Fever

Fever is not a disease. It is a symptom. When any bacterial or viral infection enters our body, it puts up its defence. In. such a situation, the temperature of our body rises. This we call fever. There is a breakdown of the body protein and loss of other nutrients as well. For this reason, and because there is usually a loss of appetite and consequent diminished food intake, a person having fever loses weight; and if the fever is prolonged, he may even become severely emaciated. With fever there is also an increased amount of excretion of vitamins B complex and C, through urine.

In any kind of fever, an effort should be made to prevent the undue loss of body protein by taking a diet in which the protein content is in excess of the normal requirement. There is no ground for the old belief that a high protein intake increases the fever, nor is it right to follow the old saying, ‘feed the cold and starve the fever’.

Diet management in fever is made more difficult by the loss of appetite associated with most fevers, and it may be further complicated by the presence of nausea. Much can be done to help by ensuring that the patient’s mouth is kept clean. If the tongue is furred, it should not be surprising that the patient has distaste for food.

Using a mouthwash before and after each meal would be of great help. Fresh cucumber or tomato with a little salt, pepper and lime juice is a good appetiser.

August 10, 2009 | Filed Under Diseases | Leave a Comment 

Advil

To conclude if your baby is teething or not you must ask few questions to yourself. Whether she becoming visible to be fussier? Is she weeping at dark? Does she stick to you? Is she oozing in extreme quantities? Is she gnawing up on her hand or things?
Have her gums turned red and swollen? Is she demanding extra breast otherwise bottle feeding? Conversely, does she refuse breast or bottle feeding for the reason that you assume the sucking is aching her gums? Further signs consist of poor hunger as well as broken up sleep patterns?

All these signs are symptoms of teething.

Here are few cures to ease uneasiness due to teething:

• Massage her inflamed gums by means of your finger using a mild contact (rinse your hands completely first).
• Lay a cold washcloth drenched with apple juice in the baby’s jaws. (The washcloth should be cleaned earlier than being waterlogged, the overload juice wringed out as well as attached in a loop. place it in the cold storage for about one-half hour).
• Allow your kid chew on a Popsicle, a cooled but not freezing teething ring or else a freezing banana.
• Provide your little one Acetaminophen (Tylenol) for a small number of days if the baby is itchy, otherwise
• Provide your baby Advil (Ibuprofen) if Tylenol is not effective. Ibuprofen can be better as it includes an anti-inflammatory element moreover Tylenol does not.

April 12, 2008 | Filed Under Diseases | Leave a Comment 

Adrenal Disorders

Definition

Presenting signs and symptoms of adrenal disorders are those of excessive or insufficient hormone production. Addison’s disease implies adrenal gland damage thus causing aldosterone, adrenal androgen, and cortisol deficiency. Overproduction can be that of glucocorticoid (Cushing syndrome), mineralocorticoid, or catecholamine.

Symptoms

Adrenal insufficiency: Dizziness, fatigue, weakness, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, hyperpigmentation (nails, palmar creases), and salt craving.

Adrenal excess: Weakness, weight gain, hirsuitism, skin infections, acne, emotional instability, palpitations, headaches, and diaphoresis.

General: The symptoms may be insidious. New onset weight gain or loss, glucose intolerance, or hypertension may indicate glucocorticoid, mineralocorticoid, or catecholamine excess. Inadequate adrenal hormone production may not be noted until a stressful event (e.g., myocardial infarction, pneumonia) precipitates a crisis.

Age: Any, although more common in adults and women.

Onset: Gradual to acute.

Duration: Months to years.

Intensity: Asymptomatic to acute crisis.

Aggravating Factors

Adrenal insufficiency: Stress, illness, trauma, or dehydration.

Adrenal excess: Medical illness requiring large dose steroid therapy (systemic lupus erythematosus, organ transplants). Use of beta blockers in the presence of pheochromocytoma may cause an increase in blood pressure.

Symptoms

Age:Any, although more common in adults and women.

Onset: Gradual to acute.

Duration: Months to years.

Intensity: Asymptomatic to acute crisis.

Aggravating Factors

Adrenal insufficiency: Stress, illness, trauma, or dehydration.

Adrenal excess: Medical illness requiring large dose steroid therapy (systemic lupus erythematosus, organ transplants). Use of beta blockers in the presence of pheochromocytoma may cause an increase in blood pressure.

Alleviating Factors

Physical Examination

General

Cardiovascular

Extremities

Genitourinary

Skin

Pathophysiology

July 3, 2007 | Filed Under Diseases | Leave a Comment 

Asthma Information

Bronchial asthma is the most serious allergic disease, and often fatal. The bronchial tubes are narrowed by spasmodic contractions and they secrete an excess of mucus. Hence breathing becomes difficult. The victim wheezes and coughs and feels as if his chest were caught in a vice. An asthmatic attack may last for minutes, hours, or days. The spasm of the bronchial muscles can usually be relieved by adrenalin. Every effort must be made to identify the offending allergen for long-continued asthma can produce serious changes in the lungs.

Orange, garlic, lemon, musumbi (lime), carrot, beet and spinach juice will be very useful.

Check out the Complete Asthma Guide

August 16, 2006 | Filed Under Diseases | Leave a Comment 

Diarrhea in babies

This can be very serious, because infants are so easily dehydrated. In treating infectious diarrhea in infants, doctors often tell mothers to omit milk from the diet and replace it with ‘clear fluids’, ‘including carbonated beverages, juices and soups such as chicken and beef broth. However, many such fluids contain so much sugar or salt that they actually may worsen and prolong the baby’s illness, according to studies at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 8 September 1979).

The high sugar content of many carbonated beverages, juices and other liquids may cause a sugar-induced diarrhea. It has been recommended that beverages containing a lot of sugar be diluted to at least half strength to avoid problems.

High concentrations of salt, common in some prepared soups, pose another potential hazard. Too much salt in dehydrated children can make them vulnerable to complications such as seizures and irreversible brain damage. Because of the extraordinarily high salt content of many commercial soups, the researchers suggested-that homemade soups with no added salt might be more acceptable

Dangerously high amounts of salt or sugar also can arise when liquids are prepared from crystals or concentrate, the researchers noted. Adding extra amounts from a package or incorrect measuring can make the salt or sugar levels higher than they should be.

The (US) Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia recommend the following as one type of homemade fluid therapy to combat dehydration: combine 8 fl. oz of fruit juice (orange, apple or other), half a teaspoon of honey and a pinch of salt in a glass. In a second glass combine 8 fl. oz of boiled or carbonated water and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda. Have the baby drink alternately each mixture. Additional carbonated beverages or water should be drunk and solid foods and milk should be avoided until recovery .

Breast milk protects against diarrhea

Breastfed babies are far less likely to develop dangerous intestinal infections, than bottle-fed babies, say two California paediatricians. Over a period of two years, Spencer A. Larsen, Jr. and Daryl R. Homer, studied all the infants under one year old who were admitted with severe vomiting and diarrhea to the Kaiser - Permanente Medical Group hospital in Hayward California. Of the , 107 babies, they found that only one was breastfed at the time of admission - far fewer than in the general population served by the medical group.

About one-third of the hospitalized bottle-fed infants were breastfed at birth, the doctors said, but all had gone on the bottle at least a month before they became sick. These findings suggest that ‘breastfeeding plays a major role in protection against intestinal infections,’ the researchers concluded, and they pointed out that similar studies in Britain and in underdeveloped countries have shown the same thing.

Get more information on diarrhea and home remedies for diarrhea

August 6, 2006 | Filed Under Diseases | Leave a Comment 

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