It is no longer so surprising to read about alarming air pollution levels in our cities. On more than one occasion, these levels have risen above the danger levels. For some people, this may simply create an annoying fog that makes it difficult to see. For others, it can cause serious health issues. Air pollution is one of the most common reasons for the growing instances of asthma and allergies. Children are most susceptible to such diseases caused by air pollution.

Asthma and Allergies
Asthma can affect children even before their fifth birthday and the condition is characterized by breathlessness caused by a constriction of the airways. While the root cause of asthma is unknown, it is usually seen that asthmatic patients are more sensitive to others to particles in the air such as pollutants, dander, dust, smoke etc. Thus, the airways construct as a reaction to these allergens. Changes in the weather, a sudden cold draft or the flu can also aggravate asthma.

Can you Protect Your Children from Asthma?
Wheezing, panting, finding it difficult to breathe and a persistent cough are some of the signs of asthma. If you notice these symptoms, you must consult a doctor immediately. At home, here are a few things you could do.

Avoid exposing your children to smoke: Do not smoke around your children or allow others to smoke around them. If you cannot give up the habit, wear a smoking jacket when you smoke and take this off before you play with your children. When you ll go out, drive with the windows up so that your child does not inhale exhaust smoke. Set your air conditioner to circulate air within the car itself.
Dust often: Try and keep your home as dust free as possible. Use a wet cloth to clean so that the dust does not fly in the air. Wash all your bed linen once a week. Carpets and rugs should be vacuumed regularly or dusted outside. It may also be a good idea to invest in dust mite impermeable covers for your child s mattress and pillows.
Keep your Pets clean: If you share your home with pets, bathe them once a week and brush them daily. Do not let them climb on to the furniture or your beds. Also, avoid having their toys lie on your beds.
Wear a face mask: Try and time your child s outdoor activities when the pollution levels are low. Buy yourself and your child a face mask that will filter the air they breathe in. These should be worn whenever they play outdoors.
These simple steps could help your child be healthier and can prevent asthma and other such allergic reactions.

Increasing Asthma & Allergy In Children - What Should You Do?

Cardiac or Heart Arrhythmia is a condition which results in disruption of heart s normal rhythm. Due to this, the heart may beat too quickly, too slowly or have an irregular rhythm. Though most of the arrhythmias are not harmful but at times they can have serious consequences, which might turn to be fatal. Differences in heart beats can lead to the restriction of blood, that gets pumped around the body, hence causing damage to the brain, heart and other organs of an individual.

Now we would take into account the causes behind the occurrence of this heart condition.

Causes

Interruption to the electrical impulses in any form that lets the heart to contract can result in arrhythmia. A person with a healthy heart should have a heart rate of anywhere between 60-100 beats per minute while the body is at rest.

There are a number of factors which can cause the heart to work inefficiently, which include:

Alcohol Consumption: If you are used to drinking alcohol varying from light to moderate, the chance of irregular heartbeat increases. A recent study has shown that with every drink consumed per day, the risk of atrial fibrillation increased by 8 percent. Men and women both are at equal risk for irregular heartbeat. Irregular heartbeat is caused because drinking leads to damage of the cells, which in turn leads to causing damage in small areas of fibrous tissue within the heart.

Anxiety: Arrhythmia from anxiety is when the heart feels like something happened due to which it tries to overcompensate and beat quickly. This leads to heart skipping a beat, getting squeezed or undergoing heartbeats at a rapid pace.

Excessive Cosumption of Coffee: Caffeine is a stimulant and tends to speed up heart rate, so consuming too much coffee can lead to the problem of arrhythmia.

Deficiency of Magnesium and Potassium: Magnesium and Potassium deficiencies in one s body can cause Arrhythmia. The deficiencies can be caused due to less intake of citrus fruits and vegetables like potatoes, kiwi, papaya etc.

Symptoms

Arrhythmia can produce a broad range of symptoms which affect the proper functioning of heart. Some of the most serious symptoms are:

Fatigue: If you feel that you are getting fatigued quite easily, then it s a clear symptom of arrhythmia.

Dizziness: A sense of dizziness creeps in when you are having the problem of irregular heartbeat.

Lightheadedness: Feeling light on the head is another symptom of Cardiac Arrhythmia, as there is fluctuation in the amount of blood that reaches the brain through the heart.

Treatment Options

Problem of irregular heartbeats, especially if it s on the slower side, can be solved through the placement of certain devices like pacemaker, which can speed up one s heart rate.
Faster heartbeats can be treated through blood-thinning medications, which would help keep threatening blood clots from getting formed.
Doctors can even go for Catheter ablation, wherein they would thread one or more catheters through the blood vessels of one s heart. Electrodes at the catheter tips can make use of extreme heat, cold or radiofrequency energy to damage a small sport of heart tissue and create an electrical block along the path, that s causing one s arrhythmia.

Cardiac Arrhythmia - Factors That Can Lead To It!

Although your body is already in possession of the bacteria leading to tuberculosis, your immune system is able to prevent you from becoming sick. Doctors have made a distinction between latent and active tuberculosis (TB). In case of latent TB, the bacteria in the body in a passive state and it causes no symptoms, and therefore it is not contagious. But, in the case of active TB, you would become sick and may even spread the disease to others. It can take place in the first few weeks or even after several months of being infected with TB bacteria.

What are the symptoms of active TB?

If you are coughing for over three weeks and sometimes even coughing up blood, it can be a sign of TB. 
Chest pain and pain while coughing and breathing along with fatigue, fever, chills and night sweat are the common symptoms of TB along with loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss. TB may even affect other organs of your body, including your brain, spine and kidneys. 
When TB takes place outside the lungs, then the signs of TB can vary as per the organs that are involved. For instance, TB in the spine can cause back pain and that in kidneys may cause blood in the urine.
What are the causes of TB?
TB is caused by a bacteria which spreads from individual to individual via the microscopic droplets that are released into the air. This may happen when an affected person is left untreated and he speaks or sneezes or coughs or laughs. 

Though the disease is contagious, it is not easy to be affected by it. As a result, you are much more likely to get affected with active tuberculosis from a person you live with or come in regular contact with, rather than a stranger. It is important to note here that people who are affected with TB and going through proper medications for over two weeks are no more contagious.

Right from the 1980s, the number of individuals affected with TB has increased dramatically, owing to the spread of HIV, which is the virus known for causing AIDS. A person infected with HIV has a weak immunity system as a result of which it becomes difficult for the body to deal with TB bacteria. So those who have AIDS are more likely to be affected with active TB and sometimes the latent form also progresses to an active one very quickly. Therefore, it is important to seek medical assistance and detect if you have any such health complications concerning TB.

Tuberculosis - Watch Out For These Warning Signs!

Choosing homeopathy to cure bronchitis

Bronchitis is a respiratory disease where people cough up thick mucus. Bronchitis can either be acute or chronic, with the most common cause of bronchitis being either viral or bacterial infection. Acute bronchitis improves within a few days with proper medications. On the other hand, chronic bronchitis is a serious condition causing constant irritation in the linings of bronchial tubes. The most commonly visible signs of bronchitis are a cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest discomfort and slight fever and chills. Exposure to excessive pollutants and smoking can cause chronic bronchitis.

How homeopathy can help you in treating bronchitis

Bronchitis can be treated with the help of homeopathy, which can be instrumental in providing relief, thereby improving your quality of life. In fact, homeopathy can be your best option for treating both the forms of bronchitis, as it offers significant relief from the symptoms as well as helps in improving your health in totality.

In the case of acute bronchitis, homeopathy can shorten the duration of the illness to a great extent. When a patient is on the homeopathic treatment he/she experiences a marked reduction in toxicity as well. For the management of an acute attack of bronchitis, the prescribed homeopathic medicines may have to be taken at shorter intervals, after every few hours.

Chronic bronchitis, though contagious, can be treated by homeopathy as well. The symptoms of chronic bronchitis can be significantly improved by homeopathic remedies. It can even aid the patient in quitting smoking.

The most important aspect of homeopathy treatment in the management of bronchitis is that the medicine works very fast and does not leave you weak and drained at the end of the infection. Homeopathic treatment can also help to prevent complications such as pneumonia, respiratory failure, right sided heart failure (the one that affects the right side of your heart), emphysema, etc.

Homeopathic medicines come without any side effects and are non-addictive. Also, there is no problem in administering the medicines to any patient irrespective of age; therefore, it's a safer choice to opt for homeopathy for the treatment of bronchitis.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: Did You Know: Every 7th Urban Indian Is Prone To Bronchitis

Here's a Reason for Choosing Homeopathic Treatment for Bronchitis

Sinusitis is an inflammatory condition which causes swelling of the tissue lining the sinus passages. The healthy sinisuses are filled with air, but when there is a blockage, they get filled with fluids which can give rise to germs and cause an infection. Conditions such as the common cold, allergic rhinitis (swelling of the lining of the nose) and a deviated septum (shift of the nasal cavity) can cause sinusitis. People with nasal polyps and blocked drainage ducts are more prone to getting sinusitis as compared to other people. The main treatment for sinusitis is surgery.

Sinusitis Surgery
Surgery is the most effective treatment for this condition as it makes the sinuses drain by getting rid of the blockage and draining out the mucus. Surgery also removes infected, swollen and damaged tissues in the sinus along with polyps present in the nose or the sinus. If any foreign substances are obstructing the nasal passage, they are removed as well. Surgery, sometimes, is the only way of getting rid of a nose which is badly blocked. In severe conditions, people might also require a second surgery. Surgery, when coupled with medication, is more effective in treating this condition as antibiotics might be required to prevent the sinus from getting re-infected.

There are two types of sinusitis surgeries people can avail:

Endoscopic surgery: This surgery removes small bones and other foreign substances blocking the sinus passage or is used for removing polyps. A thin tool called the endoscope is inserted into the nose with the help of which, the doctor gets rid of substances which are blocking the sinus passage.
Sinus surgery: This is carried out in conditions when there are developments like pus and infections in the facial bones or in case of a brain abscess (inflammation caused due to infection within the tissues of the brain). In this kind of surgery, the doctor uses the opening in the mouth or makes another one through the skin of the face to remove the blockage from the sinus and get rid of sinusitis.

Suffering from Sinusitis? Can Surgery Be Helpful?

Bronchial adenoma is an uncommon benign tumour that begins in the mucous glands and the airways of the lungs (bronchi). These cancers progress very slowly and can be cured if detected. These cancers can easily spread to other parts of the body, such as the adjoining cells and tissues. These types of cancers, however, respond well to treatment.

There are three types of bronchial adenoma:

Adenoid cystic carcinoma: This type of cancer starts in the salivary glands of the mouth; it may also affect the sweat glands, trachea (windpipe) and the woman's breasts.
Carcinoid tumors: These tumors impair the functioning of the nerve cells and cells that produce hormones. They usually develop in the stomach and the lungs.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma: This type develops in the salivary glands. The parotid glands near the ears are usually affected.
Causes: The exact cause of this disorder is not known. It is believed that some genes in the body are responsible for mutation of the cells. Multiple endocrine neoplasia (a combination of diseases which affects the endocrine system of the body) increases the risks of being affected by bronchial adenoma.

Symptoms: Since these tumors progress very slowly, initially the symptoms might not be apparent. In the latter stages, the symptoms that show up depend on the location of the cancer.

For carcinoid tumors, the symptoms are:

You may experience wheezing and cough
Presence of blood in the cough
Chest pain and breathing difficulties
Becoming increasingly susceptible to infections such as pneumonia
For mucoepidermoid carcinoma, the symptoms are:

The glands near the ears may swell
You may experience pain in your face
For Adenoid cystic carcinoma, the symptoms are:

Trouble while swallowing food
Hoarse voice
Swelling on the roof of your mouth
Numbness in the jaw
Bumps below the jaw

Causes and Symptoms of Bronchial Adenoma

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