We live in a stressful environment, there are lots of personal, environmental and socio-economical challenges that we have to face.
How do you handle all of these? Occasionally, how we fight with our daily battles are related to how we perceive and handle every situation. Are you a cheerful type of person? Or a serious one? If you are that type of person who is very cheerful, just continue it because there are lots of health benefits that it can give to you. If you’re a serious type of person, you may want to start producing more smiles now to gain the benefits.
One way to make our day feel good is to smile. According to studies, when we smile our brain releases types of neurotransmitters (like endorphins, natural painkillers, serotonin) that are beneficial in making us healthy.
What can a smile give to our body?
It reduces stress and pain levels.
Decreases heart rate and blood pressure levels.
Helps to increase your immunity, if you are a happy person, it will be easier for you to combat those illnesses related conditions.
It makes you more attractive, beautiful or good-looking.
Furthermore, it enhances your emotional well-being.
Not only that, but it leaves a good impression to other people that you are a good person.
You look inspired, positive, and full of life.
You are often described as friendly and sociable.
Makes other to trust you easily because it shows that you are willing to interact and communicate.
It improves your mood, and you are less likely to develop depression.
May slow aging because it makes you look younger.
Whatever benefits it will give you, just treat yourself with that beautiful smile, it is free, and it’s a natural way of helping your body.
Are you one of those who are experiencing headaches from time to time? Headaches are very disturbing and can cause disabling you to do your daily tasks and duties. According to our health source, headaches can lead to sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, and psychological and physical problems.
The general signs and symptoms are as follows:
There is a moderate to severe pain
Presence of pulsating and throbbing sensation.
It is aggregated by physical activities
Nausea
Vomiting
You can feel light and sound sensitivity.
Pressing or tightening around your head.
Pain around eyes
Restlessness
This common symptoms usually go away on its own even without medications, but you should seek a doctor’s consultation if:
Your headaches seem worsening over time.
Disabling you to do daily chores and activities already.
You have two or more headaches in a week.
You needed an increase dose of over the counter medications to relieve headaches.
Furthermore, you are taking pain medications to relieve headaches on most days and your headache won’t go away without medications.
If your headache comes with double vision, seizure, confusion, stiffness, fever, weakness, numbness, or difficulty in speaking.
Headaches worsen despite rest and home intervention.
Risk factors of headaches includes: anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, caffeine, chronic pain conditions, obesity, snoring etc.
You can use over the counter medications like analgesics (naproxen and ibuprofen) to relieve headaches, be sure to ask the pharmacist regarding the medication that is effective and suitable for you. Possible causes of headaches are infection, stroke, inflammation, meningitis, traumatic brain injury, brain trauma.
Note: you better seek a doctor’s consultation to better check your condition and to take actions regarding it. The doctor will perform tests to diagnose your headache’s problem. Some of the tests that the doctor may perform are imaging tests like: CT scan and MRI to look for underlying medical condition. After recognizing the problem, the doctor will prescribe certain medications for your treatment.
Here are some lifestyle and home remedies that you can do to help relieve headaches:
Exercise regularly
Avoid headache triggers
Avoid medications overuse
Get enough rest and sleep
If you are obese, you may want to lose weight.
Reduce stress
Avoid too much caffeinated drinks
Don’t skip your meals
Headaches are really a problem that you have to resolve to continue your daily activities. Always take control and seek an understanding about your situation. It’s a healthy action to talk to someone and share your feelings about it, accept counselling and support from other people, it will really help.
This post will tackle about the beneficial effects of plants in a human being.
Are you one of those who have a green thumb? A green thumb means that you have the ability or talent in growing different plants.
Image source: Photo library, provided by Pexels.
Plants are responsible for giving us food, helping us to build shelter, serving as ingredients in making herbal medicines, and the major source of our food, which is needed to fuel up our body!
Plants are really eye catching and heart melting. Just like pets in our houses, plants also have life. They need our attention and love, they are nature’s way of saying that in order for our world to be a better place to stay, we must consider taking good care of them as well! They are considered as blessings, and it really takes a good heart to appreciate these beautiful creations. Both women and men seen involved in planting nowadays! They are often called as “plantitos and plantitas” because of their passion in planting.
Here are the health benefits of plants:
Responsible for absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, which is essential to life.
They help to absorb rainwater, preventing floods.
Edible plants (fruit bearing and vegetables) are great sources of daily food.
Herbal plants are important in making herbal medicines or herbal supplements.
Ornamental plants improve and beautify our surroundings.
Plants are a great stress reliever, they have a good calming effect.
Plants can improve a person’s creativity and productivity.
Improves your mood and concentration.
Helpful in cleaning the environment, and serves as natural humidifiers of the surrounding.
Plants provide extra life to a lonely space or corner in the house!
Helps in decreasing anxiety and stress levels.
A good form of relaxation, to divert you from negative thoughts.
Adds positivity to the environment.
Whatever your reasons for planting, be it a hobby, way of communicating to nature, be it to go with the trend, for business or something to make an income, all of these deserves an appreciation. You are a good example to people who don’t appreciate the importance of nature! Continue to be an inspiration to other people, to be more loving and caring of what our creator gave us.
We all have a unique personality and character. The way we think, react, do things, and the way we solve our problems in life are different from others. That’s why we should never compare ourselves to other people. The result of the things we do in life (be it positive or negative) is related to how we think and react in every situation.
I would like to ask you, how do you keep yourself being motivated? Do you choose to have a positive outlook in life despite all the challenges? Or are you the one who easily lose hope? If you have a goal or a dream in life that you want to achieve, you have to help yourself!
Image source: Photo library, provided by Pexels.
Consider these tips below:
Set your goals- small goals first and stay focused. Be sure to set a realistic and achievable one. When you’re able to achieve this goal, your experience in handling every situation will be broadened and will encourage you to do more.
Visualize the outcome you want to achieve- this will inspire you to do your best.
Surround yourself with happy and motivated people. Those who will encourage you rather than discouraging every decision you make, those who gives good advices, those who are happy with every achievement you make (small or big). Those who never leave you whenever you’re in the lowest point of life.
Avoid mingling to negative people because you may adapt their attitude and as a result, you will experience difficulty in achieving your goals.
Be optimistic, always look at the brighter side of life. If you fail on one goal, you should be able to cope with it easily, and pursue to do more rather than being depressed or stressed about the result. You choose to move on and learn from your mistakes.
Don’t forget to feed your body, mind, and spirit- (a healthy body can do things appropriately), mind- (read and explore more on topics regarding your goal), spirit (have that spirit of kindness to everyone, and most specially to yourself).
Appreciate small achievements- to honor your capability and motivate you to pursue bigger goals.
“When the situation is tough, remember why you have started”. I already heard this to motivational speakers. It’s a deep thought that we should never give up on any circumstances. If you start a race, you should never give up and stop at the middle, be determined enough to reach up to the finish line. Do not be discouraged because everyone already reached the finish line. You will also get there, just trust yourself.
Read more on motivational posts- to be more inspired to pursue whatever goals you have in mind.
Always choose to be happy- your physical aura can impact a lot, being cheerful/happy attracts positive thoughts and energy that are essential in reaching your goals.
Stop thinking negatively- because this is a big obstacle in achieving what you want in life.
Have you seen someone who looks young for their age? Or did somebody compliment you for looking young? Or none of the two? Aging is inevitable, as our age increase, our hormones that keep our skin elastic also slows or decline.
Added by some environmental factors and practices that we do every day. Occasionally, we are so busy in life that we forget to care for our body. Well, don’t be bothered about it because there are things that you can actually do to make yourself look younger than your actual age.
Image source: Photo library provided by Pexels.
Perform your self-care routine:
Take a bath regularly. Apply moisturizing lotion to hand and body and consider using those products which contains anti-aging properties. Use appropriate moisturizer to your face and neck.
Apply sunscreen, specially when going outside, to avoid skin damage.
Moisturize also your lips. Use lip balm before using lipstick because some ingredients of lipstick can make the lips dry.
Love your hair, avoid using numerous sprays and hairstyling that can damage it. Choose a hairstyle that is comfortable to you.
Care for your teeth, clean and healthy teeth gives you more confidence to show up that beautiful smile. Smiling can make you look younger.
Check your finger nails and toenails, trim and brush them to remove dirt and dead skin.
Nutrition also plays a role in achieving a youthful body:
Eat more fruits and green leafy vegetables, they contain vitamins, minerals, and other components like antioxidants which helps to reduce many kinds of diseases and may improve your skin appearance.
Eat healthy fish like salmon and tuna.
Avoid junk foods and unhealthy foods.
Rehydrate your body, drink plenty of water, have a goal to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. Dehydrated body looks dull and dry.
Your lifestyle also plays a role in the aging process:
You should avoid stress, take some time to relax because stress can lead to many diseases which can show up on your appearance.
Use an umbrella when going outside, specially when it’s too hot. Early morning sunlight is good, but during noontime the direct sunlight can damage your skin already.
Do not smoke, or if you smoke, consider quitting now. Smoking can lead to faster aging.
Take enough rest and sleep during nighttime.
Avoid a sedentary lifestyle. It can lead to obesity and weight gaining.
Exercise regularly to tone up your muscles and enhance your body’s blood circulation.
If you have a hard time in doing it, and you have that ample money on your pocket, you may want to visit a skin clinic or dermatologist. They can perform some treatment and will advise or prescribed products for you to use. You should take good care of yourself to see a good result. Achieve that young and healthy body from inside and out.
A healthy person is not just because he/she is free from various kind of diseases, but must also be healthy in the different aspects of life and that includes our emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual well-being.
Health is wealth because if you are not healthy, you are incapable of doing and performing your daily tasks in life. Even if you are literally rich, you cannot enjoy your money if you are sick, that’s why health is an ultimate wealth. So, to achieve this we have to incorporate healthy activities in our daily routine, and we also have to boost our immune system in order for us not to get sick easily, or prone to frequent infections. If the body has a low immune system, illnesses and other diseases easily develops.
The Immune system composed of white blood cells, antibodies, organs, and lymph nodes that is capable of defending our body against viruses, bacteria and other germs. It destroys the microbes quickly when it enters the body.
Below are tips in achieving a healthier body:
Eat a balanced diet to maintain and improve your overall health. A balanced diet contains carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals which can derived from fruits, vegetables, grains, pork, poultry, fish etc.
Reduce salt, sugar, and fats in your diet, avoid soda, junk foods and other unhealthy foods. This attributes to diseases like hypertension, heart diseases, kidney problems, diabetes etc.
Do not over eat during mealtime, it can lead to weight gaining and obesity. It’s best to eat small, frequent meals. It will help your body to work smoothly.
Drink plenty of fluids. Water helps your body for a better digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. It enables your body to rehydrate and eliminate toxins during urination.
Be physically active, exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. It enhances physical fitness and improves your health and wellness.
Drink milk for stronger bones. It contains calcium, phosphorus, vitamin B, potassium and vitamin D. It is an excellent source of protein. It prevents osteoporosis and bone fractures. Furthermore, it helps to maintain good body posture.
Have enough rest and sleep during nighttime. Avoid going to bed late. It is important because lack of sleep often leads to irritability, unable to focus and do the daily activities well.
Maintain good hygiene. Take a bath regularly, brush your teeth every after meal. To eliminate bacteria, viruses and other germ causing diseases that can harm your health.
Have a good disposition in life, it enables you to easily find happiness and be able to have a positive outlook in life. It improves your overall personality and helps you go along well to other people.
We also need to improve our spiritual well-being, to organize our values, purpose in life and keep our mind at peace.
Do not smoke and drink alcoholic beverages, it can harm your liver, stomach, and other body organs. It brings many diseases like certain types of cancer, hypertension, heart diseases etc.
Avoid too much screen time. It can lead to strained dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches. It also reduces attention span that can lead to behavior problems and the poor posture when using screens can cause neck, shoulder, and back pain.
Have you experienced having an acne? How did you feel about it? Are you the one who feels uneasy and problematic about how you look? The one who is very eager to find ways on how to let it go away? Or the one who is not bothered at all? It depends on how a person handle the situation, for some it may lower their self-esteem or self-confidence due to body image disturbance. This is very common to teenagers and young adults wherein they feel uncomfortable about it, they find ways on how to solve it immediately because it bothers not just their physical well-being but also their social and emotional well-being.
Before knowing what you can do to solve the problem, learn first what is acne all about. What are the causes, risk factors and the signs and symptoms. Acne is a chronic skin disease of the face, chest, neck, back and shoulders. It causes blackheads, pimples, and scars. The tiny pores of our skin can trap dirt, dead skin cells, oils, germs/bacteria. These obstructions on the skin may lead to acne.
According to our health source: Here are the symptoms, causes, risk factors and management of the disease.
Causes:
A large amount of oil by hair follicles.
Dead cells are accumulating in the pores.
The pores in the skin have bacteria.
The signs and symptoms may vary depending on the severity of your condition. It may include:
Whiteheads
Blackheads
Small red, tender bumps
Pimples (pustules)
Large, solid, painful lumps beneath the surface of the skin (nodules)
Painful, pus-filled lumps beneath the surface of the skin (cystic lesions)
Risk factors for acne includes:
Family history- Genetics plays a role in acne. If both parents experienced acne, there’s a chance that you will develop it as well.
Hormonal changes- These changes are common in teenagers, women, girls, and people using certain medications, including those containing corticosteroids, androgens, or lithium.
Greasy or oily substances around your working environment- You may develop acne where your skin comes into contact with oily lotions and creams or with grease in a working area, such as a kitchen.
Friction or pressure on your skin- This can be caused by the things we used like tight collars or clothing, cellphones, helmets, backpacks etc.
Stress- This doesn’t cause acne, but if you have acne already, stress may make it worse and may even lead you to mood disorders.
Here are the self-care tips and remedies you can do at home:
Shower after doing your daily activities. Oil and sweat on your skin can lead to breakouts. Just take a rest first before taking a shower.
Wash the area where the acne is, if possible wash it twice a day. Washing will remove excess oil and dead skin cells. Limit to twice a day only because too much washing can irritate the skin and will result in further problems. Use gentle cleanser and use oil-free, water-based skin care products for the affected areas.
Over the counter acne cream or gel. It can help dry excess oil. Ask the pharmacist for the most effective over the counter product you can use for your acne. The Food and Drug Administration always warns the people that some popular acne lotions, cleansers, and other skin products that aren’t prescribed can cause a serious reaction. If you experienced adverse reactions such as faintness, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing, swelling of the eyes, face, lips or tongue, tightness of the throat you better consult your doctor immediately.
Use non-oily makeup. Choose to use those oil-free cosmetics that won’t clog pores and those won’t irritate the skin.
At night, before going to bed make sure to remove your makeup. Going to sleep with cosmetics on your skin can clog your pores. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to throw out old makeup and regularly clean the cosmetic products that you are using. Make sure to store them in a non-dusty area. Always check the expiration before using.
Wear comfortable clothing. Uncomfortable clothing like tight-fitting (or body fit) traps heat and moisture and can irritate your skin. If possible, avoid also tight-fitting straps, backpacks, helmets, hats, sports equipment and any other accessories to prevent friction against your skin.
Avoid touching or picking your acne. Doing so can worsen the problem and may result in a more acne production.
Drinking water prevents acne because it promotes proper skin hydration. Dry skin can trigger excess oil production which could lead to acne.
Does diet or food can cause acne?
According to studies certain dietary factors may trigger acne, it may include dairy products and carbohydrate-rich foods such as breads, chips, chocolates etc. We need more research to examine why this happens or whether acne patients need to follow specific food restrictions. Eating greasy food has little or no effect on acne, but working in a greasy area, will lead to developing an acne because the oil can stick to the skin and block the hair follicles.
Note:
If you have a worse acne problem, you may want to visit your Dermatologist or Skin specialist for further treatment. They will do an assessment and treatment for your skin concern and prescribe appropriate medications for your condition. When your acne improves, you may need to continue the prescribed medication and treatment to prevent new skin breakouts. Such as topical medications, oral medications, light therapy sessions etc.
These are really stressful but keep in mind that you are not just the one experiencing this. Help yourself, share how you feel and how you want to solve the problem with your family, social support groups, or you may want to talk with a health counselor. You can do this to avoid so much stress, which may result in depression.
Are you the person who is prone to illnesses or easily get sick? Eating healthy foods or taking vitamins and supplements are not the only way we can boost our immune system. Our daily life practices also play an important role in developing a healthy mind and body.
What is Personal hygiene?
It is an act of performing daily self-care to maintain a healthy and clean body. These are essential practices in order for our body to function well and achieve overall health. Our body is a framework that, to perform at its best, it should be treated well with love and care. We should not be lazy in performing this daily tasks because it is a good way to defense ourselves against illnesses or diseases. This is mostly done at home, so if we have kids, let us teach and show them how to take care of our body for them to appreciate the importance of doing this daily self-care routine. Let us be a role model whom they can imitate, they will carry this practices until they grow up.
These practices includes:
Taking a bath regularly. It is a good way to achieve cleanliness because it washes away dead skin cells, oils, dirt, dusts and eliminate germs. This is a preventive measure to reduce the incidence and spread of diseases.
Perform proper handwashing before and after meals, when preparing food, after handling dirty objects, after using the comfort room etc. It is one of the simplest and the best way to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to other people.
Brushing your teeth after eating your meals. Tooth brushing to clean our teeth, tongue, and gums and to avoid plaque and tooth decay buildups that can cause oral diseases.
Combing your hair to make the hair healthy. Tangled hair can cause hair problems. Combing hair can stimulate the scalp and may help to promote better blood flow, when the scalp is healthy, you can also have that healthy hair you want. It helps to move the natural conditioning oils of your scalp down to your hair.
Trimming of nails, long nails can trap bacteria and germs easily. It can cause bacterial and fungal infection. We are using our hands in preparing foods and eating our daily meals, so make sure it’s clean to provide safe food on your stomach.
Cleaning your outer ear, debris can also accumulate in our ears, so we also need to clean them. Using a soft cloth, gently wipe your ears after bathing. If you choose to use cotton swabs, don’t insert them into your ear canal. It can damage your ear that could lead to hearing problems and ear diseases.
Make sure to use clean clothes, undergarments, towels, sacks, and footwear. Microorganisms like fungi and bacteria can accumulate to this essential things we used daily. Using dirty things that come in contact with our skin can lead to body odor and skin diseases.
These are not limited to what we can do for our personal hygiene alone. Fighting diseases also includes taking care of the different areas of our life, such as:
Physical self-care: The ability to do activities that can improve you physically. Eating healthy foods, drinking enough water, having enough rest and sleep, physical activities such as exercising, jogging, brisk walking etc. To avoid sedentary lifestyle or inactive way of living, it can lead to becoming overweight or obese.
Emotional self-care: The ability to control your emotions. Forgiving one’s mistake, loving unconditionally, avoiding hatred, empathize and sympathize with others.
Mental self-care: The ability to focus and think positively. Able to handle stress, eagerness to learn new things, keeping yourself motivated.
Social self-care: The ability to socialize and being confident. Being friendly to all, offers good communication, able to network with a social support group which you can count on.
Spiritual self-care: The ability to balance your beliefs, noble goals, nature, and environment and your values in life.
We need to adapt with these daily self-care practices for us to easily avoid and fight illnesses and to maintain a healthier body.
A goal is something you want to achieve in life. It maybe a short term goal or a long term goal. Setting a goal will give you a direction and focus.
Our journey in life depends on what we like, what we know what we believed and what we choose to do. Whenever we failed or succeed in life some will say that life is just like that! It’s normal. It’s a defense mechanism word to lessen our disappointments.
Furthermore, it’s a matter of choice! We always have the choice to improve ourselves. Do something that can increase your self-worth. Whenever you do good things to other people without asking something in return, you can gain self-worth and a sense of fulfillment on it. It can help you to be inspired and motivated to improve your self more.
What are the things that you can do to improve yourself?
Trust yourself- that you can do anything, trust your capabilities because once you doubted yourself you can never make it.
Think of your goal- be a goal oriented person. Set a goal that you want to achieve and set a time frame.
Set an inspiration- This maybe your loved ones in life or the ones you idolized.
Do not compare yourself to other people- when you compare yourself to others you will lose self-confidence which is very essential in achieving your goals.
Learn to wait- do not rush on anything, life is a process, do the things that will give you a good result.
Read more, feed your mind with good information that can help you in achieving your goals.
Be healthy- in order to achieve all your life goals, you must be healthy and fit not just physically but also mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
Accept failures but never end your goals there. If you did not achieve the result you wanted, you can do it again and be able to do better.
Many of us are already exhausted, lonely, stressed and even depressed with what the COVID-19 or the coronavirus brought to us. This pandemic gave us many realizations about life, that:
We must be thankful to God for the gift of life.
Self-love, self-care and personal hygiene is important.
Your Family (Mother, Father, Wife, Husband, Children, Siblings etc.) are the best companions.
Home is the safest place to stay.
Life is too short, we should enjoy and appreciate it.
Health is wealth, nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables are the best food to eat.
We need the love and care coming from our loved ones. The comfort they give us can relieve worries/stress.
Appreciate the importance of other people who are ready to serve and risk their lives just to make us safe (they are the Frontliners).
There are many things that life can offer, that we can do other things (baking, cooking, gardening etc.)
We can sacrifice, we can walk short distances without riding a vehicle, we can skip unhealthy foods, we can cook our food without buying in the fast food chain/restaurant.
What is COVID-19 or the coronavirus? A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China in the year 2019. It came from a large family of viruses which can cause illness or even death. It spreads from person to person. When the person affected cough or sneeze, it easily lands to the objects surround him/her. It transfers easily through droplets.
Common to severe symptoms includes:
—Fever —Dry cough —Tiredness or fatigue —Flu like symptoms- body aches and pains —Rashes on the skin —Sense of smell or taste are loss —Headache —Loose stools —Inflammation of the conjunctiva —Chest pain —Loss of speech or movement —Difficulty of breathing
Note: Consult your doctor or physician right away if you notice any possible symptoms that may indicate a COVID-19 to begin the treatment because the earlier the treatment, the higher the chance of healing.
Who are at greater risk?
Those who have low immune system like babies, elderly and those with underlying diseases.
Precautionary measures that you can do:
Always maintain a 1-meter distance to others, use your face mask, specially when you are outside.
Wash your hands regularly with soap and water. Sanitize or use alcohol-based to kill viruses.
It is possible to catch it to someone who has mild cough but doesn’t look or feel ill (carrier). Avoid going to the crowd.
You are experiencing serious symptoms, call the nearest facility before going to the hospital.
Practice proper hygiene, cough, and sneeze etiquette. Cover your mouth and nose using your bent elbow or through a tissue, then throw away after using.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. These are the common entry holes of viruses.
Boost your immune system through eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly.
Do not self-medicate, it may bring bad effects on your health, you better consult your doctor if you feel ill or sick.
Listen to your health officials regarding health protocols.
Be updated with the current issues regarding COVID-19.
Do you know of someone who has or experienced this disease? It is a serious kind of disease which needs immediate intervention.
According to our health source, here are the symptoms, causes, risk factors and management of the disease.
Stroke is a form of brain attack which occurs when blood flow to an area of the brain has blockage, and as a result the brain cells will be deprived of oxygen and begin to die. The memory and muscle, which are controlled by the brain, lost. It is a very life-threatening disease that requires prompt medical action or intervention.
What are the signs and symptoms of stroke?
Numbness or weakness in the face, leg, or arm, specially on one side.
Trouble speaking and understanding
Confusion
Sudden or severe headache
Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Problems in walking, balance and coordination
Note: Consult your doctor or physician right away if you notice any possible symptoms that may indicate a stroke to begin the treatment because the earlier the treatment, the higher the chance of healing. After you are diagnosed with the disease, you need medical check-up with your doctor until you are well. Avoid self-medication.
What are the risk factors of stroke?
Family history
Heart disease
Alcohol abuse
Hypertension or high blood pressure
Smoking
Diabetes
High cholesterol level
Sedentary lifestyle
Increasing age/older
Overweight or obese
How can you prevent stroke?
Maintaining a healthy weight
Eating healthy diet
Treat high cholesterol
Exercise regularly
Avoidance of alcoholic drinks
Do not smoke, stop smoking
Maintain a healthy blood pressure
Control diabetes
Types of stroke :
Transient ischemic stroke- clot that temporary blocks blood flow to the brain. It last for a short period of time.
Ischemic stroke– can be embolic, the blood clot travels from another part of the body to your brain.
Thrombotic stroke- an ischemic stroke caused by a clot forming in a blood vessel in your brain, the blood clot won’t go away without a treatment.
Hemorrhagic stroke– a blood vessel in your brain ruptures.
Aneurysm hemorrhagic- causes a portion of the weak blood vessel to balloon outward and sometimes rupture.
Arteriovenous malformation- abnormally formed blood vessels, can cause hemorrhagic stroke when this blood vessel ruptures.
What are the causes of stroke?
Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
caused by blood clots or other clots
Ischemicstroke
Blockages or narrowing of the arteries
Reduce blood flow that damages brain cells
Fatty deposits within the arteries called plaque that can cause clots
Hemorrhagicstroke
Arteries in the brain leaking blood or bursting open.
Blood vessels can burst and spill blood
Ruptures may due to hypertension, trauma, aneurysms and blood-thinning medications.
What are the complications stroke?
Speech difficulties- can affect areas of your brain which have to do with speech and swallowing and as a result you may have difficulty in writing, reading, and problems in understanding what other people are talking/speaking about.
Behavior change- having a stroke can contribute to depression or anxiety, more impulsive, more withdrawn from socializing.
Numbness or pain- decreased sensation, affect your ability to feel or sense temperature.
Paralysis- a stroke on the right side of the brain can affect movement on the left side of your body.
What are the Diagnostic exams or tests for stroke:
Blood tests- to test how quickly the patient’s blood clots and to test for any infection.
Physical exam- includes symptoms and medical history, blood pressure taking, listening to carotid arteries in the neck etc.
CT scan- series of x-rays that can show hemorrhages, strokes, tumors, and other conditions of the brain.
MRI scan- this is radio waves and magnets which create an image of the brain to detect damage.
Carotid ultrasound- to check any plaque and the blood flow in the carotid arteries.
Cerebral angiogram- to give a detailed view of the brain and neck blood vessels, they insert dyes into the brain’s blood vessels to make them visible under x-ray.
Echocardiogram- an image of the heart, is being checked for any sources of clots.
What are the treatments for stroke?
For TIA– includes taking medications that will help prevent future strokes.
Includes antiplatelet- reduce the components of your blood called platelets from sticking together to form a clot.
Anticoagulant- medications that reduce the buildup of clotting proteins.
Carotid endarterectomy- removes plaque buildup in the carotid artery of your neck. Your doctor may recommend this surgery.
For Ischemic stroke
Will depend on your individual medical history.
Prescribed medications
Your doctor can use procedures to physically remove the clot or clot busting medications to your brain. These aren’t always beneficial because your medical history may put you at risk for side effects.
Hemorrhagic stoke
Treatment involves trying to stop bleeding in your brain
Prescribed medications
Surgical procedures which include surgical clipping or coiling (to keep the blood vessels from bleeding further).
Through rehabilitation, you may be able to regain lost motor function, speech and swallowing abilities, but will take time to see results.
Rehabilitation may include the following:
Physical therapy
Speech therapy
Occupational therapy
You may join a support group, these group of people may be helpful to share experiences and exchange information with, regarding the disease. This can also help in reducing depression that can occur after stroke.
Support from friends and family. They can provide you more comfort and practical support. Being with them will help you keep the motivation you need in fighting with the disease and improving your health.
Diabetes mellitus are a group of diseases that affect your body on how it uses the blood sugar (or the glucose). It is significant because it’s our brain’s source of fuel and the source of energy for the cells that make up the muscles and other body tissues. So if you suffer from diabetes, it means that you have too much glucose in your blood that can lead to serious health conditions.
According to our health source:
Types of diabetes includes:
Type 1 diabetes– may develop at any age (during childhood or adolescence). In this type, symptoms come quickly and more severe.
Type 2 diabetes– more common type, it can develop at any age but more common to those older than 40 years old.
Gestational diabetes– occurs during pregnancy but will resolve when the baby is born.
Signs and symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes includes:
Unexplained weight loss
Frequent urination
Feeling hungry and thirsty
Frequent infections
Slow wound healing
Blurring of vision
Feeling tired/ fatigue
Irritability
The presence of ketones in the urine
Note: Consult your doctor or physician right away if you notice any possible symptoms that may indicate a diabetes, to begin the treatment because the earlier the treatment, the higher the chance of healing. After you are diagnosed with the disease, you need medical check-up with your doctor until your sugar levels stabilize or go back to normal. Avoid self-medication.
Type 1 diabetes
What are the Causes?
The exact cause is unknown. What is known is that the immune system (the one responsible for fighting harmful bacteria and viruses) attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. This leads to a little or no insulin. So, the sugar builds up in your bloodstream instead of being transported into your cells.
What are the risk factors?
Dietary factors– low vitamin D consumption
Geography– it is uncertain but Finland and Sweden have high rates of type-1 diabetes
Presence of damaging immune system cells (autoantibodies)
Family history– you are at risk if your parents or siblings have this type 1 diabetes.
Environmental factors– exposure to viral illnesses
Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes
Causes:
For prediabetes (that could lead to type 2) and type 2 diabetes– your cells become resistant to the insulin’s action, so the pancreas is unable to make enough insulin to overcome the resistance. The sugar builds in the bloodstream instead of moving into your cells where it is needed for energy. Genetic, environmental factors and being overweight accounts to the development of type 2 diabetes, though not everyone with type 2 is overweight.
Risk factors:
Family history– you have a higher risk if your parents and siblings have this type 2 diabetes.
Inactivity or sedentary lifestyle
Weight– the fatty tissue your body have, the more resistant your cells to insulin. Physical activities help your body use glucose as energy and makes your cells more sensitive to insulin, and can also control weight gaining.
Race– it is unclear but races like Black, Hispanics, American- Indians and Asian- Americans are at higher risk.
Age– as you get older you’re at risk because you tend to exercise less, gain weight and loss muscle mass.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (common condition characterized by excessive hair growth, obesity, and irregular menstrual period).
Gestational diabetes– if you experienced this during your pregnancy, there is a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Abnormality in the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides– you are at risk if you have low levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol.
High blood pressure– a blood pressure of 140/90 mm/Hg (millimeter mercury) is linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes:
Cause:
For gestational diabetes– during the pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones to sustain the pregnancy and these hormones make the cells more resistant to insulin. In normal situation your pancreas responds by producing enough extra insulin to overcome the resistance, but when the pancreas can’t keep up, there are too little glucose gets into your cells and too many stays in your bloodstream.
Risk factors:
Family or personal history
Age– older than 25 years old women
Weight– overweight before pregnancy
Race– unclear but women who are Black, American Indian, Hispanic, and Asian are most likely to develop this gestational diabetes.
There are complications related to diabetes that could threaten your life. Below are the possible complications:
Cardiovascular disease, damages in the nerves, kidneys, eyes, and feet.
Skin conditions
Alzheimer’s disease
Hearing impairment
Complications for gestational diabetes may include: (for the baby)
Excess growth- macrosomia (the baby grow too large.)
Low blood sugar
Type 2 diabetes later in life
Death if gestational diabetes is untreated.
Complications to the mother may include:
Pre-eclampsia (characterized by high blood pressure).
Subsequent gestational diabetes
More likely to develop type 2 diabetes as you get older.
Tests for diabetes includes:
Glycated hemoglobin test– this will indicate your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months.
Random blood sugar test– your blood sample will be taken at random time.
Fasting blood sugar test– blood sample will be taken after an overnight fast.
Oral glucose tolerance test– you fast overnight, before testing the blood sugar level.
Test for type 1 diabetes:
Urinalysis — your urine will be tested.
Test to see autoantibodies– destructive immune system cells.
Test for gestational diabetes will be done if you are:
High risk– if you are obese or overweight, had previous gestational diabetes, family history of the disease.
An Average risk- screening test will be done during the second trimester.
Screening tests may include:
Initial glucose challenge test– drinking a syrup glucose solution, then after 1 hour you will have a blood test to measure your blood sugar level.
Follow-up glucose tolerance testing– you will be asked to fast overnight, then they will measure your fasting blood sugar level. You will drink again a sweet solution with higher concentration of glucose, then the blood sugar level will be checked every hour for a period of 3 hours.
Treatments to all types of diabetes:
Healthy eating
Physical activity
Type 1 and 2 diabetes treatment:
Monitoring your blood sugar
Insulin therapy
Oral or other medications
Transplantation (pancreas transplant) in some who have type1 diabetes
Bariatric surgery
Treatment for gestational diabetes:
Controlling and monitoring your blood sugar level
Insulin or oral medications
Treatment for prediabetes:
Healthy lifestyle choices
Healthy weight through exercise
Healthy eating
Oral medications
What are the home remedies you can do:
Eat healthy foods– preferably those foods that are lower in fat and calories and higher in fiber.
Get more physical activity– do physical activities daily for 30 minutes, for example: brisk walking, biking, jogging etc.
Lose excess pounds– motivate yourself to achieve a healthy weight.
Coping management to help you with the disease:
Seek mental health professional to speak with. If you are stress about the disease, feeling down and losing hope.
Try a support group or talk to someone who has the same battle as yours. You will find health tips and effective ways they have been through.
MOMSOTHERSIDE
HealthCare 