Health Wikipedia

Dry hands, arid skin, desiccated hair, more asthma and heart attacks, cold and flu- are the woes of winter. Living well in this wintertime needs extra caution as the cold weather ushers annoying health issues. To help combat the pesky wintertime problems, here are some tips and advice on how to keep your body in fit throughout the winter months.

Proper clothing
When outside for an extended period of time, it is important to find the right, and correct, amount of clothing to wear. Again, wear too much and you can sweat too much increasing susceptibility to hypothermia. The clothes that will release heat are ideal. Because if you start to sweat, that can decrease your heat as water is a gateway to lose heat. Also, if your clothes get wet, you can get yourself into trouble. We need to wear clothes that will not stay sopping wet like cotton does.

Protecting our head and neck are also important because a significant amount of heat can be lost if the head, ears and face are not covered.

We have to be especially careful to cover our fingers, nose, ears and toes because they are the most vulnerable to frostbite.

Skin care
Cracking, chaffing, dry patches, and itchiness — all are unpleasant symptoms of dry and irritated skin that often comes with winter. As temperatures drop, the wind howls, and humidity levels hit an all-year low, and our skin requires extra attention and care to stay healthy. To be sure you are effectively treating and protecting your skin during the harsh winter season, the following skin care tips may be helpful:

Create a barrier with moisturisers: When applying lotions and cremes, you are creating a barrier to protect your skin against dryness. This barrier allows time for hydration and healing to occur from the inside. For best results, regularly apply these immediately following a bath or shower, when the skin is still moist.

Take shorter, cooler showers: Despite how soothing a long, hot shower feels when it is chilly outside, the steam and heat can do skin more harm than good by drawing out moisture that is on the skin and causing dryness. Instead, keep the water temperature comfortably warm and take shorter showers.

Avoid harsh soaps and cleansers: Pay special attention when picking your soap, as certain seemingly-mild cleansers actually contain chemicals that strip water from the skin. Generally, products containing preservatives, fragrances, and lye are harsher and more irritating to the skin. Instead, look for products that contain glycerin which maintains moisture.

And here is a tip for your lips — always wears some form of lip gloss or chapstick to wet your lips.

For your hair
Scalp itchiness, static, dry hair — they are common issues for people in this season.

According to experts, hot oil treatment can help a lot in this regard. Depending on how dry your hair and scalp are, you can use them once a week to once a month. It is also recommended not to wash hair as often, as that contributes to dryness.

And to fight static, consider using a more protein-based conditioner, which will be heavier. To help you choose one, consult with the hair specialists or dermatologists.

Winter injuries
Existing conditions can also be affected by the cold weather. It is important for people with asthma or chronic bronchitis to be very careful specially when during physical exertion in the cold. Cold air can be a significant trigger for those with exercise-induced asthma and they need to prepare for that by having their inhaler, as well as a mask or scarf to warm cold air before breathing it in.

We often forget to protect us properly from the increased intensity of sunlight in winter. Application proper sunscreen on a bright, sunny day can save us from getting sunburn. Sunglasses or goggles also help protect the eyes from the glare of the snow.

Water intake
Just because you are not as thirsty or sweating as much does not mean fluid is not being lost. It is a big problem with the cold because when it is hot, you sweat and understand that you need to replace your fluids. You are not sweating as much, but you still are losing fluids the same as if you were exercising in the summer time. Hydrating beforehand with 8 to 10 glasses of fluid helps a lot and you should also be hydrating during activities no matter what your thirst mechanism is telling you.

Beating the winter blues
Cold is around and people are cooped up in home isolating them more and they are more inclined to stay in. The shorter days and colder temperatures may make you feel blue in the winter, a disease called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The disorder affects people of all ages and races, and the severity of symptoms can vary from person to person. SAD may require medication for some, but for others, a simple change in food may better their mood. Treatments can range from things as simple as taking a walk and opening the blinds during the day something more complex like light therapy and group psychotherapy. Doctors say the easiest thing you can do is be in touch with others, and yourself and your feelings.

Dr Md Rajib Hossain…

Depression may make it harder for people with diabetes to keep their blood sugar levels in check, researchers have found.

In a study of more than 11,000 U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes, the investigators found that over a decade, those diagnosed with depression consistently had a higher average hemoglobin A1C level — a standard measure of long-term blood sugar control.

The findings are concerning, in part, because studies have found that diabetics have a higher risk of depression than non-diabetics. It is estimated that about 30 percent of people with diabetes also suffer from depression at some point.

“Our study shows that depression is a major and important comorbidity in people with type 2 diabetes,” Dr. Leonard Egede, one of the researchers, said.

He and his colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, report their study findings in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.

Briefly, the researchers analysed records from 11,525 mostly male veterans treated for type 2 diabetes between 1997 and 2006. At the outset, 6 percent also had a diagnosis of depression. On average, the researchers found, this group consistently showed a higher hemoglobin A1C level over the years.

The difference between groups was small — a gap of 0.13 percent overall — but for any one person, even a slightly higher hemoglobin A1C, sustained over time, can raise the risk of diabetes complications, Egede noted.

The reasons for the findings are not clear, but one possibility is that dealing with depression makes it harder for diabetics to manage their blood sugar with lifestyle measures and medication.

Any antibiotic, chemical or drug based substance consumed during pregnancy may reach the fetus (the baby inside the uterus) through maternal circulation. Antibiotics that are able to cross the placenta are potentially harmful and cause adverse fetal effects during pregnancy. The effects depend highly on the type and dose of antibiotic. Not only in pregnancy but certain antibiotics are able to pass from mother to her baby through breast milk.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established five pregnancy categories to indicate the risk level of drugs to the fetus. The categories are A-B-C-D and X. The category A being the least dangerous during pregnancy and category X to be completely avoided

Category X: Highly dangerous
Adequate well-controlled or observational studies in animals or pregnant women have demonstrated positive evidence of fetal abnormalities or risks.

Quinolones: Sparfloxacin (1st trimester)

Category D
Adequate well-controlled or observational studies in pregnant women have demonstrated a risk to the fetus. However, the drug may be acceptable if needed in a life-threatening situation or serious disease for which safer drugs cannot be used or are ineffective.

Tetracycline: Tetracycline, Doxycycline, Oxytetracycline

Others: Naproxen (3rd trimester)

Category C
Animal studies have shown an adverse effect but there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women.

Quinolones: Cipro-floxacin, Levofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, Gatifloxacin, Ofloxacin, Sparfloxacin (2nd and 3rd trimester)

Macrolides: Clarithromycin

Aminoglycosides: Gentamicin

Others: Chloramphenicol

Category B
Animal studies have shown an adverse effect, but adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus in any trimester.

Penicillin: Amoxicillin, Ampicillin, Cloxacillin, Flucloxacillin

Cephalosporins: Cephalexin, Cefradine ( First generation); Cefuroxime ( Second Generation); Cefixime, Cefpodoxime, Cefotaxime, Ceftriaxone ( Third Generation)

Macrolides: Azithromycin, Erythromycin

Sulphonamides: Clotrimazole

Others: Metronidazoles, Naproxen (1st and 2nd trimester)

Category A: Least dangerous
Theoretically there are no antibiotics in this class for pregnancy.

Md Sojib Khan……

Fahim Ahmed was tested as diabetic incidentally after a urine test. That was about ten years ago, and from then on Mr Fahim, like so many other people with diabetes, became fixated on his blood sugar. His doctor warned him to control it or the consequences could be dire — he could end up blind, lose a leg, fail his kidneys and so on.

Mr Fahim, a 45-year-old business executive of a reputed organisation in the city, tried hard. When dieting did not work, he began taking pills to lower his blood sugar and pricking his finger several times a day to measure his sugar levels. They remained high. So he agreed to add insulin to his already complicated regimen.

Blood sugar was always in his mind. But in focusing entirely on blood sugar, he ended up neglecting the most important treatment for saving lives — lowering the cholesterol level. That protects against heart disease, which eventually kills nearly everyone with diabetes. He was also missing a second treatment that protects diabetes patients from heart attacks — controlling blood pressure. He assumed everything would be taken care of if he could just lower his blood sugar level.

Most diabetes patients try hard but are unable to control their diseases in this way and most of the time it progresses as years go by. Like many diabetes patients, he ended up paying the price for his misconceptions about diabetes. Last year, Mr Fahim had a life-threatening heart attack.

Diabetes goes undetected in many heart patients. It is a silent threat for many people who end up with heart disease because these patients do not feel the actual intensity of pain due to nerve damage as a consequence of diabetes. Blood sugar control is important in diabetes, specialists say. It can help prevent dreaded complications like blindness, amputations and kidney failure. So, controlling blood sugar is not enough.

In part it is the fault of proliferating advertisements for diabetes drugs that emphasise blood sugar control, which is difficult and expensive and has not been proven to save lives. And in part it is the fault of public health campaigns that give the impression that diabetes is a matter of an out-of-control diet and sedentary lifestyle and the most important way to deal with it is to lose weight. Again, the fault for the missed opportunities to prevent complications and deaths lies with the medical system. The doctors typically spend just 5 minutes with diabetes patients, far too little for such a complex disease.

Mr Fahim found all that out too late. So, no matter how carefully patients try to control their blood sugar, they can never get it perfect — no drugs can substitute for the body’s normal sugar regulation. So while controlling blood sugar can be important, other measures also are needed to prevent blindness, amputations, kidney failure and stroke.

Dr Md Rajib Hossain

Diabetes has a great impact on the daily lives of the persons with diabetes. Family members play an important role in the management of diabetes. The Center for Policy Research and Social Responsibility (CPR2) has recently conducted a study to evaluate the impact of family and hospital care for the persons with diabetes. According to the opinion of the respondents (who are family members of diabetics), 58 percent consider diet, drug and discipline — all required for the management of diabetes; whereas, 22 percent consider discipline;17 percent consider diet; and only 3 percent consider drug as important for the management of diabetes.

Diabetes is the disease which direly needs support of the family members to a major extent. With the support from the families, they can lead normal lives even with deadly diabetes.

Like every year, yesterday was observed as the World Diabetes Day which is the primary global awareness campaign for diabetes.

56 percent respondents think that their family members know that it is possible to lead normal life with diabetes. Again, 27 percent respondent’s family members believe that any disease can happen to anybody. Family members of 10 percent respondents consider that long term treatment is required for diabetes.

It has been found from the research that the diabetics suffer from lack of confidence, do not feel comfortable in attending family and social functions, can not participate fully in household affairs as they feel tired and cannot wake up early and also they remain depressed and suffer from anxiety. The role of family is very critical in resolving these daily life problems of the patients. A sympathetic and patient consideration approach of the family members can make the life of the patients more comfortable and meaningful.

The society can also play an important role by creating an enabling environment for the diabetics. A food choice for the diabetes patient should be available in the family and social gatherings so that the people with diabetes do not feel uncomfortable in those situations.

The state should take a leading role in disseminating basic information about prevention and it should also encourage and facilitate the awareness programmes of the NGOs. Media can address awareness programmes focusing on prevention and management of diabetes. It is also evident from this research that there are misleading information prevailing in the society about diabetes. So, an aggressive communication programme is needed to inform the mass people about the real facts of diabetes.

An organised intervention by the government, health NGOs, citizen groups, media and other stakeholders is the need of the time for developing a diabetes-aware society through lifestyle research, family care, social communication, establishing patient support forum and policy making.

A careful and systematic approach of diabetes management can ensure a healthy life of diabetes patients and can help manage the most common form — type-2 diabetes.

When a child is diagnosed with diabetes, along with the child the parents will experience everything as new.

Diabetes mellitus ( DM) is not a single entity but rather a heterogeneous group of disorders in which there are distinct genetic patterns as well as other etiological and pathophysiological mechanism that lead to impairment of glucose tolerance. There are two types of diabetes, those are:

Type 1 diabetes: Type 1 diabetes is an immune system disease where the body makes little or no insulin. It usually begins in childhood or teens. Children with type 1 diabetes need daily insulin shots to help their bodies use food. Type 1 diabetes often runs in families.

Type 2 diabetes: Type 2 diabetes is a disease where the body cannot make enough or cannot properly use insulin. Although this form of diabetes usually occurs most often in adults, it is becoming more common in youth. The average age of diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in youth is 12-14 years. It is more common among girls than boys.

Most of the children suffer from type 1 diabetes, so insulin is the treatment of choice. Some are treated with oral drugs. But proper nutritional plan and exercise can reduce the blood glucose effectively.

When choosing foods for a child who has diabetes, it is important to know how different foods affect blood glucose levels. Children who have diabetes basically need the same foods that all children need to grow and thrive. The recommended calorie intake is based on size or surface area of the child.

The following guideline will help provide a healthy diet to help control a child’s diabetes:

Offer balanced meals at regular intervals every day; Learn how different foods affect the child’s blood glucose level; Offer healthy snacks between meals; Encourage the child to drink water when thirsty; Choose whole-grain foods with higher fiber contents; Limit sweets, regular soft drinks, pastries, candy, jam, and honey; Limit saturated fat and cholesterol; Avoid trans fat (found in foods with hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils) etc.

Aerobic exercise, that gets the heart beating faster and uses the large muscles, can help keep blood glucose levels in balance. It can also help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Exercise also can help the child sleep better, feel more relaxed and even help concentrate better.

Hypoglycemia during or in the 2-8 hours after exercise can be prevented by careful monitoring of blood sugar level before, during or after exercise, sometimes by reducing dosage of insulin or giving extra snacks

Signs of low blood glucose include confusion, grouchiness, irritability, tiredness etc.

If the child has signs of low blood sugar, check blood glucose levels. If the level is under 70 mg/dL, try one of the following:

Have the child drink ½ cup of grape or orange juice, 1 cup of milk, a juice box, or ½ can of a regular (not diet) soft drink Give the child 1-2 tablespoons of sugar or honey

Parents cannot manage there child’s diabetes alone. The stress imposed on the family around the time of initial diagnosis of DM may lead to feeling of shock, denial, sadness, anger, fear and guilt. Meeting with a specialist to express these feelings at the time of diagnosis helps with long term adaptation. The physician must discuss various aspects of child’s diabetes with the child as also with the parents. The exercise has got to be a continuing programme. This needs a good rapport between the physician on one hand and the child and the family on the other hand. Parents need to learn administration of insulin injection, blood sugar testing, recognition of warning signals of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, ketoacidosis, infection etc.

Although children can be taught to perform many of the tasks of diabetes management. They do better when supportive — NOT over bearing-parents continue to be involved in management of their disease. Schools have the responsibility to provide diabetic students with a medically safe environment as well as equal access to the same opportunities and activities enjoyed by other students.

Diabetes is a very complicated and life threatening disease. There is no cure for diabetes, it can be controlled. So people of all corners should work together and create awareness, so that a diabetic child can lead a healthy, active and fun-filled life.

Dr Abu Sayeed Shimul