Michelle Obama's Secrets

The First Lady’s number one health rule: Give yourself permission to be happy.

Ascariasis

Introduction  Roundworms are almost worldwide in distribution and are abundant in the surface layers of soils. Roundworm infections are common and frequently go unnoticed, but several species cause serious diseases. It is a helminthes infection of the small intestine. A person becomes infected by swallowing infective eggs. Symptoms are variable, often vague or absent. Live worms passed in stools or vomiting are frequently the first recognized sign of infection. Pulmonary signs too are present. Heavy parasite burdens may cause digestive and nutritional disturbance. Causative organism- Ascaris lumbricoides  Mode of transmission • By ingestion of infective eggs from soil contaminated with human faeces containing eggs, but not directly from man to man. Salads and other foods eaten raw are the common vehicles. Contaminated soil may be carried long distances on feet or footwear into house, transmission of infection by dust is also possible. • Children of 3-8 years whose fingers become contaminated while playing on open ground are also the source. The worms can live 1-2 years in their host.

Symptoms

Symptoms are ordinarily mild

1. Live worm passed in stools

2. Pulmonary signs
     
     • Loeffer’s syndrome with irregular respiration, spasms of coughing
     • Fever and pronounced blood eosinophilia

3. Digestive, nutritional disturbances

     • Abdominal pain
     • Vomiting
     • Restlessness
     • Disturbed sleep

4.Serious complications
      
     • Bowel obstruction
    

 • Occasional death due to migration of adult worms into liver, gall bladder, peritoneal and rarely from perforation of the intestine.

Diagnosis

Tests to diagnose this condition include:

     • Stool ova and parasites exam
     • Abdominal x-ray   
     • Complete blood count.

Treatment

Piperazine hexahydrate or piperazine salt (citrate, adipate, or phosphate) can be used for the treatment of Ascariasis. During pregnancy, unless infection is heavy and ladies health is at risk, treatment is generally postponed until after delivery of the baby. 

Prevention

• Provision of adequate facilities for proper disposal of faeces and prevention of soil contamination in areas immediately adjacent to houses, particularly in play areas of children.

• In rural areas contribution of privies should be done in such manner as to prevent dissemination of ascarid eggs through overflow, drainages. Treatment of night soil, such as composing, should be practiced where such facilities are lacking and in areas where human faeces are used as fertilizer.

• All persons (particularly children and food handlers) should be educated about the use of toilets facilities and washing hands after defecating. Encouragement of satisfactory hygienic habits on the part of children in particular, should be done. They should be trained to wash their hands before handling and not to eat food which has been drooped on the floor.

Childhood obesity

Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negativelyaffects child health. The factors effecting childhood obesity are hereditary, no physical activity and no proper diet. Children with obesity, suffer from some of the diseases, that earlier used to affect only adults, like diabetes. Obesity can be controlled by maintaining a strict and balanced diet. Child obesity increases the risk of obesity in adults. Inactivity usually coupled with excessive TV watching or sitting in front of a computer game must be changed for the child to eventually reach the long term weight goal. The conclusion that sedentary hobbies have a profound inclination toward obesity in children.

Low sodium diet

Sodium is found in salt. 5 gms that is 1 teaspoon of salt contains about 2,000 – 3,000 mg of sodium. The recommended daily intake of sodium is 5gm that is around 2300mg. Limiting the salt in our daily diet is low sodium diet. Too much sodium in your diet is not good for health. It may cause your body to retain excess fluid. Limiting the salt intake is important for patients with kidney disease, liver and heart disease.

Normal sodium intake recommendations:

0 - 12 months	1 gm
1 - 3 years	2 gm
4 - 6 years	3 gm
7 - 10 years	5 gm
Above 11 years	5 to 6gms

Role of sodium:

The amount of sodium in the body is regulated by kidneys. When there is too much of sodium in the body kidneys filter some out and the excess sodium is excreted in the urine. When the body doesn’t have enough sodium, the kidneys help to conserve sodium and return the needed amount into the blood stream. When kidneys are not working properly or not able to filter, sodium begins to build up in the blood. Sodium in the blood pulls up  out and holds the water from cells in the body and leads to edema. This in turn increases the volume of the blood and puts pressure on the circulatory system.

Benefits of low sodium diet:

• A low sodium diet for kidney patients is necessary to prevent fluid retention.
• A low sodium diet helps to reduce blood pressure.
• A low sodium diet is good for people who are at the risk of heart diseases.
• It helps in management of hypertension.

Tips to follow a low sodium diet:

• Choose the foods which are naturally low in sodium.
• Don’t add too much of salt to you food.
• While you shop , read the nutrition fact labels so that one can determine sodium content in the food.
• Avoid fat free dressings as these contain lot of sodium.
• Avoid eating pickles.
• Avoid foods containing preservatives especially in canned foods and processed foods as they have high sodium content.
• Limit use of condiments that are high in sodium.
• In the market salt substitutes are available such as potassium chloride and magnesium chlorine. However some people may not tolerate the salt substitute so one should be careful in adding those to their dishes. Use unless a healthcare provider prescribes.
• Frozen prepared food items should be avoided.
• Avoid soups as they are high in salt.
• Salad dressing and dip contain high in salt should be avoided.
• French fries, potato chips , papads should be avoided as they contain salt.

Low Sodium Foods:

Fruit drinks, Apple, Banana, Blackberries, Broccoli, Cherries, Black Berries, Coffee, Chick Pea, Walnuts, Straw berries, Peaches, Prunes, Rice, Cucumber, Watermelon, Wheat,  Honey, Barley, Jam, Pop corn unsalted, Nuts unsalted, Puffed rice.

Medium Sodium Foods:

• Egg limit 1 per day
• Limit one choice per day should be around ½ serving. celery, carrots, Mustar greens,Frozenpeas, Turnip.
• Low fat milk limits 2 cups per day.

High Sodium content foods:

Buttermilk, Olives, Pickles, Canned vegetable juices, salted butter, salted margarine, sauces, Marinades, Salt biscuits, Potato chips, cheese, Instant pudding, Soft drinks, Fish ,oysters.

Athlete foot

1.     Take 10-15 drops of vinegar solution add it in a half bucket of water. Wash your toe fingers with this solution. This is an affective remedy for curing athlete foot.
2.    Tea tree oil has anti-germ properties and are very effective in the treatments of athlete foot.
3.     clean your feet in a mild solution of boric acid. It is an effective home remedy for athlete foot.
4.      Add 2-3 tablespoon of salt in half bucket of warm water and soak your feet in this solution. It removes germs and fungus between the toe.

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Ear infection

1.     Put few drops of olive oil in the infected ear it gives relief from ear infection and helps in moving out ear wax.
2.     Garlic is effective herbal remedy for ear infections. Pour 2 to 3 drops garlic juice in to infected ear it gives relief from the pain and infection.
3.    Prepare a mixture of warm olive oil and few pieces of garlic. Put few drops of this solution in the infected ear. It provides relief in ear infections.

Dental caries

Dental caries is the biggest problem in every age group. Dental caries is not only due to intake of more sweets, it can be due to several reasons like:

• Improper Brushing

• Irregular teeth

• Irregular gaps in between the teeth

• Bad oral habits

• Improper Oral hygiene

Based upon the area of dental caries cavities are classified by G.V black as follows:

• Class 1 cavity - Caries is present on occlusal portion and buccal or lingual pits.

• Class 2 cavity - Caries present on posterior interproximal area.

• Class 3 cavity - Caries present in anterior interproximal area.

• Class 4 cavity - Caries present in anterior interproximal including the incisor area.

• Class 5 cavity - Caries present on gingival at facial or lingual area.

• Class 6 cavity - Caries present on cusp tip.

Whenever we go to Dentist for dental fillings, we always tell Dentist that filling should not be visible. Eventually, we opt for tooth colored fillings. Types of dental fillings available are:

1. Silver Filling or metal Filling or Amalgam fillings.

2. Tooth colored filling or white filling or Composite resin fillings.

Advantages of Silver Filling:

1. Silver filling is the strongest filling ever known

2. It is less technique specific

3. It has tolerant to moisture present in oral cavity while placing the filling in tooth.

4. It does not get discolored while coming in contact with food ingredients such as Tamarind.

5. It takes time to get hard, for this reason it can be packed easily even in larger cavities.

6. It is inexpensive and versatile Filling.

Disadvantages of Silver Filling:

1. It contains mercury which is still in question that whether the use of silver fillings should continue or not.

2. Amalgam filling cannot be used in Anterior or front teeth due to its color.

3. Amalgam filling requires more space to get filled in tooth. In this case, Dentist sometime has to even cut healthy tooth while preparing the cavity.

Advantages of Tooth colored Fillings:

1. Tooth colored fillings can easily be used in anterior teeth or front teeth because of its color.

2. These fillings contain fluoride which does not allow carious lesion to proceed further and hence prevents further damage.

3. It can be completed in Single visit.

4. It does not cause tooth sensitivity.

Disadvantages of Tooth colored Fillings:

1. These fillings are very technique sensitivity. While doing tooth colored filling, if moisture comes in contact they lose half of its strength.

2. Tooth colored fillings get discolored if comes in frequent contact with food ingredients like tamarind.

3. It is expensive, and not recommended on tooth bearing heavy occlusion forces.

4. These fillings shrink with time which allows the micro leakage of food particles beneath the cavity. This is the main reason of dental caries beneath the cavity.

Post Dental Filling Prevention Measures:

1. Avoid tea, coffee for 1 or 2 days.

2. Avoid intake of food which requires hard chewing like mutton, chicken especially when filling is done in front tooth.

3. Avoid sticky food like chewing gum and sweets for 1 day.

4. Do not prick any instrument in filled tooth.

Insomnia

1.     Drink one glass of milk add half tablespoon of honey before going to bed every day it helps in treating insomnia.
2.     Grind some fried cumin seeds to a fine powder and mix them with the pulp of a ripe banana. Eat this at night to treat insomnia. This is very effective home remedy for insomnia.
3.     Take one glass of milk with half tablespoon honey at night.This will help in curing insomnia
4.     Eat bottle-gourd vegetable as it cures insomnia. Rub your scalp everyday with sesame oil containing one tablespoon bottle gourd juice. This is another easy and effective home remedy for insomnia.
5.      Rub one tablespoon of curd on forehead. This will bring good sleep.
6.     Prepare a tea using one teaspoon honey, half tablespoon aniseed, and milk. Drink this herbal tea at night before going to sleep. This is very common natural remedy for curing insomnia.