Migraine vs. Headache: know the difference

How to differentiate between a migraine and headache?

When you feel pain or pressure in your head, it may become difficult for you to assess whether you are experiencing a common headache or a migraine. Let's understand how different they are from each other.

A typical headache usually affects both sides of your head and varies from a mild to moderate pain. It can last from 30 minutes to up to a period of one week.

Some specific areas which get affected by a headache are:

  temples

  forehead

  back of your neck

Factors that trigger this headache type are a muscle strain, stress or anxiety. 

A migraine, on the other hand, is also a type of a headache which results in an acute throbbing sensation in one part of your head. Usually, migraine headaches are highly painful. Migraine pain makes it difficult for a person to carry out his/her daily tasks. Symptoms or signs associated with migraine attacks are:

  vomiting

  nausea 

  sensitivity to sound or light

  pain in the temples

  temporary loss of vision

  pain behind your ear or eye

What are the common causes of a migraine?

  hormonal imbalances in women - fluctuations in oestrogen, especially during menopause or pregnancy seem to trigger a migraine

  drinks like wine and extremely caffeinated beverages 

  foods such as salty foods, aged cheese as well as processed foods can trigger the migraine attack.

  medications - vasodilators such as nitroglycerine and oral contraceptives can intensify migraine pain.

How to treat a headache?

Fortunately, you can get rid of stress-induced headaches through over-the-counter treatments, which include:

  aspirin

  acetaminophen

  ibuprofen

How to treat a migraine?

If you experience migraine attacks less frequently, these medicines may give you quick relief:

  triptans, such as rizatriptan (Maxalt) or almotriptan (Axert)

  antinausea medicines, such as chlorpromazine (Thorazine), promethazine (Phenergan) or prochlorperazine (Compazine)

  non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as acetaminophen, naproxen sodium, aspirin or ibuprofen

Some preventive tips:

  make changes in your diet such as avoid such foods, including caffeine and alcohol which are believed to trigger headaches.

  you can also try muscle relaxation exercises, yoga or meditation to ease the migraine attack. 

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: 8 Common Migraine Triggers You Must Stay Away From

Migraine Vs. Headache: Know the Difference

Did you know that lack of sleep can make you fatter? Here's how.

Lack of sleep doesn't only affect your mood and concentration levels, it also affects your weight. Studies show that not getting enough sleep can be responsible for your increasing waistline and bulky frame. 

Here's how sleep impacts your weight. 

1. Sleep deprivation leads towards consumption of foods that give quick energy
When you've had less sleep than what you require, you feel a lack of energy while performing your daily chores. This can cause you to increase your intake of instant energy-giving foods like potato chips and chocolates or other foods with high carbohydrate and fat content. As a result, you may end up accumulating more kilos on your body.

2. A sleepy brain experiences difficulty in making decisions
Sleeplessness has a negative effect on your body as it prevents you from having complete control of your brain, which may ultimately make you a bad decision maker; especially when it comes to choice of food. You may lack the mental clarity required to avoid calorie-rich foods and may try to fulfil your food cravings with the first available serving of food.

Sleep deprived people are more likely to munch on late night, unhealthy snacks, which are responsible for making them fatter. Lack of sleep also leads you towards consuming foods in greater quantity.

3. The sleep-diet connection 
Sleep deprivation results in the improper functioning of your metabolism and increases the hormone 'ghrelin' (responsible for regulating the frequency of food intake) and decreases the amount of the hormone 'leptin' (responsible for indicating when to stop food consumption). More ghrelin and lesser leptin imply more amount of food consumption, which consequently leads to weight gain.

How to implement an enhanced sleep pattern in your lifestyle?

You can try out the following remedies to ensure that you get good quality sound sleep.
- To begin with, try to abstain from caffeine consumption in any form during the afternoons as it affects your sleep routine at night. 
- Design a sleep schedule for yourself and try to follow it every day, even at weekends.
- Do not consume heavy meals or alcohol before bedtime as it may result in indigestion and may make it difficult for you to fall asleep.
- Also, you can enhance the quality of your sleep by exercising daily. However, ensure that you don't exercise just before sleeping as exercising can cause your energy levels to rise, making it difficult for you to fall asleep.

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

Did You Know Lack of Sleep Makes You Fat? 

Interstitial lung disease includes a large group of disorders like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, sarcoidosis and asbestosis. These cause progressive fibrosis or scarring of the tissues surrounding the air sacs in your lungs. The scarring causes your lungs to stiffen which makes it difficult for you to breath.

What are the symptoms to look out for?

  Dry cough
  Shortness of breath at rest or due to exertion
  Loss of weight
  Loss of appetite
  Weakness
  Chest discomfort

What are the causes?

Normally, your lungs will regenerate tissue to repair any damage. But in interstitial lung disease, the normal repair process does not occur due to injury to the lungs. The tissue around the air sacs gets scarred and thickened, causing difficulty in breathing.

Your lungs may get injured due to long-term exposure to airborne toxins and pollutants like  

  Asbestos
  Silica dust
  Coal dust
  Grain dust from framing
  Radiation
  Indoor hot tubs
  Bird and animal droppings
  Bird proteins from chicken or pigeon

Sometimes, certain drugs can cause chronic damage to your lungs, like-

  Chemotherapy drugs
  Heart medications
  Antibiotics
  Anti-inflammatory drugs

Lung disease can also be caused by autoimmune disorders like-

  Rheumatoid arthritis
  Sjogren s syndrome
  Scleroderma
  Dermatomyositis
  Polymyositis
  Mixed connective tissue disease

Why homeopathy?

Homeopathic remedies are customized according to the effects that the disease has on your body. It will relieve symptoms like sharp pain in the lungs, hemorrhaging in the capillaries and coughing with mucus. It will also slow down the progression of the disease. Homeopathy induces your immunity system to restore the damaged tissues and heal itself. There are no associated side effects of homeopathic remedies to your body. 

Homeopathic medication and therapy also help you to treat the damage from the side effects caused by conventional treatment.

If you visit a pulmonary specialist, he/she will prescribe medications like corticosteroids, medications that will slow down fibrosis and that reduce stomach acid or you might be given artificial oxygen to make breathing easier. The last option is surgery. All of these treatment options will not reverse the scarring in the lungs. In most cases, they do not stop the progression of the disease.

The life expectancy for someone with any of the types of interstitial lung diseases is 3 to 5 years. Homeopathy has proven to be a safe and effective treatment option with no side effects that can slow down the progression of your disease. It is important that you treat it early if you want to prevent severe health complications.

Interstitial Lung Disease - Why Should You Choose Homeopathy For Treating It?

Interstitial lung disease is an umbrella term that includes a number of conditions that causes scarring of the tissues of the lungs. This scarring can hamper your breathing and therefore cause less oxygen to be present in your blood.

When you are exposed to hazardous materials like asbestos for long periods, you can get interstitial lung disease. Even autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis can result in this condition. 

Once the tissues of your lungs are scarred, chances are that it can t be reversed. While medications can slow the progress of the but you won t be able to regain the full functionality of your lungs. In such cases, you can consider a lung transplant.

What are the signs?

You will difficulty in breathing   it may be aggravated when you exert yourself or you may experience shortness of breath during rest periods. A dry cough is another sign of this condition.

What causes it?

Interstitial lung disorders occur when you ve had an injury in your lungs that set off an abnormal healing process. With the healing not happening in a normal way, the tissues around your air sacs tend to thicken and get scarred. The does not allow oxygen to get into your blood.

There are certain triggers for this condition  

If you are exposed to certain pollutants or toxins like silica dust, bird dropping and grain dust for long periods.

Medications like chemotherapy drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs and heart medications.

If you have the following medical disorders   scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, mixed connective tissue disease, dermatomyositis, Sjogren's syndrome and sarcoidosis.

What is the treatment? 

First, a doctor will carry out diagnostic tests to identify the cause of the problem. The following tests are usually performed  

Blood tests to detect autoimmune responses to pollutants

Imaging tests like CT scan and echocardiogram

Tests like oximetry and spirometry to determine your lung s capacity

Surgical biopsy and bronchoscopy to analyse your lung tissue

Once the diagnosis is done, the doctor can suggest any one of them or a combination of the following methods  

1. Medications 

Corticosteroids are used to suppress the immune system. GERD can also damage your lungs, so you may be given medicines to reduce stomach acid if you have an excess of it.

2. Oxygen therapy

Oxygen therapy can help you with breathing and help you sleep better. But it won't stop damage to the lung tissues.

3. Pulmonary rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation can help you perform your daily tasks without any hitch. It includes exercise, breathing techniques, eating healthy and emotional support.

Surgery

If nothing else works, then the doctor may recommend a lung transplant. 

Moreover, there are certain lifestyle remedies that you can adopt  

Avoid smoking as it can aggravate your condition.

Eat a healthy and nutritious diet.

Take vaccines for respiratory infections like the flu and pneumonia.

The best way to deal with this disorder is to not have it at all. But with proper treatment, your symptoms can be reduced.

Interstitial Lung Disease - Know More!

The shoulders are the most mobile joints in your body. Shoulder joints undergo wear and a tear over time and hence become unstable. Shoulder arthritis is one of the painful conditions affecting the shoulder joints. Arthritis not only takes a toll on the tendons and muscles, but also affects the ligaments and joints too. They usually cause symptoms such as joint pain, resulting in limited mobility.

Treatment:

Nonsurgical or Lifestyle treatments:

Take rest or avoid the activities that provoke pain or change the way of your arm movements.
Physical therapy boosts shoulder mobility.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or aspirin alleviate pain and inflammation.
Corticosteroid injections in the shoulders can also help to ease the pain and inflammation, although temporarily.
Applying moist heat or ice packs over the shoulders for about half an hour at least thrice a day brings relief.
Drugs such as methotrexate can be administered in case one is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (a chronic disease attacking multiple joints of the body).
Dietary supplements such as chondroitin and glucosamine may help reduce pain.
Surgical treatments (if your pain results in disability and does not lessen with nonsurgical options)

Join replacement surgery or arthroplasty involves replacing the damaged parts of the shoulder with a prosthetic (artificial) joint.
Few mild forms of arthritis may be treated using the Arthroscopic procedure (minimally invasive surgery). It requires a surgeon to ease the joint pain by making small incisions to  clean out  the joint. A tiny camera fitted into the joint guides the surgeon through the surgery.
Resection arthroplasty is a method that involves the surgical removal of the bone from the collar bone and substituting it with a scar tissue to treat arthritis of particular joints.

Everything You Need To Know About Shoulder Arthritis Treatment

Diabetes mellitus is a condition affecting the way one s body utilizes blood sugar (glucose). Glucose is essential to your health since it is a vital energy source for the cells that make up the tissues and muscles. Diabetes is characterized by excess blood sugar levels. The complications might get aggravated and turn fatal if it is left untreated over a period of time. 

Diabetes mellitus can be of two types - Type 1 and Type 2. 

In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to metabolize sugar and starch from the foods that you consume while Type 2 diabetes affects the way the body processes the blood glucose.

Diabetes substantially increases the risks of numerous cardiovascular disorders (a condition that affects the heart s blood vessels due to fatty deposits within the arteries) such as atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries), stroke, heart attack (wherein flow of blood to the heart muscle gets blocked all of a sudden), heart failure (inability of the heart to pump blood throughout the body) and angina (chest pain).

Why are diabetic people at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases?

The following factors are associated (could be the common reason as well) with both diabetes and cardiovascular diseases-

High blood pressure and hypertension.

High triglyceride level (a kind of fat present in the blood) and abnormal cholesterol level.

Obesity.

Lack of exercises and physical activities.

Uncontrolled blood sugar level.

Smoking.

Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes 

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