Author Archive
The Source of Rabies Virus
Prompt treatment with rabies vaccine is the only effective means to prevent the death of a person who has been bitten by a rabid animal. The collective immunization of domestic animals and availability of care facilities prepared for successful treatment in humans in case of accidents are the surest ways to control anger and save the lives of those affected.
Rabies is a deadly infectious disease transmitted by some animals infected with rabies virus. The usual source of human infection are dogs, cats, foxes, wolves, bats. The man contracted the virus primarily transcutaneously, due to the accidental bite of a rabid animal inoculated with the virus in saliva, the salivary glands.
Injuries that are associated with the transmission of rabies are basically caused by the teeth and, secondly, by the nails. The lick, although not an obvious form of aggression, is another means of transmission. If the sick animal spends licking wounds or skin abrasions can transfuse the rabies virus.
Although the dog, being a pet human, is the most likely to spread rabies in areas where the disease is not controlled, many people today have wild animals as pets. Moreover, one of the greatest risks in some cities is not given by domestic animals, but bats although not hematophagous (blood feeding), can carry rabies.
The bats that live in cities eat insects, but if they are ill change their usual habits, appear by day, walk across the floor, do not flee from people. If people try to grab them, may be bitten. What we suggest is not to touch any bat, in these cases we must alert the nearest center of zoonoses to drop the animal. Meanwhile, you can cover with a bucket upside down.
Many people die annually worldwide from bites of rabid dogs, especially in those developing countries where rabies is not controlled in dogs, as in Asia, Africa and some Latin American countries, such as Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico.
Some developed countries, with problems of rabies in wild animals, such as Germany and France, are trying a special vaccination. This is a bolus vaccine that is put into the food. This is done under very special conditions for demarcation of the property, control of the area and so on.
In rural areas, where cattle are exposed to rabies from the bite of vampire bats, vaccination campaigns are targeted at farmers to immunize their animals.
Alcoholism, Biomedical Factors of Addiction (Part 2)
Predictions
Studies in children below indicate the possibility of detecting neurobiological labels to assist the prediction of alcoholism in adulthood. The observations provide a glimpse of what the path for finding the specific genes that mediate disease.
The difficulties are not few: the clinical heterogeneity and uncertainty that still surrounds the inheritance of alcoholism, pose tremendous challenges. The Banbury Center is an institution that devotes more efforts on the task of critically assessing these obstacles to make your search, from the hand of clinicians, geneticists and neurobiologists is efficient.
Recent research sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recognize the genetic determination, however, examine the environmental factor of each of the people, especially the influence of peers and the availability of alcohol. Genetics and environment are called risk factors, without the risk determines the destination, ie the son of an alcoholic parent does not necessarily develop the disease.
The scientists studied thousands of people from several hundred families who have a greater or lesser degree, with a history of alcoholism. The idea was to identify the location of genes that influence vulnerability. The success of this research is to identify people who are at high risk of alcoholism, and open living spaces to effectively address the problems associated with alcohol.
Another study is analyzing how genetic and environmental factors combine to cause disease. All research that are developing throughout the world will lead to the prevention of alcohol problems, identification of abuse in their consumption in early treatment leading to clearly available to individuals and families.
Practical Differences
The truth about alcoholism was not entirely clear to people, both genetic and environmental components, such as the differences between abuse and alcohol consumption.
Alcoholism is equal to the alcohol dependence syndrome, characterized by the compulsive desire to drink, the loss of control to start drinking, the occurrence of symptoms after abstinence, and tolerance or the need to increase the amount of alcohol consumed to feel drugged. Alcoholism has little or nothing to do with the type of alcohol, quantity or time of consumption.
Alcohol abuse does not have the above characteristics, but simply a pattern that is associated with irresponsible behavior such as missing work, develop dangerous activities, and so on.
Alcoholism, Biomedical Factors of Addiction (Part 1)
Advances in the field of alcoholism in recent years were of vital importance for the understanding of evil, which can be treated but still no cure.
Two main factors associated with the predisposition of compulsive consumption of alcohol: the environment and genetics. Recent discoveries have revealed that it is on the long arm of chromosome eleven o’clock where is this predisposition, but it is a predisposition mutant can still manifest in other compulsions, such as food, gambling, sex, etc..
A new trend
Research now have a new trend that aims to solve the problems of a social other practices have failed to address effectively. He then speaks of using the vast arsenal of genetics to study addiction.
The analysis of adopted children and twins was definitive in assessing the importance of genetic load in the development of the disease. Barry Everitt, a neurologist at the University of Cambridge and addiction specialist, argues that the failure to understand the underlying biological and psychological processes “could shed light on a wide range of compulsive behavior disorders, including not only alcohol abuse and smoking, but also bulimia, gambling and other behaviors that generate rewarding withdrawal in addicts who are abandoned.
Thus, a large proportion of individual differences in vulnerability to alcohol and other substances are concentrated on genetics, but has not been established whether these genetic differences are applicable to addictions in general, or only to specific substances .
The NIDA Research Center in Baltimore, under the leadership of Roy Pickens specialist, is developing a project to identify subtypes of alcoholics whose genetic factor is strong. Until now, research results indicate that if individuals with the disease suffer from other psychiatric disorders, genetic load reaches its peak.
Experiments and research
Researchers at the University of Bristol suggest-curious-that those with certain insensitivity to sour and bitter tastes are more likely to consume alcohol. This means that besides genetics also plays an important role the relationship between taste and alcoholism.
Moreover, the geneticist Kari Buck explains that it is proved that humans have similar genes for addiction, could get to know the right way to develop drugs against alcoholism. Markers were identified genes associated with alcoholism in three different chromosomes.
In experiments with mice found that those who inherit one version or allele of these genes have a greater risk of withdrawal, and that mice with different alleles, are protected against such symptoms. John Crabbe, Princeton University, found mice with a genetic marker of a gene that prompts the animals to drink alcohol. This gene into the brain sends a signal to drink more than normal mice.
The Best Way to Feed The Baby (Part 2)
Answer 5:
FALSE. As the child grows and matures, the composition of breast milk changes. After six months, the baby’s specific requirements make it necessary to incorporate adequate complementary foods. However, breast milk remains the ideal primary source of nutrition during the first year. Just twelve months after it becomes food supplement. Furthermore, by providing defense substances called immunoglobulins, breast milk continues to complement and assist the immune system while taking the child to follow.
Answer 6:
FALSE. The woman’s body produces milk on demand, the more empty the chest, faster return to work to fill it. While the more full it is the chest, the slower the milk production.
Answer 7:
FALSE. Since the body produces milk according to the stimuli it receives for it, if she always waits for you “fill” the breasts before breast-feeding, your body may receive the message that is producing too much milk and then reduce production .
Answer 8:
FALSE. Milk production by mothers and their storage capacity (which in turn is related to breast size) and growth needs of the child, are the factors that determine the frequency of taking the child. The fact that there are days when peak growth occurring diseases as well as to submit the child, can also temporarily change the baby’s eating patterns. It is no good to impose limits on the frequency or duration of feedings or feedings, which can result in too low intake of calories.
Answer 9:
TRUE. Children generally give signals when they are hungry. However it is possible that newborns do not wake up as often as they need, so you have to be awakened if necessary to eat at least eight times in 24 hours.
Answer 10:
FALSE. The more natural food, healthy and harmless to your child could have is breast milk. If the baby shows signs of sensitivity related to food in general can be traced either very rare metabolic disease or any foreign protein that the mother had eaten and gained entry into breast milk and not breast milk itself. The latter is easily avoided by eliminating the food allergen from the diet for a while.
Answer 11:
TRUE. It is important that the child garment long enough (at least ten minutes) to the same breast as the first low milk has less fat and therefore fewer calories than the “second milk.” If you switch sides soon, will fill with milk first, lower in calories, instead of obtaining the natural balance between the first and second milk. This could cause the child not gain weight appropriately by not consuming enough calories.
Answer 12:
FALSE. Children are born with the capacity to ingest an adequate amount of milk required as needed. This ability to self-regulate their eating patterns occurs through breastfeeding. It is bottle-feeding and early introduction of other foods cause increased risk of obesity to grow, not breastfeeding.
Answer 13:
FALSE. The amount of milk a mother produces is at its best when allowed to breastfeed your child healthy demand, ie as many times as you need. When the child is very young this may occur at time intervals less than three hours, because the gastric capacity of newborn baby is very small..
Answer 14:
TRUE. Place the baby in this way that promotes the child’s mouth perfectly surrounds the nipple, whereas if the child is positioned with the belly up and must latch the chest by turning the head sideways, it can leave a space between the mouth and chest through which air can, which may cause you discomfort or cramps.
Answer 15:
TRUE. Breastfeeding is one of the biological time in which more energy is needed. If we restrict the amount of calories consumed can adversely affect milk production.
The Best Way to Feed The Baby (Part 1)
Breastfeeding is an instance of social mobilization is becoming more important every year. But there is both reliable, scientifically proven, and the other, which borders on myth and lies, then some true or false about the best way to feed the baby.
- Breastfeeding helps you lose, naturally, the accumulated excess kilos during pregnancy.
- The more often you breast-feed the baby, the faster you empty the mammary gland and, consequently, produce less milk.
- It is not advisable to drink too much water before feeding, because it can not produce milk and water in sufficient quantities to feed baby.
- If a child is not gaining well, it is possible that his mother’s milk is of poor quality.
- Breast-feeding beyond six months is a more affective than nutritional value.
- It is best not to give too much time to nurse on one breast to avoid completely empty.
- It is good to wait for the breasts to fully fill the baby.
- A baby of two months requires approximately seven to eight feedings or feedings of breast milk at four months this number decreased to six shots, and only after that age need between four and five.
- If a very small baby asleep for over three hours and does not claim food is good wake.
- Some children may have allergies to milk.
- It is not always necessary to use both breasts at each feeding or nursing.
- Breastfeeding a child for a long time can cause obesity when he grows up.
- It is important that the child gets used from newborn to breastfeed every 3 hours and keep that frequency.
- Position the baby “belly to belly” or “tummy to tummy area helps prevent having cramps.
- It’s bad diet to lose weight during lactation.
Answer 1:
TRUE. The purpose of the accumulation of fat during pregnancy, is precisely to form a reserve for the production of milk when the child is born. Therefore the more a woman breast feed your child more such reserves will be consumed and not need to do then any other diet to regain weight.
Answer 2:
FALSE. Milk production increases the more it stimulates, ie if a woman puts the baby to the breast more often, it sucks and stimulate milk letdown. The more frequently occurring this stimulus will produce more milk the mother. The production of milk has been shown to be related to the frequency of feedings. The amount of milk begins to decrease when the shots are rare or restricted.
Answer 3:
FALSE. Breast milk is composed of water as a main component, so it is very important that the mother is well hydrated. The nutritional composition of breast milk does not vary with the amount of water that the mother drinks. However, if you do not have enough fluid milk production decreases.
Answer 4:
FALSE. There is no low-quality milk. Scientific studies show that even malnourished women are able to produce milk of sufficient quality to meet the growth needs of the child (unless they were too severe malnutrition). In most cases, poor weight gain is due to low consumption of milk or an organic problem child. Insufficient consumption may be due to poor positioning, lack of family support, low production due to lack of stimulation or low fluid intake.
Posted in Breastfeeding | 
Tags: Allergies, baby, Breastfeeding, feed the baby, lactation, malnutrition, mammary gland, mother's milk, obesity, pregnancy | 
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The Orange Against Allergies
Citrus based its therapeutic potential in the large amount of vitamins they provide. Specifically, vitamin C lowers blood levels of histamine (the substance that is released when an allergic reaction), thereby reducing skin allergies, bronchial asthma, rhinitis and bronchitis.
Also improves the immune system white blood cells and keeps in shape for a quick strike against infection. What is not so clear is to prevent or shorten colds. Among the experts are divided.
Other benefits of oranges:
- It prevents anemia and helps your body absorb iron.
- It helps you keep a lid on cholesterol levels.
- If you have operated or have breaks in the skin, the orange will heal better.
- Acts from within as a powerful sunscreen.
Posted in Allergy | Tags: Allergies, anemia, cholesterol, Citrus, histamine, immune system, Orange, skin allergies, therapeutic potential, Vitamin C, Vitamins, white blood cells | 1 Comment »
An Ice Cream Can Help Combat the Effects of Chemotherapy
Researchers at the University of Auckland (New Zealand) are working with the dairy company Fonterra to develop an ice cream that could be effective to combat chemotherapy side effects experienced by cancer patients.
This product, called ‘ReCharge’ active ingredients used in milk products to relieve diarrhea, anemia and poor appetite suffered by people undergoing chemotherapy.
In the tests carried out to verify its effectiveness, participants consumed 100 grams of ice per day, and the results have been so developers who are considering making it a “dessert doctor” may be prescribed by doctors.
As explained by Chief Technology Fonterra, Jeremy Hill, “the two milk bioactive components developed by ReCharge have the unique potential to assist the body to deal with the side effects of chemotherapy.”
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: anemia, bioactive components, Cancer, Chemotherapy, diarrhea, Effects of Chemotherapy, Ice Cream, milk products | No Comments »
Shoes Leave Their Mark on Our Health
The footwear should be comfortable, functional and a heel of no more than four centimeters. Walk with comfort and care for the spine, preventing back pain and spinal arthritis.
Neither the heart nor the brain as to mechanics, the most complex element of the human body is the foot. Or what is the same, a sublime piece of engineering consists of 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles and tendons over 100 making it an SUV that can adapt to any surface you step and walk thousands of kilometers along of our lives.
At the end of the day, a person gives on average between 8,000 and 10,000 steps, which in one year is more than 3 million steps. Well, the way they give these steps is of importance to health. Because beyond serving for us to move from one place to another, the feet bear the weight of the body and make it so that is the primary point of support. No one could argue, arrived here, your feet deserve a little more attention than they receive, not only in summer, to wear sandals or flip-flops, but all year round.
High Heels and unhealthy
The Spanish Association of Physicians and Surgeons Foot says that 70% of the population suffers from some illness in our country pedis, forecast extending Cinfa laboratories, which estimate that 85% of the Spanish experience at least once in their life problems feet. A proper footwear is the first step to avoid them.
We sometimes the mere aesthetics, tracking patterns of fashion and competitive price too heavy to buy shoes, and cornered two essential aspects very obvious: functionality, that is, serve the purpose intended, because a shoe is the same one for rainy weather and comfort, which are easy to carry and do no harm.
Abrasions, ingrown toenails, bunions and calluses are the most common and visible impact of improper shoe wear. But not only are the feet, spine, hips, knees and joints that have both feet or more the consequences of using tight shoes, small, high heels or of poor quality.
It is advisable to devote sufficient time to purchase shoes, think about the role it was going to assign (sport, leisure, business, city life, holiday, summer) and not simply buy the one that attracts us at first.
Keep in mind, at least, these four factual issues: quality of materials, forefoot flexibility, ease of use and heel height, if any. ‘I love heels, I feel safer and more attractive to them. ” Yes, the shoe in addition to their primary function performs other functions, aesthetic and symbolic, while almost the same is true of much of consumer goods.
No high heels that will not endanger the health of the person who often wears
He preaches the high heels that stylize the figure and convey sensuality also is not that always end up coming back into fashion, but never fail to be. The problem is that whatever may have of him are of initially pretty uncomfortable and unhealthy. A master, and even take them with style, you learn with the insistence and over the years.
But no high heels that will not endanger the health of the person who wears it frequently. Here is why. The forefoot and, above all, the heel support the weight of the body, and the use of high-heeled heel height, which changes the weight distribution: the higher the heel, the more you charge the frontal area. So heels of ten or more inches, almost the entire body weight is exerted on the toes, which ultimately causing problems to users.
It is also common for the high-heeled shoe instep is open and low, which means that many women choose a smaller size than usual so that ‘no dancing’ foot. The shoe is fixed better, no doubt, but to be so tight that they receive increasing pressure feet. This uneven distribution of the efforts of the walk also cause excessive strain on the forefoot, to which we must add ingrown toenails, bunions and pain in the foot.
But anyway, the most serious damage caused by long-heeled shoes is that your hips and knees are articulated semi-flexed and static when trying to keep the column there is a strong lordosis (excessive curvature of the body) that will result over from time to back pain and spinal arthritis. Nor at the other end, completely flat shoes, is the solution.
Types of Headaches
The multiplicity of complex tasks and school schedules may contribute to the development of headaches, often parents tend to confuse with other diseases. They suffer the discomfort between 8 and 15% of boys.
Migraine is a neurological pathology and hereditary type, contrary to what many believe, is not only exclusive to the elderly, can also develop as children and teenagers, but also is a symptom not a primary or exclusive to headaches.
Moreover, this kind of presentation is usually accompanied by the advent of visual disturbances, dizziness, sensitivity to light, nausea and even vomiting, a situation that causes, in fathers and mothers, confusions that lead to think that boys can this suffering, for example, an embarrassment or a liver attack.
The prevalence of migraines in children and adolescents varies with age. While early childhood boys are more often affected and the incidence reached 30%, upon reaching adolescence, 80% of boys haves ome experienced. Once the headache and start to become women in the hardest hit.
While the causes of discomfort are unknown, migraines have hereditary or genetic influence, but also are closely related to hormones. However, regardless of origin or the developed factors, most importantly is to diagnose and address the time frame because, as we are facing a chronic and incurable condition, is critical to implement a treatment to reduce the frequency of ‘crisis’, alleviating symptoms and therefore improve the quality of life.
According to professionals in neurology, headache is one of the most common symptoms, usually caused by an imbalance of chemicals involved in irrigation and other brain functions. Within this context, two main groups.
TWO TYPES OF HEADACHES
First, the primary headaches, tension or migraine, in which no structural changes are apparent, and secondary headaches, nonspecific responding to acute or chronic underlying disease.
With regard to the child population is estimated that between 8 and 15% of boys suffer from primary type headaches or migraines. Worth clarifying that, also taking into account the documents of the SNA, the World Health Organization (WHO) considers that migraine “presents a major social, personal, economic and employment”, because this institution considers that pass all day with this annoyance, is as disabling as psychosis, dementia or quadriplegia.
As for the pictures more “minor”, the first place are tension headaches that cause pain and discomfort but not as intense. These lesions also prevalent among children, is related to the stress of school or family strife.
Overall the kids have very self-demanding or leaders who have a low tolerance for failure and states with strong neck muscle spasms. This sign is the first thing to ‘attack’ to eliminate the symptom, then work through the reasons psychotherapy table cause of stress.
CAUSES
Although the causes are unknown, we believe that changes in the pattern or routine of sleep, as well as the demands caused by the school can make kids stressed and therefore suffer the consequences. To avoid this, then what we can do is to organize a sleep routine and activities that comply as closely as possible, and also design a healthy diet that contains all kinds of food, experts acknowledge.
This conclusion is consistent with the terms of the final considerations of a study published in the journal Headache, whereby children who had sleep disorders were more likely to suffer from migraines. According to the same investigation, regular and excessive consumption of caffeine is also a factor associated with the appearance of this nuisance.
Posted in General Health | Tags: brain functions, dementia, genetic influence, headaches, healthy diet, hereditary, hormones, Migraine, neurological pathology, psychosis, psychotherapy, quadriplegia, sleep routine | 1 Comment »
Does the Cell Phone Cause Cancer?
In the first month’s edition of 2001 of the prestigious scientific journal New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Health in the United States on using cell phones and the risk brain tumor.
The cell phone contains a small transmitter that emits radiation near the head. This has caused great concern among the population, since it was not known whether this radiation could cause brain cancer or other organs of the central nervous system. In fact, studies are done with reference to this issue since 1994.
That study included 800 patients with this tumor from institutions in the U.S. cities of Phoenix, Boston and Pittsburgh and 800 control cases. Data collection consisted of a personalized comprehensive survey, with very specific questions about the start date of cell phone use, how long you used it, last date and level of use. There was no information about the appliance model. The completed data collected in 1998.
The researchers found no evidence that a person’s risk of developing a brain tumor increased with the number of years to minutes average daily usage of mobile phone. Neither brain tumors tended to occur more often than expected from the side of the head in that reported using the phone.
Among those most used, the average was approximately 15 minutes per day or more for at least three years. Very few people used this type of equipment frequently for more than five years.
Peter Inskip, Sc.D., who was the principal investigator, said they found no evidence that cell phone use caused brain tumors, however, clarified, whether the increased risk occurred after more than five years old or people high intensity of use, this study probably did not detect.
The research was conducted between 1994 and 1998 in which they were most commonly used analog phones. Currently dominated by digital, operating at a higher frequency. However, there is no evidence so far that the risk of cancer differs between these two types of cell.
Similar results were found in two other studies, one published in December 2000 in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Muscat et al, which included 469 cases of brain cancer and 422 controls and another study conducted in Sweden by Hardell et al which included 233 cases and 466 controls. Neither of these two investigations found no association. Only reported a relationship between the side of the head that was used to talk on the phone and location of the tumor, but this association was based on very few cases.
Today, there are also three types of wireless or mobile phones used: cell phones for cars, portable phones and cordless phones. All these involve less exposure to radiation of the brain as the unit that issues it is at some distance from the person.
If very small cell phones that are carried in the hand no higher risk of brain tumor, would be very surprising that these other types of phones do it cause as exposed to a much lower frequency radiation.
The number of mobile phone users has increased tremendously in the last 10 years and trends continue. Because of this, a lot of scientific research studying the relationship between cell phone use and brain tumor, are currently undertaking.
The largest is a multicenter international including 3000 cases and 3000 controls, coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), headquartered in Lyon, France. Still remain several years to obtain results.
Moreover, it is expected that the results of another study in Denmark that includes 550,000 mobile phone users from 1982 to 1995, to be published. Currently in the U.S. and UK, are providing funds and efforts to continue the development of research on this topic.
The causes of brain cancer are unknown, therefore, scientists from the National Cancer Institute USA, evaluated a wide range of possible risk factors which include environmental, related to lifestyle and genetics. These include occupational exposure to chemicals and electromagnetic fields, dietary factors, family history of tumors, genetic factors, home use of some artifacts, reproductive history and hormonal exposures, viruses, and both medical and dental exposure to ionizing radiation.
The results of these reports will appear in future publications and due to the interest of the population, the use of cell phones will be the first.
Posted in Cancer, General Health | Tags: brain cancer, brain tumor, Cancer, Cell Phone, central nervous system, cordless phones, electromagnetic, genetics, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Journal of the American Medical Association, mobile phone, National Cancer Institute USA, National Institute of Health in the United States, New England Journal of Medicine, occupational exposure, radiation, tumor, wireless | 2 Comments »