Dengue: Symptoms, causes and treatment

The alarming rise in cases of dengue across cities in the country has become an increasing cause of worry. It now more important than ever to be aware of the risk factors, and protect yourself. Prevention in this case, is truly better than cure.

What is dengue?
Dengue is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. Dengue cannot be spread directly from person to person, i.e., is not contagious. A person can only become infected by the bite of a mosquito that is infected with the dengue virus. It is important to note that these mosquitoes bite during the daytime as well as nighttime. 

Symptoms
Dengue usually begins with chills, headache, pain while moving the eyes, and backache. Persistent high fever is characteristic of dengue. Other symptoms to watch out for are exhaustion, backache, joint pains, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure and rash.

Treatment
Because dengue is caused by a virus, there is no specific treatment for it; treatment of dengue is typically concerned only with the relief of symptoms. People who show the symptoms mentioned above should immediately consult a physician. It is important to drink plenty of fluids, stay hydrated, and get as much rest as possible.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)
DHF is a more severe form of dengue and can be fatal if untreated. It tends to affect children under the age of ten, and causes abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding), and circulatory collapse (shock).

Prevention
There is no vaccine to prevent dengue. Prevention of dengue requires eradication of the mosquitoes that carry this virus. This means high standards of hygiene and sanitation. Avoid areas littered with garbage. All containers of stationary water (like drums or buckets) should be covered or discarded, including flower vases and pets' feeding bowls. If your area is infested with mosquitoes, wear long sleeves, use mosquito repellants and fumigate if necessary.

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10 Hygiene Rules to Teach Your Kids from an Early Age

Maintaining good hygiene for kids is easier said than done. However, in order to gift your child a healthy life ahead, you must teach your kid these basic hygiene rules.

Kids generally have a tough time keeping up with hygiene, and when you ask them to clean up, you are not sure if your request is going to be met or not. After all, children's reactions can often be as unpredictable as the weather. However, irrespective of whether, they like to wash up or not; it is of utmost importance for them to learn personal hygiene. Make sure to teach your child these ten hygiene rules as early as possible.

Washing hands
Encourage proper hand washing before and after meals, after using the toilet, and upon their return from outdoors. Fill the bowl with warm water and coach your child to rub his/her hands thoroughly with soap and thereafter rinse and dry. Consider making it fun with towels and soaps having cartoon or animated characters on them. Washing your hands frequently is an ideal way to prevent germs from spreading.

Oral hygiene
Teach your kid to brush his/her teeth twice a day to prevent tooth decay and gum diseases. It is advised to supervise your children until they are capable of doing it themselves, and until you are sure that they will not skip the practice. Demonstrate how to brush both sides of teeth and top of the molars. Brushing teeth is only half the cleaning. Flossing is the other half. One of the secrets why many Americans have healthy teeth even at 80 is the daily flossing.

Bathing 
Like adults, kids must also take a bath daily in order to stay clean. Although, your young one may not be quite ready to bathe on his/her own, you should encourage your child to get more responsible about his/ her cleanliness. Try to make bath time fun and enjoyable by adding bubbles to water or using bath toys.

Short nails
Keep your child's nails short and clean. Longer nails trap dirt and considerably increase the chances of spreading germs. If, like most parents, you often find it difficult to clip your child's nails, do it when he/she is distracted watching television, or when asleep.

Keep it private
Playing or touching his private parts is not just unhygienic, but also embarrassing when done in public. Calmly explain your child the difference between private and public, and point out those things that do not make up for a good public display.

Wiping up
Hygiene is not just about washing hands after using the toilet; wiping the bottom and flushing the toilet is also a part of the rule. Use wet toilet wipes to teach your child how to clean himself.

Hair washing
Even though washing hair every other day is the best, encourage it at least twice weekly. This helps to prevent scalp problems, dandruff issues, and hair odour.

Sneezing
Teach your child to sneeze or cough into a tissue or handkerchief. A tissue is the best because it can be disposed of immediately. If a handkerchief is used, it should be changed two or three times a day. This will not only help in keeping personal hygiene, but will also help to prevent the transmission of germs from one to another. Discourage nose picking.

Clothing
Wearing clean and comfortable clothes is very essential to maintain personal hygiene. Make sure your child changes into fresh clothes at least three times a day- morning, evening, and during bedtime.

Ear Picking
Just like cleaning any other part of the body, cleaning earwax is also very important. If ignored, it can impair your child's hearing. Teach him to clean up his ears regularly using a fresh cotton bud and discourage ear picking with fingers. Make sure that you supervise this task initially. If earwax is left to build, it can lead to serious medical issues.

These are some of the hygiene rules you should teach your kids from an early age in order to give them a healthy start. As kids often imitate their parents, you must become a role model by incorporating these habits in your routine.

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30 Ways to Prevent Diabetes

Diabetes can be a difficult ailment to deal with. However, with proper control, its symptoms can be prevented from surfacing. Here are some steps, to keep you from contracting diabetes.

1. Weight Management

Taking control of your weight is the first step in warding off chances of developing diabetes. A controlled weight not only helps to keep blood-sugar levels in check, but also maintains overall well-being.

2. Exercise

Proper exercise is the key element in maintaining optimum health. Studies have shown that exercise improves the blood flow and clears sugar levels in the blood. This results in higher metabolism and lower risks of diabetes.

3. Avoid Trans-Fats

Trans-fats lower the body’s capability to absorb protein, withholding insulin secretion in the body. This marks an increase in the blood-sugar levels. Avoiding trans-fat containing processed foods will help keep risks of diabetes, at bay.

4. No Sugar

Moderate consumption of sugar will keep blood-sugar levels in check. However, rampant consumption of unnaturally sweetened processed foods will inhibit insulin production and result in the onset of diabetes. Thus, avoiding sugar wholly will be the best approach in the prevention of diabetes.

5. No Refined Carbohydrates

Avoid white rice, pasta, popcorn, rice-puffs and white flour, if you wish to control your blood-sugar levels. During diabetes, the body loses its ability to assimilate complex carbohydrates, causing a rampant sugar deposition in blood as sugar. Avoiding the above-mentioned complex carbohydrates will ensure that your insulin production stays unaffected.

6. Fibre

A fibre-rich diet is highly conducive to controlling blood-sugar levels. The absorbed fibre tends to absorb the sugar in the blood and facilitate insulin secretion to normalize diabetes. Consuming whole-wheat and multi-grain products will load up the body with fibre.

7. No Smoking

Smoking increases chances of contracting diabetes, since it begins to affect cardiovascular health and hormonal secretions in the long run. Carbon deposition in the blood results in inhibited absorption of assimilated nutrients. Giving up your smoking habit will, thus, boost your health and keep diabetes away.

8. Fresh Fruits

Natural fruit sugars are the best options, as dietary supplements, since they provide all the necessary vitamins and minerals required. Studies have shown that an adequate intake of Vitamin A and C maintains blood and bone health. Include fresh citrus fruits like oranges, apples, pineapples, grapes and lemons in your diet. Consume bananas in moderation, since their sugar structure is more complex than that of citrus fruits.

9. Fresh Vegetables

Fresh vegetables are rich sources of iron, zinc, potassium, calcium and other essential nutrients. These nutrients restore the balance and aid in overall cardiovascular and nervous health. This prompts the body to assimilate proteins and produce insulin in an optimum level.

10. Green Tea

Green tea is nothing less than a miracle cure for ailments. Consuming a cup of unsweetened green tea regularly will rid the body of free radicals and let the antioxidants, contained within, normalize the blood sugar levels. This will aid in reducing diabetes and help keep the chances at bay.

11. Coffee

Although caffeine has been known to increase chances of cardiovascular ailments, a moderate consumption tends to curb the increase of blood sugar levels. Caffeine has been known to suppress hunger pangs, which in the long run can curb an unruly sweet-tooth syndrome, from loading up the body with unnecessary calories.

12. Small, Frequent Meals

High metabolic rates are highly conducive in maintaining blood-sugar levels and nothing keeps metabolism more fired up than consuming small portions, frequently. Studies have shown that frequent meals result in greater absorption of nutrients and lesser deposition of fat. Without fat deposition, the insulin secretion is normalized.

13. Cardiovascular Health

With an onset of diabetes, cardiovascular health is the first aspect to be affected. Without proper care, diabetic patients develop heart ailments within a short span of time. In order to keep their diabetes in check, they need to monitor their cholesterol levels closely. Through proper medication, diet and rigorous exercise, one can keep their heart healthy.

14. Avoid Red Meat

When consumed in excess, the polyphenols in red meat tend to raise blood cholesterol levels. Red meats, due to their complicated protein structures are digested much slowly. Thus, consuming red meat tends to bring down the metabolic rate and hinder insulin secretion.

15. Cinnamon Powder

Powdered cinnamon, apart from spicing up your foods, has the ability to lower blood sugar levels, as well. Take a pinch of cinnamon with warm water every day and kiss diabetes goodbye.

16. Stress Management

Oxytocin and serotonin are responsible for keeping the nerves functioning on optimum levels. The release of adrenaline under great stress, on the other hand, tends to disrupt insulin secretions. Doing away with stress is, therefore, the most potent way of minimizing the harmful effects of high-blood sugar.

17. High Protein Diet

A diet high in protein is extremely conducive in maintaining energy levels in the body, since people with risks of diabetes are recommended to stay off diets with complex carbohydrates and high fat content. Not only does it aid in normalizing the wear-and-tear of the body, but also maintains a high metabolic rate.

18. Avoid Fast Foods

When it comes to epitomizing bad health, fast foods grace the very top of the pyramid. Not only are they replete in excessive salt, processed sugars and complex carbohydrates but are also steeped in unhealthy oils containing trans-fats. In order to maintain healthy blood-sugar levels, cutting down on fast-foods is a must!

19. Regular Blood-Sugar Checks

Keeping tab on your blood sugar levels is an excellent way to monitor your chances of contracting diabetes. Buy a blood-glucose monitor to be more hands-on in the testing process. These devices require a small sample of blood to determine if your sugar levels are within control or not.

20. Regular Consultation

An ailment like diabetes requires constant check-up. Careful diagnosis keeps blood-sugar within the optimum levels. Since monthly check-ups and blood tests will determine the appropriate dosage to cure one of diabetes, setting up regular consultations with your doctor will be the best option to resort to.

21. Sleep Well

A good night’s sleep is as essential for proper health, as food or exercise. Studies have shown that adults sleeping for 7-8 hours every night have experienced lesser chances of contracting diabetes in the long run, than those who sleep for fewer hours. The science behind it claims that sleep calms the brain and facilitates the normal hormone secretion. Lack of sleep upsets the normal hormonal balance.

22. Avoid Salt

Moderate salt intake is the key factor in controlling diabetes. Salt is responsible for tempering the osmotic balance of the body, which when upset, tends to give rise to various hormonal anomalies. Its ability to hinder insulin production tends to aggravate risks of Type-2 diabetes.

23. Take Care of Bruises

In diabetes, the immune system of the body is rendered weak, which means that minor injuries don’t tend to heal easily. Thus, unexplained cuts and bruises are primary physical signs of high blood-sugar levels.

24. Drink Water

Water tends to mobilize the high sugar content in blood and thereby helps in preventing aggravation. Drinking 2.5 litres of water, on a daily basis, will not only regulate physical functions but will also lower chances of cardiovascular and diabetic ailments.

25. Lean Meat

Lean meats are great substitutes for non-vegetarians under diabetes risk. The high protein content is essential to sustain physical well-being, since fats and high-carbohydrate diets are out of the question.

26. More Calcium

Consuming optimum amounts of calcium, whether in supplement form or in diet, can reduce chances of contracting diabetes. Studies have shown that people consuming 500 mg in supplement form have experienced 25% less chances of developing Type-2 diabetes.

27. Vinegar

Vinegar is an excellent dietary compound responsible for diluting concentrated sugar-levels in the blood. Studies have shown that two spoonfuls of vinegar before a meal can reduce the glucose influx.

28. Soy

Soy proteins are one of the miracle cures for reducing diabetes among crucial patients. The isoflavones contained in them reduce the sugar content in blood and keep the body nourished, while accumulating much fewer calories, when compared to other foods.

29. Skip Aerated Drinks

Colas and other aerated beverages are replete with excessively high sugar content, which is detrimental to the existing blood-sugar levels. Its sugar content is also a rampant source of empty calories, which hinders the physical ability to assimilate nutrients.

30. Sunlight

Studies have shown that moderate exposure to sunlight boosts the physical synthesis of vitamin D, which is essential for doing away with insulin resistance in the body. Lack of Vitamin D results in low insulin production. While soaking up the sun might sound like an excellent yet easy remedy, to reduce diabetes levels, one must pay attention not to overexpose themselves to avoid risks of skin cancer.

Diabetes is completely manageable, if handled with dedication and care. By following the above-mentioned steps, one can steer clear of the harmful effects of diabetes.

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Stand Up 2 Cancer: 5 Ways to Lower Your Risk of Cancer

Cancer rates may be declining slowly, but deaths from certain types of cancer are still on the rise, and more than 1,500 people in the United States still die from it every day. Stand Up 2 Cancer is determined to accelerate and innovate cancer research, so that patients can have access to new treatments quickly, and scientists can find a cure. Their telethon tonight (8 p.m. ET, on Yahoo.com and elsewhere) is dedicated to raising money and awareness for the fight against cancers of all kinds. 

"This broadcast has become a global call-to-action for all those touched by cancer," Gwyneth Paltrow, who is one of the telethon's executive producers, said in a statement. "Like so many people, I know what it's like to lose a family member to this disease, and I'm honored to stand up in my father's memory." 

Since 2008, the organization has given out $109 million to fund hundreds of scientists working toward finding a cure for cancer. (Their funding is administered by the American Association for Cancer Research; you can donate at StandUp2Cancer) Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Justin Timberlake, Sofia Vergara, Gabrielle Douglas, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and other recording artists and celebrities will perform during tonight's telethon. 

"We now understand the very biology that drives cancer," the organization points out on its website. "With knowledge gained from the mapping of the human genome, we can target the genes and pathways that are involved in turning normal cells into cancerous ones. We are on the brink of possessing a toolbox full of new, advanced therapies just waiting to be adapted to benefit patients." 

According to the World Health Organization, at least one-third of all cancer cases are preventable. Here are five easy steps you can take to lower your own risk of cancer: 

Use sun protection. Skin cancer accounts for nearly half of all cancer cases in the United States -- more than 2 million cases a year, The American Cancer Society notes. While a little bit of sun exposure helps your body produce vitamin D, too much exposure can quickly lead to melanomas and worse -- even for people with darker skin. Slathering on sunscreen (you should use about a shot-glass's worth to cover your whole body) whenever you're outdoors can help protect your skin from damage and reduce your risk of skin cancer. 

Watch what you eat. A new study shows that organic food is not more nutritious than conventional food, but organic options can lower your exposure to some cancer-causing pesticides. (The "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean 15" lists can help you decide when buying organic does or doesn't make sense.) And certain foods -- blueberries, kiwis, cantaloupe, garlic, green tea, and fatty fish, among others -- are high in compounds that can help protect against different types of cancers. Also: Drinking plenty of water can help cut your risk of bladder cancer, and reducing your alcohol intake (especially if you're male) can reduce your risk of mouth and oropharynx cancer. 

Don't smoke or chew tobacco. "Using any type of tobacco puts you on a collision course with cancer," the experts at the Mayo Clinic warn. Smoking has been linked to lung cancer, of course, but also to cancers of the bladder, cervix, stomach, larynx, esophagus, and kidneys. Chewing tobacco has been linked to oral cancers and cancer of the pancreas. (Want to quit smoking? Yahoo! Shine has some tips.) 

Watch your weight. If you're overweight, losing just a couple of pounds can help reduce your risk of several types of cancer. A recent study by Dr. Anne McTiernan at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that overweight, post-menopausal women who exercised moderately for just three hours a week were able to drop enough weight to lower the levels of circulating estrogen in their bodies which, in turn, lowered their risk for developing estrogen-sensitive breast cancers. 

Get screened regularly. Catching cancer early can be the key to successful treatment, so it's important for men and women to stay on top of routine screenings. Guidelines for mammograms and pap smears have changed in recent years. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that both girls and boys get the HPV vaccine to protect against contracting or transmitting the virus that can cause cervical cancer. 

Source: Yahoo!