How to prevent liver diseases

The liver is a silent partner in health as it does not complain until the damage is far advanced. It is better to have screening for high risk cases.

Liver is the largest organ in the human body and performs several functions which are vital to sustain health. Several key metabolic, synthetic and excretory functions in the body are solely handled by liver. It serves as the “guardian angel” protecting the body from harmful products within the body and synthesizing substances that are essential for healthy life. One of the remarkable accomplishments of this miraculous organ is its ability to regenerate. There is a wide range of diseases which can affect the liver of both children and adults alike.

Causes of liver disease:

Alcohol ingestion
Water and blood-borne viral infections (hepatitis A, B, C and E)
Fatty liver

Medications and other inherited diseases Great strides have been made in the treatment of several life threatening liver diseases over the past few years including liver transplantation. The first successful liver transplant was performed in India nearly eleven years ago and since then, several life saving surgeries have been performed across the country. Advancements have been made in the treatment of hepatitis B, C and liver cancers. Early detection and newer management options have transformed the outcome of inherited liver disorders in children.

Prevention can be done by:

Gaining a better knowledge
Promotion of healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet
Regular exercise
Avoidance of medications which are known to have liver damaging effects
Avoidance of alcohol
Clean and safe drinking water
Vaccination against hepatitis B

Safe blood transfusion The liver is a silent partner in health as it does not complain until the damage is far advanced. It is better to have screening for high risk cases. Prevention of liver disease and promotion of health go hand in hand and promoting awareness will definitely lead to a healthier India.

Perfect Salad Making

Salads are the perfect summer meal. Here is the recepy for salad.

When temperatures soar as they are doing now and appetites are low, there’s nothing like a pile of crisp veggies, dressed and garnished right to make meal times pleasant. Making a salad at home is a breeze if you stick to some basics. Here’s a guide to get you started:

Since most salads are no-cook, the quality of the ingredients you use is of utmost importance. Fruits, veggies, meat, cheese, bread, almost anything can go into a salad, but greens are usally at the heart of most summer salads. Indian supermarkets now have a fairly good variety of salad greens.

* Lettuce is what most people start off with when attempting to build a salad and iceberg lettuce, with its bland taste and crisp texture is most popular. Romaine lettuce, with closely packed leaves in an elongated head, has a more complex flavour and a slight bitterness. Arugula or rocket is
a current favourite in salads, especially in restaurants, and its bitter tones and pepper bite are great for combining with ingredients with contrasting flavours such as blue cheese or grapes.

You should also be able to find frisee with its curly edges on most supermarket shelves. Baby spinach is a great addition to salads as well.

While choosing greens look for fresh, bright specimens with no signs of wilting or brown spots. Cleaning and drying your greens is crucial to a good salad. Pick the leaves and wash several times in plenty of water, lifting the leaves out every time. Drain well. A salad-spinner for drying leaves is an excellent investment if you plan to make salads frequently. Else, pat the leaves dry. It’s important to get rid of as much moisture as possible. Leaving the dried leaves in the fridge for a while helps to crisp them up as well. Limp leaves are a no-no in any salad.

Once you have your mix of greens together, use your imagination to build on that with vegetables and other ingredients. Steamed asparagus stalks or tender green beans, ripe tomatoes, cucumber, peppers either raw or roasted and peeled artichoke hearts can all be on your list.

The right combination of fruit can enhance salads too. Orange wedges, apple or pear slices dipped in lemon juice, juicy black grapes, pomegranate, will all do the trick, as will toasted nuts.

Add on some cheese if you like — bocconcini with tomatoes, blue cheese with pears and rocket, parmesan in a Caesar salad. Mix and

match, and you could come up with exciting combinations.

The dressing is what finishes your salad and holds it all together. A classic vinaigrette is a good starting point. To make this, shake up 3 parts olive oil with one part vinegar, adding salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar to taste. You may wish to add garlic, herbs, mustard etc to perk your dressing up. Dress your greens just before serving, tossing lightly to ensure even distribution.

A good salad could do with a tasty garnish flavoured croutons, shavings of cheese, a scattering of herbs or sprouted mustard can all work.

To add substance to your salad, pile on cold meats, hardboiled eggs or tuna chunks.

Understanding your ingredients and combining them correctly is the fun part of tossing up a salad at home.

Cutting edge treatment for hair loss

The science of hair re-growth is intricate. Can the skin actually regenerate new hair follicles? Or, is there any naturally occurring substance (growth factor) in the body that will stimulate hair growth? Hairline Clinic has an answer to these questions. It is possible that hair can re-grow with the precise combination of science and expertise.

Under the right conditions, the skin has the ability to regenerate brand new hair follicles. Epidermal Disruption-Induced Hair Follicle Neogenesis (EDIHN) helps in hair re-growth by triggering an embryonic state in the skin, making it receptive to instructions from wnt proteins —- a network of proteins implicated in hair-follicle development and subsequent hair growth. Advance formulations like Stem Cell Serum contains growth factors like IGF-1, b-FGF, VEGF, biotin, copper tripeptide 1, multivitamins and amino acids will also lead to an amassing hair growth effect. The formulation promotes hair growth by activating the stem cells of the hair follicle. The growth factor treatment, in certain cases has seen an increase in hair count from 102 to 200 and density from 157 to 300 per sq cm within 12-15 sessions.

Relief for teething babies

During the teething phase babies tend to be in much pain due to the swelling of gums. Take a warm, wet cloth to wipe the face and remove any drool. This will help prevent a rash.

Babies need something comforting and cold like a teething ring or a washcloth that’s been kept in the refrigerator. Ensure that you wash the cloth after each use.

Give your baby a cold bottle of water or diluted juice. This can also help replenish the fluids if dribbling gets excessive. Cold food such as chilled apple sauce, yogurt or any pureed fruit will also help.

Use your fingers to give your child a gentle gum massage. This can ease the pain.

Ask your doctor if any medicine can be prescribed, to give your baby some relief.

Never attach a teething ring to the baby, at least not around the neck, as it could cause strangulation.

Deficiency Of B12 is the reason for heart attacks?

Doctors Say Deficiency Of B12, A Vitamin Found Mostly In Fish & Meat, Noticed In Young Patients

Not even in his nightmares had 23-year-old Ramesh Tayde (name changed) thought that a person his age could have a heart problem. But while making a presentation in his new highpaying job, he developed chest pain. He tried to ignore it, but within minutes he blacked out. When his colleagues took him to a hospital, he was found to have suffered a heart attack.

“Most people kept wondering how I could have got an attack at this age. Even I was shocked as I do not smoke and I don’t have any of the other problems like hypertension, high cholestrol or diabetes, which are generally the cause of cardiac problems in people my age,’’ said Ramesh.

However, it turned out that since Ramesh is a pure vegetarian, he had a deficiency of vitamin B12, along with other vitamins, which caused his homocysteine levels to rise very high.

Anup Tare, another 23-yearold, was standing in a line for admission in a university, when he had an attack. It turned out that Anup not only had high stress levels, but also smoked occasionally.

In both cases however, the doctors noticed high levels of homocysteine and low levels of vitamin B12. “A deficiency of any one of vitamin B12, B6, or folic acid leads to high levels of homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood. Hyperhomocysteinemia, in turn, has been associated with heart problems amongst youngsters. Thus, we can say, that a deficiency of vitamin B12 in the body, may be one of the causes of increasing number of youngsters having heart problems,’’ said the foctor.

“Out of all the young cases of heart attack that we have seen, almost all of them had high levels of homocysteine, while 90% of youngsters turned out to be vitamin B12 deficient,’’ added the doctor.

While it means being a vegetarian may put you at greater risk of heart disease, non-vegetarians may have other causes for cardiac trouble. Moreover, not all agree that B12 deficiency is at fault.

Dr Ameya Udyavar, agrees with only a part of the theory. “No doubt that high levels of homocysteine are known to cause clotting in the blood, which leads to thrombosis of the heart. However, a deficiency in B12 together with folic acid (vitamin B9) is known to cause high levels of homocysteine. Deficiency in B12 alone causing hyperhomocystienemia has not been proved. Deficiency of another vitamin in the B catagory, thiamine (known as vitamin B1) causes ‘beri beri’ a condition in which the heart muscle beats slowly. Thus, it can be said that a deficiency of vitamins in the B category can cause heart problems,’’ he said.

Dr N O Bansal, however, differs completely. “People need not panic. Though high homocysteine levels were often believed to be a cause of heart probems, this theory itself has been questioned time and again. To say that B12 deficiency may be one of the causes leading to hyperhomocysteinemia will be stretching it too far,’’ he said.

Too much computer, too many problems:

Long hours at work, stressed days ; sleepless nights... with urbanisation comes in a whole lot of problems that the exec faces. A sneak peek into some of the ways out...

You are a leader. But you are not Jack Welch. You are yet to spell out the 25 magic mantras that could help you and your team build a winning enterprise!

But you could still lead from the front. At work, you could spearhead the latest mantra, a wellness drive, and sit back to enjoy the reaps. After all, the professional world believes in saying Yes Boss!

You could begin this way. Do not slouch in front of the desktop or lie in bed working on the laptop. All may not be hunky dory as you develop the risk of posture-related problems. You end up with back pain. You shoo it off as a sleeping defect for you are too busy to take meet the physician. Now, that could spell danger for a busy corporate like you.

Prolonged work at the computer could lead to chronic nerve problems damaging your back, neck, shoulders or wrists. And you wouldn’t be alone in this.

Too much computer, too many problems:

The result could be this:

Back and neck muscle spasm and pain
Back and neck soft tissue inflammation
Back, neck and shoulder pain on movement and involvement of other muscles as a reaction
Referred pain to buttocks and thighs or up the spine

If you think this is all, hold on! There’s more coming ... If you think a hot and cold bath may ease your pain after a day’s work, you could be just a little too naïve. You could also be in danger of developing pain and numbness in the fingers, wrists or arms. So much so, till you get affected by something as severe as the tunnel But where lies the defect? “It is wrong posture that is to blame,” says neuro surgeon Dr Gautam Gangopadhyay.

So, key it up well

Fingers should be kept as straight as possible
Elbows should be resting at 90-100°
Keys, on the left of the keyboard, should be used with the left hand and fingers
Do not force your right hand to use keys on the left. When this is done, it results in erosion of muscle tendons and exerts pressure on the median nerves.

Press it the wrong way and end up with:

Wrist pain that moves up to the elbow
Swelling of wrists, numbness and lack of power at the wrists
Stiffness of the arms and wrists, difficulty in moving arms
Surgery, the only way out following prolonged difficulty

The way out:

Use an ergonomic office chair with lumbar support
Buy an ergonomic keyboard and mouse
Have a break every hour and do stretching exercises
Visit a chiropractic clinic where you are treated for spinal column dysfunction
Keep massage therapies in your daily routine

Teething Troubles No More

As our life span increases, so does the need for permanent dental replacement

Dental implants are artificial substitutes for natural tooth roots. Today almost every dental implant that is used is made up of surgical-grade titanium alloy to exacting technical and biological specifications. This material is compatible with the body’s tissues; therefore the body does not reject them. Implants are embedded into the jawbone to which replacement teeth are attached.

What are dental implants?

Dental implants are used to support natural looking teeth and enable patients who are missing some or all of their natural teeth to smile, speak with confidence, avoid socially embarrassing situations and chew their food more comfortably. Anyone who wants to replace missing teeth can benefit from implants as they provide many advantages over traditional dentures.

Exploring options

Suppose you are missing a single front tooth. If a fixed bridge were to be used, your dentist would cut down the enamel of adjacent teeth and fit a three unit fixed bridge over those two teeth. If your dentist were to use an implant with a crown on it, he would place an implant in the site of the original missing tooth. He could do this immediately or at some date after the tooth was removed. After the healing period a tooth would be attached to the implant as it was your natural tooth. The healing period varies and the implantologist decides it best.

Concern areas

Dentures and removable bridges have obvious problems: they are loose and unstable. Implants can provide people with dental replacements that are both functional and aesthetic. The protocol that was originally developed states that we must wait three months in the lower jaw and six months in the upper jaw before we can begin to construct the new dental prosthesis that will be supported by the implants. In recent years, these implants now can be placed by a simple five-minute painless keyhole procedure to maximise patient comfort.

Healing time

Implants are a well-established treatment. Ninety per cent of modern implants last for at least 15 years. You can have any number of teeth replaced with implants. It depends on the state of the bone in your jaw. Although dental implant treatment may initially be expensive than others, it often turns out to be the best investment from a long-term perspective.

Indigenisation of implants

Indian dentists with a flair for quality import these implants. An indigenisation of the implant manufacturing techniques with proper trials will bring down the cost of implants substantially. As with any dental treatment, patients must meet stringent criteria to have a good chance for success. Exceptional oral hygiene is necessity.

Advantage of keyhole dentistry

The advantage of the guided surgical technique is the minimal amount of manipulation of the soft tissue due to keyhole surgery. This reduces the healing time and discomfort associated with traditional implant surgical techniques.

Shall I take Diabetes Test?

Management at a prediabetes stage can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by losing just 5-7% of the body weight through lifestyle modification.

Diabetes is a worldwide epidemic with a projected number of 370 million adults in 2030. Ninety per cent of these diabetics will be type 2 diabetics. Type 2 diabetes is adult onset diabetes, where there is a relative insulin deficiency in the body.

Coping with type 2 diabetes

This disease can be managed by effective and widespread prevention strategies
Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes should be made in the prediabetes stage, and
prevention strategies instituted at that stage

Management at a prediabetes stage can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by losing just 5-7% of the body weight through lifestyle modification like the following:

Diet modification:

By cutting fats and calories in the diet

Increased physical activity:

Brisk walking 30 minutes a day; 5 days a week.

Medicines are also beneficial at this stage. They can be added if diet and exercise alone fail to convert prediabetes to normal in six months. It is estimated that 470 million adults will have prediabetes in the year 2025. Out of these, 50-70% of them will develop type 2 diabetes. Individuals with prediabetes are 34% more likely to die due to cardiovascular disorders than healthy individuals. This risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease can be reduced with early intervention. Early intervention is cost effective.

Who should be screened?

Screening for type 2 diabetes should be done if:

Older than 35 years of age
Obese BMI 23
Family history of diabetes
Family history of cardiovascular disease
Females with polycystic ovarian disease

All persons who fall in these categories should get their fasting blood glucose done at the earliest, and consult an endocrinologist.