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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Squint can be corrected Keep smiling to avoid wrinkles Low fertility: the contributing factors Elderly with diabetes run risk of falling Ayurveda & you |
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Squint can be corrected Squint is a misalignment of the two eyes because of which both eyes are not able to look in the same direction. This misalignment may be constant or intermittent. Although, it is most commonly seen in children, it may also occur in adults. Although the exact cause of squint is not known, it is mostly due to the loss of coordination between muscles. Six muscles control the movement of each eye. Each of these muscles acts along with its synergistic/antagonistic muscle of the other eye to keep both eyes aligned in a particular direction. Whenever there is loss of coordination between the muscles of the two eyes, it leads to misalignment. This misalignment may be the same in all directions of gaze, or in some conditions the misalignment may be more in one direction of gaze — in squint due to nerve palsty. In children, a high refractive error, mostly hypermetropia (long sightedness), can cause an inward deviation of the eye. If one of the eyes has poor vision either due to congenital cataract or any other disorder, it can also cause deviation of the eye. Thus, it becomes important in all the cases of squint, especially during childhood, to rule out any other cause of visual loss. Under normal circumstances, when both eyes have good vision and they are aligned properly, they focus on the same object. Each of the eyes sends images of the same object, which reach the brain, where they are fused to form a single three-dimensional picture with depth perception. This is known as binocular single vision. When the eyes are not aligned properly, each eye focuses on a different object and these signals are then sent to brain. Because two different images reach the brain, it leads to confusion. When this situation occurs, a child ignores the image coming from the deviated eye, thus seeing only one image. Because of this the child loses depth perception. The suppression of the image from the deviating eye leads to poor visual development in this eye, thus leading to a condition known as amblyopia. This is also known as a lazy eye. An adult is unable to ignore this image, thus seeing two images of the same object leading to diplopia or double vision. In a child, the parents may notice the deviation of the eyes. It is important to remember that the eyes of a newborn are rarely aligned at birth. Most children attain alignment at the age of 3-4 weeks. If squinting persists even after the age of one month, an ophthalmologist should be consulted for complete evaluation. Older children may complain of some photophobia or decrease vision frequent blinking. Adults may have diplopia (double vision) or apparent squint. Squint is diagnosed by the ophthalmologist. In some children there may be a false appearance of squint due to a broad nasal bridge. An ophthalmologist would first confirm whether it is a true or false squint. If a true squint is confirmed, certain special tests are carried out, to try and find out the cause and to quantify the amount of squint. The aims of treatment of squint are: ·Preserve or restore vision ·Straighten the eyes. ·Restore binocular vision First of all, the eyes are checked to see if they have any refractive error that may be responsible for squint. If there is any significant refractive error, it is treated first. In some cases (accommodative squint) a correction of refractive error is all that may be required to treat squint. Next the eyes are checked for the presence of amblyopia. It is importment to correct amblyopia before squint surgery as the eyes have a tendency to deviate again if amplyopia is persistent. The parents are explained about the importance of this treatment, as their cooperation is very crucial for the success of treatment. The squint is treated by surgery of either one or both eyes. The surgery involves the weakening or strengthening of the relevant muscles to restore the balance and to get a good coordination. In some cases with double vision , prisms may be added in the glasses to ease the symptoms. Treatment In a child, the treatment of squint and any associated amblyopia should start as soon as possible. Generally speaking, the younger the age at which amblyopia treatment is initiated, the better is the chance of visual recovery. Delayed treatment may decrease the changes of good squint correction and visual recovery. Yes. Surgery can not replace the need for glasses. If the child has significant refractive error, glasses are a must. In some cases, wearing glasses may correct squint. In other cases, wearing glasses help the eyes to see clearly. This clear vision is very important for the treatment of amblyopia, and also for maintaining the coordination of the eyes, once they have been aligned by surgery. Remember to get your child treated for squint at the earliest because if the child is five-six years of age, then amblyopia / lazy eye can’t be treated. The child would then remain with poor vision in the eye with squint throughout life. The writer is Chairman and Medical Director, Centre for Sight, New Delhi. e-mail:
msachdev@bol.net.in.
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Keep smiling to avoid wrinkles TO be alive is to live, to live is to get older, and to get older is to get wrinkles. There is no way to avoid wrinkles unless death is premature, and that is the last thing most of us want. How soon wrinkles appear for each of us, and how noticeable they become, depends on heredity and also on the natural aging process in which the skin loses its elasticity and becomes thinner and more fragile. The natural aging process can be greatly accelerated by the way we eat, sleep speak, and exercise. It also depends on the exposure to the sun, One can realise this after looking at the fact that wrinkling of the face, neck, hands and arms comes much quicker than other parts of the body. The other 10 per cent of the accelerated skin aging is due to certain disease conditions and owing to the way we use our face to express our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Frowning, squinting and grimacing bring out wrinkles and aggravates natural furrows. A sour face is a wrinkled face. A smiling face is one whose wrinkles differ from those that are unnatural. Cigarette smoking also causes premature wrinkles. Long-term smokers can often be identified by their face alone from the little furrows that spread out in the upper and lower lips and by the crow’s feet around the eyes as well as wrinkle lines around the cheeks and jaws. It is said that a heavy smoker at age 40 has the facial wrinkles equivalent to a person of 60. A person can help minimise wrinkling by avoiding excessive exposure to the sun and discontinuing smoking. These are the easy ways. You can also help by keeping your facial muscles in a state of relaxation as much as possible. This can be accomplished by more smiling and less squinting, being sweet instead of sour, using natural moisturising creams and lotions, light massage and soft and gentle touching. If that does not satisfy you and you really want to fight wrinkles, you can visit the skin doctor for prescription treatment with certain kinds of creams, chemical peeling (glycolic acid peeling or fruit acid peeling) and for microdermabrasion or by the implantation of soft tissue (collagen material) and botox treatment into the skin when your wrinkles are too large for you to handle psychologically. Botox is one of the simplest and most effective quick fixes to improve your looks. Simple yet effective, it can really make a difference, especially when used by a doctor who knows how to get the best out of this unique product. Botox is a purified nerve-blocking agent used to treat overactive facial and eye muscles. Treatment of cosmetically noticeable wrinkles with Botox has become extremely popular in the United States in recent years, and is now more widely used in the India. The writer is a Jalandhar-based skin specialist.
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Low fertility: the contributing factors MALE fertility is plunging. And nearly one in 10 men may be suffering, according to a survey published last month. The Male Fertility Study, compiled by Norwich Union Healthcare from a survey of GPs, suggests that 2.5 million British men are affected, and many do not even know they may be at risk. The scale of the problem was first recognised in 1991 when a Danish study found that sperm counts of Western men had fallen by about half in 50 years. Almost 15 years later, scientists are still trying to explain it. Male fertility can be far more changeable than in women. Unlike women - who are born with a finite number of eggs - men are continually producing sperm. But samples from the same men taken as little as a month apart can vary dramatically. “We’ve had patients whose sperm has been fine. But on the day of their IVF treatment, the man has had little or no sperm at all because he’s had a bad bout of flu,” says Dr Iwan Lewis-Jones, a consultant andrologist at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital and an expert in male infertility. Here are some of the other things that scientists believe may have an effect on male fertility. Fast food If you happen to be partial to convenience or fast food - which is often packed full of “hidden soy” - you may be heading for a host of fertility problems. Scientists believe chemicals in the soya bean mimic oestrogen. Dr Sheena Lewis, who conducted the latest research, says chemicals found in soya appear to lower sperm count and affect the ability of sperm to swim. “The results concern us,” she says. Driving A mounting body of evidence reveals that sitting behind the wheel for long periods is bad for sperm. Italian researchers found taxi drivers, truckers and other professional drivers all had reduced fertility levels. Another study by French researchers found that even driving for two hours can raise testicle temperature by around 2C. Laptops Years of using a laptop regularly “may cause irreversible or partially irreversible changes in male reproductive function”, according to one study. It is well known that sperm production drops if the environment within the testicles becomes too hot, which is why they are housed outside the main part of the body. The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, found that laptops can reach internal operating temperatures of over 70C. “They are frequently placed close to the scrotum. Mobile phones Another fertility scare came from the University of Szeged in Hungary, which claimed mobile phones could lower sperm counts by up to a third because of the radiation they emit. What’s more, the ability of the sperm to swim properly was also found to be impaired, particularly among men who made long calls. Not everyone accepts the evidence as conclusive, however. “This research failed to take into account other aspects of men’s lifestyles. Men who use mobiles often have very different lifestyles to those who don’t,” says Allan Pacey, a fertility expert at the University of Sheffield and spokesman for the British Fertility Society. Smoking It’s widely accepted that smoking tobacco reduces sperm count, impairs sperm movement and makes them less able to penetrate an ovum. The good news is that if you quit, the health of your sperm will start to improve within two months. Smoking also restricts the blood flow to the genitals, which contributes to a man’s inability to get an erection. A man in his 30s or 40s can increase the risk of impotence by around 50 per cent. Tight pants Wear loose underpants and lose the leather trousers. It’s not a myth. Studies show they can reduce a man’s chances of fathering a baby by overheating sperm-producing cells in testicles, which lowers sperm count.
— The Independent
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Elderly with diabetes run risk of falling
NEW YORK: Diabetes may substantially raise the risk of falls among elderly adults living in nursing homes, new research shows. In a study of 139 nursing home residents, researchers at Columbia University in New York found that men and women with diabetes were four times more likely than those without the disease to suffer a fall — a major cause of disability and death among the elderly. In all, 78 per cent of diabetic residents fell during the study period, compared with 30 per cent of those without diabetes. The findings are published in the Journal of Gerontology. “It’s not really surprising that diabetes is such a potent risk factor,” Dr Mathew S. Maurer, the study’s lead author, told Reuters Health. That’s because a number of diabetes-related complications would be expected to contribute to falls, he explained. One example is diabetic retinopathy, which damages the blood vessels that supply the retina and can impair vision. Also, diabetic nerve damage that causes sudden blood pressure drops upon standing could also trigger dizziness and falls. However, Maurer and his colleagues did not find a higher rate of such blood pressure changes among nursing home residents who fell. Nor were vision problems clearly linked to fall risk. Maurer speculated that peripheral neuropathy — nerve damage that affects sensation in the feet and may throw off balance — could be the main source of diabetics’ elevated fall risk. But for now, he said, the reasons are not fully clear. What does seem clear, according to the researcher, is that diabetes should be considered a major risk factor for falls among the elderly. Knowing this, Maurer said, can help nursing homes identify residents who need special care to reduce their odds of suffering a fall.
— Reuters
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Ayurveda & you FOR a woman, regular menstruation occurring without any noticeable pain, tension or emotional disturbance is a sign of good health. However, many women suffer some difficulties with menstruation at one time or another. Medically called dysmenorrhoea, painful menses or menstrual cramps have been described in ayurveda as “kashtartava”. This condition is classified into two groups - primary and secondary. The primary dysmenorrhoea may be existing from the onset of the menstruation and the secondary one due to some physical cause of later origin. Modern health scientists think that primary menstrual cramps are caused by a physiological substance called prostaglandin, resulting in painful contractions and vasoconstriction of the uterine muscles. This phenomenon is stimulated by another hormone known as progesterone, which is produced by the ovaries after ovulation has occurred. The secondary dysmenorrhoea, apart from including the effects of these hormones, may result due to uterine infections, intra-uterine contraceptive devices, swellings and some other underlying diseases. According to ayurvedic perceptions, “apan vayu” is said to be the governing force of the menstrual flow and any vitiation of it due to a wrong diet and improper activities can lead to problems related to the periods. Menstrual cramps are more common among young and adolescent girls and women reaching menopause, and these may range to be mild, moderate or severe. In many girls they are incapacitating enough to make it to be the single most cause of absenteeism from school or the working place. The symptoms of dysmenorrhoea may begin two or three days before the menses and peak on the first day and then gradually recede. The pain is typically described as dull, aching or cramping involving areas of the lower back, lower abdomen and the groins. The other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation, abdominal bloating, headache, restlessness and fainting. In secondary menstrual cramps, the pain may have its onset a week or more before the starting of the periods and continues after a few days of the cessation of the flow. The ayurvedic approach to treat dysmenorrhoea revolves around taking measures to alleviate the vitiated “vata”. Adequate rest and hot bottle fomentation help reducing the muscular spasms and stiffness. Turmeric, ginger, ajwain, hing, nutmeg and jatamansi are some of the antispasmodic and muscle relaxing herbs which are given by grannies to the young girls in Indian homes to treat the menstrual cramps. To prevent indigestion, bloating, nausea and vomiting the patient should be given a light diet, and proper care and reassurance additionally support to control the psychological symptoms like palpitation, anxiety and restlessness. Kaishore Guggul and Pushyanug Churna are the best classic ayurvedic remedies where there is an intra-uterine pathology. Rajaprivartini Vati, Kumaryasva and Dashmool Qwath, if started from the mid-cycle, enhance the flow and are prescribed where scanty periods are associated with the cramps. The famous Chandraprabha Vati and Ashokarishta more or less act as tonics for the uterus and can be given to all the patients of dysmenorrhoea whether it is of primary or secondary origin. Adopting a regular walk and mild exercise regime after the cessation of menstruation is also good for relaxing the muscles of the pelvis and the lower back. Certain yoga postures like suryanamaskar, dhanurasna, pavanmuktasna and paschimottanasna are especially beneficial for the female genital tract. The women who exercise regularly find that continued participation in their usual activities helps relieve the cramps in a natural way. The writer is a Ludhiana-based senior ayurvedic physician. |
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