10 tips to beat insomnia
Posted by admin in ICONS - Blackboard, SLEEP DISORDERS on May 3rd, 2012
We spend an awful lot of our life sleeping, and tiredness and exhaustion make us feel awful and unable to function. So even without any research at all on the subject of sleep, it seems logical to conclude that sleep is at least as important to our health as food and water.
Here are ten tips on how to help achieve a good nights sleep without resorting to medication.
COUNTRY : UK
1. Keep regular hours2. Create a restful sleeping environment
3. Make sure that your bed is comfortable
4. Exercise regularly
5. Less caffeine
6. Don’t over-indulge
7. Don’t smoke
8. Try to relax before going to bed
9. Write away your worries
10. Don’t worry in bed
If you can’t sleep, don’t lie there worrying about it. Get up and do something you find relaxing until you feel sleepy again, then return to bed.
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Storing medications safely away from children
Posted by admin in ACCIDENT PREVENTION, Babies and toddlers, Child Health, ICONS - Books and apple, Overdoses on April 16th, 2012
I have some awful recollections as a junior doctor of small children being brought into hospital suffering from overdoses of medications prescribed to their parents, grandparents or other adults in the family. Some of these children died. Indeed I remember when toddler twins both died from an overdose of aspirin within hours of each other.
Attempts were tried by pharmacists to dispense medicines in small bottles with lids that were difficult to open. The trouble was that some adults felt them difficult to open too and consequently, sometimes the “difficult” lid was discarded and the small bottles plugged with cotton wool.
Nowadays blister packs are more common but they might present as an interesting challenge to the older toddler although some perseverance would be required to remove large numbers of tablets. Nevertheless more adults receive medications than ever before and there is always a hazard in visiting friends and relatives even if your own home is safe enough.
I know someone who keeps all his tablets, bottles, inhalers and insulin injections piled up on the kitchen table. They take up about one third of the space there. He says he needs to have them in front of him so he won’t forget to take them. No doubt he is some child’s grandfather and the parents will need to be extra vigilant when they visit because he is so set in his ways he will never change. No doubt he drops tablets on their floor beneath him from time to time.
However, most parents would want to ensure that their own house is safe for their own and visiting children. A locked medicine cupboard out of the reach of young children is the answer. Indeed I think all new houses should be built nowadays with one of these wall mounted medicine cabinets and several other locked cupboards too especially the ones below the sink.
A study in Michigan demonstrated recently demonstrated some disconcerting findings on this matter:
NEARLY I IN 4 GRANDPARENTS STORE PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES WHERE CHILDREN CAN EASILY FIND THEM
COUNTRY : USA
“Unintentional poisonings from medicines cause more emergency room visits for young children each year than do car accidents. One key reason may be that nearly 1 of every 4 grandparents says that they store prescription medicines in easy-access ways, according to a new poll.”
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Fructose : What does this mean?
Posted by admin in DIETS, Healthy Eating, ICONS - Stethescope and apple, Impaired glucose tolerance, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes, Webwhispering Diet on April 13th, 2012
There are times doctors get pretty confused and frustrated by the research that is produced, particularly when it is not within their own specialty. What chance therefore do patients have?
Here is a paper telling us that too much fructose is bad for you. Now this upsets me because I have always considered I eat a healthy diet that contains vast amounts of fruit, which of course is teeming with fructose. Do I now need to reconsider that what I am eating? Is my high fruit intake unhealthy?
Although they are addressing the fructose content of corn syrup as an additive added as a sweetener by the food industry, what are the implications for those of us who do not eat many packaged foods but eat a diet full of fruits and vegetables where fruits predominate over vegetables?
I have just read the abstract of this paper. I suppose I’m going to have to study the whole paper in more detail and any subsequent follow-up papers too.
FRUCTOSE, INSULIN RESISTANCE AND METABOLIC DYSLIPIDEMIA
COUNTRY : CANADA
“Abstract
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are occurring at epidemic rates in the United States and many parts of the world. The “obesity epidemic” appears to have emerged largely from changes in our diet and reduced physical activity. An important but not well-appreciated dietary change has been the substantial increase in the amount of dietary fructose consumption from high intake of sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, a common sweetener used in the food industry. A high flux of fructose to the liver, the main organ capable of metabolizing this simple carbohydrate, perturbs glucose metabolism and glucose uptake pathways, and leads to a significantly enhanced rate of de novo lipogenesis and triglyceride (TG) synthesis, driven by the high flux of glycerol and acyl portions of TG molecules from fructose catabolism. These metabolic disturbances appear to underlie the induction of insulin resistance commonly observed with high fructose feeding in both humans and animal models. Fructose-induced insulin resistant states are commonly characterized by a profound metabolic dyslipidemia, which appears to result from hepatic and intestinal overproduction of atherogenic lipoprotein particles. Thus, emerging evidence from recent epidemiological and biochemical studies clearly suggests that the high dietary intake of fructose has rapidly become an important causative factor in the development of the metabolic syndrome. There is an urgent need for increased public awareness of the risks associated with high fructose consumption and greater efforts should be made to curb the supplementation of packaged foods with high fructose additives. The present review will discuss the trends in fructose consumption, the metabolic consequences of increased fructose intake, and the molecular mechanisms leading to fructose-induced lipogenesis, insulin resistance and metabolic dyslipidemia.”
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How NOT to swaddle a baby
Posted by admin in Babies and toddlers, Child Health, ICONS - Blackboard on April 12th, 2012
This photo shows how NOT to swaddle a baby!
Swaddling can sometimes settle a newborn baby because it mimics the closeness of the womb before birth and helps the baby feel secure.
It is important if you are going to swaddle a baby that it is done properly.
The Mayo Clinic has a slide show demonstrating the proper way to swaddle and gives advice of how to avoid some dangers associated with this procedure.
THE MAYO CLINIC : HOW TO SWADDLE A BABY
COUNTRY: USA
Keeping a swaddled baby safe
Once you’ve swaddled your baby, be sure to practice safe sleep habits. Always place a swaddled baby on his or her back to sleep. Stop swaddling when your baby learns to roll onto his or her stomach. A swaddled baby on his or her stomach might have difficulty breathing. This position also increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Keep in mind that swaddling can cause a baby to overheat, too. If you have questions about how to safely swaddle your baby, consult your baby’s doctor.
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More on sleepless babies
Posted by admin in Babies and toddlers, ICONS - Books and apple, SLEEP DISORDERS on April 10th, 2012
Well, this baby is dressed up to face the day but is sound asleep. At his age it’s likely he won’t sleep through the night.
Its also likely that his parents are feeling pretty exhausted from time to time. They might even feel exhausted all of the time, especially if soon after his birth there has been an influx of daily visitors bringing gifts and good wishes.
It’s probably best for new parents to consider sleepless nights are the norm at least for a while. It’s best too, not to be be put off or develop guilt feelings when the parents of other infants proclaim their babies are great sleepers – sometimes the implication being that they are better at parenting than you are!
All babies are different just as you yourself are like no-one else in the world.
But somehow or another, get rest yourself so that you feel refreshed and able to care for the new baby. If visitors deprive you of rest in the early days, thank them for their gifts, tell them to wait a while, make their own tea or coffee, and if they are well known to you and reliable, tell them your glad they came because now you would like to go to bed and grab some sleep while they are cooing over the baby. They will be happy to do something to help. On the other hand, they might not come back!
The Mayo Clinic offers some help – things you can try to help you to get a reasonable nights sleep as soon as possible. Some of the advice they give may work for you and your baby, but others won’t. It is all worth a try. You may discover some little tricks of your own that might help in your situation.
BABY SLEEP : HELPING BABY SLEEP DURING THE NIGHT
COUNTRY : USA
Keeping it in perspective
Getting your baby to sleep through the night is a worthy goal, but it’s not a measure of your parenting skills. Take time to understand your baby’s habits and ways of communicating so that you can help him or her become a better sleeper. If you continue to have concerns, consult your baby’s doctor for additional suggestions.
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Crying, Sleepless babies
Posted by admin in Babies and toddlers, Child Health, ICONS - Books and apple, SLEEP DISORDERS on April 7th, 2012
This little fellow is just born and is already giving two fingers to the world.
It is likely that very soon his parents will experience sleepless nights because it is normal for a young baby to need fed during the night. When babies are hungry they cry, and cry and cry. After all, how else can they communicate?
Sometimes the crying and the night wakening can go on until they are much older so it’s as well to try to get into some sort of a bed-time routine as soon as possible so that bad habits don’t set in. This is not always easy to do since babies are all different as are domestic circumstances.
There is a charity called Cry-sis that offers help for the parents of crying babies. At the time of writing this post they also offer a helpline from 9.0am to 10.0pm seven days a week.
The link below gives some advice on how to cope if your baby is crying right now:
COUNTRY : UK
N.B. While much of the advice given in the “Cry-sis” website is helpful, I would disagree completely with some statements relating to (1) consulting a homeopath or (2) consulting a cranial osteopath whether or not they have paediatric experience. Most medical practitioners would agree this is contrary to good medical practice and such “alternative medical treatment” is without any evidence base whatsoever.
Another link gives some more advice on the routines that might help a baby and toddler sleep through the night:
COUNTRY : UK
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Herbs : Liver damage
Posted by admin in Alternative medicine, DIETS, Herbalism on April 6th, 2012
In spite of being a user of calendula cream for many years and having an interest in the medically active ingredients in plants, I remain very sceptical when herbal products are promoted. Mostly they are used by practitioners of alternative medicine.
Herbal preparations are not well regulated and can sometimes do harm.
A paper is due to be published in “Internal and Emergency Medicine,” the official journal of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine warning of the dangers of damage to the liver by some products. As yet only the abstract is available. The full article will, when published require subscription to the journal.
HERBAL HEPATOTOXICITY : A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC
COUNTRY : ITALY
“Abstract
Complementary and alternative therapies, including herbal products, have become increasingly popular in the general population and among patients and physicians. Regulations and pharmacovigilance regarding herbal drugs are still incomplete and need to be improved. In fact, herbals are commonly marketed on the Internet, and in many countries they are sold as food supplements, which are beyond the control of drug regulatory agencies. In Europe and the U.S., reports of hepatotoxicity from these products, including those advertised for liver diseases, are accumulating. Many herbal drugs are also commonly used in children, and in women during pregnancy and lactation, because they are believed to be “natural” and, therefore, “harmless.” One emerging problem is people preferring herbal-based slimming aids to conventional dietary and physical activity. In Italy, the use of non-conventional therapies has been reported for 13.6 % of the population, and 3.7 % freely use herbal drugs, unaware of the risks associated with a potential interaction with prescription drugs. In our review, we discuss the problem of the lack of standardization of herbal drugs, the lack of randomized clinical trials regarding the majority of these products, the unawareness of risks by the patients who buy and use them, and, further, the problem of underreporting. For the most commonly used herbal products and slimming aids, we describe their potential hepatotoxicity mechanisms, the causality assessment necessary for a correct diagnosis, and the clinical patterns for which these products seem to be responsible.”
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Calendula cream
Posted by admin in Herbalism, ICONS - Herbs on April 5th, 2012
Calendula cream is made from marigolds.
As a rule, most “alternative medicine” doesn’t wash with me or, for that matter, most medical practitioners that I know.
However, I find herbalism very interesting because at least, unlike homeopathy, there are active ingredients that possibly might do some good (or harm). I even have a book on the toxic substances contained in plants that I read for pleasure. Some plants produce some very powerful substances. Less than a century ago people had to rely on various herbal preparations – some will have worked and others might have been downright dangerous.
I must confess to the fact that for many years I have used calendula cream on areas of rough skin or mild patches of eczema. It seems to be very soothing and in my family it seems to heal. The brand I used to use was Nelson’s calendula cream and I became quite addicted to the marigold smell. However, they seem to have changed the formula in recent years and for me it doesn’t have the same appeal any more.
It should always be remembered that a small number of individuals will develop allergies to very specific plant products as well as the preservatives that might be added to creams and ointments to prevent bacterial contamination to allow a realistic shelf life. For most people though, this will not be a problem.
I always grow old-fashioned pot marigolds in my garden every summer, not because I’m a particular fan of orange flowers but because I love the scent of marigolds so much. Maybe this summer I’ll try to make my own calendula cream.
Here is a link to an article from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on calendula. Note that before reaching the page on a specific herb or plant, the Sloan-Kettering may draw your attention to the lack of evidence base for the use of many herbs, by asking you to read an introductory page first.
COUNTRY: USA
“Clinical Summary
Extracted from the flower of the marigold plant, calendula is used topically for wound healing (1). Major constituents of the leaves and stems of the plant include lutein and beta-carotene (2). Extracts from calendula demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties (3), which may improve wound healing (4), and antibacterial, antiparasitic (5), anti-HIV (6), cytotoxic and anti-tumor effects (9) (10) both in vitro and in vivo. Further, studies done in mice indicate hepato- and renoprotective effects (14). An herbal formulation containing calendula was found effective in reducing earache in children with acute otitis media (7) (8). Preliminary data support use of topical calendula for prophylaxis of acute dermatitis during radiation therapy in cancer patients (11) (13). More research is needed. Calendula is known to cause allergic reactions (1) (12).”
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Health and Social Care Bill : Risk Register leak
Posted by admin in HEALTH POLITICS, ICONS - Panic button, NHS Reforms on March 27th, 2012
The Health and Social Care Bill has trundled its way through the House of Commons, the House of Lords, where it was subject to about a thousand amendments, and back through the House of Commons. It will have become law once it receives Royal Assent. The Bill may already be approved by the Queen, in which case it becomes an Act of Parliament i.e. Law.
This has been one of the most controversial pieces of legislation that has passed through parliament. Although it refers only to English Law there may be ramifications for the healthcare in other UK countries.
Many believe the law was intentionally long and unintelligible and few understood its full implications. There is a widely held view that it heralds the end of the NHS in England and is designed in such a way that the government abdicates much of the responsibility for the healthcare of the citizens in England, and that the NHS over the next few years will move fast forward into the private sector with some care funded through taxation and some rationed and paid by the patient directly or through separate insurance cover. There is a worry that the private sector will cherry-pick the most profitable and easy to treat conditions.
Another controversy was that the government refused to publish a document indicating the risks associated with Bill. This is known as a Risk Register and it is normal practice for these assessments not to be published. However, because of the perceived risk to the health of the nation the coalition government was told to publish it but refused to do so. Recently what was alleged to be an early copy of the Risk Register was leaked to at least two individuals and last night Twitter was chirping away about the contents.
This alleged Risk Register is currently located here :
HEALTH BILL TRANSITION RISK REGISTER 15 OCT 2010
Note the red and orange warnings.
And note the government-speak gobbledygook in the “Mitigation Actions” column.
No doubt the government will respond (if it chooses to respond at all) by saying this is an old document and the thousand amendments have solved the problem.
There are many who do not agree with that view.
Here are two of these people :
The Professional Case for Withdrawing The Health and Social Care Bill from Daniel Saul on Vimeo.
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Migraine
Posted by admin in HEADACHE, ICONS - Books and apple, Migraine on March 23rd, 2012
A bad migraine is pretty horrible and can be very incapacitating. Unfortunately it is a common condition although there is marked variation in both intensity and frequency.
I suffered from migraines as a teenager and always had the feeling that they were precipitated by working in fluorescent light but never really went to the bother of proving this to myself. Fortunately for me, though, the visual aura was the worst part of it and the headache that followed was always tolerable. Fortunately too, they disappeared completely in my twenties, never to return.
COUNTRY : UK
Stages of migraine
There are five distinct stages to a migraine, although not everyone goes through all the stages:
1. ‘Prodromal’ (pre-headache) stage. Some people experience changes in mood, energy levels, behaviour and appetite, and sometimes aches and pains several hours or days before an attack.
2. Aura. Some people experience a sensation, or aura, just before their migraine starts. Symptoms of aura include flashes of light or blind spots, difficulty focusing, and seeing things as if you are looking through a broken mirror. This stage normally lasts around 15 minutes to an hour.
3. Headache stage. This is usually a pulsating or throbbing pain on one side of the head. You usually have nausea or vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to bright light and loud sounds, with a strong desire to lie down in a darkened room. This stage lasts for four to 72 hours.
4. Resolution stage. Most attacks gradually fade away. Some people find the headache stops suddenly after they have been sick. Sleep often relieves the symptoms.
5. ‘Postdromal’ or recovery phase. There may be a stage of exhaustion and weakness afterwards.
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