Pengerai

Mengatasi Penyakit Jantung

Jika Anda merasakan gejala awal penyakit jantung ataupun pernah mengalami serangan jantung ringan, jangan abaikan itu. Anda sangat membutuhkan penanganan dini oleh personel medis yang terlatih. Ini dapat menyelamatkan jantung dari kerusakan yang lebih parah dan bahkan dapat menghindari akibat yang lebih fatal seperti kematian.

Namun jika gejala serangan jantung mulai terjadi, sangat penting untuk segera mencari bantuan medis. Risiko kematian terbesar dari serangan jantung adalah dalam kurun waktu satu jam setelah terjadi serangan jantung. Perawatan yang cepat dan tepat dari tim medis dapat menyelamatkan otot jantung dari kerusakan yang tidak dapat diperbaiki. Semakin banyak otot jantung yang terselamatkan, semakin efektif jantung akan kembali memompa setelah serangan. Jangan menunda-nunda untuk mendapatkan bantuan medis karena merasa takut dianggap mengada-ada.

Bila telah terjadi penyumbatan, tindakan medis yang umumnya diambil adalah dengan pemasangan kateterisasi dan cincin yang menjaga agar pembuluh darah koroner tidak tersumbat. Tetapi, ada kemungkinan terjadi penyumbatan pada pembuluh lainnya.

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Sayangi Jantung Anda

Melihat berharganya organ jantung ini untuk kelangsungan hidup, maka segeralah perbaiki gaya hidup Anda agar tetap sehat. Mulailah menikmati makanan yang sehat, bergizi dan rendah kolesterol. Hindari merokok dan stres. Serta berolahragalah secara teratur. Mulailah dengan gaya hidup yang sehat sejak hari ini untuk menyayangi jantung Anda.

 Lima Tanda Sakit Jantung

PEMERGIAN pelakon dan pengacara terkenal, Hani Mohsin Hanafi, 41, akibat serangan jantung memberi kejutan dan seharusnya dijadikan iktibar kepada kita semua, khususnya yang mempunyai sejarah keluarga menghidap sakit jantung.

Ramai terkejut kerana beliau meninggal dunia pada usia muda. Malah, rakan artis yang rapat dengannya juga tidak tahu arwah ada masalah jantung. Sebenarnya inilah perkara biasa berlaku kepada mangsa serangan jantung lain.

Walaupun ramai beranggapan sakit jantung tiada simptom, tetapi ada lima tanda yang perlu diperhatikan:

-Kelesuan (F).

-Aktiviti menjadi terhad (A).

-Dada terasa sesak (C).

-Buku lali bengkak atau edema (E).

-Sesak nafas (S).

FACES adalah cara mudah untuk mengenali tahap kesihatan diri. Walaupun ia bukan penunjuk tepat kepada masalah jantung, tetapi jika semua ciri umum ini ada pada kita, bermakna kita perlu bimbang terhadap tahap kesihatan diri.

Semua 5 tanda mudah dikesan. Yang diperlukan hanya kepekaan terhadap perubahan diri kerana penjagaan kesihatan adalah tanggungjawab kita. Jika ada beberapa tanda, segera menjalani pemeriksaan kerana walaupun bukan disebabkan masalah jantung, ia mungkin menjadi petanda kepada penyakit lain.

Penyakit jantung tidak berlaku secara tiba-tiba. Ia mengambil masa bertahun-tahun untuk terbentuk secara tidak disedari. Sakit jantung adalah satu penyakit yang mempunyai spektrum luas kerana ia berkait dengan masalah lain seperti tekanan darah tinggi, aterotrombosis dan kegagalan jantung.

Namun, paling penting ialah mengawal tekanan darah kerana tekanan tinggi menandakan jantung terpaksa bekerja lebih kuat untuk mengepam darah ke seluruh badan. Apabila jantung dipaksa bekerja lebih kuat daripada sepatutnya, ia menjadi besar dan kurang cekap, akhirnya menyebabkan kegagalan jantung.

Mengikut fakta, penyakit jantung atau kardiovaskular adalah pembunuh utama penduduk di negara ini dan jumlah pesakit tidak pernah berkurang sejak dua dekad lalu.

Berdasarkan kenyataan Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) pada 2004, sembilan peratus daripada kemasukan pesakit ke semua hospital adalah disebabkan masalah kegagalan jantung dan edaran darah.

Apabila disebut mengenai sakit jantung, rasanya semua orang tahu. Namun,masih ramai tidak memberi perhatian kepada penyakit ini, termasuk faktor risiko. Malah, masih ramai juga tidak tahu mengenai atherotrombosis yang menyebabkan 28 peratus kematian — jauh lebih tinggi berbanding kanser dan penyakit berjangkit lain.

Masalah tersembunyi Aterotrombosis berlaku apabila darah membeku di atas plak (lapisan lemak di dinding salur darah) pecah. Darah beku ini akan membuat lapisan di atas plak tadi. Pembentukan darah beku secara berterusan boleh menghalang aliran darah. Apabila aliran darah tersekat, ia menyebabkan serangan jantung (jika berlaku pada salur darah ke jantung) atau strok (jika saluran darah ke otak terhalang).

Dr Haizal berkata, faktor ini menjadi masalah asas kepada strok iskemia (aliran darah yang tidak mencukupi ke otak), serangan jantung, serangan iskemia, sindrom koronari akut dan kerosakan pembuluh darah.

Ini sebabnya setiap orang perlu mengamalkan gaya hidup sihat dan mengelak semua faktor risiko yang boleh menyebabkan penyakit jantung. Hanya ada empat faktor risiko yang tidak boleh diubah iaitu jantina (lelaki), peningkatan umur, bangsa dan sejarah keluarga mendapat sakit jantung.

Manakala faktor risiko seperti senarai di bawah boleh diubah dan dikawal iaitu:

-Kencing manis.

-Paras kolesterol tinggi.

-Tekanan darah tinggi.

-Kurang aktiviti fizikal dan bersenam.

-Masalah berat badan berlebihan dan obesiti.

-Pemakanan tidak seimbang.

-Merokok.

Gejala seperti hidung sering berdarah dan sakit kepala adalah petanda tekanan darah terlalu tinggi. Bagaimanapun, jika tekanan tidak terlalu tinggi (tetapi melebihi tahap normal iaitu kurang 140/85 mmHg) ia tidak mempunyai gejala.

Ini sebabnya ramai tidak sedar mereka sebenarnya menghidap tekanan darah tinggi. Jika tidak dikawal ia boleh menyebabkan kerosakan pada buah pinggang, mata dan otak. Penurunan sebanyak dua mmHg membawa banyak manfaat kepada pesakit kerana ia dapat mengurangkan tujuh peratus kematian.

Kira-kira 24 peratus rakyat Malaysia berusia 30 tahun ke atas mengalami masalah tekanan darah tinggi, tetapi hanya 18 peratus mendapatkan rawatan dan mengawal tekanan darah mereka. Manakala 13 peratus mengambil ubat tetapi tekanan darah tidak terkawal dan 53 peratus lagi tidak tahu mereka ada masalah ini.

Cara mudah untuk mengawal tekanan darah ialah menjaga pemakanan dengan mengurangkan pengambilan garam (hanya satu camca teh sehari) dan bersenam.

Bagaimanapun, bukan mudah untuk menjaga pemakanan di negara yang mewah dengan sajian enak ini, tetapi semuanya perlu dilakukan demi kesejahteraan diri.

Di pos oleh Arbain Muhayat pada 08 June 2008

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Jangan abaikan 6 simptom serius serangan sakit jantung

Serangan sakit jantung selalunya datang tanpa diduga. Kekadang kita lihat seseorang tu sihat, tiba-tiba dengar dia meninggal disebabkan serangan sakit jantung.

Semua kita tahu bahawa sakit jantung merupakan pembunuh nombor satu di negara ini selain kemalangan jalanraya. Namun begitu, tidak ramai yang tahu tanda-tanda atau simptom serangan sakit jantung ini. Mungkin nyawa boleh diselamatkan jika seseorang mengetahui tanda-tanda serangan sakit jantung dengan mendapatkan pertolongan kecemasan lebih awal, lebih awal dikesan tandanya, lebih besar peluang untuk pesakit diselamatkan.

Berikut dipanjangkan 6 simptom serius serangan sakit jantung yang biasanya diabaikan sehingga ke tahap yang tidak boleh diselamatkan lagi. Oleh itu, simptom-simptom ini perlu diambil perhatian dan jangan diabaikan sama sekali…

 

Six Serious Medical Symptoms

Some medical symptoms are warnings that you need immediate care. Learn to recognize them.

By Katherine Kam
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

That new symptom is troubling: the inexplicable swelling in your calf or the blood in your urine. Could it be serious or even life-threatening?

“Your body flashes signals — symptoms and signs — that warn you of potential problems,” say Neil Shulman, MD, Jack Birge, MD, and Joon Ahn, MD. The three Georgia-based doctors are the authors of the recently revised book Your Body’s Red Light Warning Signals.

Fortunately, many symptoms turn out not to be serious. For example, the majority of headaches stem from stress, eyestrain, lack of sleep, dehydration, caffeine withdrawal, and other mundane causes.

But a sudden, agonizing “thunderclap” headache — the worst of your life — could mean bleeding in the brain. Being able to recognize this serious symptom and calling 911 may save your life.

Here are six important flashing signals.

1. Paralysis of the arms or legs, tingling, numbness, confusion, dizziness, double vision, slurred speech, trouble finding words, or weakness, especially on one side of the face or body.

These are signs of stroke — or a “brain attack” — in which arteries that supply oxygen to the brain become blocked or rupture, causing brain tissue to die.

Symptoms depend on which area of the brain is involved. If a large blood vessel is blocked, a wide area may be affected, so a person may have paralysis on one side of the body and lose other functions, such as speech and understanding. If a smaller vessel is blocked, paralysis may remain limited to an arm or leg.

If you have symptoms, call 911 right away and get to an emergency room that offers clot-busting therapy for strokes due to blocked vessels. Such treatment, which dissolves clots in blocked vessels, needs to be given within the first three hours after symptoms begin, but newer treatments may work within a longer time frame, says Birge, who is medical director at the Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, Ga.

Timing is urgent; fast treatment can potentially stop brain tissue death before permanent brain injury happens. “There is a time clock ticking as to when you might totally recover,” Birge tells WebMD.

2. Chest pain or discomfort; pain in the arm, jaw, or neck; breaking out in a cold sweat; extreme weakness; nausea; vomiting; feeling faint; or being short of breath.

These are signs of heart attack. If you get some of these symptoms, call 911 immediately and go to the emergency room by ambulance. Shulman and Birge also recommend that patients chew one regular, full-strength aspirin (unless they’re allergic to aspirin) to help prevent damage to the heart muscle during a heart attack.

Not everyone who has a heart attack feels chest pain or pressure or a sense of indigestion. Some people, especially women, the elderly, and people with diabetes, get “painless” heart attacks, the doctors say. Being aware of “painless” heart attack signs is crucial: a very weak feeling, sudden dizziness, a pounding heart, shortness of breath, heavy sweating, a feeling of impending doom, nausea, and vomiting.

Both doctors say that it’s important to learn heart attack signs and understand them in context. “Everybody has jaw pain. You don’t immediately run and say, ‘I’ve got a heart attack,’” Shulman tells WebMD. He is an associate professor of internal medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “But if you’re also sweating and you have some of these other symptoms — shortness of breath and so forth — then that’s going to tip you off that there’s something much more serious happening.”

3. Tenderness and pain in the back of your lower leg, chest pain, shortness of breath, or coughing up blood.

These are symptoms of a potentially dangerous blood clot in your leg, especially if they come after you’ve been sitting for a long time, such as on an airplane or during a long car trip. These signs can also surface if you’ve been bedridden after surgery.

“Anybody is susceptible,” Birge says. He adds that such blood clots are more common than most people and doctors realize.

Blood is more likely to pool in your legs when you’re sitting or lying down for long periods of time, as opposed to standing and walking. If a blood clot forms in your leg as a result, your calf can feel swollen, painful, and tender to the touch; you should be evaluated. If you get sudden chest pain or shortness of breath, a piece of the blood clot may have broken off and traveled through the bloodstream to your lungs. This condition can be life-threatening, so get to an emergency room without delay.

4. Blood in the urine without accompanying pain.

Anytime you see blood in your urine, call your doctor promptly, even if you have no pain.

Kidney stones or a bladder or prostate infection are common causes of blood in the urine. But these problems are usually painful or uncomfortable, which sends people to the doctor promptly.

In contrast, when people see blood in their urine but feel no pain, some take a “wait and see” approach, especially if they just have one episode. “But you can’t have this attitude,” Shulman says. Lack of pain doesn’t necessarily mean lack of seriousness.

Cancer of the kidney, ureter, bladder, or prostate can cause bleeding into the urinary tract; when these cancers are small enough to be curable, they may not cause pain. So don’t dismiss this important sign because, according to Shulman and Birge, “blood in the urine may be the only clue for an early diagnosis.”

5. Asthma symptoms that don’t improve or get worse.

Asthma attacks are marked by wheezing or difficulty breathing. When an attack doesn’t improve or worsens, a patient should get emergency care.

If an asthma attack is left untreated, it can lead to severe chest muscle fatigue and death, say Shulman and Birge. Some people with persistent asthma hesitate to go to the emergency room because they’ve gone so many times before, or they need someone to drive them because they’re too short of breath. So instead of seeking care, “They try to hang in there,” Birge says, even if they need higher doses of inhalants or have decreasing lung function measurements when using a device to measure how well they move air out of their lungs.

Because asthma makes breathing difficult, the muscles for breathing may tire and the volume of air exchanged by the lungs will decrease. As a result, a person’s oxygen level drops while blood levels of carbon dioxide rise. As Birge and Shulman explain in their book, “A carbon dioxide buildup in the blood has a sedating effect on the brain, which may cause you to feel even drowsier. You may lose the motivation or energy to breathe.”

“A person with asthma who seems to be relaxing more, who seems to not be struggling for breath anymore — even though they’ve been at it for six or eight hours — may actually be worse. It could be a sign of respiratory fatigue,” Birge says. Eventually, the person could stop breathing.

“They’re really in a big danger zone,” Shulman adds. Patients believe they’re getting better when they’re actually getting worse, he says. “They become sedated and seem to be peaceful when actually, they’re dying.”

One of the most important considerations is how long an attack lasts, according to both doctors. “If you’ve been having labored respirations with the asthma not relenting after a period of several hours, even though you may be apparently doing OK, don’t let it go any longer,” Birge says. “Get on to the emergency room.”

6. Depression and suicidal thoughts.

Few people would put up with crushing chest pain or extreme shortness of breath, but many endure depression, even though at its extreme it can be life-threatening.

“Depression can be a very, very serious problem because people can commit suicide,” Shulman says. “Some people will not seek care when they are depressed because they think that they’ll be perceived as being crazy or not strong or not manly, and they have to understand that there is a chemical imbalance going on in their brain. It is a disease just like any other disease.”

Symptoms of depression include sadness, fatigue, apathy, anxiety, changes in sleep habits, and loss of appetite. Depression can be treated with medications and psychotherapy.

Speak Up When You Think Something Is Wrong

Doctors are human: They can miss important diagnoses, including heart attacks. A patient’s awareness and vigilance can make a difference, Shulman says.

“My feeling is, as a doctor, I want a patient who’s informed. I’d rather have a patient who’s informed, who’s helping me so I won’t make a mistake,” Shulman says. “And I can be honest and say, ‘I’m human. Don’t be intimated by me because I have a white coat on. Don’t be intimidated by me because I’m using big words.’”

If patients can recognize potentially serious symptoms, they’ll have more power when they go to the doctor or the emergency room, he adds. “You have enough to say, ‘Well, have you ruled out this problem?’”

How to Cure Persistent Mouth Ulcers

Many people suffering from mouth ulcers seldom find the root of the problem, ending up frustrated with dentists who have little or no knowledge about the problem. Ulcers can be quite painful and may interfere with such simple functions in life as eating or brushing your teeth. You need not give up and live with the pain, because there are preventative and medical methods of avoiding or treating them.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1.  Be aware of the symptoms of mouth ulcers. These include a painful, round sore on your tongue, gums or the inside of your cheeks surrounded by tender, swollen skin. The loss of mucous membrane and exposure of the underlying nerves are the cause of the pain. If it is difficult to eat or brush your teeth because of soreness, or salty, spicy or sour foods irritate the inside of your mouth, this is very likely due to mouth ulcers.

2. Begin with preventative methods. These work well if the mouth ulcer results from a natural cause, rather than a virus, fungi or an underlying disease. Brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss regularly and ensure that your diet is nutritious. Visit your dentist regularly to avoid possible complications such as tooth abcesses, bacterial infection or inflammation.

3. Learn the causes of these ulcers, which may vary and require different treatment. The most common ulcers are caused by damage from biting, continual irritation by braces, misaligned teeth or lack of care when brushing. Mouth ulcers may also be caused by fungi (oral thrush), autoimmune diseases or herpes (HSV-1). Twenty percent of the population suffers from this type of mouth ulcer.

4. Remember that most mouth ulcers are caused by simple, natural occurrences and cause loss of or damage to the lining of the mouth, and generally will heal naturally within a week or two. It is helpful to rinse your mouth with lightly salted warm water, use medicated mouthwashes and use careful oral care. If you have dentures make sure that they fit properly, and have them checked by your dentist regularly.

5. Visit your doctor for a diagnosis if the symptoms persist, recur regularly or grow worse. In the cases of thrush or herpes you may need to take an antifungal or antiviral medication. Application of antiseptic gels, anti-inflammatory drugs and pain-killing medications will aid in the treatment of persistent mouth ulcers. The cause of cold sores is unknown, although stress, autoimmune diseases or viruses is suspected.

6. Make sure you are tested for underlying causes of persistent mouth ulcers. Some of these include syphilis, inflammatory bowel disease, oral cancer and autoimmune disorders. Visit your doctor immediately if sores are bleeding, painless or last for three weeks or more. If a number of sores appear suddenly in one area it is probably due to stress, or in women it might be brought on by menstruation.

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Blood Pressure

Every person needs blood pressure to live. Without it, blood wouldn't be able to circulate through the body to carry oxygen and fuel vital organs.

Blood pressure is the pressure your blood exerts against your blood vessel walls as your heart pumps. Blood pressure rises with each heartbeat and falls when the heart relaxes between beats, but there is always a certain amount of pressure in the arteries. That blood pressure comes from two physical forces. The heart creates one force as it pumps blood into the arteries and through the circulatory system. The other force comes from the arteries resisting the blood flow.

Blood pressure changes from minute to minute and is affected not only by activity and rest, but also by temperature, diet, emotional state, posture, and medications.

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (written as mm Hg). For example, normal blood pressure in adults should be less than 120/80 mm Hg. The higher, or top, number — in this example it's 120 — is called systolic pressure and represents the pressure at the peak of each heartbeat. The lower, or bottom, number (80 in this example) is called diastolic and represents the pressure when the heart is resting between beats. The systolic pressure is stated first and the diastolic pressure comes second. For example: 120/80 (120 over 80) means that the systolic pressure is 120 and the diastolic pressure is 80.

Blood pressure is measured using an instrument called a sphygmomanometer (pronounced: sfig-mow-mah-nah-meh-ter). A cuff is wrapped around a person's upper arm and pumped up to create pressure. When the cuff is inflated, it compresses (squeezes on) a large artery in the arm, stopping the blood flow for a moment. Blood pressure is measured as air is gradually let out of the cuff, which allows blood to begin to flow through the artery again when the blood pressure in the artery is greater than the pressure in the cuff.

Listening with a stethoscope — the instrument used to hear things like the heart beating inside the body — over the artery allows a doctor or nurse to hear the first pulse as the blood flows through. This is the systolic pressure. The diastolic pressure is noted when the sounds disappear.

What Is Hypertension?

Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. Most people associate high blood pressure with getting older, so it may seem odd that teens can have the condition. Although high blood pressure is rare in young people (only about 1% to 3% of kids in the United States have hypertension), it's important to check for it. Even babies can have high blood pressure!

Almost 60 million Americans age 6 and older have high blood pressure. That means about 1 in 5 Americans has the condition. Because a third to a half of the people who have high blood pressure don't even know it, doctors are careful to check their patients for hypertension regularly.

Blood pressure of less than 120 over 80 is considered a normal reading for people 18 and over. A borderline high systolic pressure of 120 to 139 or a diastolic pressure of 80 to 89 needs to be closely monitored. A blood pressure reading equal to or greater than 140 over 90 is considered high in people over the age of 18.

Because of the way blood pressure readings are calculated for children and teens, readings that doctors consider high in teens can be lower than the blood pressure readings that are considered high in adults.

In teens up to age 18, high blood pressure is defined as a blood pressure greater than the 95th percentile for their age, height, and gender (in other words, 95% of kids at the same age, height, and gender will have blood pressure below this number). Measurements between 90% to 95% of the expected range are considered high — normal or prehypertension.

Teens with blood pressure readings that are greater than 90% of the expected range are three times more likely than those with average readings to develop high blood pressure as adults.

A doctor will average at least three blood pressure measurements taken at different times before determining that a teen has hypertension. Most teens will have their blood pressure checked during an annual physical exam. Doctors recommend that older teens with normal blood pressure get their blood pressure checked yearly.

If your blood pressure is near the top of the normal range or if you have a family history of high blood pressure, you're at a higher risk for developing hypertension. Your doctor can advise you as to how often you should have your blood pressure checked in this situation.

What Causes Hypertension?

Most blood pressure doesn't have a cause and is called essential or primary hypertension. In cases where the cause of high blood pressure is known (called secondary hypertension), it is usually the result of kidney problems, hormonal disorders, abnormalities of the aorta (the main artery that carries oxygenated blood to the body), or a narrowing of certain smaller arteries. Doctors screen teens with high blood pressure for secondary causes with physical examination and laboratory testing.

Some teens may inherit the tendency toward higher blood pressure from one or both parents. Although hypertension often runs in families, some people with a strong family history of high blood pressure may never develop it.

Kids and teens who are obese are at a higher risk for hypertension. Lack of exercise makes it easier to become overweight and increases the chance of high blood pressure. People who drink a lot of alcohol or take illegal drugs like amphetamines and cocaine are also at risk of developing the condition. In some cases, medications like steroids or birth control pills can cause high blood pressure.

Pregnant women also may be diagnosed with hypertension. This type of hypertension is known as preeclampsia (pronounced: pree-ih-klamp-see-uh), or toxemia. It's uncommon, though: Only about 6% to 8% of pregnant women get this condition.

How Does High Blood Pressure Affect the Body?

High blood pressure adds to the workload of the heart and arteries. The heart must pump harder and the arteries must carry blood that's moving under greater pressure. If high blood pressure continues for a long time, the heart and arteries may no longer work as well as they should. Other body organs, including the kidneys, eyes, and brain also may be affected.

People can live with hypertension for many years without having any symptoms. That's why high blood pressure is often called "the silent killer." Though a person may not have any symptoms, it doesn't mean that the high blood pressure isn't affecting the body.

Having high blood pressure puts a person at more risk for strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, loss of vision, and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In rare cases, severe hypertension can sometimes cause headaches, visual changes, dizziness, nosebleeds, and nausea.

A person who has high blood pressure and experiences any of these symptoms should be treated immediately.

How Do Doctors Diagnose High Blood Pressure?

For most teens, the only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get your blood pressure checked. It's painless and fast.

A single reading showing high blood pressure doesn't necessarily mean that you have hypertension, but it is an indication that it should be watched carefully. Some people have what's called "white coat hypertension," meaning that their blood pressure rises at a doctor's office because they are anxious. When they feel more relaxed, their blood pressure usually decreases. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, a test where your blood pressure is measured over a whole day, helps in separating white coat hypertension from true hypertension.

Someone may need to get his or her blood pressure checked several times over a period of days or weeks to determine if they have hypertension. A doctor should recommend how to go about this.

Doctors usually ask for the following information to help determine what might cause someone's high blood pressure:

a complete medical history, including questions about a person's present and past health and the health of family members

whether that person is taking any medications

whether that person smokes or drinks alcohol

eating and exercise habits

The doctor will probably take weight and height measurements, and might perform urine or blood tests to check for other physical problems, such as a kidney problem or a thyroid disorder that sometimes can be the underlying cause of high blood pressure. A doctor may also test for high blood cholesterol and other conditions that can increase someone's risk for developing heart disease or stroke.

How Is Hypertension Treated?

Hypertension can be a temporary or lifelong disease, depending on the cause. Regardless of what causes high blood pressure, the important thing is to keep it under control. People who manage their high blood pressure with a treatment program lower their risk of having serious complications as they get older.

Although medication may be necessary to control high blood pressure, in many cases it can be managed with lifestyle improvements, such as weight loss and dietary changes.

If you've been diagnosed with hypertension, you and your doctor will work as a team to decide on the best course of action for you. Your doctor will most likely recommend that you make lifestyle changes such as eating less fat and salt, avoiding alcohol and cigarettes, and making sure you get plenty of exercise.

Exercise is an important treatment for hypertension. Only people with severe uncontrolled hypertension, which is very rare, need to be careful about exercise. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that teens with severe hypertension avoid certain sports only until their hypertension is under control. Sports on the "avoid" list include weight lifting and bodybuilding, especially if done competitively — in other words, sports that focus on building muscle mass but do not balance it with aerobic activity. People whose hypertension is less severe or under control are encouraged to participate in sports as a way of managing their condition.

Can I Prevent Hypertension?

Here are some suggestions that can lessen your chances of developing high blood pressure and help keep you healthy in many other ways:

Maintain a normal weight for your height.

Exercise regularly. This can help prevent you from becoming overweight or help you in losing pounds if you need to. Exercise also helps keep your heart and blood vessels strong and healthy.

Eat a healthy diet that includes mostly whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fruits, and vegetables.

Don't smoke. Smoking and high blood pressure are major risk factors for having a heart attack or stroke later in life.

Keep your stress levels in check. It may help to practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing exercises.

Decrease your sodium (salt) intake. Consuming less sodium has been proven to help lower blood pressure in some people and may prevent some from developing high blood pressure in the first place. Salt is often found in breads, baked goods, and other processed/canned foods.

Avoid drinking too much alcohol, which is associated with high blood pressure.

Know your blood pressure. Have it checked regularly — although high blood pressure is more common in adults, it can occur at any age.

Reviewed by: Samuel S. Gidding, MD

 

How to Cure Cold and Flu Naturally and Fast?

Every year, millions of people world-wide get sick with the flu and cold. A person may suffer from a common cold and flu several times in a year. They are more likely to strike when a person’s immune system is low.

Colds and flu are caused by viruses which are infectious agents that rely on a living host for survival. There are more than 200 viruses that are responsible for cause of common cold and flu. Its intensity, however, depends upon the state of health of the person and environmental factors.

Symptoms of a cold and Flu include sore throat, blocked or runny nose, cough, watery eyes, fatigue headache. These symptoms will typically last anywhere from 3 to 10 days. But if your symptoms have lasted longer than that and start to change, you may be suffering from a secondary infection. These common complications of the cold and flu can leave you feeling pretty miserable.

Here are some home remedies that may help you feel better along the way.

1. Honey: Excellent for sore throats and coughs. You can take it plain, one teaspoonful at a time or mix it with some hot water and lemon.

2. Eat Chicken soup. Chicken soup may be frequently taken because it has been found that the intake of chicken soup helps in stimulation of the immune system of an individual and hence, the concerned person will have concrete disease resistance. chicken soup may be taken in hot condition and perhaps, the steam arising from the hot soup will help in relieving the congestion found in nasal passages and thereby leading to immediate relief from the cold condition.

3. Get extra rest. Even taking adequate rest helps in relieving the cold because resting activities help to minimize the chances of additional infections from multiple sources. It will also help you avoid spreading the virus to others.

4. Drink lots of fluids like water, fruit juices and clear soups. Fluids help loosen mucus.eight glasses of water, clear juice, tea, and other mostly clear liquids are advised. Staying hydrated helps moisturize the lining of the nose and throat, which makes mucus easier to clear. But be sure to avoid caffeinated or alcoholic drinks, as they can cause dehydration. Avoid alcohol, coffee and caffeinated sodas, which make dehydration worse

5. Drink hot hiquids. Hot liquids relieve nasal congestion, help prevent dehydration, and can soothe the uncomfortably inflamed membranes that line your nose and throat.

6. Gargle . Gargling can moisten a sore throat and bring temporary relief. Take 1/2 teaspoon salt dissolved in an 8-ounce glass of warm water. Thus, prepare the saturated solution and use it as a home remedy for cold and flu. Then by using an ink-filler like application, place two or three drops of the filtered salt solution into each nose and do this for two to three times in a day.

7. Use a salve under your nose. A small dab of mentholated salve under your nose can open breathing passages and help soothe the irritated skin at the base of the nose. Menthol, eucalyptus and camphor all have mild numbing ingredients that may help relieve the pain of a nose rubbed raw.

8. Take hot water in a bowl and put some Vicks vaporub. Place your nose over the vapors and inhale, covering yourself with a towel. This remedy is good for your blocked nose.

9. Take a Steamy Shower. Steamy showers moisturize your nasal passages and relax you. If you’re dizzy from the flu, run a steamy shower while you sit on a chair nearby and take a sponge bath.

10. Take vitamin C. It’s up there with chicken soup as far as legendary cold remedies go, and there might be some truth to vitamin C being helpful as well. Some evidence shows that it can reduce the duration and severity of a common cold. . Taking vitamin C every day seems to reduce the length of a cold once you get it; however, taking big doses of vitamin C after you already have a cold gets mixed results.

11. Sleep with an extra pillow under your head. This will help with the drainage of nasal passages. If the angle is too awkward, try placing the pillows between the mattress and the box springs to create a more gradual slope.

12. Apply hot or cold Packs around your congested sinuses. Either temperature may help you feel more comfortable. You can buy reusable hot or cold packs at a drugstore. Or make your own. Take a damp washcloth and heat it for 55 seconds in a microwave (test the temperature first to make sure it’s right for you.) Or take a small bag of frozen peas to use as a cold pack.

13. Keep washing your hands! Those nasty germs won’t be able to find their way into your bod if you keep washing them away.

14. Zinc: is another wonder thing for cold that can cut colds short. While early studies showed that zinc could help fight off a cold more quickly, the latest consensus seems to be that zinc has a minimal benefit at best.

15 It’s important to blow your nose regularly when you have a cold rather than sniffling mucus back into your head. But when you blow hard, pressure can carry germ-carrying phlegm back into your ear passages, causing earache. The best way to blow your nose: Press a finger over one nostril while you blow gently to clear the other. Wash your hands after blowing your nose.

Got gout?
By LIM WEY WEN

Gout is one of the more common forms of arthritis, and it can be easily managed with medications and diet modifications.

EVEN without national statistics, I do not find it difficult to believe consultant rheumatologist Dr Chow Sook Khuan when she says gout is one of the most common arthritis seen in general practice.

Because almost everyone I know, know of someone who is living with gout. And the mention of gout often elicits more nods than blank stares.

“I don’t know exactly why, but it has something to do with uric acid,” says a mother’s friend, as she continues to name a surprisingly accurate list of foods to restrict if you have gout.

“You can’t eat too much beans, meat, seafood, animal organs … and oh, stay away from alcohol,” she says. “But I’m not sure whether there is treatment for it.”

Dr Chow Sook Khuan ... Gout can be treated quite effectively.

While she might not know that the foods she mentioned are rich in purine, a chemical compound that breaks down into uric acid in the body, she had gleaned the knowledge from observing the little trial-and-error experiments her friends who have gout perform every day.

However, the knowledge often stops there, and those who live with gout often suffer for years before they are willing to seek treatment because they are not sure whether anything could be done.

Sometimes, even doctors are confused. “Many doctors still erroneously tell their patients there are no treatment for gout besides avoiding trigger foods, or do exactly the opposite – prescribe gout medications even though all their patients had were just elevated uric acid levels,” says Dr Chow.

“But gout is the easiest to treat among all treatable arthritis,” she says. It is as simple as keeping blood uric acid levels low and keeping an eye on the complications of gout (such as kidney stones) and related conditions (obesity, hypertension, high cholestrol and diabetes).

“Usually doctors diagnose it accurately, but some of the patients are not properly managed,” she adds.

A joint misunderstanding

Most of us know that gout is in some way related to blood uric acid levels in the blood. The question is, how?

It’s like dissolving sugar in water. If you continuously add sugar into a fixed amount of water, you will find after a certain amount is added, the extra sugar you add no longer dissolves.

In gout, uric acid is like sugar added to your blood. After its amount reaches a certain level in the blood, it no longer dissolves and starts to form crystals that deposit in your tissues, especially in the joints. When that happens, it may trigger a gout attack – an inflammatory response in the joint which causes the joint to become red, swollen, warm to the touch, and painful.

So, it is true that the higher your blood uric acid level, the higher your chances of getting gout. But contrary to popular belief, high uric acid levels is not synonymous with gout.

Dr Chow explains: “If a person has high blood uric acid levels but does not have the symptoms of gout, he or she does not have it. What he or she has instead, is asymptomatic hyperuricemia – which means raised uric acid levels without clinical manifestation.”

How, then, do you know you have gout?

A clinical practise guideline (CPG) on the management of gout launched by the Health Ministry’s Health Technology Assessment section provides the following guide.

You can be diagnosed with gout if you develop two of the following:

● A tophus (a nodule-like deposit of uric acid in one of the joints, cartilage or bone)

● A podagra (a painful swelling in the big toe caused by gout)

● At least two gout attacks in two weeks.

An acute gout attack is totally different from rheumatism, or fong sap in Cantonese, says Dr Chow, who is also chairperson of the CPG working group.

“It is so characteristic you can’t miss it when you see it,” she adds. “When excessive uric acid crystallises and starts to accumulate in tissues or joints, they set off an inflammation process that leaves the affected site – usually the big toe – hot, red, and swollen.

“This can be triggered by the intake of alcohol or high-purine foods, dehydration, or mild trauma (such as an injured toe), especially in people whose gout is poorly controlled.”

(A list of high purine foods could be found in the clinical practise guidelines, downloadable at www.moh.gov.my/MohPortal/cpgDetail.jsp?action=view&id=62).

The pain, as most gout patients will tell you, is “like having a thousand needles under your skin” for a few days or two to three weeks. Most of them could barely walk during an attack.

As raised uric acid levels and gout are said to be caused by the overproduction of uric acid in the body or its poor excretion by the kidneys (both are largely genetically determined), Dr Chow says there may be little one can do to prevent gout.

Recommended lifestyle modification and dietary advice could perhaps, delay the onset of gout, but “even with a zero-purine diet, you could only reduce your blood uric acid levels only up to 20%,” she says.

So, whether you are an overproducer or a poor excretor, you can still develop gout , particularly when it runs in your family.

Gout, in all its stages

Tee Kin Chye, a chirpy 50-year-old with a smile perpetually etched on his face, is one of Dr Chow’s many patients.

Of the 30 years he lived with the disease, he spent over 25 years of it visiting doctors in clinics, chiropractors, and other specialists to seek relief from the painful gout attacks and tophi he eventually developed.

“In the beginning, I thought the recurrent swelling in my big toe was just sprains. So I went to chiropractors to have it massaged. But most of the time, it became more painful.

“It did not occur to me that it was gout until a doctor diagnosed me when I was 20,” he says. “However, I was told there is no cure and given only a list of foods to avoid.”

But even after Tee diligently avoided foods that trigger his gout attacks, they still came intermittently. “During an attack, I was literally jumping around with my left leg. My right was too painful to set on the ground.”

After many attacks, which his doctors often resolved with anti-inflammatory jabs or oral painkillers, white, chalky nodules (tophi) started to appear on his left elbow and right toe.

“I’ve tried everything – supplements, alternative therapies – you name it. I had little confidence then because the tophus protruding from my elbow looked awful and the one in my leg was so big I couldn’t wear my shoes properly.

“Several times I had them surgically removed, but they just grew back months later,” he says.

What Tee had was a usual progression of typical gout through its three clinical phases: acute gout, intercritical gout (remission in between attacks), and chronic gout.

At the beginning of the disease, patients usually experience intermittent gout attacks and remissions, followed by a chronic phase, where painless but firm tophi start to form in one or more joints of the body.

Treatment is available, but not for everyone

Gout usually starts when one reaches 40 and affects more men than women. However, after 65 years old, it affects both sexes equally. Older patients also tend to develop tophi early in the course of their illness while younger ones develop tophi only after years of intermittent attacks.

But if there is one message Dr Chow emphasises over and over again throughout our interview, it is that “treatment is available, but not everyone with high blood uric acid levels or gout need to be treated”.

Treatment for gout first aims to reduce the patient’s blood uric acid levels (with uric acid lowering drugs such as allopurinol and probenecid), and second to relieve the pain and inflammation during a gout attack (with anti-inflammatory jabs or drugs).

Here it becomes a little complicated.

If you only have raised uric acid levels and nothing else, you might benefit from lifestyle and dietary modifications (lose weight, drink more water, avoid alcohol, take less purine-rich food, and control other related medical conditions like high cholesterol and hypertension). You do not need to be treated with any medications.

And even if you have already had an acute attack, you may not need medications to lower your uric acid yet, says Dr Chow.

It depends on how frequent your gout attacks, whether you have tophi, and whether you have other medical problems like heart disease.

For example, Dr Chow offers, “If you come to me for your first gout attack, I’d probably give you non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to treat your acute gout, but I will not put you on allopurinol because your next attack might come only in the next 10 years!

“But if you’ve had more than three episodes per year, I might consider putting you on the drug,” she says.

Tee was considering having his big toe amputated when he consulted Dr Chow and was advised against it. This is because his gout, if not well controlled, would still recur and attack other joints even if he removed his toe. Also, as the surrounding tissue is packed with uric acid crystals, they might make it more difficult for his wound to heal.

The only indication for surgical removal is when a patient’s tophus is infected, or when it puts a lot of on pressure on surrounding structures, for instance, on a nerve, says Dr Chow. “It should be considered as a last resort,” she adds.

What doctors can do instead is to help the patient reduce his or her blood uric acid level below 0.36mmol/L or 6mg/dL. “At those levels, the uric acid that is deposited will dissolve by itself with time,” says Dr Chow.

After half a year on uric acid lowering drugs, the tophi in Tee’s elbow and right toe gradually subsided. “They practically saved my toe,” he chuckles. “Now, whenever I notice gout symptoms in my friends, I encourage them to have it checked by a doctor”.