If you are experiencing difficulty in breathing or rapid breathing, shortness of breath and low blood pressure, you might have been affected with acute respiratory distress syndrome or ARDS. This is a fatal lung condition in which the supply of oxygen to the lungs and into the blood gets prevented. The symptoms of this syndrome develop within two days of the illness. Here are 10 important facts about ARDS you should know about:
Because of the low level of oxygen in the blood, the organs of the body may not function properly. The kidneys and brain require constant oxygen-rich blood supply and there are chances of organ failure due to ARDS.
Commonly, people who get ARDS are already in hospital for some other health problem. People who are not hospitalised may get ARDS because of conditions such as pneumonia.
In ARDS, the tiny blood vessels of the lungs leak more fluid than usual into the air sacs of the lungs. This happens because of infections, injuries or some other condition. The lungs cannot get filled up with air and sufficient oxygen is prevented from getting pumped into the bloodstream.
Several factors also lead to ARDS. These include sepsis, severe bleeding due to any injury on the head or chest, breathing in harmful smoke, or inhaling vomited content of the stomach from the mouth.
People who are prone to ARDS have some condition that may injure their lungs directly or indirectly.
The initial symptoms of ARDS include a feeling of not getting sufficient air in the lungs, low oxygen levels in the blood and rapid breathing. The diagnosis of ARDS depends on your medical history and the results from several tests and physical examinations.
The treatment of ARDS is undertaken by oxygen therapy, medicines and fluids. A patient with ARDS is likely to develop some other health condition while in the hospital, such as lung scarring, blood clots, infections and pneumothorax.
Many people recover from ARDS completely while others keep on facing certain health problems, such as shortness of breath, muscle weakness, depression and fatigue. Problems related to memory and clear thinking are also indicated.
By improving your quality of life, you can recover from ARDS. You need the support and encouragement of your family and friends. You must avoid smoking and keep away from any kind of lung irritant.
The treatment for ARDS has showed progress in the recent years. Hence, more people are recovering from this condition. New treatment procedures are being researched on.


10 Facts About Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Lungs are the most important organ of our body that has the responsibility of taking in the oxygen and releasing out carbon dioxide. When cancer develops in it, the entire body gets imbalanced. Lung cancer leads to more death than any other type of cancer, which is why identifying the symptoms and knowing the causes are instrumental in obtaining a timely diagnosis as well as in prevention of lung cancer.

Symptoms of Lung Cancer

In the early stages:

Persistent coughing

Chest pain

Bleeding

Fatigue

Loss of appetite

Sudden weight loss

Headaches

Coughing up blood

In the later stages:

Bone pain

Joint pain

Facial paralysis

Neck swelling

Blood clotting

Weakness

Sever chest pain

Causes of Lung Cancer:

Smoking: People who smoke are more prone to lung cancer. With the increase in the number of cigarettes you smoke, your chances of getting lung cancer increase too. People who don't smoke but are surrounded by the smokers also have high chances of being affected by this form of cancer.
Exposure to Asbestos: Asbestos is a group of mineral, which is present naturally in the environment. Lung cancer can occur due to the inhalation and ingestion of asbestos fibers.
Exposure to Ranon Gas: Ranon is a radioactive gas, which is formed naturally on decaying of radioactive elements. It is found in low levels in the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. Consumption of air and water having this gas leads to lung cancer.
High Levels of Air Pollution: Presence of high levels of dust particles and pollutants in the air that we breathe can cause lung cancer. 1-2% of lung cancer is caused because of it.
High Levels of Arsenic in Drinking Water: Consuming water with arsenic content is harmful as it directly affects the lungs and when the arsenic content is too high, it may lead to lung cancer.
Exposure to Chemicals: Exposure to certain chemicals like uranium, coal products, gasoline, diesel exhaust and mustard gas can also cause lung cancer.
Family History of Lung Cancer: Chances of getting lung cancer increase if your parents, child or siblings are already prone to lung cancer. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Lung Cancer - Symptoms & Causes! 

Coughing during the night can really wreak havoc for your sleep and cause inexplicable discomfort in the throat and chest region. Thankfully, you can manage it by soothing your tickling throat as well as sensitive airways before you go to bed at night. 

Drink herbal tea: A mugful of non-caffeinated tea mixed with a teaspoon of honey before going to bed can help you to a considerable extent. This is because any warm liquid has the power to break down the formation of mucus in the throat region and with a bit of honey, the herbal tea becomes even more powerful.
Try to sleep in an inclining position: Gravity is your greatest enemy while combating night-time cough. When you lie down flat on your back at night, all the mucus and dust particles, which you have swallowed all through the day, would accumulate in the throat area and aggravate it making more cough. But you can easily defy gravitational force by piling up some pillows and prop yourself on them while sleeping. You may also keep a wooden block of 4 inches height under your head, which would keep the acids in the stomach so that they don t come up to irritate your throat.
Make sure you use the steam cautiously: When your airways are dry, it can make you cough harder. Therefore, you may find relief if you take a warm shower or a bath before going to bed. But you have to be sure that you don t have asthma as steam can prove harmful for you.
Check the level of humidity: Humidifiers are known to soothe the problem of persistent coughing when the surrounding air is dry. But too much of moisture during the night can also make you cough. This is because dust mites, mold and other allergens thrive well in the damp air and they could conspire to make your cough even worse. So, pick up a cheap hygrometer from a hardware store and see that the humidity level stays within 40 to 50 percent.
Equip yourself at night: Keep all the things from drops to water to cough syrup or anything that soothes coughing at your bedside so that you can help yourself in case you wake up in the middle of the night and start coughing.
By following these few tips every day, you can manage the night time cough and have a good night s sleep without any interruptions.

Night Time Cough - 5 Tips to Manage it

Lungs are very important organs of your body as they play a pivotal role in respiration. Lung cancer refers to the gradual development of cancerous cells in the lungs. Many common symptoms can help you to identify lung cancer. They are stated below:

A) persistent cough
B) change in your voice
C) pain in the chest region
D) breathing problem
E) fatigue
F) loss of weight and appetite
G) sometimes a person may also cough up blood
H) cough accompanied by a wheezing sound

Lung cancer is very fatal and has less chances of getting cured. However, ayurveda offers effective and natural remedies for treating lung cancer. They are mentioned as follows:

1. Practice breathing exercises regularly: breathing exercises can help you to deal with the problem of lung cancer in an effective manner.

2. Quit smoking and avoid drinking alcohol: this is absolutely essential for treating lung cancer. Both smoking and consuming alcohol can cause severe damage to your lungs.

3. Practice meditation. According to ayurveda, meditation is known to have great healing powers for any health problem. This can help you to cope up with cancer as well.

4. Avoid junk foods and carbonated drinks: consuming these foods frequently can worsen your condition.

5. Massage therapy: sometimes massage therapy can work wonders in ayurveda. Massaging certain essential oils can be very helpful.

6. Aromatherapy: aromatherapy can also prove to be effective in treating lung cancer. It is a procedure in which essential oils are not only used for massaging your body but also for inhaling.

7. Ayurvedic herbs: there are many ayurvedic medicines and herbs also which can treat lung cancer efficiently.

Since lung cancer involves very less survival rate, it is of utmost importance that you go the doctor immediately once you start noticing any of the above mentioned symptoms.

Treating Lung Cancer With Ayurveda

The symptoms of tuberculosis (tb), which is active might vary and depend on which part of the body is infected. Diagnosing tb just from its symptoms can be a difficult, as the symptoms are not for tb alone meaning the symptoms can be of other diseases as well. For the confirmation and diagnosis of tb one must get a test done for tb. However, the general symptoms of tb are tiredness, weakness, weight loss, loss of appetite, fever, chills and night sweats.

Symptoms of pulmonary tb
Pulmonary tb is the tb of lungs. The symptoms of this are bad cough, which might have lasted for more than 3 weeks, chest pain, blood or phlegm might occur on coughing.

Extrapulmonary tb
The tb of any body part other than pulmonary is called extrapulmonary tb. This type of tb does not affect the lungs with the exception being the extrapulmonary tb also known as pleural tb. General symptoms of extrapulmonary tb are same as general symptoms of pulmonary tb.

Symptoms of lymph node tb
Lymph node tb also known as lymphadenitis is basically the enlargement and the inflammation of the lymph nodes. This is a response to the infections especially in children. The symptoms of this might be painless slow growing lymph nodes. These swollen lymph nodes can be in the neck area, though they might also be present in the groin. Lymph node tb of the neck is also called as scrofula or tb adenitis.

Symptoms of skeletal (bone and joint) tb
The common and the first symptoms are pain and depend on the area of the joint or the bone affected. Often it is marked with the loss of movement and curving of the affected bones and joints. The affected area also weakens and is prone to fractures.

Spinal tb is also called as pott disease or tb spondylitis
The symptoms of this depend on the affected site and the stage of the disease. However, back pain is one of the earliest symptoms.

Symptoms of meningitis tb
The meningitis tb starts with classical symptoms of meningitis. It usually starts with symptoms of pains and aches, fever and vague and unwell feeling. These might last for 2-8 weeks and then the evident symptoms like headaches, seizures, vomiting and stiffness might occur.

Symptoms of gastrointestinal or abdominal tb
This is marked with diarrhea, abdominal pain and bleeding from rectum and anus, though the symptoms depend on the exact site.

Symptoms of tb in children
The symptoms depend on the type and site, though the common ones being weight loss, fever and cough.

Symptoms of Tuberculosis

Tonsils are the two oval-shaped tissue pads at the back of your throat, which function as a mechanism to protect you from diseases. Any infection of the tonsils is referred to as  tonsillitis .

You can suffer from tonsillitis at any age, but it is more commonly diagnosed in children. Tonsillitis is highly contagious.

There are two types of tonsillitis:

Chronic tonsillitis Longer episodes of acute tonsillitis
Recurrent tonsillitis Recurrent episodes of tonsillitis in a year
Causes

Tonsillitis can cause viral and bacterial infections. The  Streptococcus (strep) bacteria  is a common cause. Some other causes include:

Adenoviruses
Influenza virus
Epstein-Barr virus
Parainfluenza virus
Enteroviruses
Herpes simplex virus
Symptoms

Since tonsillitis has various causes, symptoms too tend to differ. Some symptoms include:

An extremely sore throat
Painful or difficult swallowing
Scratchy-sounding voice
Bad breath
Fever
Chills
Earaches
Stomach aches
Headaches
Stiff neck
Neck and jaw tenderness due to inflamed lymph nodes
Tonsils that become swollen and red in colour
Yellow or white spots on the tonsils
In children, symptoms such as excessive drooling, increased irritability or poor appetite are usually noticeable.

Treatment

If the tonsillitis is mild, especially caused by a virus, it usually doesn t require any treatment. More critical cases of tonsillitis might require treatments such as tonsillectomy (a surgical process used to remove the tonsils) or administration of antibiotics.

Penicillin is the most commonly administered antibiotic. Once commonly performed, tonsillectomy (surgical removal of tonsils) is now reserved for extremely critical cases. 

Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Tonsillitis

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