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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Save your eyes from cosmetics
Why women are more prone to knee arthritis
ASTHMA & ALLERGIES in children — Scientific practices
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Save your eyes from cosmetics
Sania has just rushed back home from her dance class. Her eye lashes carrying mascara, her coloured contact lenses and eye-liner enhancing expressiveness tell a story. She cannot miss her favorite TV serial. She has no time to properly remove cosmetics or lenses! Next she has to complete her homework on the computer and surf the Facebook on the Internet. Her sleepy and irritated eyes invite rubbing by her unclean hands. She lands in the emergency ward of the local eye centre at night with severe redness and pain in her eyes. She is not alone. Modern women and men both want to look attractive with cosmetics, but have no time to take appropriate care. Eye and face makeup, hair colour, dyes, nail polish and remover, shaving preparations, suntan lotions, beauty masks, face and body powders and lotions, skin creams, deodorants, and perfumes —- all can cause harm to your eyes. Mascara, eye shadows and eye-liners contain preservatives to prolong their shelf life, but eventually these protective chemicals break down, making the products ripe for contamination by bacteria. Continued use of cosmetics can cause permanent damage to the eye. Symptoms Cosmetics can cause red, irritated eyes and eyelids. They can produce stinging, burning, itching, and tearing. Also, there are cosmetics with ingredients that can damage contact lenses. Some cosmetics, including some “hypoallergenic” ones, can cause allergic reactions or irritation in sensitive people. Accidents in applying makeup, particularly mascara, have caused serious eye infections and injury. Older people with dry eyes or oily lids have an increased risk of cosmetics-related eye problems. If a contact lens wearer uses heavy mascara and the contact lenses are not completely cleaned off after wearing, the lenses can become damaged to the point where they must be replaced. Damage to the eye from mascara wands and brushes can lead to serious infections. With contact lenses in the eyes, you become particularly susceptible to eye irritation from the improper use of cosmetics. People with torn-away corneas, lid-swelling, burning, itching, tearing, and infection are seen visiting eye clinics almost everyday. Contact lenses are a leading cause of paediatric injuries. How to protect your eyes
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Never use anyone else’s cosmetics. Infections are transmitted in this way, and you may find that you are allergic to her brand of eye makeup.
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Avoid using old eye cosmetics. If you wear eye makeup only for holidays and special occasions, you should be aware that an old eye makeup can become contaminated.
lTry to test new cosmetics before using them. Purchase only a small amount or, if possible, get a free sample and try it. If you do experience an allergic reaction, don’t use that cosmetic.
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Apply eye makeup carefully. When applying mascara or eyeliner, always keep the cosmetics out of the eye itself. Do not start at the roots of the lashes. Similarly, never apply eyeliner to the inner eyelid margins: use it only above the eyelashes of the upper lid and below the eyelashes of the lower lid.
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There are other cosmetic hazards. Try to avoid getting shampoos and other products for the hair into the eyes. Be especially careful to shield your eyes when using hair spray, hair colour or a dye.
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Do not rub your eyes with your makeup on. Also watching TV or computer with cosmetics on can cause irritation and eyestrain. Other precautions Never put your eye cosmetics on while you’re driving or traveling in a car. Your mascara wand can all too easily scratch your cornea. Skip eye cosmetics when you’ve got an irritated or infected eye. Always wash your hands before you dig into your makeup bag and start applying eye cosmetics. The writer is a senior eye specialist and health columnist. Email — drrkumar16@ gmail.com
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Why women are more prone to knee arthritis
Our knee is the largest, unstable and complicated joint wherein two bones are placed over one another and joined by ligaments like rubber bands. Years and years ago the load was less on the knees as man was supposed to be walking on four legs. With evolution, man started walking on two legs, thereby shifting the entire body weight on to the knee joints. In clinical practice, almost 90 per cent of the patients afflicted with knee arthritis are found to be females. Generally, Indian females have more tolerance to pain, hence the delay in initiating treatment. Secondly, misconception among Indian women that knee arthritis is an inevitable component of aging adds to the problem. Thirdly, to make matters worse, osteoporosis sets in around the same period (menopause). This renders the bones fragile, aggravating the condition. Also putting on weight (post-menopause) adds to the load on the knee joint. Osteoarthritis is predominantly a disease of articular cartilage. The first manifestation is cartilage irregularity followed by erosion and ultimately loss of cartilage resulting in bone-to-bone contact within the joint. The usual symptoms: Anterior knee pain which worsens on prolonged sitting, squatting, kneeling or climbing stairs. During initial stages there is relief from pain with rest, but as the disease progresses, pain is persistent at all times. Delay in initiating treatment can cause weakness of the muscles supporting the knee joint leading to the feeling of instability, buckling and giving away. Deformity (bowleg) is a complication of knee arthritis due to medial joint cartilage loss and narrowing. Pain on the inner side of the joint compels the patient to shift weight on the outer part of the leg and foot, further increasing the bowleg deformity. Soft-tissue swelling and joint effusion could develop as disease progresses. Knee effusion/swelling is, in fact, nature’s way of limiting knee activity until healing occurs. Crackling sounds - without pain, swelling or loss of function is usually not a cause for worry. The sound is due to bits of cartilage pressing between the bones. Large pieces of cartilage can cause locking of the knee --- difficulty in straightening the bent knee. Crepitation should be a cause for worry wherein bones rub against each other due to rough surface as in arthritis. Females are more affected due to the following reasons:
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Females have wider hips which turn femur (thigh bone) inwards, putting more pressure on the knee. The kneecap moves sideways, rubbing the cartilage. Wide hips overstretch quadriceps muscle causing knee/tendon pain.
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Females have less muscle mass as compared to males and hence less muscle support.
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A woman has more lax muscle than a man and hence more prone to injury.
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Knee ligaments in females are smaller and hence there is reduced stability of the knee joint.
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Women gain weight after childbirth. One kilogramme puts five to six times weight on the knee. With obesity, females become pear-shaped with fat deposited around their hips. Wide hips put undue strain on the knees.
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Osteoporosis - An important factor in knee arthritis that occurs post-menopause due to estrogen hormone deficiency.
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Osteoporosis and weight gain lead to a reduction in medial arch, causing the feet/heel turning inwards. This altered biomechanics puts pressure on the knees. Treatment Obesity - the goal should be to reduce fat around the hips. But by doing hip exercises fat cannot be reduced, as there is no such thing as spot fat reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a systematic pattern. There are, in fact, no shortcuts to reduce weight except appropriate physical activity and diet control. Wearing proper sports shoes reduces load on the knee joint. Knee braces could help in cases of unstable joints. Walking with aid/cane on the opposite side alleviates the load on the knees. Aerobic activity - Old patients should walk on soft regular surface. Exercises — Stretching and strengthening exercises for calf, hamstring and quadriceps bring about a remarkable difference. If you are at the initial stages of experiencing discomfort/pain in the knees while getting up, climbing up/down, you should immediately consult a doctor to initiate proper, adequate treatment to prevent disability and pain. The writer is a former doctor/physiotherapist, Indian cricket team. E-mail- chadha_r2003@yahoo.co.in
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ASTHMA & ALLERGIES in children — Scientific practices
Asthma prevalence is increasing the world over. The mortality rate has got reduced to some extent, though morbidity has not, in spite of wonderful scientific advances. It is possible to prevent mortality and keep the disease under control, making one’s life comfortable, provided people follow the treatment and avoid the myths. There is nothing the asthmatics can miss out, provided they keep their disease under control by scientific practices. In spite of this, several children keep suffering mainly due to the myths prevalent even among doctor parents. Many doctor couples bring their little ones to me who are on several antibiotics, cough syrups , anti-histaminics and off and on use steroids for chronic cough. When it is explained to them that there is a thing called cough variant asthma and your child needs inhalers to manage that and not antibiotics, etc, they are rarely convinced. They are not ready to accept the label ASTHMA “just for chronic cough”. They are not ready to accept everyday use of inhalers. They are not willing to accept that cough syrups are not needed and even unnecessary vitamins, etc, are a burden on the system. It is not surprising at all that after the cough disappears parents are each day worried about stopping the inhalers. The fears are: the child will become addicted to inhalers and these are steroids. However, scientific literature has it that inhalers, though steroids, are safe even for long-term use. They would not retard growth. In fact, the disease-free state would result in better growth and development and also proper puberty. How difficult it is to convince people that different salts meant for asthma treatment are meant for different stages of asthma, and they may do more harm than good. Some children are forced into advanced breathing exercises in the name of yoga, which results into exercise-induced asthma attacks. Yoga is undoubtedly beneficial for healthy people and useful for asthmatics as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy and should be done under supervision. Asthma can manifest in many ways and even chronic cough can be due to asthma. At the same time, all that wheezes may not be asthma. Therefore, expert advice is needed. Detailed history and clinical examination by an expert clinches the diagnosis and not the blood sent to some lab for allergy tests. Once diagnosed, treatment is simple and aims at making the patient independent and to have a good quality of life. Inhalers Inhalers are the cornerstone of asthma management. They are needed as long-term management. The rescue inhalers are for emergencies only, and can be guided by simple measurement by peakflowmeter. Preventive inhalers are needed even when you feel you are all-right. Inhalers are the state-of-art research molecules which do not retard growth even on long-term use. Stopping the inhaler at your own will can be harmful. Pushing oneself into an emergency and using nebulisers again and again are really harmful. The inhaler is the surest and safest device for drug-delivery into the airway, but the salts needed are different for different purposes. The steroids in inhalers are the state-of-art molecules of research which give benefits without side-effects. Tests are never useful if done just by sending the blood sample to a particular lab. This causes more confusion and has to be discouraged. The obsession of avoiding dust and white food articles, etc, results in personality disorders in children besides leading to nutrition deprivation. Frequent monitoring
is needed. Parents must not be anxious to stop the use of inhalers. They must not focus on stopping any food item because of myths. If at all food has to be avoided, it must only be done after allergy to that food is proved by the double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge test rather than just by a blood test. The writer is a Chandigarh-based senior paediatrician and allergy specialist. |
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Health Notes Washington: A Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study revealed that the perceived solutions to treating childhood obesity might be impacted by the news source. Whether it is personal factors such as individual behavior changes or system-level factors such as marketing and the environment, the belief gets steered by the primary news source, researchers say. The examination of news media’s framing of childhood obesity showed that television news was more likely than other news source to focus on individual behaviour change as a solution. On the other hand, newspapers were more likely to identify system-level solutions. — ANI
Power foods ‘that
boost overall health’
Washington: In times of hectic lifestyle and poor eating habits, it is essential to include ‘power foods’ in our diet that keep us energized and focused. Frances Largeman-Roth, senior food and nutrition editor for Health magazine, shared the benefits of power foods on ‘The Early Show’ on Saturday. For those who feel tired and groggy throughout the day, Largeman-Roth recommended taking the required dose of iron from red meats, poultry, and fortified cereal, reports the CBS News. She suggested that it’s important to avoid the consumption of ‘jittery’ foods such as caffeine and foods high in white flour (cookies, white bread), as these strip us of nutrients and fibre that normally keep your blood sugar stable. — ANI
How nutritious are ice-creams, yoghurts and snow cones?
Washington: They may be the best heat quenchers on a sultry afternoon, but the variedly flavoured ice-creams and yoghurts may not fair well on the nutritional and rehydration scale. According to an analysis by national food expert Suzy Weems, of Baylor University, ice-creams are “not the most nutrient-rich source, but a source.” “It does have calcium along with Vitamin D, Vitamin A and some of the B-vitamins to help with energy release, along with about 2.5 to 3 grams of protein — not much, but more than none,” she said. However, there’s the question of whether it’s worth the calories, about 145 for a half-cup of vanilla, 160 for chocolate chip, depending on the brand and richness. — ANI
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Sania has just rushed back home from her dance class. Her eye lashes carrying mascara, her coloured contact lenses and eye-liner enhancing expressiveness tell a story. She cannot miss her favorite TV serial. She has no time to properly remove cosmetics or lenses! Next she has to complete her homework on the computer and surf the Facebook on the Internet. Her sleepy and irritated eyes invite rubbing by her unclean hands. She lands in the emergency ward of the local eye centre at night with severe redness and pain in her eyes. She is not alone. Modern women and men both want to look attractive with cosmetics, but have no time to take appropriate care.
Dr S. Lavasa
