Strep Throat: Kids Must Be Protected

Among those who are prone to strep throat, kids are the ones that need close attention because they cannot really understand what is happening in their body and they are dependent on others in dealing with it. This is why, parents must be aware of the factors that bring rise to it, its symptoms and the steps to take in order to get rid of it. It is only through having the right information that you can avoid it or find treatment for it the moment it manifests.

Strep throat arises with the presence of the bacteria that belong to the group A streptococcus, which also cause scarlet fever. They usually target the throat and nose, which is why it can be easily transferred by sneezing, coughing and hand contact. Thus; you must make sure that you teach your kids to cover their nose and mouth whenever they or other people cough or sneeze and be intentional in teaching proper hand washing.

It is not very easy to detect strep throat. Kids who have this may exhibit symptoms that can make you confuse it with other common conditions, simply because the signs are really not that unusual. Below are some of the conditions that way indicate the presence of this ailment:

- Fever that reaches higher than 38.3 degrees Celsius
- Swollen tonsils
- Swollen lymph nodes along the neck
- Headache
- Difficulty swallowing
- Loss of appetite
- Hoarseness
- Irritability
- White and red patches on the throat

The symptoms above are not unique to this condition, which is why; you must never self-medicate. When you see them appearing, just bring your kids to the pediatrician. The presence of the bacteria is verified by performing swab testing. Once diagnosed, antibiotics will be prescribed to eliminate them and if there are other conditions present, such as fever, the doctor will also recommend remedies for them. Aside from these, you can also make the child feel better by giving soft foods like soup and a lot of fluids, especially water.

It is definitely not easy having strep throat. Kids can be very irritable when they have it because it can cause extreme inconvenience. Hence, you must start protecting them even before it actually happens by learning all that you can to prevent it as well as learn the actions to take when it actually arise. Having knowledge gives you the power to be on top of things, especially those that concern your family.

10 Ways to Fight Fatigue

In this high paced world of ours, some of us my find ourselves run down and tired. But some people find it to be worse than others. Millions of doctor visits each year are because the person visiting is suffering from fatigue. There are many causes of fatigue and here are 10 ways to fight it.

1.    Treat Your Pain – Chronic pain can cause fatigue, so the first thing you may want to try is to reduce your pain. Go to your doctor and find out some treatments for your pain. You can also try some home remedies like heat or cold packs or exercise. If your joints are the source of your pain, you can take vitamins for joint health to ease it.

2.    Eat Well and Regularly – Make sure you eat breakfast because that will set your body up with energy for the rest of your day. Also try to eat fruits, veggies, protein, and fiber every three or four hours to keep that energy going.

3.    Drink Water – Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day to prevent fatigue caused by dehydration. Make sure you drink before you are thirsty, because if you are thirsty you waited too long.

4.    Take Vitamin B and D – You should take vitamin supplements regularly and vitamin B and D are the most helpful for fatigue. This is because a deficiency of either of these vitamins cause fatigue. The multiple kinds of vitamin B all help cell processes. It helps maintain brain processes and metabolism. Vitamin D helps with energy and immunity. If you spend a lot of time in the sun, then you should have no problems with vitamin D. But, in the winter time, you can take vitamin supplements to keep your energy up.

5.    Avoid Caffeine – Don't depend on coffee or energy drinks for your morning boost. Caffeine causes a crash and burn energy boost, often leaving you more tired than you were. Instead of coffee, try green tea and slowly reduce your caffeine intake if your use to high levels of it every day.

6.    Good Sleeping Habits – A good nights rest is a good way to keep energized during the day. Keep a routine your body can get use to. Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. If you have trouble falling asleep, try taking a warm bath, reading a book, or sleep medications.

7.    De-stress – Stress can cause you to feel sleepy because your breathing get shallower letting less oxygen into the body. If you are feeling stressed, step back and take a few deep breaths. If you find yourself stressed regularly, try finding something to relax you like a hobby or reading.

8.    Exercise – By doing a moderate exercise you can raise your energy level. 3 to 4 times a week for about 30 or 45 minutes is just enough exercise to raise energy. Anything more than that is counter productive, so keep your exercise at a moderate amount for the best result.

9.    Lose Weight – Being overweight can slow you down and make you tired. Exercise as mentioned above towards a dual purpose and shed those pounds. And avoid extreme dieting or you may make yourself even more fatigue.

10.    Be Tested For Anemia – This could be a cause of your fatigue, so its worth getting tested if no other solution is working. People with anemia don't have enough iron in their blood to attach the oxygen to it. This causes the fatigue. Make sure you see your doctor for options in treating this.

Terminalia chebula: A Brief View

Terminalia chebula: A Brief View

The Terminalia Chebula known as Haritaki is an age old Indian Herb. Its medicinal benefits are many. It is a deciduous tree growing to 30-metre (98 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 1-metre (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. The leaves are alternate to subopposite in arrangement, oval, 7–8-centimetre (2.8–3.1 in) long and 4.5–10-centimetre (1.8–3.9 in) broad with a 1–3-centimetre (0.39–1.2 in) petiole. The fruit is drupe-like, 2–4.5-centimetre (0.79–1.8 in) long and 1.2–2.5-centimetre (0.47–0.98 in) broad, blackish, with five longitudinal ridges. In Urdu and Hindi it is called Harad, Haritaki, or Harada, respectively 'Inknut'. In Sri Lanka it is called Aralu. In Marathi it is called as 'Hirada', in Kannada it is called 'Alalekaayi' and in Tamil it is called 'Kadukkai'. In Bengali it is called horitoky. In Assamese it is called Hilikha. In Telugu it is called 'Karakkaya'. In the United States it is found in some Indian stores; it is known as 'Harde Whole'.

BOTONICAL NAME
 

Terminalia chebula , Terminalia reticulata

FAMILY
 

Combretaceae

STRUCTURE

Large tree, young branchlets, leaf buds,
Leaves:- mostly subopposite, distant, ovate, with long, soft, shining, rust coloured, or silvery hairs.Wither in the cold season.
Flowers:- Dull white or yellowish, with a strong offensive smell.Blossom in April to May.

Fruits:- Obovoid or ellipsoidal from a broad base, glabrous.Formation in November to January.
 

HABITAT

Abundant in North India and southwards to the Deccan tablelands at 1,000 to 3,000 ft.
 

PHARMACOLOGY

Fruit contains a constituent which has a wide antibacterial and antifungal spectrum.and also inhibits growth of E.coli, the most commonorganism responsible for urinary tract infection. The fruit pulp exhibits laxative properties.
 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Fruits:- Contain astringent substances - tannic acid, Chebulinic acid, gallic acid etc. Resin and a purgative principle of the nature of anthraquinone and sennoside are also present.

 

Topical Use Of Terminalia Chebula: Its paste with water is found to be anti-inflammatory, analgesic and having purifiying and healing capacity for wounds. Its decoction as a lotion is surgical dressing for healing the wound earlier.

 Equal parts of three myrobalans and catechu are made in a paste with clarified butter or some bland oil work as an ointment in chronic ulcerations, ulcerated wounds and other skin diseases with discharge.

My Experiences of Treating Chronic Renal Failure patients

Frankly speaking, I had no prior plan to write about treating patients suffering from chronic renal failure until one day all of a sudden one of my colleagues entered in the department, where I was sitting, he asked me to reveal my experiences for the same. Perhaps he was treating a patient suffering from chronic renal failure. Although, I used to think seriously about the fate of innumerable persons suffering from this ailment since long time. Persons like Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan, former P.M. V.P. Singh, flamboyant politician Mr. Amar Singh and thespian Shammi Kapoor suffered from chronic renal failure and were put on dialysis for a long. Most of them have since died. I am keeping news paper clipping; The Tribune, Chandigarh, dated 1st Sept 2005, depicting a photograph of a group of patients from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Haryana whose both kidneys got failed as a result of taking allopathic medicines for ailments like Indigestion to Diabetes mellitus type-2 (NIDDM) in the past. They all were on dialysis and waiting for renal transplant in near future, but presently sitting on a bench at PGIMER's Hari Rai Sarai, Chandigarh  with sullen faces.

 

     I am now feeling compelled in giving the brief of the patients having suffered from kidney failure and treated with homoeopathic medicines as under:-

 

     Mr. X, a young married person around 30 years old, was diagnosed as the patient suffering from chronic renal failure by AIIMS New Delhi. He was advised for kidney transplant, but was not put on dialysis yet. His mother was ready to donate her kidney. Perhaps he would have got his kidney transplant done by the doctors at AIIMS, had his B.P. come to normal despite all efforts to bring it to normal level. Therefore, the said process got delayed.

 

     The patient was brought to me by his father-in-law in June 1988, who happened to be a resident of Chandigarh for homoeopathic treatment. While taking the case I found the history of suppression of some skin problem in the childhood. In the family history; father too had high blood pressure and the same history of suppressed skin ailment. The patient was of normal health and nothing found abnormal in him except high B.P. On the basis of suppressed skin ailment, he was given the antipsoric medicine, Sulphur 10M but of no use. 

 

     One day I talked about this patient to one colleague of mine, Dr. Alok Agnihotri, who suggested for giving Mezerium. This was verified from another senior doctor, Dr. J.B.D.Castro. The literature has a praise for Mezerium, when vital organs like the kidneys fail to perform normally owing to the suppression of skin ailment in childhood or afterwards. Mezerium 30 BD was given to the patient for some days and the result was found marvelous, as the B.P. touched to normal level. The patient there after consulted me for 1 or 2 times more and then stopped even to contact me on phone. Later on in 1992, I was visiting various schools of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula in order to dispose off booklets written on AIDS (A prescribed booklet on AIDS written and published by me). Per chance I came in contact with sister in law of the patient, who told me that the patient had not yet under gone kidney transplant.

 

     Mr. Y, A young man of 22 years, who was doing B.A. He once went to a brothel and contracted STD: syphilis or gonorrhoea? Sometime after his sexual contact, the patient developed thorny condylomata all over the prepuce and glans penis. He consulted an allopath, who must had given him Penicillin injections along with other drugs and adviced him for HIV test. He was found HIV positive by ELISA method, but Western blot never came positive at PGIMER Chandigarh.

 

     The patient consulted me in February 1998. On the basis of his pathology, the patient was treated with antisyphilitic as well as antisycotic medicines one after another, since it was not clear whether the condylomata were syphilitic or gonorrheal origin. Nitric acid and Thuja in high potencies were the medicines given to the patient. The result was disappearance of the condylomatus growth from the said part. He was declared HIV negative by a private pathology lab.