If you are experiencing a whizzing sound while you breathe or having difficulty in breathing, you are suffering from asthma. It is a medical condition characterized by paroxysmal wheezing respiration dyspnoea. There is no definite way to prevent asthma, but by following a step-by-step daily plan, you can prevent asthma attacks or keep them in check. Here are some important measures to follow to prevent asthma:

You need to strictly follow your asthma action plan. The plan should be laid down after a detailed discussion with your doctor or healthcare team. All the medicines you require to prevent the asthma attacks will be written down for you.
You should get vaccinated for pneumonia and influenza. This will prevent these conditions from triggering asthma attacks or flare-ups.
You need to identify the asthma triggers and stay away from them. Several outdoors irritants and allergens from pollen to cold air can trigger asthma attacks.
You have to monitor your breathing. By recognising the warning signs of an attack like wheezing, slight coughing or shortness of breath, you can prevent an asthma attack. You need to measure and record your peak airflow regularly using a home peak flow meter.
By acting quickly, you can identify a fatal attack and prevent it from occurring. When the peak flow measurement decreases, you need to take your medicines immediately and abstain from any activity which may have triggered the attack.
You need to keep taking your prescribed medicines, even if your asthma symptoms have improved. You should not change your medication schedule without consulting a doctor. It is recommended that you to bring along the medicines you take at your doctor s appointment as he will be able to tell whether you are taking them right.
If you use your quick relief inhaler a lot, the asthma is not under control. You need to visit your doctor as soon as possible and he/she will make some modifications to your treatment.
For prevention of asthma, you should use allergy proof pillow covers and mattresses. You must wash your bedding every week in hot water to eliminate dust mites. You may use a dehumidifier for reducing excess moisture to prevent mold.
Do not allow your pets in the bedroom and on the furniture. Pet dander is a common trigger of asthma and it cannot be avoided by people who own pets.
You can also fit an air filtration system in your home. It will help in the elimination of asthma triggers such as pollen, dust mites and other allergens.
Many doctors suggest immunotherapy for asthma prevention in the form of allergy shots. Immunotherapy aims at altering a person s immune response by making it less sensitive to asthma triggers.

Asthma - 10 Ways to Keep it Under Control

Parents are always concerned about their child's physical health, but often ignore their mental health. Along with physical well-being, your child's mental well-being is also equally important.

The following are eight tips to improve your child's mental well-being:

1. Adequate sleep- sufficient amount of sleep is required for a child to stay mentally fit. Parents often engage their children with various classes and activities and compromise on their sleeping hours. This in turn affects the child's mental state. Therefore, as a parent, you must take care not to compromise on your child's sleeping hours.

2. Allowing them to play- nowadays, children are overburdened with studies and other learning activities. They do not get to play quite often. But as a parent, you must take care of your child's schedule, so that he/she can have proper playtime too. Playing involves physical activity as well as creativity in certain cases. This helps to improve mental health.

3. Learning to share and care- you must take care to inculcate in your child the values of sharing and caring. These little things can also help improve your child's mental health. Learning how to share with others and caring for others will help them to stay happy.

4. Regular exercise- encouraging your child to regularly exercise will not only help improve his/her physical health, but also mental health. It will also help them to reduce stress and maintain a good mood as well.

5. Listen to them- parents often ignore when children are speaking on less important matters; may be about a new friend or a strict teacher in school. But as a parent, you must take out some time from your daily schedule to listen out to their stories. Listening to them attentively will make them feel important, increase their confidence and hence, improve their mental well-being.

6. Encourage them to make friends- encouraging your child to make new friends will help them to socialize better. They will feel confident about themselves and also open up. This can boost up their mental well-being.

7. Good nourishment- proper nourishment is not only essential for being physically fit, but also mentally fit. Good nourishment will help them stay healthy physically and increase their energy levels. This in turn will positively affect their mental health.

8. Make them feel safe- children need to feel safe in order to stay mentally fit. Try and spend some time with them every day. As a parent, always make your children realize that you are right beside them. Listen to their problems and help them find solutions to solve those instead of scolding them. Help them to relax and feel secure to stay mentally fit.

8 Tips to Improve Your Child's Mental Well-being

What causes hearing loss? + How to ensure you can help it as you age

The partial or total inability to hear is known as hearing impairment or hearing loss. It can be present at birth, or develop later in life.

There are a number of factors, which may cause hearing loss

1. Age - Age is the biggest factor when it comes to the loss of hearing, and you may lose the ability to hear as you age. This condition is known as presbycusis. It becomes difficult to understand high-frequency sounds like that of a child or a woman when you get old.

2. Noise - When you are exposed to loud noises for a prolonged period of time, it damages your ears. This leads to loss of hearing. 5% of the total population of the world is affected by noise (the degree of suffering varies). It may be a result of continuous exposure to loud music or a sudden exposure to a loud noise like an explosion.

3. Hereditary disorders - Hearing disorder may be inherited by the dominant or recessive genes of parents in the child. 70-80% of these cases inherit from the recessive genes, whereas 20-25% inherit hearing loss from the dominant genes.

4. Trauma - Serious injuries of the head/ears may cause loss of hearing, which may be either temporary or permanent. When damage is caused to the brain, the brain fails to process the message conveyed by the ears. So even if the ears are totally functional, a person may face the problem in hearing.

5. Perinatal problems - The ototoxic effects on the fetus due to excess intake of alcohol during pregnancy lead to hearing the loss in about 64% of the infants born to alcoholic mothers.

Also, premature birth can be associated with hearing loss due to high risk of being exposed to noise in neonatal units.

Knowing about the causes of hearing loss can lead you a step closer to preventing this disorder as you age.

Here are some useful tips that can help prevent hearing loss:

1. Be more aware - You should be diligent and aware of the situations, which may risk your hearing ability and should try to avoid such situations as much as possible. Limit your exposure to sources of hazardous noises like firearms, firecrackers, concerts and clubs.

2. Take precautionary measures - If your occupation calls for working at an environment of loud noises, use earplugs or earmuffs to block out the excessive noise. Also, make sure that you work in a place where employers take all the necessary measures of noise control under the federal or state regulations.

3. Monitor your use of gadgets - Monitor and control the use of hearing devices, and try to reduce the use of headphones/ earphones as much as possible.



What causes hearing loss? + How to ensure you can help it as you age

The festival of Diwali is greeted with great pomp and splendour and along with the regular festivities, the pollution levels in the air also rise due to the ritual of bursting fire crackers. In an analysis, the rise of harmful pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide seemed to reveal a disturbing outcome.

The rise in pollution during Diwali affects you in the following ways:

The PM (particulate matter which is smaller than 2.5mm) enters your lungs and bloodstream and has several health impacts including chronic respiratory symptoms such as painful breathing and shortness of breath which might cause premature death.
High sulphur dioxide levels in the air during Diwali also lead to inflammation of air passages and causes complications in respiration.
A compound called  strontium  found in the atmosphere multiplies by 120 times during the festival and causes bone damage and blood clotting ailments.
Firecrackers contain heavy metals which are toxic to the human body and the amount of magnesium in the air goes up by 22x, which poses a significant threat to all forms of life.
The noise pollution also rises during the festival and in extreme cases, can permanently damage one s hearing.
However, there are a few measures you can undertake to steer clear of the excessive pollutants present in the air:

Limit the amount of time you spend outdoors even while exercising. This is because the air remains contaminated, days after all the festivities get over and the pollutants take a very long time to dissipate.
Even on the road, drive with the windows of your car rolled up to avoid intake of adulterated air and use a face mask if you are a two-wheeler rider.
Plant a lot of green plants inside your house as they purify the air you are breathing and ensure a supply of fresh oxygen.
Install an air purifier in the room to make sure you breathe in fresh, uncontaminated oxygen when you sleep. The air purifier will also help in lessening your respiratory complications.
Also, in case you notice any respiratory or breathing problem, it is advisable that you consult a pulmonologist, to rule out serious health issues. 

Diwali - How the Rise in Pollution Level Affects Your Health?

Our teeth are most definitely, vital for our living. Our everyday choices, pertaining to our lifestyle would call for changes, adjustments and lots of sacrifices without them. Though, a number of replacement options are available for the people with missing teeth, the most recommended are dental implants. Ask why?

They are simply the ideal solution due to their look and feel, which is similar to the natural teeth.

What happens if replacement is not considered?
To prevent the nasty repercussions from occurring, it is necessary that any missing teeth are replaced in time. Though, the symptoms of problems due to missing teeth only appear to be superficial in the early stages, the long term effects may certainly prove to be quite severe.

Some of the short term consequences of missing teeth are as follows
People with missing teeth tend to feel self-conscious or even embarrassed at times, while they talk to others or smile.
Problem in speech is a common issue that may arise due to tooth loss.
When teeth are missing, people find it difficult to consume some certain food types. These may include ones which contain some essential nutrients, hence leading to possible malnutrition.
Increased wear or stress can also lead to the weakening of the teeth that are remaining.
People with tooth loss find it difficult to chew the food properly.
When teeth are missing, there is movement of the teeth that remain, to compensate for the gap places created. This leads to ugly looking gap teeth.

Though, these were the short term issues, the major consequence of not getting any lost teeth replaced is the gradual bone loss. Our teeth are firmly embedded in the jaw bone. Chewing and biting are the constant uses, which are required by the jaw bone to remain hale and hearty as well as active. You may believe it or not, be it at the beginning or at the end; the major focus is not on the teeth, but on the bones.

Maintaining form as well as density of the bone requires regular stimulation, coming from the teeth, as mentioned above. The contact with teeth causes small stresses, which the periodontal ligament transmits to the bone and prompts its continual rebuilding as well as remodelling. When any missing teeth are not replaced, it leads to the gradual deterioration in the jaw bones, over time. This not only results in facial shape changes but also will eventually burn a huge hole in your pockets, as increased complications will also lead to increased costs required for rectifying the problems.

So, now it's up to you. Choose healthy and wise. Go for teeth replacement at the earliest, if and when, need arises.

Consequences of Unreplaced Missing Teeth

If your child has recently been diagnosed with autism, you must be feeling baffled and disheartened. It is surely upsetting to learn that your beloved child has a serious developmental disorder. Learning about the disorder, and where to seek help may ease your confusion. Autism is a major developmental disorder, which develops in early childhood. Autism primarily impairs a child s ability to interact and communicate.
Struggles of an autistic child-

Social withdrawal
Repetitive, rigid behavior
Difficulty communicating verbally/non-verbally
Learning disability
Being autistic or artistic-
Despite such problems, most parents of autistic children hold high hopes of wanting to unleash the one talent their child must be gifted with. Most often, the gifted talent is  art . Studies show that in about 90% cases, autistic children possess artistic, creative skills. The finding may be surprising to others, as they can barely imagine how a child with the above traits could possibly be creative.

To quote a parent whose child suffers from autism since age 5-  My son Sam, who is now 15 years old, forced me into rethinking creativity years ago. He was hardly six years old, when I realized he could envision things that I would never imagine. During playtime, I once drew one or two curves on a paper and handed it back to him. I had really expected Sam to scribble a few lines or maybe a disoriented picture. But what my son came up with left me spellbound. Sam had drawn a picture of a bowlful of cereal with a spoon, and a hand pouring milk from a carton. For most people this would probably not mean anything. But being a mother to an autistic child, I was completely in awe of my son s artistic skills. 

How to nurture your child s  hidden talent ?
The question remains - Can such creative skills be discovered in your child too? The answer to the question is  Yes!  Here is how you too can help your child cope with autism-

Don t limit your child: Allow your child to express his thoughts through creativity, art, music. His/her imagination should know no bounds. Sit by their side and watch them learn using different colors, shapes, and forms.
Let your child thrive: Holding back your child will not help him/her come out of their shell. Your child may have difficulty learning things in school, or going through books. But he/she may have a knack for paintings, or solving puzzles. Encourage their artistic skills, and watch them grow.
Intent healing for your child: A couple of sessions of Intent Healing for both the parent and the child can help manage autism. Ideally, 6 sessions of this therapy for the child and 2 sessions for the mother is recommended.
More than conventional treatment, autistic children need the support and affection of their parents. By adopting the above measures, you can assure your child s speedy recovery.

How To Nurture Passion In Autistic Child?

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