Risky situations fuel anxiety among women

Risky situations in any setting increases anxiety among women, leading them to perform worse under stressed circumstances, finds a new study. Increased anxiety in risky settings is problematic for women because it may depress their ability to achieve.

Risky situations fuel anxiety among women

“Women have worse task performance than men in risky situations, even when they have the same ability in a non-risky setting,” said Susan. R. Fisk, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Stanford University.

In her study, Fisk relied on three experiments. The first experiment was conducted online among US adults aged 18 to 81 to determine whether risky workplace situations increased the anxiety of women and men.

After participants finished thinking and writing about their scenario, they took an anxiety test. Fisk found that when scenarios were framed in a risky way, women were more anxious than when the scenarios were framed in a non-risky way.

Women who received risky scenarios scored 13.6 percent higher on the anxiety test than those who received non-risky scenarios. In the experiment that used the verbal SAT questions, participants were given 20 questions to complete and were told that they could bet money on each answer, making the situation risky.

Women answered about 11 percent fewer questions than men in this risky situation involving betting. A similar effect was seen when using grades data from an undergraduate engineering course.

“People frequently encounter high-risk, high-reward situations in workplaces, and if women avoid these situations or perform more poorly in them because they are more anxious, they will reap fewer rewards than men,” Fisk said.

Furthermore, the research suggests that failure in a risky situation is more costly to women as it may reinforce or create self-doubt about their own competence.

Women’s anxiety and poorer performance in risky situations “may be an unexplored contributor to the dearth of women in positions of leadership and power, as success in these kinds of circumstances is often a precursor to career advancement and promotion”, researchers concluded.

Source: business standard

Top 10 Mistakes Made in Clinical Rotations

Arguing with a patient:
This is an exercise in futility, and is very unprofessional.
“One of your role’s as a physician is to invoke a shared decision making process with your patients who have decision making capacity.”

Top 10 Mistakes Made in Clinical Rotations

Reporting a physical finding without actually observing it:
I’ve even seen a student get in trouble for documenting a physical finding on a patient who had been discharged already.

Berating (aka “pimping”) your resident or attending:
Med school is similar to the military when it comes to respecting your place in the chain of command. Attendings “pimp” residents and med students. Residents berate med students. Thou shalt not berate up the chain. That said, the institutionalized nature of “pimping” does not absolve the word of its offensive and unethical practice. Eradicate it from your vocabulary and practice.

“Most of the time it is to show power, how smart they are and embarrass those lower in the “Hierarchy”. If residents and attendings really want to teach, than have a real discussion of the issues. Yes, ask questions but don’t berate someone if they don’t know the answer. Good attendings approach it like that, and if a student or resident doesn’t know the answer, they are told to look it up.

A few times, when I was a student, a hotshot resident would try to “pimp” me and they had the wrong answer and tried to correct me. I looked up a relevant article and proved my position. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as it is done respectfully.

Medicine is a life long learning experience. Everyone can learn something new including residents and attendings. Don’t automatically discount someone’s opinion because they are lower on the hospital chain. A student might have a Ph.D. or master’s in some field and truly knows more about a subject than the resident or attending.”

Disrespecting the nurses:
Seriously, this is a huge no-no. If you want to make your life miserable, make the nurses hate you. If you want to enjoy your time at the hospital, befriend every nurse you meet.

Dressing inappropriately:
Dressing appropriately is important, and applies to men as well as women. For example, no sandals, no jeans, no T-shirts (unless they’re under scrubs), a mohawk wouldn’t go over well, nor would wearing 4-inch stiletto heels, or a need to exhibit one’s cleavage. There’s a time and a place for everything, and the hospital is not a place to dress provocatively.

“Include personal hygiene. Use your dental floss and brush your teeth. Patients do not deserve a doctor with bad breath. Poor personal hygiene raises doubts in the minds of all about whether you are scrupulous about everything else.”

Documenting an important positive finding without alerting your resident or attending:
If you discover that a patient has rebound tenderness, or a temperature of 103.7, don’t write this in a note and walk away. You must always alert your higher-ups to significant findings, or else you will find yourself getting chewed out for a good while.

Showing up late:
This is a particular pet peeve of mine, and one that some students seem to think is insignificant. People notice when you’re late. It’s unprofessional and disrespectful to the rest of the group. Traffic is not an excuse. Leave your residence early enough to get to the hospital with plenty of time to spare.

Performing a procedure without having been authorized to do so:
If the resident walks in on you placing a central line on a patient without their authorization, you will find yourself in deep trouble with the doctor, hospital, and potentially a courtroom.

Forgetting you are in a hospital:
This is something that is easier said than done. We spend so many hours in the hospital that it’s easy to forget that we are surrounded by very ill, helpless, and frightened people. It’s not a high school football game; it’s a hospital. Patient’s lives are in the hands of the healthcare workers surrounding them. We are each one of the healthcare workers.

Being a slacker:
We all have seen students who try to get by with the bare minimum in everything they do. If you want to throw away a ridiculous amount of money, not learn anything, and end up being a crappy doctor, then by all means slack off during your clinical years. If you want to learn a lot and become an incredible doctor, then put in the time and effort.

Source: Einstein

Benefits of Shikakai (Acacia Concinna) for your hair

Benefits of Shikakai (Acacia Concinna) for your hair

Shikakai, which is popularly used in India, is a herbal powder which is made from the fruit pods of the Acacia Concinna tree. Shikakai is a wonderful herb that has been used for years for hair care.

Good, lustrous hair is certainly on the wish list of every woman, but in this hectic life we hardly get any time to maintain a beauty regime. Here are a few benefits of Shikakai for your hair:

-Shikakai has low pH level and hence is a natural cleanser for your scalp, cleansing it gently. -Shikakai with its natural elements is believed to promote hair growth and also reduces hair fall.

-It acts as a great detangler to leave you with those beautiful locks that you would love to run your fingers through. -Shikakai also prevents hair from greying naturally.

-Shikakai is rich in essential nutrients like Vitamin C and doesn’t make the scalp dry therby preventing dandruff and other scalp problems.

Source: zee news

Young Kids Diagnosed with Depression Can’t Shake It Later, Study Says

New research shows it’s hard for young children to get past depression. Children diagnosed with depression in preschool are likely to continue to be depressed throughout adolescence, according to a new study.

Young-Kids-Diagnosed-with-Depression-Can’t-Shake-It-Later-Study-Says

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis tracked 246 children ages 3-5 to ages 9-12 and found that depressed preschoolers are 2.5 times more likely to suffer from the condition in elementary and middle school, according to the study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.

At the beginning of the study, 74 of the children were diagnosed with depression. Six years later, 79 of the children from the larger group had clinical depression, and 51% of the 74 children originally diagnosed were still depressed. By contrast, only 25% of the 172 children who were initially not depressed went on to develop depression during elementary and middle school.

“It’s the same old bad news about depression; it is a chronic and recurrent disorder,” child psychiatrist Joan L. Luby, who directs Washington University’s Early Emotional Development Program, said in a statement. “But the good news is that if we can identify depression early, perhaps we have a window of opportunity to treat it more effectively and potentially change the trajectory of the illness so that it is less likely to be chronic and recurring.”

The researchers also identified some of the factors that put children at a higher risk of becoming depressed: Children with depressed mothers were more likely to become depressed themselves, and children who were diagnosed with a conduct disorder in preschool were more likely to become depressed by middle school (though significant maternal support mitigated the latter risk). But neither of these factors mattered as much as an early depression diagnosis.

Source: TIME

Tips to prevent water-borne diseases

Water borne diseases are cause for the deaths of millions of people every year. Consuming water that contains pathogenic microorganisms causes water borne diseases. In most developing countries, water borne diseases are the main cause of childhood death, especially with diarrhea.

Tips to prevent water-borne diseases

How Water Borne Disease Transmitted?
Most of the people get infected when the contaminated material enters their mouth. Other possible modes of transmission include:

  • Dirty contaminated hands, clothes, cooking vessels, mugs, etc.
  • Uncovered food and drinking water
  • Contaminated water
  • The practice of defecating in the open
  • Via flies

Ways to Avoid These Diseases
In order to prevent infectious water borne diseases, it is important to take necessary precautions. The quality of water should be improved at the source itself. In certain areas, the quality of water supply might be of question. In such cases, it is necessary to disinfect the water before use. Water that is used for all purposes like drinking, cooking, and brushing of teeth should be disinfected properly. The common household ways to avoid water borne diseases by disinfection include:

  • Vigorously boiling water for one minute can kill most microorganisms.
  • Common household items such as chlorine bleach, tincture of iodine, and iodine tablets can be used to disinfect water.

Another important measure that should be taken to avoid the spreading of pathological microorganisms is the interruption of routes of transmission such as protecting food from flies, chlorination of water, and maintaining proper sanitation, etc. It is vital to change ensure proper hygiene in order to avoid waterborne diseases.

  • Drink only filtered/bottled water.
  • Wash hands properly before eating.
  • Wash the containers daily.
  • Eat cooked, warm foods.
  • Keep your fingernails short and clean.
  • Use of proper toilets for defecation.
  • Wash food before cooking and cook food at high temperature so as to kill harmful bacteria.
  • Avoid flies by disposing animal and organic wastes properly.
  • Ensure to take proper care in disposing of infant and toddler feces.
  • Avoid consuming foods, fruit juices, and milkshakes from roadside vendors.
  • Always keep foods and beverages closed.
  • Avoid drinking water at parks and other such recreational places. It is best to buy bottled water or carry your own water.
  • Another common place where one can put oneself at risk of contracting water borne illnesses is hospitals as they can be breeding grounds of pathogenic microorganism. Always sanitize your hands and bath after visiting a hospital.
  • Rivers and creeks can be breeding grounds for bacteria; avoid swimming in such waters.
  • Washing hands is the most important method of prevention of waterborne diseases. One should wash hands before preparing food and before eating. Likewise, it is necessary to wash hands after using the toilet, changing diapers, after using handkerchief, after changing clothes or beddings soiled with feces, after caring people with water borne illness, and after playing with pets and animals.

Travelers are most likely to contract water borne illnesses, and here are certain tips that can help to lessen the chances of getting ill.

  • Ensure to drink only bottled water. Check for any sign of tampering.
  • Avoid ice cubes as these are a major source of contaminated water.
  • Avoid eating uncooked food.

To prevent the spreading of waterborne illnesses, people suffering from waterborne illness should be confined to themselves from work until symptoms have subsided.

Source: home remedies for you

Mother’s milk vital for premature babies

Incorporating human milk fat supplement into premature infants’ diets improves their growth outcomes in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), says a new study.

Mother's milk vital for premature babies

“For premature babies who weigh less than a kg, one of the problems is that their lungs and other organs are still developing when they are born,” said Amy Hair, an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in the US.

“If the infant gains weight and increases in length at a good rate while in the NICU, this helps improve their (growth) outcomes,” Hair added. Previous research has shown that an exclusive human milk diet protects the intestines of premature infants and supports their growth.

This diet consists of mothers’ own breast milk or donor human milk, as well as a fortifier consisting of protein and minerals made from the donor milk. In this study, researchers sought a way to optimise growth in infants who weigh between 750 and 1,250 grams and need additional calories.

As infants are already receiving enough protein from the fortifier, another way to help them grow is by giving them fat. One of the byproducts of pasteurising donor milk is milk fat, also referred to as a cream supplement.

They found that infants in the cream group had better growth outcomes in terms of weight and length than infants in the control group. The study appeared in the Journal of Pediatrics

Source: zee news

New drug restores hair growth in human trials: study

New drug restores hair growth in human trials

 

Researchers from the Columbia University have restored hair in patients suffering from alopecia areata – a common autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. They identified the immune cells responsible for destroying hair follicles in people with alopecia areata.
They tested an FDA-approved drug that eliminated these immune cells and restored hair growth in some patients. Each patient experienced total hair re-growth within five months of the start of treatment.

“If the drug continues to be successful and safe, it will have a dramatic positive impact on the lives of people with this disease,” said lead researcher Raphael Clynes from the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

In the current study, the team first studied mice with the disease and identified the specific set of T cells responsible for attacking the hair follicles. Further investigation revealed how the T cells are instructed to attack and identified several key immune pathways that could be targeted by a new class of drugs, known as JAK inhibitors.

Two FDA-approved JAK inhibitors ruxolitinib and tofacitinib were able to block these immune pathways and stop the attack on the hair follicles. Together with Julian Mackay-Wiggan, director of the clinical research unit in department of dermatology at CUMC, researchers initiated a small clinical trial of ruxolitinib in patients with moderate-to-severe alopecia areata.

In three of the trial’s early participants, ruxolitinib completely restored hair growth within four to five months of starting treatment and the attacking T cells disappeared from the scalp. Alopecia areata can occur at any age and affects men and women equally.
The results appeared online in the journal Nature Medicine.

Source: first post

Healthy Heart with Cabbage

Whether it is cooked, fresh sauerkraut or packed, cabbage is often placed on the table.
Rich in nutrients and medicinal ingredients. It is rich in cellulose, which improves digestion.

Is beneficial for the reconciliation, prevention helps with colds and coughs.
Cabbage is a valuable food. cabbage tetronic acid slows the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat.

Healthy Heart with Cabbage1

This makes it a desirable food for weight loss. Sweet and sour cabbage, and brine.
A good brine is a great hangover remedy.

The Fat loss Factor see here!!!

Cabbage is a low energy value food. 100 g has 25 calories, rich in nutrients and biologically valuable substances.
Such as soluble vitamins that are soluble in water. Example 100 g of cabbage has 50 mg of vitamin C, which meets the all day needs.
It also contains vitamin A, calcium, protein, and a certain percentage of iron. Cabbage contains chlorophyll, which is a plant hemoglobin, and can be used with all types of illnesses and even against anemia.
Those who have diseases of the stomach and intestines, and digestive problems shouldn’t use cabbage in any form.

When there are no obstacles mentioned, the cabbage should be taken regularly, and acts as a laxative so that it can also affect the regulation of digestion.

It is desirable that the food is on the menu for children and adults, 365 days a year. Preferably in the fresh form, as a salad, hygienically prepared, you should carefully wash each leaf.

In folk medicine, cabbage is well known for its many medicinal properties. Tests have confirmed that it has antioxidant and antiseptic values.
Strengthens the immune system and has a beneficial effect in the case of many diseases and ailments like:

  • -arthritis, heart disease and blood vessel diseases.
  • -bronchitis, headaches, gout, eczema, sore muscles and ligaments.
  • -anemia, drowsiness, bruising, osteoporosis , lung disease, high cholesterol, colds and coughs.
  • -varicose veins, skin diseases, regulating digestion, rheumatism, stress, sprains, boils and pimples, stomach and duodenum …

Regular use of vegetables from the cabbage family can effectively reduce the risk of cancer.
Substances are considered to be “accountable”. For such actions cabbage have phytochemicals, biologically active plant molecules
in conjunction with vitamins and minerals beneficial effect on health. Research specialist at the University of Michigan have shown that 70% of the women who had cabbage three times a week on the menu lowered their risk of developing breast cancer, compared to those
who cropped it or not ate it, or used in small quantities.

Healthy Heart with Cabbage

One of the biggest complaints is that cabbage creates bloating, but the main reason is his cooking.

Cabbage cooking loss:

Many medicinal properties of the cabbage will be lost if you cook it. And is recommended to be eaten in raw form or possibly steamed.

Source: secretly healthy

Ebola crisis: Confusion as patients vanish in Liberia

There are conflicting reports over the fate of 17 suspected Ebola patients who vanished after a quarantine centre in the Liberian capital was looted.

Ebola crisis Confusion as patients vanish in Liberia

An angry mob attacked the centre in Monrovia’s densely populated West Point township on Saturday evening. A senior health official said all of the patients had been moved to another medical facility. But a reporter told the BBC that 17 had escaped while 10 others were taken away by their families.

More than 400 people are known to have died from the virus in Liberia, out of a total of 1,145 deaths recorded by the World Health Organization. Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said protesters had been unhappy that patients were being brought in from other parts of the capital.

Other reports suggested the protesters had believed Ebola was a hoax and wanted to force the quarantine centre to close. The attack at the Monrovia centre is seen as a major setback in the struggle to halt the outbreak, says the BBC’s Will Ross, reporting from Lagos.

Health experts say that the key to ending the Ebola outbreak is to stop it spreading in Liberia, where ignorance about the virus is high and many people are reluctant to cooperate with medical staff.  ‘All gone’

Mr Nyenswah said after the attack that 29 patients at the centre were being relocated and readmitted to an Ebola treatment centre located in the facility of the country’s John F Kennedy Memorial Medical Center.

However, Jina Moore, a journalist for Buzzfeed who is in Monrovia, told the BBC that 10 people had been freed by their relatives on Friday night and 17 had escaped during the looting the next day.

Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack, told  “They broke down the door and looted the place. The patients have all gone.” The attackers, mostly young men armed with clubs, shouted insults about President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and yelled “there’s no Ebola”, she said, adding that nurses had also fled the centre.

The head of the Health Workers Association of Liberia, George Williams, said the unit had housed 29 patients who “had all tested positive for Ebola” and were receiving preliminary treatment.

Confirming that 17 had escaped, he said that only three had been taken by their relatives, the other nine having died four days earlier.

However, Mr Nyenswah said it was not confirmed that the patients had Ebola. Fallah Boima’s son was admitted to the ward four days ago, and seemed to be doing well, but when the distraught father arrived for his daily visit on Sunday his son was nowhere to be seen, AFP adds.

“I don’t know where he is and I am very confused,” he said. “He has not called me since he left the camp. Now that the nurses have all left, how will I know where my son is?” ‘Stupidest thing’

Ebola is spread by contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids, such as sweat and blood, and no cure or vaccine is currently available.Blood-stained mattresses, bedding and medical equipment were taken from the centre, a senior police officer told, on condition of anonymity

“This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life,” he said. “All between the houses you could see people fleeing with items looted from the patients.”

The looting spree, he added, could spread the virus to the whole of the West Point area. Described as a slum, there are an estimated 50,000 people in the West Point neighbourhood.

The Ebola epidemic began in Guinea in February and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. One Nigerian doctor has survived the disease and was sent home on Saturday night, said Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu in a statement.

Mr Chukwu said five other people infected with Ebola had almost fully recovered. On Friday, the death toll rose to 1,145 after the WHO said 76 new deaths had been reported in the two days to 13 August. There have been 2,127 cases reported in total.

Symptoms include

  • high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage
  • Fatality rate can reach 90% – but current outbreak has about 55%
  • Incubation period is two to 21 days
  • There is no vaccine or cure
  • Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery
  • Fruit bats, a delicacy for some West Africans, are considered to be virus’ natural host

Source: bbc news

Is it safe to wear contact lenses in the pool?

Swimming with contact lenses should be avoided whenever possible to help prevent bacterial contamination of your eye. Swimming with contacts can result in eye infections, irritation and potentially sight-threatening conditions such as a corneal ulcer.

Is it safe to wear contact lenses in the pool

The FDA recommends that contact lenses should not be exposed to any kind of water, including tap water and water in swimming pools, oceans, lakes, hot tubs and showers.

Water can be home to countless viruses and dangerous microbes. One of the most serious is the Acanthamoeba organism, which can attach to contact lenses and cause the cornea to become infected and inflamed. This condition, called Acanthamoeba keratitis, is associated with wearing contact lenses while swimming and can cause permanent vision loss or require a corneal transplant to recover lost vision if not treated early enough.If water gets in your eyes when swimming, you should remove, clean and disinfect your contact lenses as soon as possible to reduce your risk of eye irritation and infection.

Proper contact lens care reduces further the chance of contamination. Remember to replace your contact lens case at least every three months and always follow your eye doctor’s recommendations.

Rigid gas permeable (GP) contact lenses should never be worn while swimming, as they are more likely to dislodge from your eye. While soft contact lenses are more likely to remain on your eye when swimming, they are porous and can absorb chemicals and bacteria, increasing the risk of eye irritation and infection.

Also, fresh water and water in swimming pools can cause soft lenses to tighten on your eyes, causing significant discomfort. Getting water in your eyes when swimming also rinses away the natural tears that lubricate your eyes and can worsen existing eye conditions such as chronic dry eyes.

If you do decide to swim with contact lenses, daily disposable lenses are the safest option. They are meant to be worn and thrown away after a single use, eliminating the need to clean and disinfect them.

To be safe, it’s a good idea to discard daily disposable lenses immediately after swimming, rinse your eyes with rewetting drops or artificial tears approved for use with contact lenses, and then replace the lenses with a fresh pair of daily disposables.

If you use daily disposables for occasional wear, they offer good value for money when comparing the cost of contact lenses. Always contact your eye doctor immediately if you experience prolonged eye irritation or sensitivity to light after wearing your contact lenses in water.

Can You Swim With Contact Lenses While Wearing Goggles?

If you’re going to swim while wearing contact lenses, the best way to reduce your risk of eye irritation and infection is to wear waterproof swim goggles. In addition to protecting your eyes from waterborne contaminants, swim goggles reduce the risk of your contacts dislodging from your eyes.

Prescription swimming goggles are another good option. Prescription goggles are custom-made to correct your refractive error, just like eyeglasses or contact lenses, enabling you to see clearly underwater without any of the risks associated with swimming with contacts.

Some brands of swim goggles come in ready-made prescription versions as well. While they may be an option for you or your children, they do have drawbacks. For example: they don’t correct astigmatism; they come in only the most common prescription powers; and both lenses have the same prescription, while many people’s eyes do not.

An added advantage of wearing swim goggles is that you can choose UV-protective goggles to avoid sun damage to your eyes.

LASIK Eye Surgery and Other Alternatives

Many people, especially those with a very active, sporting lifestyle, choose to correct their myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) or astigmatism with LASIK laser eye surgery and say goodbye to glasses or contact lenses.

LASIK and other types of refractive surgery — such as PRK and LASEK — reshape the cornea using a computer-controlled laser beam, allowing light entering the eye to be properly focused onto the retina for clear vision.

LASIK surgery has an excellent safety profile, and most people achieve 20/20 or better vision without glasses or contact lenses after a LASIK procedure. However, as with any other surgery, the risks and complications of LASIK need to be carefully considered before you undergo the procedure.

Another alternative is orthokeratology, or ortho-k — a non-surgical way to temporarily correct your refractive error and reduce your dependence on eyeglasses or contact lenses. Ortho-k uses specially designed and fitted contact lenses that reshape your cornea, so you can see clearly even after you remove the lenses. The lenses typically are worn at night while you sleep, negating the need to wear glasses or contacts at all while you’re awake.

Your eye doctor or a sports vision specialist will be able to advise you on your best eyewear options for swimming and other activities you enjoy

Source: weed minds