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12 steps to being your own health detective!

migraine

“The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”—Thomas Edison

Gaining true, lasting health is all about identifying and healing from the root cause. You can do it, I can do it, and anybody can do it.

Today’s changing lifestyle, ever-increasing pollution, adulterated foods and rising stress is silently harming our life in various unknown ways. If you can understand your body and how it works, how the disease manifests and where it begins, then you can draw a road map towards becoming your own health detective (and your family’s health detective) so that you empower yourself to live a thriving life.

Here are some pointers that can help you be your own Health Detective!

  1. Keep a check on your sleep

If you feel stressed out, sleepy-groggy headed, lack of concentration even in your daily chores and work, this is a clear indication that you are not getting enough sleep!

But if even after 6-8 hours of adequate sleep, you get up all weak, lost and tired, then that’s a red signal. Stop!! And analyze what’s causing that.

  1. Full body check up

Get a full body check-up done every 6 months. Stand in front of a mirror and check if you have any lumps, or uneven skin tone. If any mole like thing appears bigger than 5mm, or pinkish-brownish discolouration, it’s an indication to fix up an appointment with a dermatologist. 

  1. Excessive hair-fall is also a symptom

Most of the people see hair-fall as a result of the seasonal change, change of shampoo or oil.  Very few know that it could also be an indication of a disease/or a medical condition. Examine your comb regularly. If there is hair-fall appearing more than normal, it could be due to underlying deficiency of iron or thyroid. Also, follow a good hair-care and wash routine. 

  1. A window of light through your eyes!

Lack of sleep can cause puffiness under the eyes. However, this puffiness goes away with proper sleep and rest. If puffiness appears for a long duration it could be due to water retention, kidney issues, indigestion. Do not ignore this and see a doctor.

  1. Sudden increase or decrease in weight

A wave of happiness that comes due to weight loss can become a cause for stress when the reasons for weight loss are not right. It could be due to weight cycling, or YO-YO effect that usually occurs due to extreme workouts, or diet restrictions, crash diets. If not because of these, a sudden increase or decrease could also be happening because of diabetes, thyroid etc.

  1. Tired all the time!

It’s normal to feel tired and all sleepy after a long day at work or a long journey. But, if you are feeling lethargic all the time it could be due to an underactive thyroid, which also increases the chances of developing high blood pressure and heart problems. Consult a doctor immediately and get your blood tests done.

  1. Frequent headaches

A headache can happen due to stress, tension, working continuously in front of screens and inadequate sleep. This generally goes away with rest or painkillers. But, if even after this

A headache persists it could be due to a migraine, cervical, or spondylitis. Resort to physiotherapy, good posture and regular workout. 

  1. Take care of your feet too

Most of the people don’t pay much attention to feet, because of which they are unable to notice any visible changes happening there. If nails have white spots or have become yellowish in colour, it might be indicative of calcium or haemoglobin deficiency respectively. Persistently cracked heels may be because of low water intake, and swollen feet indicate the onset of diabetes. If you feel that your feet remain excessively cold, a thyroid test must be done with doctor’s advice.

  1. Teeth and gums

Bacteria in the mouth are major causes of pain and infection in gums as well as heart-related and lung-related infection also. Conditions related to teeth and gums can also become a reason for pain in shoulders and back. Take extra care to maintain oral hygiene and dental care. A dental check-up every 6 months is advisable.

  1. Don’t ignore snoring

Snoring in our society isn’t considered abnormal. One snores when there is blockage or difficulty in breathing. Snoring adds to excessive pressure on lungs, and it could also happen because of high blood pressure, which could, in turn, lead to heart ailments. If anyone is suffering from snoring for a long period of time, take responsibility and get their sleep study test and dynamic MRI done with doctor’s advice.

  1. Blood pressure monitoring

People who have high/low B.P issue should always keep a digital monitor at home. Get your blood pressure checked at regular intervals or if you notice any change in the body. Remember normal blood pressure should be 120/80mm Hg. 

  1. Cardiovascular check up

People who have crossed 40 yrs, people having heart diseases or high blood pressure should get a complete cardiovascular check-up done. This helps in screening and treatment of risks like heart attack, stroke etc in the preliminary stage. Get blood cholesterol levels also checked once every year.

Points to remember

  • Becoming a health detective doesn’t mean that you become an expert or a doctor. Being a health detective only means to be alert and responsible for observing and noticing any changes that happen in your body.
  • Never take any medicine or administer drugs to others without a prescription or doctor’s advice.
  • Today, most people treat themselves by looking up their symptoms on the internet. This is called as ‘Cyberchondria’. Please do not do this, as you can go wrong with your diagnosis.
  • Do not blindly believe any information given on the web, as not all of this information is trustworthy.

Be your own health detective …be the force

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Stroke: Straight Drive or Pavilion

stroke-factors

“Doctor please help! Half of my body does not move anymore” came a slurry cry from a helpless Vinod Agrawal, a businessman. His wife stood next to him in the emergency department weeping profusely and their 16 year old son watched his parents helplessly.

When examined thoroughly, Agrawal was diagnosed with STROKE. Thanks to the lifestyles that most people lead these days, this is a common site in hospitals.

A stroke strikes when the blood supply to the brain is affected either due to blockage leading to ischemia or rupturing of vessels. Due to this the brain does not receive enough oxygen and nutrition causing cell death, which is the ideal condition for stroke.

How does a stroke happen?

  1. Ischemia: Occurs due to narrowing or blockage of blood vessels due to blood clots formed either in arteries connecting brains or other vessels or due to dislodgment of fatty deposits called plaques (atherosclerosis).
  2. Haemorrhagic: Bursting or leaking of blood vessels which compresses the brain cells. This leakage of blood puts pressure on brain cells which is accumulated in brain due to trauma, hypertension or some blood thinning medication.
  3. TIA- Transient Ischemic Attack (Mini Stoke): Brief episodes of stroke which is self-limiting. Blood flow is briefly interrupted and these are the warning signs of future stroke. It is like an alarm from the body.

Common Presentation of Stroke –

  • Weakness or tingling in half or full body depending on the involved artery
  • Deviation of face with difficulty in speech and closure of one eye
  • Mental Confusion, severe headache, loss of power in the limbs

When any of the above symptoms are seen, the patient must be rushed to the hospital.

Stroke

After thoroughly understanding the history and general examination, few specific tests and examination like CT scan are done to find out the cause of the stroke. The treatment is very complicated and management is done in ICU and Neurophyscican may be required.

As there are two major causes of stroke- ischemia and haemorrhage-both have different management. If ischemic– the focus is to restore adequate blood flow-clot is broken or dissolved.

If haemorrhagic -stop bleeding or leakage of blood, to reduce the pressure of brain cells. Surgical intervention may be required if there is any arterial malformation or rupture of vessels.

Rehabilitation activities like physiotherapy, speech therapy, etc help to restore the physical activities gradually.

Prevent Stroke!

All the above symptoms and complications can be prevented if a healthy lifestyle is followed. Eat a healthy- diet which includes fresh fruits, vegetables, avoiding processed meat and avoid junk food.

Yoga, especially pranayama, as this ensures that every cell of the body receives adequate oxygen for appropriate functioning. Pranayama rejuvenates the body cells which ensures the ideal functioning of the body.

Stress kills! Accept what life offers happily and keep working towards your goal without killing yourself.

Remember Smoking Kills — all advertisements shown are true. STOP smoking. Avoid alcohol, if you do consume it, make it minimal.

If you are hypertensive keep absolute check on blood pressure and follow all dietary and physical discipline so the blood pressure is controlled.

If one is diabetic, regular check of sugar is important.

Listen to your body. It always warns you before the disease sets in.

Stroke is an acute emergency but the root cause lies in chronic habits and patterns of life. Every moment, even at this moment of reading the blog, we can choose health or disease. Either you choose to pick up alarming signals of body and take necessary preventions to live a healthy life or be undisciplined and get hospitalised. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

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Tips to reduce stress and strain for eyes

eye stress

I get many queries from my players suffering from eye stress and strain due to excessive small screen time. With most of us using computers at work, computer eye strain has become a major health issue. Research has shown that eye strain and stress issues occur in around 70-80% of people using computers at the workplace.

Feeling fatigued, mistakes while working, watery eyes, twitching, and redness in eyes, constant headache, and irritability are some common issues that people face due to eye strain.

Here are some ways to help you cope up and manage eye stress and strain:

  1. Adjusting lighting:

Many times we tend to ignore the light arrangement while we work for long hours. The bright light from windows or sharp interior lighting can cause major eye stress.  One should position the computer screen in a manner that the windows are to the side, instead of in front or behind it. Try to block excess lighting from outside by using curtains. Reduce sharp interior light by reducing the number of light sources or by using warm light tone bulbs/tubes. Halogen lights are better than overhead fluorescent lights.

 

  1. Reduce Glare on the screen:

Excessive glare on the screen which might go unnoticed is another cause of getting headaches while working on screens. There are different gadgets available to help reduce this strain:

-Download Blu-ray filter which is an app which creates a shield on your screen

-Use anti-reflective coating/cover on your screen

-If outside light cannot be reduced you can use a computer hood

-Use Anti-reflective coating glasses. One can opt for Anti-reflective (AR) coating glasses. These are special glasses made for people with excessive screen time. This special coating helps block harmful blue light, keeping the eyes relaxed.

 

  1. Adjust your computer display settings:

Adjusting the display settings like brightness, text size, contrast, the temperature of your computer can help reduce eye strain and fatigue. Generally, these adjustments are beneficial:

 

** Brightness: brightness of the screen you are looking at should appear relaxing to the eye. If the background seems to emit light/is too bright or seems too dull or grey, then you need to adjust the brightness. Also, most screens have automatic brightness control these days, wherein the brightness is automatically reduced if the surrounding lighting is dimmed.

 

** Colour temperature: Adjust the screen settings according to your comfort. Reducing colour temperature also reduces the amount of blue-light being emitted by a screen.

Text size: This is one considerable factor. Avoid straining eyes by reading text that appears difficult to read. Adjust text size as per your comfort.

 

  1. Taking frequent breaks:

Try to take 5-10 minute break every 2 hours to reduce the feeling of fatigue. Take a stroll, look away from the screen and splash your eyes with cold water. During your computer breaks stand up, move about and stretch your arms, legs, back, neck and shoulders to reduce tension and muscle fatigue.

Use cold green tea (used) bags for relieving puffiness around your eyes. (Keep used green tea bags in the refrigerator- and put them over your eyes- covering the under eye area as well) rest for 20 minutes and remove.

 

  1. Blinking:

Blinking is a mechanism by which eyes rewet themselves. Constant gazing at screen reduces our blinking by 30-40%. Hence, the eyes feel dry and strained. Every 20 minutes, blink 10 times by closing your eyes as if falling asleep (very slowly). This will help rewet the eyes. If eyes feel strained post blinking, rub palms together and apply a warm compress to the twitching eye and gently massage the eyelid with your fingers.

 

  1. Eye exercises:

Eye exercises can greatly help in improving eyesight and is a must for people having long screen hours to avoid developing eye issues.

-Try moving your eyeballs up and down without

-After about 10 repetitions of this exercise, rub the palms of your hands together and cup your eyes so you can feel the warmth seep through- this is called palming.

-You can follow this by moving your eyeballs horizontally, from 9 to 3, and diagonally, from 2 to 7 and 11 to 4. This can help relieve the extra pressure on muscles which develops while looking at computer screens.

With all the suggestions listed, I am sure it will help you immensely in avoiding and treating eye stress and related issues. Having a routine eye exam is a must if you have more than 3-4 hrs of screen time every day.

 

 

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How to stick to your New Year resolutions?

new-year-resolutions

Hey all, Wish you a Great New Year. The new year has begun and its once again time to make new resolutions. I am sure many of you would even be ready with the resolutions.

What are these New Year resolutions and Why?

More often than not, it’s a promise that we make to ourselves or with our near and dear ones to kick one bad habit and imbibe a good change for a better future.

A  New Year resolution can be:

  • Weight loss
  • Get fit and regular exercise
  • Eating healthy
  • Joining yoga class,
  • Quit the butt (Giving up smoking)
  • Quitting excess alcohol consumption etc
  • Involve with some sport and many more such things

Largely, I have noticed that most resolutions are around health and lifestyle. What is difficult though is to stick to the resolution made. It’s not easy to keep the enthusiasm going week after week. Especially when you have never played a sport or been active in the past.

It’s not easy to maintain the same motivation levels throughout the year. Discipline is hard to come by. Most people don’t feel motivated enough and they give up within few days. It takes focus, planning and determination to stick to resolutions made. It takes the same amount of time to change a particular habit.

Here are few tips on how to stick with your New Year resolution and make it successful?

Golden Rule:  Make your goal achievable do not aim for goal which is too difficult to achieve

  • Once you have decided on your achievable resolution write it down. Writing it down makes a greater connection between your thinking self and doing self. This makes the resolution more real than it is only in your head.
  • Change one behaviour at a time. Replacing unhealthy behaviour with healthier ones require time
  • Fitness cannot be your short-term goal.
  • If you want to eat junk food think what are the benefits you will derive from it. It’s the same as thinking before making any financial investments. Occasionally you can include a piece of Pizza or a burger but not daily.
  • If you are looking to reduce 20 Kgs then achieve the target by reducing 2-3 kgs in a month. It is not practical to lose 20 kgs in 2 months because it took years to accumulate all that fat and it will only go slowly.
  • If you want to quit smoking and you are smoking 20 sticks in a day then reduce it gradually. You cannot stop immediately because it will take some time for your body and mind to adapt to the change.
  • If you intend to start working out, yoga or any other activity in the morning then begin with 3 days a week instead of 7 days a week.
  • For working out most have the issue of waking up early. Try to start at a time comfortable to you. If you wake up daily at 8 am but plan to start working out at 5 am then it will seldom happen because your circadian system will take time to adjust. Instead try to wake up at 7 am which is practical and you will continue for a long time.
  • Be positive while thinking about your achievable goal. Instead of saying I cannot do something, say I feel much better doing this
  • Always tell your near and dear ones about your resolution and seek their support in order to successfully achieve your goal.
  • Review your progress and reward yourself on the first target achieved

Lastly, I would say do not wait for anything. Every day is a new day. Start working on your resolution immediately.

There is the famous saying that ‘Whatever you want to do tomorrow do it today and whatever you want to do today do it Now’.

Go right ahead and work on your Resolutions for the New Year.

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