Month: March 2014

Natural home remedies: Head lice

Head lice aren’t fun—which is why it’s so important to deal with them fast. Try these tips on banning lice from your home, plus some home remedies to try

Something is definitely moving in your hair, and the itching is driving you buggy. And that’s precisely the problem: Your tresses are now a cozy domicile for the common head louse, otherwise known as Pediculus humanus capitis. Just 1.6 millimeters long, these wingless insects live close to the scalp, laying their eggs (nits) and feeding on your blood. When lice appear in school-age children, word usually gets around quickly, and parents are warned to be on the lookout. Lice spread via contact with contaminated hair, hairbrushes, combs, clothing, or bedding.

What to do about head lice
Once lice are in the hair, even a burr cut won’t help. You need to get rid of the louse eggs that are attached to the hair shafts about five millimeters from the scalp. Start by using a delousing shampoo. Choose one that contains permethrin, not lindane. Lindane is a chemical cousin of the pesticide DDT and has been linked to nervous system problems (including convulsions) and brain cancer. Once you’ve found a killer shampoo, the remaining challenge is to use it effectively and become very nitpicky about preventing contamination. Otherwise, your whole household could get lousy.

Start with shampoo
• Use a delousing shampoo, and leave it in your hair for 10 minutes. That’s a long time to spend in the shower, so you may prefer to do your shampooing in the bathtub, where you can read or listen to music while the shampoo does its job.

• After you rinse out the shampoo, rinse it again using 50% water and 50% white kitchen vinegar. The vinegar helps dissolve the bodies of dead nits. Rub it in vigorously, then rinse your hair a few times to dispel the odour.

• Use the louse-killing shampoo again 10 days later. If you’re still not getting results, mix a half-cup vinegar with a half-cup olive oil. About an hour before you take your bath or shower, apply this mixture to your hair, working it in close to the scalp. Put a shower cap over your hair. After an hour, remove the cap and take your shower, washing your hair with regular shampoo.

The natural approach

• If you’re wary of synthetic pesticides, you may be able to smother lice while you sleep. First, saturate the hair and scalp with mayonnaise, then put on a shower cap. The next morning, lice should be dead. Unfortunately, you can’t smother the louse eggs—you’ll still have to remove them by hand.

• Petroleum jelly can have a stifling influence on roaming lice. Apply a thick layer of petroleum jelly to the scalp, then cover with a shower cap. Leave it on overnight. In the morning, use baby oil or mineral oil to remove the petroleum jelly—and the lice along with it. Repeat several nights in a row. (One warning, though: it may take a lot of shampooing before you get all the petroleum jelly out of your hair!)

• Essential oils can kill lice and help soothe the itching. There are many different “recipes.” One effective combination is 20 drops tea-tree oil, 10 drops rosemary oil, and 15 drops each of lemon (or thyme) and lavender oil mixed into 4 tablespoons vegetable oil. Rub the mixture into your dry hair, cover your head with a plastic shower cap, then wrap that with a towel. After an hour, unwrap your head, shampoo well, and rinse.

Be picky
• No matter what you do to get rid of lice, careful inspection is also essential. If you have lice, ask your partner to go through your hair slowly with a metal lice comb (available at drugstores) and look for nits or lice. If your child’s head is infested, you may have to use TV to get the child to sit still through this process. Nits are yellowish-white, oval-shaped, and adhere to the hair shaft at an angle. They look a bit like dandruff, but they don’t drift out of your hair the way dandruff does. Mature lice grow to about the size of sesame seeds. Freshly hatched lice are clear; those approaching midlife (about a week old) are reddish-brown. If you see lice, remove them with an emery board or Popsicle stick. If you use your fingers, still-living nits might get under your nails.

Stop the spread
• When someone in the family has lice, keep all combs and brushes separate. And make sure no one comes into contact with hats, scarves, hair ribbons, etc., that have been worn by the affected person.

• After treating the lice, wash clothing, bedding and other washables that have been used by the affected person in hot, sudsy water. Seal nonwashable items in plastic bags for a week (or three days in the refrigerator).

• After a coat has been worn by someone who has lice, put it in the dryer to make certain all lice and eggs are killed.

When to see your doctor
These remedies will usually take care of a run-of-the-mill case of head lice. But you’ll need a doctor’s help if self-treatment fails, or if the skin on the scalp becomes cracked or inflamed.

Source: Best health

Scientists discover new obesity gene

Researchers have discovered that the obesity-associated elements within the gene FTO interact with IRX3, a distant gene on the genome that appears to be the functional obesity gene.

Senior study author Marcelo Nobrega, PhD, associate professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago, said that their data strongly suggest that IRX3 controls body mass and regulates body composition, asserting that any association between FTO and obesity appears due to the influence of IRX3.

Hoping to explain these observations, Nobrega and his team mapped the behavior of promoters-regions of DNA that activate gene expression-located within one million base pairs on either side of the FTO gene. In adult mice brains, where FTO was thought to affect metabolic function, they discovered that the promoter that turns on FTO did not interact with obesity-associated FTO introns.

Co-author Jose Luis Gomez-Skarmeta, PhD, a geneticist at the Andalusian Center of Developmental Biology in Sevilla, Spain, said that instead they found that the promoter for IRX3, a gene several hundred thousand base pairs away, did interact with these introns, as well as a large number of other elements across the vast genetic distance we studied. The researchers found a similar pattern of interactions in humans after analyzing data from the ENCODE project , which they confirmed with experiments on human cells.

Using data from 153 brain samples from individuals of European ancestry, they discovered that the mutations to FTO introns that affected body weight are associated with IRX3 expression, but not FTO. Obesity-related FTO introns enhanced the expression of IRX3, functioning as regulatory elements. The FTO gene itself did not appear to play a role in this interaction.

To verify the role of IRX3, the researchers engineered mice without the IRX3 gene. These mice were significantly leaner than their normal counterparts. They weighed about 30 percent less, primarily through reduced fat.

The study has been published online in journal Nature.

Source: ANI

 

Baby born after growing in mother’s abdomen — not uterus

NR

A pregnant woman with a stomach ache turned out to have a serious pregnancy complication that was missed during her previous ultrasound exams: The woman’s 32-week-old fetus was growing within her abdomen, outside her uterus, according to a new report of her case.

When doctors examined the woman further and discovered the abdominal pregnancy, they quickly operated on the woman’s abdomen and found her live fetus floating in her abdominal cavity, without its nourishing amniotic sac. The healthy baby girl was delivered and sent home with her 22-year-old mother in good condition, researchers in Tanzania said.

Abdominal pregnancies are rare, and when they do happen, they can go unnoticed even if ultrasounds are used, because the pregnancy can appear normal in an ultrasound examination, the researchers wrote in the report, published Feb. 25 in the journal BioMed Central. An abdominal pregnancy that goes unnoticed can threaten the mother’s life and cause massive bleeding. [14 Oddest Medical Case Reports]

“I’ve seen maybe four or five abdominal pregnancies over the course of 25 years,” said Dr. Jill Rabin, chief of ambulatory care, obstetrics and gynecology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., who wasn’t involved with the case.

“Many times, these pregnancies are not diagnosed until the labor,” Rabin said. “The woman is going through labor, the cervix is dilated and you are wondering, ‘Why is the patient having contractions and nothing is happening?'”

Abdominal pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy, occurring in about 1 out of every 10,000 pregnancies, according to some estimates. In an abdominal pregnancy, an embryo usually first implants in one of the fallopian tubes (instead of the uterus), and then moves backward within the body, toward the ovaries. From there, it implants for the second time — this time, in the abdomen.

Diagnosing an abdominal pregnancy is difficult, Rabin said. “It’s very rare, but you have to keep it in your mind when examining a pregnant woman who has abdominal pain.”

Other symptoms include painful fetal movements, and gastrointestinal problems. Also, if it’s too easy to feel the baby, or see it with an ultrasound, that might be a sign that the baby is outside the uterus, Rabin said.

If doctors find that a fetus is growing outside the uterus, they make an incision in the pregnant woman’s abdomen, to deliver the baby. The placenta is often left to be absorbed by the body, because removing the placenta can cause severe bleeding. “The patient has to be followed very, very closely to be sure that the placenta is reabsorbed; it takes a couple of months,” Rabin said.

Most of the babies that Rabin has seen in abdominal pregnancies were healthy, she told Live Science.

“The placenta is attached to something vascular, so the baby is getting fed from the mother’s blood supply, just not in the way that we would like, so many of these babies are very small,” Rabin said.

If an abdominal pregnancy is detected in the first trimester, doctors usually remove the embryo. However, most cases are not diagnosed until later on in the pregnancy. “If it’s diagnosed in the second trimester, you watch the mother very carefully, but every case is different,” Rabin said.

Source: Huffington post

7 Healthy reasons to go bananas!

If you thought bananas were just for training monkeys, think again! The health benefits of bananas are so vast and widespread that we wonder why the popular idiom an apple a day, keeps the doctor away was not switched to bananas!!

Banana is a huge source of energy and packs a potent nutritional punch that includes vitamins A, B, C and E along with minerals like potassium, zinc, iron, etc. Read on for some surprising health benefits of eating bananas. We promise you will never look at this fruit in the same way again.

1.Controls blood pressure
Research indicates that potassium keeps blood pressure under control. Bananas, being very rich in potassium and very low in sodium, help regulate blood pressure levels. The fruit not only aids in maintaining water balance in the body but also helps detoxify it thereby shielding you against heart attack and stroke.

2. Improves sex life
Yes, you heard it right! Bananas can actually spice things up in the bedroom! They are known to have aphrodisiac effects that help produce sexual hormones and also improve male libido. The humble fruit also regulates the secretion of serotonin which is responsible for that euphoric feeling during an orgasm.

3. More energy
Need proof of how bananas increase energy? Just watch a tennis player during a break from the game. You will notice more often than not, he’s eating a banana. The combination of natural sugars, balanced with potassium and soluble fiber provide good stable energy. And the best part, bananas contain only about 100 calories. They are a perfect way to satisfy your sweet cravings without compromising on your weight.

4. Smooth bowel movement
Constipated? Eat a banana. Yes, it’s that easy. Bananas have a certain type of fiber that helps assist bowel motility and eases out constipation. Ideally you should get about 14 grams of fiber in your diet for every 1,000 calories you consume. Believe me, it beats using any laxatives that might have chemicals or other synthetic substances! Bananas also help with other bowel problems such as diarrhea.

5. Good for eyes
Bananas have a lot of vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a vital role in protecting your eyes and normal vision. The compounds in bananas preserve the membranes that surround your eyes and are a component of one of the proteins that brings light into your cornea. Adequate daily intake of vitamin A not only slashes your risk of night blindness but is essential for everyday vision. One 6-inch banana has nearly 10 micrograms of vitamin A so adding the fruit to your diet will ensure good eye health.

6. Gives good sleep
Bananas promote sleep. This fruit is known to have a high level of tryptophan which gets converted to serotonin in the brain. This gives a soothing effect to the body which allows a person to sleep well. Bananas are also known to make you more alert and improve your concentration levels.

7. Get glowing skin
Besides having great health advantages when ingested, bananas when used externally are also quite beneficial. They have high moisture content, so are great for dry skin. Add bananas to your beauty regime for smooth, supple and glowing skin naturally.

Source; The med guru

U.S. FDA approves first device to prevent migraine headaches

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Tuesday it has approved the marketing of a medical device as a preventative treatment for migraine headaches.

The FDA said in a statement that this is the first transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device specifically authorized for use prior to the onset of pain.

The device, to be marketed under the name Cefaly, is manufactured by STX-Med in Herstal, Liege, Belgium.

“Cefaly provides an alternative to medication for migraine prevention,” said Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “This may help patients who cannot tolerate current migraine medications for preventing migraines or treating attacks. ”

Cefaly is a small, portable, battery-powered, prescription device that resembles a plastic headband worn across the forehead and atop the ears, the FDA said. The user positions the device in the center of the forehead, just above the eyes, using a self- adhesive electrode.

The device applies an electric current to the skin and underlying body tissues to stimulate branches of the trigeminal nerve, which has been associated with migraine headaches. The user may feel a tingling or massaging sensation where the electrode is applied, the agency said.

According to the FDA, Cefaly is indicated for patients 18 years of age and older and should only be used once per day for 20 minutes.

The FDA said the approval was based on data from a clinical trial in Belgium involving 67 individuals who experienced more than two migraine headache attacks a month and who had not taken any medications to prevent migraines for three months prior to using Cefaly.

The study found that those who used Cefaly experienced ” significantly fewer days” with migraines per month and used less migraine attack medication than those who used a placebo device, the agency said.

The approval was also based on a patient satisfaction study of more than 2,300 Cefaly users in Belgium and France, which showed that about 53 percent of patients were satisfied with Cefaly treatment and willing to buy the device for continued use, it said, noting that no serious adverse events occurred during either study.

Source; News

Neck pain after sleep? Here is a home remedy that actually works!

If it is one of those mornings when you have woken up with a sprain in your neck, then this article is just right for you. Usually caused due to sleeping in an awkward position or on a pillow that is just not right for you, a sudden stiff neck can be quite painful and uncomfortable. But now there is no need to simply grin and bear the pain, here is an easy home remedy that can make the pain vanish in a jiffy.

Take care of the pain as soon as possible!

When you wake up with a stiff neck, avoid moving your neck immediately – make sure you hold it in a position that you feel the least pain. Moving it as soon as you wake up can make matters worse.

A better solution is to take a hot shower. While showering, make sure you direct the hot or warm water onto the part of your neck that hurts. As the heat permeates your skin, slowly try to move your neck in a circular motion. Start with bending your neck downwards and then slowly rotating it to the left and right – make sure you don’t jerk your neck around. The warm water soothes your aching muscles giving you some relief and moving your head around helps stretch out the muscles beating some of the pain.

Get rid of the pain:

This part of the tip is best done when you can get some shut eye. Roll up a thick towel into a tubular structure. It should ideally be high enough to support your neck and long enough so that the entire width of your neck is supported. Now, lay down on your bed and use the towel roll as your pillow. Place it under your neck, such that neither your head nor body is touching the towel. Using this as your pillow, drift off into slumber. The rolled up towel acts as a very effective and gentle massaging tool that helps relieve the pain in your neck. The best part about this remedy is that you can sleep in any position you like, except on your tummy. Do this for one night and watch the pain vanish.

Source: Health India

 

About 7 Million Americans Have New Hips, Knees

It’s not just grandma with a new hip and your uncle with a new knee. More than 2 of every 100 Americans now have an artificial joint, doctors are reporting.

Among those over 50, it’s even more common: Five percent have replaced a knee and more than 2 percent, a hip.

“They are remarkable numbers,” said Dr. Daniel J. Berry, chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Roughly 7 million people in the United States are living with a total hip or knee replacement.

He led the first major study to estimate how prevalent these procedures have become, using federal databases on surgeries and life expectancy trends. Results were reported Tuesday at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference in New Orleans.

More than 600,000 knees and about 400,000 hips are replaced in the U.S. each year. But until now, there haven’t been good numbers on how many people currently are living with new joints. The number is expected to grow as the population ages, raising questions about cost, how long the new parts will last, and how best to replace the replacements as they wear out over time.

The term “replacement” is a little misleading, said Dr. Joshua Jacobs, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and president of the orthopedic surgery association. What’s replaced is the surface of a joint after cartilage has worn away, leaving bone rubbing against bone and causing pain and less mobility.

In a replacement operation, the ends of bones are removed or resurfaced and replaced with plastic, ceramic or metal materials.

Arthritis is the main reason for these operations, followed by obesity, which adds stress on knees and hips. Baby boomers are wearing out joints by playing sports and doing other activities to avoid obesity. Knee replacement surgeries have more than tripled in the 45-to-64 age group over the last decade and nearly half of hip replacements now are in people under 65, federal numbers show.

Source: NBC news

Causes of Fatigue and Sleepiness and How to Fight Them

1: Not Enough Sleep
It may seem obvious but you could be getting too little sleep. That can negatively affect your concentration and health. Adults should get seven to eight hours every night.
Fix: Make sleep a priority and keep a regular schedule. Ban laptops, cell phones, and televisions from your bedroom. Still having trouble? Seek help from a doctor. You may have a sleep disorder.

2: Sleep Apnea
Some people think they’re sleeping enough, but sleep apnea gets in the way. It briefly stops your breathing throughout the night. Each interruption wakes you for a moment, but you may not be aware of it. The result: you’re sleep-deprived despite spending eight hours in bed. Your doctor may order a sleep study to check for this.
Fix: Lose weight if you’re overweight, quit smoking, and you may need a CPAP device to help keep your airway passages open while you sleep.

3. Not Enough Fuel
Eating too little causes fatigue, but eating the wrong foods can also be a problem. Eating a balanced diet helps keep your blood sugar in a normal range and prevents that sluggish feeling when your blood sugar drops.
Fix: Always eat breakfast and try to include protein and complex carbs in every meal. For example, eat eggs with whole-grain toast. Also eat small meals and snacks throughout the day for sustained energy.

4: Anemia
Anemia is one of the leading causes of fatigue in women. Menstrual blood loss can cause an iron deficiency, putting women at risk. Red blood cells (shown here) are needed because they carry oxygen to your tissues and organs.
Fix: For anemia caused by an iron deficiency, taking iron supplements and eating iron-rich foods, such as lean meat, liver, shellfish, beans, and enriched cereal, can help.

5: Depression
You may think of depression as an emotional disorder, but it contributes to many physical symptoms as well. Fatigue, headaches, and loss of appetite are among the most common symptoms. If you feel tired and “down” for more than a few of weeks, see your doctor.
Fix: Depression responds well to talk therapy and/or medication.

6: Hypothyroidism
The thyroid is a small gland at the base of your neck. It controls your metabolism, the speed at which your body converts fuel into energy. When the gland is underactive and the metabolism functions too slowly, you may feel sluggish and put on weight.
Fix: If a blood test confirms your thyroid hormones are low, synthetic hormones can bring you up to speed.

7: Caffeine Overload
Caffeine can improve alertness and concentration in moderate doses. But too much can increase heart rate, blood pressure, and jitteriness. And research indicates too much actually causes fatigue in some people.
Fix: Gradually cut back on coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, and any medications that contain caffeine. Stopping suddenly can cause caffeine withdrawal and more fatigue.

8: Hidden UTI
If you’ve ever had a urinary tract infection (UTI), you’re probably familiar with the burning pain and sense of urgency. But the infection does not always announce itself with such obvious symptoms. In some cases, fatigue may be the only sign. A urine test can quickly confirm a UTI.
Fix: Antibiotics are the cure for UTIs, and the fatigue will usually vanish within a week.

9: Diabetes
In people with diabetes, abnormally high levels of sugar remain in the bloodstream instead of entering the body’s cells, where it would be converted into energy. The result is a body that runs out of steam despite having enough to eat. If you have persistent, unexplained fatigue, ask your doctor about being tested for diabetes.
Fix: Treatments for diabetes may include lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, insulin therapy, and medications to help the body process sugar.

10: Dehydration
Your fatigue can be a sign of dehydration. Whether you’re working out or working a desk job, your body needs water to work well and keep cool. If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.
Fix: Drink water throughout the day so your urine is light colored. Have at least two cups of water an hour or more before a planned physical activity. Then, sip throughout your workout and afterwards drink another two cups.

Source: Health India

5 health benefits of mint leaves (pudina)

Mint, scientifically known as ‘mentha’ is a herb that has been used since long for its different health benefits.

It is an indispensable element of most of the Indian cuisines and also Thai platter. The modest mint leaves can be used in a variety of things like one can crush them and add in tea, one can use it in salads etc.

Here are a few health benefits of mint:

Pudina is loaded with antioxidants and phytonurients and hence helps keep stomach cramps and acidity at bay. -Mint leaves has anti-inflammatory properties. It helps soothe skin infections. Mint juice acts as an excellent skin cleanser.

-Since pudina has a very strong aroma, it gets to stimulate your brain functioning and helps cure nausea. Further, applying fresh mint leaves on the forehead relieves headache.

-Mint leaves are a great remedy to relieve the pain caused during menstrual cramps. -Mint leaves has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and so it fights against tooth decay and bad breath and is widely used in mouth fresheners.

Source: Zee news

 

Japanese scientist withdraws ‘groundbreaking’ stem cell research

A Japanese scientist has asked for the findings of his groundbreaking study in stem cells to be withdrawn amid doubts over its quality.

According to Reuters news agency, Prof Teruhiko Wakayama of the University of Yamanashi told Japanese TV that when he was conducting the experiment, he believed that it was absolutely right, but many mistakes have emerged which has led him to withdraw the research paper, the BBC reported.

Several questions have been raised about the images used in the scientific report which claimed that dipping skin cells in acid could cheaply and quickly convert them into stem cells.

The original study, which was published in the journal Nature, had found that stem cells no longer needed to be taken from embryos or made by complicated and costly genetic tampering, and had been hailed as “remarkable” and as a “major scientific discovery”.

Source: Business Standard