Catching a cold once in a while is nothing to worry about, but needing to take sick leave every few weeks is a sign of low immunity. Immunity can be defined as our ability to fight infections. By eating right and making a few lifestyle changes, you can easily strengthen your immune system and lower your risk of catching infections. On that note, here are 10 ways to strengthen your immune system.

Eat a balanced meal: Along with fruits and vegetables, your body also requires carbohydrates and proteins. Eating a balanced diet helps keep your blood sugar levels stable and allows your body to prioritize building your immune system over generating energy to perform normal tasks.
Drink plenty of water: When you re ill, fluids help transport nutrients to the infected area and flush out toxins from the same. Hence, it is important to stay hydrated in order to recover faster from an illness and to build your immune system.
Probiotics: 80% of your immune system is located in the gut. Probiotics help the body produce more healthy gut bacteria. Thus, probiotics directly boost the immune system.
A good night s sleep: Ideally, a person should get 8 to 10 hours of sleep on a daily basis. While we are asleep, the body produces cytokines ad antibodies that are vital to a strong immune system. Depriving the body of this sleep can thus make us more susceptible to infections.
Get some sun: While we put a lot of effort into protecting ourselves from the harmful UV rays of the sun, sunlight is also a rich source of vitamin D. Vitamin D helps protect us from a number of serious illnesses. Apart from sunlight we can also get vitamin D by adding cod liver oil, egg yolks and fatty fish to our diet.
Quit sugar: Sugar is an immunosuppressant and hence cutting out added sugar from your diet can have a drastic effect on your immunity. Added sugar refers only to refined sugar in cubed, crystal or powdered form and not the natural sweetners in fruits.
Exercise: Regular exercise improves blood circulation and boosts the production of antibodies. A healthy circulatory system combined with antibodies enables your body to fight infections in any part of your body.
Avoid tobacco and alcohol: Alcohol impairs the immune system and tobacco smoke weakens the body s basic immune system. This holds true for both first hand and second hand smoke.
Reduce stress: Stress increases the production of a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol suppresses the immune system and thus makes us more susceptible to illnesses.
Prevent germs from spreading: Lastly, make simple things like washing your hands before eating and after coming home or using the toilet a habit. This prevents germs from spreading and entering our bodies.

10 Ways You Can Strengthen Your Immune System

When you have soft drinks or sodas, the pancreas quickly start to make insulin because of excessive sugar. Insulin is a hormone the body uses to move sugar from food items or drink into the circulation system, where cells are then ready to use that sugar for energy purposes. Within 15 minutes, glucose levels increase and the liver reacts to the insulin by transforming sugar into fat for capacity. Here is how soft drinks affect our health:

Asthma: It is prevalently found in a large number of soft drink consumers. Soft drinks contain sodium benzoate, which is utilized as an additive to control microbial growth. Sodium additives get blended with the rest of the diet and decrease the amount of potassium in our body. This expands the odds of rashes, asthma and skin aggravation.
Tooth enamel: Soft drinks contain high responsive solvents, which when blended with saliva or acids in the stomach, become acidic in nature. This starts affecting the body immediately. Because of such a quick effect, our mouth and teeth get influenced. It is proven that with every sip of a soft drink, the layer of the teeth decreases by two percent. The skin in the mouth and throat is very delicate and is easily harmed. This also causes rashes on the face and leads to pimples some times.
Heart diseases: Soft drinks contain fructose corn syrup, which has been connected with an increased danger of metabolic disorder. This condition increases the danger of both diabetes and heart diseases. One of 40 deaths each day are caused by heart strokes, which is an aftereffect of consuming soft drinks.
Kidney issues: A number of soft drinks contain phosphoric acids. These phosphoric acids irritate the digestive system and healthy organs. The stomach-related framework is connected to kidneys. Phosphoric acid expands the odds of stones in kidney and other kidney issues and diseases.
Reproductive issues: Soft drinks contain tar in them which contains BPA (Biphenyl   A) and is a similar tumor-causing compound found in pet bottles, water bottles and tinned food cans. This affects the endocrine framework, bringing about untimely adolescence.
Osteoporosis: It is seen that calcium is urinated alongside phosphoric acids, by the use of these drinks. This leads to osteoporosis, which results in corrosion or thinning of bones.  This in turn leads to calcium deficiency, which is one of the vital minerals of the body.
Obesity: It is dangerous to gain weight because of soft drinks. So it is not encouraged to consume soft drinks regularly since they can lead to obesity-related issues.
Sugar over-burdening: After around 15 minutes of soft drink consumption, our glucose shoots up, bringing on an insulin burst. The liver acts by changing the sugar particles into fat. This excites the consumer and increases the pulse, which causes the liver to deposit more sugar into the circulatory system.


Soft Drinks - How They Affect Your Health?

The Churg-Strauss disease is a rare medical condition, which causes abnormal and painful swelling of the blood vessels thereby obstructing normal blood flow to the different body organs and tissues. The Churg-Strauss disease generally attacks the blood vessels of the intestine, nose, heart, lungs and the sinuses. In rare cases, this abnormal swelling can damage the kidney and the body joints. If not diagnosed timely, Churg-Strauss disease might lead to further complications such as heart disease, nerve damage, and kidney damage.

Causes
1. As of now, the accurate causes of the syndrome have not been detected; although doctors suspect that hereditary factors and a long-term exposure to allergens might be responsible for the syndrome.

2. Also, the syndrome can be caused as a result of side effects of prescribed medications for asthma and allergies. However, many people who have been diagnosed with allergies do not show the symptoms of Churg-Strauss syndrome.

3. The chances of suffering from this condition increase if you suffer from episodes of chronic asthma, sinusitis (inflammation of the nasal passage cavities) or any other form of allergy in the nose. This syndrome has been generally observed in people within the age group of 30-50 years.

Symptoms
The symptoms of Churg-Strauss syndrome vary among people depending on the affected organ. However, the possible symptoms of the disease are but not limited to:

1. There might be a significant pain in the joints and abdomen along with fever, asthma, sinusitis, and a loss in body weight.

2. Development of scars on the body along with the presence of blood in faecal matters coupled with a tingling sensation in the limbs along with a feeling of numbness if the syndrome happens to attack the nerves.

Treatment
Churg-Strauss disease is an incurable medical condition, but a prescribed dosage of corticosteroids or chemotherapy medications can regulate the symptoms.

All About Churg-Strauss Disease

Frequent headaches can be uncomfortable at best, and debilitating at worst. While a chronic migraine can come with a throbbing pain on one side of the head, headaches due to tension can cause mild to moderate pain on both sides. Also, daily headaches happen in at least 15 days, Hemicrania Continua is a condition that brings about constant pain, and usually happens on one side of the head. Read on to learn more about dealing with these different kinds of headaches.

1. Medical Treatment: Inflammation, infections like meningitis and brain injuries that have been proven to be traumatic should be treated with due medication after a proper consultation with a doctor. In certain cases, headaches can be caused due to brain tumours and they must be treated at once. Also, headaches that come with fever, stiff neck, confusion and constant vomiting must be treated by a doctor immediately.

2. Take an Over the Counter Drug: Taking an over the counter drug for instant pain relief can stop the pain and give temporary or long term relief, depending on the kind of headache you are experiencing. It is advisable to speak with a doctor before taking any kind of drug.

3. Find your Triggers: Find and limit your triggers like certain food types as well as stress and certain seasonal changes. Stepping out in the summer with an umbrella and avoiding caffeine or too much of chocolate and cheese can also help in alleviating the pain. Stress is also a major factor that contributes to headaches and should be avoided in order to prevent or stop the pain.

4. Drink Plenty of Water: Staying hydrated is a good way to treat headaches instantly. The consumption of water is known to soothe the pain effectively.

5. A Soothing Break: Find a quiet place with dim lighting to take a break that should ideally last at least half an hour to one hour, or even more. This will help in diminishing and removing the pain. You can also use a cold compress and get yourself a massage.

5 Ways To Deal With Headaches

Headaches and migraines can vary drastically depending on their duration, specific symptoms and the person they are affecting. The more you know about your specific type of headache or migraine, the better prepared you will be to treat them and possibly even prevent them. The two types of migraine are- 

Migraine without aura: The majority of migraine sufferers have Migraine without Aura. 
Migraine with aura: Migraine with Aura refers to a range of neurological disturbances that occur before the headache begins, usually lasting about 20-60 minutes.
Symptoms of migraine vary and also depend on the type of migraine. A migraine has four stages: prodrome, aura, headache and postdrome. But it is not necessary that all the migraine sufferers experience all the four stages.

Prodrome: The signs of this begin to appear a day or two days before the headache starts. The signs include depression, constipation, food cravings, irritability, uncontrollable yawning, neck stiffness and hyperactivity.
Migraine Aura: Auras are a range of symptoms of the central nervous system. These might occur much before or during the migraine, but most people get a migraine without an aura. Auras usually begin gradually and increase in intensity. They last for an hour or even longer and are 

Visual: Seeing bright spots, various shapes, experiencing vision loss, and flashes of light
Sensory: Present in the form of touch sensations like feeling of pins and needles in the arms and legs
Motor: Usually related with the movement problems like the limb weakness
Verbal: It is related with the speech problems
Headache: In case of a migraine attack one might experience:

Pain on both sides or one side of the head
Pain is throbbing in nature
Vomiting and nausea
Sensitivity to smells, sound and light
Vision is blurred
Fainting and lightheadedness
Postdrome: This is the final phase of the migraine. During this phase one might feel fatigued, though some people feel euphoric.

Red flags that the patient may be having underlying serious disorder not migraine

Onset of headaches >50 years 
Thunderclap headache - subarachnoid haemorrhage 
Neurological symptoms or signs 
Meningism 
Immunosuppression or malignancy 
Red eye and haloes around lights - acute angle closure glaucoma 
Worsening symptoms 
Symptoms of temporal arteritis
These patients require CT scan / MRI or CSF examination. Most Migraine patients do not need these tests. 

Diagnosis of Migraine: Usually migraines go undiagnosed and thus are untreated. In case you experience the symptoms regularly then talk to the doctor, who evaluates the symptoms and can start a treatment. You can also be referred to a neurologist who is trained to treat the migraines and other conditions. During the appointment the neurologist usually asks about the family history of headaches and migraines along with your symptoms and medical history.

The doctor might advise for some tests like:

Blood Tests: These reveal problems with the blood vessel like an infection in the spinal cord and brain.
CT scan: Used to diagnose the infections, tumors, brain damage, and bleeding that cause the migraines.
MRI: This helps to diagnose the tumors bleeding infections, neurological conditions, and strokes.
Lumbar Puncture: For analyzing infections and neurological damages. In lumbar puncture a thin needle is inserted between the two vertebrae to remove a sample of the cerebrospinal fluid for analysis.
Treatments

Migraine treatments can help stop symptoms and prevent future attacks.

Many medications have been designed to treat migraines. Some drugs often used to treat other conditions also may help relieve or prevent migraines. Medications used to combat migraines fall into two broad categories:

Pain-relieving medications. Also known as acute or abortive treatment, these types of drugs are taken during migraine attacks and are designed to stop symptoms.
Preventive medications. These types of drugs are taken regularly, often on a daily basis, to reduce the severity or frequency of migraines.
Your treatment strategy depends on the frequency and severity of your headaches, the degree of disability your headaches cause, and your other medical conditions.

Some medications aren't recommended if you're pregnant or breast-feeding. Some medications aren't given to children. Your doctor can help find the right medication for you.

Migraine - Identifying the Early Signs!

When you suffer from dry, chronic cough along with shortness of breath, it is normal to get worried and annoyed. You will want to know the cause and the cure. Note that it might be due to a condition called the interstitial lung disease.

Including almost more than 200 different lung conditions, interstitial lung disease refers to the inflammation and scarring caused in the lungs, which leads to less oxygen entering the blood. Mainly affecting the interstitial part of the anatomic structure of the lungs, which is responsible for the oxygen flow into the blood, interstitial lung disease can damage other parts of the lungs too, such as the lung lining, the airways or the blood vessels. The following is a brief account of the types, causes, symptoms, and treatment of ILD.

Types
Interstitial lung disease can be of various kinds, though all of them leads to the thickening of the lung s interstitial part. Some of the types of ILD are 

Nonspecific interstitial pneumonitis
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Acute interstitial pneumonitis
 Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
Asbestosis
Sarcoidosis
Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia or COP, etc. 
While some of the ILD types are short lived, some are irreversible and chronic.

The primary causes of interstitial lung disease are viruses, fungi, and bacteria. Regular exposure to inhalable irritants such as talc, silica dust, asbestos, coal dust or any other kind of metal dust, bird proteins of pigeons, chickens or any exotic birds, grain dust, etc. can also cause interstitial lung disease. Though rare, sometimes it is the intake of particular drugs that may cause ILD. For the majority of interstitial lung diseases, the exact cause is not always known.

Both men and women of any age can develop this disease, and it is more common in people with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma, and autoimmune disease. Some of the primary symptoms and signs of interstitial lung disease are nonproductive dry cough, shortness of breath, and considerable weight loss. While for some types of ILDs the symptoms develop slowly and gradually over months, for others, such as the acute interstitial pneumonitis or interstitial pneumonia, the symptoms develop more rapidly, within days or a few hours.

For identifying the presence of ILD, doctors usually rely upon chest X-ray, CT scan or computed tomography, pulmonary function testing, high-resolution CT scan, and lung biopsy. In case no apparent cause behind the disease is found from the tests, a patient's history of being exposed to certain chemical environments is then taken into consideration.

Depending on the type and severity of the disease the treatment options vary from one to another. While for some taking prescribed drugs can offer a solution to prevent the lungs from deteriorating further, for some a complete lung transplant may become the only solution. Treatments like pulmonary rehabilitation and oxygen therapy can also be ideal, based on the condition of the lungs.

Thus, if one is constantly exposed to lung irritants and experiences the symptoms of interstitial lung disease for more than eight weeks, he/she must seek the advice of a pulmonologist without delay as the condition may lead to severe complications when left untreated.

Interstitial Lung Disease - Understanding Its Types!

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