5 ways to alleviate nighttime heartburn

Nighttime heartburn is a very common medical condition that causes a burning sensation in the chest region due to excessive acidity in the digestive system. This condition is witnessed very often in people and mostly it tends to awaken people from their sleep thereby disrupting their sleep patterns. Here are some effective ways to cure and prevent heartburn sensations during the night time.

1. Avoid acidity triggering foods: you should avoid the foods and drinks which are harsh on your digestive system and cause acidity and heartburn related problems during the night time. Some of the common foods and drinks responsible for nighttime heartburn and need to be avoided are alcohol, caffeinated drinks like colas, coffee and tea, chocolate and cocoa, peppermint, garlic, onions, milk, fatty, spicy, greasy, or fried foods and acidic foods like citrus or tomato products.

2. Follow a proper exercising pattern: you should never exercise immediately after having your meals. Instead, a considerable amount of a time gap should exist between your meal and your workout session. Do not ever eat a heavy meal before you exercise, because in spite of giving a time gap the richness of the food will adversely affect your digestive system.

3. Quit smoking habits: if you are a chronic/chain smoker, then you might witness the blockage of your gastrointestinal tract (digestive passages), which will further degrade and worsen the heartburn condition. Easier said than done, smoking is an addictive behaviour and you should be taking special care to lessen it and ultimately quit smoking.

4. Develop a chewing habit: if you are facing a chronic and regular heartburn problem, then you should definitely try excessive chewing of materials like gums. Chewing helps to generate excessive amounts of saliva during the act and the saliva, in turn, helps to soothe the acidic activities in your esophagus, thereby decreasing the probability of frequent heartburns.

5. Adopt weight loss measure: sometimes, excessive body weight is also one of the potential factors responsible for causing frequent heartburns. But, if you shed a couple of kilograms from your body, then you will surely witness a relative decline in the symptoms of heartburn during night.




5 Ways to alleviate nighttime heartburn

Diarrhea occurs when the body is expelling germs out of it. An episode of diarrhea can last anywhere from a couple of days to a week. Dehydration, cramps, vomiting, nausea and fever often accompany diarrhea. Usually, children tend to get diarrhoea more than adults.

Diarrhea treatment according to causes behind it

Treating diarrhea due to infection: Some common causes of diarrhea include infection from rotavirus, salmonella (a type of bacteria) and rarely giardia (a type of parasite). In children, virus is a common cause of diarrhea. Besides watery or loose stools, viral gastroenteritis infection symptoms include fever, headache, stomach ache and vomiting. Gastroenteritis diarrhoea can last for 5-14 days. During this time, fluid loss must be prevented. In younger children, oral rehydration solution (ORS) or breast milk is enough. Just feeding them water won t replenish the potassium, sodium and other nutrients they lose. Older children, to prevent fluid loss, can be given ORS and popsicles to counter dehydration and vomiting.
Treating diarrhea due to medications: Antibiotics or laxatives can cause diarrhea in children. If the diarrhea is mild, make sure your child is hydrated. If the antibiotics are causing diarrhoea, you need to continue medication, but do consult your doctor immediately.
Treating diarrhea due to food poisoning: When it comes to food poisoning induced diarrhea, the same method as countering infection-induced diarrhea should be followed. Keep your child hydrated and call your doctor.
Diarrhea and children - recognising dehydration

The most serious complication of diarrhea is dehydration, especially if the diarrhea is severe. Severe dehydration is critical as it can cause brain damage, seizure, even death. Your child may need immediate medical attention, if you notice the following symptoms:

Light-headedness and dizziness
Sticky, dark mouth
Dark yellow urine
No or few tears when crying
Dry, cool skin
Loss of energy
When should you visit a doctor

Diarrhea resolves within a few days, but it can have serious complications. Call your doctor if you notice signs such as:
1. Looks very sick
2. Diarrhea has persisted for more than 3 days
3. Your child is less than 6 months old
4. Your child is vomiting bloody yellow or green fluid
5. Seems dehydrated
6. The fever reads above 105 degree Fahrenheit
7. Bloody stools
8. Rashes
9. Stomach pain persists for more than 2 hours
10. Infrequent urination

Diarrhea - How to Treat it in Children?

A person is said to have great vision more in the metaphorical way than in the literal sense. However, having both is just so important, especially as the ability to see reduces as a person gets older. Old age comes with its own set of problems, and vision loss is one of them. If kept in check from an early age, however, vision loss can be deferred indefinitely.

While a person's eyesight is likely to deteriorate over the course of his life, there is a lot which can be done in an effort to make sure that this is not the case. To start with, it makes good sense to be regular with eye check-ups. After a person attains the age of sixty, he or she should have a doctor take a look at his or her eyes on a yearly basis. There is no point trying to conserve eye sight if a person is too late in taking corrective action. By paying a visit to the ophthalmologist, a person will get to know the exact problem that he is suffering from.

A good diet which is rich in the nutrients which improve a person's eye sight does go a very long way in the long run. A person should make sure that is diverse enough to take care of the needs of a person and should include grapefruit, strawberries as well as berries and nuts.

One of the main things which can be done in order to preserve the health of a person's eyes until he or she reaches an advanced age is to stop smoking in all forms. As a matter of fact, tobacco leads to cyanide entering the blood stream and this does a lot of damage to the eyes. In fact, quite a few irreversible conditions of the eye are caused due to this.

Exercise is said to be good for a person at any age for a variety of reasons and it is really good for even the eyes, though the link may not be immediately so clear. It reduces the risk of age related degeneration by up to 70 per cent!

What is really interesting about a person's eyes is that they can be signs of trouble in other parts of the body. For example, if a person has blurry vision, they should get checked for diabetes. Also, eyes which do not produce enough natural lubrication can show a risk of rheumatoid arthritis and perhaps even thyroid disease.

All in all, a person's eyesight is so crucial to his or her overall health and wellbeing. We have only one pair of eyes, so we might as well take care of them!

Tips to Prevent Vision Loss in Elderly People

What Happens When the Electrical Activity of Your Heart Changes?

The heart's electrical conduction system plays a very important role in cardiovascular functioning. Also known as the atrioventricular (AV) conduction system, it regulates and controls the timing of the heartbeat.

How does the heart's electrical conduction system work?

There is a collection of electrical cells in the upper right atrium of the heart known as the sinoatrial (SA) node which acts as a natural pacemaker and generates electrical signals. These signals travel through specialized electrical pathways and stimulate the muscular walls of the heart to contract in a rhythmic manner. This gives rise to the heartbeat that pulses at a specific frequency every minute.

What is the effect of fluctuations in electrical activity on the heart?

The standard heart rate in human being ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. It slows down when a person sleeps and speeds up when one experiences physical or emotional heightening. These fluctuations are triggered by the brain or other systems of the body and signal the SA node to generate charges more rapidly or slowly. This leads to spikes and drops in the heart rate, depending on the nature of the situation.

What happens when there is dysfunction in the heart's electrical activity?

When the heart's electrical conduction system does not function properly, it leads to the occurrence of a condition known as arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm. This happens when electrical impulses are generated in an irregular manner and causes tachycardia (rapid heartbeats) or bradycardia (slow heartbeats) which takes place in jarring infrequent tempos.

What causes fluctuations in the heart's electrical activity?

There are various kinds of triggers that cause the heart rate to fluctuate. The exact nature of fluctuation also depends on the type of trigger. A few everyday examples of these causes are as follows:
- Exercise and strenuous physical activity increases electrical activity as the heart is required to beat faster so as to increase the supply of blood and oxygen to the muscles.
- Sleep and rest reduce heart rate as the body is not needed to exert itself.
- Release of adrenaline into the bloodstream causes the heart rate to spike up.



What Happens When the Electrical Activity of Your Heart Changes?

Your child is fond of nuts and has eaten a chocolate with nuts but shortly after that develops a skin rash and starts to itch. The rash may even spread to the surrounding area. This is an indication of food allergy to nuts.

What happens is simple - the body's immune system recognizes specific proteins in the food as harmful (antigens) and produces antibodies which can combat them. This leads to an allergic reaction which can vary from something as simple as a skin rash to severe breathing issues.
Though any child can develop food allergies, in most cases, there is a strong hereditary linkage. If parents have had a history of allergy to certain foods, then there is a strong likelihood that the child could have that food allergy too.

Some of the common foods that can cause allergies are as follows:
1. Cow's milk
2. Eggs
3. Nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews or hazelnuts)
4. Soy
5. Wheat
6. Fish (salmon, cod and others)
7. Shellfish (lobsters, shrimps and others)
Of these, peanuts, seafood, and milk are the most common food stuffs that lead to allergies.

Because the child is yet to realize that he has eaten something that his system will not readily accept, the allergic reaction can be described in various ways, as below:
1. Scratching or itching on the tongue
2. Change in the voice - can become husky or hoarse
3. Burning of the tongue
4 tingling of the tongue
5. Funny feeling in the mouth
6. Feeling of something stuck in the throat
7. Itchy feeling or bugs in the ears
8. Throat going thick
9. Bump on the back of the tongue

These are some ways that a child can describe his allergic reaction. Some of the mild symptoms of a food allergy are as follows:
1. Hives (red, swollen, itchy areas on the skin)
2. Eczema of the skin (dry, itchy rash)
3. Nasal congestion
4. Sneezing
5. Itching of the tongue and the mouth
6. Nausea or vomiting
7. Stomach pain

Severe symptoms include:
1. Severe swelling of the lips and tongue that can block breathing
2. Inability to swallow
3. Difficulty breathing
4. Turning blue
5. Dropping of pulse
6. Drowsiness

As the parent identifies a similar reaction when eating the same food item, they can suspect allergic reactions and immediately reach out to the doctor. A detailed discussion will help establish the causative agent. Once that is known, then avoiding food allergies is quite easy. In fact, a well-informed child will know that avoiding certain foods is very beneficial. This will improve the quality of life of the child, help avoid missing school due to allergic reactions, and help avoid the child (and the parent) suffering.

How to Know if Your Child Suffers From Food Allergy

Gout: a brief idea

In the simplest of words gout can be defined as the inflammation of joints due to continuous accretion of urate crystals. An excess of uric acid can make a person suffer from gout. There could be a higher percentage of uric acid in a person's blood due to two chief reasons; an inept excretory system that fails to rid your body of surplus acid and also greater production of the acid. Arthritis is of three kinds; gout is one of those three. Homeopathy is known for its efficacy in treating gout. 
   
Homeopathic remedies for gout:
1. Urtica urens can cure gout: This homeopathic medicine is prescribed by a professional practitioner if the person is susceptible to cold. Urtica urens can work on a patient if he or she is allergic to snow,  air, touch and water. Hive like eruptions on your ankles, wrists, and shoulders can be treated through regular consumption of this medication.
   
2. Ledum can relieve you of pain: A painful, swollen area that develops on the small joints such as the joints of your toe fingers can be cured with the use of Ledum. The sensation of shooting pain in your limbs or feet can also be dealt with Ledum. Apart from that swollen small joints can be given momentary respite by falling back upon the cold compression therapy. Patients are advised to take this medicine if they exhibit intolerance to external warmth. 
 
3. Lycopodium is effective on sore joints: Chalky deposits of urate can be found in a person's knees. This results in chronic gout. Chronic gout has symptoms like limited urination. The urine may or may not have red sediments. People have also been reported with symptoms like extreme backache. Lycopodium successfully cures cases of unceasing gout.
     
4. Try out benzoic acid for a big toe: If your gout is accompanied by stinking yellow urine you probably need Benzoic acid. Gout could be so severe that it might result in a stiff limb. In certain cases it makes a person limp. The thumb of your feet might get swollen making you have a big toe. A big toe usually kills you with tearing pain.
    
5. Arnica deals with bruises: Arnica is your go to solution in case of a throbbing, stinging pain in any part of the body. This medication is a cherished answer to aches in every household. When gout is tender and it hinders free movement, this medicine comes to your aid. The medicine also heals bruised eruptions.

Homeopathy and Gout

Don't wait any longer, manage your Critical Care online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Critical Care - Online and Easy!

FilterClear All

COMMON SPECIALITIES

COMMON ISSUES