Tips for your Tract: 6 Methods for Preventing a UTI

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Twenty percent of women will develop a urinary tract infection (UTI) in their lifetime. Of that 20 percent, another 20 percent will experience a second UTI, and 30 percent of those who have a second will also have a third. By the time you reach the last group of woman sufferers — those who get four UTIs in their lifetime — 80 percent of those who had three will have recurrent UTIs throughout their lives. Men do not usually have problems with UTIs, and the reason why women acquire UTIs more frequently than men is unknown. Fortunately, there are a number of precautions and steps women can take to prevent UTIs. Consider the following list for staving off the dreaded infection.

  1. Drink plenty of water. Continuously flushing out your system with water is a good way to both prevent UTIs and keep your body healthy from toxins.
  2. Try not to hold a full bladder. If you feel the need to relieve yourself, don’t wait too long to do so. If there are any bacteria in your tract already, holding in urine for too long can give it more chance to turn into an infection.
  3. Wipe properly after urination. Most women are aware that wiping from front to back is the correct direction. Wiping from back to front fosters the movement of bacteria into your urinary tract through your urethra. This is especially important to adhere to after going number two.
  4. Wash yourself following sexual intercourse. Sex can be a dirty task; it’s important to maintain a cleanly genital area so bacteria don’t have somewhere to grow. Avoid using heavily scented products, however, for they can cause irritation and make a UTI more likely.
  5. Change you diet slightly. Adding cranberry juice and vitamin C to your diet can help combat UTIs.
  6. Consider cotton undergarments. Other fabrics don’t allow the skin to breathe and promote bacterial growth.
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Information to Put in Your Head Before Treating Lice on You Head

March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Anyone who sends their child to public school has had to deal with the possibility of head lice. Head lice is a common — yet misunderstood — condition that affects the scalp, causing itching and irritation. Other symptoms of head lice include neck rashes and swollen lymph nodes caused by an infection. A typical misconception is that head lice only affects unhygienic hosts, causing parents to panic and children to become embarrassed if infested. There is also controversy over how to best treat head lice. The paragraphs below will detail the best practice for removing an infestation as well as crucial elements to consider during the process.

Once you determine you child has lice, the most significant decision you can make is to remain calm. Head lice is not life-threatening, will not last forever and is completely treatable. In order to ensure that you have terminated a life infestation, you have to be focused and thorough in your actions. The first step is to procure a head lice shampoo. Shampoo your child’s hair with the product and remove the individual nits with a lice comb. Nits are lice eggs that hatch within 10 days of being lain. The shampoo will remove the lice living on your child’s head, but it will not remove the nits. If nits are left in, your child will be re-infested by lice in a number of days.

Consider these additional tips when treating your child.

  • Don’t become discouraged if the head lice return after the first shampoo. Try again until you are able to find all the nits.
  • Wash every bit of clothing and linen your child touched.
  • Do not resort to shaving your child’s head if treatments aren’t working. Visit a pediatrician before making rash judgments.
  • Although alternative treatments are an option, be wary of the kooky ones as they can disrupt normal balances and be difficult to remove.
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Pink Isn’t Cute When It’s in Your Eye

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Pinkeye

Image via Wikipedia

The name conjunctivitis isn’t recognizable to most people, but if you mention pinkeye, everyone knows what you mean. Pinkeye is common and can suggest one of three things: a viral infection, a bacterial infection or allergies. Most are familiar with the symptoms, and the nickname makes the main feature pretty obvious. In addition to color, watery and itchy eyes can often be precursors to conjunctivitis. Because there are three variants of pinkeye, knowing exactly how to treat it isn’t always clear. The list below details a number of methods of treating pinkeye based on which type afflicts you.

  • Bacterial
    • You can usually spot a bacterial case of pinkeye by the discharge. If you’re experiencing green or yellow discharge from one of your eyes, and after multiple days the symptoms have not spread to your other eye, you most likely are suffering from bacterial conjunctivitis. This form is easily treatable with antibiotics usually administered in the form of eye drops.
  • Viral
    • Viral infections are much more difficult to treat than bacterial infections. You can tell if you have viral pinkeye if the symptoms linger for a week or more and spread from one eye to the other quickly. Viral infections are more contagious than bacterial infections, which is what account for the rapid growth. Antibiotics will not help viral conjunctivitis, but a steroid regimen can ease symptoms.
  • Allergic
    • This type is not contagious, but it can be the biggest nuisance if it’s recurrent. In the case of allergy-related pinkeye, treatment usually involves symptom reduction strategies such as a cold, wet washcloth over the affected eye or creams to soothe itching.

If you suspect pinkeye, be careful not to rub your eyes. If it is a viral infection, this action will spread the infection. You should also make sure to wash your sheets, towels and clothing once the infection has passed to avoid contracting it again.

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New Research Finds Heat Therapy Beneficial to Skin Disease Sufferers

February 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There aren’t many sandflies populating the United States, but they are regularly found in tropical environments such as countries in the Middle East. So while cutaneous leishmaniasis, a parasitic skin infection spread through the bite of a sandfly, isn’t a likely condition for an American, it’s a recurrent threat elsewhere in the world. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are about 1.5 million new cases of the infection every year.

The common treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis involves a 20-part injection regimen that doesn’t always work due to patients’ disliking of the side effects and consumption of time. Researchers found that two patients with immune system deficiencies were unable to accept daily injections, so they tried a new treatment: heat therapy. The therapy included treating the standard skin sores of the cutaneous form of leishmaniasis with 60 seconds of radio-frequency heat followed by antibiotic cream for the site. The frequencies stimulate the infected tissue, which causes heat, and that heat is able to eliminate the infection by burning it away.

The heat therapy worked on both patients. Nearly a year after being treated with heat therapy, both no longer have the disease. The appeal of such a treatment is obvious. Proven long-term effects coupled with the convenience of a single treatment make for a very promising future for those suffering with cutaneous leishmaniasis. This type of heat therapy would not be beneficial for patients with other forms of leishmaniasis, however, because other variants are internal.

The real breakthrough of these cases was the fact that the patients had immune system deficiencies. Heat therapy has been known to be effective on otherwise healthy patients with skin diseases, but these cases were the first inklings that heat therapy could replace the traditional manner of treating cutaneous leishmaniasis. Because the treatment is new with limited availability, the cost of heat therapy costs around $14,000.

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How Does the Canadian Healthcare System and the United States Healthcare System Differ?

February 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Canadian healthcare system has many differences, but it also has a few similarities to the United States healthcare system. A few of them are listed here; however, this should not be considered as an all-inclusive list. You can find out more information by utilizing Canada 411 resources.

Here are some of the more pertinent differences:

  • Canada’s health care system receives the bulk of its funding from the government. Most of the services, however, are provided by private enterprises.
  • Waiting times for major surgery that is not considered to be of an emergency nature are usually longer in Canada than they are in the United States.
  • In the past, Canada has been slower to adopt medical and pharmacological technology that is more expensive. This reluctance has resulted in a greater number of deaths from conditions such as heart attacks. However, health administrators in Canada are saying that improvements are being made in these areas.
  • The survival rate for breast cancer in Canada is lower than that of the United States.
  • All Canadians are covered by health insurance, and it does not require co-pays or deductibles. Canadians do pay a small monthly fee to the province in which they live. However, some employers and businesses often pay the fee for their workers. How much is picked up by employers or businesses differs between provinces, so you want to use Canada 411 resources to learn about those.

Some of the similarities between Canada and U. S. health care are listed below. Again, this is not a complete list, but you can learn more about these and other similarities by using Canada 411 resources.

  • Canada offers VA services
  • The majority of medical services are provided by private enterprises, although in the U. S., there are some government-provided medical services, such as VA. Canada has VA services, but again, it is private; the doctors do not work for the government.
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Prevent Kidney Stones to Prevent the Worst Pain Ever

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever had kidney stones or know someone who has, then you know that the pain associated with them is nearly unparalleled. Around 500,000 Americans feel this pain a year, but you don’t have to be one. Before informing you of ways to prevent the tragedy of ureterolithiasis, — as its known clinically — you should know that kidney stones are not actual stones. The “stones” are formed in the kidneys when urinary minerals dissolve.

Normal urine contains both minerals and acid, but if your urine is not balanced with the correct proportions, crystals can form and attach to each other, creating a stone that will then have to be passed out of your system. The methods of preventing kidney stones are fairly simple. By following one or more of the suggestions that follow, you can decrease your chances of developing the condition.

  1. Decrease your meat consumption. The proteins found in animals have been proven to intensify kidney stone growth when absorbed.
  2. Increase your water consumption. Drinking enough water is good advice to promote general healthfulness, but especially for kidney stone prevention, consuming plenty of water is important. A constant flow of water cleans out your urinary tract.
  3. Decrease your acidic food consumption. Fruits high in acid content such as grapefruits and oranges can create an imbalance in your urine. Highly acidic drinks such as soda can do the same.
  4. Increase your consumption of certain minerals. Potassium and magnesium both reduce the chance of kidney stone formation. Bananas and spinach both contain these minerals.
  5. Consider taking supplements. If you aren’t able to consume potassium or magnesium through your diet, there are supplements available to keep your mineral levels healthy.
  6. Decrease your salt consumption. Salt is a huge agent of kidney stone production. Most kidney stones are made up of calcium deposits.

As you can see, the tips for kidney stone prevention are all dietary. In addition to kidney stone prevention, controlling the intake of certain kinds of foods into your body can increase your overall health and prevent other serious conditions from developing.

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Worse Than a Receding Hairline: Receding Gums from Periodontitis

February 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the tissues surrounding the teeth, which is why it’s better known as gum disease. Microorganisms can grow on the tooth and eat away at it, causing weak and sore gums. The severity of gum disease can range from mild to life-threatening depending on the person’s immune system and at what stage the gum disease is at the time. Fortunately, gum disease is a treatable condition, and patients have numerous options. The list below details several options — both surgical and nonsurgical.

  • Regular dental cleanings: Dentists can recognize the signs of early gum disease automatically. If they do catch it, a series of professional cleanings can reverse the damage caused by the bacteria.
  • Root planing procedure: Although it sounds surgical and messy, root planing is performed under a local anesthetic much like what is used for cavity fillings. The dentist simply scrapes the gum line thoroughly and smooths the rough spots on the patient’s teeth.
  • Flap surgery: For more advanced gum disease, the dentist may need to pull back the gums to remove built-up tartar that cannot be reached through regular procedures. The dentist may also decide to reduce the amount of space between teeth through what’s called a pocket reduction procedure so that bacteria cannot hide between the teeth as easily.
  • Bone grafts: If the patient’s teeth are decayed beyond repair, dentists can take pieces of the patient’s bone or use synthetic bone material to repair the teeth and foster bone growth.
  • Soft tissue grafts: Severely recessed gums may require a soft tissue graft. Dentists may take tissue from elsewhere in the mouth and place it where the gums have diminished due to gum disease.
  • Bone surgery: Gum disease erodes the bone, leaving craters and dips that need to be filled. Much like a bone graft, bone surgery involves reworking the affected teeth so as to leave less room for bacterial growth.

It’s important to note that gum disease is preventable. With proper brushing and flossing and steady dental cleanings at least twice a year, most patients can avert sever dental complications.

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Studies Find Obesity Has Serious Consequences on Knees

February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Total Knee replacement : Lateral view (Xray).

Image via Wikipedia

The percentage of Americans who are considered obese — meaning a body mass index greater than 30 — is 26.5 percent. Obesity is the cause of countless health problems, including, as a new study shows, knee arthritis. The constant strain placed on the knees of people with obesity due to their weight can render otherwise good knees bad and bad knees even worse. Because the number of people considered obese is so high, doctors have begun to make connections between the number of office visits for knee pain and the patients with obesity.

The 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons featured five studies on the effect of obesity on knee arthritis as well as recovery time for knee surgery. The studies made a number of conclusions; a number of those conclusions are detailed below.

  • Weight loss from a surgical procedure will often decrease knee pain, but the damage is everlasting. One study tested 10 morbidly obese patients with arthritis of the knee who had undergone bariatric surgery. A year after the surgery, an average of 51 pounds had been shed and knee pain had lessened significantly. The joints of the knee may not be able to completely bounce back from the damage caused during obesity, but the study shows that some relief can be found through weight loss.
  • Following knee or hip surgery, super obese patients — those with a body mass index greater than 45 — have greater difficulty recovering. The study followed 137 super obese patients and 63 patients who were not obese. Super obese patients were much more likely to have longer stays in the hospital by about 14 percent.
  • Another study investigated complications after surgery for morbidly obese patients versus non-obese patients. The morbidly obese patients had post-surgery complications of the wound site such as redness, swelling, infections and other problems at a much higher rate than the non-obese patients.
  • Being obese leads to more knee replacements than those without obesity. Knee replacements are on the rise, and knee replacements for obese patients increased 15 percent in the past decade.
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Preventing and Treating the Non-Worm: Ringworm

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Your pet can get it. Wild animals can get it. Even you can get it. Surprisingly, ringworm is a nasty skin infection caused by a fungus, not a parasite. This fungus attacks the keratin of your skin, causing a red ring of irritation. The fungi that cause ringworm can be found wherever there is moisture and warmth. For this reason, ringworm is notoriously found in high school locker rooms and swimming pools. It’s also why it tends to appear in the folds of skin. This article will explain how you can prevent contracting ringworm, how you can treat it with medicine, and how you can treat it naturally.

  1. Prevention: Don’t share sports equipment or clothing with others. The fungus is easily passed from person to person through objects that harbor it. If you are involved in sports, wash your workout clothes with a special soap for killing fungus. Try to avoid placing bare skin on moist objects. Walking barefoot is a good way to catch ringworm. If you notice an animal with patches of fur missing, it may have ringworm.
  2. Medicine: If you catch ringworm quickly, treatment is fairly uninvolved. Contact your doctor if you suspect a fungal infection. He or she can prescribe strong anti-fungal creams. There are also plenty of over-the-counter medications available for treating ringworm. If you decide not to contact the doctor and take an at-home route, make sure you consider how many days you’ve been affected without change. If the infection lasts longer than a week, you may need antibiotics that only a doctor can prescribe. If you’re prescribed antibiotics, it’s critical to follow the instructions on the bottle. If it’s a seven-day treatment, you must take the entire regimen.
  3. Natural alternatives: For those wary of doctors and topical creams, there are other ways to combat ringworm. The ringworm sites can be painful, but placing mustard seeds that have been ground down on the irritated ring can be comforting. Papaya and marigold cream can have similar effects. A healthy diet can boost your immune system and fight off the ringworm without medicine.
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Tread Carefully – How to Take Care of Your Feet

January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

People neglect and abuse their feet. We stuff them into shoes that are too tight. We expect them to balance on stiletto heels, and waddle across the beach in flip-flops. We call for them to run a 10k race and leap up to shoot a ball into a hoop.

Yet, experts estimate 75 percent of Americans will experience some form of foot health problem during their lives. So, we really should take better care of our feet. Here are some tips.

• Basic foot care includes washing and drying your tootsies every day, and checking them to make sure there aren’t sores, cuts, cracks or blisters. Using a mirror can help show the bottoms of the feet. People with diabetes are especially prone to developing infections that are slow to heal and may grow worse and endanger the whole foot. The sooner a problem is found, the earlier you can seek medical care and have it treated.

• After washing and drying the feet, smooth moisturizing cream on them, except between the toes.

• Toenails should be trimmed straight across, not curved, to prevent ingrown nails.

• If your toenails are thick, tough and discolored, that’s a sign of a possible toenail fungus infection, and you should seek medical care.

• Use a pumice stone to smooth down hardened, thick skin. Don’t try to cut off thickened skin, as you might injure your feet.

• Wear clean, moisture-absorbing socks and wear different shoes each day to allow them to dry out. Use foot powder if your feet tend to get sweaty and sticky during the day.

• Wear flip flops at swimming pools, locker rooms and public showers to avoid fungus. Don’t wear flip-flops for walking long distances or standing for long periods of time.

• Use orthotic inserts to help fix incorrect foot mechanics and offer additional cushioning and support. They also can relieve stress on the ankles, knees, hips and back.

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