Parenting Advices

Sir William Osler, the famous Canadian medical doctor, once said, “There’s only one way to treat the common cold — with contempt.” And for good reason. The average adult has two to three respiratory infections each year. That number jumps to six or seven for young children.

Whether or not you get sick with a cold after being exposed to a virus depends on many factors that affect your immune system. Old age, cigarette smoking, mental stress, poor nutrition and lack of sleep have all been associated with impaired immune function and increased risk of infection.

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Cervical cancer is preventable. Yet, it is the second leading cause of death in most countries.

Symptoms will usually be irregular or increased vaginal bleeding or post coital staining. The precise cause of cervical cancer is not known. Women who have multiple sex partners are at increased risk, and the disease is more frequent in young prostitutes. Those who started intercourse at ages 14 or 15 years have higher risk than those who started intercourse over 20 years. Also, women married to men whose previous wives had developed cervical cancer had threefold increase frequency of the disease. The occurrence of diseases such as gonorrhea has also been shown to be associated with the frequency of cervical carcinoma. Alteration to immune function increases the risk of cancer, i.e. HIV infection. Certain viruses, such as papillomavirus, herpesvirus and cytomegalovirus have also been implicated.

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There has been so much hype on how to lose weight. For most people, the primary goal of it is to look good and be accepted by society. However, the idea of losing weight goes beyond good looks. The medical benefits that it can generate may also be potentially life saving. If one browses through journals, newspapers or gossip newspapers, there has been little information regarding the medical benefits of losing weight. This is the area we all have to be aware of.

Obesity is now considered a disease rather than a physical attribute. It is the root cause of many diseases such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart and kidney problems, diabetes, joint pains, and skin diseases. Some of these diseases can even be life threatening.

Once a person starts losing weight, the functions of the different organs in the body begin to improve as well. Take the heart as an example. This is a remarkable organ that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all throughout your lifetime. Excessive fat surrounding this organ will become an obstacle to its regular function, forcing the heart muscles to overwork. An overworked and overloaded heart will inadequately supply blood to our vital organs leading to fatigue, chest discomfort, and the like. As we lose weight, we improve cardiac function and cardiovascular performance.

Cholesterol is always a major concern when it comes to obesity. This is a normal constituent in the body, however, in excess it can be harmful. Cholesterol is derived from the fats we consume from food. Abnormally high amounts in the blood can lead to fatty deposits, narrowing our blood vessels leading to an inadequate supply of blood to our vital organs. This condition is known as arteriosclerosis. By choosing the right food and maintaining the ideal body weight, bad cholesterol is kept at low levels. In the long term, you halt the progression of arterial hardening, it turn, blood circulation in the body is also optimized.

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Feeling sluggish, depressed, sensitive to the weather, or gaining weight while on a diet? Anyone with the above symptoms may be suffering from hypothyroidism.

To better understand the condition, it’s best to discuss the organ involved: the thyroid gland. This small and lightweight organ, which sits just below the Adam’s apple, influences many of the body’s metabolic functions. It produces tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), respectively. The release of the T3 and T4 is triggered by the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone from the pituitary gland situated in the brain. There is a feedback control mechanism that regulates the concentration of the T3 and T4 in the blood and keeps them at a safe level.

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