Understanding and Managing Colic Effectively

You have just brought your new born baby home and you can’t stop admiring the tiny human being that you have given birth to. But just then your baby lets out a shrill ear shattering wail and whatever you do just does not seem to comfort your little one. His clenched fists and red face makes you wonder what you did wrong. Your baby may just be showing the signs of a condition called colic.

Colic in babies basically refers to an otherwise healthy baby crying inconsolably for long stretches of time. Symptoms of colic may include frequent spitting up, poor eating and irritability during and after feeds.

While the exact cause of colic is still unknown, some theories include:

The immature digestive system of an infant makes it more susceptible to some of the substances in breast or formula milk.

In the case of breastfed babies, colic may be a reaction to specific foods in the mother’s diet.
    Excessive air in the baby’s gastrointestinal tract

Some studies also indicate a imbalance in the gut micro-organisms to be a probable cause of colic. It has been seen that babies with colic had lower counts of good bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacilli as compared to healthy babies.

Addressing colic in infants is not only important for the babies overall health in both short and long term but also to reduce its adverse effects on maternal mental health and the family quality of life.

Tips to Improve Digestion in Infants

A baby is born with an immature gut which may lead to digestive discomfort in otherwise healthy infants. The initial days of an infant are crucial for the development of a healthy and well-functioning digestive tract. A healthy gut microbiota contains a balance of many classes of bacteria that have health promoting functions. An imbalance in gut flora has been found to be associated with asthma and allergy, infantile colic and gastrointestinal disorders, infections, inflammatory bowel disorders and obesity.

Studies indicate that external stimuli such as nutrition and environment play an important role in the development of the infants gastrointestinal (GI) system. As colic is a problem associated with the baby’s gut and that a low amount of good bacteria could be a probable cause for development of colic in the baby, it would be beneficial if ways to increase the count of these beneficial micro-organisms are looked at. As is widely known, human breast milk is the best form of nutrition for infants. It contains two important factors that helps shape the baby’s gut micro-organism in terms of diversity and stability. It acts as an important source of beneficial bacteria and contributes to the establishment of a well-balanced gut flora in a baby. With this, it is also a rich source of oligosaccharides, the third largest component of breast milk after carbohydrates and fat .These oligosaccharides have a prebiotic effect on infant gut health, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria like bifidobacteria and lactobacilli which may help in reduction of colic in babies.

Prebiotics are basically non digestible carbohydrates that travel to the colon intact and have the ability to selectively stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria in the colon.

Some other Benefits of Prebiotics are:

    Decreases incidence of falling sick.
    Promotes softer stools.
    Reduces incidence of allergic symptoms like skin allergies.

With little or no role of medication for colic, studies indicate that use of certain probiotic strains, prebiotic oligosaccharides in babies along with a low allergen diet (no consumption of milk and dairy products, etc.) by the mothers in case she is breast feeding may bring relief from colic for the baby. Calming measures like soothing motions, more frequent burping during feeds, offering pacifiers, swaddling, limiting stimulation, carrying baby around in a carrier, massaging the baby’s back or belly, cuddling or holding the baby close and playing music can help soothe the baby.

It is always advisable to check with your health care professional regarding the requirement of any dietary changes for a breastfeeding mother and also rule out any underlying medical condition that is triggering the crying. Also, in cases where breast feeding is not possible, check with your doctor to know alternate ways to manage colic in babies.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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3 Exercises for Shoulder Aches

When you spend most of your day hunched over, your shoulders will pay the price. But when you're feeling achy, there are plenty of stretches that you can do to ease the pain. The below three moves will help you improve your shoulder mobility that will loosen your shoulders and correct imbalances caused by bad posture. To do these exercises all you need is a kettle bell and a resistance band. The key to remedying shoulder discomfort is to put the time into your treatment. Consequently, these exercises will improve the aches you feel. All it takes is just four minutes each morning and evening. Give it a go: 

Exercise 1: Egyptians

Here's How: 
• Keep your feet slightly wider than your hips.
• Reach your arms out by your sides to shoulder height keeping your palms facing down.
• Lean your torso to one side and turn that palm up, externally rotating your shoulder.
• At the same time turn the back palm up, internally rotating your shoulder.
• Return to center, then switch sides. The side-to-side action will pivot your shoulders inward and outward.
• Repeat for one minute at a pace of one repetition per two seconds. 

Exercise 2: Halos

Here's How:
• Use the kettle bell in this exercise to give your shoulders greater range of motion for the movement. Use a dumbbell or just clench your hands together if you don't have a kettle bell.
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a medium-weight kettle bell at the center of your chest by the side handles with the bottom of the bell facing up.
• Clench your glutes tight and brace through your abs to protect your back as you move through this exercise.
• Gently loop the bell behind your head and neck, then around the other side.
• Now loop the next halo in the other direction.
• Repeat for two minutes at a pace for one repetition, per 10 seconds. 

Exercise 3: Band Pull-Aparts

Here's How:
• This exercise helps train the shoulders to move in the opposite direction that they usually move when you slouch. Using band pull-aparts help sculpt your upper back too.
• Start with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Clutch your hands on a medium resistance band and hold them straight ahead and in line with each of your shoulders. You should feel some tension between your hands.
• Draw your arms out to the sides and stretch the band with your elbows slightly bent.
• Hold the pose momentarily, then resist the pull.
• Take three times as long to slowly bring your arms back to starting position.
• So, take one second to pull out and three seconds to return.
• Repeat this exercise for a minute in total, or about 15 repetitions. 

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement  

Natural herbs to manage arthritis

Arthritis is among the many disorders that Ayurveda is able to treat by using medicinal herbs. This incredibly painful condition – and rheumatoid arthritis is even worse – can be chronic in its nature, causing joint dysfunctions as well as reduced flexibility and mobility.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the joints are attacked by the body cells, resulting in redness, heat and swelling. This inflammation is the cause of the pain that every patient of arthritis suffers.

General advice

Try to reduce your intake of rice, and refrigerated and old foods.
Avoid irregular eating times
Avoid food combinations like curd and watermelon and meat and milk
Avoid pickles and junk foods

Here are some safe and effective herbs recommended in Ayurvedic texts that will manage both arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis naturally:

Turmeric: Haldi or turmeric is a well-known anti-inflammatory herb. Take it as a decoction twice a day, sipping it slowly while it is still hot. Just add a pinch of haldi to water, and boil till the water turns a golden haldi colour. 

Ashwagandha: This herb has a host of benefits from helping your hair shine, to reducing stress and anxiety. For patients of arthritis, ashwagandha’s ability to reduce inflammation is particularly important.

Musta or nagarmota: Another herb with several benefits, nagarmota or musta is often used as a diuretic and to prevent intestinal infections. Like haldi and ashwagandha, it also helps reduce inflammation in the body, which is just what is needed by patients of arthritis. 

Ginger: Prescribed for sore throats, intestinal gas, and indigestion, ginger root also reduces inflammation and improves joint mobility. Boil some in water and sip this decoction while it is still warm.

Ksheerabala taila: This oil is composed of three elements – cow’s milk, a herb named bala, and til oil. This combination reduces the imbalance of air (vata) in the body.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/    

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New study highlights benefits of broccoli sprouts in battling schizophrenia

A chemical derived from broccoli sprouts can be used to manage schizophrenia symptoms, scientists have found, paving the way for treatments that reduce unwanted side effects of traditional medicines. Scientists  in the US characterised a set of chemical imbalances in the brains of people with schizophrenia-related to the chemical glutamate.

Supplementing with broccoli sprout extract, which contains high levels of the chemical sulphoraphane, may someday provide a way to tweak the level of chemical glutamate. Sulphoraphane is found in a variety of cruciferous vegetables, and was first identified as a "chemoprotective" substance decades ago, researchers said.

"It's possible that future studies could show sulphoraphane to be a safe supplement to give people at risk of developing schizophrenia as a way to prevent, delay or blunt the onset of symptoms," said  a professor. Schizophrenia is marked by hallucinations, delusions and the disordered thinking, feeling, behaviour, perception and speaking.

Drugs used to treat schizophrenia don't work completely for everyone, and they can cause a variety of undesirable side effects, including metabolic problems increasing cardiovascular risk, involuntary movements, restlessness, stiffness and "the shakes." In a study, researchers looked for differences in brain metabolism between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

They recruited 81 people within 24 months of their first psychosis episode, which can be a characteristic symptom of schizophrenia, as well as 91 healthy controls from the community. The participants were an average of 22 years old, and 58 per cent were men.

The researchers used a powerful magnet to measure and compare five regions in the brain between the people with and without psychosis. The researchers found on average four per cent significantly lower levels of the brain chemical glutamate in the anterior cingulate cortex region of the brain in people with psychosis compared to healthy people.

Glutamate is known for its role in sending messages between brain cells and has been linked to depression and schizophrenia, so these findings added to evidence that glutamate levels have a role in schizophrenia. Additionally, the researchers found a significant reduction of three per cent of the chemical glutathione in the brain's anterior cingulate cortex and eight per cent in the thalamus.

Glutathione is made of three smaller molecules, and one of them is glutamate. Next, the researchers asked how glutamate might be managed in the brain and whether that management is faulty in disease. They first looked at how it's stored.

Since glutamate is a building block of glutathione, the researchers wondered if the brain might use glutathione as a way to store extra glutamate. The researchers questioned if they could use known drugs to shift this balance to either release glutamate from storage when there is not enough or send it into storage if there is too much.

The team used the drug L-Buthionine sulfoximine in rat brain cells to block an enzyme that turns glutamate into glutathione, allowing it to be used up. The researchers found that these nerves were more excited and fired faster, which means they were sending more messages to other brain cells.

Shifting the balance this way is akin to shifting the brain cells to a pattern similar to one found in the brains of people with schizophrenia. Next, the researchers wanted to see if they could do the opposite and shift the balance to get more glutamate stored in the form of glutathione.

They used the chemical sulphoraphane found in broccoli sprouts, which is known to turn on a gene that makes more of the enzyme that sticks glutamate with another molecule to make glutathione. 

When they treated rat brain cells with glutathione, it slowed the speed at which the nerve cells fired, meaning they were sending fewer messages. The researchers said this pushed the brain cells to behave less like the pattern found in brains with schizophrenia.

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Lupus strongly linked to imbalances in gut microbiome

According to a new study, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is linked to an abnormal mix of bacteria in the gut.

The disease is marked by the attack on joints, skin, and kidneys by the body’s immune system.

The authors of the current study say their experiments are the first detailed evidence of a link between bacterial imbalances in the gut and potentially life-threatening forms of SLE.

The new study, showed that 61 women diagnosed with SLE had roughly five times more gut bacteria known as Ruminococcus gnavus, than 17 women of similar ages and racial backgrounds who did not have the disease and were healthy. Lupus is more common in women than in men.

Study results further showed that disease “flares,” which can range from instances of skin rash and joint pain to severe kidney dysfunction requiring dialysis, closely tracked major increases in R. gnavus bacterial growth in the gut, alongside the presence in blood samples of immune proteins called antibodies, specifically shaped to attach to the bacteria.

Study participants with kidney flares had especially high levels of antibodies to R. gnavus.

Senior study author said, “Our study strongly suggests that in some patients bacterial imbalances may be driving lupus and its associated disease flares,” adding, “Our results also point to leakages of bacteria from the gut as a possible immune system trigger of the disease, and suggest that the internal gut environment may therefore play a more critical role than genetics in renal flares of this all too often fatal disease.” He also suspects that antibodies to R. gnavus provoke a “continuous and unrelenting” immune attack on organs involved in flares.

He added that the study could prompt the development of relatively simple blood tests to detect antibodies to leaked bacteria, which in turn could also be used to diagnose and track lupus progression and therapy, even in the disease’s earliest stages.

He, however, cautions that larger studies are needed to confirm how these bacteria may cause lupus. But if future experiments show similarly positive results, then it could result in shifts from current approaches to treating the disease, which focus on immune-suppressing anticancer medications to relieve symptoms and injury to the kidneys.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                         FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/           

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How to spot someone having a stroke and what to do

A stroke is a serious life-threatening medical condition that affects the brain.

It is one of the leading causes of death around the world and urgent treatment is essential.

There are different types and recovery length depends on the severity of the attack, though roughly one in eight people will die within 30 days of having a stroke.

The sooner someone receives treatment, the less the brain will be damaged.

Read on for everything you need to know about strokes, from how to recognise the symptoms to what the different types are.
  
What is a stroke?
Described by the UK's Stroke Association as a “brain attack”, a stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is cut off.

This prevents key nutrients and oxygen from getting to the brain, causing severe damage to the brain cells, which can impair a person’s speech and the way they move and think.

What are the different types of stroke?

There are three types of stroke.
Ischemic strokes, which are most common, occur when an artery that supplies blood to your brain becomes blocked by a blood clot.
The blood clots usually form in areas where the arteries have become narrowed over time due to a buildup of fatty deposits; this process is known as atherosclerosis.
Hemorrhagic strokes happen when there is bleeding in or around the brain caused by a blood vessel rupturing. This kills all of the surrounding brain cells.
The third type, according to the British Heart Foundation, is a mini-stroke, which is caused by a brief reduction in blood supply to part of the brain. These kinds of stokes, sometimes referred to as transient ischemic attacks, shouldn’t cause permanent damage to the brain, and most symptoms should pass within 24 hours.

What causes a stroke?

For ischemic strokes, which are caused by narrowing arteries, certain things such as smoking, obesity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption and high cholesterol can be triggers.
Arteries naturally narrow as you get older, so elderly people are also more at risk.
The main causes for hemorrhagic strokes, which are less common, are stress, lack of exercise, obesity and smoking.

How to spot someone is having a stroke

The symptoms for a stroke depend on the person and the type of stroke, though the NHS uses the F.A.S.T acronym to list the main signs as:

• Face – the face may have dropped on one side, the person may not be able to smile, or their mouth or eye may have drooped.
• Arms – the person with suspected stroke may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in one arm.
• Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake.
• Time – it's time to dial 999 immediately if you notice any of these signs or symptoms.

If you suspect you or someone else is having a stroke, the NHS advises phoning 999 immediately and asking for an ambulance.

What happens after someone has had a stroke?

Recovery from a stroke will vary depending on how much damage the brain has injured.
Some people will recover quickly, but others will need long-term support from a range of specialists, such as language therapists, dietitians, physiotherapists and psychologists.

After a stroke, a person's cognitive functions (communication, spatial awarenesses, memory and concentration) can be severely compromised, and in these instances, a rehabilitation plan will be created to help a person recover fully.

Strokes can also cause weakness in the body and, in some cases, paralysis. Physiotherapy will be prescribed if this is the case and a care worker may also be provided.

Other issues that may arise after a stroke include: vision problems, bladder issues, difficulty swallowing.

Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, may also arise after a stroke.

Some symptoms of stroke
 Sudden NUMBNESS or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
Sudden CONFUSION, trouble speaking or understanding speech.
Sudden TROUBLE SEEING in one or both eyes.
Sudden TROUBLE WALKING, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
Sudden SEVERE HEADACHE with no known cause. 
Weakness or paralysis of any part of the body.
Gait disturbances (trouble walking) or loss of balance and coordination.
Confusion 
Memory loss
Behavioral changes
Muscle stiffness
Difficulty swallowing
Involuntary eye movements

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/       
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