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June 25, 2022 By Dr Supriya Vhatkar 2 Comments

Light and White Skin Patches? All You Need to Know About Vitiligo!

World Vitiligo Day Have you ever come across someone with lighter or white skin patches? Ever wondered what was wrong with them? Ever been curious enough to research? What these individuals suffer from is called Vitiligo. As today is World Vitiligo Day, let us understand this skin disorder.

Vitiligo occurs when pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) die or stop producing melanin — the pigment that gives your skin, hair and eyes color. The involved patches or affected area of the skin become lighter or white.

Common Symptoms of Vitiligo

  • Patchy loss of skin color
  • Premature whitening or graying of the hair on the scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows or beard
  • Loss of color in the tissues that line the inside of the mouth and nose (mucous membranes)
  • Loss of or change in color of the inner layer of the eyeball (retina)

Onset: Vitiligo can start at any age, but often appears before the age of 20.

Different Types of Vitiligo

  1. Generalized Vitiligo: This is the most common type. The patches appear on most parts of the skin. The discolored patches often progress similarly on corresponding body parts (symmetrically).
  2. Segmental Vitiligo: In this type, only one side or part of the body gets affected. It tends to occur at a younger age and progresses for a year or two, and then it stops.
  3. Localized (Focal) Vitiligo: In this type, one or only a few areas of your body get affected.

It is difficult to predict how the disease will progress. Sometimes the patches stop forming without treatment. In most cases, pigment loss spreads and eventually involves most of your skin. In this condition, the skin rarely gets its color back.

What Causes Vitiligo?

The most common causes of vitiligo may be related to:

  • A disorder in which your immune system attacks and destroys the melanocytes in the skin
  • Family history (heredity)
  • A trigger event, such as sunburn, stress or exposure to industrial chemicals

Diagnosis

  1. Medical History and Examination: If your doctor suspects you have vitiligo, he or she will ask about your medical history, examine you and try to rule out other medical problems, such as dermatitis or psoriasis. He or she may use a special lamp to shine ultraviolet light onto the skin to determine whether you have vitiligo.
  2. Skin Biopsy & Blood Draw: Take a small sample (biopsy) of the affected skin, draw blood for lab tests to look for underlying autoimmune conditions, such as anemia or diabetes

Treatment

Many treatments are available to help restore skin color or even out skin tone. Results vary and are unpredictable. Some treatments have serious side effects. Your doctor may suggest that you first try improving the appearance of your skin by applying self-tanning products or makeup.

If you and your doctor decide to treat your condition with a drug, surgery or therapy, the process may take many months to judge its effectiveness. And you may have to try more than one approach or a combination of approaches before you find the treatment that works best for you.

Even if treatment is successful for a while, the results may not last or new patches may appear.

Medications

No drug can stop the process of Vitiligo — the loss of pigment cells (melanocytes). But some drugs, used alone or with light therapy, can help restore some skin tone.

  1. Creams That Control Inflammation: Applying a corticosteroid cream to affected skin may help return color, particularly if you start using it early in the disease. You may not see a change in your skin’s color for several months. This type of cream is effective and easy to use. But it can cause side effects, such as skin thinning or the appearance of streaks or lines on your skin. Milder forms of the drug may be prescribed for children and for people who have large areas of discolored skin.
  2. Medications That Affect The Immune System: Ointments containing tacrolimus or pimecrolimus (calcineurin inhibitors) may be effective for people with small areas of depigmentation, especially on the face and neck. This treatment may have fewer side effects than corticosteroids and can be used with ultraviolet B (UVB) light. However, the Food and Drug Administration has warned about a possible link between these drugs and lymphoma as well as skin cancer.

Surgery

This may be an option if light therapy doesn’t work. Surgery can also be used with those therapies. The goal of the following techniques is to even out your skin tone by restoring color.

  1. Skin Grafting: In this procedure, your doctor removes very small sections of your normal, pigmented skin and attaches them to the areas that have lost pigment. This procedure is sometimes used if you have small patches of vitiligo. Possible risks include infection, scarring, a cobblestone appearance, spotty color and failure of the area to recolor.
  2. Blister Grafting: In this procedure, your doctor creates blisters on your pigmented skin, usually with suction. He or she then removes the tops of the blisters and transplants them to an area of discolored skin.
  3. Tattooing (micropigmentation): In this technique, your doctor uses a special surgical instrument to implant pigment into your skin. It’s most effective in and around the lips in people with darker complexions.

Lifestyle & Home Remedies

The following self-care tactics may help you care for your skin and improve its appearance:

  • Protect your skin from the sun and artificial sources of UV light. If you have vitiligo, particularly if you have light skin, use a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. Apply sunscreen generously and reapply every two hours — or more often if you’re swimming or sweating.
  • Seek shade and wear clothing that shields your skin from the sun. Don’t use tanning beds and sunlamps.

Protecting your skin from the sun helps prevent sunburn and long-term damage. A bad sunburn can make your condition worse. Sunscreen also minimizes tanning, which makes the contrast between normal and discolored skin less noticeable.

We hope this article helped you understand the symptoms, causes and treatment of Vitiligo. Do you have any doubts? Let us know in the comments below!

To know more about skincare, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

June 24, 2022 By Urvi Gohil Leave a Comment

Healthy Eating: Oats Sprouts and Vegetable Uttapam

Oats Sprouts and Vegetable UttapamDo you love your traditional uttapam? Well, you’re about to love this healthy twist we’ve added to it more! Quick, easy to prepare and nutritious, the Oats Sprouts and Vegetable Uttapam is a mouthwatering recipe just as it is healthy. As it is made with oats, it provides better satiety too. Let’s get started! 

Ingredients:

  • Rolled oats – 1 cup
  • Curd – 1 cup
  • Ginger chili paste – 1 tbsp
  • Parboiled sprouts – ½ cup
  • Grated carrot – ½ cup
  • Grated beetroot – ½ cup
  • Finely chopped onion – ½ cup
  • Finely chopped tomatoes – ½ cup
  • Finely chopped coriander – ½ cup
  • Salt
  • Turmeric – 1 tsp
  • Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • Lemon juice – 1 tsp
  • Salt as per taste
  • Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

  1. Heat a pan and roast the oats for 3-5 minutes and grind them into powder.
  2. In a mixing bowl, add oats powder, curd, salt & ginger chilli paste. Mix this well & add some water to make dosa batter consistency. Put it to rest for 20 minutes.
  3. For the topping, in a different bowl add parboiled sprouts, onion, tomato, carrot, beetroot, coriander and lemon juice. Add the spices too and give it a gentle mix.
  4. The oats batter will be thick after 20 minutes, so add some water again to gain dosa batter consistency.
  5. Heat a dosa pan and grease with some oil. Take a spoon full of oats batter & spread it to make a mini uttapam. After it is slightly cooked take a spoon full of sprouts & veggies stuffing to put over the uttapam. Cover the pan with a lid & allow it to cook.
  6. After it turns golden brown on the base, flip it over for the stuffing to cook well too.
  7. Time to serve it hot with coconut chutney.

Highlights of the Oats Sprouts and Vegetable Uttapam

  • This single dish gives benefits equal to that of a whole balanced meal.
  • Improved fiber, nutrients and protein content from the traditional rice based uttapam.
  • A colorful blend of veggies giving us the necessary antioxidants and improving heart health.

We hope you try and enjoy this Oats Sprouts and Vegetable Uttapam recipe! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more healthy recipes, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

June 23, 2022 By Parwage Alam 2 Comments

How Sitting For Long Hours Can Shorten Your Life

How sitting for long hours at work can shorten your lifeYou might have often heard people say, “Sitting is Killing Me”. This phrase seems to be spoken lot more these days thanks to the busy schedules that people have. I believe that 75% of people work desk jobs which require them to be seated on their chair for at least 8 to 10 hours a day, if not more. No wonder that most corporate employees complain about aches and pains.

Sitting for long hours can be as dangerous for your body as smoking. Most people sit at their work stations and have no other activity apart from staring into their computers. On an average, 10 hours a day is spent at the work desk as compared to 7 hours of sleeping. Sitting is so prevalent and so pervasive that we don’t even question how much we’re doing it.

Excessive sitting, defined as nine to 10 hours a day, has been called a lethal activity. Dry eyes? Your eyes are not designed to keep focusing and moving repetitively across a computer screen. Weight gain? Sitting jobs are mostly stressful and when you are stressed out, your body is flooded with Cortisol, a stress hormone, which makes you crave for carbohydrates, sugar and fatty foods. You might not realize this being parked at a desk but all this goes into your body.

A sitting Job leads you towards a shorter life. Sitting down the whole day doubles the risk of diabetes and heart attack. Some research shows difference in health outcomes between the most and least sedentary workers. Those who spent the most time sitting down had a greater risk of diabetes. Risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack or stroke increased in the most sedentary workers.

How Sitting For Long Hours Can Affect Your Health

  • Sitting for long hours in a similar sitting position affects the blood circulation of body
  • Increased risk of diabetes and heart disease
  • Causes eye strain
  • Causes tiredness in the back and neck muscles
  • Reduces efficiency of heart and lungs
  • Leads to back and joint pains
  • Responsible for digestive problems

How Can You Stay Active At Your Workplace? 

  • Take small breaks and frequent breaks
  • Avoid the elevator and use the stairs
  • Go for a short walk post eating your lunch
  • Rinse your eyes with water when you take a break
  • Try some neck exercises by moving your neck forward or backward
  • Change your sitting positions frequently
  • Adjust your chair correctly to improve posture and sit comfortably
  • Try some simple office workouts

We hope this article helps you understand how sitting for long hours can impact your health. Try to avoid it by taking short breaks and being active! If you experience any pain, here’s what you can do to avoid any further injuries: https://goqii.com/blog/prevent-injuries-at-work/

For more tips on living a healthier lifestyle, check out Healthy Reads. You can also get more tips for staying active directly from a GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalized Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

June 21, 2022 By GOQii 71 Comments

Dos and Don’ts of Yoga: Rules to Practicing Yoga Safely

When we asked some of our new players what their interpretation of Yoga is, their response was on the lines of ‘People twisting and turning their bodies like pretzels while chanting and sitting like a statue’. Is that what it really is? We took this question as an opportunity to explain what yoga is and what are its basic dos and don’ts.

What is Yoga?

It is a system- a holistic system of refining the body, the mind and the spirit in unison. Ultimately, it is well-being, peace and bliss. Yogic postures help strengthen the endocrine system and also bring the emotions under control through concentration and relaxation.

The ability to remain in relaxed equilibrium has an important psychological effect. For the basics on yoga and what it is, you can check out this article: Yoga for the beginners: some myths and benefits

Yogis, through their physical training, gradually learn to keep their psychological equilibrium unaltered to preserve a perfect psychological calmness in whatever environment they happen to find themselves in.

Yoga is the only way by which the highest objective in life can be attained. To decipher the great science and the benefits which it claims, it is essential to understand few basic dos and don’ts which we often tend to neglect.

What You Should Do

  • “Early to bed and early to rise makes man healthy, wealthy and wise,” is an universal adage. Yoga practitioners should go to bed early, sleep well and get up early in the morning. Next, attend to their morning routine of freshening up and begin yoga in fasting mode. It can also be practiced 1 hour after a liquid diet, 3 hours after refreshments or 5 hours after full meals.
  • One could practice it before bath but after practice one should wait for some time and then take a bath.
  • It should be practiced on a leveled floor in a room where doors and windows are kept open for air and light.
  • It is helpful in many ways to practice yoga in a place where you can receive the rays of the early morning sun.
  • One should not practice it directly on the ground, on cement or mortar floor. Instead, spread a carpet, a blanket or a clean cloth, sit on it and practice by facing east or north in the morning, west or south in the evening.
  • One should practice yoga calmly without any haste or exhaustion. If one is tired he or she should rest for a while in a comfortable posture.
  • One should try to practice it everyday, preferably at the same time.
  • While practicing yoga, one should concentrate on the practice alone and try to keep away from other thoughts.
  • During the practice of asanas, the dirt in the internal organs of the body is directed towards the urinary bladder. Soon after completion, one should pass out urine.
  • If you feel like attending nature’s call while practicing, go ahead and do it immediately. One should not hold it back forcefully for a long time. One should also not try to suppress sneezing, coughing, etc. If one feels thirsty one can drink a little water as well.
  • If one sweats during practice, he or she should slowly wipe it out either by a cloth or with the palms. It is better if it dries up automatically.
  • Pranayama should follow the asanas and meditation should follow Pranayama.
  • Always lay on your back after finishing postures. 2 to 5 minutes with relaxed breathing.
  • Movements should be slow in every case. Sudden movements should be avoided.

What You Should Avoid

  • Women should refrain from regular practice during their menses or pregnancy. However, for them there are specific set of asanas that can be performed.
  • Don’t have a full tummy while doing yoga, wait until 2 to 3 hours after large meals.
  • Don’t touch (shower) or drink water for 30 minutes after practice.
  • During illness, after operations, when there is a bandage either for sprains or fractures, one should refrain from practice. They can resume after consulting experts.
  • Don’t perform strenuous exercises after yoga.
  • One should avoid practice in unclean/smoky places and in areas with foul smell
  • Yoga should not be practiced in stormy winds either

Just knowing the asanas in its correct form along with the basic knowledge of Dos and Don’ts would add much more value to your yoga practice! To read more about yoga, check out Healthy Reads.

To practice yoga the right way and get proper guidance from a certified expert, join a live GOQii PRO class within the GOQii App.

Did you find this article helpful? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

#BeTheForce

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