The mosquito may seem a very small creature, but can be deadly as they spread quite a few severe infections, with chikungunya being one of them. The disease got its name from an African language, which means to walk bent over.

Chikungunya is a viral disease that is carried by specific varieties of infected mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus). It was originally confused for dengue, which is another mosquito-transmitted infection, but then called out as a separate disease. Both diseases start off with non-diagnostic symptoms including fever, rashes, fatigue, anaemia and headache. Dengue could be distinguished by the lowered platelet count, while the persistent joint pains and eye pain could be the distinguishing factor for the chikungunya.

The mosquito is the vector, which picks up the virus from one infected person and spreads it to another person. The virus does not spread directly from one person to the other. Once it reaches the blood stream, it multiplies in the body, and over a period of 1 to 12 days, the symptoms begin to appear.

Symptoms: The symptoms of chikungunya are listed below, which reflect the effects on the body.
The symptoms are generally nondiagnostic and generic including fever, rashes, joint pain, muscle aches, eye pain, fatigue, tiredness, lethargy, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. The eye pain which occurs behind the eyes and the joint pains are the indicative symptoms, which point to chikungunya. In fact, the joint pains make the patient assume a stooped posture, and that is where the name chikungunya was originally derived from.

Most of the above symptoms subside over a period of 10 to 15 days but the joint pain continues. In fact, in many, it can continue to exist for months and even years and eventually develop into rheumatoid arthritis.
Though chikungunya is not a fatal disease by itself, it can produce long-term symptoms which can be severely disabling and affect the quality of life.

Anybody who is bitten by the infected mosquito can develop the disease, but there are some groups of people at a higher risk. These include newborns, the elderly people, and people with chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and chronic heart disease.

However, once infected, the person develops immunity and future infections do not happen unless their immunity is severely compromised.

Treatment: There is no specific treatment, and symptom relief is provided through rest, hydration, pain killers for joint and muscle, antipyretics for fever, and avoiding aspirin.
While there is no vaccine for chikungunya, preventing exposure to mosquito bites when you are travelling and preventing mosquito breeding and reducing exposure to mosquitoes by using repellents and nets are advisable.

Chikungunya  - How It Affects Your Body?

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be said to be one of the most painful disorders to have. There is a high likelihood that a lot of people can agree with this statement as the number of people who suffer from this issue is just so high! Yet, a funny thing to take note of is the fact that even people who are experts on CTS, which is the abbreviation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, are not really aware as to what its causes are!

That being said, it really does not mean that a person whose life has been affected negatively by it does not make a conscious effort to get better so that the condition is not as painful. In order to do this, what he or she would do is to commit to doing some exercises which directly address the problem at hand.

To start with the exercises, it makes sense, to begin with, the one which is the simplest and this happens to be an exercise which is often known as the shake. What this requires the person to do is to shake his or her hands while making sure to keep them flexible. This action is pretty much the same as a person would do, if he or she were to try to air dry his or her hands without making use of a towel.
Another simple exercise which is prescribed by quite a lot of doctors who are accomplished experts when it comes to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one in which the person who has the condition makes his or her hands a fist. After this is done, what he or she needs to do is to release the fist and go on to stretch the fingers out as wide as possible. The extension should attempt to be in the shape of a fan.
It may be surprising, but it can be said that the ill effects of something which is as troublesome as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be improved if these simple exercises are done with regularity. However, if a person is looking for a drastic change, it can be expected that he or she would have to do more by the way of complex exercises, at least on a relative scale.

One of these exercises is to join the hands in a prayer position and then separate the palms, but make sure the fingers stay pressed to each other; an act known as steepling the fingers. With these simple exercises in place, you can avoid the pain of dealing with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for good! 

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) - How Physiotherapy Can Help?

Hives or urticaria is an outbreak of reddish swollen bumps around the skin surface, formed mainly due to the body s response to particular allergens. Generally, the infectious bumps are of varied shapes and sizes and last for about 5-6 weeks. Although not a serious medical condition, hives can cause tremendous discomfort to the concerned person and affect his/her daily activities. Hives can be cured with a prescribed dosage of antihistamines or oral corticosteroids.

Causes of hives

Although the exact reason behind their formation is still unknown, researchers suggest that this disorder occurs as a response to involuntary histamine release by the skin blood vessels (that in turn, causes a leakage of blood plasma). Some other factors that can be responsible are:

Hives can occur due to insect or parasite bites.
Hives can also result as a side effect of painkillers such as codeine and other anti- inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or ACE inhibitors.
Excessive exposure to sunlight or high levels of stress (leading to high cortisol levels in the body) can also result in hives.
Intense scratching around the same spot can also result to hive formation.
Excessive alcohol intake can render you even more vulnerable to this disease.
Excessive intake of foods such as eggs, fish, nuts, chocolate and berries might also cause hives. Additionally, excessive consumption of certain food preservatives can also trigger the release of histamine.
Suffering from serious underlying medical conditions such as cancer, hepatitis or thyroid disorders can make you prone to chronic cases of hives (which might last for more than 6 weeks).
Symptoms of hives 
The symptoms of hives include, but are not limited to:

Appearances of several reddish welts around the face or arms which might cause a severe itchy sensation.
Painful and abnormal swelling around the mouth
You might also feel tightness in your chest along with recurring bouts of dizziness.
If not treated promptly after diagnosis, hives might result in life-threatening allergic reactions, such as Anaphylaxis (narrowing down of the bronchial tubes, thus causing significant breathing trouble) and auto-immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.

7 Things that Can Cause Hives

Are you aware of behavioral and emotional disorders in children? During the developmental years of a child, constant growth and change are signified. This fact should be strictly kept in mind while dealing with behavioral and emotional disorders in children. Brain disorders like bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety disorders may affect any child during early childhood. The assistance of a mental health professional should be taken while dealing with these problems. On a global scale, almost 15% of children suffer from behavioral disorders. Among the different forms of behavioral disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) accounts for being one of the most common ones.

Here is a list of the different forms of behavioral and emotional disorders, which are observed in children:

ADHD- This common mental disorder in children is more common in boys than in girls. Commonly, children affected with this disorder are unable to finish familiar tasks, plan or sit still. They may even lose awareness about what goes around them. ADHD-affected children may seem fine on some days, but on other days, they may experience disorganized and frenzied activities. This disorder may continue into adolescence and adulthood as well. There are several treatment options for ADHD, which may include medications, therapy and educational options.

Autism- Children affected with autism seem to become indifferent, remote and isolated in a world of their own. They are unable to form emotional ties with other people or their peers. Autism is more likely to occur in boys than in girls. The condition may result in language delays, mental retardation, and in some cases, a child may suffer high functioning and usual speech and intelligence. This is because the brain of such children functions differently than others. Consistency is very important for managing autism in children.

Bipolar Disorder- This disorder is most likely to begin in early childhood and it continues into adulthood. It is featured by extreme mood swings in the patient. A child may have extremely high or euphoric feelings, but his mood may turn into depression and sadness all of a sudden. This condition is a genetic illness, and it is often mistaken or misdiagnosed as ADHD.

Anxiety- Anxiety disorders make children feel uneasy, distressed and unusually scared for no appropriate reason. Panic disorders, featured, by intense episodes of fear, which occur without any kind of provocation or signal are a common type of anxiety disorder. OCD or obsessive compulsive disorder, which is repetitive and compulsive in nature, is another type of anxiety disorder.

It is very important to treat and deal with children s behavioral and emotional disorders at an early stage. Early diagnosis enables an early start of treatment, which prevents further degradation of the condition.

Types Of Behavioral And Emotional Disorders In Children

The chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS is a kind of debilitating disorder which causes extreme fatigue and tiredness. It is not treatable through rest and cannot be explained in the light of any underlying medical condition and hence a major problem.

Causes of chronic fatigue
It is understood what causes chronic fatigue. There are theories stating that it is triggered by psychological stress, viral infection and a combination of different factors which vary from one individual to another. Since no particular cause is still identified and many infections and diseases produce similar symptoms, it can be very difficult to diagnose. According to the reports of the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, chronic fatigue is the end stage of numerous health disorders rather than a single problem.

Diagnosing chronic fatigue
The chronic fatigue is one of the most challenging conditions to diagnose. There are no lab tests for screening the disorder and many symptoms of the chronic fatigue are similar to other conditions. The best way to be sure that an individual is suffering from fatigue is to rule out the possibilities of other disorders like major depressive disorder, hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, lupus, Lyme disease and mononucleosis.

Treating chronic fatigue disorder
At present, there is no particular cure for the chronic fatigue syndrome. Every person who is affected with the disease manifests different symptoms and thus, may require different treatment options which can manage the disease and relieve the symptoms. Some of the most prevalent treatment options for chronic fatigue include-

Home remedies and changes in lifestyle: Making proper lifestyle changes can bring about positive impact. One should try to limit and even eliminate the caffeine intake which can aid a better sleep and ease your insomnia. It is important to avoid sleeping during daytime. Another effective way is to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time each morning as a fixed routine.
Therapy: Two types of therapies can help the people suffering from the chronic fatigue disorder. The first one is psychological counseling which helps in coping with the problems and improving the mindset. Another option is physical therapy where a physical therapist can aid in creating a daily routine and carve out an exercise plan which gradually increases the intensity. This is termed as the graded exercise therapy or GET and it helps the patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome cope up with the difficulties.
Medications: It is important to note that no single medicine can treat all the symptoms of the chronic fatigue disorder. The symptoms can alter with the passage of time and may also trigger depression. The experts may recommend antidepressant for combatting it. In case the lifestyle changes fail to offer a restful sleep in the night, the doctor may also suggest a mild sedative. Sometimes, pain reliever is also suggested so that the affected individual can manage the joint pain caused by the chronic fatigue.
These are a few of the most common treatment options for chronic fatigue and helps in effective management of the disorder.

Chronic Fatigue - How It Can Be Treated?

There are instances when a kid doesn t show the usual signs of development compared to their peers. Most parents take it casually thinking that their child will catch up in due course only to find a larger problem associated with it. It is therefore extremely important to discuss speech and language related delays with a medical practitioner to find out whether a child is immature or has a genuine problem which requires medical help. A child can show different signs as per age:

Different age group:

Within the first 12 months, a baby should be able to relate to his environment and make babbling and cooing sound. It is often observed that by month 9, a baby is capable of stringing sounds after seeing things. If a baby is intently watching objects, but is unable to make any sound, this may be an early symptom of speech or language related problem.
Between the 12th and the 15th month, a baby should be capable of making a wide array of sounds including few commonly used words. Babies should also be able to take few basic instructions and oblige those.
Between the age of 18th and 24th months, a baby becomes smart enough to pronounce anywhere in the range of 20 to 50 words. They also start combining words and make simple sentences. They should be capable of identifying common objects and remember their names.
By the age of 3, a toddler should be smart enough to combine 4-5 words and form sentences. Kids of this age also become smart enough to take straightforward instructions and perform them comfortably. Any deviation on this should be immediately reported to the Doctor.
What are the warning signs?
If a child between the age of 1-2 is not able to do the following things:

Fails to use gesture
Use more gesture than vocalising by the age of 18 months
Produce no voice by 18th-month
Fails to perform simple instructions
A child between the age of 2-3 needs evaluation if:

Capable of imitating words but isn t spontaneous in vocalising
Repeats certain words multiple times
The tone of voice is unusual compared to his peers
Possible causes of speech and language delay:

Problems with palate leading to oral impairments
Short frenulum restricting sufficient tongue movement to produce speech
Oral-motor problems leading to speech limitation
Problems related to hearing
Chronic infection of the ear leading to speech delay
What does the pathologist assess?

What can the child speak?
What can the child understand?
Oral-motor status
Clarity of speech
Post the above evaluation a pathologist directs a plan of action. Sometimes speech therapy sessions are recommended in order to improve kids  skill. For a motor related problem, a doctor can state a plan of action and limit the expectation of parents.

Speech & Language Delay - Spot The Signs!

Don't wait any longer, manage your Anorectal Surgeon online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Anorectal Surgeon - Online and Easy!

FilterClear All

COMMON SPECIALITIES

COMMON ISSUES