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| HEALTH TRIBUNE |
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Pain and stiffness in the knees? It may be osteo-arthritis by Dr B.S. Aggarwal It is early osteo-arthritis when pain and stiffness are the problems you face. There is pain around the patella (knee cap) and difficulty in climbing the stairs. The typical age is between 40 and 50 years. The treatment is the mobilisation of patella with light olive oil massage along with quadriceps muscle exercise.
Proper pillow can relieve neck pain
Red palm oil for vitamin A deficiency
New treatment for warts, cancer-causing virus on anvil
Ailments in younger age
Large families and animals keep allergies at bay!
Ayurveda & you |
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Pain and stiffness in the knees? by Dr B.S. Aggarwal It is early osteo-arthritis when pain and
stiffness are the problems you face. There is pain around the patella
(knee cap) and difficulty in climbing the stairs. The typical age is
between 40 and 50 years. The treatment is the mobilisation of patella
with light olive oil massage along with quadriceps muscle exercise. The
exercise is done by keeping a stiff pillow under the knee while lying
down and pressing it with knee. Press and release at least 50 times at
one sitting. You can use hot compresses during your bath session. There
should be a check on the diet. Reduce sugar intake and go for a 3 km
walk every day to burn the excess sugar. The fat stores are full because
of excess sugar intake. The oxidation of fat by liver is suppressed in
the presence of excess sugar. You can have a chat session with a
dietician for a balanced diet. This is the age when you have to regulate
your diet and exercise. Avoid excessive pressure on the knees while
squatting or kneeling. The next stage in osteo-arthritis comes when
there is swelling around the knee and a mild loss in the range of
movement in addition to stage-I. There is difficulty in getting up from
the floor. You experience tightness on the back of the knee and may
notice a small swelling. The body weight goes above 80 kg and there is
no exercise except domestic chores. The typical picture of a comfortable
mother-in-law attending kitty parties between 45 and 60 years. They will
never accept that they are eating sugar in excess. She will never go for
a walk because of pain in the knees. The usual careful sentence is, “I
have shown to all the doctors and tried all kinds of treatment for my
knees but nobody could give me relief.” Anyway, this requires attention
and a firm decision to overcome the no-way-out situation. Diet check, low
sugar intake and weight control are a must. Alternatively, you can make
your knees stronger by exercise to carry your weight. The simple form of
exercise is doing sit-ups from a chair keeping hands on the chest at
least 50 times in the morning and evening. Take a breather in-between if
there is some problem with your heart. The other good way to avoid such
a situation is to live on the first or second floor. The stairs will
automatically provide exercise for the knees. The duplex houses are
better where the bedrooms are on the first floor. Stage-III begins when
bowing of legs at the knee becomes painful and a person walks like a
duck (tilting the body on the left and right. The knee has lost the
balance. There are anatomical and mechanical changes in the knee
function. You hear and feel the grating and grinding sounds inside the
knee. There is limitation in the movements of the knee with flexion
deformity. Some people are seen wearing warm knee grips made of crepe or
wool. People have started consuming Glucosamine as a food supplement for
painful knees. Some near and dear ones offer help by sending Glucosamine
capsules from the US as a gift to their lonely parents or
grandparents. There is good news for you and a better way to manage
stage-III osteo-arthritis. Orthopaedic surgeons now use non-steroidal
knee lubricant injections to save your knee from surgery. This viscous
material is known as hyaluronan, which is almost equal to the synovial
fluid present in healthy knees. Each knee requires three to five
injections. The response is very good and can be maintained by regular
exercise (the chair sit-ups). The injections reduce the pain, swelling
and stiffness, which depend upon the stage of degeneration. This is a
viscous material which provides regressing of joints along with its
property of rejuvenating the joints. Some stiff knees where the patella
bone is stuck up on femur require manipulation under general anaesthesia
before injecting into the knees. In stage-IV the range of movement is
reduced to 30 to 60 degrees and there is a lot of grating and grinding
with pain. Most of the time is spent in bed. Those above 65 years think
twice to get up with pain. Long hours of sitting contributes to weight
gain and senior citizens pass into the hopeless state of gross osteo-arthritis.
The x-rays give a picture of destruction of the joint. Well, if you want
mobility, go for the joint replacement known as TKR or knee arthroplasty.
Here in this stage you cannot save your knees from surgery if you want
relief. The knee surgery is absolutely safe in expert hands, but check
for the hospital infection rate. If mobility is not desired and
stability is preferred, then the operation performed is known as
arthrodesis. Here the joint function is stopped by fusion. This
operation is much cheaper and avoids any further surgeries. The joint
replacement gives you relief for 10 to 15 years. It is an invasive
surgery where the original joint is taken out and replaced with a metal
and polyethylene joint. Conservative treatment is always successful if
taken periodically in the early stages of osteo-arthritis, and one can
save the knees from deterioration and surgery. One has to keep all the
contributory factors at a minimum level. You can preserve you knees in
their natural form. — The writer, a senior orthopaedic surgeon, was
earlier associated with the PGI, Chandigarh |
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Proper pillow can relieve neck pain
Patients suffering from neck pain are often
worried about the size of the pillow they should use. A pillow should
support the neck and spine while sleeping. The basic idea is to fill up
the contour of the nape of the neck. This means creating a straight line
from the neck to the back of the spine, as if in a correct standing
posture. Correct pillow gives a comfortable feeling and rest to the
tired neck and body. It also prevents many diseases pertaining to the
neck and back pain. There are mainly two functions of the pillow while
sleeping — providing support and comfort. A right kind of pillow props
up the head, the neck and the shoulders by keeping them in alignment and
relieving pressure by counter-balancing the points of the body. The
size of the pillow is a matter of great concern for most people.
Normally, a pillow height should be about 4” to 6” to support the head
and the neck. If the height of the pillow is too much, it puts undue
strain on the muscles of the neck and the back. Sometimes, it may cause
pressure on the windpipe resulting in difficulty in breathing, snoring,
etc. Similarly, if the height of the pillow is too low, then the neck
may get hyperextended, causing strain on the neck muscles. There are
different types of pillows being used for getting relief from neck pain
and back pain and while travelling. Neck pillows: Patients suffering
from cervical spondylitis, cervical disc, etc are advised to use
different kinds of pillows. Patients of arthritis feel comfortable with
the extension of the neck and, therefore, they should use a small
pillow. There are certain cervical or orthopaedic pillows with a
depression wherein the head lies with extra support under the
neck. Knee pillows: Knee pillows are basically used by the patients
suffering from lower back pain as they reduce discomfort to the back.
Patients can use a pillow underneath the back of the knee to reduce
pressure on the lower back as spine is flattened, thereby putting less
pressure on the joints of the spine. These pillows are mainly used in an
acute phase of back pain. Similarly, while sleeping on the side, a
pillow can be placed between the knees to keep the spine in the neutral
position. Travel pillows: There is always a strain on the neck while
travelling in a bus or a car, especially when roads are bouncy and
uneven. Therefore, a U-shaped pillow around the neck can be used in a
sitting position, which prevents the head from bending from side to
side. It also avoids undue strain on the neck muscles. Lower back
support pillow: Sitting for a long duration can cause pain and
discomfort in the lower back. Therefore, a pillow in the inward curve of
the back can provide support and relieve the muscles from undue tension.
Lumbar back support can also be used while sitting in a car which keeps
the spine in a straight position and can absorb the vibrations due to
the movement of the car. Pillows for sleep position: The placement of
the pillow depends on the sleep position. While lying on the back, a
pillow should support the natural curvature of the neck. Placing a
pillow beneath the knees reduces back strain. People fond of lying on
one side need a pillow to support their head and neck so that the spine
maintains a straight and natural horizontal line. While sleeping on the
stomach, the pillow should be relatively flat so that the head and the
neck do not turn unnaturally to either side. There are many types of
pillows available in the market. Feather pillows offer very little
support to the neck as compared to the pillows with firm material.
Pillow covers should be used according to the weather. Cotton covers,
which give cool and smooth feeling can be used during summer and flannel
covers during winter. A good pillow is a matter of personal choice. If
a person feels comfortable on a particular pillow, it definitely helps
to relax and get a good night sleep. — The writer is a former
doctor/physiotherapist, Indian cricket team |
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Red palm oil for vitamin A deficiency
WASHINGTON: Vitamin A deficiency
leads to eye malfunction and increases infant mortality. As the
problem is especially prevalent in Africa, diet diversification by using
locally available products is one of the possible means for alleviating
these deficiencies. Focusing on this option, a project is under way to
promote unrefined red palm oil in Burkina Faso. It has included a
study — by scientists from the IRD, the University of Montreal and the
IRSS of Ouagadougou on the impact of the introduction of this oil,
produced in the South-West of the country — into the diet of women and
children of another region where it is not normally used. They
provided the first demonstration of the effectiveness of free voluntary
consumption of this vegetable oil, rich in the precursor of vitamin A,
beta-carotene, in reducing deficiencies of this vitamin in women and
children. This long-term food-supplement strategy, effective in public
health management, could also contribute to local economic development
by stimulating production and creating jobs, especially for women. — ANI |
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New treatment for warts, cancer-causing virus on anvil
LONDON:
Scientists in the United States claim to have found a way to beat the
virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer. According to the
BBC, researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered how the human
papilloma virus gains a foothold in the body. Tests on mice have shown a
protein in the virus latches on to another protein in the body’s cells.
Writing in the journal Cell, the researchers said the discovery could
lead to new treatments. Human papilloma viruses or HPVs are a group of
more than 80 different types of viruses. They can cause warts,
including genital warts, and have been linked to cancer. They can be
transmitted through sexual intercourse. An estimated 15 per cent of
women between the ages of 20 and 30 and 6 per cent of women over 40
carry the virus. Scientists discovered seven years ago that the virus
gains a foothold in the body by inserting its own DNA in the body’s
cells. It does this by means of a protein in the virus called E2.
However, they did not know how it managed to do this. The Harvard
scientists say they have now discovered that E2 interacts with a protein
in cells called BRD4. |
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New technique to develop drugs for infectious diseases
WASHINGTON: Researchers are working on a novel technique to identify
genes that evolve rapidly or change slowly. Such identification can
tell researchers how organisms outwit the immune system or develop
drug resistance. The research will benefit scientists developing
drugs against tuberculosis and malaria, and it could do the same for
other infectious diseases, according to a paper in this week’s Nature.
The technique, reported in the April 29 issue of the journal, was
developed by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley,
Harvard and Princeton universities, and the National Institutes of
Health. Genes that change slowly or not at all in an organism, or
from one organism to another, usually turn out to be critical pieces
of molecular machinery and, in an infectious organism, attractive
targets for researchers hoping to kill it. Alternatively, genes that
change rapidly are presumed to be under selective evolutionary
pressure, such as the need for a microbe to continually switch its
outer coat to escape detection by the human immune system. This new
technique is a total departure from current methods of finding rapidly
evolving genes, and has already pinpointed previously unknown genes in
the tuberculosis and malaria parasites that could be potential drug
targets. The technique involves a statistical analysis of an entire
genome, comparing the rate of change of a specific gene to the average
rate of change within the genome. — ANI |
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Ailments in younger age
LONDON: Researchers have said that
contracting infectious diseases as a young child does not protect
against developing eczema. According to the BBC, it had been thought
that being exposed to infections helped prevent a child from
developing allergic conditions such as eczema, asthma and hay fever. A
British Medical Journal study of 24,000 Danish families found this
untrue. But the paper did back previous findings that having pets
and siblings, and going to day care, did reduce allergy incidence.
Living on a farm was also confirmed as having a protective effect.
The study suggests while there is a benefit, it is not due to
exposure to infections and there must be a different reason for why
children benefit from farms, siblings and day care. — ANI |
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Large families and animals keep allergies at bay!
WASHINGTON: A new research carried out in Denmark has found that
having siblings, keeping a pet, or living on a farm helps protect
infants against the development of atopic (allergic) diseases. The
researchers conducted four separate interviews with over 24,000
pregnant women — twice during their pregnancy and again when their
child was six and 18-months-old. Information on atopic dermatitis
and infections before six months of age were recorded. Data on factors
associated with exposure to microbes, such as the number of siblings,
pet keeping, living on a farm, and attending day care, were also
collected. The risk of atopic dermatitis increased with each
infectious disease before six months of age. This contrasts with the
common belief that infectious diseases early in life may protect
against the development of allergic diseases. However, the risk of
atopic dermatitis decreased with each additional exposure to three or
more siblings, day care, pet ownership, and farm residence. This
protective effect remained after adjusting for a number of infectious
diseases, indicating that it is established independently and very
early in life. These findings support the importance of microbial
exposure for preventing atopic dermatitis, but challenge the
hypothesis that infectious diseases in infancy protect against its
development, researchers concluded. — ANI |
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Ayurveda & you
T According to ayurvedic physiology, the summer season is
marked by the decline in “kapha”, the accumulation of “vata” and the
aggravation of “pitta” in the body. This imbalance of body humors
leads to a low appetite and poor absorption and a decline in body
strength, thus making it the most unhealthy season. Maximum cases of
diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and gastroenteritis, infections and
fevers, skin problems, episodes of exhaustion and fatigue and
psychological conditions like anxiety and depression are reported
during summer. All ancient ayurvedic texts, while dealing with the
subject of “ritucharya”, have prescribed a separate diet and daily
regimen to be adopted in different seasons of the year. For summer, a
diet which is primarily sweet, cold, liquid and unctuous in nature is
considered beneficial for health. The freshly cooked meals consisting
of whole cereals like wheat , rice and barley, seasonal vegetables and
unpolished lentils should be easily digestible and devoid of excessive
spices. Food items which are acidic, pungent and bitter in taste
should be avoided in this season. Ayurveda views that moderate use
of naturally ripened seasonal fruits is beneficial in summer. Instead
of aerated soft drinks, traditional and home-made drinks like
buttermilk, half-blended curd, lime water, decoction of dry barleys or
sattoos and sharbats like khus, bael and sandal are more freshening.
Fresh coconut water also replenishes the lost energy in a natural way.
During summer the use of alcoholic drinks and consumption of most of
the dry fruits should be stopped or minimised. One should not eat
exposed cut fruits being sold in the market. Cheese and other food
items made of milk should be fresh, and care should be taken to
thoroughly wash the salads. Similarly, the consumption of meat and
other non-vegetarian food items should be reduced. As most cases of
gastric upset are reported because of eating food outside, one’s
house, summer is not a safe time to go to eateries. Regarding the
daily routine, ayurveda advises to get up early in the morning in
summer. Taking a short nap at noon and again going to bed an hour
after the dinner and avoiding much of late nights is the recommended
“dincharya” for this season. One should bath twice a day with cold
water and should stay in cool places. Heavy or strenuous exercises
should not be carried out in summer. Ayurveda prescribes a number of
single herbs or their combinations to be taken in this season.
Foremost of these is the powder of dried amla which, if taken in a
dose of one to two gm once or twice a day, keeps most of the bad
effects of excessive heat at bay. Similarly, “giloy satva” is another
home remedy for heat exhaustion and can be taken in a dose of 250 to
500 mg twice a day. One should avoid taking hard laxatives during
summer as these tend to encourage fluid emission. If needed,
hygienically made “gulkand” is the best laxative which, besides gently
cleansing the bowels, also acts as a coolant during the hot summer
months. — The writer is a Ludhiana-based ayurvedic consultant
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