• Insomnia
• Excessive worry
• Inability to complete normal routine
• Irritability, short-temperedness
• Hypochondria
• Withdrawal from family, friends and/or normal activities
• Chronic aches or pains that cannot be attributed to other disorders In addition, if a senior citizen begins to show signs of hopelessness or expresses concern that he or she has become a burden, help should be sought immediately.
• Increased dependability on family

Back pain is associated to sense of pain and uncomfortable in the back area of the body, usually at the lower back of the body.

Causes:

There are many causes of back pain. 75% of the real causes of back pain cases cannot be identified. While 25% of these cases could be caused by:

• Muscle
  • Muscle strain
  • Muscle torn because of sport injury
  • Muscle fatigue
• Bone
  • Slipped or broken vertebra
  • Broken back bone
  • Bone deformity
  • Bone cancer
• Others
  • Wrong postures
  • Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
  • Enlarging or cancer inside the pelvic cavity
  • Renal calculus disease
  • Psychology
    • Related to stress

Depending on the cause and root, untreated back pain can give these complications:

• Weakness or paralyze of leg muscles
• Permanent disability
• Undetectable cancer

If the back pain is rooted from internal organs like PID or any internal organ related to women’s health, if untreated can lead to infertility and other complications.

When do you need to see a doctor?

• Feel numb at the area of your back, buttock, thigh and feet.
• Weak or paralyzed muscles of legs.
• Feeling of pain which spread to the legs
• Throbbing pain
• Limiting the movement of your daily activities
• Having these symptoms:
  • Fever
  • Pain in the stomach
  • Pain when urinating or defecating
  • Headache
  • Menstruation related symptoms

Normal back pain can be defused through:

• Getting enough rest
• Stretching at the back area
• Physiotherapy
• Using cream medication
• Using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

Treat the real cause of back pain such as (Pelvic inflammatory disease) PID and urinary tract infections (UTI).

Prevention

• Practice the right posture (body position) when sitting, standing and lifting heavy weight.
• Take rest to stretch the back.
• Avoid injury at the back area of the body.
• Do periodic health check, such as Pap’s Smear to detect cervical cancer.
• Maintain the ideal body weight (the weight to height ratio).
• If you already menopause, get enough calcium and other nutritions to prevent osteoporosis.
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Recovery

Recovery involves medicine intake such as NSAIDs, physiotherapy (movement recovery) and occupational therapy.

According to one of the researches from Center for Online Addiction, there are many types of addiction and it can be categorize into five main categories as below:

1. Addiction to get information
   It refers to individuals who use the internet to find certain information at excessive rate.
2. Addiction to use computer
   It refers to individuals who use computer excessively especially for those who involve in programming and computer games.
3. Addiction to certain parts of the internet
   It refers to individuals who like to visit certain parts of the internet. For example: gambling site, online games site and sales site.
4. Addiction to cyber relationship
   It refers to individual who likes to make relationship online through chat room like internet messenger, social site, forum and private discussion groups.
5. Addiction to cyber sex
   It refers to individuals who like to explore pornographic site and adult site that discuss sexual matters publicly.

Be aware of the internet addiction signs. Consult your doctor if you are feels like having internet addiction.

These are the sign of internet addiction:

• Always thinking about the internet, imagining of what is happening in the cyber world and feels disappointed and loss if not able to use it.
• Feels anxious or doubtful if not able to use the internet
• Hard to stop from using the internet, although has been using it for a long period of time.
• Experiencing psychomotor disturbance.  For instance, the fingers which often mimic the act of pressing a keyboard or using a mouse.

The effect of internet addiction is having a emotional stress and depression and the person is likely to be a loner because of his or her seldom mixing with society and friends. The internet addicts usually will have the same problem as alcoholics.

Be aware of these signs. Consult your doctor if you are feels like having internet addiction.

Almond is one of the nuts that catches scientist eyes.

Eating almond can lower two level of bio marker for oxidative pressure effect in a group of 27 men and women volunteers who have high level of cholesterol.

The finding was found in a study conducted by scientists funded by Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States (US), Almond Board of California and a Canadian research funding body.

Director of Anti Oxidant Research Laboratory, Jeffrey Blumberg in USDA Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Tufts University, Boston, reports his research finding inside the Journal of Nutrition.

Scientist analyzed blood and urine sample of subjects who took different diet treatment that have the same calorie content for one-month period.

The treatment comprises of full dose of almond of 73 grams per day, half dose of almond with half dose of muffin and full dose of muffin as a control.

The subjects took other low-fat diet to reduce their weight and follow their usual exercise routine throughout the study.

This study is to help researchers to study the antioxidant effect when eating almond.

The researchers found that the volunteers who has eaten full dose of almond, their concentration of two bio markers for oxidative pressure – plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and urine isoprostanes were lower.

MDA drops as much as 19 percent in groups which took full dose of almond compared to the beginning of study.

While isoprostane drops as much as 27 percent in both almond groups compared with the control group.

The study shows that eating almond can help reducing the effect antioxidant and further study has shown the effect of Vitamin E and polyphenolic derivative such as flavonoid which are found in almond and other nuts tree.

The study does not show minimum almond diet content that help to provide the biological effect.

We know that antibiotic is often given to kill bacteria that cause disease. But you need to know that antibiotic is ineffective to kill virus.

Uncontrolled use of antibiotic now has caused many bacteria to become resistant to various antibiotics. The result? Most antibiotic produced could not kill disease-causing bacteria or it become less effective in fighting diseases.

There are two types of bacteria, first the non disease-causing bacteria (apathogenic) that does not cause disease, and the disease-causing bacteria (pathogenic). Physiologically, our body does have certain bacteria. These bacteria help to equalize the environment inside our body so that our body can function at its maximal level. When the number of pathogenic bacteria or apathogenic bacteria increases, it will create imbalance condition inside our body. Thus, disease arises.

When you eat antibiotic medication as you are attacked by sickness caused by virus, then the medication will act on the apathogenic bacteria (good bacteria) in your body but not on the virus. The bacteria which have been attacked by the antibiotic will then mutate and evolve to fight the attack back . As a result, the bacteria become stronger and the antibiotic becomes less effective.

Nowadays, there has been diverse numbers of bacteria which are resilient to antibiotics and to create new antibiotic is not an easy work. Scientists and doctor worldwide is working hard to deal with this problem.

What you have to do as a consumer/user are:

1. Do not take antibiotic if you are attacked by illnesses caused by virus. [Common example are cold and flu. Other example please refer to your healthcare provider or your doctor.]

2. Take your given antibiotics until you finished it like your doctor recommended (the eating time, the medication amount, the way to take it).

3. Continue to take the antibiotic as advised by the doctor even you are already feel healthy.

4. Discussed about antibiotic resistance with your doctor.

This situation is frequent experienced by the patient of atopic eczema or atopic dermatitis; a form of skin inflammation disease which causes itchy rashes, causing pain and makes the patient feels anxious.

This skin disease could infect anybody; however it is more often to occur among children. More, according to statistic, more than 15 to 20 percent of school children experience atopic eczema compared to just two to ten percent for adults.

New research also indicates that the rate of atopic eczema infection has increased since this three last decade.

The skin care for kids who experience eczema is usually a continuous process up till they become adults. Apart from the discomforting effect, this disease also can be emotionally stressing and raises financial effect not only on to the patient but also to the family members, especially to the parents.

Generally, atopic eczema is a form of allergy, where it is an effect of abnormal body immune system until it causes skin damage.

It is a state where the patients’ skin especially the children becomes dry and itchy.

Unfortunately, when the children felt their skin is itchy, they will scratch it and this damage the skin even more and re-trigger the irritation.

Skin having atopic eczema can become extremely dry because of too much humidity loss. However, it can be manage by many eczema treatments including the use of moisturizers for dry skin, steroids to overcome inflammation and anti-itch medicines.

The skin of an atopic eczema patient not only becomes reddish, but also scaly, hard and thick especially at the hand and folded skin region, for example, at the elbow and knee region.

Skin may become hard and blistered or become suppurated as a result of bacterial infection.

Ninety percent of eczema cases show that Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria, could cause this inflammation.

There is concentrate combination and ointment which contains steroid to treat inflammation and antibiotic to kill the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

Yet the cause of eczema is still unknown. If one of the family members has eczema, asthma or allergic rhinitis (allergy to pollen), their children will have great chance of getting it too.

Some children that have eczema could also have asthma or allergic rhinitis. Broken and cracked skin of atopic eczema causes humidity to seep out.

Besides using moisturizer, steroid for inflammation and anti-itch medication, patients could also control the condition by themselves. Things that he can do include reducing the use of cleansing fluid, deodorant, cosmetic, pollen and avoiding certain foods.

Eczema patients should avoid using soap or foaming liquid soap on their skin because it might make the skin condition worse.

On the other hand, they are suggested to use moisturizer and cleaner which not only can function as protector but also as a moisturizer for their allergic skin.

Patients also are advised to talk with expert individuals on managing and how to minimize their atopic eczema attack.

“This study and other recent evidence shows TIA should be treated every bit as urgently as chest pain and angina are in the prevention of heart attacks,” says Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson Dr. Alastair Buchan.  So how do you know if you’re having a TIA or a mini-stroke? Symptoms similar to a stroke such as numbness or weakness of an arm, leg or the face may occur. The main difference is that the symptoms tend to resolve themselves in a few minutes or hours.

Symptoms can also include visual and speech problems, difficulties walking, confusion or sudden severe, unusual headache and dizziness. Prompt treatment of TIA can reduce the risk of stroke or death substantially.

Always feel tired?

If you always feel tired, it may rooted from the heart and Q10 coenzyme (CoQ10) that needed by it. Heart has the size of about a gripped fist and it constitutes of special muscle tissues.

Heart muscle tissue is an amazing thing and only found at only one place which is in the heart. Not like other two types of muscle, voluntary muscles and involuntary muscles, heart muscles do not know to rest and are never tired pumping blood to the whole body through the 60,000 miles of blood vessels.

Heart beats about 72 beats per minute and 100,000 beats per day nonstop as long as you are still alive. This is one hard work and to do this job your heart requires a lot of energy.

Getting the energy needed is not a problem when we are still young. Our body produces all the energy needed by our heart. But when we are increasingly getting older, our enzyme system started to be slow, and the amount of energy supplied to the heart is getting decreased. As such, when our age hit 50s and 60s, our heart are noticeably experiencing lack of energy.

When your heart does not get enough energy, of course it will not be able to pump blood efficiently throughout the arteries, veins and capillaries which totals up of 60,000 miles.

These blood vessels accommodate your entire body organs and trillions of cells by supplying the needed oxygen and nutrients at all time.

If the cells and those organs do not get sufficient oxygen and nutrient needed, the first symptom that will happen is you will feel weak and tired. If this condition is let to continue, you will probably become ill.

As such, if you complained that you are not as energetic as before, your problem may probably comes from your heart condition which does not get the enough energy it needs. Photo credit: Sarah G…

Continue reading: Heart Energy, Heart Muscle Tissues and Q10 Coenzyme (CoQ10) Level

In each of the trillions of cell, there are a energy generator plants known as mitochondria. Complex biochemistry reactions occur within mitochondria to change foods into chemical energy (adenosine triphosphate or ATP).

ATP is a type of molecule which contains stored energy like a battery, needed by our cells to function smoothly. Q10 Coenzyme (CoQ10) is an important component in ATP production process and without CoQ10 no energy can be produced.

Then it is no wonder if heart muscles, the most active tissues, contains 10 times more CoQ10 compared to other organs in the body.  But unfortunately, the production of CoQ10 by our body has slowed down when we increasingly aged.

When your age hit 40s, your CoQ10 will decline as much as 40 percent compared when you were in your 20s. When your age hit seventies then, your CoQ10 level will decline as much as 60 percent.

Heart muscle tissues and Q10 Coenzyme (CoQ10) level

The Structure of Q10 Coenzyme

All cells need CoQ10 but some of it are more sensitive to low CoQ10 level. A few types of cells, tissue or organ may experience CoQ10 shortage problem but still able to function normally.

However, for other cells, tissues or organs which are very sensitive to low level of CoQ10, even a slight decline in the quantity, can bring to feeling weak, fatigue and a few other diseases.

The sensitive parts of our body to low level of CoQ10 are the heart, brain, the immune system and gum tissues. The most sensitive organ to low level of CoQ10 is the heart. This might be a reason why heart disease is listed as among the major killer disease in the world.

But there is good news; the energy can be regained to the cells by taking CoQ10 supplement. Continued in The Source of CoQ10 (Q10 Coenzyme).

Although CoQ10 may be obtained naturally in many types of food like beef and vegetables, the amount of CoQ10 in the foods is very small. It is very hard to get more than five milligram (mg) of CoQ10 a day from our foods.

As such, CoQ10 supplement intake is recommended to supply optimum energy required by our body, especially by our heart. Traditional forms of CoQ10 supplements are such as CoQ10 powder suspended in soy oil sealed in soft gel, pills based on powder or hard gelatin capsule filled with powder.

However, these are not easily absorbed by the body. The problem is, the size of CoQ10 particle is so big, insoluble in water and also not so soluble in lipid, making it difficult to be absorbed by our body.

Nevertheless, recent development has successfully enabled to shrink the CoQ10 molecule to become smaller, to size of even smaller than the size of bacteria.

Usually, in the case of body absorption rate, the smaller the particle size, the better the absorption rate will be. The smaller size of CoQ10 also gives three times higher CoQ10 absorption into body compared with other non-shrank CoQ10 supplements.

Because many people have low level of CoQ10 after the age of 35 years old, then taking CoQ10 supplement are thought as a valuable investment to achieve optimal health in their senior age.

Also many who took Q10 coenzyme supplement reported a sharp increase in their energy level once they started taking CoQ10 in water soluble form.

They can play golf more, could return to the tennis court, and after all of that they are still able to spare time together with their children and grandchildren.

Remark: Information in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be use as a personal health advice. If you experienced health problem, you are advised to get advice from your health experts.

The latest voluntary recall, which drew a sharp rebuke from U.S. regulators on Friday, followed consumer reports of “an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that, in a small number of cases, was associated with temporary and non-serious gastrointestinal events,” the company said. Such events included nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

The Food and Drug Administration said the company had received about 70 complaints in 2008 of an intestinal problem or an unusual smell with Tylenol caplets but failed to report the problem to regulators until a year later.

The recall involves lots in the Americas, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Fiji. In addition to pain relievers Motrin and Tylenol, and the Rolaids antacid, the recall also involved the Benadryl allergy drug and St. Joseph’s Aspirin. Source : Reuter

Note: This article is the continuation of Restoring the Freedom of Eye Sight.

Compared to other bladeless LASIK procedures, patients who uses this system goes through the flap creation and corneal reshaping in just one step.

Other LASIK methods require transferring patients from flap creation machine to the excimer laser machine (to reconstruct the cornea).

This combined system for the laser refractive surgery only requires turning the patients bed 180 degrees from the VISUMAX Femtosecond Laser machine to MEL 80 excimer laser machine in just one step.

The technology also does not require high suction pressure on the eye for corneal flap formation compared with old method which causes temporary vision loss to the patient resulted from high pressure to the eyes.

Apart from patient does not have to get up and move between the two machines involved, the laser system used also is safe with eye movement monitoring. Laser beam will follow small eye movements and will stop immediately should a big movement occur. To be sure of most accurate treatment and for best results, the operating theater temperature is also controlled between 18 to 24°C and the level of humidity is under 50 percent.

Current statistic shows that more than 95 percent of patients achieve at least 20/40 level of eyesight or better after a LASIK surgery.

That level allows them to drive legally and is well enough for most sports and other activities.

95 percent of the patients are free from use of eyeglasses or contact lens and majority of them can carry on with life without any aid of vision device.

Eyesight recovery is dependent to refractive error level undergone before the surgery and can achieve the perfect vision of 20/20 if refractive error level is low. Patient who has high refractive error on the other hand may require glasses or contact lens usage for best eyesight to drive or read.

Recovery

Recovery of eyesight level happened almost instantaneous after the LASIK eye surgery is completed while corneal flap layer full recovery need between one to three months.

Most recovery eyesight level of patient will happen in the first few days after the LASIK procedure is conducted.

Patient is advised to stay away from water activity for a while and avoid shock or rubbing their eyes during the first four weeks.

Some patients’ eyesight may be slightly fuzzy in the first few days but it will become better.

Level of eyesight may also differ in particular time in a day, for few weeks, but most of the patients will get distinct vision within short period of time. With the accurate application of VISUMAX Femtosecond Laser, some very thin cornea case also may undergo the LASIK procedure.

Correction made through the procedure also said to last for years long, although vision declination still continues with the increase of age. This gives normal level of eyesight to the patient like other individuals and also allows them to involve in some particular job field which requires perfect level of eyesight.

LASIK eye surgery is safe and many have succeeded in the operation. This surgery starts with the patient is smiling and ended, only after several minute, also with a smile in the patient’s face.

The nervous system is the system of nerve cells and tissues that controls the actions and responses of the body. It consists mainly of the brain, spinal cord and a network of nerves that stretches throughout the body. The nervous system can be divided into two parts – the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord. Its job is to regulate bodily activity.

The brain is an organ that is enclosed within the skull, is connected to the spinal cord and is composed of grey matter and white matter. The brain coordinates information it receives from every part of the body and makes the appropriate responses.

The spinal cord is the long cordlike part of the central nervous system connected to the base of the brain and enclosed within the backbone or vertebral column. It acts as the main information pathway between the brain and peripheral nervous system. It receives information from the skin, joints, muscles of the trunk, arms and legs and sends the information to the brain. When the brain has analyzed the information, it sends out instructions which are then carried by the spinal cord to the peripheral nervous system.

The peripheral nervous system is the part of the nervous system that lies outside of the brain and spinal cord. It includes the nerves that emanate from the central nervous system and extend to the limbs and many sense organs. The role of the peripheral nervous system is to transmit information or instructions between the central nervous system and the rest of the body.

Information and instructions are transmitted throughout the nervous system in the form of impulses. Impulses are electrical signals. In the nervous system, impulses travel from one nerve cell to another until they arrive at an organ or sensory receptor.

A baby is having photo treatment to treat jaundice.

What Is Jaundice?

Jaundice is yellowish color that visible on the skin due to the increase of bilirubin level in blood. Jaundice in infants is a jaundice which occurred during the first month after baby is born.

What Is Bilirubin?

Bilirubin is a type of pigment produced by red blood cell fragmentation. It is then processed in the liver before being discharged out into faeces.

Does Jaundice Often Happened Among Babies?

Jaundice often occurs in infants. 50% babies will experience jaundice in their first week of life.

Type of Jaundice in Baby and Causes:

1. Physiologic Jaundice
   Is the most often jaundice happened in infants and not dangerous. Jaundice started after 48 hours after birth and will slowly disappear by end of the first week. This type of jaundice happened due to red blood cells fragmentation and liver organ state which is not yet mature enough.
2. Pathologic Jaundice
   This type of jaundice starts within two days after born. This is due to excessive red blood cells fragmentation because of:
   • Incompatible blood group between mother and baby. (When mother having Rhesus negative or blood group O).
   • G6PD deficiency in infants. The enzyme deficiency causes red blood cells to become unstable when exposed to certain substances. However not more than 5% of infants experiences this problem. Nowadays all babies will be checked for their G6PD status just after they are born. (Refer food list and drugs that should be avoided by G6PD deficiency sufferer).
   • Infection to the baby. Usually the baby will look weak and requires hospital treatment.

What Causes Prolonged Jaundice?

Jaundice is considered prolonged when the yellowish condition continues exceeding 14 days for a month old baby and 21 days for premature baby. It is due to:

• Fully breast milk feeding (breast milk jaundice). This prolonged jaundice is not dangerous to infants as long as the mother does not take traditional medicines.
• Clogged or blocked bile flow from liver to intestine which then eventually brought about pale faeces and concentrated urine. However this case seldom occurs.
• Lack of thyroid hormone. This case is extremely rare, one in 4000 births. Through national screening program, all newborn infants will be screen test by using umbilical cord blood.

Should I Worry if My Baby Having Jaundice?

Your baby may be well if:

• Your baby is a full nine month pregnancy and not risky to severe jaundice.
• Jaundice happens 48 hours after birth and there is no severe increase of jaundice.
• Your baby is healthy and active.

However please get doctor’s checkup for further assessment.

What Are The Danger Signs That Should I Be Aware Of?

You should get immediate doctor’s checkup if:

• Jaundice happens in 24 hours time after birth.
• Fast yellowish increase
• Your baby experience G6PD deficiency
• Your earlier child experienced severe jaundice
• Your baby looks inactive and does not want to feed milk
• Your baby faeces looks pale or her urine become thick

What Will The Doctor Do?

Your doctor will check your baby and do a blood test and give the suitable treatment. They also will give related advice.

What Problem Will Arise Because of Severe Jaundice?

High level of indirect bilirubin in newborn can achieve danger level and can cause:

• Hearing disturbance where brain damage happened at the hearing control section.
• Severe brain damage (kernicterus)

Therefore early intervention must be done to avoid severe complication.

What Treatment Will Be Given?

There are two types of treatments namely:

1. Photo treatment
   Baby will be placed under certain blue lights component radiation until indirect bilirubin turned into non-hazardous material.
   Note: Do not expose your baby in morning sunlight directly because this endangers your baby.
2. Blood exchange transfusion
   Bilirubin level which is considered dangerous for newborn is when it is more than 20 mg/dL (340 mmol/L). Blood exchange treatment is the last choice to avoid brain damage. Bilirubin level for this treatment depends on many factors including the baby’s age and the cause of jaundice itself.

Jaundice Prevention

It would be vital for us to detect and monitor baby with high risk to get severe jaundice.

Early action to detect jaundice can ensure suitable treatment and reduce complication.

What Should Be Done to Baby Who Experience Severe Jaundice?

All infants with bilirubin level of more than 20 mg/dL should get further treatment pediatrician clinic to monitor their development and hearing.

In case severe jaundice has resulted brain damage, the child should be referred to a group of expert for recovery.

Other Things

Food list, drugs that should be avoided by G6PD deficiency sufferer:

• Food : broad bean
• Certain Chinese herbs
• Drugs (refer doctor for complete list)
  - Antibiotik such as sulfamethozazol, nalidiixic acid
• Chemical
  - Mothballs (do not use in clothing.)

Working for eight hours a day and five days a week facing a computer, of course would make one experience muscle ache and overstressed muscles in his neck and shoulders. Neck pain would normally destitute to the shoulder. This happens because of wrong posture. Statistics showed that number of white collar workers who in that area of jobs often to have this problem and it is increasing over the world.

In a special study done by a pain reliever brand, it is found that:

• 25 percent of the white collar workers experience muscle ache and overstressed muscles at the neck and shoulders everyday.
• Of a group of study participant aged between 18 to 60 years old, 35 percent of sufferers of muscle ache and overstressed muscles at neck and shoulders are in the age of between 20 to 29 years old.
• Almost 50 percent of the white-collar workers that suffer neck and shoulder muscle ache and overstressed muscles use tranquillizer to defuse pain and 43 percent of them are not satisfied with its results.
• More that 20 percent of women participated in the study suffer muscle ache and overstressed muscles at neck and shoulders everyday.
• A too long period or too much of physical activities at the workplace or at home is the main cause of muscle ache and overstressed muscles at neck and shoulders. They even found that some of those that suffer muscle ache and overstressed muscle suffer in silent, while hoping that the problem will heal by itself.

While in one study done by the body in 2004 revealed that those who suffer muscle pain and overstressed muscles at neck and shoulders did not give effort to get the solution compared to those who suffer other pains or diseases. This problem if left for a long time will harm the body and health, besides reducing productivity in the workplace.

However the problem can be helped where only 10 percent of the sense of pain requires special treatment, while other can be overcome by easy ways.

You can use relieving cream or balm, take medication or go to the clinic and see your doctor. Using balm or cream is easy because it is small so that you always bring them to your workplace.

It does not cost much, but it can give you back your comfort of life. When you do your work more comfortably, it become safer and raises your productivity. So take your action, and don’t suffer your muscle pain and overstressed muscles in silent. Photo credit: Martin Kingsley

People always complain about the television sound is too slow, or people talking too slow. Sometime the problem is caused by hearing problem. So how to recognize the problem.

The following questions will help you determine if you need to have your hearing evaluated by a medical professional…Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

1. Do you have a problem hearing over the telephone?
2. Do you have trouble following the conversation when two or more people are talking at the same time?
3. Do people complain that you turn the TV volume up too high?
4. Do you have to strain to understand conversations?
5. Do you have trouble hearing in a noisy background?
6. Do you find yourself asking people to repeat themselves?
7. Do many people you talk to seem to mumble (or not speak clearly)?
8. Do you misunderstand what others are saying and respond inappropriately?
9. Do you have trouble understanding the speech of women and children?
10. Do people get annoyed because you misunderstand what they say?

If you answered “yes” to three or more of these questions, it is recommended that you see an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose, and throat specialist) or an audiologist for a hearing evaluation.

Day by day more people in the world suffer eyesight problem, mostly shortsightedness or farsightedness and astigmatism (caused by irregularly shaped cornea). This not yet added with particular disease which resulted to declination or loss of the sense of sight.

Actually not easy to visualize how an individual with sight difficulty or astigmatism sees the world. To be between of able and unable to see give a great pressure in a person’s life, especially if the vision is too blurry until he just can only see something if it moves.

For so long, this problem has been corrected by using eyeglasses or contact lens. However, this still means that the individual involved are tied with the usage of vision aid device which might have to be used all the time for a clear vision.

Imagine what will happen if the eyeglasses or contact lens fall off or lost while driving, swimming or in a remote place. For those who experience severe shortsightedness or astigmatism, this is no big difference from suddenly being blind in ‘a bright light’.

Apart from that, there are also those who are not suitable wearing glasses or experience allergic reaction to the material of their lens or eyeglasses. For that, there is a high demand to return their sight to normal vision, or at least enable their daily movement freedom.

Returning to Normal

No matter whether for freeing from dependency or cost saving of vision aid device, medical, cosmetic or increasing the quality of life, recovery of visual sense to the normal level is something which is greatly needed. Technological developments since the 1950s have led to the discovery of laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis treatment (LASIK), which is increasingly growing each year.

Advancing from the use of knife to laser usage, LASIK eye surgery is now the most popular laser surgical procedure to optimize the sense of sight. LASIK uses laser on the corneal curve and becoming a choice because of fast recovery period and less complication and side effect compared with other refractive operations.

LASIK procedure will make lasting change by removing particular internal corneal tissue section to treat nearsightedness or farsightedness and astigmatism. The corneal reshaping will increase the light focus in retina and then will optimize the sense of sight.

Before the corneal internal structure reconstruction is made, a cut on the upper layer of the cornea (flap) must be done and shall serve as a ‘natural bandage’ to cover the corneal tissue middle part of the after the operation completed. However, the usage of knife or blade to make this corneal flap before this has caused many to be afraid to have LASIK eye surgery.

For that, bladeless LASIK surgery that uses the latest VISUMAX Femtosecond Laser System technology was introduced. This system was introduced by Carl Zeiss Meditec a few years ago.

Continued in : Reshaping of Cornea by Laser Eye Treatment

Seasonal flu, or influenza, viruses change slightly over time, allowing the virus to evade our immune systems.  That’s why there’s a new seasonal flu shot every year:  to protect you from the newest strains, or varieties, of virus.  Healthy people, even if they don’t get a flu shot, aren’t usually seriously threatened by seasonal flu.  But it can be severe for the very young, the elderly and those with a weakened immune system.  Seasonal flu causes 36,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations every year in the U.S.

Every so often, a flu virus emerges that’s so different, human immune systems aren’t at all prepared to fight it.  Historically, they’ve infected people by “jumping” from animals, most commonly birds.  People can become infected when they’re in close contact with infected birds, such as while slaughtering or preparing poultry, drinking water contaminated with droppings of infected birds or when they allow infected birds to roam freely in their living areas.  Animal and human viruses can also mix in the body when someone’s infected with both to produce other new viruses.

You’ve probably heard about a class of bird, or avian, flu viruses called H5N1.  “H” and “N” stand for particular proteins on the surface of the influenza virus that change frequently.  H5N1 viruses have infected birds throughout Southeast Asia and are now spreading into Central Asia, Africa and Europe.  When people have become infected, the results have often been fatal.  By December 2006, the World Health Organization confirmed over 250 human cases of H5N1 and more than 150 deaths. The latest pandemic is the swine flu or know as H1N1.

Since we can’t predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or which strain of the virus will cause it,  we should focus on how to preventt the outbreak of the pandemic.

If health officials could quickly figure out which flu virus they’re dealing with, they would have a better chance of preventing a pandemic.  A good diagnostic test would allow a doctor to distinguish between a routine case of seasonal flu and avian flu.  That’s why researchers have been working hard to develop a test that would allow labs across the country to rapidly diagnose flu infections.

When it comes to fighting a pandemic, the first thing that may come to mind is a vaccine.  Results from earlier this year show that researchers may be on the path to developing a vaccine to protect people.

Researchers carried out experimental vaccine based on an H5N1 virus originally isolated in Southeast Asia in 2004.  In a series of studies, they gave people different doses of the vaccine and tested to see how much antibody, a virus-fighting molecule, their bodies made.  They found that the higher the dose of vaccine people received, the more antibodies they produced.  Researchers are continuing to improve on this vaccine and are now testing it in children and the elderly.

Several ways to make more effective avian flu vaccines are being tested.  One method is to use immune-boosting compounds called adjuvants.  Back in 2004, NIAID asked Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics to use an adjuvant to produce a vaccine against H9N2, an avian flu that infected two children in Hong Kong in 1999.  In a preliminary trial, the vaccine with adjuvant raised antibody levels to ranges that may be able to protect people against infection.

Researchers are also making progress using animals to test new strategies.  In a study done under an agreement between NIAID’s Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and MedImmune Inc., researchers showed that a vaccine based on one strain of H5N1 could protect mice and ferrets from infection by several naturally occurring H5N1 viruses.  That’s promising news for researchers hoping to develop a vaccine against unforeseen H5N1 strains.  A preliminary trial was launched last June to start testing a similar vaccine in humans.

Other ways to combat flu viruses are being explored, too.  Researchers are testing many compounds designed to slow the spread of avian flu viruses within the body once a person’s been infected.

A better understanding of a virus that caused a past pandemic has recently given researchers ideas about another possible way to fight flu.  A study of mice infected by the virus that caused the 1918 pandemic showed that the virus provoked their immune systems to overreact.  That may be why the virus was so fatal to humans.  So, in addition to developing methods to target the viruses themselves, researchers may be able to develop ways to dampen the human immune system’s response to an infection.

Researchers continue to work on these and other approaches to fighting influenza.  Experts don’t know when or where a deadly new flu might emerge, but they hope the tools being developed now will prevent another pandemic and help us fight one if it does occur. Source: National Institute of Health.

What is Haze?

Haze is a phenomenon caused by the existence of small particles which cannot be seen by the naked eye and float in the air. These particles may have come naturally or as an effect of human activity. When these particles exist in large amount and cluster, it can block the sunlight from reaching the earth. Because of this it reduces the eye viewing distance.

Causes of Haze

The main causes of haze are:
- Open Burning
- Smoke from Factories
- Smoke from Vehicles

Avoid from Doings Which Can Cause Haze

Air Pollution Index (API)

API is derived from measurement of fine dust (10 microns and below) and a few types of gas which can affect health namely carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. API is used as a guide to know the air quality and its effect to health. API measurement and status are as follows:

You should follow the current development through mass media (press, television and radio) to know current haze level in your place so that could take preventive measures.

More on health and haze:

• Health and Haze: A Health Guide For You
• Risky Group During Haze and Symptoms Of Haze Effects
• Health and Haze: Prevent Disease Resulted from Haze

Continuous hazy condition will bring bad effects to people especially high risk group which are:

1. Children
2. Old people
3. Those who has
   • asthma
   • bronchitis
   • lung inflammation
   • chronic lung disease
   • heart problem
   • allergy
4. Smokers
5. Those who works outside of office or home.

What are Signs and Symptoms of Impact of Haze to Health

Effects will be experienced after exposed continuously to haze which include:

• Itchiness in throat and coughing
• Feeling hard to breath or breathing difficulty.
• Eyes felt painful and tearing.
• Watery nose and frequent sneezing.
• Body skin felt itchy
• Chest pain.

Get doctor’s treatment and advice at nearest clinic if you have these signs
and symptoms.

More on health and haze:

• Health and Haze: A Health Guide For You
• Risky Group During Haze and Symptoms Of Haze Effects
• Health and Haze: Prevent Disease Resulted from Haze

• Those who experience diseases like cough, flu, asthma, sore eyes, heart disease or chronic lung diseases should go to the clinic immediately if the disease conditions worsen.
• Those who are in high risk group should always take medicine as advised.
• Nasal mask should be used by all motorcyclists, those who work outside building or in dusty places and those who are in the high risk group.
• Smokers who have small child, old parents and diseased relatives must not smoke in the house.
• The public are advice to stay inside their home and building as far as they can.
• Lessen sports activity outside home.
• Always wash their face and skin areas exposed to haze with clean water.
• If your vehicle is air-conditioned, please use it.
• Always drink a lot of water.
• Smoker is advised not to smoke when air situation is unhealthy (API exceeded 100).
• Those in high risk group are advised to take leave outside the hazy area if the hazy condition continues at a dangerous level at their area.

More on health and haze:

• Health and Haze: A Health Guide For You
• Risky Group During Haze and Symptoms Of Haze Effects
• Health and Haze: Prevent Disease Resulted from Haze