Concussions - Causes & Symptoms

     We often hear the term called "Concussion" during some sporting events especially during Cricket matches. When a high speed bowl just hits the helmet or head, the game is halted for few minutes and Physio runs into the field to do a Concussion test.

     Inside the Skull of the brain there is a shock absorbing fluid protecting the brain. During Concussion, the brain bounces around in the skull, accelerating, decelerating or rotating. This creates a series of impact in the brain. The neurons in the brain are rattled and between those neurons there are axons - a thin fibre that transmits electrical impulse, stretches or breaks. This impact has severe affect on the blood flow to the brain and damages the energy producing mitochondria in the neurons. You can compare it with an earthquake within the brain. These are also called as Traumatic Brain Injury.

Symptoms of Concussion:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Nausea or Vomiting
• Feeling Pressure inside the head
• Blurred Vision
• Sensitive to Light or Sound
• Hearing a ringing voice
• Having Imbalance
• Feeling Drowsy and Lethargic.
• Brain Fog - Difficulty in Concentrating
• Nervous or extremely anxious
• Hard time feeling asleep.

Why doctors prescribe some medicines before food and some after food?

       The food which we take interferes with the absorption of many drugs. So the effective amount of drug that enters the blood from the stomach and reach the site of action is altered. Depending on the mode of actions the doctors prescribe them "to be taken after or before meals."

       Most of the drugs are known to irritate the stomach or increase acid secretion in the stomach leading to discomfort or pain in the stomach, chest burning and occasionally nausea and vomiting. To decrease these side effects some drugs are taken post meals.

     Most of the drugs are advised to be taken along with warm plain water. This is to avoid any possible reaction between the active compounds in the drugs and milk, or curd or tea.

      Some drugs does not cause any side effects while taking in an empty stomach and may need to be fuly absorbed by the blood stream. In such cases drug is advised to be taken before food.
                                                     

                                                                   Excerpted from an article in The Hindu 

  

Gut Health - Habits & Gimmicks

        The Gut is a very prominent part of the human system and there is a saying that all the diseases starts from the Gut. So keeping gut healthy is very essential part of modern life as many people face this issue around the globe.

Factors affecting Gut:

• High Stress
• Frequent Dining Out
• Heavy intake of Vegetable or Refined Oils.
• Irregular Meals
• Binge Eating
• Recurring Gut Complaints
• Lifestyle diseases like diabetes and blood pressure.

Tips for better Gut Health:

• Usage of Oils - Repetitive usage or heating of the refined oils releases compounds that can damage the gut lining resulting in Inflammation. Replace Refined Oils with Ghee, Coconut Oil and Olive Oil is the best option.
• Excessive Dairy Products - The enzyme Lactase depletes due to over consumption of dairy products that leads to bloating, cramps and loose bowel. Reduce the Dairy intake especially the Milk if you have Lactose intolerance.
• Gluten Free Products - Gluten present in Wheat, Barley and Rye grains are trigger points for gut health. They interact with intestinal lining through Zonulin triggering Leaky Gut. Try using Gluten Free Products.
• Overuse of Antibiotics - The intake of excessive antibiotics strip away the beneficial bacteria from the gut compromising gut diversity. Hence try to avoid or limit the usage of antibiotics.
• Eating balanced meal - There is a saying "Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, Dinner like a Pauper". If we follow this rule out gut will be healthy.

Quick Gimmicks:

• Having Dinner Early especially before 7 PM
• Including Leafy Vegetables and Fruits in diet.
• Including Protein in every meal
• Chewing the food thoroughly
• Stopping food when the stomach is two-third full.

Salt intake - Kids effects

       Salt is a very important ingredients of any cooking. Without salt the food doesnt taste as it is. Table Salt is the most important type of salt that we use in cooking. Table salt is 40% Sodium which is essential for few body functions. However, too much intake of Sodium or salt is very risky especially to the Kids.

       Kids around the globe consume a lot of salt on daily basis. Hamburgers, French Fries, Potato Chips, Popcorn & Pizza are few food which kids consume a lot. That puts them for heart risks at later stages of life. These foods are not only tasty but have added sodium to it which makes you crave for it. Even the Ketchup used has higher content of sodium in it.

      Researchers found that more than half of the salt consumed by kids comes from the store-bought packaged foods like Breads and Cold cuts which adds to the sodium overload. All this added salt can raise blood pressure in kids which slowly leads to the heart problems. Today every 1 out of 9 kids have elevated blood pressures whcih can be controlled by lesser intake of salts.

Quick tips to avoid salt intake:

• Try adding spices to the food instead of salt for taste.
• Eating fruits and veggies more than the packaged foods.
• Cutting back on packaged foods.

If the kids want to be active in schools or if kid is an athlete and wants to run faster then they have to keep the blood pressure under control. By changing the salt intake habits kids can lead a better life.

Hiccups - Is it Normal or Serious Concerns

            Imagine you are having a dinner with your friends or family and suddenly someone starts to Hiccup. Even though in most cases it is normal to have hiccups but its very irritating spoiling the good atmosphere.

What are Hiccups and How it is Caused?

• Two sudden and involuntary contractions within the diaphragm causes Hiccups.
• Hiccups are just the reflex action of the body by which it protects itself. 
• If you eat too much food we get Hiccups
• If you eat food faster you get Hiccups
• If you eat food that is disagreeable to your system you get Hiccups
• Hiccups should last within 30 minutes
• If Hiccups lasts more than 30 minutes then its a matter of concerns like Pneumonia, Pancreatitis, Bladder Irritation and Stomach Disorders.

Hiccups Functionality:

• There is a diaphragm located between the chest and stomach
• While inhaling air, the diaphragm presses down on the stomach and the lungs are filled with air.
• While exhaling the diaphragms press on to the lungs and we exhale air.
• The diaphragm functions like a Piston.
• Due to the increase in acidity or formation of gas in the stomach the diaphragm gets irritated and as a result contracts suddenly.
• In such situation the air passing into the lungs experiences obstruction and makes peculiar sounds called Hiccup

Quick Remedy to stop Hiccups:

• During Hiccups, Hold the breath for tolerably longer spells.
• Drink a glass of water while holding your breath.
• Swallowing three times a glass of water holding your breath.
• Hold a paper bag tightly over your nose and mouth and breath in and out for a minute or two. The relatively higher levels of carbon dioxide in blood inhibit hiccups.

     

Yawning - A Contagious Process

          We often see people yawning when they are bored or lazy. Students often yawn when the lectures are boring or sometimes when people are tired they yawn to sleep. Have you ever wondered what this yawning is about and how it is contagious? Read below the details:

           A Yawning is a form of expression indicating boredom or a break in thought. Sometimes it is a way of relaxing or may occur in response to a person who is yawning too. Yawning should be a process of decreasing arousal. If observed by other person and the observer arousal level becomes synchronized as a consequence the observer will also yawn.

         Watching somebody taking a nap might also induce a state of declining arousal and trigger yawns. One would expect the observed yawns to be a more powerful stimulus, however, because another's yawns might precipitate the observer attending to muscular tension in the facial muscles that can be dissipated by the yawns stretch. In addition one might expect observed stretches in general to be contagious and yawns might thus be particularly obvious example of the general behavioral synchrony of interactants. 

Solar Eclipse - Do not view with Naked Eyes

      The Solar Eclipse is one of the best natural phenomenon on this Universe and is very pleasing to watch it on TV or media. 

      The scientists say its not fair to view the solar eclipse with naked eyes. Below are few points on it

• The sudden change in intensity of the light, viewing the sun during Eclipse may damage your eyes. The Human Eyes have a a very prominent protective mechanism to adjust automatically under various light conditions. During the Day when there is full illumination, the eyes close partially while at night when there is no illumination eyes open fully. This entire process doesn't happen in seconds but in few minutes.
• During total solar eclipse, there is complete darkness everywhere and eyes will be fully open to let in more light.
• During total eclipse the intensity of the sun is so high that it catches the eyes unaware. The intensity will be so high that it can damage the Retina of the eyes in seconds.

Hence, it is always desirable to watch the eclipses in caution either through prescribed lenses or telescopes.