Influenza - Topic Overview

What is influenza (flu)?
Influenza (flu) is a viral infection. People often use the word "sick" to describe all types of mild sickness like a cold or stomach virus the symptoms of influenza. But the real flu is different. Influenza symptoms are usually worse than a cold and lasts longer. Influenza usually does not lead to vomiting and diarrhea.

Most flu outbreaks happen in late autumn and winter.

What causes the flu?
Influenza caused by influenza A and B. There are different pressures, or the types of influenza viruses each year.

What are the symptoms?
Flu causes fever, body pain, headache, dry cough and sore or dry throat. You'll probably tired and less hungry than normal. The symptoms are usually the worst for the first 3 or 4 days. But it may be 1 to 2 weeks to completely better.

It usually takes 1 to 4 days for the symptoms of influenza after around one person the virus.

Most people get better without any problems. But sometimes the flu can lead to a bacterial infection, such as an ear infection, a sinus infection or bronchitis. In rare cases, flu can lead to a serious problem, such as pneumonia.

Some people are at greater risk for problems from influenza. They include young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with long term illnesses or weakened immune system that make it difficult to fight infections. How is the flu diagnosed?
The doctor will ask you about your symptoms and examine you. This gives the doctor enough information to determine whether you have the flu, especially if many instances of the same disease that has occurred in the area and the local health authorities to an influenza outbreak.

In some cases, your doctor may prescribe a blood test or take a sample of fluid from the nose or throat to find out what type of flu virus you have.

How is it treated?
Most people can treat flu symptoms at home. Home treatment includes rest, drinking a lot of fluid and drugs to fever.

If you think you flu, your doctor may prescribe you medication that the symptoms milder. But you must start within 2 days after the first symptoms.

Influenza can be prevented?
You can prevent flu given flu vaccine each year. The best time for the vaccine in October or November, just before the start of flu season. You can use the vaccine as a shot or a spray that you inhale through the nose.

Nearly all of more than 6 months old may have the flu vaccine. The vaccine is especially important for people who are at higher risk for problems from influenza, including: 1

■ Children from 6 months to 4 years.
■ adults age 50 and up.
■ Adults and children in the long term health problems or a weakened immune system.
■ Women who become pregnant during the influenza season.
Influenza vaccine is also recommended for health workers and all those who live or work with someone who is a greater risk for problems from influenza. Your doctor can help you determine whether influenza vaccine is a good choice for you.

The vaccine usually prevents most cases of influenza. But even if you become sick after you had the vaccine, the symptoms are milder and have less chance of problems from the flu. You can not get flu from flu vaccine.

Read more!

Cholesterol 101: What's Your Equation?

Is Cholesterol under 200? Or is that the right questions to ask for more? We have lots of Cholesterol in the last decades, and it can be difficult to understand and follow all the different opinions out there. Here is how things easier.

We have long known that high Cholesterol causes plaque in arteries (called atherosclerosis). As plaque builds up, the arteries are narrower and less blood can get. It can lead to heart attacks, strokes and problems in other parts of the body.

We also know that not all types of Cholesterol is as bad. The Cholesterol is responsible for these plaques is LDL (Low density lipoproteins), the so-called "bad" Cholesterol. Triglycerides (the building blocks of fat) build there. HDL (high-density lipoproteins), on the other side is a good form for the Cholesterol and higher levels may help reduce atherosclerosis. An easy way to remember is that you want your LDL and HDL is too low to high.

What with a total Cholesterol? Their total Cholesterol measured consists mainly of LDL, HDL and triglycerides. There are other elements, but these are the three most important factors. LDL-Cholesterol is difficult to directly measure and is usually calculated using the following formula: LDL = [total Cholesterol] - [HDL] - [triglycerides ÷ 5]

This is the total Cholesterol, LDL equal minus your HDL, triglyceride formulas minus the number after it is divided by 5

HDL and total Cholesterol is usually fairly constant during the day, but triglyceride levels formulas increase significantly after a meal. You must be continued at least 6-8 hours for an accurate assessment of triglycerides and LDL.

Total Cholesterol, shows a very poor indicator of risk, because a high or low total not told about LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels. Some people use the proportion of total and HDL Cholesterol in assessing risk, because you are not too fast to measure these numbers. I prefer to take a Fasting blood sample and see the LDL, triglycerides and HDL. If you know these three numbers in total and no additional information.

Read more!

Smoking may speed progress of multiple sclerosis

Dr. Alberto Ascherio of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and his colleagues also found that smokers with MS is more likely that the progressive form of the disease when symptoms become worse, instead of relapsing-remitting form in which a person has MS symptoms intermittent injection.

"Most of the adverse effects were observed in current smokers, which in any way is good news because it suggests that smoking cessation can help Ascherio told Reuters Health.

People who smoke are known to be an increased risk of MS, but research on smoking affects the course of the disease have conflicting results, he and his colleagues note. They followed 1,465 MS patients, 17.5% of these were active smokers, with an average of just over three years to investigate.

Of 891 patients, the team came after the deadline for determining the degree of progression from one form of the disease to another, as their 72 Member States to be relapsing-remitting form: 20 of 154 smokers, 20 of 237 ex -- - smokers and 32 500 non-smokers.

This meant that smokers were 2.4 times as likely as non-smokers have primary progressive MS, who had relapsing-remitting disease were 2.5 times more likely than nonsmokers to develop secondary progressive MS during follow-up period. The study is beginning, smokers had more disability, more severe disease and atrophy in their heads. Over time, they also showed a sharp increase in the total amount of damaged brain tissue and their degree of atrophy of the brains.

The mechanism that cigarette smoking may be worse, MS is not clear Ascherio said. Smoking is associated with a number of other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, he noted, while others are not so accustomed to the effects on the immune system may be a factor, another possibility could be that cigarette smoke is toxic to the nervous system.

There is no documented risk factors for progression of MS is that the patient can do something with Ascherio noted.

"Although a causal link has yet been proven, says he and his colleagues write" These results suggest that patients with MS who quit smoking, not only the risk of smoking diseases, but also curb the development of MS.

Read more!

Finishing Treatment for Depression

Nobody likes taking medication or getting ongoing treatment for the rest of their life. So, if you have been taking advantage of home remedies, medications, and/or counseling for depression, when is it safe to stop treatment?

The answer, of course, depends on many things. Some people just have such severe depression that they can never completely stop treatment. And some people are so strongly predisposed to mood disorders that they periodically need to resume treatment multiple times over their lives. There is no shame in being one of these people. In fact, it takes a lot of courage to admit to yourself and others that you have a problem and that it needs to be treated. The reward for such bravery is escape from the dark clouds of depression that so often make life almost unbearable.

Many other people, however, can successfully stop at least some of their depression treatment program. Here are some guidelines to help maximize your likelihood of success.

Be patient. Depression rarely comes on suddenly. Rather, it slowly sneaks in and gradually robs us of our vitality. Once a pattern of depression becomes established, it can be very hard to change. The same idea works in reverse: Happiness and improved mood can also become self-renewing, and help to keep depression at bay. As counseling, medications, and lifestyle changes begin to kick in, they are initially just treating the symptoms of depression. Actually curing the underlying mood disorder takes much longer. Therefore, my standard advice is to continue full antidepressant treatment until you have felt completely back to normal for a minimum of 3 months.
Pick the right season. It is well known that our moods tend to be brighter when the days are longer and the weather is warmer. So don't try to stop or reduce your depression treatment during the gloomy, dark, and cold winter months. Instead, target the spring or early summer, when you're more likely to be able to get outside and enjoy some healthy fresh air, sun light, and exercise.

One step at a time. Even if your mood is flying high on a magic carpet (or on a therapeutic regimen of counseling and medication), don't suddenly stop your meds or your therapy sessions—that's like pulling the rug out from under yourself and you might crash land. A gradual tapering down of medication doses will allow your body and brain to adjust to the chemical changes that come with less medicine.

And if it turns out that your depression gets worse and it was too soon to try to stop the medication, it will be easier to get back to normal if you just need to increase the dose a little bit. If counseling has been part of your regimen, it can be very helpful to continue those sessions while decreasing the medication dose, to help you work through any bumps on the road to less medicine.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Many people with depression do successfully taper off of their medication and no longer need counseling. But the basic lifestyle approaches to boosting your mood are worth pursuing forever. Continue applying the new coping skills you've learned. Keep everything in perspective, so the little things are less likely to get you down next time. And always look for more opportunities to laugh, exercise, get some sunlight, and interact with friends and relatives.

Read more!

Is Tylenol Safe? Yes, very

Good old Tylenol®. Perhaps you are using this long-standing trusted painkillers for menstruation cramps, headache or arthritis pain. Your young star in the

pediatrician to recommend a good children's pain, despite advice different doses around the clock during the illness.

But recently the FDA, there are doubts about the safety of Acetaminophen, Tylenol active ingredients, and media reports say

Acetaminophen can damage one's liver. Then you begin to worry that you may have injured themselves or a loved one.

Well, STOP! Please stop worrying.

Acetaminophen is a safe medicine to reduce fevers, and treatment of pain. Unless you have a liver disease known as hepatitis,

or to substances that are toxic to the liver or whether Acetaminophen, the current dosing guidelines for

Tylenol is very safe.

Indeed, the most common mistake I see people with the Tylenol dosing. I have often heard from patients, "Tylenol only

does not work for me ", immediately followed by" I took a pill, because I do not want too much. "

Know this: the options have risks. Many of Ibuprofen (Motrin ®), naprosyn (Alev ®) and others as they travel

risk of bleeding, especially stomach ulcers. How safe you feel when Tylenol

■ Know the proper dosage. For children, the pediatrician to find a dose based on the child's current weight. Adults

without liver disease can lead to 2 extra strength tablets (2 x 500 mg) every 6 hours or up to 2 regular strength tablets (2 x 325

mg) every 4 hours. If you have liver disease, you should always speak with your doctor before taking medicine for the first time.
■ Avoid combination pills. If also taking Tylenol, you are on prescription pain medication or taking over-the-counter

Cold / Sinus formulations your doctor or pharmacist to determine whether to add too much at the top of Acetaminophen

usual dose.
■ Remove all meds. If you have small children, it is important that all medicines out of reach and child-proof containers. No request

a child of an error or chewing tablets easy to swallow tablets for sweets, and use of dangerous dose. Also show that depressive

People who do not have access to 8 or more tablets at a time - it is the total number of high-dose Tylenol today. More than
that consumed at one time in a suicide attempt can sometimes prove fatal.

Read more!

Having a Heart Attack? Not on a Weekend

Well, the best solution is to have a heart attack. But if you have one, and admitted to hospital on a weekend, you have a 5 percent

higher risk of dying during the following months when you are on a working day.

That's the conclusion of a study of about 230,000 patients hospitalized for a first heart attack, published recently in the New England

Journal of Medicine. Most hospitals provide only emergency or urgent care on weekends and reduce their total staff as well as the

number of available experts to do invasive procedures like angioplasties.

But here is the blue sky: a large study in several centers in the U.S. discovered that you are least likely to suffer heart attacks during

the weekend and probably on a Monday.

And many studies have shown that they most commonly between the hours of 6 am and noon. Among the possible explanations for

this finding is that the level of blood pressure and stress hormone Epinephrine is often higher in the morning with an increased

tendency to formation of blood clot.
You can increase the risk of a heart attack tomorrow morning that aspirin use and blood pressure medicines that control blood

pressure during a complete period of 24 hours. Heart attacks are also more likely to be in the winter than in summer.

In fact, the weekend is not a good time in a hospital, period, regardless of health. Previous research showed that weekend

hospitalizations were associated with higher mortality for 23 of the 100 leading causes of death and mortality was not lower during

the weekend for some cause of death.

Of course, this knowledge does not mean that you can change the timing of heart attacks. In addition to following your doctor's

recommendations to reduce the overall risk of a heart attack, it is not possible for a weekend heart attack. And by all means not to a

hospital immediately if you suffer distressing pain in the chest for a weekend.

Read more!

Bad Eating Habits Can Alter Your DNA

Eat a chocolate bar can be harmful genetic changes or mutations that can have serious consequences for DNA changes that can last a few weeks.

This is according to a recent Australian study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, which reported that human genes actually remember a "sugar hit" for weeks. Not only

that, but according to researchers, chronic malnutrition was permanently change the DNA of a person.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of diet on human heart tissue, and mouse. Results: a one-off sugar hit "of influence on the cells through the exchange of genetic

control for up to 2 weeks, which is designed to protect the body against diseases and diabetes.

Principal investigator, Sam El-Osta of Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, told the Australian Associated Press that these harmful genetic mutations or changes may be imminent

in the cells may have the possibility of natural metabolic responses to diet. He has also stated that the chronically poor food would increase the impact of genetic damage lasting

months or years, possibly through blood lines ... for their children. " What are the possible Take-Aways from this type of diet needs genomics research?

■ nutritional genomics is an exciting new field, which I believe will be a familiar name within the next few years. The genetic screening to see who can be vulnerable to certain diseases, such as high cholesterol. Perhaps this area could be a new way to treat weight problems.

■ Such a test, for example, can tell you that you are genetically programmed not to weight loss, a useful tool that will give you and your doctor may try a different approach to weight loss.

What do you think dear readers? Do you know if you have a "harmful" genes weight? I would like to hear from you.

Read more!