Health benefits of drinking water

Water helps to stay slim

 Water revs up metabolism and helps you feel full.

Replace calorie-laden beverages with water, and drink a glass before meals to help you feel fuller.

Drinking more water  helps build up metabolism - especially if your glass is icy cold. Your body must work to warm the water up, burning a few extra calories in the process.

 Water Boosts Your Energy

If you’re feeling drained and depleted, drinking water replenishes one. Dehydration makes you feel fatigued.

Water helps the blood transport oxygen and other essential nutrients to your cells.

Getting enough water, the heart also doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout the body.

Lower Stress With Water

85% of your brain tissue is water. If you’re dehydrated, both your body and your mind will be stressed.

If you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already a little dehydrated.

To keep stress levels down, keep a glass of water at your desk or tote a sports bottle and sip regularly.

 Build Muscle Tone With Water

Drinking water helps prevent muscle cramping and lubricates joints in the body.

Water nourishes the skin

Fine lines and wrinkles are deeper when you’re dehydrated. Water is nature’s own beauty cream.

Drinking water hydrates skin cells and plumps them up, making your face look younger.

It also flushes out impurities and improves circulation and blood flow, leaving your face clean, clear, and glowing.


Drink enough Water daily to help digestion

Along with fiber, water is essential to good digestion.

Water helps dissolve waste particles and passes them smoothly through your digestive tract.

If you’re dehydrated, your body absorbs all the water, leaving your colon dry and making it more difficult to pass waste.

 Water Reduces Kidney Stones

Water dilutes the salts and minerals in your urine that form the solid crystals known as kidney stones.

Kidney stones can't form in diluted urine, so reduce your risk with plenty of water.

Generally, nutritionists recommend we follow the "8x8 rule."

Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

You may need more water if you exercise or sweat heavily.

You may need less water if you drink other beverages often.

for more info see
http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-water

It is important to keep mentally, physically & nutritionally healthy

“Patients don’t die of cancer, they die of complications from the cancer because their bodies can’t mentally, physically or nutritionally handle the treatments.”


Mentally to be strong, learn to control your stress levels, either by meditating regularly, listening to music, doing what you love the most.


To be keep physically fit, join or do any form of exercise which is suitable for your body, never over do anything. If in doubt always consult your physician before yous tart any new form of exercise. Aerobics, swimming, playing badminton, tennis, jogging, walking are just few of it that one can do.


Nutritionally healthy is possible by having a proper diet with enough proteins & healthy carbs, which help to fight against the diseases.


You may find it at first difficult to follow these, but by making a small attempt, you may find it easier to have the change & see that it helps you to overcome your disease.

General Information About Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

General Information About Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a disease in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (also called CML or chronic granulocytic leukemia) is a slowly progressing blood and bone marrow disease that usually occurs during or after middle age, and rarely occurs in children.

Normally, the bone marrow makes bloodstem cells (immature cells) that develop into mature blood cells over time. A blood stem cell may become a myeloid stem cell or a lymphoid stem cell. The lymphoid stem cell develops into a white blood cell. The myeloid stem cell develops into one of three types of mature blood cells:

• Red blood cells that carry oxygen and other materials to all tissues of the body.
• Platelets that help prevent bleeding by causing blood clots to form.
• Granulocytes (white blood cells) that fight infection and disease

In CML, too many blood stem cells develop into a type of white blood cell called granulocytes. These granulocytes are abnormal and do not become healthy white blood cells. They may also be called leukemic cells, which  can build up in the blood and bone marrow so there is less room for healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. When this happens, infection, anemia, or easy bleeding may occur.


Possible signs of chronic myelogenous leukemia include tiredness, night sweats, and fever.

These and other symptoms may be caused by CML. Other conditions may cause the same symptoms. A doctor should be consulted if any of the following problems occur:

• Feeling very tired.
• Weight loss for no known reason.
• Night sweats.
• Fever.
• Pain or a feeling of fullness below the ribs on the left side.

Sometimes CML does not cause any symptoms at all.

Most people with CML have a gene mutation (change) called the Philadelphia chorosome.

Every cell in the body contains DNA (genetic material) that determines how the cell looks and acts. DNA is contained inside chromosomes. In CML, part of the DNA from one chromosome moves to another chromosome. This change is called the "Philadelphia chromosome." It results in the bone marrow making an enzyme, called tyrosine kinase, that causes too many stem cells to develop into white blood cells (granulocytes or blasts).

The Philadelphia chromosome is not passed from parent to child. 

Tests that examine the blood and bone marrow are used to detect (find) and diagnose chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The following tests and procedures may be used:

• Physical exam and history: An exam of the body to check general signs of health, including checking for signs of disease such as an enlarged spleen. A history of the patient's health habits and past illnesses and treatments will also be taken.
• Complete blood count (CBC): A procedure in which a sample of blood is drawn and checked for the following:
  • The number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
  • The amount of hemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen) in the red blood cells.
  • The portion of the sample made up of red blood cells.
• • Cytogenetic analysis: A test in which cells in a sample of blood or bone marrow are viewed under a microscope to look for certain changes in the chromosomes, such as the Philadelphia chromosome.
  • Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy: The removal of bone marrow, blood, and a small piece of bone by inserting a needle into the hipbone or breastbone. A pathologist views the bone marrow, blood, and bone under a microscope to look for abnormal cells.
    
  • • Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. After a small area of skin is numbed, a Jamshidi needle (a long, hollow needle) is inserted into the patient's hip bone. Samples of blood, bone, and bone marrow are removed for examination under a microscope.
    Certain factors affect prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options.
    The prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options depend on the following:
    • The patient's age.
    • The phase of CML.
    • The amount of blasts in the blood or bone marrow.
    • The size of the spleen at diagnosis.
    • The patient's general health.
• 
  

New Carcinogens

The two new known carcinogens are aristolochic acids and formaldehyde.

Aristolochic acids are the active ingredient in a number of unsafe herbal remedies. 

Formaldehyde is used to manufacture a wide range of products. The most common source of formaldehyde exposure is cigarette smoke. Cars and wood stoves give off formaldehyde, but most exposure comes from indoor air. New home finishing products and consumer goods such as some hair-smoothing/straightening products, cleaning agents, and glues may contain formaldehyde.

The six agents anticipated to be carcinogens are:

• Styrene, a compound used to make polystyrene. Disposable cups made from polystyrene leach small amounts of styrene,
• Captafol, a fungicide once commonly used in agriculture but no longer produced after 1987 or used after 2006 in the U.S.
• Cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard metal form) is used to make hard-metal tools. The major source of exposure is from plants manufacturing such products.
• Certain inhalable glass wool fibers used in air filters or as insulation. The type of glass wool used for insulation and filtration may be less dangerous than the special kind used for manufacturing.
• O-nitrotoluene is used in the manufacture of dyes, its most exposures come from air or ground pollution.
• Riddelliine is a plant compound found in a type of daisy found in the Western U.S. and in other parts of the world, which has been used accidentally in medicinal herbs and may contaminate the milk of cows that graze on the plants.

Cancer Survivors

Hi All,

almost a decade ago when I had my cancer surgery, almost daily I used to log on to some sites & chat with people across the globe, read their stories. There were many cases, where the doctors told them that the cancer patients may survive for just few months, but these patients had survived for many years after that. So, it all depends on one's attitude to life. If one is positive, then one can fight the disease & win over it.

As for survivors in India, I know more than a dozen who have survived for more than 3 decades after cancer ! There are quite a few, who had cancer when they're young, won the battle & got married & have had kids ! Even after my surgery, one young lady who had thyroid cancer, became my friend & asked me what food to follow, when we've to go for whole body scan & then became a good friend of mine. She was very keen to have a 2nd baby, told her, that if her TSH levels were well under control, she can have another baby. Well, she did have the 2nd one & all are doing great. She did her B. Ed. after her 2nd delivery & is waiting to teach in a school now !

There are 1000s of survivors in India ( that is just a small figure for sure) & 10,000s around the world. Don't get frightened by the name, once you've had surgery to remove it, kindly follow the doctor's advise, go for regular follow up. Be positive, think cancer was all past, learn to live in the present & enjoy life to the utmost, after all life comes just once !

Best wishes to all.

Want to learn cooking, log on to my recipe blog

http://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/

Some simple daily habits to cope with chronic pain

Exercise is like Catch 22. One doesn't exercise as one has pain. But not exercising makes your pain worse. Fortunately, even mild exercise releases endorphins, the feel-good brain chemicals that lift mood and block pain. Ask your doctor if aerobic, strengthening, or stretching exercises can give your body the boost -- and relief -- it needs.

Breathing, Meditation, and Biofeedback 

As most of us are so busy, that we hardly get time to think what we're doing. But with deep breathing exercise, meditation & biofeedback are all stress management techniques, which helps to calm our minds & relax our bodies. This itself helps to lessen the pain.

Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol may help one to fall asleep, but it won't be a sound sleep, resulting in restless night. What one needs is a good stress free night with sound sleep which itself will make one feel fresh & less painful on awakening.

Quit Smoking

Smoking may give temporary relief from stress & pain. But often contributes to more pain in the long run. it slows down healing process, makes circulation poor & increases the risk of degenerative disc problems, causing back aches.

Eating Better Boosts your body

 The best way to make your body strong is eating a well balanced diet, as that would improve blood sugar, helps one to maintain proper weight, reduces heart related diseases & improves digestion. The diet should include fresh fruits & vegetables, with lots of fiber, whole grains, low fat  proteins, less of saturated fats.

Record your pain regularly each day.

By recording one's pain daily with different activities by scoring them from 1- 10, at the end of each day, it will help the doctor to know the cause of pain & help to manage it better.

Be Emotionally & physically strong

One needs to be emotionally & physically strong, as then it helps to handle all types of situations better. One should have the courage to say NO when one feels against any activity which may upset their schedule. It is better to spend quality time with one's family & friends than waste time with those who don't care for you or with undesired parties.

Distract Yourself

The best way to forget pain is to keep oneself busy with what they like. So the best thing is to develop a hobby if you already don't have one. The hobby should be what you really enjoy doing or want to do, not because someone has suggested it. E.g., gardening, cooking, crocheting, teaching, designing etc.

Understand Your Medicines

Understand the medicines and their side effects. Learn about other treatment options. Your goal is to have a normal mood and activity level -- if you don't, then a different medicine might be better for you. Your job is to be proactive, to ask questions, and look for answers.

Reach out

Remember that you're not the only one suffering with chronic pain, there are many like you. Reach out to them to learn how they're coping with their pain. Learn to ask for help when you need it, as you'd know your condition better than others or your limitations better. Share what you know with others.

For more info on these, you may read-

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/chronic-pain-11/slideshow-pain-tips?ecd=wnl_cbp_060911

crochet hexagon stole

This stole is my own design. Hope this looks good. I made small hexagons & joined them. I use black for border, with white, yellow, green &  peach in between.

Breast cancer- pain/ lump, can it be cancer?

A breast lump can occur in men as well as in women. Any tenderness can be scary & make you run to the doctor. Most early stage breast cancers show no symptoms, but if they're detected early, then one can survive.

Causes of Pain & Tenderness

Normally any breast pain is associated with cancer. But breast pain is rarely the 1st noticeable symptom of breast cancer. There can be other reasons for the pain- 

fluctuation of hormones caused by menstruation

• a side effect of some birth control pills
• a bra that doesn't fit
• stress

Breast Lumps

A lump in the breast isn't always cancerous & can happen due to  hormonal changes in teens to damaged fat tissue, most  breast lumps are noncancerous for women under the age of 40.

Common causes of benign breast lumps include:

• breast infection
• fibrocystic breast disease
• fibroadenoma (noncancerous tumor)
• fat necrosis (damaged tissue)

With fat necrosis, the mass cannot be distinguished from a cancerous lump without a biopsy. 

Signs of Breast Cancer

Other symptoms of breast cancer include:

• nipple discharge or retraction of the nipple
• enlargement of one breast
• dimpling of the breast surface
• an "orange peel" texture to the skin
• vaginal pain
• unintentional weight loss
• enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit
• visible veins on the breast

If you experience any of those symptoms, you should see your doctor. Breast exams are covered on the next page.

Breast Exams

When you visit your doctor with concerns about breast pain, tenderness or a lump, there are common tests he or she will perform:

• Mammogram: an x-ray of the breast to help tell between a benign and malignant mass
• Biopsy: removal of a small amount of breast tissue for testing
• Ultrasound: use of ultrasonic sound waves to produce an image of the tissue
• MRI: Normally used in conjunction with other tests, magnetic resonance imaging is another noninvasive way to examine breast tissue

Types of Breast Cancer

Two categories reflect the nature of the cancer:

• Noninvasive (in situ): cancer has not spread from the original tissue (Stage 0)
• Invasive (infiltrating): cancer cells have spread to surrounding tissues (Stages I-IV)

The tissue affected determines the type of cancer:

• Ductal carcinoma: cancer forms in the lining of the milk ducts (most common)
• Lobular carcinoma: cancer in the lobules of the breast where milk is produced
• Sarcoma: cancer in the breast's connective tissue (rare)

Genes and Hormones Affect Cancer Growth

Geneticists are starting to learn how genes affect the growth of cancer and have even identified one:

• HER-2 in cancer cells helps their growth. Medications can help shut the HER-2 gene down.

Like genes, hormones can also speed up the growth of some types of breast cancers that have hormone receptors.

• Estrogen receptor positive: this cancer uses estrogen to grow
• Progesterone receptor positive: this cancer is fueled by progesterone
• Hormone receptor negative: doesn't use hormones as fuel (no hormone receptors)

Treatments

Depending on the type and stage of cancer, treatments can vary. 

• Mastectomy: surgical removal of part or the whole breast to remove a tumor and connecting tissue
• Lumpectomy: removes the tumor while leaving the breast intact
• Chemotherapy: the most common cancer treatment, chemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to interfere with cells' ability to reproduce
• Radiation: another standard in the fight against cancer, radiation uses X-rays to directly treat cancer
• Hormone & Targeted Therapy: used when either genes or hormones play a part in the cancer's growth

Prognosis

Like any other cancer, early detection and treatment is a major factor in determining the outcome. Breast cancer is easily treated and usually curable when detected in the earliest of stages.

According  to a study, the five-year survival rate for Stage 0 to Stage II breast cancer is more than 80 percent. Stage III breast cancer five-year survival rate is still more than 50 percent.

Staying Ahead of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, it's important to stay informed on risk factors and warning signs of breast cancer.

The best way to fight breast cancer is early detection, whether that be self-examinations or regular mammograms. If you're worried that your breast pain or tenderness could be something serious, make an appointment with your doctor immediately

Tanning beds

Some tanning beds emit more UV radiation than even the midday sun. A study has found that young people who used a tanning bed are 1.4 times more likely to get melanoma, the deadly skin cancer & those who have used them 10 or more times have double the risk. this may be one of the reason why melanoma rates have tripled among young women in the last 30 years largely due to tanning bed.

Too much Salted fish consumption can lead to certain cancers

Eating too much salted fish raises the risk of cancers of the nose, stomach & colon. As some Japanese who consumed salted fish roe too much, had the highest rate of ovarian & prostrate cancers. So, as usual limitation of anything is the best.

Hormone replacement therapy can cause cancer

Hormone replacement therapy that is commonly used to relieve some symptoms & used as pill, patch or vaginal ring, may involve a combination of hormones= estrogen & progesterone or only estrogen. According to a report, the daily use of HRT may risk breast cancer by 5-6 % for each year taken. if one takes just estrogen only HRT, then it quintuples risk of uterine cancer. So, doctors advise women to use HRT for shortest possible time.

Alcohol limitation can help prevent some cancers

when men & women drink too much alcohol, it can lead to cancers of the upper digestive tract, liver, breast in women, which could be easily prevented, of women limit themselves to one alcoholic drink a day & men to two drinks. As alcohol is known to be carcinogen. 

Talcum powder:

 The talcum powder  which is widely used to keep one dry, may cause ovarian cancer if applied to the female genitals. Particles from sanitary napkins, diaphragms, condoms and talcum power applications could travel through the vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes to the ovaries. An analysis of data from 16 studies found a 30 percent rise in ovarian cancer risk among talcum users. A safe alternative is cornstarch powder, which is not linked to cancer. 

Flame retardant baby products may be carcinogenic

 In  1970s, the flame retardant Tris was removed from kids’ sleepwear as a suspected carcinogen. A study found chlorinated Tris in more than one-third of the polyurethane foam baby products tested, including nursing pillows, car seats, baby carriers and high chairs. A program within the EPA not only has identified the chemical as a cancer hazard, but also reports that animal studies link it to developmental defects, anemia, liver failure and reproductive problems. 

Coffee may help some cancers but risk of some others !

There is a heated debate about how much coffee is good for one. According to one study, consumptions of 6or more cups of coffee lessens one from developing the fatal prostrate cancer by 60%. But drinking 2 or more cups of coffee a day increases the chance of getting lung cancer by 14% . But this can be due to the addition of smoking among some. So, whatever it is, always be cautious of what you consume, also consume within the limits. Also be aware of the deadly combination of too much coffee & smoking can increase the chance of lung cancer.

Hiccups- causes, remedies, facts

Hiccups are probably one of the most annoying things we have experienced. All those ancient remedies of causing sudden fright or drinking plenty of water are well known. But what are hiccups medically? In medical terms, it is called “Singultus”, which means ‘the act of catching one's breath while sobbing”. It is caused by sudden contractions of the diaphragm with a brief closure of glottis in the larynx or voice box to produce the ‘hic' sound.

Causes

Normally it occurs without any precipitating factor but there are certain conditions associated with hiccups. It may also be due to the positioning of your stomach underneath the diaphragm causing irritation and contraction. Though rare, hiccups may also be induced by disorders of the central and peripheral nervous system, kidney or liver problems, in some cancer patients or due to certain drugs like Benzodiazepines or dexamethasone.

Remedies

Hiccups resolve either spontaneously or with some home remedies and usually in a few minutes. If they last longer than 48 hours, they are considered persistent or protracted; if it's longer than one month it is called intractable.  For reasons as yet unknown, this is more common in men.

Many traditional remedies can be tried. Other methods of treatment are aimed at treating the specific cause.

Quick facts

Causes: eating too fast/too much; drinking soda or alcohol, prolonged laughter, GERD.

Home remedies: swallowing granulated sugar, gargling, drinking from the far side of a glass, holding one's breath, keeping knees in line with the chest and leaning forward, distracting attention.

Medical remedies: Only for intractable cases. Gastric dilatation; Medication like haloperidol, chlorpromazine, baclofen; Phrenic nerve block surgery in difficult cases.

Inside you airways

Innovative uses of conventional technologies have resulted in newer applications in health care. Endobronchial Ultrasound is one such application. Ultrasonography (USG) for medical diagnostic purpose began around 1950s and has found wider utility since. Trans-abdominal ultrasound is used extensively in antenatal care, urology, emergency medicine and gastroenterology. Advances in technology have resulted in miniaturisation of the USG probe. Attaching this probe to a bronchoscope, an instrument used to view inside the airways of lungs, allows trans-bronchial ultrasound scan also called endobronchial ultrasound or (EBUS).

What is Endobronchial Ultrasound?

Endobronchial Ultrasound is a newer diagnostic modality useful in the evaluation of mediastinal pathology. Endobronchial ultrasound scope is similar to the conventional bronchoscope but has an ultrasound probe at the tip. While the view through bronchoscope is limited to endobronchial mucosa, EBUS enables the operator to view structures beyond the mucosa; the airway wall, mediastinal nodes, the organs and vessels of the thorax.

What are the indications for EBUS?

Obtaining tissue diagnosis for any mediastinal pathology; Staging of lung cancer; Obtaining core tissue from highly vascular airway lesions; Assessing the extent of tumour infiltration into the bronchial wall; Obtaining tissue from peripheral intrapulmonary lesions; Deciding on the modality of management in central airway stenosis.

How long does the procedure take?

Generally EBUS lasts less than 30 minutes. To enhance patient and operator comfort, short general anaesthesia may be used. Patients should remain nil oral for 6-8 hours pre-procedure. Drugs that cause excessive bleeding like clopidogrel should be stopped at least a week before. Aspirin has not been shown to significantly increase the risk of bleeding. Patients can leave the hospital 4-5 hours after the procedure.

What are the possible complications of EBUS-guided Trans Bronchial Needle Aspiration (TBNA)?

It is a relatively safe procedure without any side-effects.

How does EBUS-TBNA compare with PET for assessing mediastinal node secondaries?

Since tissue diagnosis is not obtainable in PET, its scope is limited.

What are the future possibilities with the EBUS?

EBUS has been so far used primarily as a diagnostic modality and attempts are being made to explore its use as a therapeutic tool. EBUS-guided draining of bronchogenic cysts in patients unfit for open thoracotomy has been reported.

for details you may mail

E-mail: drrnarasimhan@gmail.com

this article is from the Hindu paper

E. coli outbreak in Europe caused by new strain: WHO

The World Health Organisation said on Thursday that the E. coli bacteria responsible for an outbreak that has left 17 dead and sickened hundreds in Europe is a new strain that has never been seen before.

Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E. coli bacteria, with lethal genes that could explain why the Europe-wide outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous, the agency said.

A food safety expert at the WHO told  that  this is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before  &  added that the new strain has various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing.

So far, the mutant E. coli strain has sickened more than 1,500 others, including 470 who have developed a rare kidney failure complication. Researchers have been unable to pinpoint the cause the outbreak, which has hit at least nine European countries.

Nearly all the sick people either live in Germany or recently travelled there. Two people who were sickened are now in the United States, and both had recently travelled to Hamburg, Germany, where many of the infections occurred.

Medical authorities appeared late Wednesday no closer to discovering the source of the infection. The outbreak is already considered the third-largest involving E. coli in recent world history, and it may be the deadliest. Twelve people died in a 1996 Japanese outbreak that reportedly sickened more than 12,000, and seven died in a 2000 Canadian outbreak.

'Hedgehog" silencer can halt breast cancer

In what may pave the way for a treatment for breast cancer, scientists claim to have identified a new way of turning off cross-talk between cancer and healthy cells.

It is already known that breast cancer cells create the conditions for their own survival by communicating their needs to the healthy cells that surround them.

Now, an international team, led by Garvan Institute, has shown that a molecule known as “hedgehog” sits at centre of the switchboard in breast cancer, transmitting biochemical signals between the cancer cells and healthy cells.

According to the scientists, when this conversation is blocked, or hedgehog is “silenced”, tumours shrink and stop their spread. While the finding applies to all breast cancers, it is particularly relevant for women with basal breast cancer, for which there is no current targeted therapy.

The good news is that drugs for silencing hedgehog are already undergoing Phase 2 clinical trials in other cancer types, say the scientists.

For their research, the scientists analysed breast tumour samples from a cohort of 279 women with advanced breast cancer, revealing that higher the level of hedgehog, the more aggressive the cancer.

Having discovered high levels of hedgehog in some breast cancer patients, they went on to over-produce the protein in mouse models of basal breast cancer.

Mice developed tumours that grew and spread through the body rapidly. When hedgehog was blocked, tumour growth and spread were slowed, according to the findings published in the ’Cancer Research’ journal.

“We are hopeful that our findings will drive the progress of clinical trials for anti-hedgehog drugs in breast cancer,” said lead scientist Dr Alex Swarbrick.

He added, “Finding an effective drug target for basal breast cancer is a very high priority. It is often referred to as ‘triple negative disease’, because it doesn’t produce any of the oestrogen, progesterone or HER2 receptors, targets of the drugs Tamoxifen and Herceptin, which are very effective in other breast cancers.”

Brain temperature can now be measured non-invasively

The doctors suggest that an injured brain can be significantly warmer than the body.  

Researchers have developed a way to measure the brain’s precise temperature with a device only as thick as a poker-chip and which rests on a patient’s head, eliminating the necessity of insertion.

The doctors also suggest that an injured brain can be significantly warmer than the body, a finding critical to cooling therapies that reduce brain damage in everyone from elderly heart attack victims to hypoxic (lacking oxygen) newborns.

“This is the first time that anyone has presented data on the brain temperature of a human obtained non-invasively,” .

Hypoxic brain damage in infants occurs most often in full-term births when the child suffers oxygen loss either immediately before or during delivery.

Because of a quirk in the brain, a child can be revived but brain cells continue to die over several days, resulting in brain damage or death.

Doctors could do little to stop this progression - parents often watched helplessly as their sons and daughters literally died before their eyes.

A research team led by Professor Bass, who pioneered research on cooling therapy for hypoxic newborns, adapted an instrument that calculates temperatures by detecting microwave emissions produced by all human tissues.

Those microwaves pass unimpeded through the skull, like light passing through a sheet of glass. As tissue temperatures increase, the emissions grow more intense.

6 Pains You Should Never Ignore

1. Chest squeeze

Pain in the chest can be especially alarming because most people associate it with heart attack. What kind of pain is a tip-off to heart attack? It can vary, but many men who are hit with a heart attack describe a heaviness, tightness, or squeezing of the chest. Women also can experience such symptoms or others, including jaw pain and pain in the upper back, shoulders, and neck.

Fix: If your heart attack symptoms worsen or get no better after five minutes, please get medical attention at once, even if it is/ isn't a heart attack.

2. Tummy trouble

Severe abdominal pain can be a symptom of serious conditions affecting your appendix, pancreas, or gallbladder, or it might mean that you have a stomach ulcer or intestinal blockage. Don’t try and tough out such pain, especially if it is accompanied by an inability to keep food down over several days, bloody stools, vomiting blood, difficulty breathing, or pain when you touch your abdomen.

Fix: You might be suffering from internal inflammation, bleeding, or infection so you should see a physician right away. If appendicitis or hernia is diagnosed, you’ll need surgery. Other conditions might be treated with drugs like antibiotics, depending on what’s wrong.

3. Horrible headache

If you have a cold, a severe headache could be from a sinus infection. However, if you’re describing your pain as the worst headache of your life, you very likely could have a brain aneurysm. This is a bulge in a brain artery wall that has weakened and could possibly burst and cause a serious or even fatal stroke.

Fix: Doctors will use imaging testing to spot the aneurysm and operate to repair it. Time is critical because the real danger occurs after rupture, which causes bleeding and possible stroke.

4. Tingling sensation

About half the people with diabetes have some form of nerve damage known as diabetic neuropathy. Chronically high blood sugar causes nerve damage which results in pain, numbness, or tingling in the extremities. For people who don’t know they have diabetes, this can be one of the first signs.

Fix: If you suspect diabetes, get tested. If you have diabetes, keep your blood glucose levels in check.

5. Warm calf pain

A calf that is warm, painful to the touch, and perhaps swollen along a vein can be a sign of a blood clot known as deep-vein thrombosis. While rubbing your leg might be the first thing you want to do, don’t. This can send a clot to your lung, which can be fatal.

Fix: Get medical attention immediately. Doctors will perform imaging testing to confirm the clot and prescribe drugs that will dissolve it.

6. Side or pelvic pain

Pain in the side, abdomen, or pelvic area can be a sign of a urinary tract infection. This occurs when bacteria from outside the body are introduced to the tract, causing it to become inflamed and irritated. Also, you may experience pressure in your pelvis as well as pain and urgency with urination. Men may experience penis pain.

Fix: Women are more at risk because their shorter urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder) is closer to the anus, where bacteria hang out. Enlarged prostate and bladder prolapse, common conditions among older adults, put them at greater risk of UTIs as well. Urinalysis and urine culture confirm the diagnosis and antibiotics are usually prescribed. If left untreated, a UTI can lead to a more serious infection in the kidneys.

For more info, kindly read-
Read more:http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/headline_health/Serious_Pains/2011/06/03/391893_6.html