Swine Flu

This is an article I read on recklessmusings.blogspot.com


(This is not a medical article but more about every day simple practices which all of us can do to avoid getting contaminated)

My daughter had severe diaorrhea a few days back and we visited a doctor for the same.  After running through a few tests he recommended me to get her tested for swine flu.  Why 'Swine flu?' i protested and added ' we dont eat pork!!'.  The Doctor gave me an disbelieving look and advised me to read up on Swine flu.  My short study revealed some startling facts and I wish to share them here:-

1. first and foremost -  why is it called swine flu - because initially only people who had contact with pigs had the infection.  subsequently new strains have emerged where people who had no contact also started getting infected.

2. Swine flu virus which was originally endemic to pigs is part of the family of flu viruses. The present known viruses are H1N1,H1N2, H2N1, H2N3, H3N1, H3N2 with the most (notoriously) famous being H1N1.

3. Chances of contracting the flu by eating pork are minimal to negligible.  They can't be ruled out 100% though. So it is better to stay off pork atleast for the time being.

4. Swine flu is contagious. when an infected person sneezes or coughs, he spreads tiny droplets of this virus into the air. When you come in contact with these droplets either in the air, or on a sink or a commode you get infected.

5.  The symptoms of swine flu are the same as that of flu which are cough, sore throat, fever, running nose, head ache, body aches, and chills with fever.

6.  Who are at max risk? - people who have low immunity - largely children below 5 years, adults above 60 years, people with chronic lung, pulmonary or liver infections or sleep deprived people etc.

What you can do if you have any of the symptoms

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1.   Consult your doctor immediately

2.  He may recommend a swine flu test for you. It costs about Rs5000/- in India. Check for local Government/Municipal body approved rates in your area.  It may also be free in some Govt facilities. Pse check on those also.

3.  Buy a face mask for the patient to avoid the virus travelling by his coughing or sneezing. Change it regularly and dispose off the old one by burning.

4. Sanitise all the areas around the patient regularly with disinfectant and water.

5.   Keep the patient atleast for 10 days at home

6.   Give plenty of rest

7.  Give fluids ORS/Elecktral and water/juices regularly to avoid getting dehydrated.

What you can do to avoid getting contaminated

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(It may not possible to follow some of these owing to your work committments or your life style or some other constraints, but it is still good to know these, so that you are better informed)

1.    Avoid cold and confined spaces (for example: air conditioned spaces) as they may not have suficient recirculation in case of the virus in the space.

2.    Avoid crowded areas(atleast temporarily).

3.   Wear a face mask and gloves where possible especially if you are travelling abroad.

4.   Limit Air travel where possible as Aircraft with their limited air circulation systems and travel between different cities, can be easy cariers of the virus.

5.   Take plenty of rest - atleast eight hours of sleep keeps the body fighting fit and you are more likely to ward off any infection in this state.

6.   Avoid Stress (easier said than done considering our life styles but make an effort to reduce atleast)

7.   Exercise (a brisk walk for 30 minutes would do) in open spaces preferable morning sun rise time.  Not only do the morning rays do wonders to your vitamin D levels but the exercise itself raises the fitness levels of the body in multiple ways.

8.  Have plenty of fruit juices especially of citrus fruits.  They naturally boost immunity and act against the flu virus.

9.  Avoid processed/junk foods especially pizza, burger and the likes as they lower your immunity to fight swine flu.  Wean your children off chips/kurkure etc (I am unsuccessful myself but I try every day)

10.   Add more turmeric and Tulsi to your diet.

11.   Avoid Public Toilets/Wash rooms to the extent possible.  

12.  Carry a good hand sanitiser and use it  when you come in contact with possible points of infection (door knobs, wash basins, commodes, railings etc ).  Both dettol and lifeboy have good hand sanitisers available in india costing about Rs 60/-

13.   Avoid anti biotics before the infection.  A school of thought suggests that having antibiotics prior to an infection may be detrimental but you may discuss it with your family doctor and take an informed decison. Remember it is caused by a virus and not bacteria.

14.  Similarly antacids suppress acids in the stomach and this suppression may lead to increased chances of pnuemonia.  As pnuemonia is a main cause of death in swine flu infection, usage of antacids may also be discussed with your family doctor.

I hope this article serves to clear the air in some minds like mine who were otherwise clueless about this infection.  Please take care and remain fit n fine.

This is an article I read on recklessmusings.blogspot.com

The Body cycles

The need for an optimised daily routine for the body was discovered by Ayurveda many ages ago.  This daily routine depended on the energy states of the body and was cyclic in nature.  Some of the practices may seem just like common sense - like getting up early or sleeping early etc but the effects of most of them have been studied by wise men over a long period of time before handing them over to the commoners as ancient wisdom and common sense.

For the purpose of understanding our body cycles with respect to having food, we may broadly divide them into

1.  Early - Late morning (upto noon) - MORNING CYCLE

2. Noon - Early evening (before 8 pm) - AFTERNOON CYCLE

3. Early evening - Early morning (upto 4 am) - EVENING CYCLE

MORNING CYCLE (0400-1200hrs)
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During the morning cycle, our body is in the process of shedding all the waste materials.  This process continues even after we wake up.  The concentration of  the whole body is on the intestines as most of the wastes accumulate there over the night and all efforts are directed towards expunging this waste from the body.  The body brings all the waste materials closer to the anus and also dilates all the muscles there in order for it to be easily excreted from the body.

At this point in time, if we have tea or coffee (as we normally do), the concentration of the body towards excretion is disturbed and part of the focus is shifted towards digesting this tea or coffee in the stomach.  If we also have some refreshments alongwith tea/coffee, substantial effort is diverted towards digesting the same and the process of excretion becomes incomplete or uneasy due to insufficient body effort being available for the same.

As the sun keeps rising, the body clock reduces the efforts of the body towards the process of excretion and increases the hunger.  As the sun rays heat up, our body is primed to receive food and the hunger is maximum at 12 noon. 

Morning cycle -Do's
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1.  Wake up between 4-5 a.m

2.  Have breakfast only after 8 a.m

3. This will give a clear 3-4 hours for the body to complete the process of excretion and be ready to receive new food particles

4.  Have a litre of water after getting up and do your routine

5.  After routine do yoga or other exercises or pranayama

6.  Have another litre of water to further help the body remove the wastes.

7. In this way, let the body have only water for 3-4 hours in the morning for it to completely remove all the wastes from the body.

8. Therefater have a light breakfast comprising easily digestible substances (more on that later) as the stomach would still be in a slumber and not be warmed up to receive heavy substances.

AFTERNOON CYCLE (1200-2000)
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As already mentioned above, the hunger of the body is maximum at 12 noon as the rays of the Sun are the brightest.  Several local anamolies may cause the peak time of the Sun to vary within a small interval.  However it would suffice most conditions if we can have our Lunch between 12 pm to 1 pm (or 1300).  As the digestive fire of the body is at its peak, this is the time to have solid and large food.  The body would easily digest these hard substances.

Avoid sleeping for long hours after Lunch. Restrict sleep to not more than 45 minutes (why? we will see later)

As the afternoon progresses into the evening the digestive fire slowly reduces. (One would recollect the hunger pangs in the afternoon but rarely would anyone remember hunger pangs at night).

Therefore in the evening, we must have a light dinner atleast 4 hours before  bedtime for it to be fully digested before we sleep. This not only ensures that our stomach has a rest of 6-8 hours but also ensures that our food reaches our intestines through the stomach. Therefore, dinner must be ideally had by 6 p.m. This would give four hours for the body to digest the food and 6-8 hours for it to rest before the next cycle.  However as 6 p.m may be impracticable in most situations, every effort to is to be made to have dinner before 8 p.m atleast.

 EVENING CYCLE (2000 - 0400)
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The evening cycle mainly requires one to have a sound sleep. that's all.  Avoid late night snacking after dinner as it disturbs the body organs from rest.

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Have you heard the saying - have  breakfast like a king - lunch like a commoner and dinner like a miser?!! 

As it appears now, nothing could be farther from the truth - it should read as - have breakfast as a miser - lunch like a king and dinner as a commoner.

The Body systems

The fundamental unit of our body is the Cell. Several cells make up a tissue and several layers of tissue makes up an organ. A set of organs form a system.  In our body the following systems are present:-

1. Skeletal system - The skeletal system is the structure around which the body is built. It is made up largely of bones and cartilege.  Carilege is a flexible connective tissue found in various areas of the body. It is softer than bone but harder n less rigid than muscle.

2. Muscular system - This comprises of the muscles, tendons and sheaths around muscles.  Tendons are the connective tissue which connects muscles to bones.  Ligaments connect bones to bones while fasciae connect muscles to muscles.

3.  Nervous system - This is further subdivided into:-

(a)  Central nervous system comprising brain and spinal cord

(b)  Peripheral nervous system comprising all nerves outside  brain and spinal cord

(c) Autonomous nervous system which controls the automatic functions of the body.  This overlaps cental and peripheral nervous systems.

4.  Circulatory system - This consists of the heart and all the blood vessels(namely arteries, veins and capillaries). Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart and to the organs. As the heart is pumping at high pressure arteries have thick walls.  This blood under high presuure from arteries enters the capillary bed in each organ (via arterioles). The capillaries are just one cell thick and this is where the actual transfer takes place.   As they are only one cell thick, they transfer nutrients and oxygen from the blood to the organs and collect co2 and water which are by products of combustion in the cell.  From the capillaries the impure blood (de-oxygenated) from the organs flows to the veins which is then carried to the heart.

5.  Endocrine system - The endocrine system secretes chemical messengers called hormones to exert its effects. These hormones are directly released into the blood.

6.  Respiratory system - This is concerned with breathing i.e the inhaling of oxygen and exhaling of co2&other gases.  This comprises primarily the lungs and other organs.

7. Digestive system - This is concerned with the ingestion, processing of food, absorption of nutrients and elimination of some types of waste. This involves the stomach, intestines, pancreas, liver, gall bladder etc.

8. Urinary system - The urinary system controls fluid and salt balance in the body and excretes waste.   Together with parts of digestive system and respiratory system, it form the excretory system of the body.

9.  Lymphatic system -  This system forms part of the circulatory system and is also the immune system of the body.

10. Reproductive system - Needless to say that this is an important system for the existence of the human race!!!

Lastly, with so many cells, tissues, organs and systems in the body, a constant internal environment is essential for all these components to function in an efficient manner.  This process is called homeostatis.  To maintain the same internal conditions various other parameters are changed.  The keys systems involved are the endocrine system and the autonomous nerveous system.  They maintain the body's temperature, salinity, sugar levels etc.  The required gland of the endocrine system produces hormones when required to stimulate an organ. these hormones in addition to stimulating that organ also produce secondary hormones as a result of that interaction. These secondary hormones act on the gland (of the endocrine system) and reduce the production.  This works as a sort of feed back mechanism akin to a float valve in a water tank.

Hope you have enjoyed this post about the various body systems. It is very important for us to understand this body of ours very well, as this is the only we ever are going to have!!!!

We will look at each system in detail at a later stage.

Our Body

A greater understanding of our body and its body cycles through the day will vastly aid us in carrying out preventive maintainence of our body and avoid several diseases.

We all have just one body and each of us is aware of it.  In fact our mythology says that, we must be blessed to be born as human beings and that this stage comes only after several lives in lower forms!! Despite that, the amount of time that an average person spends to care for his body is absymally low not only in our country but in the world too.

How many times have you come across a friend/relative/sibling splurging that Rs 5000/-(about $100) for a Teflon coat on his car  so that the paint is protected or add performance enhancing agents running into thousands of rupees to boost engine performance.  All this money we spend without batting an eyelid and with full enthusiasm.  But how many times would you come across the same friend/relative/sibling spending the same Rs 5000/-(about $100) to get a preventive health check up done or investing in a good health care package.  Chances are the first type grossly outnumber the second types and this is where we need to focus our attention and educate the masses to invest a bit of time and money into their bodies early in their lives so that their later years are realtively less disease prone.

To begin with, you can start by observing your body.  Before you begin internal cleansing, carryout a thorough examination of yourself and become aware of each part of your body.  Feel every part of your body with loving care and caution to notice any abnormality.  Start from your feet downwards and move up - ankles -shin-calves-knee-thighs-hip joint -buttocks -back -stomach-waist-chest-neck-shoulders-upper arms-lower arms-palms-fingers-back to neck-small of neck-ears-chin-lips-noise-eyes and lastly the hair.

During this process note down any swelling, cut, bruise, pores etc. Be sure to measure your waist, buttocks and chest with a measuring tape.  Also have a weighing machine handy in the house so that you can quickly see the changes in you over a period of time. You can use the tape to measure your height also.

Now its time to work with the findings of our body. List out the following:-

1.   All the injuries/problems on the surface of the body

2.   Any issues of hair

3.   Any known issues of ear/eyes or nose

4.   Your height

5.   Your Weight

6.   Your age

Before we proceed further you may like to check your Body Mass Index (BMI) which is:-

BMI = Mass(kg)/Height(in metre square)

For example for a man of 76 kgs and height of 170 the BMI works out as follows:-

BMI =76/(1.7*1.7) = 76/2.89 = 26.3

As per WHO ,  <18.5     - Underweight

                         18.5 -25 - Normal

                         25 - 30   - Pre Obese

                         > 30       - Obese

So, in case you are in the Pre Obese or Obese category, its time you took a hard look at your eating, sleeping and other activities and design a new regime for yourself which can be effectively implemented.

Before you design your special regime, you may need to understand your body type and your body cycles which i would come to  in the next post.

Health is Wealth

Hello everyone - I am Sridevi and I welcome you all to my blog.  The purpose of my blog is to reiterate that  - 'Health is Wealth' and suggest ways by which it can be achieved by natural means.

We all know that everyone wants to be Happy and enjoy what they like best in their world.  To be really happy and to really enjoy what you like - sound health is a pre-requisite - for, you may ultimately    have the best of everything you desire in life, but you may not have that spring in your step or digestive fire in your belly to enjoy those physical activities or feasting at that time.

On the other hand, you may not be able to enjoy everything right away, as what you wish may not be in your reach as yet. 

So two things are very important - the first is to maintain your body in a good condition so that, when you get what you wish for, you are still in a good physical state to enjoy it - and the second - enjoy  each day of  journey towards your goal in any small measure possible.

My endeavour in these blog pages would be to bring out interesting facts about understanding our body, working towards a stress free life, elimination of fatigue and positive life style etc - all of which you can attain with the richness of our traditional home remedies and ancient knowledge.

I hope we have an interesting journey together...