Dr. Suhasini

What is Labour?
Labour and delivery are demarcated by the end of the pregnancy when a woman delivers the child or more than one child and it leaves the uterus. Normally, the gestation period for humans is somewhere around 37 weeks to 42 weeks. In most developed countries, the deliveries happen in hospitals, where as in developing as well as under developed countries, births happen at home under the supervision of traditional birth attendant, called the midwife.

Stages of Labour:
Vaginal delivery is the most common form of childbirth. Labour consists of three stages

• The opening and shortening of the cervix: Lasts from 12 to 19 hours
• Coming down of the baby and its birth: 20 minutes to 2 hours
• Expulsion of the placenta: Varies from 5 to 30 minutes

In the first stage, your abdominal muscles will begin to cramp associated with back pain. These cramps can be of durations of half a minute, about 10 minutes apart. These contractions start coming closer and become more intense as the second stage starts closing in. During the second stage, you may have to push along with the contractions to help give birth to your baby. Most babies are born head-first, although there are cases, when the baby is born buttocks first or legs first. This is commonly called “breeching”. In the third stage, it recommended to cut the umbilical cord and ensure that the placenta is entirely removed from the uterus or it may cause complications later.

The onset of labour is marked by the expulsion of the amniotic fluid and  then the contractions begin to set in. Most women can walk around and eat food during labour, but when the contractions start to get too painful, it is suggested to get help and have someone around during that time. It is not recommended to push during the first phase, but then it becomes essential to push from the second stage onwards. Your gynaecologist will be able to tell you which stage of labour you are in by looking at the dilation of your cervix. As soon as you start to feel your contractions kicking in, you must contact a gynaecologist or your birthing attendant.

All drugs carry within themselves the potential to treat and harm the skin. Side effects of medicines are a common phenomenon, with variation in the intensities. Sometimes they are minor and do not require medications; however at other times they may require urgent attention and treatment.

Some allergies caused due to medications that primarily affect your skin are:

1. Itches and rashes: Sometimes your body may be allergic to certain type of medications. If these drugs are taken by you then the immune system treats them as foreign invasions and triggers a reaction against them. In certain cases, on consuming a drug that your body is allergic to, a kind of white blood cell called T cells expand. Itching, rashes on the skin are common repercussions in such a scenario.
2. Swelling on the face and throat: Often it happens that, on being administered a medicine or an injection, you may experience severe swelling on face and throat. This is an extreme case of medicinal side effect and is commonly known as anaphylaxis. This must be immediately treated and brought to the notice of a trained doctor. 
3. Blisters: This is also an important potential side effect of a drug. On being administered a drug, you may experience an erosion on the surface of lips and eyes as a reaction against it. Immediate treatment and a consult to the doctor is imperative if you experience these symptoms. 
4. Swelling of the tongue: If you have high blood pressure and if you take angiotensin converting enzyme, a swollen tongue and persistent cough are the possible side effects. 
5. Flushing and itching: You may suffer from symptoms of flushing and itching as a possible side effect of the intravenous dyes that are used in the X-rays.

Meibomianitis is a disease that occurs when the lubrication glands of the eyes called Meibomian glands malfunction. The function of these glands is to produce oil that keeps our eyes lubricated and moisturised. Due to some reasons that we shall be looking at later, these small glands flip their switch and start producing excessive oil or just get inflamed causing Meibomianitis.

Bacteria also collect and prosper on the eyelids in the extra oil adding to the malaise.

So, how do you confirm that you have Meibomianitis?

Look out for these symptoms:

1. Watery eyes
2. Swelling and redness of eyelids
3. Burning sensation in eyes
4. Itchiness
5. Flaking skin around eyes
6. Crusted eyelashes
7. Light sensitivity
8. Frequent styes or bumps along the eyelids typically caused due to excess oil secretion and inflamed Meibomian gland
9. Excessive blinking
10. Blurred vision
11. Loss of eyelashes
12. Dry eyes

Like with all diseases, the severity of symptoms varies from patient to patient. A few may experience only mild symptoms, while others have to grapple with severe irritation and burning.

We suggest that you don’t wait for your symptoms to become extreme before you visit your doctor.

Root Causes of Meibomianitis:

We already know that Meibomianitis occurs when the meibomian glands in the eyelids don’t function properly.

But why does this happen?

The answer is that Meibomianitis is caused by any condition that increases oil production in oil glands. Like:

1. Hormonal changes, especially during adolescence
2. Allergies
3. Skin conditions, such as acne and rosacea
4. Eyelash lice
5. Acne medications which actually encourage the growth of bacteria on the eyelids
6. A few contact lens solutions
7. Infected eye makeup

Meibomianitis, however, is not contagious.

Diagnosis and Cure:

When you go to a doctor with symptoms of meibomianitis, he will examine your eyes, focusing on eyelids and the front surface of your eyeball. By doing this, he will be able to identify whether you have blocked meibomian glands.

Next, he will use a swab to collect a sample of the crust or oil from your eyes and send this sample to a lab to be tested for bacteria.

If the test is positive, your doctor will recommend a thorough cleaning of your eyelids with warm water. He may also prescribe antibiotics or steroids to treat your eye condition in form of eye drops or creams applied directly to your eyelids, or in pill form.

Apart from this, you may have to forego wearing of contact lenses and treatment for your acne and rosacea. We also recommend that you go make-up free as this causes a buildup of bacteria and always maintain proper eye hygiene so that your oil glands remain infection - free always. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a ophthalmologist.

Bad fat: trans and saturated
Good fat: polyunsaturated fat and monounsatured fat. 

Where you can find? 
Here, olive oil, fish, avocados, egg yolks. 
 

Dietary tips to stay fit after MenopauselL

Hi, myself Kanchan Patvardhan, I am a clinical nutritionist and dietician, working in this field from the last 19 years. Today I am going to speak about menopause. Lovely ladies if you are 45 plus, having depression, mood swings, lots of hot flashes, muscle cramps and such kind of problems, definitely you are going towards the menopausal stage. This is the time when you really require to take care of yourself and your health too. If you eat healthy diet you can easily overcome these problems, because poor diet worsens the symptoms.

In menopause stage generally estrogen hormone which is very essential for the ladies decreases and this is the root cause of your problem, proper diet and exercise definitely keeps you fit after menopause. So follow proper diet, include lots of complex carbohydrates, proteins, fats and minerals in your diet. Eat complex carbohydrates such as Jawar, Bajra, Raagi, brown rice etc. These will not only give you complex carbohydrate but also give you lots of fiber. So instead of just wheat you can try these cereals also. For protein, you must consume plant based proteins specially soya bean, soya protein because it contains phytoestrogen which act as an estrogen hormone and protects you from osteoporosis and heart diseases, so eat proper proteins in your diet. Your every meal should contain some or other proteins, such as legumes, beans, pulses, nuts. If you are non vegetarian you can take eggs or lean meat, but avoid red meat in such cases.

Now lets talk about fiber. Fiber is very essential in this stage not only in this stage but in every stages because if you eat proper fiber your digestion system will be proper your metabolism will be high and you will not face any weight gain problem which is one of the main issues during this period. For fibers you must consume lots of vegetables, salads, fruits, fruits will not only give you fibers but lots of antioxidants, micro-nutrients which will not only help you for your health but it will protect your skin too, because if you eat proper vitamin c it will give elasticity to your skin and if your skin is elastic then you wont have any wrinkles problem, protein will do the same work as well. Eat enough proteins, eat enough carbohydrates, keep your gut clean.

Last but not the least, drink plenty of water. Make sure you should do some or other exercises every day. Walking is the best exercise because it is self weight bearing exercise , you must walk 45 to 60 minutes everyday. You can do certain weight bearing exercises too because that will protect you from osteoporosis. Drink enough milk and calcium rich food because in this stage you really require good amount of calcium. 1200ml of calcium is required at this stage to keep your bones healthy.

So my dear ladies keep fit, eat healthy and stay healthy. For further information you can contact me on Lybrate.