Should adults take chicken-pox vaccine?

Hello Friends,


These days I have been researching about , is there a need for adults to take chicken-pox vaccine ?
As you may know that, Chicken pox is a very common disease in children and also it is highly contagious, it spreads rapidly to the people in contact of the infected child.
 Symptoms of chicken pox start with runny nose and cough associated with mild fever , next  rash develops starting from scalp and trunk spreading to face and legs and eventually covering the entire body, after a couple of days ,raised spots on the skin turn into blisters and the rash becomes itchy. Usually the blisters will crust over and heal by itself in 8-10 days, but in children as the skin is itcy, scratching is the main problem. Scracthing of blisters lead to infection and reduces rate of healing sometimes leaving scars on the skin.


       Rate of chickenpox infection is dropping down as a result of  widespread usage of chicken pox(varicella) vaccine. Vaccine conatins live attenuated varicella virus, which helps the body to develop immunity against the disease.
Tough chickenpox is less commonly seen in adults, it is more dangerous disease for adults as the complication are very severe.




Currently, 90% of adults are immune to chickenpox because of having had the disease as children. If there is a history of chickenpox disease, you don't need testing or vaccination but If you are uncertain of your medical history then blood testing can be done to see if immunization is appropriate. If your Varicella IgG titres result as negative ,you should take the vaccine. Also if you are sure of not getting the disease as a child you should take the vaccine.


Recommended schedule for adults: Everyone age 13 years and older who has never had chickenpox (two doses, given 4–8 weeks apart, subcutaneously) If you have not got the second dose on time, you should make it a priority, and get the shot next time you visit your doctor.


Side-effects of the vaccine include:  Soreness at the injection site, irritability and mild fever can also occur. One of the rare side effects of varicella vaccine is Herpes zoster (Shingles Disease), Yes, this is possible. The risk of zoster following vaccination appears to be less than that following infection with the varicella virus. The majority of cases of shingles following vaccine have been mild and have not been associated with serious complications.


People who should not receive the vaccine:
          Persons suffering from acute severe febrile illness.
             Pregnant women.
             Immuno-compromised (who have decreased disease fighting ability) individuals as those with HIV/AIDS or those     who are taking chemotherapy treatment for cancers.
            Immunization should be delayed for three months at least if the person has received a blood transfusion.

Mental Health: Fact File continued...

Fact 6

Stigma about mental disorders and discrimination against patients and families prevent people from seeking mental health care. In South Africa, a public survey showed that most people thought mental illnesses were related to either stress or a lack of willpower rather than to medical disorders. Contrary to expectations, levels of stigma were higher in urban areas and among people with higher levels of education.

Fact 7

Human rights violations of psychiatric patients are routinely reported in most countries. These include physical restraint, seclusion and denial of basic needs and privacy. Few countries have a legal framework that adequately protects the rights of people with mental disorders.

Fact 8

There is huge inequity in the distribution of skilled human resources for mental health across the world. Shortages of psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists and social workers are among the main barriers to providing treatment and care in low- and middle-income countries. Low-income countries have 0.05 psychiatrists and 0.16 psychiatric nurses per 100 000 people, compared to 200 times more in high-income countries.

Fact 9

In order to increase the availability of mental health services, there are five key barriers that need to be overcome: the absence of mental health from the public health agenda and the implications for funding; the current organization of mental health services; lack of integration within primary care; inadequate human resources for mental health; and lack of public mental health leadership.

Fact 10

Governments, donors and groups representing mental health workers, patients and their families need to work together to increase mental health services, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The financial resources needed are relatively modest: US$ 2 per person per year in low-income countries and US$ 3-4 in lower middle-income countries.

Mental Health: Fact File

Fact 1

About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14. Around 20% of the world's children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or problems, with similar types of disorders being reported across cultures. Yet, regions of the world with the highest percentage of population under the age of 19 have the poorest level of mental health resources. Most low- and middle-income countries have only one child psychiatrist for every 1 to 4 million people.

Fact 2

Depression is characterized by sustained sadness and loss of interest along with psychological, behavioural and physical symptoms. It is ranked as the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Fact 3

On average about 800 000 people commit suicide every year, 86% of them in low- and middle-income countries. More than half of the people who kill themselves are aged between 15 and 44. The highest suicide rates are found among men in eastern European countries. Mental disorders are one of the most prominent and treatable causes of suicide.

Fact 4

War and other major disaster have a large impact on the mental health and psychosocial well-being. Rates of mental disorder tend to double after emergencies.

Fact 5

Mental disorders are among the risk factors for communicable and non-communicable diseases. They can also contribute to unintentional and intentional injury.

How your heart works - Cardiac Cycle

Aspirin- pros and cons

More than a century ago, Aspirin was discovered  and since we have relied on it to control fevers, headaches, arthritis, and pain. Now Aspirin is used in huge population to prevent heart attack, its called the "Prophylactic Dose", but like every drug even Aspirin has got its side effects. It can upset the stomach and cause bleeding in the stomach or brain. That makes the decision of taking aspirin very crucial and it should be thought of very carefully weighing the benifits and the risks.

:

How does aspirin protect the heart?   

     Its prevents the sticking of blood platelets, hence prevents formation of clots which block the narrow coronary artery and cause heart-attack

Is there any way to protect my stomach from bleeding? 

    Yes. Low doses of aspirin appear to pose less risk for stomach bleeding than higher doses. It is even more important to avoid other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, or to take the lowest effective dose for the shortest time possible, if you are also taking aspirin. Medications such as the acid-suppressing proton-pump inhibitors can prevent aspirin-induced stomach bleeding. 

I am a healthy man; should I take aspirin to reduce my risk for heart attack? 

    This is the toughest question of all. It’s a matter of balancing aspirin's potential benefits against its risks. For men between the ages of 45 and 79, the respected U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends taking daily low-dose aspirin when the benefit (protection against heart attacks) outweighs the risks (bleeding).

The Heart 


This organ has always been associated with life, love, emotion, compassion etc. As everyone knows Heart is one of the most important organ for life of a man, everyone of us need to take extra care that, our heart remains healthy. This care is very important in men who are above 40 years of age, involved in stressful activity( mental), are addicted to tobacco, chronic alcoholics. Females who are or have been on oral contraceptive pills, those who have attained menopause need to be extra careful.

5 Simple ways to take care of  your Heart::

1. Quit smoking, it is a difficult task but not impossible, slowly cutting down your nicotine to nil will help you live longer to see your friends and family.

2. Exercise regularly, running ,swimming, cycling are the best exercises. But patients of existing heart diseases need to take easy on the exercise or will precipitate into a heart attack . See video for symptoms http://gethealthynwealthy.blogspot.com/2010/12/symptoms-of-heart-attack-video.html
 Brisk walking for 20 mins everyday is the best exercise in moderate category.

3. If you are over-weight, now is the time to reduce it as it is certainly pressurizing your heart. Staying fit not only improves your health , it also builds up your confidence and improve your working efficiency.

4. Eat healthy food, avoid junk food, saturated fats, I have mentioned other sources of cholesterol in my previous post.

5. For people more than 40 years, Get EKG( Electrokardiogram) done once every six months. This test will warn you if you need to be extracareful, or need medical advice.

Symptoms of a Heart Attack Video

What causes a heart attack?

High Cholesterol Level - The New Enemy

Source:  Animal fats are complex mixtures of triglycerides, with lesser amounts of phospholipids and        cholesterol. As a consequence, all foods containing animal fat contain cholesterol to varying extents.Major dietary sources of cholesterol include cheese, egg yolks, beef, pork, poultry, and shrimp.

Human breast milk also contains significant quantities of cholesterol.

The amount of cholesterol present in plant-based food sources is generally much lower than animal based sources. In addition, plant products such as flax seeds and peanuts contain cholesterol-like compounds called phytosterols, which are suggested to help lower serum cholesterol levels.

Total fat intake, especially saturated fat and trans fat, plays a larger role in blood cholesterol than intake of cholesterol itself. Saturated fat is present in full fat dairy products, animal fats, several types of oil and chocolate. Trans fats are typically derived from the partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fats, and do not occur in significant amounts in nature. Trans fat is most often encountered in margarine and hydrogenated vegetable fat, and consequently in many fast foods, snack foods, and fried or baked goods.

A change in diet in addition to other lifestyle modifications may help reduce blood cholesterol. Avoiding animal products may decrease the cholesterol levels in the body not only by reducing the quantity of cholesterol consumed but also by reducing the quantity of cholesterol synthesized. Those wishing to reduce their cholesterol through a change in diet should aim to consume less than 7% of their daily calories from saturated fat and less than 200 mg of cholesterol per day.

The view that a change in diet (to be specific, a reduction in dietary fat and cholesterol) can lower blood cholesterol levels, and thus reduce the likelihood of development of, among others, coronary artery disease (CAD) leading to coronary heart disease (CHD) has been challenged. An alternative view is that any reductions to dietary cholesterol intake are counteracted by the organs such as the liver, which will increase or decrease production of cholesterol to keep blood cholesterol levels constant. Another view is that although saturated fat and dietary cholesterol also raise blood cholesterol, these nutrients are not as effective at doing this as is animal protein

IMP:::It is recommended by the American Heart Association to test cholesterol every 5 years for people aged 20 years or older.

A blood sample after 12-hour fasting is taken by a doctor or a home cholesterol-monitoring device to determine a lipoprotein profile. This measures total cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, and triglycerides. It is recommended to test cholesterol at least every 5 years if a person has total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or more, or if a man over age 45 or a woman over age 50 has HDL (good) cholesterol less than 40 mg/dL, or there are other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. (In different countries measurements are given in mg/dL or mmol/L; 1 mmol/L is 38.665 mg/dL.)

Introduction

Dear Friends,

I am a doctor and seeing and treating unhealthy people is my profession, I earn my bread and butter from that, but since last several years certain preventable diseases are on the rise. This rise in diseased population is not good for any society, it will hamper the productivity and economic growth of the nation.  I am  starting this blog so that I can share with you the practical experiences I have been through in my career and tell you the ways to live a healthy life, and as you already know....Healthy Life is most important to become rich and enjoy a Wealthy Life.