Health Care Tips – Online Health Fitness Tips

Your own good health is an example. Every day your body is assailed by billions of germs, many of which can produce illness or even death. Yet you stay well. Countless bacteria and viruses gain entry in to your body with the food you cat or the air you breathe or through breaks in your skin. Yet you stay well. Some of them establish permanent residence in your mouth, your nose and throat, or your intestines, where they may multiply fantastically. Yet you stay well.
Some kings of germs can survive these external defenses and even multiply on your skin. Before they can harm you, however, they must gain entry into your body and then run an amazing gantlet of other defenses, Germs entering through your mouth, for instance are attacked by the antiseptic in your saliva. For those that are swallowed and washed into your stomach powerful digestive juices lie in wait. Few reach your intestines alive.
When germs get into your body through breaks in your skin or mucous surfaces-breaks so small that they may be unnoticed-the peril is seemingly greater. Let’s say that you step on a germ-laden nail. Each germ thus entering your tissues may divide into two after 20 minutes or so, and divide again another 20 minutes. If this rate to continue, you would be host to a million descendants within seven hours, and to several quadrillion the next day. By then your entire body would, of course, be overwhelmed. But before this can happen another type of defense, called inflammation, will have come to your aid.
Inflammation begins when various chemicals are released at the site of a germ invasion by the injured cells in your body. These chemicals seep outward in all direction until they reach the nearest blood vessels. These they cause a relaxing of the vessel walls that enables plasma, the watery part of the blood, to seep out.
Φ Trapped germs:
It is fascinating to watch this gobbling-up process through a microscope.  A leucocyte slithers up to an invading bacterium, crowds it against a solid surface, and then flow its jelly-like body around the bacterium to “corner” it. Some germs are coated with a repellent which keeps leucocytes away, and some have the power to kill the leucocytes that engulf them. Even in death, however, the leucocytes continue to release chemicals injurious to germs.
Following an illness, however, disease grems may survive for days or even weeks within the lymph nodes.
The glands in your neck are the final barriers which prevent germs form reaching your blood stream, and the survival of germs in them for long periods explains why these glands sometimes remain swollen and tender long after other symptom have disappeared.
Even if a few germs reach the blood stream, another line of defense stands ready. Your bone marrow, live, spleen and a few smaller organs are equipped with multitudes of macrophages to filter invading particles out of your blood just as the lymph nodes filter your lymph fluod.

Children can stretch the disease into three full days off from school, daring which their mothers bring them meals on a tray and permit them to look at all the awful daytime television shows. One of the nicest things that can happen to a child is to get the bug that is going around.

Fathers enjoy it, they do not have it quite so long, but they have it louder. The household revolves around the patient then, and every one, including Father, worries for a couple of days until he is better.

Mothers, however, can catch, suffer and recover from the 24 hour bug in a flat 12 hours. Surely this is a medical miracle of some kind. Perhaps some young doctor, as yet unknown, will one day be hailed as the man who found the cure for “there is a lot of it going around,”
The first thing worth nothing is that mothers react differently from other people to the first signs of fever. Children may weep, fathers get irritable. But the typical mother’s reaction is pure, unadulterated joy. It is a little known fact that many otherwise hardworking, selfless, admirable homemakers are addicted to the secret vice of taking their own temperature.

However, once in a long while she is lucky and, to her definite joy, the thermometer shows a fever. Not high, of course, not much over 100 degrees, but positive proof that she actually has thing, that is going around.

Let’s assume that this fine moment comes just after lunchtime. The children are at school, the baby is napping, and there is no why she can not get into immediately.

Her aching legs soak up comfort from the cool sheets, and her eyes, which have started to burn a bit, slowly, pleasurably, close. She is asleep-in the middle of the day!

Then, too soon, the front door bang wildly opens as the children explode home from school.

“If you sick, what shall we have for dinner?” inquires the eldest cutting right to the essential problem.

“I am sick,” she must say clearly. “I can not do anything. I shall just have to leave every thing to you.” then, letting her voice trail off dramatically, but careful to maintain every necessary duty.

But then Father comes home. Having received a breathless medical report from the children, he bounds into the bedroom.

“The kids say you feel terrible. Have you called the doctor? Should I go pick up the prescription?” suddenly she feels terribly guilty, and struggles to switch from acting sicker. “It is nothing darling, I can get up and do dinner and …” He shakes his head firmly.

“You stay right there. The kids and I will take over.” He sounds confident. “I am sorry, dear. It is awfully hard on you”… she begins painfully.

“Just do not talk,” he advises briskly. “We shall get along fine without you.”

After some time all the children appear, beaming. “Can we come up with you while you eat?”

Suddenly she feels marvelous! As the children watch carefully, she eats up everything in sight. She stirs when her husband come in. “Go back to sleep, hope you feel better tomorrow.” he says quietly.

And it is about time. Because some people have the 24-hour bug for 72hours, and some have it for 48. But a mother, if she feels needed enough, can get over it in 12.

Global emergency

The world health organization says that the outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, cholera and other diarrhea diseases. Tuberculosis, a life-threatening bacterial disease of the lungs, is the biggest problem. The WHO reports that tuberculosis is expected to cause 30 million deaths over the next decade if control of the disease does not improve- and almost two-thirds of all tuberculosis cases occur in Asia.

Until a few years ago, tuberculosis was relatively easy to treat with a combination of three antibiotics. Now most patients require four and some cases cannot be cured with any available antibiotic. A doctor says that the situation as “a global emergency.”

So far in Asia the deadly new TB has been detected mostly among the poor and the homeless, whose living conditions serve as bacterial breeding grounds, and in AIDS suffers, who are highly susceptible to infections.

The WHO reports that in some locations falciparum malaria is resistant to all available drugs.

Multiple drug resistance to the main strain of cholera is occurring in many areas, with the problem growing fastest in the developing world. And WHO experts claim there have been such dramatic increases in drug resistance in some diarrhea diseases in many parts of the developing world that the diseases are now resistant to almost all available and affordable antibiotics.

Penicillin drugs, which cured nearly all bacterial urinary-tract infections several decades ago, are now much less effective against them. And penumococcus infections, one of the most common causes of pneumonia, are becoming more resistant to penicillin and other standard antibiotics.

Patients must stop thinking of antibiotics as harmless, says a doctor each drug has a specific range and must be taken with care, bacteria are given more opportunity to develop resistance to the new drugs.

An expert they hear that a certain antibiotic cured someone of an illness, so as soon as they feel sick, off they go to the drugstore to try to buy the same drug. They don’t know whether it is proper for their sickness, they don’t know the right dose, and they don’t know the right length of treatment.

☼ Massive problem of the region

Availability of antibiotic drugs without prescription is a massive problem in the region. According to the WHO all countries have regulations controlling the sale of antibiotics, but in only some.

Doctors who prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily don’t help the situation, doctor to be some kind of witch doctor who can cure them immediately. Doctors capitulate to patients who demand antibiotics for colds, even though colds are caused by viruses and not bacteria.

Meanwhile, drug companies are developing fewer truly new antibiotics. Variations, because their molecular structures and their actions are still similar to the originals, only temporarily fend off the problem of resistance. Unfortunately, it takes little time for the bacteria to develop still hardier strains.

We can’t count on variations of existing antibiotics to protect us from resistance over the long term.

☼ What are the remedies?

What should be done? Doctors, local governments and patients share responsibility for preventing unnecessary and inappropriate antibiotics use. Doctors can help by prescribing narrow-spectrum antibiotics as opposed to broad-spectrum ones.

December is the only month when virtually no trees pollinate anywhere across the country. Now, the bad new: If you are sensitive to mold, dust, smoke or strong scents, the holidays can be the absolute worst time of the year.

The mold problem centers on the Christmas tree. Ever greens are heavily covered with mold. And these molds release a lot of spores when the tree comes into a warm house. A prefab Christmas- tree-in-box will solve the problem. But, unfortunately, it carries another allergen: dust. Dust is a top contributor which may be call “Christmas Decoration syndrome.” One result is that artificial trees and tree ornaments are usually are usually stored in the dustiest corner of the house. To cut the dust, wear a disposable particle filter that fits firmly around your face when handling those boxes. Open the boxes outside dust off the ornaments and hose down the tree, if possible. Then bring the dust-free decorations into the house.

Holiday scents, from wood hunting fireplaces, increase and hay-berry candles to the perfume and cigarette smoke of houseguests and partygoers are also major affronts to odor-sensitive asthmatics. Avoidance is of course, your best protection. If you are attending a holiday party, pretreat with a puff from a beta agonist inhaler. This will help you survive the scent assault for good two or three hours. If you wait until the attack starts before using an inhaler; you may control the symptoms but find that they return again that night, or even several nights in a row.

۞ Snuggle u

Do you want to warm up a house without hiking the thermostat? Invite some friends in. Eating and drinking aside, the mere presence of others in a room is bound to boost the temp by a couple of degrees. This is why some small mammals that are solitary in summer become social animals in the winter months.

In human terms, including with a loved one may do the job of a wooden blanket. It is no wonder that the holiday season, with all its social gatherings and huggable good times, is called “the warmest time of the year.”

۞ Cold as iron

Women who are especially sensitive to cold may benefit from beefing up their iron intake. Due to menstrual blood loss, women are more susceptible to iron deficiencies than men. And according to a recent study, even a mild deficiency can make it difficult to maintain normal body temperature.

۞ The slim not

With decorative nut crackers lining fireplace mantels, nuts have become popular edible at holiday snack time. In moderation, they provide mega nutrition. In excess, however, most deliver mega fat. There is one exception: chestnuts. With just 0.5 grams of fat they are by far the slimmer relatives of the nut family.

The whole earth medicine chest, nature, traditionally, has yielded some of the most potent weapons against disease. Form the bark of a Peruvian tree quinine has been produced, the first known treatment and cure for malaria. From the purple foxglove came digitalis, a drug the makes a weak heart heartier. And from willow bark we produced the early form of aspirin. All of these were folk remedies before modern science discovered them.

One-quarter of today’s drugs are derived from natural sources, and about 10 percent actually have their roots in folk healing. In fact, natural substances continue to be fertile ground for serious pharmaceutical research, and many may become the wonder drugs of tomorrow. Here is a selection of the latest crop of promising nature cures.

Unprocessed honey may heal wounds when more conventional dressings and antibiotic treatments fail. Honey was effective in all but one case Topical application kept sterile wounds sterile until they healed, while infected became sterile within a week. Honey can be used to remove dead tissue from persistent wound, helping some patients avoid skin graft or amputation.

Honey is slightly acidic and absorbs water, which may account for its ability to reduce swelling in wounds, the researcher says, it also contains an antibacterial agent called inhibine.

۞ Mutant Fungi

Two newly developed strains of fungus yield large amounts of toxins called trichothecenes, potential cancer fighters. By themselves, trichothecenes kill normal and cancerous cells. But when combined with monoclonal antibodies, proteins custom designed to zero in on cancerous cells, they may become potent anticancer drugs. Cancer researchers may wish to select one kind of trichothecene that works best for a particular type of cancer.

۞ Chokes malaria

A centuries old Chinese treatment for malaria has inspired international research on the healing properties of a weed, Artemisia annua. Laboratory and animal studies show that arteether, a drug derived from the weed, is effective against the malaria parasite. The active ingredient is a molecule, called qinghaosu. Scientists are now attempting to produce a derivative of qinghaosu that will be more potent and easier for the body to assimilate.

۞ Cactus stems diabetes

Mexican herbologists have long advised clients with diabetes to eat the stems of the nopal cactus. Recently, Mexican researchers found that 12 f 16 subjects who are broiled nopal cactus stems had a significant drop in their blood sugar levels with in hour. Glucose continued to decline for the next two hours. By comparison, diabetics eating broiled squash did not benefit. The researchers think something in the cactus may improve the cells’ ability to use glucose, and that it may be useful in managing diabetes.

۞ Ginkgo breakthrough fans

Asians have relied on extract of the fan-shaped ginkgo leaf since 3,000 B C to heal a wide variety of ills. Now the active ingredient, ginkgolide B, has been synthesized in the lab for the first time. As a result, stepped-up research in this country and in Europe could lead to new treatment for asthma, toxic shock, circulatory and kidney disorders. Ginkgo extracts even offer promise as a safer alternative to the drugs used by organ-transplant recipients.