A sore throat is usually caused by a bacterial infection and it usually indicates an onset of cold. It may also indicate strained vocal chords or a strep throat. Eating proper foods can help in easing the symptoms and fight inflammation; thus providing the requisite energy to the body.

The 9 foods which help in treating a sore throat are:

1. Bananas: These foods are packed with vitamin C that allows you to recover quickly from an illness. They are also relatively soft and easier to swallow which make them a preferred food if you have a sore throat.

2. Cooked carrots: Carrots contain good amounts of vitamin A; eating them roasted or sauteed is a good way to consume the required nutrients. This vegetable also contains carotenoids in good amounts which are beneficial for the body.

3. Tea: Tea is usually preferred by people when they have a sore throat. Tea has anti-inflammatory properties, which help in fighting infections in the body. Tea also helps in fighting stress and contributes to increased focus.

4. Cooked cabbage: Cabbage contains antioxidants along with Sulfur, vitamin K and vitamin C, which helps in fighting infection in the body. It can also relieve symptoms of headache.

5. Sage: Sage is a herb that has powerful infection fighting properties. Mixing crushed sage with warm water or sprinkling it in your soup can help alleviate symptoms of cold and sore throat.

6. Honey: Honey is an effective treatment for sore throat because of its strong anti-inflammatory properties. It is recommended to take honey during a sore throat.

7. Licorice: Licorice is another remedy that can be used to treat sore throat. It has certain properties, which cause a reduction in pain and help in clearing the airways.

8. Yoghurt: Yoghurt is soft, which makes it easier to gulp down in case of a sore throat. You may even add some fresh fruits to the mix for taste.

9. Garlic: Garlic has strong antibacterial properties, which help in easing symptoms of sore throat. You may directly chew garlic or add them to your food to gain the maximum benefits.

9 Foods To Help A Sore Throat

The temporary inability to move one s own limbs or speak is known as paralysis. Paralysis is triggered by problems with the body s nervous system and affects the functioning of muscles all over the body. This condition can affect a single limb, the right or left side of the body, or the complete body. A paralytic attack is often caused by a stroke or damage in the nervous system. It can also be caused by exposure to radiation or toxins, autoimmune diseases, tumours and spinal cord trauma. Recovery from a paralytic attack depends on the causes and the extent of the injury that triggered it. With some types of paralysis, partial or even complete, recovery is possible.

Ayurveda is an alternative system of medicine that can be quite effective when it comes to treating paralysis. Ayurveda has negligible side effects and hence can be used to treat adults and children alike. This system of medication does not look only at the physical symptoms but also the mental and spiritual well-being of the patient as well. Some ways to treat paralysis with Ayurveda are as follows:

Vata-pacifying diet: Eat light meals that are easily digestible and pick warm foods over cold food. Avoid barley, rye and millet and include plenty of vegetables like asparagus, beets, okra and carrots in your diet. Also avoid bitter and pungent flavours, but pick food that is sweet, sour or salty to balance the body s vata.
Ayurvedic massage: Warm herbal oils are sued for Ayurvedic massages. These oils and the action of massaging them into the skin have a number of health benefits associated with it, including the treatment of paralytic attacks. Some Ayurvedic massages that could be beneficial to paralysed patients are abhyanga Ayurvedic massages, padabhyanga and pizhichil.
Medication: Along with lifestyle changes, Ayurvedic medication also plays a role in the treatment of paralysis. Some popular Ayurvedic remedies for paralysis are rasnadi quath, medicated castor oil, pippali mula, vatavidhwamsana rasa, chopcheeni churna, ashwagandha churna, brihat vatachintamani rasa, ashwagandha churna and rasaraja. While some of these medicines are to be taken orally, others may need to be administered through the nostrils as part of nasyam Ayurvedic treatments and others via an enema as part of sneha vasti. Drinking 20 40 ml of radish oil twice a day and a mixture of black pepper powder, sunti and honey is also said to be beneficial in treating paralysis. However, one must keep in mind that recovery from paralysis is very slow and hence patience is a must.

Paralysis - How Ayurveda Remedies Helps In Treating It!

Dry skin is a condition caused by the lack of moisture in skin. Fine lines and wrinkles are just some of the conditions, which may be caused due to dry skin. Dry skin can also be very uncomfortable. The condition is mostly caused by environmental factors such as exposure to harsh weather conditions or getting soaked in hot water.

People at risk:
1. Age: People who are older than 40 years of age tend to be more at risk of dry skin than people who are younger than 40 years.
2. Climate: As mentioned earlier, weather conditions play a pivotal role in causing dry skin. Therefore, people who live in areas where the climate is either very hot or very cold tend to get dry skin more often than people who live in temperate climates. Low humidity is another factor which causes dry skin.
3. Profession: Some professions, such as nursing or hairstyling requires frequent usage of hot water all through the day, which can also lead to dry skin.
4. Swimming: Swimming is one of the major causes of dry skin. This is especially true in pools, which have chlorine. This is because chlorine increases the itchiness on your skin.

Treatments:
1. Lifestyle changes: Usually, lifestyle changes such as avoiding long, hot showers and putting moisturizers are good enough to make sure that dry skin goes away.
2. Lactic acid: Creams with lactic acid and urea can be prescribed by your doctor, if the dryness of your skin does not go away with moisturizers. These creams are usually over-the-counter medications.
3. Prescription creams: Prescription creams are given, only when conditions such as dermatitis, psoriasis or ichthyosis are present.
4. Wet dressing: Wet dressing is given only when dermatitis has set in, as it mostly help in preventing the infection.
4. Oiling: Oiling your body, especially with fish or flaxseed oil, ensures that your body does not succumb to dry skin.
5. Hand sanitizer: Normal hand sanitizers tend to make your hands dry. Thus, dermatologists recommend hydrating hand sanitizers that allow your hands to maintain their moisture. Therefore, whenever you are using a hand sanitizer, use a hydrating one.

Risks and Treatment of Dry Skin

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive form of cancer. The disease shows no early symptoms and often spreads to other organs long before it is properly diagnosed. Due to such poor prognosis, only around 6% of the pancreatic cancer patients are healthy and alive 5 years after the first diagnosis.

One of the most common surgeries to remove tumours from the pancreas is Pancreaticoduodenectomy, that is commonly called Whipples surgery. The primary aim of the procedure is to cure cancers or disorders that are identified in the pancreas, bile duct or the duodenum. Here, the tumour is removed to prevent it from spreading to other organs, thus improving the life expectancy of the patient. 

Whipple's Procedure

Before the surgery, an intravenous line will be injected to your arm, to provide you with the necessary medication. Medicines may be passed through this line to soothe your nerves. A spinal injection or an epidural catheter may be placed. This helps you to recover painlessly after the surgery.

The surgery can be carried out in different ways  

Open surgery

Here, the surgeon makes a small incision in your abdomen to access the pancreas and other organs. This is the most common method. This is a complicated operation where the tip of the pancreas, the gallbladder, the bile duct and the initial portion of the small intestine are removed. It is performed to treat cancers that are present on the head of the pancreas. 

Laparoscopic surgery

Here several small incisions are made in your abdomen to insert a camera that transmits the live video of the abdomen to a monitor. According to the live feed, the surgeon performs the operation by using surgical tools. It is a common form of minimally invasive surgery.

Robotic operation

This is another type of minimally invasive surgery where the surgical tools are attached to a special robot. Here, the doctor uses a console to control the robot to perform the surgery. This is used because surgical robots can reach and operate in spaces and corners where the human hands may not reach during surgery.

 The Whipples surgery can take 4 to 12 hours depending upon the approach being used and the complexity of the process. During the surgery, you will be given general anaesthesia, so you will be asleep.

In some cases, a part of your stomach or nearby lymph nodes may be removed to treat the cancer growths. After the process, the doctor will reconnect the other organs so that you can digest food normally.

After the procedure, you may face problems while emptying your bowels. The condition improves around 7 to 10 days after the surgery. Most patients are able to return back to their normal life usually around 6 weeks after the procedure.

It is recommended that you follow the doctor s instructions after the surgery and stick to the diet prescribed. Additionally, keep the incision protected from sunlight and remove the bandages only after consulting the doctors. 

 

 

Whipples Surgery & Pancreatic Cancer - Know About Them!

Fibromyalgia is a condition characterised by extreme muscle pain that is followed by weakness, fatigue and issue with the state of mind. It is believed that fibromyalgia causes painful sensations by affecting the way your mind forms pain signals.

Indications now and then start after a physical injury, surgery, disease or critical mental anxiety. In different cases, side effects progressively show after some time with no single occasion that triggers it.

Here are some coping methods you can use to help yourself live well with fibromyalgia:

Minimize stress and tension in your life. Stress may play an essential part in activating fibromyalgia side effects and its symptoms. Many individuals with fibromyalgia tend to feel on the edge, anxious, and inactive around the time when the side effects fibromyalgia flare up.

Exclude yourself from unpleasant circumstances. People tend to amplify issues, making them appear to be far more prominent than they are. When you think of something to be a last chance situation, despite the fact that in reality, it is not, your body responds as though you are at risk. Work at treating your feelings as problems come by.

Make worksite adjustments. To continue working full-time, you should stay rationally and physically ready to handle your employment obligations. To keep away from stress and tension, you may need to give additional time during the day to complete your personal needs and sort out your problems. Converse with your manager and work out a timetable that allows you to manage your time.

Coordination. Coordination is important with an unending condition like fibromyalgia. Transparent conversations diminish the problems amongst you and your companion, family, friends and colleagues.

Figure out how to say no. Failing to say no to excessively numerous requests will make you overburdened. That will add to your anxiety level. To help yourself say  no  to a convincing companion, consider the circumstance before you reply and also think about the time you will be saving.

Keep a diary. Writing in a diary consistently can turn into a great channel for analyzing yourself and your situation. A few people can also figure out when their fibromyalgia symptoms started. That can help them see how and when the symptoms began.

Take a hot shower. Take a hot shower, a hot tub bath, or a steam bath. To begin with, it will help you to unwind the muscles that are tense. It will also decrease the pain and make your muscles more flexible and effortless to move.

Exercise frequently. As per physiotherapists, exercising routinely is vital to get rid of fibromyalgia. In light of the pain, delicate muscles, continuous weakness, and stiffness felt by individuals with fibromyalgia, many have turned out to be physically unfit. Hence, all of the above-mentioned treatments are very important in order to stay fit.

How To Deal With Fibromyalgia?

Hepatitis C is a Viral Infection That is Little Talked About, But Can Be As Dangerous As Hepatitis B

Most people have head or what became in the 1980s and '90s the dreaded AIDS virus. With time and the availability of medicines, it ceased to be a killer. However, the knowledge of it helped stem its spread. Most people, unfortunately, don't realize that hepatitis C is also a killer, simply because not much has been said about it. In fact, it is also a virus, but is 10 times more infectious than HIV.

Hepatitis C is transmitted through the blood, and is usually passed on to women through infected needles and sex. At-home glucometers are often shared, or sometimes a woman's own lifestyle or her partner's lifestyle before marriage may put her at risk, because the virus can stay in the blood for years. It is also transmitted through blood products, like in the case of a transfusion, though in the case of pregnant women, this is not so common.

The dangers
The virus affects 1 in every 100 people in India, while globally 180 million are infected with it. Sometimes, it may just pass through the body, like many other viruses do, but sometimes, it can remain. If detected quickly, within six months or so, cure rates are high. the problem is that it is often not easy to detect, as symptoms resemble those of a regular seasonal viral infection: fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite. If it remains in the body, becoming chronic, then it may progress to liver disease. But the hepatitis C virus (HCV) doesn't have to be a killer. You can conquer it with these moves. 

What you should do before
A number of couples who come to me have planned pregnancies-they opt for a baby, rather than the baby just 'happening' to them. This not only helps family planning, but it also helps us rule out infections or treat them if present. Usually, in the first trimester, your gynecologist will ask you to do a simple blood test for HIV, hepatitis B and C. In the case of a planned pregnancy, visit your doctor beforehand and ask if you need to take these tests before you conceive. However, there is no vaccine for HCV yet.

What you should do after
If a woman find out in the first trimester that she is hepatitis C positive, there's nothing much that can be done, as anti-viral medications cause birth defects, so a mother can only be put on them after delivery. She is advised to continue the pregnancy. A baby's chance of acquiring the infection in utero is between 5 and 7%. While this is not high, parents may like to avoid the risk. However, co-infection with HIV (if the mother is HIV positive) pushes the risk up to 19.4%. The pregnancy itself will not be hampered by the HCV infection. Nor does the risk of transmission to the child have anything to do with the mode of delivery-either vaginal or C-section. In India, there is little data on HCV transmission from mother to child. However, once the baby is born, the pediatrician may not do an immediate test to check for the virus, as it generally clears out from the baby's system in a year or so. Testing may only be done at 18 months.

Hepatitis C: Can Be as Dangerous as Hepatitis B

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