Wrinkles: The common signs of aging

Considered as the most common signs of aging and exposure to sunlight and pollution, wrinkles are the lines or creases that form on the skin of face, hands and neck. Though harmless, they are everybody’s concern as their presence can make a person look older than his or her age. But with advancements in medical technology, there are various anti-wrinkle products and procedures available today which can help you combat wrinkle and restore your skin’s youthfulness.

Causes of wrinkles

Some of the common causes of wrinkle formation are:

Age: With advancing age the skin loses its elasticity and becomes dry due to less production of oil. Moreover the fat layer underneath the skin also gets reduced leading to sagging.

Exposure to rays of sun: The ultraviolet rays of the sun plays a very important role in causing damage to the skin and leading to wrinkle formation.

Genetic inheritance: Some of you have it in your genes to get more tanning and more wrinkles on your skin.

Cigarette smoking: Smoking cigarette enhances the aging process of the skin leading to wrinkle formation.

Wrinkles may also appear on the skin of individuals who suffer from various nutritional deficiencies.

Treatment of Wrinkles

Though a natural phenomenon which occurs normally due to age, there are various treatment options available to delay their occurrence and reduce their appearance. Various types of treatment options are:

Medical treatment

Various prescriptions creams such as tretinoin containing retinoids and non prescription agents containing alpha hydroxyl acids and antioxidants are used in the treatment of wrinkles. You can also use moisturizers to prevent skin drying which reduces formation of fine lines and wrinkles.

Cosmetic procedures

Various cosmetic procedures are available nowadays which helps in the reduction and treatment of wrinkles. Some of these are microdermabrasion, chemical peels, laser resurfacing, non-ablative laser treatments, heat treatments, radiofrequency treatments and Botox. These procedures are non-invasive but should be performed be a trained beauty therapist only as they involve the use of various chemicals which if not used properly may affect adversely on the skin.

Surgical procedures

Various cosmetic surgery procedures are also available which help in the removal of wrinkles to a large extent. Some of these procedures are dermabrasion, face lift and neck lift. These procedures are invasive procedures and should be done by a trained cosmetic surgeon. Usually general anesthesia and hospital stay is required for these procedures. The duration of recovery and healing is also long.

Diabetes: Important things you should know

Diabetes mellitus is a disease which is characterized by abnormal blood glucose levels. It is caused due to abnormal glucose metabolism when the glucose in not utilized by the cells and gets accumulated in the blood. Normal glucose metabolism is dependent on the hormone insulin which is either deficient or is not produced in a patient of diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes can cause serious complications which can often be life threatening.

Types of Diabetes

Diabetes is of two major types:

Type I or Insulin dependent: It is characterized by a lack of insulin production by the pancreas.

Type 2 or Non Insulin dependent: It is characterized by either a lack of insulin or a decreased sensitivity of body cells to insulin.

Common symptoms of Diabetes

Some of the characteristic symptoms of diabetes are as follows:

  • The patient experiences increased thirst.
  • There is an increase in the urinary frequency, especially during night.
  • Patient may experience generalized fatigue and tiredness with no apparent cause.
  • In uncontrolled cases, patient may experience loss of weight and muscle mass.

How is Diabetes diagnosed?

Since the symptoms of diabetes are very non specific, a case of type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed during a routine blood examination.

The diagnosis of diabetes is made by the measurement of fasting blood glucose level and a level of more than 120 mg/dl is taken as a diagnosis of diabetes. The diagnosis is further confirmed by the Oral glucose tolerance test in which a post prandial blood glucose level of 200 mg/dl is taken as a diagnosis of diabetes.

Management of Diabetes

There is no permanent cure of Diabetes; therefore, its management is mainly aimed at controlling the blood glucose levels to normal. Diabetes is controlled by a combination of diet, exercise and medications depending on the severity of the case.

Mild cases can be managed by following certain lifestyle modifications, dietary control and regular exercise regimen. Cases which cannot be controlled by life style measures require medications in the form of oral hypoglycemic drugs.

Type 1 diabetes cases require insulin for treatment which should be associated with proper dietary management.

Prognosis of Diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic medical condition which requires control of blood glucose to normal levels. The prognosis is good if the blood glucose is constantly maintained at normal levels. However, if the condition is uncontrolled, it can lead to serious complications affecting major organs including stroke, heart disease, eye disease and disease of the nerves.

Common diet mistakes that should be avoided to lose weight

For optimum health and wellness every individual strives hard to lose and maintain an ideal body weight. But it happens quite often that despite making very diligent efforts you are not able to lose the desired amount of weight. You may not realize but usually the defect is in the way you eat or your eating habits.

Following are some of the very common mistakes that people make and which should be avoided for an effective weight loss:

The more meals you skip, the more weight you will lose

It is a common misconception that by skipping one or more meals you will lose more weight. You may lose some weight initially but gradually your body gets an impression that you are eating less and therefore it starts conserving energy. As a result your metabolism slows down leading to a lesser utilization of calories and thus a decrease in the total weight loss.

The lesser calories you eat the more weight you will lose

To maintain your metabolic rate to a normal level, your body requires certain minimum calories. A calorie intake below this level not only leads to a slow metabolism but also causes various nutritional deficiencies. And there is no weight loss in the end.

Drinking less water

Water is required for the metabolic process of cells in the body. Therefore, for every successful weight loss program water is the most essential element. However, this is a common misconception that drinking water will lead to water retention and thus weight gain. It is recommended to drink at least 8 glasses of water daily; the amount increases with exercise and profuse sweating.

Have same food at every meal and you will lose more weight

If you are trying to lose weight and it happens that at a point of time your weight has come to a standstill, take note of the things you eat at each meal. It happens quite often that you may be eating the same food at each meal. What happens is that you may feel bored and start craving for things which are high in calories. Therefore, you must add versatility to your diet.

You may be eating hidden calories

There are certain foods which are usually eaten in small quantities but they add to the total calorie intake, thus making the efforts to lose weight futile. You may not realize but little things such as ketchup, sugar, salt, mayonnaise may be consumed unknowingly by you and ruining your diet plan. So please be aware of such hidden high calorie foods.

 

Are you suffering from Chest Pain?

Chest pain is a very common complaint which many of you must have encountered at some point in your life. Chest pain is a characteristic of many different conditions which may be mild such as acid reflux or life threatening such as heart problems. As chest pain may indicate a potential heart problem therefore chest pain should not be taken lightly and a physician should be consulted.

Causes of chest pain

Some of the common causes of chest pain are:

Angina Pectoris: A typical characteristic of heart disease it occurs as a squeezing pain, usually in the left side of the chest and may radiate to left arm. It occurs as a result of decreased blood supply to the muscles of the heart which happens due to narrowing of the blood vessels.

Heart Attack: Medically known as Myocardial Infarction, heart attack is an emergency condition characterized by severe chest pain.

Acid reflux: Also known as Gastro esophageal reflux disease, if is often the cause of chest in many individuals.

Anxiety and panic attack: Chest pain may be one of the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, accompanied by rapid breathing and sweating.

Some of the other causes of chest pain include pericarditis, injury to the chest area leading to broken or bruised ribs, shingles or in some cases pain referred from abdominal conditions such as gall bladder stone, stomach ulcers etc.

Diagnosis of Chest Pain

Early diagnosis of the condition causing chest pain is required due to certain life threatening conditions which may cause this symptom. Diagnosis is done by clinical history, physical examination and various diagnostic tests such as electrocardiogram, CXR, echocardiogram, angiogram, endoscopy and CT scan.

Management of Chest Pain

Treatment of chest pain is done according to the underlying cause of the pain.

If the cause of chest pain is due to disease of heart and arteries the following treatment is prescribed:

  • Vasodilator drugs such as nitroglycerin are given to relieve the pain of angina.
  • Anticoagulant drugs such as aspirin are given to dissolve the clot which has blocked the blood vessels.
  • Surgery is done to remove the blood clot from the blood vessels supplying the heart.
  • Drugs are given to lower the blood pressure.

For conditions not related to heart, following treatments may be prescribed:

  • If there is infection of lungs, antibiotics are prescribed.
  • For muscular pain NSAIDs such as ibuprofen are given.
  • For panic attacks, anti anxiety medications are given.
  • For GERD antacids are prescribed.