Health Tips for Seniors


Archive for July, 2012



What is the difference between GERD and acid reflux?


Acid reflux, a normal part of digestion is caused with the splash of the stomach acids into the esophagus and is more a condition. While GERT is more serious and could be characterized with frequent show-up of acid reflux symptoms. In addition GERT could show other symptoms like cheat pain, heartburn, hoarseness, and other conditions like Barretts esophagus and esophageal cancer.

Antacids accompanied with simple life style changes and avoiding wearing tight garments would help in cure acid reflux. GERT calls for both medications to reduce acid production and strengthen the esophageal muscles as well as antacids. However it could also lead to deadly conditions like esophageal cancer.
It is best understood that recurrent occurrences of acid reflux calls for diagnostic tests to confirm the presence of GERD.




Parents Need To Know About Anger Management In Toddlers


Anger in toddlers

Anger and its management could prove challenges for parents to manage. Knowing all about anger in children represents understanding that the emotional component of anger in children involves understanding that toddlers get emotional when they are refused something, teased or taunted, rejected or are forced to or insisted upon to do certain things. It arises mainly out of a toddlers goal being blocked or he/she being frustrated.

It is real frightening and a cause of great concern to see toddlers express their anger in various ways with crying, sulking, resistance through physical or verbal ways, with some giving in to more aggressive methods like banging the head, biting and hitting others. Anger that is first learnt by interactions within the family, siblings and watching shows on television could make some toddlers adapt a negative way of expressing their anger. It lies truly in the hands of parents to help toddlers acknowledge their anger and learn to express this negative emotion in a more effective and positive way.

Know all about anger management in toddlers

1.You would be on the way to be the best and most smart parent in anger management of your toddler with first trying the understand anger in him/her. By
interpreting and evaluating on this emotion, parents can help toddlers in understanding and managing their anger. It is best to understand that doing this is best facilitated with first creating an emotional environment that is conducive for it. This involves an atmosphere where there are clear and firm rules, yet clear understanding.

2.Adults that are effective in teaching their toddlers or children anger management are those that are able to be role models with acknowledging, accepting and
finally taking responsibility for their anger and negative emotions. It is found that parents that express their anger in an aggressive way give lessons to their children that aggressive behavior will be tolerated, so expressing anger in direct and unaggressive ways helps to better communicate anger managementprinciples.

3.Adults, especially teachers and parents need to understand that very young children do not possess ways to regulate their anger and other negative emotions effectively, so they need to play the role of gradually going about the process of helping children to develop skills to themselves regulate their anger. It is true that with age the children become mature enough to develop self-regulatory skills.

4.Anger management in toddlers is best done with encouraging toddlers and young children to talk about everything that makes them angry, and this is best done with the guidance of parents and teachers. Next once the feelings are learnt, it would be good for parents and teachers to help label the emotion with appropriate words. Labels that can be provided and put up in a sheet hung up at home could include feelings like mad, irritated, and annoyed; this would help the toddler correctly express his or her emotion in future.

5.It is true that labeling emotions helps both the parent and child understand the emotion, but the next step lies in not being judgmental when the toddler is
in the midst of an anger emotion, it pays a lot to be not just a patient but also an emphatic listener. This would not only build faith and confidence in the toddler to express his/her emotion but would also create confidence when corrections are suggested and wanted to be obeyed.

Finally you would have helped in effective anger management of toddlers, with responsible anger management allowing for direct and non-aggressive way of anger that does away with the stress of poor anger management. Positive guidance methods have taken lots of the ups and downs faced in teaching anger anagement to toddlers.




What is silent acid reflux?


Some may not realize their having acid reflux problem due to the absence of heartburn. Silent acid reflux shows up as trouble and hoarseness in talking particularly in the morning, difficulty in swallowing or having excess mucus in the throat. There could be a tendency to clear ones throat and cough often. Since the treatment lies in preventing excess stomach acid, antacids and other medication are prescribed.

Understanding silent acid reflux, it is found that sometimes the lower set of sphincter muscles that normally allow food and drink to pass into the stomach and prevent stomach acid from backing up into the esophagus fails and send back acid into the lower esophagus. Since the lower esophagus is less sensitive to the stomach acid than is the upper esophagus, there are other symptoms except heartburn.

Untreated and neglected silent acid reflux could damage the voice box, vocal cords and the esophagus. Prompt professional advice followed by effective lifestyle and dietary changes could help avoid surgery, that is the ultimate solution.




Parenting Children With Aspergers Effectively


Aspergers Syndrome requires careful understanding by parents

Parents may be quite concerned about Aspergers syndrome in their children that show up as problems in socializing, language skills, and delays in cognitive development but may at times find it very difficult to figure out if their children have this syndrome. However it is very imperative to know, understand fully and tackle the various symptoms found in their children for this syndrome could be mistaken for other disorders and behavior in children.

It is quite possible that you as a parent may just wish to suppose that your children are disobedient, defiant, disrespectful and rude, with parenting making you
uneasy. However specialists contend it is wrong to generalize children as disobedient or rude because children may be explosive due to various reasons and Aspergers
could also be a predominant cause. Next it would be best to understand the reason for this behavior in children before you as a parent can make decisions about how to
parent such children and handle their adverse behavioral patterns. The effective parenting of children with Aspergers involves being adaptable in the method that is
being used.

Methods of parenting children with Aspergers effectively

Parenting children with Aspergers involves consistent parenting, with your being the boss and rule maker, meaning not being a terror, but having the power to influence your childs behavior and situation in hand. This involves your trying to figure out solutions for the problems in hand, and using strategies and techniques that really work. This would surely help you to not only be effective and efficient but also to avoid further harm.

It is imperative to know that it is good supervision and involvement in the Aspergers childs activities and spending quality and quantity time with the child that
makes for an effective approach. Parenting Aspergers children could involve teaching them new skills that could involve giving those specific instructions and
directions on behavioral patterns and practicing them till they are best learned. Starting off small and when you have sufficient time to calmly help bring about
effective changes helps, for being calm and persistent is what has helped many parents to create calmness in their afflicted children and give directions that are
effectively followed.

Start small and go to teaching skills that are bigger skills keeping the age of the child in mind. Helping these children learn new behavioral patterns that would help replace old undesirable patterns with a little bit of flexibility would help teach these skills without any problems.

Parenting children with Aspergers effectively would be best accomplished in also including methods and strategies to change the thinking patterns of your child. This
would be best accomplished with introducing a new idea, and you as a parent need to make sure that the idea is well understood and accepted by the Aspergers child.

This involves making sure that the child has fully grasped a new way of thinking before proceeding to the next step of reinforcing it further and introducing new ideas and thinking. It is true to say that the child has to first hear what you say, understand it, see that it is good for him and then finally believe that that behavior would help. It is only then that the child would accept the new line of thought.

As an adult you would definitely realize that for effective changes to take place on the mental and emotional level the line of thinking has to be proved to be far
more superior than what already exists in ones mind, for effective substitution of thought is only then possible. Truly this requires great persistence on your part
as a parent to stick to your ideas and ways of thinking. This requires not allowing thoughts that are not relevant to enter into the parenting aspect with finally
providing relevant reasons for the new thought processes.




What is non acid reflux?


It is possible that some those with suspected gastro-esophageal reflux disease could also have symptoms related to continued reflux of non-acidic material. Non-acid reflux also plays a role for persistent esophageal symptoms. Acid reflux detected by pH monitoring that shows a reading below 4.0 is acidic, while one showing a pH reading above 4.0 is non-acidic reflux. To sum up GER episodes with a pH of 4.0 to 7.0 fall under the category of “weakly acidic” reflux, while GER with a pH above 7.0 would be considered “weakly alkaline”, with a reading below 4.0 being acidic reflux.




Natural Treatment and Medications for Enlarged Tonsils


What is Enlarged Tonsils

Tonsils are nothing but lymphatic tissues which prevent the body from the attack of bacterias and viruses. At some cases, due to the infection these tonsils will become enlarged and this condition is commonly referred as Tonsillitis. When the tonsils get enlarged, the person may also suffer from low grade fever, sore throat and fatigue. At certain cases, the enlarged tonsils can also lead to a condition known as chronic cryptic tonsillitis which causes stone like white particles to form. Hence a good treatment should be taken in order to get relieved from pain and to stop the further infection.

Enlarged Tonsils Treatment and Recommended Medications

The major treatments that are available to cure the enlarged tonsils are antibiotics, non steroidal anti inflammatory medications and tonsillectomy (surgery for removal of tonsil). The antibiotics that are recommended during the treatment are Penicillin, Amoxicillin, Clarythromycin, Azithromycin, etc. For pain removers, medications such as Ibuprofen (Advil, motrin), Ketoprofen (orudis), Naproxen (anaprox, Aleve, naprosyn) can be taken.

Natural Treatment for Enlarged Tonsils

Listed below are the natural treatments or home remedy methods that can be followed to cure enlarged tonsils:

1.When symptoms are diagnosed, it is good to take only liquid diets. Also, choosing hot liquids like chicken soup, herbal tea and cold drinks, clear soda,
vegetable juice, water will give a good effect.

2.Take one cup of hot water, one teaspoon lime juice, one teaspoon of salt and gargle it as a solution and drink three times daily. This will kill the bacteria
and also expel the fluid from enlarged tissues. This will obviously reduce the inflammation and discomfort.

3.Placing a humidifier at the place of being will increase the moisture and makes easy to swallow and breath. Also, taking steam will also help.

4.Give rest for the throat. Dont talk more, if not then throat irritation will increase.

5.Take a pinch of pepper powder and add some turmeric powder and mix it with boiled milk. Drink this for three nights continuously.

6.Mix 300ml of some carrot juice with 100ml cucumber juice and 100ml beet juice and stir well. Drink once in a day which will be more beneficial.

7.Boil 12gm of viola odorata flowers in 50ml of pure milk and strain it. Drink after cooling, which will treat the enlarged tonsils to cure. Viola odorata
lowers can also be fried with some butter and applied around the throat.

8.Burn some twigs of water hyacinth plant and get some ashes. Now put those ashes into the mustard oil. Now apply this over the tonsils. This will reduce the
enlargement of tonsils soon.




What Is Hyperactive Kids Diet


Understand hyperactive kids first

ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is more a health condition than a disease and could be rather depressing and overwhelming for parents and teachers alike. Characterized with inability to concentrate on anything for a period of time accompanied by restlessness makes it difficult for these kids to remain still for a long time. Impulsive thinking and action with aggressiveness could make these kids have problems in relationships, learning and behavioral patterns. Hyperactivity more common in male children than female could sometimes be very difficult to diagnose and treat. There is just a fine line of distinction between hyperactive and children with emotional and disciplinary problems, with only a specialist being able to bring out an appropriate diagnosis.

It is very significant to note that brain disorders, accidents, toxic substances, genes and diet contribute to the problem of hyperactivity, with some of its cure lying in regular taking of the medications, and getting quality and quantity sleep and exercise. Behavioral therapy has worked to a large extent with learning deep breathing relaxation techniques like meditation and yoga helping to combat anxiety and anger and bring about concentration and focus. It is however to be realized that hyperactive kids diet play a dominant role in effecting treatment.

Know hyperactive kids diet

Being the parent of ADHD or hyperactive children requires the use of healthy choices in the kids diet. The first step is to avoid giving these children processed foods that contain addictives, preservatives, artificial colors and flavoring. It helps to cut down sugar in a kids diet with avoiding candies, desserts and ice-creams help. This applies to cutting out on junk foods that not only contain sugars and carbohydrates, but also artificial preserving agents. In addition going in for organic meat in place of processed meats helps. You would be a smart parent with checking on food colorings and their reaction in the form of hyperactivity in your kids and avoiding them.

With the wide propaganda that fried foods should be minimized in any normal persons life to prevent various life threatening disorders it is also significant to note that young hyperactive kids are also affected with fried foods. This does not mean that fats should be totally excluded from a hyperactive kids diet, but it only means that you as a parent would be smart to avoid Trans-fats. Using of healthy fats like animal fats, coconut oil, olive oil and flax oil helps them to assist in the brain of these children with avoiding bad fats like trans-fats and poly-unsaturated fats. Increasing ones consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of salmon, tuna, Brazil nuts, walnuts, canola oil, and other cold-water white fish supplements helps.

With organic foods being the bang in present days it is good to add organic foods to hyperactive kids diet, as organic foods are not exposed to harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides, herbicides and fungicides and grown without sewage sludge or irradiation and genetically processed seeds and is a best choice for such children. Organic meat from animals fed on vegetables and green matter can also prove useful. In addition making sure these hyperactive kids have a protein rich breakfast and after school snacks in the form of beans, cheese, eggs, meat and nuts ensures they have better concentration and focus.

In addition, decreasing the consumption of simple carbohydrates like white rice, white flour, and potatoes without the skins and increasing the consumption of complex carbohydrates in the form of vegetables and fruits like kiwi, oranges, pears, tangerines, apples, and grapefruit help to promote a rested and relaxed attitude in these children.

Make your children drink their way to feeling better being less hyperactive and more focused and concentrated. It is to be realized that our brains contain about 80% water and taking abundance of water in the pure form helps, and sodas, Gatorade teas and ices could never take the place of pure water.
Thats to great hyperactive kids diet.




«« Previous Posts

fat burning furnace