HealthStatus - How is your health? » Volume 67

Pointers On Preventing Eye Injury

HealthStatus — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:41:19 +0000

Knowing the basics of preventing eye injury is essential for everyone. The truth is that most of us don’t really take the health of our eyes very seriously- in fact, many people wear sunglasses because they look stylish, not because they want to protect their eyes. The sad truth is that the importance of taking care of your eyes only becomes apparent when something unfortunate happens.

The Eye Strain Factor

Eye strain lies at the root of a number of eye injuries. It is also one of those things that people don’t take too seriously- in many cases, eye strain or discomfort will only become apparent during activities like reading or sitting at the computer. As a result, most people won’t even be aware of the damage they are doing to their eyes by putting it under so much strain. Conditions like dry eye, blurriness and a variety of headaches can all be traced to eye strain. Thankfully, there are a number of very easy steps you can take to protect your eyes.

If you work at a computer for extended periods of time, it’s important to take a break at regular intervals. During these breaks, give your eyes a rest by closing them or looking at a far away object- simply shifting your view to a nearby window is enough. It’s also a good idea to do simple eye exercises to work your eye muscles. Apart from that, make it a point to blink as often as you can while you work- oftentimes, people working at computers will blink less often than normal. If possible, make sure that the room you work in has a humidifier. As far as your work station is concerned, make sure that your computer screen is not too bright or has a heavy contrast. It’s also important to ensure the room has the right amount of light as well- avoid working in a room where the only light source comes from the computer monitor.

Tips For Pain Management At Night

HealthStatus — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:09:02 +0000

In recent times, pain management has developed and evolved newer and effective treatment methods. Some of the traditional techniques, which were used to lessen pain in birthing and surgery, are now being used to treat other kinds of pain symptoms. The commonly employed treatment methods include; medications, physiotherapy, radiation therapy, TENS or Transcutaneous electrical stimulations, nerve blocks, and psychological support. Alternative medicine has also made tremendous contributions to pain treatment, though the effectiveness of many of these like yoga, reiki, chiropractic therapy are still under study, there are many patients who swear by these methods and appear to derive a lot of comfort, from these unconventional therapies.

Exercise- Some light exercise, before retiring to bed can be very helpful. This can be anything from some basic stretching to ‘range- of -motion’ exercises, which involves the extending, flexing, and rotating of joints and muscles through all of its possible movements. By doing regular, gentle exercises, a person can widen the natural range of joints and this goes a long way in strengthening the muscles, improving mobility and reducing pain.

Bath- A warm and soothing bath in the evening helps the body to relax and reduces pain. In fact, hydrotherapy is a popular pain-reducing technique and is commonly used to treat pain, maintain health and treat many degenerative conditions of the body. Giving the body a vigorous brush with a loofah (a vegetable sponge) or brush improves circulation and eases painful tender points in the body.

Massage- Self massage with hands or a self-massaging device, can help to de-stress after a hard days work. Listening to music is also very helpful and has a soothing effect on the mind. The therapeutic and pain-relieving effects of music are under serious study. Meditation or yoga may be highly beneficial for relieving night pain.

Metabolic Syndrome – Risk Factors, Diagnosis, And Management

HealthStatus — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:04:38 +0000

Metabolic syndrome is affecting people at an alarming rate in America. More than 50 million people have become its victim, till date. This syndrome puts people at a high risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which includes peripheral vascular disease, stroke, and coronary heart disease.

Risk Factors

There are certain metabolic risk factors that mark metabolic syndrome in a person. They are:

Accumulation of fat tissues in the abdomen area leading to abdominal obesity.
High blood pressure
High triglycerides, high LDL (bad cholesterol), low HDL (good cholesterol). All these lead to buildup of plaque in the walls of artery. This condition is called atherogenic dyslipidemia.
Inability of the body to utilize insulin properly leading to insulin resistance.
High fibrinogen in the blood. This is prothrombotic state.
High levels of C-reactive protein in blood. This is proinflammatory state.

Conditions like aging, sedentary lifestyle, genetic predisposition, and hormonal imbalance are also linked to this medical condition.

Out of the above-mentioned risk factors, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity are the dominant ones. Insulin resistance is regarded as a generalized metabolic disorder. In this condition, the body becomes incapable of utilizing insulin efficiently. That’s the reason why the second name of metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance syndrome.

Some people suffer from insulin resistance due to factors like excess fat and sedentary lifestyle, which can be checked and controlled. On the other hand, some people get such resistance due to genetic predisposition, which cannot be checked. It has been observed that people with insulin resistance suffer from abdominal obesity. Scientists are yet to solve the mystery of biologic mechanisms between metabolic risk factors and insulin resistance at molecular level.

Diagnosis

Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has established certain criteria for diagnosing metabolic syndrome. This is a widely accepted mode of diagnosis today, as no standard criteria have been set up till date.

A recommendation has been made by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as well as the American Heart Association, which states that metabolic syndrome, can be detected by the presence of 3 or more of the following conditions:

Increased waist circumference – in men, 40 inches or more and in women, 35 inches and more.
High level of triglycerides – 150mg/dL or more.
Low level of good cholesterol (HDL) – in men, 40mg/dL or less and in women, 50mg/dL.
High fasting glucose – 100mg/dL or more.
High blood pressure – 130/85 mm Hg or more.

Management Of Metabolic Syndrome

As per the American Heart Association, management of this syndrome should be directed towards alleviating the risk of Type 2 diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease. The first step is managing cardiovascular disease. For this, doctors recommend lifestyle and dietary changes to bring LDL, glucose, and blood pressure to normal levels and to increase HDL. Smokers and alcoholics should quit their habits.

Lifestyle therapies help in long term as well as in short term management of metabolic syndrome. This is because diabetes and most of the heart diseases are related to lifestyle. Therefore, it is recommended to:

Bring down the body weight to a healthy level. Body Mass Index (BMI) should be less than 25 kg/m2.
Take a healthy diet that has less saturated fats, cholesterol, and trans-fats.
Remain active and do moderate exercise for half an hour, every day.

One of the biggest threats of the modern world, after nuclear war, is unhealthy lifestyle. It has resulted in many diseases. If only people realize the dangers of processed foods, metabolic syndrome can be easily overcome.