A cough is a sign that there is something wrong with the throat. Be it an infection or a sore throat or food stuck in the windpipe, a cough can start. While it may sometimes disappear, sometimes, it may just refuse to go. This not just is bothersome to you to allow to continue work, it also irritates the others in the surrounding and attracts attention. Everybody looks at you annoyed and gives a look which says  why don t you do something about it?  Well, they mean well, and there are definitely things that can help manage a nagging cough. Find out for yourself!

Salt water gargling: Mix about a teaspoon of water in a glass of warm water and gargle your mouth for about 1 minute. It helps soothe the throat and reduce the cough. It can also clear the bacteria along the throat, providing relief from the cough. If there is phlegm lodged in the throat, it gets easily expelled too.
Honey: This viscous liquid coats the inflamed and irritated mucous membranes along the throat and provides instant relief. It is also known for its antibacterial nature and has good enzymes from the bees, which are known for providing instant relief to both children and adults. The sweet taste makes it further appealing. Adding ground black pepper powder to it further improves the effect, as it clears congestion.
Steam: Cough is often the result of an irritated and inflamed throat mucosa. Inhaling steam is one of the best ways to soothe this mucosa and provide relief. It reduces mucosal inflammation and removes phlegm. Adding a few drops of essential oils like eucalyptus or tea tree oil further improves the effect. These have antibacterial and antiviral properties and so enhance the relief. With boiled water in a vessel, bend over it and cover your head to ensure the steam is inhaled. Be careful to avoid burns, as steam can burn. This can be repeated 4 to 5 times daily until you get sufficient relief.
Ginger and Mint: Another wonder substance is the ginger. To a cup of warm water, add honey, few slices of ginger, and some dried peppermint. This helps by acting as an expectorant and reduces irritation in the throat, which produces cough.
Cough drops or lozenges: If you are in a public space and cannot do the above, try cough drops. Sucking on them can soothe the throat and the constant swallowing of saliva helps relieve the irritation in the throat.
Nasal irrigation: This helps relieve the postnasal congestion and dripping, which often leads to nagging coughs.
These are some simple, effective ways to reduce constant coughing.

Nagging Cough - 6 Quick Ways You Can Manage It!

What is Palpitation?
Palpitation is a feeling of awareness of your own heart beat. It is usually described as heart rate being either too fast (racing), too slow or a sensation of missing a beat.

Types of palpitations?
Normal (Benign)
- These palpitations occur as a response to physical or mental stress like exercise, fever, pain, fear, anxiety etc. 
- They are harmless and settle on their own once the precipitating factors disappear. They do not require any medical treatment.

Abnormal
- These palpitations occur due to some underlying abnormality in either the structure of heart or the beating of heart. 
- These can be dangerous and at times life threatening. They may or may not settle on their own and require some medical treatment.

Warning signs that suggest palpitations are abnormal?
Palpitations are abnormal, if they are associated with chest heaviness, chest pain, uneasiness, sweating, weakness, giddiness, feeling of black out, fainting, nausea, vomiting, seizures. Palpitations are more likely to be abnormal in people who have some existing heart disease and these patients should report to their doctor at the earliest.

What to do during palpitations?
1. Stay calm. 
2. Call for help. If u are alone avoid driving, use a taxi or auto, go to your nearest hospital/doctor and try to get an ECG during the palpitations. If you are helping someone having palpitations, if they faint, call for help, start CPR if they remain unresponsive and take them to the nearest hospital. 

Which doctor can treat palpitations?
Doctors who specialise in the treatment of palpitations are called Electrophysiologists. They specialise in heart rhythm and are capable of performing a variety of complex tests to identify and treat different types of palpitations.

Which investigations are used to diagnose palpitations?
ECG: Taken during palpitations and when the patient is normal is a very helpful tool. 
Holter: Externally applied recorder, which continuously records heart rhythm for 24 hrs. 
ELR: Extended loop recorder, is like holter, but it records rhythm for longer durations. 
ILR:  Internal loop recorder is attached within the body for recording rhythm for long duration. 
EPS: Electrophysiology study, is the most sure shot test to diagnose, identify and treat 
Palpitations.

What is EPS?
EPS stands for Electrophysiology study. By this test a trained Electrophysiologist studies the conduction and formation system of heart beat, to understand the source, cause and type of palpitation. It is a simple and safe procedure of 2 to 3 hours and can be done as a day care procedure (by admitting the patient for a few hours in hospital, with discharge on same day).

It requires fasting for 4 hrs, some standard blood investigations and is done with local anaesthesia and if required it can be combined with treatment like ablation in the same sitting.In the procedure Electrophysiologist take catheters into your heart to study and stimulate the palpitations and understand them. Once found they can use various techniques to stop the palpitations, the techniques are called Ablation.

What are the treatment options available for palpitations?
There are many options depending upon the nature of palpitations and condition of the patient: 
- Drug therapy 
- Cardioversion where either a drug or electric shock is given to stop palpitations immediately. 

Ablations using many sophisticated computer softwares 
Device Therapy like ICD (Internal cardiac defibrillator) 
Combination of all the above therapies.

Your Electrophysiologist and you as a team can make a choice about the options that will be best for you.

Palpitations - Everything You Need to Know

Cervical cancer is a kind of cancer that develops in the cervix of a woman. Cervix an an area between the uterus and vagina. It is preventable if diagnosed in early stages. Going for regular pap tests and taking a HPV vaccine can significantly lower the risk of cervical cancer. These symptoms include abnormal bleeding between menstrual periods, low back and lower abdominal pain, postcoital bleeding and strange smelling discharge. If not diagnosed in time, it can be life threatening and requires intense treatment.  

    Prevention of cervical cancer: There is usually no certain way of preventing cervical cancer, but by following a number of practices there is a possibility that you can prevent it. There are 3 major ways of prevention of cervical cancer, which include the following:
    Safe sex: Major cases of cervical cancer are caused due to an infection by a virus known as human papillomavirus or HPV. This virus is usually transmitted by sexual means and having unprotected sex might leave you at the risk of getting infected by this virus during the sexual intercourse.  You should practice safe sex using protection such as condoms. This reduces your chances of being infected by the virus. This virus is transmitted via all types of sexual contact, which includes skin contact between the genitals. People who have unprotected sex with multiple sexual partners are at an increased risk of getting cervical cancer due to the HPV virus.
    Cervical screening and vaccination: Having a cervical screening or pap smear test on a regular basis is an efficient way to detect abnormal changes in the cervix cells, at a very early stage. Even if you are being vaccinated for the HPV virus, cervical screening is essential as the vaccines against HPV virus are not always successful in providing protection from cervical cancer. If you had been previously treated for abnormal changes in the cervix cells, you should undertake more frequent screening tests. The regularity of undergoing cervical screening depends on the severity of the cell change. You should report any symptom you experience in spite of having regular cervical screening. Several vaccines are used for protection from HPV infections.  
    Avoid smoking: You can prevent the chances of having cervical cancer by giving up smoking. In case of  smokers, it is more difficult to eliminate the HPV infection from the body, and the chances of cervical cancer get enhanced. You can undertake various measures in order to quit smoking and prescribed medicines can be used to treat withdrawal symptoms.

Cervical cancer causes great strain on the body and it may spread all over the pelvic region. In some cases, distant tissues are also affected by cervical cancer. You should consult a doctor immediately after experiencing any symptom of cervical cancer.

4 Ways You Can Try & Prevent Cervical Cancer

Natural child birth is a process of giving birth to a child with no or little medical interference. In spite of the severe labor pain, many women decide to go for natural child birth because they find the experience beneficial. One of the best advantages that you can expect from a natural child birth is being in full control of your body.

Utmost care: From the time you conceive until your delivery, hospitals are expected to take the best care of both the mother and the child. At the best child care hospitals, paediatrics should be able to put themselves in your place and aspire to take care of your child. Reliable child care hospitals should have the ability to ensure smooth and safe delivery of the child.
Expertise: Child care hospitals must provide best paediatric services. Paediatrics deal with child care and that requires a high level of expertise. A child's health and well-being should be of paramount importance for any best child care hospital. The team of doctors should possess wide - ranging knowledge because they have been entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of your child's health. Besides these the hospital's team should include trained nurses; highly qualified and experienced medical workers.
Work Dedicatedly: Doctors from the best child care hospitals should be able to listen to you carefully and should attend to your child. They must be able to assist you with the queries related to your child's development. The child care services should be able to take care of the child from birth and assist them throughout their developing years.
Best child care hospitals should also provide reasonable treatment offers with the use of the latest, state-of-the-art technology.

Natural Childbirth - What to Expect From Best Child Care Hospitals?

Asperger's syndrome has been found to affect people at a tender age. The augmented impacts of this syndrome are felt as you grow up. It is a neurological disorder falling under the scope of autistic spectrum disorders. However, it is a milder form of autism and has similarly unidentifiable causes. A person afflicted with asperger's syndrome will not exhibit stark signs of the disorder. These persons are usually smart and brilliant but face issues in communicating or interacting socially. 

Factors that may result in this disorder: 

A) genetic factors could also afflict you with such a syndrome. Thus, it is important to carry your family history while consulting a doctor.
B) certain changes in a person's brain could create trouble. 
C) your body could be susceptible to external toxins: many times bacteria and viruses from a polluted environment can lead you to such a serious neurological condition.

Ways to diagnose asperger's syndrome: 
1. A doctor would concentrate on your child's speech- language development can hint at many underlying health issues. Your child might fail to process speech around him or her which impairs its own speech.

2. Exchanges in a social setup could be indicative of something- children or adults could find social 
Gatherings challenging. They feel awkward to interact with friends, relatives and colleagues. It takes a lot of effort on their part to exchange basic pleasantries. A doctor will be able to deduce from such symptoms.

3. Facial expressions while conversing could help diagnosis- a person's facial expressions tell a lot about how they formulate or feel about things. Their words, at the same time, could be contrary. Counselors lay stress on frequent sittings to closely note the gestures made by a patient. 

4. Comprehension and coordination capabilities- your child or loved one might find it difficult to handle motor regulated appliances. Comprehending instructions could also be a test. People suffering from asperger's syndrome face problems in understanding simple things. 

5. Responding to change will also be taken into consideration- patients trying to cope with this syndrome are usually not open to change. They take a very long time to adapt to a given way of life; a sudden change will thwart their idea of normalcy.

Causes and Diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome

Almost 60% men are suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED), and these troubles are getting prominent day by day due to unhealthy lifestyle. Now, you will find various options for treating erectile dysfunction, and you got to get a fair idea about them. Not all medicines are suitable for you, and this is the reason doctors conduct a clinical examination before prescribing medicines.

Best drug options for treating erectile dysfunction

1. Topical administration: Macrochem and Nexmed are the two most popular options, and they are available in a gel form. This gel can be applied with ease over your weak or curved penis so that unwanted erections can be prevented. In this case, needles are not inserted, and thus you will face no adverse reactions. But proper medications are also required along with these medicated gels.

2. Penile injections: Brindley and Virag are the two popular penile injections that can be easily injected so that you can get rid of erectile dysfunction. These injections are to be injected only under proper medical supervision otherwise you might face dreadful consequences. Alprostadil, phentolamine and papaverine deserve a special mention, and they are the safest options as per medical experts. Trial dosage can be easily administered, and on the other hand, combination medications need to be tried out for getting beneficial results.

3. Intraurethral agents: There are many medical programs where these agents have been referred by experts. Though these agents are treated as alternative options, but you can still try them out in order to get some positive effects. In fact, the recovery process can be accelerated to a great extent by means of using these kinds of agents. You can get smoother and highly satisfactory penetration experienced with the use of these agents along with other prescribed medications for erectile dysfunction.

4. Oral agents: though there are innumerable oral agents that can treat Ed trouble, but you have to choose quite carefully with the help of an experienced doctor. Some popular options in this regard are Cialis, Levitra, Staxyn, Stendra, Viagra and others. Only prescribed dosage needs to be taken, and thus you should take only those medicines that are only being prescribed by your doctor.

Do not choose medications as per your preference and never collect ED medicines over-the-counter. Before prescribing any ED medicine, doctor usually conducts a thorough examination in order to know the actual health condition of the patients and this clinical examination is important for referring the right ED medicines.

Most Common Drugs that Successfully Treat Erectile Dysfunction

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