Kidney transplant- for those who DON'T took care of their kidney.

     Kidney is a very important organ that helps to maintain the healthiness inside our body. They function such things as: 

• Removing excess water from our body to function properly or retaining water if our body needs more.
• It is the one who removes waste such as minerals or electrolytes by means of urine.
• Help regulating the minerals which responsible in bone formation e.g. calcium and phosphates.
• Creatinine is a dangerous waste that the kidney also removes from our body.
• It controls blood pressure.

     If we only just take care of our kidney, then for sure our life will be extended. There are many people who suffer from end-stage renal failure even in young age because they just taken for granted the points that should bear in their mind to preserve their kidneys. Take a note of some reason for having kidney problems:

• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Urinary tract infection
• Drinking alcohol/acidic beverages
• Holding your urge to urinate
• Taking drugs and toxins

     If you reach in having end-stage renal failure because you continued with your unhealthy lifestyle, the only option left for you are lifetime dialysis or kidney transplant. But there are instances that you need also to undergo dialysis even if your kidney transplant is successful. Below are the criteria in kidney transplantation:

1. You need to have a living donor before doing a kidney transplantation and dialysis. Your donor doesn't necessarily related to you.
2. If the suspected donor really want to donate kidney to you, the evaluation team will assess his/her condition to know if donating kidney will not affect their long term health.
3. The evaluation team will also assess you if your body can handle such operation.
4. The age of the recipient must consider. One study shows that the successful kidney transplant our of those patient who are 70 years old below compare to people who aged 70 years old above.
5. Financial status is also considered because procedure like this costs a lot of money plus the post-surgery care.
6. Not all state are doing this procedure, so transportation and accommodation to another place are one point to consider also.
7. After some of the criteria above, the doctor will now order to undergo laboratory test of the recipient know the compatibility of the kidney needed and the body. 
8.  Then if kidney is now available, it must first check if it is healthy and compatible with the recipient blood and body profiles.

     Undergoing kidney transplantation is a hassle thing to do because aside from its costs, it is also a life threatening operation. Take care of your kidney if you don't want kidney transplantation.

Folic Acid- also best for pregnant woman!

      If you get pregnant, taking care of yourself is now a requirement. You'll probably get advice from your family, friends and attending physician on how important it is to stay healthy during pregnancy period. Staying healthy depends usually on how compliant the pregnant woman is.There are many food source that you can use as supplement while you're pregnant. And I'll just discuss here the importance of folic acid.

Folic acid and pregnancy

      Folic acid is a vitamin B which is water-soluble. They can primarily be found in green leafy vegetable like spinach and grains. One study shown that pregnant woman who gets enough folic acid before and during pregnancy decreases their of having a baby with neural tube defects. Aside from that, folic acid collaborate also with your vitamin 12 to produce healthy blood cells and preventing you from anemia. 

FOODS THAT CONTAINS FOLIC ACID:

1. Asparagus

2. Broccoli

3. Orange juice

4. Hard boiled-eggs

5. Brown rice

6. Peanuts

7. Soybeans

8. Dried herbs

HOW MUCH FOLIC ACID NEEDED:

      The average requirement of folic acid consumption before pregancy is 400 micrograms and take it also for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. If you had history before of having a baby with neural tube defect, then maybe you physician will prescribed a higher dose of folic acid to lower the risk of having again a baby with NTD.

Article based on: http://www.medicineinanswers.com/folic-acid-and-pregnancy/

Overcoming Arthritis!!

      Arthritis is simply define as inflammation in one or more joints. It is the main caused of disability among people age fifty-five years old above.

Causes of Arthritis:

1. Osteoarthritis- It is a type of arthritis were there is wear-and-tear damage to joint's ligaments (hard, slick coating at the end part of the bones). Severe damage could lead to grinding the bone to bone which causes a pain and decreases one's ability to move. 

2. Rheumatoid arthritis- A person's own immune system attacks the lining of the joint capsule. The lining which called synovial membrane become inflamed and swollen. If this condition progress, it will completely destroy the cartilage in the joints.

Home remedies for arthritis are very easy to  remember:

1. Heat/ Cold compress- Applying heat/cold compress in the affected area can help relieve pain of arthritis.

2. Reduce weight- If your obese, there is a great tendency that you are bearing much weight to your joints and it is a bad sign and could lead to arthritis later on.

3.  Regular exercise- It helps conditioned our joint and ligaments in moving always.

4. Avoid knuckling you fingers or finger toes.

5. Massage therapy- Massage increases the blood flow and increases the warmth in the affected area and will help relieve the pain.

      If we are just very careful with our lifestyle, food and activity, we are free from any other serious health problems that also include having arthritis.

ACNE attacked! where did they come from?

      Acne or in medical term they called it acne vulgaris, is a type of skin disease that invloves the oil glands at the base of the hair follicles. It usually occur during puberty period and it is one of the problem that teenager are facing during puberty period.

Causes:

1. Heredity- If your parents encountered before acne in their puberty years, then there are great possibility that you can also inherit of having acne.

2. Foods- The kinds of food we take in are also one factor that could trigger in having acne. It is thought that greasy/oily foods  could cause acne but that study are still ongoing. So for now, we just need to select only foods that are healthy so that our body's overall function are in tune.

3. Stress- Though it is not directly one of the main cause of having acne, somehow stress could contribute in getting acne.

4. Medications- Anticonvulsant medication also contribute to acne formation (e.g. Eskalith, Lithobid) and many more over-the-counter drugs.

5. Jobs- Acne may also arise if you're working and expose in an industrial area.

6. Cosmetics- There are type of skin in the face that are not compatible with make-up so better be careful in choosing cosmetics. To be safe, choose that branded one.

Tips to treat acne even when you're just at home:

1. Wash your face properly two time a day with 5% benzoyl peroxide. But if don't have that kind of solution, you can use 2% salicylic acid.

2. Avoid eating food high in oil content.

3. Use a water-based make-up.

4. When going to bed, apply a cream containing sulfur in the affected area.

5. Avoid taking medication, if not emergency, consult your physician first in using certain medication.

      Taking care of our face  is a great reward we can give to ourselves, so always be careful in our behavior.

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Basic Life Support- you should know this.

      Basic life support are usually familiar to people who work in medical field and some foundations offers training for this. But since these days there are already many unavoidable situation that brought also by some reason, we as normal individual should need to have background with basic life support. Some of the victim are those that experienced choking, drowning, unconscious and most famous of all is the occurrence of heart attack.

      Some of the points that you need to remember when we need to do basic life support are as follows:

First: Place the victim in a safe area and shake his shoulder and look for any signs of life (blinking,movement, swallowing or breathing) and ask in a loud voice "SIR ARE YOU OKAY?"

Second: Call the emergency number

Third: Ask an assistance from the bystanders

Fourth: Kneel near the victim's head and shoulder. Place your one palm or heel of your palm at

the center of the sternum. Then place your other hand above the other and make sure that your arm are straight forward. Push down using upper weight not your arm. Do compression atleast 2 inches into the chest for about 100 bpm.

Fifth: To check if the victim's breathing is present, place your hand in his forehead and start tilting his head and chin. Lift his chin forward to open his airway using your other hand. For 5 to 10 seconds, feel if there's air moving out from the victim's mouth and nose or if there's chest movement.

Sixth: If breathing is still absent, it is now time to do rescue breathing. Pinch the victim's nose and cover his mouth with your mouth  completely. Do two rescue breath and observe if the victim's chest is moving upward or if there is rise and fall. After rescue breathing, continue another cycle of 30 compression until normal breathing is achieve and as well as while waiting for ambulance help. 

      It is very important the somehow we had background with this topic because we don't know what happen along the way.

Drug abuse in pregnant women is a BIG NO!

      Being pregnant is such a gift to many woman so giving careful attention to one's health is very important. Consumption of illegal drugs or even over-the-counter drugs is harmful to the unborn baby as well as to the mother. This may cause miscarriage, birth defects, low birth weight, premature labor, fetal death and maternal death.

     Below are some of the drugs that needs to be avoided by a pregnant woman:

• Marijuana-It has the capacity to cross the placenta of a pregnant woman and it alter the oxygen supply from mother to baby.

• Cocaine- It also cross the placenta but their elimination from the body of mother and from the baby are slower so the tendency here, it damages more because it stays longer in the body of the unborn baby.

• Heroin- It is a very addictive drug which causes the baby become dependent with this also.

• Methamphetamine- It causes the  mother and baby's heart to increase and it is a very dangerous state.

      See how harmful it is to take drugs during pregnancy? But if taking illegal drugs or over-the-counter drug is very important to you, then better yet that you consult to your midwife or doctor about this. They are the who know what is best for you. They may give you medical advice on what are the things to do.

Vegetable and fruits- do they have same benefits in our body?

      Including fruits and vegetables in our daily meal could help a lot maintain a healthy body. These food groups helps decrease our risk to have a chronic health condition. Taking other medication as supplement for vitamins and minerals doesn't guarantee you of a complete vitamins and minerals that you need unlike the benefits that a fruits and vegetables could give to us. 

      But did you know that we can get different benefits from fruits and vegetables? Let's find out why.

Benefits of fruits:

1. Fruits contain plenty of water that help our body maintain hydrated.

2. Fruit also contain fiber that helps us fight against corpulence and having high bloop pressure.

3. They don't have cholesterol content.

4. Some says that fruits help relieve depression.

5. Many fruits are good for detoxification.

Benefits of vegetables:

1. Vegetables contain vitamins and minerals that helps maintain the progress growth of our body.

2. Vegetables also contain the very important antioxidant that helps  fight the cellular damage within our body.

3. They also contain fiber that helps fight against cholesterol and a great help in our digestive system to function smoothly.

4. Some vegetables helps us to maintain a good eyesight, healthy skin, healthy teeth and gum and also to fight against infection.

5. A good choice for those dieters because vegetables doesn't contain a high cholesterol.

      Though the two groups partly have different benefits, they are still the best choice of food that we need to live longer. So if you want to be fit and to be free from chronic medical problem, make it a habit to include these  foods in your meal everyday.

vitamins and minerals

Importance of knowing about stroke

      Do you have any idea what is stroke and what is the contributing factor why they occur? Stroke is one abnormal problem in the brain cells in which they die because of lack of oxygen supply. It is usually caused by obstruction in the blood flow or maybe a rupture in an artery.

Risk factor:

a. Over age 55 years old

b. Male

c. Smoking Cigarretes

d. High cholesterol consumption

e. Diabetes

f. Obesity

g. Using birth control pill

There are two types of stroke:

1. Transient Ischemic Stroke- In TIA, the clot in blood that blocking the flow of the blood in the brain breaks up instantly on its own. They are also called mini stroke but symptoms are just the same with the major stroke. They don't caused much brain damage but is it a signal for us that a future major stroke might happen.So it is very important to seek medical advice immediately to avoid further brain damage to happen.

2. Hemorrhagic Stroke- It occurs when a blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrient in the brain cells rupture and blood accumulate in the brain. When this situation happen, some or the part of the brain will be deprived of the oxygen they needed.

Some of the symptoms of having stroke are listed below:

- Dizziness

- Trouble walking

- Loss of balance or coordination

- Paralysis on once side of the body

- Sudden severe headache

- Blurred, blackened, double vision

Want to get pregnant? Choose what's the best time.

      Excited to have a baby on your own? Are you in a right time to get pregnant? Being pregnant is not that easy because there are many things to consider when undergoing in that process. Wise planning is very important to consider when thinking with this situation.

Planning carefully in becoming pregnant help you to:

-          Minimizes stress

-          Conceive more easily

-          Having healthy baby

-          Recover quickly

-          Become more prepare to the things needed

Planning also includes:

  1. Body readiness- Staying healthy before becoming pregnant helps a lot in conceiving easily.

 2. Birth setting - Your comfortably place to give birth should also be consider.

      3. Finances and Insurance - Having enough budget in giving birth and also insurances should include in your planning method

4    4. Emotionally ready- Physically ready must also equal to emotionally ready.

5  5. Medications- Woman should know what are the medication being prohibited throughout the pregnancy stage.

6.  6. Drugs and Alcohol- If you are using these kind of things, better stop it because it will just harm your baby inside your body.

7.   7. Weight- Ask your doctor what is the appropriate weight for you.

8.  8. Relationship- Above all, having good relationship with your partner is the most important because it will help you become motivated to continue pregnancy carefully.

Pregnancy is a crucial stage a woman experience. So be careful when planning to have one.

Complications Made By Obesity!

        If your weight is not appropriate with your age and height then maybe you are one of those who belong to obesity category. Obesity and overweight become a global problem for the last decade and if your keep on not giving attention to your weight then you are candidate to have many problems later on in your life.

      Below are some of the reason why there are people who are obese:

1.    Having sedentary lifestyle- If your are almost idle for the rest of your day, you are executing a sedentary lifestyle. And did you know that if you only move a fewer activity then you only burn also fewer calories.

2.   Eating food high in fats and calories- Consuming foods in fats and calories contributed  a lot in storing our body excess fats.

3.   Medications- Many over the counter medications can increase our weight. So better watch out to the medications you take.

4.  Not sleeping enough- Sleeping can increase your weight. In a research done by Professor Francescon Cappuccio and team, they found out that sleep deprivation increased obesity risk both adults and children.

     Obesity could lead to many health problems including:

-          Diabetes Type II

-          Stroke

-          Hypertension

-          Respiratory problems

-          Cancers

-          Osteoarthritis

-          Liver and Gallbladder problems

Sleeping-what happen when doing it.

       

      Sleep is a very important activity and a recurring state that a person like to do. Did you know that sleep blocks the activity of our sensory system? What happen when we sleep? Sleep is very essential to maintain our healthy body on tone. It conserves our energy and prepared our body for the next day's activity.

       

     Sleep are divided in two category: Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) and Rapid Eye Movement. And each category has their own physiological and neurological features.

1. Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) has three stages:

        a. NREM stage 1- Sleep and wakefulness stage. A person's muscle are active, his eyes                                              roll slowly and moderately close and open.

        b. NREM stage 2- In this stage the person are difficult to awaken.

        c. NREM stage 3- The sleeper  become less responsive to the surrounding environment.

2. Rapid-Eye Movement (REM)- In this division, sleeper's muscles are paralyzed. This stage                                                          also called parodoxical sleep because the sleeper is harder                                                            to awaken compare to any other stage. A normal adult reaches                                                        REM for about every 90 minutes.

      Sleeping is very important because our body helps repair damage cells during this stage. When you have problem regarding your sleeping condition, it is a wise idea to consult your physician and ask for some medical advice.