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How Plastics Are Affecting Our Health
We all have plastic bags in our homes which in it has other plastic bags too, isn’t’ it?
This is a statement that is both funny and frightening. Keep in mind that these are the reusable plastics, that we decided to keep. So, can you imagine how much plastics have we thrown out there?
The excessive exposure of the plastics around us has adversely affected our health, more than ever in the recent years.
Let’s have a detailed analysis of the same.
Polythene or more commonly known as plastic was one of the most revolutionary inventions of all time. Being durable, lightweight, and inexpensive, plastics became the material for almost every domain, within an extremely short duration. In exchange for all these comforts, this non-biodegradable started claiming health and wellness of human, wildlife, and environment altogether.
The air that we breathe, the land that we live on and grow food, the water we drink, everything contains plastics. Sadly even our food chain is no longer devoid of the plastic traces in it. As a result, the overall health has begun to decade gradually. Directly or indirectly, it contributes towards health disorders and complications, but not limited to the metabolism, cardiovascular, respiratory and several forms of cancer.
According to leading gynaecologists, the rising statistics of couples unable to conceive naturally or suffering multiple miscarriages is often due to exposure to harmful elements released by plastics. Many chromosomal and congenital abnormality also arise either from the current or the successive generation. Moreover, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer, cardiovascular system damage, adult-onset diabetes, early puberty, obesity, and resistance to chemotherapy have also been found prevalent in both men and women.
Many people do not realize the same as often the source remains discrete from plain sight. For instance, the traces of plastic can be also found in food and water, which is packed or stored in plastic containers. Moreover, the contamination of animal’s food (eg, goat, poultry, cow etc.) with plastic components also act as an entry for it in our food chains.
Sadly, solving this problem is quite challenging. The best way to start is by taking proper measure and seeking guidance from best hospitals, in case any health discomfort arises and persists.
The theme for this World Environment Day, 5th June 2018, is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. Since it is being hosted in India, let’s pledge to accomplish (4‘R’s) – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and most importantly Replace. Stay away from plastic materials, and whenever possible, go for the substitutes.
Let’s try our best to save our planet!
Stay Safe By Mitigating Malaria By Following 6 Tips
Malaria is a parasitic infectious disease that mosquito-borne disease that is carried out by the female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria is highly prevalent in the Indian subcontinent and as we are observing World Malaria Day on 25th April, we on behalf of ILS Hospitals, recommend 6 tips to mitigate the possibility of malaria at the first place.
1. Evaluate the risk of malaria
Malaria is not prevalent in every corner of the world, thus, not everyone is at risk of the same. Thereby the measure of the protection you need is entirely dependent on how much risk you are in. So, at first, it is important to evaluate how much risk you are exposed to. The surrounding and the hygiene level plays an important role in it.
2. Stay protected particularly during nights
Mosquitos tend to bite a lot at night more than daytime. The lack of awareness while bitten more frequently during asleep enhances the risk of malaria. You are recommended to install mosquito nets on the window and sleep under mosquito nets, even during the daytime naps.
3. Keep your surrounding clean
You can reduce the chances of malaria significantly by keeping the surrounding clean and avoiding water clogging. Spraying mosquito repellent spray and bleaching powder in the drain and open water bodies.
4. Cover the body properly
You can avoid mosquito bites by keeping your bodies covered all the times. Wearing long sleeves and full-length pants are recommended. Having multiple layered clothes or soaking them in anti-mosquito liquids prior to drying them off furthermore ensures that the mosquitoes bite cannot penetrate the fabric all the way to reach the skin.
5. Use mosquito repellent
Use mosquito repellent sprays to reduce their population in the vicinity. You are also recommended to use creams and lotions on the parts that cannot be covered with the face, palms, feet etc. to mitigate the risks of mosquito bites.
6. Seek medical help, if needed
The incubation period of malaria usually lies between 1-2 weeks. However, it can exceed this period as well. The best way to ensure your health is by getting in touch with a hospital upon having persistent symptoms. In case, the doctor has prescribed any medication, you are advised to complete the medication course, without fail.
By following these simple guidelines, you will be able to stay safe, from malaria.
How to Spot Heat Stroke and Address it on Time
Heat stroke is a common side effect of long exposure of the sun. As the summer is here, and not everyone has the luxury of the working inside an AC office. Thus, many people are forced to work under the sun even at the peak hours of the day. Many people get admitted to hospitals due to the same, as an untreated heat stroke can end up badly. However, identifying them in the initial stage can help it a lot control it.
Let’s understand, what a heat stroke is. Heat stroke is severe injury due to long exposure under heat and radiation. It is considered as a medical emergency and thus timely detection is crucial.
Detecting an imminent heat stroke can be done by looking for other symptoms such as heat cramps, exhaustion, and fainting, but often it may have no previous symptoms, making it quite tricky to identify.
On an average, the following symptoms usually onsets for an imminent heat stroke-
- Abnormally high core body temperature
- Dizziness, confusion, stammering
- Loss of consciousness
- Rapid heartbeat
- Shallow breathing
- Sharp, throbbing headache
- Lack of sweat
- Muscle cramp and weakness
- Seizures
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dry, red skin
Usually, the heat stroke affects an older individual much more adversely than younger people. However, athlete and sportsperson are highly susceptible to get severely affected by heat strokes as well.
Heat stroke, in its severe form, can cause temporary and permanent damage to the brain cells, along with other organs. Thereby, getting the patient in touch with a healthcare facility is highly recommended. However, the patient could be addressed in the meantime, through any of the following ways as well, to keep the situation under control.
Laying down the patient under the fan and sprinkle water on their body
Immerse the patient under the shower or in the bathtub with cold water
Applying ice packs on armpits, neck, and back, particularly because, the blood vessels are underneath these sites and thus helps to cool down the body more effectively.
Going for an ice bath is recommended for the young patient, who collapse due to over exhaustion, but is otherwise healthy and effective as well. However, the same should never be considered for older and very young patients, as it causes more harm than good.
Seeking a healthcare is still recommended, even if the patients get better after first aid treatment to ensure no long-term damage onsets due to the same. Needless to say, taking adequate precautions is the best way to stay healthy during summer.
Healthy Habits This Summer
After the chilling cold, summer has arrived, and it is going to stay for long. Before this, scorching sun makes you sick and visits hospitals for a variety of reasons, out of which, the heatstroke is the most common. Here we present you some of the healthy habits to follow to stay cool during this hot, humid weather.
1. Always apply sunscreen
In summer, the sun is at its peak for most time of the day. Thus, whether it is the early morning or mid-noon, wearing a sunscreen is very important. The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of the same depending on the skin type and other factors. To be on the safe side, avoid being out under the sun between the time between 10 am and 4 pm to minimize the UV radiation. In case, one needs to spend hours under the sun, applying sunscreen in an interval of 2-3 hours will be beneficial.
2. Stay hydrated
The most important thing during summers is to stay hydrated. The heat waves, excessive sweats and more frequent bathroom visits can lead to dehydration during this time of the year. Dehydration, if not addressed properly can cause several other problems. To avoid such a thing, it is important to take a lot of water. Apart from regular water, adding fruit with high water is a good option as well. These include cucumber, tomato, watermelon, coconut etc.
3. Eat healthy breakfast
The long shower should never be the reason to skip breakfast, even during summers. Proper nutrition is crucial for proper functioning of the body. A healthy meal of protein-rich food is advised for daily consumption. Persistent skipping of breakfast can cause malnutrition, dehydration and other complication.
4. Plan exercise accordingly
Summer should not pause the exercise regime, but pushing oneself is not advised either. Instead of jogging under the sun, trying it during early morning and evening is recommended. Moreover, working out indoor is more advisable.
5. Wear loose-fitting clothes
Skin infection due to several reasons is quite common in summers. To keep these problems at bay, it is always advised to wear loose fitting clothes in both day and night time. It is also recommended to use cotton clothes. Covering the face and hair is also recommended to reduce direct exposure to sunlight.
So, adapt the healthy habits to enjoy your summer with ice creams and summer breaks. Happy Summer to you!
ILS Hospitals Contribute Towards Cancer Awareness on World Cancer Day
Illness is never a thing of fancy. However, there are several illnesses that can be cured effectively with drugs, surgery, and therapy in hospitals without much loss of overall health and spirit of the individual. But sadly, the same cannot be said for several other illnesses and cancer is one of such medical conditions. Let’s understand several aspects of cancer along with the importance of world cancer day.
There are several myths that surround cancer, that misdirect people regarding their treatment options and diagnosis. These myths usually include people assuming that cancer is an illness of old age people and is like a life sentence without a cure. However, medical science is improving drastically and timely medical intervention is capable of improving the cancer overall and sometimes, it may even cure it altogether.
Cancer is one of the most prevalent medical threat all around the world. About 6 to 8 million new patients get diagnosed with some or the other form of cancer each year. To make things worse, nowadays, the rarer forms of cancers are emerging more frequently and the new patients are mostly belonging to a much younger age group that it used to be a few decades back, often as young as the early 20s.
The most common site of cancer is often the breasts and cervix in case of women, whereas it is the lung and prostate, in case of men. Other common suite includes skin, lung, blood, uterus, colon, and rectum, etc. Even though the genetics and personal history of similar background is the prime cause for the same for many patients, but it is not the only factor contributing to cancer. The heavy consumption of tobacco, alcohol, junk food and leading a sedentary life with no physical activity often contributes highly to the onset of cancer.
The World Cancer Day is the perfect gateway to spread the role of timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It is a joint effort of World Health Organization (WHO) and Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to educate an individual, society, government and non-government organization to unite and fight towards the cause. This 4th February, in the event of World Cancer Day, we, at ILS Hospitals, pledge to do our bidding by spreading awareness of the same. We extend our support to the patents and families who are suffering from any form of cancer.
4 Ways How Love Can Improvise Your Overall Health
Love, love, and love! With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, that is all you get to hear. You might even be getting sick of hearing about love but it turns out that being in love has its perks too. Let’s take a different approach to love and gather few medically positive aspects of being in love. It might not serve the same purpose as the best heart hospitals, it certainly does add several wonderful aspects in your life.
1. Love makes you psychologically more stable
A happy soul is a key towards a healthier body, and people often find inner strength through their beloved. Moreover, mental issues like hypertension, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic experienced etc. are best resolved along with the company of loved ones. That is the reason why often the presence of the patient’s spouse is also welcomed and encouraged during psychiatric evaluation and consultation.
2. Love makes your heart healthier
Once again, the magical words ‘I love you’ would do no good in event of any cardiac emergency and rush to nearest best heart hospital will only save the life. However, as per studies, the happily married/engaged people have been found to have much better cardiovascular health. Moreover, they contribute towards a lower range of blood pressure, ruling out several cardiovascular issues.
3. Love makes post-surgery and recovery much easier
Despite being rich, young, healthy and careful, having an illness from time to time, and feeling vulnerable at the same is inevitable. Often the surgical approach becomes the only treatment for several illnesses as well. Dealing with post-surgery care and recovery back to health is more effective with a beloved by the side. The feeling of dependency and reliability contribute significantly towards the overall sense of security and well-being and thus speed up the recovery procedure.
4. Love makes you live longer
Loved ones certainly cannot transfer their years into others lifeline, but it indirectly makes them go for positive changes that yield longevity in a long run for sure. Surviving stored and highly processed food, heavy smoking/drinking, being a couch potato etc. can lead to several illnesses in near future.
Having a spouse or even a lover often brings positive reinforcement in these sedentary lifestyle choices. It encourages to make better choices in terms of diet and other factors. It often reduces the chances of getting engaged in rash behavior such as abuse, rash driving, etc as well. Thus, the person lives an ideal lifespan altogether.
Apart from the stated points, a family also gives a sense of purpose and encourage to invest towards medical needs including screening and medical insurance etc. Overall, it ensures a longevity of an individual with healthier aspects.
4 Must-Have Health Screening for Every Woman Above 35 in the New Year
Women always walk the extra mile to ensure the well-being of her family. But unfortunately, they often don’t give the same priority towards their own health. Especially in India, most women seek medical treatment in hospitals helps only when the illness progress to an advanced stage. But by this time, the treatment of the illness becomes somewhat complicated.
Read more – 4 must-have screening every man in his early 40s should have
To address this problem, we are enlisting these 4 crucial screening that every woman above 35 should do in order to ensure that they can avail the best treatment at the best time.
1. Pelvic screening including PAP smear
As the cervical cancer is one of the leading cause of death, it is important to have regular screening. Even though one should start as young as the mid-20s, or as soon as being sexually active, it is recommended to get screen regularly is compulsory after hitting 30s. The purpose of these tests is to look out for any possible lump, abnormal growth, and any abnormal discharge, that could indicate the possible occurrence of tumor in later stages.
2. Breast screening
Apart from cervical cancer, breast cancer torments the health of women as well. Thus a regular screening of breast is highly recommended to take note of any pain, lump, tenderness or discharge from the breast, namely the nipple. This includes an ultra-sonogram and mammogram. Also, a monthly self-breast examination proves to be very helpful as well. The ideal age is early to mid-30s, however, for women with a family history of any breast-related illness, should start even earlier.
3. Thyroid test
It is very common for women to experience unexplainable weight gain along with other symptoms such as brittle nails, hair loss/thinning and severe fatigue with aging. Though it could be a result of other factors as well, often it is due to hypothyroidism. Events of life cycle such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and menopause make women more prone to these consequences as compared to men. Thus, a regular screening can help to deal with the same.
4. Bone mineral density screening
Most of the women, particularly after menopause, suffer from osteoporosis, a common illness of low bone density. It results in mild to severe bone weakness and injury that often requires supportive probes or surgery to correct it. The loss of component calcium from the bone makes them brittle and susceptible to damage and injury. Thus, a specialized test DEXA scan, an advanced X-ray diagnosis is advised that estimates the bone strength of the crucial skeleton structure namely the hip, spine, knees, and wrists.
Each of these tests has a unique role to ensure the overall well-being of a woman’s health. Most of these screening are available at a reasonable price in several hospitals. Thus, every woman above the age of 35 is highly recommended to undergo the above-mentioned screenings.
4 Screening Every Man Should Have Since His Early 40s
With the process of aging, several body parts become more and more difficult and upon the onset of a severe illness, a long series of treatment begins in hospitals. However, the entire episode of this unpleasant occurrence can be avoided if some people start taking care of their health condition from time to time.
Read more – 4 Must-have health screening for every woman above 35
Thus, we bring a list of 4 screening every man should regularly have in his late 30s to ensure a good health in his later years.
1. Colon Screening
The onset of colon cancer among elder men is a very common. Due to age, the regenerative and healing property decreases significantly. Thus early screening can keep the complication at bay, which may occur in the advanced stages. Faecal occult test, Sigmoidoscopy, and Colonoscopy are namely the tests that are usually employed.
Ideally, early 50 is the age for doing the same, but for individuals with family or personal history of inflammatory diseases, polyps, ulcerative colitis etc. should do the test by the age of 40.
2. Prostate Screening
Prostate cancer among men is kind of analogous to cervical cancer for women. It claims several lives throughout the world. Because of ignorance and lack of awareness at an early stage, many patients skip screening and eventually at an older stage, suffer severely,
Screening for prostate health include PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test and digital rectal examination (DRE)
3. Diabetes Test
Despite the fact that diabetes affects both men and women, the symptoms differ significantly. The consequences are more severe in case of men as compared to women. Thus, every man in 40s, if not already affected by diabetes till present, should go for diabetes screen at least annually.
Complicated diabetes can lead to several other complications such as blood clot, urine inconsistence, weakness and possible amputation.
4. Pulmonary and Cardiac Screening
Similar to the previous condition as compared to women, men tend to be more engaged in regular alcohol consumption and smoking. In a long run, it leads to several respiratory and cardiac ailments.
Thus every man in their 40s, who are particularly into drinking and smoking should go for regular screening to ensure the good health of their heart and chest. There are a group of tests that come under this screening.
Apart from the mentioned tests, one can go for additional ones as well, depending on the current health situation. However, the suggested screenings yield the best result for the overall health of the individual.
ILS Hospitals Has Fully Equipped NICU for Every Critically Ill New Born
A nation’s average performance and its position in the global platform depends on several factors. These factors range from education level, per capita income, gross domestic product, health standards and many more.
However, despite the preventive and corrective measure of the government towards the health and well-being, we all fall sick at some point or the other during the course of our lives. Healthcare industry plays an important role in the same. The ILS Hospitals is one of such healthcare partners who ensure that the citizen of India stay in perfect health so that they can contribute towards the overall productivity of the nation.
Let’s understand the importance of it through a case study of its high-end maternity hospital and NICU.
Mrs. Sangita Mitra, a school teacher of age 32, was expecting twins. She was getting her check-up and medication under an obstetrics close to her residence. He advised her diet and medication and also estimated the due date at 36th week.
Things went smoothly for the first and second trimester. However, during the mid of 29th week, she suddenly felt a sharp pain and contraction. Her family immediately consulted her doctor. He expected it might be a case of a premature delivery. But as he had no access to advanced maternal care and handling premature babies, he recommended them to ILS Hospitals.
When she consulted and scheduled a check up to maternity ward of ILS Hospitals, well-qualified obstetrics admitted her immediately as she was experiencing labor. One of the twins, the baby boy, despite being born prematurely was healthy, but the other baby had certain difficulties. Without wasting precious moments, the doctors admitted the baby to the NICU.
The baby girl was suffering from respiratory trouble along with instability of heart rate. The doctors were present round the clock to keep a track of her vitals and to provide medical care. After 6 weeks, the baby girl was fit enough to be discharged from the NICU. Due to the timely intervention of medical treatment and care, she was saved from long-term complications.
The NICU of ILS Hospitals is highly capable of handling crisis that could threaten the survivability and complications (both long term and short terms) that a premature baby or critically ill baby may face. Round the year, ILS Hospital’s NICU saves lives of numerous babies.
Why Every Elder Patient Need Geriatrics Medicine
An individual goes through several stages of age. In each of them, they require special care and medication. In the usual environment around us, we have comprehended few of them, while neglected other few. For instance, we have fathomed the special need of an individual during its initial years of life and classified as paediatrics domain. However, once they outgrow adolescence, the domain of doctors is classified based on either medical illness.
Thus, this attitude of the society overall, make the geriatrics domain a rather unusual and unheard specialty of medical care. Let’s understand the importance of geriatric medicine.
Geriatrics is a specialty of medical healthcare that involves diagnosis, treatment, and care, particularly for elderly people. It promotes their overall health by treating disabilities and diseases through both corrective and preventive measures. A doctor with specialization in geriatric medicine is known as geriatrician or geriatric physician.
As mentioned above, as soon as an individual is pronounced an adult, they don’t need to consult a paediatrician any longer. In event of any illness, at first a general physician is consulted, upon further diagnosis, they are recommended to doctors having specialization in that particular illness. For eg. Gynaecologist, a gastroenterologist, a dermatologist and so on.
This treatment structure is considered as the standard procedure and rules out any particular need of specialist for elderly patients. This common misconception is prevalent among people, which stop them from seeking geriatric care for elderly patients. However, the need of having a geriatric physician is extremely important particularly for super senior citizens.
Geriatric medicine aims to improve the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the elder patient. Its focuses to prevent, to improve and/or to eradicate, conditions that degrade the quality of life. Some of its main goals are to-
- Improve instability
- Improve immobility
- Improve memory, recognition, and intellect
- Improve incontinence
A rather large proportion of super senior citizens often display symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which make them vulnerable, similar to kids, who are not always sure about their exact symptoms or forget to mention them or to recollect. Moreover, due to old age, the healing and regenerative properties diminish significantly. Thereby, their treatment and recovery are different from that of an individual in their mid-30s or 40s. Thus the need geriatric physician is irreplaceable and should be acknowledged adequately.