Kissing Disease - Mononucleosis

Kissing Disease - Mononucleosis

Kissing is a natural thing done by humans. It has many natural positive effects in health and well being. However, there is also a health risk when it comes to any kissing activity. Mononucleosis, glandular fever or commonly called "kissing disease", is caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and is a common "kissing" viral infection. Learn more about the disease in this article and I assure you that you will be more extra careful for your next kiss.

Mononucleosis is an infectious disease that causes fever, sore throat, and enlarged lymph nodes. Although the disease goes away naturally without medical help, it is still important that you know the basic preventions, symptoms and treatments for this infection. Plus, the disease may last months without treatment.

The EBV virus is a member of herpes virus family and is the main culprit of more than 90% of Glandular fever cases worldwide. It is a double stranded DNA virus which was named after English virologist Sir Anthony Epstein and Yvonne Barr.

Everybody can be infected by this virus even children and is found worldwide. The virus is transmitted via saliva, blood and genital secretions. However, kissing is the most common cause of this viral infection. It has been studied that large number of cases of Mononucleosis are teenagers and college students. Fortunately, complications are rare and hospitalization is not required for most cases.

EBV can be neutralized by our natural antibodies which are commonly visible in the blood. This means that a person can be or been infected by the virus sometime in their lives. An increased in blood lymphocytes is the most common form of Mononucleosis.

This kissing disease can spread through person to person contact. It can also spread through sneezing with the infected saliva contaminating the air which can be inhaled by others. Sharing foods and food utensils can also cause this viral infection.

Good thing about this virus is that it cannot cause us serious harm. An individual can develop an immunity from the disease from the first infection, making your body immune for the next possible infection. However, the virus can still be transmittable to others during the next few weeks of carrying the disease.

Below are the symptoms of this Kissing Disease:

• Malaise (lack of energy)
• Appetite loss
• Chills
• Fever
• Sore throats
• Enlarge lymph nodes
• Vomiting
• Enlarged liver
• Upset stomach
• Swelling around the eyes
• Rashes
• Weight loss
• Muscle aches
• Sensitivity to light
• Neck stiffness
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Irregular heart beat
• Shortness of breath
• Hives
• Nose bleed

Diagnosis for this disease is commonly confirmed through blood tests which of course are based from the patient's symptoms and signs. An unusual appearance and an increased type of white blood cells (lymphocytes) can determine the virus as EBV. Also, alternative blood tests such as monospot and heterophile antibody tests can also determine the diagnosis of Mononucleosis.

Specific treatment for Mononucleosis is not necessary because the disease will naturally go away overtime. Rest and natural drug medication for its symptoms are enough to treat the disease. In short, total support, enough sleep and comfort measures are all you need to eliminate this viral infection.

Mononucleosis or Kissing disease is not alarming but it is better that we are well informed for this kind of infections. Now that you know that there is a viral infections from saliva, it is wise to stay away from any activities that associates with saliva. Stay with one partner and you will have less risk of this disease.

Children's Health: Thumb Sucking Can Cause Severe Tonsillitis

Children's Health: Thumb Sucking Can Cause Severe Tonsillitis

It is a common habit by most infants and kids to suck their thumb during sleep or just in any time of the day. Thumb sucking can cause severe tonsillitis which is a painful condition. This bad habit can also cause multiple complications if not stopped at the proper time.

Tonsillitis (pharyngotonsollitis) is an inflammation of the tonsils that are caused by viral or bacterial infection. Too much thumb sucking can inflict bacteria to the throat area which can result to inflammation.

Symptoms of tonsillitis

• Swollen tonsils
• White or yellow patches on the tonsils
• Swollen, tender and stiff neck
• Bad breath
• Sore throat
• Painful swallowing
• Headache
• Sore eyes
• Cough
• Body aches
• Otalgia
• Nasal Congestion
• Chills
• Fever

Acute tonsillitis is caused by both bacteria and viruses and fever is its common symptom. The surface of the tonsil becomes reddish and has white coating. Lymph nodes in the neck may also be swollen.

The most common treatment for tonsillitis is an antibacterial medication. Antibiotics can help eliminates bacterias that caused the tonsils to be swollen. Pain-relief, anti-inflammatory drugs can help treat the infection. While paracetamol and ibuprofen can help treat fever which is a normal body reaction when bacterial infection occurs.

Aside from thumb sucking, other causes includes drinking cold water or ice cream, gonorrhea, cold viruses and other viruses such as epstein-barr and the HIV.

If your child have a thumb sucking habit and often times your kid suffer from this type of disease, you have to do something fast on how to make this habit go away. It is recommended that you seek medical help from an expert pediatrician about your child's tonsillitis case and ask some advice on how to stop thumb sucking habit.

Common Health Beliefs To Avoid

Common Health Beliefs To Avoid

Health is one of the most important topic to discuss in any forum or conversation. With so many customs and beliefs about health in different cultures, you have to wonder what is right and what is not really beneficial. I have gathered some common health beliefs that you might already know and hopefully will give you some light on its truth reality.

1. Low fat foods constitutes to low calorie intake
All foods that are marketed as "low fat" or "less fat" doesn't mean that it has no fat content at all. As you know, less fat means less calorie intake, but products that are promoted as low fat simply means that its actual fat content was only reduced. This means that you are also ingesting high amount of fats in your regular diet. I suggest that you read the label carefully before you believe what a certain "low fat" products are trying to lure you from.

2. Single cigarette won't have any health effects
Many smokers believes that a single cigarette stick a day or two will have no negative effects in the body. Well guess what? A single cigarette puff immediately affects the central nervous system and increases the blood sugar level and heart rate twice compared to a non-smokers. This is the reason why most smokers are diabetic and has cardiovascular diseases. What more to those who chain smoke?

3. Commercial fruit juices are healthy
With today's commercial world, all foods are marketed as health friendly products especially those green teas, orange and prune juices and many more. But not all these products are good for you. These are artificial products which contains less natural content for what it is actually promoting. Fruit juices that are easily be obtained in a bottle in supermarkets can cause severe urinary tract infections, kidney and liver disorders and stomach aches. If you want to have a real healthy juice drink, the best thing to do is to prepare your own natural fruit juices at home.

4. Using the best cooking oil is not dangerous
It is true that popular cooking oils such as vegetable oil, canola oil, corn oil and olive oil do possess some health benefits especially the olive type. But did you know that using it for frying can also diminish its health benefits? Yes, heating up oils will reduced its health promoting properties but it still does not pose any health hazards. The only time it gets dangerous is when you use the oil twice or three times making it carcinogenic (cancer agent). This is the reason why most governments had issued that eating in fast food chains must be limited because these companies tend to maximize their profit by recycling their cooking oils over and over again.

5. Gym work is the best physical activity
People today are so conscious about their physical appearances. They tend to go facial spas, clinics and the gym just to look attractive and physically fit. But people are substituting the gym from natural physical activities. A study had concluded that people who spends three times in the gym on a weekly basis have reduced fewer calories than those people who are physically active without any regular workout plan. People who tends to walk, ride a bicycle and doing some house chores are much better than spending more time in the gym, plus it is much less expensive!

These are the most common health beliefs that are renowned worldwide. If you are one of those people who actually believes in these myths, you must think again and reconsider what I have just written in this article. Be objective especially in health, be conscious especially in your environment. Love you body and love your health!

Main Causes Of Heart Attack

Main Causes Of Heart Attack

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of human deaths worldwide. According to World Health Organization, an estimated twelve million deaths each year is caused by heart problems which is responsible for half of all deaths in the United States.

Because of an alarming volume of heart disease cases. Researchers have found certain factors that play a significant role in a person's chances of developing a heart disease. It's risk factors.

Below are the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.

High Blood pressure. Also known as hypertension, will increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Hypertension varies from the person's activity and age. Those whosmoke, obese and has high bad cholesterol along with high blood pressure, your risk of stroke and heart attack greatly increases.

High Blood cholesterol.Cholesterol is a fat-like substance carried in your blood, is found all over body's cell structure. Our liver is the producer of all cholesterol in our body which needs to form cell membranes and to form some hormones. Extra unnecessary cholesterol coming from animals like eggs, meats and diary products enters your body when you eat some of this foods. These foods does not constitute mainly for the increase of your blood cholesterol, the main culprit is the saturated fats found on these foods. Saturated fats can be found in butter fat in milk, cooking oils, fats from red meat and chicken skin. Too much consumption of this cholesterol can block the artery walls in our heart which increases the risk in heart attack.

Diabetes. Most death caused by diabetes had cardiovascular complications especially type II diabetes. If you know you already have diabetes, consult your doctor immediately to control your blood sugar because it helps decrease the risk of heart problems.

No Exercise. I am always saying this to all of my articles. An active person keeps himself away from serious diseases and this includes cardiovascular problems. Exercise burns calories, fats, keeps your sugar level at normal and reduces your bad cholesterol.

Heredity. Most heart disease cases are family related. If your family history like your father, had a cardiovascular problem before the age 50, chances are you are in greater risk of having the same sickness. High blood pressure and diabetes has the same trait.

Age. As we age, we are at risk to many diseases especially heart diseases. Our hearts muscles deteriorates when we age leaving the pulse rate below normal level. The hearts wall thickens, arteries became stiff and the heart does not have enough energy to pump blood to all over the body.

Other contributing factors are obesity, smoking, stress, too much alcohol intake, birth control pills and sex hormones. All this has a significant effect to the health of our heart. Be sure to be moderate on a lot of things we know that is bad for our heart.

We only have one heart and we must learn to love and care for it. We should not be abusive to a good lifestyle that is not health friendly.

Poor Eyesight In Children

Poor Eyesight In Children

Today, a large number of children are diagnosed with high eye grades and it seems that seeing a kid with spectacles are just nothing but usual. Poor eyesight in children must be prevented at all cost because their future highly depends on their vision. Are you going to do something if your child was diagnosed with poor eyesight? Let's examine the causes of this eye problem in children

There are cases that when a kid does poorly in school or in any social activity, adults are quick to conclude that the child is lazy or just very slow to pick up mentally. But did you know that activities and performance can be greatly affected if a child has poor eyesight? Parents never notice the symptoms of eye problems of their child unless they start going to school and this is where the problem starts. Most cases shows, that children are gone undiagnosed for their vision problems as they grow. Leaving them with eye disorder at an early age.

Studies show that most pupils in preliminary schools have problems on vision with an alarming number of 41%. These kids either have problems in focusing there eyes in light, short sightedness, long sightedness and significantly possessing mild to high eye grades. Eye screening exams does not just shows their eye problems but also concludes that these children are not historically inclined to have poor eyesight, but suggests that there are other significant factors on the problem.

So what causes poor eyesight in children? Well, aside from genetic cause, there are obvious reasons why children of today suffers from this problems. Number one in the list is poor nutrition. At birth, every babies are screened for eye examination to check if the baby has any eye problems. If the tests gone negative, then why more kids have bad vision? Poor nutrition is the answer.

As a parent, you have to ensure that your child receives the best foods to nourish your child's over all health especially when it comes to eye care. Give them eye foods like green leafy vegetables, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, cold water fish and fruits. Prevent junk and processed foods at all cost. Every healthy foods can contribute to a better eye health.

The next big cause is the environment. Unhealthy lifestyle can highly contribute to poor eyesight especially in children. Staying late at night, waking up late in the morning, watching long hours in the television or playing a video game can cause eye strain that can lead to vision problems. You must monitor your child's home activities to prevent having poor vision.

To be able to keep proper vision to our children, we have to periodically get their eyes checked. Frequent rubbing of eyes, difficulty of reading and eye dryness are simple symptoms of eye problems in children. This can help early detection that could prevent any eye disorders. Remember that early diagnosis means effective treatment.

Our kids is the most precious gift from God, let us do our best to protect and care for them at any means possible. Guide them to live a healthy lifestyle at an early age for them to get used to your own belief or custom. This way they will grow up socially active, smart, healthy and family oriented individuals.

Spine Problems - Slipped Disc

Spine Problems - Slipped Disc

Back problems can hit anyone at any age. Slipped Disc or commonly called as Ruptured Disc is one of the painful back problems that can occur in your life. What is slipped disc and what are its causes, symptoms and treatments? This article will give you a simple preview on the facts about slipped disc.

The spine contains a disc-like pads that works mainly as shock absorbers in any back activities we do which are located between the bones of the spine. Once any of this discs breaks or split, it can put high amounts of pressure on your spinal cord that causes severe back pain. It can also affect the surrounding tissue of the spine that can cause nerve control issues.

Lower back is the most high risk area that most cases of slipped disc occurs. Lower back receives most of the pressure from various activities like walking, running, lifting, jumping and many others. The weight of the upper body depends on your lower portion of the spine, this is the reason why you should take good care of your back bones while you are still young. Why because all of the spine's discs degenerates naturally when we age.

Various symptoms varies from areas of pain and numbness. You may feel pain in the neck and lower back. Most cases may show tingling and weakness in the shoulders to arms and hands. Numbness in the buttocks, legs and all the way down to the feet. One can also suffer from loss of bowel, coughing and pain with straining and any types of leg movements.

So what causes slipped disc? The main culprit is aging, where the disc's elasticity fades naturally along with its degeneration process. Improper weight training can also cause slipped disc such as weight lifting, twisting, turning and wrong stretching routines. Any types of improper lifting of any object can cause slipped disc.

Other causes are injuries caused by accidents, excessive exercises or any physical activities such as sports.

Slipped disc can be difficult to identify if you tend to ignore its symptoms. Chronic back pain that is incorporated with other symptoms listed above which lasts for several days is an indicator that you should take medical examinations for your back. Consultation to a medical expert is needed immediately to impose proper treatment.

Once diagnosed, you will be required long time physical therapy and more rest at home. Simple home remedies like hot or cold compress and back massage can help reduce the pain and numbness in the lower back, shoulders and neck. Pain medicinal drugs can be used to relieve pain such as ibuprofen.

Proper stretching and light exercises can also help improve your back problems. For severe cases who also suffered from nerve damage, surgery is the only option. Although surgery can help correct the problem, the symptoms may re-occur and will definitely need long term care. Personal care and avoiding the causes can help prevent having this condition.

Remember that slipped disc can be avoided by proper training and knowledge. Consult your doctor immediately if you suffer one of the symptoms listed above. Caring for your spine, means caring for your over all health!