How to Deal with Dizziness During Pregnancy?

Dizziness is common in women during pregnancy. This feeling is due to many reasons - pressure on blood vessels caused by the enlarging uterus, and the need to eat more food.

The Womenshealth.gov website suggested tips on how to reduce dizziness during pregnancy:

1. Stand up slowly.
2. Try not to stand for long periods.
3. Don't skip regular meals.
4. Lie down on your left side when resting.
5. Wear loose-fitted clothing.

Ten Best Diet Tips to Lose Weight

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Tip 1: Drink plenty of water. It is considered as one of the greatest health myths.  However, I still believe in the benefits of water, not only in its role for losing weight but also for being healthy.

Water is flushes out toxin in our body, and you won’t have to worry about calories for drinking more of it.

Start your day with a glass of water.  As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of cool water.  A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a glass of water. It is good for you. 

Drink a glass of water before you start the meal. Water naturally needs some space so that you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself.

Have another glass of water while you are having the meal. Again this is another way of making yourself full so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just the same. Instead of drinking it one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster

Tip 2: Avoid sweetened drinks such as sodas, soft drinks and the like.  These drinks are sweetened with sugar, which obviously gives you lots of calories.

You should also avoid commercial juices because, like any other sweetened drinks, these will give you lots of calories for its sugar content.  Additionally, these drinks are unhealthy for containing food coloring and artificial sweeteners.  Drink home made fresh fruit juices. 

Tip 3: Increase your fiber intake.  Fiber acts as body cleanser.  Go crazy over vegetables and fruits because these are good and natural sources of diet fibers.

Tip 4: Try to stick to black tea/coffee.  Black tea or coffee can actually be good for you. But personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like the metabolism.    

Tip 5: Stay away from fried things. Fried things are an absolute no-no. The more fried things that you avoid, the lesser weight you will gain. Fried things are called so because they are fried in oil or fat. And even if the external oil is drained away, there is still a lot of hidden oil in it so stay away from it.

Tip 6: Fresh vegetables are better than cooked or canned vegetables. Try to eat your vegetables raw. When you cook them, you are in fact taking away nearly half the vitamins in them. And canned vegetables too are processed and are not nearly half as good as fresh vegetables. When you buy your vegetables it would be a good thing to see if the label says that it is pesticide free.

Tip 7: Do not eat egg more than 1 per day. The yolk of an egg contains many calories.  If you can avoid eating egg, then better.   For die-hard egg fanatics, you still can indulge to it however; it is advisable not to eat more than one piece a day.  

Tip 8: Make chocolates a luxury and not a routine. Chocolates are not or at least they should not be a part of your diet. So do not indulge too much in them. Even the bitter chocolates are not good for you because though the sugar is less there is still the cream in them.  

Tip 9: Choose white meat rather than red. White meat, which includes fish and fowl, is miles better than red meat, which includes beef and pork for those trying to lose weight. 

Tip 10: Try and adopt a vegetarian diet. A vegetarian diet is undoubtedly better for those of us watching our diet. There are a lot of advantages of keeping to a vegetarian diet but I don’t want to sing an ode to vegetarianism now. What I would suggest is keep to a vegetarian diet as much as you can. Make a non- vegetarian diet a week end event or something if you find it impossible to give up eating all those animals.

How Physiotherapy Can Help With Sports Injuries

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When players have sports injuries, they turn to physiotherapy for rehabilitation.  Physiotherapy, also called physical therapy, offers help whether the player is having surgery to correct the damage or not

One example of the many sports injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.  This is an injury to the knee.  It is one of the common sports injuries in people who play sports that challenge their knees, such as hockey, skating, skiing, basketball, and of course, football.  It can limit the range of a player's motion in that leg, and make the leg weak.

Surgery is sometimes done for these sports injuries, but physiotherapy is always a part of the treatment.  The three major exercises done to start the healing process of ACL are heel slides, quad sets, and straight leg raises.

Heel slides are exercises for ACL sports injuries that are easy to understand, but may be painful to do at first.  One simply lies on the bed or floor with the foot down.  Then, one slides the foot slowly towards the buttocks until it hurts a little, and slides it back.  This and the other exercises help prepare the knee for surgery or to heal without it.

Another of the sports injuries that physiotherapy is used for is tennis elbow.  One might get tennis elbow from playing tennis, certainly, but it can also come about from any activity that involves twisting the wrist.

Sports injuries like tennis elbow are treated with a comprehensive plan of physiotherapy.  Exercises are explained and assigned.  Another common procedure for sports injuries is the use of ultrasound.  Ultrasound is a way of applying heat deep into the muscle for pain relief.

Electrical stimulation can be used to keep pain from being felt through the nervous system.  It is used for tennis elbow and many other sports injuries.  Massage and manual therapy can also be used for physiotherapy.

Massage is one of the forms of soft tissue manipulation.  However, soft tissue manipulation is to muscles what chiropractic is to bones.  It deals not only with muscle, but with tendons and connective tissue as well.  It is a specialized field of physiotherapy that has been used for people with sports injuries on many occasions.

As many children's sports teams are becoming ever more competitive, sports injuries among youngsters is increasing.  Often, a well-meaning parent will tell the child to shake it off and keep playing.  It is even more important for children to get adequate physiotherapy than it is for adults.  Children are just developing, and a problem in childhood can lead to lifelong pain.

Some sports injuries happen because something physically traumatic happens to your body.  Someone runs into you as you run with the football towards the end zone, for example.  Other times, it is simply a matter of the physical demands you put on your body.

Physiotherapy is instrumental in the healing of many sports injuries.  Many professional sports teams have physiotherapists on their staffs.  In fact, either ACL or tennis elbow can become permanent conditions without the use of physiotherapy procedures.

First aid for Dog Bites to Prevent Rabies

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First-aid for dog bites

During my rotation in the Department of Surgery at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, I’ve encountered quite a number of lacerated wounds secondary to dog-bite referred by San Lazaro Hospital for suturing.   However, we don’t advise these kinds of wounds to be sutured because they are considered dirty.

                      

Instead, we just advised the following:

1. Wash the bite area vigorously with soap under running water for at least 15 minutes.
2. Apply any anti-septic like povidone iodine or 70% alcohol.
3. Do not cover the wound with bandage of plaster.
4. Do not put anything over the wound like pounded garlic, plant juices, coffee or chilli powder that are believe as cures.   These things are nonsterile and may just result to infected wounds.
5. Go to a nearest health center, physician or any hospital to get shots of vaccine immediately.  

DOH New Dengue Strategy

The Department of Health has recently devised their new D.E.N.G.U.E. strategy. Instead of confining patients in a hospital facility, parents and caregivers can practice the D.E.N.G.U.E. strategy. D.E.N.G.U.E. stands for:
D - daily monitoring of patient’s status,
E - encourage intake of oral fluids like oresol, water, juices, etc,
N – note any dengue warning signs like persistent vomiting and bleeding,
G – give paracetamol for fever and NOT aspirin, because aspirin induces bleeding,
U – use mosquito nets and
E – early consultation is advised for any warning signs,

This new strategy aims to educate the public on home treatment of mild dengue cases which comprise a greater part of the number of patients with dengue. This is to also help decongest hospitals by giving an assurance that not all dengue cases require hospital confinement but can be managed at home using the said strategy.

Read more at the DOH website.

Dengue News: Death toll from dengue rises to 501

MANILA, Philippines – Climate change could be one of the reasons behind the alarming rise in the number of dengue cases in the country, which has so far killed over 500 people, a health official said Saturday.

Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the Department of Health’s (DOH) National Epidemiology Center, said mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus now have more areas to breed.

He said rapid urbanization and overpopulation also contribute to the outbreak in several areas around the country.

Tayag explained that mosquitoes breed either in stagnant water or inside containers where people store water.
The insects also thrive in flood waters.

The DOH has recorded 69,594 dengue cases across the country from January to August 28  this year.

It is the largest number of dengue cases in a single year, the DOH said.

Tayag told radio dzMM that 501 people, mostly children, have died from the illness. In 2009, there were 369 deaths.

Most of the dengue cases were recorded in Western Visayas, Southern Luzon, Central and Eastern Mindanao, and Metro Manila.

Tayag said dengue cases are rising in Metro Manila while the provinces are seeing a decrease.

He said DOH tests detected 3 different dengue strains that are now causing havoc in affected areas. ABS-CBN News

Probiotics and Natural Health

In the world of medical advancements and improvements, natural health has taken the interests of many health-conscious consumers and practitioners. Probiotics, in particular, have weaved its way in the area of natural health. Many studies have been done to know the effects of probiotics in your body.

Not all bacteria are bad for your health. In fact, a number of good bacteria are present in your body. Probiotics are the good microorganisms similar to those that are present in your digestive system.  When taken in adequate amounts, these will greatly improve your health. You can get probiotics by taking dietary supplements or by consuming foods that have probiotics in them.

There are many benefits and purposes of probiotics. Some of them are as follows:
•    To treat some diseases
•    To boost your immune system
•    To improve general wellness
•    To prevent certain illnesses.

Here are some common health conditions that probiotics are known to help prevent and treat:

•    Diarrhea – The presence of probiotics in your body will greatly improve your digestion. It is said that probiotics are very effective in treating diarrhea that is caused by Rotavirus. Probiotics regulate absorption and improve the time that the food travels through your intestinal tract.
•    Vaginal Yeast Infections – A study have shown that there have been great improvements on the cases of patients with Candida (Yeast) infections and who took probiotics than those who didn't. The good bacteria decrease the pH levels of these participants. 
•    Inflammatory bowel disease – Probiotics alter your intestinal environment to prevent the condition from worsening. These good bacteria help prevent a relapse of Crohn's disease and help patients on remission from Ulcerative colitis
•    Constipation – In older individuals, probiotics can help prevent the occurrence of constipation by improving their digestion.
•    Cancer – By boosting your immune system, probiotics can help prevent certain types of cancer.
•    Other diseases such as atopic dermatitis on children, and infections caused by H. pylori and Clostridium Difficile.

With the many benefits of probiotics, it is not surprising that people are easily convinced to take them. Keep in mind though, that probiotics also have some mild side effects, like bloating. You have to only take them in the right amount. People who have low immune system should consult their doctors first before taking in probiotics. Some good microorganisms, while beneficial to healthy individuals, may not be beneficial to those who already have a low immune system.

Taking probiotics to improve your general health is greatly beneficial. They help you absorb and use the nutrients that are already present in your body like calcium, vitamin B, iron, copper and zinc. Your immune system will also improve when you have an adequate amount of probiotics as they regulate antibodies and lymphocytes, which are known to fight harmful bacteria and protect you from serious illnesses.

Good bacteria are vital to your body. Probiotics will give you all the help you need to improve your natural health, but remember, anything that concerns your health must always be consulted to your doctor. There are no taking chances to a healthy you.

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