Monday, February 24, 2014

Pet Therapy and Depression

Pet Therapy and Depression

Learn what research is saying about the role of companion animals in helping people cope with depression.

Can owning a cat, dog, or other pet help you cope with the blues? Pet therapy, also known as animal-assisted therapy, is recognized by the National Institute of Mental Health as a type of psychotherapy for treating depression and other mood disorders. Being around pets appears to feed the soul, promoting a sense of emotional connectedness and overall well-being.
Pet therapy
How Pets Help Treat Depression
Peter Ashenden, president and CEO of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, has a 17-pound Shih Tzu named Bella who never leaves his side. Ashenden, who has bipolar disorder, credits 4-year-old Bella with keeping his mood level and steady, even on his worst days.
"Bella goes everywhere with me, whether it be a gala dinner or board meetings," Ashenden says. "She is my companion. By having Bella with me, it brings a piece of home with me wherever I go."
Ashenden benefits from Bella's presence in several different ways:
  • She forces him to remain active even when his depression flares up. Bella needs to be walked two to three times a day. "No matter what's going on with me, that's something that requires I get out of the house — these activities help me remain engaged."
  • She keeps him from feeling socially withdrawn. People approach Ashenden because they want to meet Bella, he says. "Sometimes going out of your comfort zone can be difficult — Bella helps break that ice for me."
  • She provides him with constant companionship. "I'm never alone," he explains. "One of the symptoms of depression is that people isolate and tend to withdraw."

Ashenden's experience with Bella isn't unique. Researchers have found that interaction with pets — even if they don't belong to you — can reduce anxiety, ease blood pressure and heart rate, and offset feelings of depression. One example showed that exposure to an aviary filled with songbirds lowered depression in elderly men at a veterans' hospital; another example noted the improved moods of depressed college students after they interacted with a therapy dog.
However, it seems that direct contact with an animal is necessary to achieve psychological benefit. People who were shown photographs of cuddly pets as part of a study did not experience the same decrease in symptoms of depression as people who actually were able to play with and touch animals.

Help for Nighttime GERD

Ask Dr. Mark Babyatsky

Help for Nighttime GERD

Q: My acid reflux is so bad when I lie down at night that it keeps me tossing and turning. What can I do for reflux when I am sleeping? 
— Tony, Arizona

A: 
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is caused by the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus. When you are sitting or standing, the force of gravity reduces reflux, whereas lying down worsens reflux and its associated symptoms. One way to improve GERD during sleep is to elevate the head of your bed at least six inches above the feet with a surgical wedge or wooden boards.
Other measures that can improve GERD when you are sleeping are:
  • Avoid eating less than four hours before bedtime. Food stimulates acid secretion, which can damage the lining of the esophagus and increase the volume of the refluxed contents.
  • Avoid alcohol, smoking, peppermint, caffeine, and high-fat foods. These substances cause relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter, which normally helps keep stomach contents from refluxing into the esophagus.
  • Weight loss also lowers the amount of pressure on the abdomen, which can help decrease reflux.
Alok adds: Hv light meal easily digestible in Dinner and hv hearty breakfast. 
Do self study and note carefully which items in dinner must hv caused u more trouble and avoid those item in dinner. 

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Dental care .......or suffer in pain and spend more on dentist

How often do you smile?

In the next five minutes I am going to tell you some food items
that will help you give a confident smile.

1. Your teeth need calcium and phosphorus for strength and to
remineralize themselves. Hence milk, nuts, meat, chicken and cheese
are ideal for oral health. Cheese has a low carbohydrate, and high
calcium and phosphate content enabling it to balance the mouth's
pH. So, instead of chocolates and sweets have a small cube of
cheese everyday!

2. Vitamin C foods bestow healthy gums. Periodontal diseases can
increase with vitamin c deficiency as it is a great antioxidant
needed to repair connective tissue and aid bone regeneration. So
have oranges, lemons, kiwis, gooseberries and vegetables like
broccoli, green pepper, cauliflower, tomatoes and sesame seeds and
more. Add these acidic foods in to a large meal.Vitamin D
deficiency increases the risk of gum bleeding. So get some exposure
while you can.

3. Fresh raw onions in the diet can destroy various types of
bacteria, including Streptococcus mutans that cause cavities. So
eat onions, and chew a mint afterwards!

4. Mint will help you get rid of the foul smell of onions,freshen
your breath, destroy all bacteria and clean your teeth and tongue.

5. Celery is a great food for those who love their teeth. It is
chewy producing a lot of saliva, which in turn neutralizes
bacteria. Celery is also an abrasive food and serves to massage
your gums, and clean teeth. So have those crunchy apples and
carrots for dental health.

6. Catechins in green tea can kill the bacteria in the mouth that
turn sugar into cavity causing plaque. You can enjoy the health
benefits of green tea by having 2-5 cups a day.

7. Grape seed extract contains polyphenols which prevent tooth
decay and gum disease by thwarting the growth of bacteria.

8. Though water cannot called a "food" drinking plenty of water in
necessary to hydrate gums and stimulate the secretion of saliva.
That's one of the reasons why it is important to drink a glass of
water after eating food.


At last not the least, avoid eating as much sugar as possible and
smile along!

I would be happy to answer any other queries you might have.
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Wishing you good health,

Regards,
Puneet Aggarwal
puneet@puneetaggarwal.com

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

must read for those whose pop medicines for fast cure and saving troubles

Alok adds: understand the reasons of repeat attacks of sickness, know what causes allergies, do not go to sleep immediately after eating, eating in  right proportion, right combination ( like do not intake milk and curd together) ..and so on and try home remedy /kitchen items as remedy/ dadi maa ke nuskhe available easily now on net.


Why Antibiotics Aren't a Cure-All

Overuse and misuse of antibiotics is a public health concern. How can you protect your family?

If your child has strep throat, antibiotics will likely be a part of their treatment. But would antibiotics help with a common cold or seasonal flu? The answer is no, for the simple reason that antibiotics treat bacterial infections not viral ones. Yet many people still think of antibiotics as a magic cure-all.
The over-prescription of antibiotics has become a public health concern. Half of the prescriptions for antibiotics in the United States may actually be unnecessary, according to a recent study; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the highest rates of antibiotic use are among children.
What’s the story behind these numbers — and what are the health consequences of so many antibiotics being prescribed?
“Doctors need to do a better job of setting criteria for using antibiotics, and when they are using them to make sure they’re using the right ones,” said Amanda Beach, MD, a pediatrician at St. Vincent Medical Group in Carmel, Ind. “If we keep using antibiotics for illnesses that aren’t bacterial, then they’re not going to be effective.”
Since the 1940s, antibiotics have been extraordinarily beneficial in fighting infectious diseases. But these drugs can target bad bacteria that cause illness as well as good ones. Beneficial bacteria help our digestive system break down food. Scientific evidencesuggests that gastrointestinal or “gut” bacteria may even protect against autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
"Our findings suggest potential strategies for using normal gut bacteria to block progression of insulin-dependent diabetes in kids who have high genetic risk," said Jayne Danska, PhD, lead researcher in a January study.
The increased use of antibiotics over decades has had the adverse effect of making bacteria stronger and more resistant to drugs. Incidence of infections like MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a dangerous staph bacteria, has increased at an alarming rate. The situation is so serious, the CDC lists antibiotic resistance among its top concerns.
So why are many people quick to turn to antibiotics?
“Parents want to be reassured their child is going to be okay, and some parents associate that with getting medicine,” said Ian Paul, MD, a professor of pediatrics at the Penn State College of Medicine.
Paul points out that first-time parents may be more inclined to want immediate treatment for their child, whereas parents with multiple kids may be better informed about their options. “Increased awareness about antibiotic resistance has helped parents realize that they don’t cure everything,” said Paul.
Parental attitudes toward medication can also influence how doctors handle treatment. CDC research suggests that pediatricians prescribe antibiotics 62 percent of the time if they perceive parents expect them to — as opposed to only 7 percent of the time, if parents don’t press for them.
“Doctors need to make sure parents have appropriate expectations,” Beach said. “Parents need to realize their kids aren’t going to be 100 percent better in two days even if they’re on antibiotics.”
Beach thinks doctors can do a better job educating parents about the differences between a bacterial infection and a virus. That can be especially tricky when dealing with a common childhood condition likean ear infection, which can be caused by either bacteria or viruses. 
“Most parents just don’t understand that most of the time if a child’s eardrum is just red with no fluid or swelling, it’ll clear up on its own,” Beach said. “You tell parents to watch their child and if the symptoms get worse, then to bring them in again and we’ll see if antibiotics are necessary.”
Paul agrees that “you have to balance many factors when choosing whether or not to prescribe, and sometimes it can be very difficult to tell if it’s a viral or bacterial infection.”
Another consideration is what type of antibiotic to use. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, such as the commonly used azithromycin (“Z-pack”) and erythromycin, attack a wide range of bacteria. But there are also narrow-spectrum drugs available when doctors identify and want to target specific bacteria that are the underlying cause of illness.
“You want to save the broad-spectrum drugs for an emergency, or when you don’t know what the infection is,” said Paul. “If they’re prescribed for everything, they lose their effectiveness over time, as we’re seeing with resistant bacteria strains.”
The good news is that antibiotic prescriptions for children have come down, as awareness of the consequences of overuse grows. “Over-prescribing still exists, but not to the extent that it once did,” Paul said. “Doctors should do the best they can to help parents understand their child’s illness and when antibiotics are necessary.”
Last Updated: 05/06/2013