FADS AND FALLACIES, Vitamins nutrition, fish and celery for body health and prevention of diseases

According to Food and Drug Administration studies involving regular market basket sampling, foods available at ordinary groceries and supermarkets contain ample quantities of vitamins. Many food additives are now in use. Times and distances involved in getting products from farm to consumer are often great, and additives are used by processors to maintain quality. In some cases, they are used to improve quality or add some advantage not found in the natural state. Thus, some foods are fortified with vitamins and minerals.

Flavoring agents may be employed to add taste appeal. Preservatives have to be used for some foods that would otherwise be spoiled by organisms or would undergo undesirable chemical changes before use. Emulsifiers may be added to bakery goods to achieve fineness of grain; and stabilizers and thickeners, such as pectin and vegetable gums, may be used for maintaining texture and body. A federal food additives law requires that additives be tested and proved safe for consumption before they may be used. Much remains to be learned about additives-and much, too, about safe use of pesticides, but on a realistic basis, with a growing population, we need both additives and pesticides and must learn to use them to best advantage.

FADS AND FALLACIES

 Perhaps no other area of human concern is as surrounded with fads and fallacies as nutrition. We have had blacks trap molasses and wheat germ offered as virtual panaceas and, more recently, vinegar and honey. Although no food has any special health virtue all its own, it would be hard to find any that at some time or other has not been touted as such. Do oysters, raw eggs, lean meat, and olives increase a man's potency?

Hardly, they have their nutrient values but confer no special potency benefits. Are fish and celery brain foods? The idea could have arisen because brain and nerve tissue are rich in phosphorus, and fish provides phosphorus-containing materials. But so do meat, poultry, milk, and eggs. And celery, it turns out, has relatively little phosphorus. 

Are white eggs healthier than brown? The fact is that the breed of hen determines eggshell color, and color has nothing to do with nutritive value. Some magical powers once attributed to foods have been explained by scientific research. For example, lemons and limes were once considered panaceas for scurvy; it is their vitamin C content, of course, which did the work. Rice polishing was indeed fine for preventing beriberi, but solely because of their vitamin B1 content. 

Goiter was once treated with sea sponge, and the seeming magic stemmed not from something unique about sponge, but from its content of iodine. Food myths arise, too, from distortions of scientific fact. Thus, carrots considered to be good for the eyes.

They are-in cases of vitamin A deficiency. The yellow pigment of carrots, carotene, is converted by low body into vitamin A, which is needed to produce a pigment for the retina of the eye. Incidentally, carotene is plentiful, too, in green vegetables where the yellow color is masked by chlorophyll. Food fads and fallacies might be amusing were it not for the danger that they can interfere with the selection of a proper diet. 

STETHOSCOPE EXAMINATION FOR HEART PROBLEMS AND TO AVOID HEART ATTACK

STETHOSCOPE EXAMINATION

The stethoscope has a small cone which concentrates and slightly amplifies internal body sounds while excluding external noise. One of its major uses is in the detection of heart problems. The heart produces two distinct sounds-e-Iubb-dup, lubb-dup, lubb- dup-which are related to the closing of the valves inside the heart. The rate, rhythm, pitch, and intensity of these sounds, which can be studied with the stethoscope, provide indications of the health of the heart. The stethoscope can pick up any abnormal sounds-for example, a rubbing scratchy noise which may indicate pericardia, an inflammationof the outer coating of the heart.

With it, too, the physician can detect murmurs-audible vibrations produced by blood flow-and can distinguish among various types of them. There are murmurs associated with different kinds of congenital heart defects. Others are produced by over activity of the thyroid gland and disappear when the gland condition is corrected. A fever or anemia may produce a heart murmur which disappears when the anemia or fever is over- come. In addition-and worth special note here-there are innocent murmurs. Unfortunately, many people worry needlessly after being told at some point, perhaps during an insurance examination, that they have a murmur even though reassured it is "innocent." The fact is that innocent murmurs are unrelated to any physical problem and are quite common.

They can be found in as many as 15 percent of normal healthy adults and in an even higher percentage of normal healthy children. Such murmurs are more readily detectable in children because they have thinner chestwalls. And some authorities are convinced that if there were sensitive enough instruments, slight and innocent murmurs could be found in all people. Your physician has been trained to understand the significance of various types ofmurmurs, to distinguish carefully among them, and to heed those which tell him of existing or possibly brewing trouble.

Let him examine you and if he finds a murmur tell you exactly what it means. If he can report that it is innocent and no reason for worry that is exactly what he means. In addition to its value in studying the heart, the stethoscope often is useful in revealing characteristic sounds of asthma and of the lung disorder emphysema. Applied to the abdomen, it is often helpful in gastrointestinal problems; it may, for example, aid in diagnosis of intestinal obstruction. With the stethoscope, too, it is sometimes possible to detect blood vessel problems-the existence and location of an obstruction in an artery, for example.

Heart Attack And Other Problems - Percussion Examination

PERCUSSION

Percussion-a simple procedure to Know heart problems in which the physician lays one hand flat on the chest and raps on it with fingers of the other hand-can provide useful information about some internal organs. With it, the approximate size and shape of the heart may be established, for example. The chest is largely occupied by the lungs which, because they are filled with air, produce a hollow sound when the chest wall above them is tapped. 

Over the heart, which is filled with fluid, the sound has changes to a dull note. The physician can begin percussion at a point on the chest known to be over the lungs, moving in the direction of the heart until a dull sound tells him he has reached it. That establishes one point of the heart's position. Other points can be determined by starting the percussion else- where on the chest and moving in toward the heart again. 

Heart Attack and other Issues in Heart are well explained in the following posts, Please follow all the posts to know about the heart and the problems arising. In this modern days pollution and Global Warming create many issues and the human body cannot tolerate the modern day diseases. Though EBOLA is not a heart related virus directly, We could avoid EBOLA if we were followed some principles and hygienic procedures in Our life. In the same way we can avoid heart issues by adopting certain methods and exercises to avoid the issues in Heart. 

Please follow your physician's instructions in the matters and any suggestion given given here is subject to verify your physician.      

Patient History and Physical Examination can be Physician’s tool to Prevent Diseases

Patient History and Physical Examination can be Physician’s tool to Prevent Diseases

One patient who experienced a slight change in urination-dribbling a little during the night- passed it off as a joke, kidding with his wife that somehow, though he was still a young and vigorous man, he had entered second childhood. He had actually developed an enlargement of the prostate gland. A year of delay made the operation he needed more difficult and led to a complication, kidney infection, caused by backing up of urine. In reporting symptoms to the doctor, don't grope for medical words; use simple English. Many diseases have strong psychological aspects, and symptoms may recede the moment you are in the doctor's office. Still, tell the doctor you have the symptoms even though it may seem silly to talk about them when they are not immediately present. You can be certain the doctor will understand the phenomenon.

THE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION 'Even as he shakes hands with you, an alert physician may pick up some clues. Are your hands warm and moist, with a fine tremor? These characteristics may suggest over activity of the thyroidgland. If the hands are cold and the skin is coarse and puffy, the thyroid could be under- active. Red fingertips may signal some abnormal flow of blood in the heart; flushing of the nail beds in time with the heartbeat may indicate another type of heart problem called aortic regurgitation. As he observes the body, the physician can learn a great deal. The color of lips and ears may indicate possible anemia.

The Promise and Nature of Preventive Medicine

 One leg is slightly shorter than the other-enough in some cases to account for a backache problem. He may note leg swellings traceable to a heart problem, and any enlarged glands, tumors, or abnormal pigmentation resulting from internal disease. In his examination, the physician will be looking to see if the body is symmetrical. Lack of symmetry is almost always a sign of some dis- ability or disease. If the left side of the neck looks different from the right, it may be because of a tumor which is pushing out on that side. If the thyroid is not symmetrical, it may be because of a benign tumor which has enlarged one lobe ofthe gland. In the retina at the back of the eyes, small blood vessels-arteries and veins-lie are almost naked, devoid of covering material.

And there, very quickly, with an instrument called the Ophthal-mo-scope, the physician by looking through the pupil of the eye can detect any blood vessel changes which may provide clues to diabetes or kidneydisease. Women need a breast examination for any tenderness, abnormal lump, or nipple discharge. During a vaginal examination, a smear of cells for the "Pap" test is usually taken; this is a test to detect early cancer in the area. Both men and women should have a rectal examination to detect any local disturbances. With an instrument, the Sigmoido-Scope, the physician can see and check the lower portion of the colon for any growths.

As a patient, you can help greatly by insisting that the physician do a thorough inspection, by reassuring him that you have no squeamishness. Some doctors feel that patients’ are resistant to rectal andgenital examination and omit these vitally important checks. 

How a Patient History Can be used in Preventive Health Care? follow 1000 posts

It is not essential that you have a detailed knowledge of modern examining and testing procedures. But some awareness of the basic, long-established methods and tests and the newest x-ray and laboratory tools, and what they can do, will be useful.

THE CASE HISTORY

The patient's history, always an invaluable guide in disease diagnosis, is equally valuable in prevention. We have mentioned earlier, in passing, some of the reasons. Occupational data-facts about the work you do and possibly the circumstances under which you do it-may reveal some hazards, physical or psychological, to which you are exposed. An account of family health-the illnesses of parents and grandparents, their longevity, the state of health of brothers and sisters-can provide clues to hereditary strengths and weaknesses.

Your own past illnesses are 'an. important part of the record. Some childhood episodes of illness, if severe, may have left a mark. Rheumatic fever, for example, may strike a child at 15 or earlier and may produce some heart damage. Yet, very often, the effects of the heart damage are not felt until age 35, 40, or even later. A record of the rheumatic fever incident may be of vital importance in accurate diagnosis of a heart condition. 

The case history-which includes what the patient reports about present problems-sometimes, provides the first indication of onset of a serious illness. For example, angina pectoris (chest pain) is associated with coronary heart disease. In coronary heart disease, the coronary arteries feeding the heart muscle become narrowed. There are sophisticated techniques now-including x-ray movies of the coronary arteries -to show up the narrowing. But in some early cases, angina may occur before there are sufficient changes to show up on the x-ray studies.

If in taking the history the physician determines that there have been angina episodes-perhaps after some sudden unusual exertion, perhaps upon leaving the house on a particularly cold morning-he can confirm the anginadiagnosis by giving the patient some nitroglycerin tablets to take when the next incident occurs; and if there is immediate relief of pain, the diagnosis is virtually 99.9 percent certain. During history taking, be accurate, don't make wild guesses, but do report things you may think are only minor, like a sense of just not feeling well. It's important to indicate any change because it may be an early warning of something potentially serious. 

How does a preventively minded physician function? Follow 1000 posts in the series

You can expect that in working with you he will get to know you thoroughly-past medical history, family medical history, job, working habits, living habits-so he can weigh any possibility that you-as a member of a specific group based on heredity, environment, age, sex, color, personal habits-may face certain specific health hazards.

In his regular periodic examinations, he will follow your health progress in general and will be alert for the slightest early indication of anything wrong in any area of special risk for you. He may, in fact, from time to time use special tests to make certain all is going well in a special risk area.

During your visits, he will be concerned, of course, with any physical complaints and also with any mental or emotional problems (job, marital, and others), since these can affect health.

He will be interested in any changes in your habits and their possible effects, for good or ill, on your health. From time to time, he may have suggestions for an alteration, perhaps minor, of diet, exercisepattern, sleep, relaxation, etc.

As he regularly checks you, alert for earliest indications, even pre-indications, of possible trouble, he will be prepared to intervene without delay. Rather than wait, say, for obvious symptoms of diabetes to develop-especially if you belong to the group with greater than average probability of developing the disease-he will intervene to try to correct, if they appear, the very first changes that could possibly lead to diabetes.

As medicine has been practiced generally to now, it has been the patient who, in effect, has turned up after making a self-diagnosis. It has been the patient who has decided, "I think I am or may be sick or becoming sick," and then has sought help.

How it will be the preventively minded physician who increasingly will be able to tell the patient, "You are about to become sick and we are going to take a few measures in advance so you won't actually develop the sickness." 

How to prevent Kidney failure? 1000 posts preventive medicare

Preventive medicare avoid side effects. To days medicines cannot be trusted completely that they are free from side effects. To avoid side effects, we need to take due care to prevent any diesease before it reaches us. Take control of your body and follow the suggestions in these posts and you can aovid the complications. Follow our all 1000 posts following to safeguard your body and mind. 

Promising work is being done in detecting people with pre-diabetes-those who have no symptoms of diabetes but do have changes in body chemistry that may forecast eventual onset of overt diabetes. Early results of treating such patients with anti-diabetic agents are regarded by some investigators as promising, suggesting it may be possible to prevent the development of diabetes and such complications as visual disturbances, circulatory disturbances, and increased risk of coronary heart disease.

As we have noted earlier, kidney machines can be lifesavers for patients with kidney failure-but it would be far 'better to prevent the failure. And there is growing hope now that in many cases failure maybe prevented by attention to asymptomatic bacteria. Asymptomatic bacteriuria simply means the presence of sizable numbers' of bacteria in the urine without causing symptoms. The condition may occur at any age and in either sex but is especially frequent in females, affecting 1.2 percent of schoolgirls and 6 percent of pregnantwomen. There is evidence that if left untreated bacteriuria may eventually cause the kidney disease pyelonephritis, which in turn may result in kidney failure.

Bacteriuria can be treated effectively once detected and newer tests now make its detection simpler and more practical. Today, as the next post will show, many testing procedures are available to make it possible for the physician increasingly to anticipate and prevent diseases rather than wait for it to appear. 

Prevention is better than cure, Nature care series 1000 posts

"To CURE sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always"-so the physician's role was described in the fifteenth century. So it remained until this century. Comfort he did because there was little else he' could do. More progress made in a few decades than in thousands of years before.

And while some of this progress as seen in heart Surgery, brain surgery, antibiotics, hormonal treatments-even more basic advances were made at the same time.

                

Medicine began to penetrate the mysteries of psychic disease and to gain understanding of the interrelationships of mind and body. It explored the influence and mechanisms of heredity in disease. It established the mechanisms of body chemistry and of inborn chemical error. It allied itself with many other sciences-drawing, for example, from physics and biochemistry new electronic equipment and test tube procedures for detecting and monitoring disease. 

The crystal ball may seem less glamorous than the wonder drug and the miracle in the operating room. But medicine has been developing a kind of scientific crystal ball that promises to make far greater inroads on disease that can be rubbed to see the portents for the individual patient and used to help guide him around the health-hazards he faces. Preventive medicine becomes inevitable as the new diseases and conditions started to occupy the human being. The speed of medical inventions is defeated by the newly accumulated diseases and abnormal conditions.

Hence the preventive medicine has gets its importance against the conventional method of finding the diseases and cure them. Vaccines are a part of preventive medicine, but nowadays the whole concept of preventive medicine changes and prevention is better understandable to prevent the diseases without any medications to avoid the side effects and its consequences.

Read the coming posts to understand how to prevent almost all ailments in our life. We will take up the writing on body parts as well as case to case of diseases and how to prevent better without medicines. A complete 1000 page guide ensures covering all aspects of body illnesses and conditions in human ailment. Starts from headache to diabetes, muscle pain to heart attack, How to avoid viral diseases? also will be taken care during the writing.