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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Motion sickness can spoil your trip to the hills Promote eye donation
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Motion sickness can spoil your trip to the hills
Motion sickness is basically related to the innermost part of the ear called labyrinth, a part of the brain tissue itself. Labyrinth is connected with the regulation of movements of the head and helps maintain the balance of the body for which cooperation of various organs is required, including that of the eyes. Nausea leading to vomiting is also a leading symptom in this sickness and is caused by reflex stimulation of the vagal motor nerve fibres linked to the stomach. The associated headache is common to all brain-related disorders. Motion sickness is due to the abnormal rotation of the head because of various twists and turns that a moving vehicle takes, especially during a journey to the hills. It can affect people in any age, but children and women are more prone to having this kind of sickness. The others who can suffer from motion sickness are those who have cervical spondylitis, allergies, severe anaemia, etc. The remedy is quite simple and effective provided you are a bit practical and careful. One tablet of Avomine and one tablet of Vertin/Vertigon at night prior to your journey day, and also the same two tablets during the day about two hours before the commencement of the journey. The same regime is to be followed while coming back. In the case of children, the dose can be adjusted according to their body-weight or age. No medicine can provide relief once the symptoms start showing. Sweets, chocolates, alcohol, smoking and heavy meals are to be avoided a day before and on the day of journey. Certain people feel comfortable by closing their eyes on the way. Alternatively, our eyes can be fixed on a book or a picture, etc, to prevent motion sickness. Fear psychosis is a very important triggering factor. It must be handled tactfully. Frequent short intervals on the route — after about every two hours of travel — if one has one’s own vehicle is a welcome step to minimise the agony. Ensuring the movements of the jaw by chewing something can also be very useful for your ears and sinuses. With all this, your disease can be brought to a negligible or tolerable level. Vertigo or giddiness is also experienced in our day-to-day life. In some cases, it is more or less constantly present. It is rarely severe, requiring no treatment. Posture problems and constant strains on the eyes due to prolonged work on a computer can also lead to giddiness. But the problem can be tackled with a slight change in one’s lifestyle. In severe cases of vertigo, the patient feels as if he is moving or as if his surroundings are in motion. If the vertigo attack is sudden and severe the affected person may fall and hurt himself. In such cases, the first step for treatment is to give rest to the patient. Later on the patient can be taken to a doctor or a hospital for proper management of his illness. The writer is a former CMO & Head, ENT Department, Multispeciality Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
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Promote eye donation Eye donation and restoration of sight through corneal transplant is a very exciting combination of selfless charity and the miracle of medical technology. Cornea is the clear, transparent tissue covering the front of the eye, and if it becomes cloudy from disease, injury, infection or malnutrition, vision is dramatically lost or reduced. Corneal blindness can be treated by replacing the damaged cornea by a healthy donated human cornea. The human cornea can be procured through eye donation. There are about 1.1 million corneally blind persons in the country. Another 25,000 are added each year. Eye donation in India today meets less than 5 per cent of the demand for corneal transplants. Though there are 171 eye banks in the country, only 51 are working in true sense. An eye bank is an organisation which deals with the collection, storage and distribution of donor eyes for the purpose of corneal grafting, research and supply of the eye tissues for other ophthalmic purposes. Removal of eyes takes only 20 minutes while cornea transplant surgery can be performed in half an hour. Yet it must be remembered that eyes/corneas are human tissue and like other organs (kidneys, heart and the like) need sincere and sustained technical expertise and dedicated commitment to quality and systematic procedures to handle. Some facts
The myths Face/body will be disfigured. Will be born blind in next birth. Will not be able to see GOD. Contraindications for corneal transplantation 1. Active viral hepatitis 2. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or HIV 3. Active viral encephalitis or encephalitis of unknown origin 4. Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease 5. Rabies 6. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis 7. Active septicemia (bacteremia, fungemia, viremia) 8. Retinoblastoma 9. Laser photo-ablation surgery 10. Leukemia and lymphoma Pledge to donate your eyes. Make it a family tradition. Motivate and educate others about eye donation. Motivate the next of kin of the deceased person to donate their eyes. The writer is Chairman & Medical Director, Centre for Sight, New Delhi. Email: drmahipal@gmail.com
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Health Notes LONDON: Special heart implants are saving lives by alerting doctors before a patient’s condition becomes critical. Automatic transmission of information takes place via a wireless modem in the patient’s room from an electrocardiograph unit fitted under the skin. The device collects data from the patient’s pacemaker or defibrillator and alerts doctors, who may be hundreds of miles away, if problems develop. This allows doctors to constantly monitor the patient’s condition and order treatments before sufferers realise they are in any danger. — ANI
Certain obese people are not at high heart disease risk
WASHINGTON: A long-term Dutch study has shown that obese people without metabolic risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, do not have the elevated cardiovascular risk typical of obesity. However, these people represent only a small percentage of the obese population, the study found. “Some obese persons have a normal cardiovascular risk profile, and they have no increased risk for heart and blood vessel disease (because of their weight),” said study co-author Andre van Beek, of University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. — ANI
Best strategy for low-risk prostate cancer
WASHINGTON: A new study suggests that active surveillance or watchful waiting might be a suitable treatment option for patients with prostate cancer that has a low risk of progression. Treatment of localised prostate cancer is controversial because for some this disease will not progress during their lifetime, and treatment may incur serious and long-lasting side-effects. An increasingly popular option is active surveillance, or deferring treatment until evidence of disease progression. To investigate the outcomes of patients treated with active surveillance, Par Stattin of the Department of Surgical and Perioperative Science at Umea University, and colleagues conducted an observational study of 6849 patients in the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden with localized prostate cancer who were 70 years old or younger. — ANI |
Eye donation and restoration of sight through corneal transplant is a very exciting combination of selfless charity and the miracle of medical technology.
Cornea is the clear, transparent tissue covering the front of the eye, and if it becomes cloudy from disease, injury, infection or malnutrition, vision is dramatically lost or reduced.
Many people who have planned to travel to the hills to spend a few days away from the sweltering heat of the plains may have their trip spoiled by motion sickness. They may experience giddiness or dizziness while travelling. They actually suffer from vertigo, a brain-related problem.