The adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys, are very important to your body as they secrete many important hormones. These hormones are required to regulate many functions within the body. The two most important hormones that these glands produce are  cortisol  and  aldosterone . When your body suffers from the condition of Addison s disease, the glands end up producing very little amounts of these hormones. This will result in many functions in the body being adversely affected.


How do you know your loved one is suffering from Addison s disease?
Addison s disease develops overtime and doesn t happen immediately. However, you would be able to notice some of the following symptoms:
Drop in blood pressure which may result in fainting as well
Development of darker skin due to hyperpigmentation
Development of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar
Unexpected weight loss and a decreased appetite in general 
Craving for salt
Extreme fatigue
Irritability and depression
Vomiting, nausea and diarrhea 
Muscle and joint pains
Abdominal pains
Of these, if you start seeing a combination of frequent hyperpigmentation, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, extreme fatigue and unexplained weight loss, you should take your loved one to the doctor immediately as these are telltale signs of Addison s disease.


Diagnosis
There are no ways to self-diagnose this disease as it requires proper medical tests. Some of the medical tests that may be advised for this are:
Blood tests: These are done to measure the levels of sodium, potassium and cortisol in your blood.
ACTH tests: This is a test to determine the exact levels of  cortisol  in your blood and whether it is being produced normally or not.
Hypoglycemia test: This is a test to measure whether adrenal glands are producing enough hormones to regulate insulin. If blood sugar is low, it will indicate problems with the adrenal glands.
Imaging tests: Other tests, such as CT scans may also be prescribed to detect problems within your adrenal glands.


Steps to manage Addison s disease 
Pay regular visits to your doctor: This is very important along with regular tests and checkups as other dependent functions may be damaged and suddenly become life threatening. It may fall on you to take your loved one to a doctor regularly for this reason.
Carry bracelets which have your medical information: If your loved one has a tendency to faint due to the problems caused by Addison s disease, it is important that you ensure they always carry bracelets with medical information with them. This way, strangers will be able to recognize the problem and get help quickly in emergency situations. 
Always keep extra medications: This is a very important point as missing a couple of daily doses and medication can result in sudden deterioration of your loved one's  condition. Have all other forms of administering medications handy as well such as syringes among others.

Addison's disease - How to Support a Loved One Suffering from it?

Cut down flu risk through regular exercise

Cold and flu are common problems which spans across all seasons and affects all age groups, kids and elders alike. However a flu or a viral infection leaves you very weak and vulnerable. A good routine of exercise is the easiest way to keep such infections at bay.

Regular exercise plays an important role in building your immunity against a flu infection. If you exercise for a minimum of 2.5 hours every week, your chances of contracting a flu infection are drastically reduced by almost 10 percent. However it is important that you exercise moderately and on a regular basis to protect your body against the flu.

An effective exercise schedule would involve 150 minutes of moderate exercise such as brisk walking, gardening etc every week. This can also be substituted by 75 minutes/week of vigorous exercise which includes running, playing a sport, aerobics etc. And 2 days for muscle strengthening exercises. Incorporate any one of these regimes in your daily schedule and follow them without fail, as they are the most fool-proof method to prepare your body for the fight against the flu virus.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on consult.

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Can You Cut Down FLU Risk With Mere Exercising?

Does your baby s skin taste too salty when you kiss him or her? Did he or she not poop after being born? These symptoms indicate cystic fibrosis in your baby, which is a condition that changes the way your body makes sweat and mucus. It also affects the functioning of the lungs and digestive system. The condition occurs from a flawed gene. If you have cystic fibroids, your mucus may be too thick or your sweat can be too salty. Heavy mucus clogging in your lungs may affect your ease of breathing. This is a serious and life-threatening disease, but it affects different people in different ways.

Causes
The gene known as CFTR is present in everybody. It makes a protein which controls the amount of salt and water that are moved in and out of the cells of the body. In case of cystic fibroids, the CTFR gene is broken, which occurs if you inherit two bad copies of the gene. A bad CFTR gene may lead your cells to make the wrong amount of water or salt. This makes the body incapable of getting sufficient oxygen and nutrients, as the body loses them via sweating.

Symptoms
Apart from the primary symptoms, several other symptoms are also likely due to cystic fibroids. The common symptoms which your child may experience are as follows:

Coughing up thick mucus, wheezing and shortness of breath
Sinus infections, pneumonia, or very frequent bronchitis
Development of polyps in the nose
Bulky, oily and foul-smelling stool
Low bone density, widening and rounding of the fingertips and weight loss
In later life, cystic fibroids may cause liver disease, gallstones or pancreatitis.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for cystic fibroids. Several treatments are followed for relieving the symptoms and help patients feel better, breathe easier and have lesser infections or stomach problems.

Airway clearance technique can help you with breathing as the mucus from the lungs is cleared in the process. There are several ways to undertake airway clearance and special devices can be used for assistance.
Several inhaled drugs such as salt solutions, steroids and antibiotics are used in thinning the mucus, clearing the lungs and fighting infections.
Several medicines are used for fighting the inflammation and reducing swelling in the lungs.
In case your pancreas are not working properly, you can take enzyme pills for digesting proteins and fats for absorbing more nutrients from the food you take.
Vitamin A, E and D supplements provide the nutrients, which your intestine cannot absorb.
In case you experience the symptoms of cystic fibroids, you should visit a doctor immediately. This will allow you to go for an early diagnosis and effective treatment.

Cystic Fibrosis - Can it be Life Threatening?

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

OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder, which can be indicated through obsession, having pervasive thoughts or thoughts, which may upset you, having certain compulsions, and practicing certain rituals, which may help to control or manage your obsessions. It is a disorder, which cannot be cured, but can be controlled with the help of treatment. Mostly, OCD is considered to be a lifelong disorder. It often circulates around the fear of germs or sickness and around keeping order and maintaining patterns. A person suffering from OCD can often be extremely annoying. Hence here are a few tips you can use to deal with OCD:

1. Understand OCD: The first step towards dealing with OCD is to know what you have to deal with. Gather as much information as you can about OCD and also read up about how you can overcome it. You need to know the symptoms of OCD so you can identify the disorder. Almost everyone suffers from OCD at one point of their lives. Hence, it is extremely important to understand OCD in order to treat it.

2. Work with your compulsions: Do not get petrified about your compulsions if you are planning to overcome your OCD, instead work with them. Try not to encourage their development. If you are worrying about whether you have switched of the lights, try and develop a mental picture of you doing it. If you are able to get a clear picture, then you have, otherwise you can go and switch it off. Another option is to maintain a list where you tick off the activity once you have done it so that you don't have to worry about it later on. 

3. Maintain a journal: Maintaining a journal will help you curb your fears and negative thoughts. Write down all your obsessive thought and reflect on how they are affecting you and whether they are worth your worry or time. Gradually you will see that you are able to control these thoughts and will be able to push away any negativity which comes along with them.

4. Remind yourself about the good in you: Make this your regular practice. Do not undermine yourself, instead make yourself feel good. This will help you to get over the fact that you have done something wrong in your daily activities (like not turning the gas off when you actually have) and that wrong is going to harm people.

Chronic OCD will require therapy and medical assistance. Hence if you are able to detect the signs at an early level and are able to adopt the above measures to control it, then going to a doctor might not be necessary.

Tips to Deal With Ocd

Diabetes is caused in your body due to an insulin imbalance or improper functioning of insulin, and it can affect multiple parts of your body within a short time. Therefore, regular check-ups of your body are very essential to know if you have diabetes.

Once you find out that you have tested positive for the disease, you need to become even more thorough in your testing to find out if your blood sugar levels are rapidly fluctuating. If they get out of hand, they may cause medical emergencies that may be impossible for you to tackle alone at home.

Hence, daily monitoring of blood sugar is of great importance, and can be done in the following ways-

  Monitoring with a meter - In this rather simple but effective way, you have to draw blood from a small puncture on your skin made with the help of a needle or small pricking device. The blood is placed on a strip and then introduced on a testing meter, which displays accurately your blood sugar levels.

  Meters that monitor blood from several body parts - There are meters that monitor glucose levels in blood from several parts of the body. These parts include the base of the thumb, and the forearm too. This method of diagnosis is particularly helpful for those whose blood sugar levels constantly fluctuate, as this device provides an average of blood sugar levels from different parts of the body, as a composite whole.

  Continuous glucose monitoring systems - Known as interstitial glucose measuring devices popularly, they give results not as accurate as the other two devices, but still a fairly accurate estimate.

How to keep your sugar levels in constant control?

If your blood sugar levels are too high or too low, you have to bring them to normal via treatment, and if they are at a harmless level, you have to maintain it at that mark. There are several ways to maintain your sugar levels at acceptable rates. They are-

  Daily regulated exercise - Daily exercise dramatically helps your health if you have diabetes because it increases your insulin sensitivity and promotes better utilization of it in your body. Exercise is also helpful to guard you against other illnesses related to high bad cholesterol, or a weak immune system.

  A balanced, healthy diet - A balanced diet helps you keep your sugar levels in check while providing you with the requisite nutrients for making your body even healthier. Make sure to include an abundance of fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables in your diet, and cut down intake of fast, processed and extremely sugary foods/beverages.

  Drinking plenty of water - Drinking adequate water hydrates your body, and contributes to a healthy diet. It also reduces your risk of diabetes and guards you against diseases like gallbladder stones which are caused due to a lack of water in your body.

  Stay mentally sound and stress-free - Controlling your stress and anxiety levels can work wonders for your diabetes. If you make it a goal to stay stress-free about factors that are beyond your control, and be optimistic about life in general, it could work wonders for control of your diabetes.

Diabetes is a potentially life-threatening disease with a host of secondary complications. To avoid the worst of it, make sure you go for regular medical checks. If you do happen to be diagnosed with it, perform regular tests to check your levels, and take adequate measures to keep it under firm control.

Ways To Monitor Blood Sugar And Followup Care!

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