, and tends to 'sleep around'. Viral infection may reside in the oral cavity, so lesbians are not entirely free of the vaginitis risk.It is normal to have a white discharge during a specific part of a menstrual cycle. It is actually meant to help sperm from a male swim up the female reproductive tract, and facilitate conception. It is easy to distinguish such healthy cervical discharge from the infectious variety, because of the latter's mal odor.
Personal hygiene goes a long way in reducing the incidence of vaginitis. The perineum is a common culprit, with bacteria from the colon hiding there. These microbes are more powerful than the ones which live in a normal vagina, and easily invade through genitalia and cause havoc. Washing hands and keeping the perineum clean are often enough to keep vaginitis away from women with normal blood sugar and those protected from sexually transmitted diseases.

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Friday, February 17, 2006

A Maine Hand for the Infirm and Out of Jobs

The Maine health insurance system of guaranteed coverage is a godsend if you are not in the pink of health, work on your own, or if COBRA no longer applies in your case. States such as California and Texas leave such folk to fend for themselves. New Jersey is another State where older people without insurance from employers can find refuge.

The freedom of States to offer varying conditions in which providers can function, mean that some companies may not function in places such as Maine. It also implies that insurance premiums are higher in States such as New Jersey than in places without guaranteed coverage, especially if you are young and fit.

Getting a national health insurance system across the country may be a distant dream, but what everyone without salaried jobs can do is to shop around, searching for States where they can find health insurance cover. The following link, retrieved in February 2006, will help you find a broker who can do the spadework for you, and find a range of offers from which you can choose.

http://www.nahu.org/

Remember that your state of health has a major bearing on how much you pay for insurance. Leave a post here if you would like to know how you can go about reducing your chances of falling prey to expensive and debilitating illnesses.

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