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TIPS FOR SUMMER SEASON

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Thu, 15 May 2014 07:12:00 +0000

Summer season tips :

Onset of summer season brings a lot of changes in our routine life.It brings a welcome relief from cold winter season.Life in all forms starts spreading as temperature reaches comfortable zone.However,further increase in temperature starts new breed of health problems.Sun burns,heat stroke,loose motion ,vomitings just to name a few.

Here we shall try to increase our knowledge about living summer season in a healthy way.

* Apply appropriate sunscreen on exposed skin parts like face,arms,forearms,hands etc.Please ensure that your sunscreen has SPF 20 or more to protect your skin from harmful UV rays of sunlight

* Hydrate yourself properly.Merely drinking plain water will not quench your thirst .Add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar to each glass of water.This will quench your thirst and give your body vital electrolytes.

* Eat light meals.Body produces a lot of heat while digesting meals.Lighter meals are easier to digest and keep our body light and healthy and cool

* Avoid wearing synthetic clothes.Wear cotton clothes which are comfortable on body.

* Using water cooler and air-conditioner and suddenly moving out in hot summer puts you in danger of exposure.One is comfortable inside room but suddenly moving out in hot temperature causes sudden physiological changes.This causes sudden cold,chills and fever etc.
To avoid this , one should keep setting of air-conditioner and cooler to medium comfortable range of 21-25 ^c

* Use only clean water for drinking purposes .It is wise to add 1 chlorine tablet to every 20 litres of drinking water.Keep for at least half an hour before using it.

Enjoy summers with above handy tips and live healthy.

How to make ORS and guide to ORS use ? (Oral Rehydration Solution )

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:46:00 +0000

Oral Rehydration Solution --
How to prepare ORS ?
How to use prepared ORS ?

                     As it becomes clear from above , ORS or oral rehydration solution is used to rehydrate our body.Immediately ,the question arises ,what is the need to rehydrate ourselves ?

             Excessive loss of sweat in summers by athletes,players and even common man causes weakness in the body.Excessive diarrhoea,vomitings and excessive urination as in uncontrolled diabetes or repeated urinary tract infections also cause weakness in the same way.If we have to recover from weakness,we have to rehydrate ourselves.

Why can't we drink water instead of ORS to rehydrate ourselves ?

Water although compensates for fluid loss from body ,it does not compensate for electrolyte loss that occurs along with water in any fluid loss.So only water intake results in incomplete recovery and some amount of residual weakness.

How to prepare ORS ?

How do I Know that I have dehydration ?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:36:00 +0000

What is dehydration ?

The reduction in water content of the body is called dehydration in simple words.Water content can be decresed either by increased loss from the body (as in diarrhoea,vomiting,significant blood loss, from any cause,heat stroke) or from reduced intake of fluids.

Whenever there is fluid loss from body in form of loose motion,vomiting etc.The total body fluid decreases due to loss and there occurs DEHYDRATION.There occurs simultaneous loss of electrolytes which also need to be replenished.

How do I Know that I have dehydration ?

These are subjective symptoms of DEHYDRATION
* Increased feeling of thirst
* Decreased amount of urine while urination
* Decreased flexibility or turgor of skin
* Weakness or tiredness in the body
* Fall of blood pressure

Simple Suggestions :

*The body tries to compensate dehydration by initially by creating feeling of thirst.
*So you should drink hygienic water whenever you feel thirsty.
*Please add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar to each glass of water to compensate for electrolytes.
*If available, drink plenty of ORS(oral rehydration solution)
*Donot stop oral intake of fluids even if you continue to have diarrhoea and vomiting.

Hope you find the information useful..

IMMUNIZATION IN BABIES

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:07:00 +0000

Every newborn baby is immunized with various vaccines.There is a long list of vaccines which are required for young ones.It is often seen that parents often remain confused about the time and type of vaccine required.Although each baby care centre attempts to make things clear by providing immunization cards,these are sometimes kept aside or forgotten.

Since dates of various vaccines are very specific,delay in immunization results in decrease in potency of immunity that is developed as a result of vaccination.I present here a gross guide to help you verbally remember the time when your baby needs to be immunized.

As soon as baby is born, immunization with BCG, Polio and hepatitisB is done.

At the age of 6 weeks,10 weeks and 14 weeks, a combination of various vaccines is given.This includes DPT and HIB. Hepatitis B if missed earlier, can be given in a combination pentavalent vaccine.

At the age of 9 months, measles immunization is given to the baby

At the age of 12 months, MMR immunization is required for prevention against measles mumps and rubella.

At the age of 18 months, booster dose of same vaccine given at age of 6 weeks is needed to boost up the baby's immunity.

This is the most common schedule adopted and recommended by most governments including India.

Some paediatricians like to follow schedules which vary in minor way from above.They may also advise additional vaccines like chickenpox, hepatitis A, influenza ,meningitis and so on.Since each of these gives prevention against different diseases,their use is also suggested as per advice.

Please note that baby may have fever after some vaccines.This is normal and it usually comes down in two to three days.Antipyretics should be used as per advice given.

Keep in mind the above mentioned schedule so that you know the approximate date and month of your baby's date with the doctor.

HAPPY PARENTING !

Fever/ Pyrexia what to do at home ?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 11:04:00 +0000

Fever or Pyrexia is a very common symptom of a lot of diseases.Everyone suffers from fever at some point in the life.These days hospital management is highly investigation dependent and rightly so.Although costly,It enables proper diagnosis and thus correct and prompt treatment.It also enables the doctor to tell about the duration of medicine use,the future possibility of cure and seriousness of the disease.The present article is an attempt to increase knowledge about fever and the diseases that cause it.

How fever occurs ?

It is actually a warning signal by our body to indicate that something is wrong and there is need to correct it.
Any substance or microorganism which is toxic to our body or produces toxic substances causes production of pyrogens in the body.Although pyrogens are produced by body to kill or neutralize the toxins/microrganisms,they produce fever as a result of fight with these.

What is fever ?

Diarrhoea or Loose motions

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 11:13:00 +0000

Diarrhoea or Loose motions are an extremely common problem. These are more common during summers and rainy season. These also occur following community functions like parties, marriages due to intake of unhygienic food. These occur due to various other reasons about which we do not know much. In this article we shall increase our knowledge about this problem.

What is Diarrhoea ?

Increase in liquidity of stools and/or increase in frequency of passage of stools is called diarrhea. In this article we shall not bind our self with tight technicality of definition.

What causes Diarrhoea ?

Know about CONSTIPATION

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:04:00 +0000

Constipation :

* This is a problem which everyone suffers during his/her lifetime at one time or the other.Instead of going into technicalities of how,when and why,we here discuss the prevention and home management of constipation.

* Our lifestyle today is largely responsible for this.Lets start from the wheat flour.The flour that most of us use is milled one and lacks fibre and roughage.The rice that we eat too is polished.There isn't enough salad in our diet.Fruit are even lesser in our diet.We prefer fast foods which lack fibre.Since fibre contributes to stool mass,lack of it causes constipation.

* Dietary causes apart,even our lifestyle today has changed a lot.White collar jobs have made us sedentary and thus our belly too.Jobs are strenous and tension is an important cause of constipation.

* A good walk daily helps to refresh both our body and mind by improving circulation.

* In hot weather conditions,excess loss of body water if not compensated can lead to constipation.Drinking plenty of water in summer helps prevent this.

* It is also important to name a few known diseases which can cause constipation.Hypothyroidism,irritable bowel syndrome,certain medicines,certain drugs,hirshsprung's disease,strictures,bowel obstruction;are few of them.

* Chronic constipation can itself lead to piles and rarely cancer.

Although there are numerous diseases which have constipation as their symptom,short term problem is usually not troublesome.However,if it continues for a longer time ,say more 3 weeks at a stretch ,one should definitely visit a doctor for an evaluation.

Drink plenty of water,eat enough salad and fruits,eat wholewheat and unpolished rice,donot skip your meals and donot smoke.Your bowel will be healthy and happy !

Know about PREGNANCY

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:43:00 +0000

                   To be pregnant is a unique feeling for every woman.It is said that pregnancy makes every female a complete woman.Pregnancy casts many effects not only on the pregnant woman but the entire family.

Pregnancy should always be planned in advance.

                 Addition of a new member in the family puts social and financial burden on the entire family.A new born baby attracts attention of the whole family especially mother and father.Mother needs to be with the baby round the clock for the initial 6-7 months.Working women have to arrange total 6-12 months leave from their job in order to take good care in pregnancy and after delivery.This total period is very important for all women.Good care in this period gives not only physical but emotional strength to women.This in turn enables the women to take good care of the baby.

                   The household women on the other hand have to face entirely different situation.Since they stay at home ,everyone including their husbands think that they can take care of themselves.However it is not so.Household women have so much work at home that they get very little time for themselves.Some things need to be avoided in pregnancy.Lifting heavy weight like buckets of water,washing lot of clothes manually, squatting for prolonged periods are very stressful to many women.If any job is stressful it should best be avoided and alternative should be arranged.

                           Every missed period by common sense creates a duobt of pregnancy in the minds of women.One should comfortably wait for at least 1 week before taking pregnancy test.After that one should visit nearest trusted healthcare facility for registration and initial tests of pregnancy.These tests aim at screening some problems beforehand so that they are treated well before they create trouble.So such tests should always be taken and money should be arranged for them at the time of planning the pregnancy.If everything goes normal doctors usually advise for one visit every month.In later months of pregnancy more frequent visits fortnightly or weekly are required.Many times ultrasound is also advised for various reasons.Results of all the tests tell that everything is progressing in expected way.
If you live at a place where healthcare is not available or inadequate , one visit after every three completed months is very basic and essential.One should always get one's weight and blood pressure checked at every visit.Height should always be got measured at initial visit.Blood group of husband also should be known or checked.

                                     Although there are many things to tell ,some important warning signs always need to be known so that any arising problem is detected and managed at an early stage.

Constant headache
Swelling in the feet
Swelling on face
Pain in the belly especially in lower part below naval region
Constant backache
Constant tiredness
Discharge from private parts
Bleeding from private parts
Inability to feel movements of baby in the belly

In case any such problem arises one should immediately visit nearest health facility for management.One thing more,never take any medicine without your doctor's advice.Many medicines are injurious in pregnancy and are not used.Watch out for more such articles.If you want to improve your knowledge about any health topic,click on healthchat link on homepage and let me know.I shall post it for you in short time.

Know about HEADACHE

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:40:00 +0000

                    Headache is a very common health problem disturbing almost all individuals at some point of time.Headache can result from various causes.Tension headache resulting from stress is very common among middle aged persons.Headache can result from teeth and gum problems.Sinus problems and ear problems also cause headache.Difficulty in sight,near or far,glaucoma and other eye problems also cause headache.Headache can also be a symptom of hypertension or high blood pressure.Depression,Acidity gastritis,lack of sleep also sometimes cause headache.Females can also suffer from headaches due to anaemia or low haemoglobin.They sometimes also experience it during days of periods.Headache pain can be very severe as it occurs during migraine.Tumors in brain,Meningitis,Encephalitis can also cause continuous headache.

                           Whenever you experience headache,think of a common cause first.Usually one doubts of a big problem but experience shows that majority of headaches can be cured.There are a few which require continuous medication.Only sometimes,one lands into a problem requiring major medical or surgical intervention.

                                  Irrespective of the cause,headaches cause suffering and loss of working hours and even decreased quality of work.So it becomes important that headache should be managed properly.Treating the headache by taking a painkiller will be like treating half the problem.Unless the cause is treated,headaches will not stop bothering you.One should avoid the habit of taking painkillers everytime one suffers from headache.

Know about BACKACHE

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:53:00 +0000

Let's discuss a very common problem -backache.This is very common in ladies of middle age group.It also occurs in persons who have to lift heavy weights or have to stand or sit for long hours in the job.It is so common that it is ignored many a times.However,if ignored or allowed to continue,it becomes a chronic problem very difficult to manage.So what should one do at home if someone has backache ?Please note the do's and dont's which are of immense help in relief.

1.Donot lift weights or continue sitting/standing for long hours as this will increase your problem.

2.Take bed rest.It is usually not done as it involves absence from duty.It helps immensely in healing.

3.Warm to hot fomentations give good relief.So give fomentation to aching part at least twice a day and you will get good relief.

4.Donot ignore your problem.If problem persists,it is always beneficial to consult doctor.

More detail :

Backache in young and adolescent girls can be due to monthly periods.This does not require much treatment and subsides on its own in 2-3 days.Few cups of Coffee or tea are soothing.Mild painkillers are sometimes required.
Backache in young and middle aged men is usually related to work stress.Jobs are demanding these days and these have their effects on our body.Prolonged hours of work puts stress on spine and covering muscles.Inadequate rest usually leads to muscle spasm and thus backache.Sometimes a trivial coughing,pushing a heavy luggage, lifting a bucket of water,washing clothes or simply bending down may aggravate the problem and may even lead to disc problem.This once again underlines the importance of rest in such backache.Backache in ladies can also be due to infection in private parts and genitourinary organs.Backacke when intermittent can be due to stones in abdominal organs.Such pain is severe and usually can't be tolerated.
To summarize,take care if you have backache.If it doesnot improve in few days by rest or use of mild painkillers,it is always wise to consult your doctor.

HYPERTENSION AND HEMIPLEGIA

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Vivek Sood) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:32:00 +0000

I will be sharing a few experiences from my professional life and you can benefit from them.
Today ,early morning ,I had an emergency call to attend.He was an old man who was unable to move his one hand and one leg.He was unable to swallow and eat properly.
He was previously suffering from hypertension.He used to take his medicine irregularly.This habit landed him into this critical situation of HEMIPLEGIA and malignant hypertension.

What is the moral ?

Hypertension is a silent killer.It wouldn't warn you loudly before harming you.
Learn from others' mistakes !

Follow your doctor's advice and take medicines regularly.If you feel some problem due to intake of medicine,discuss with doctor instead of stopping the medicine.
I hope the experience shared will benefit you.