Endometriosis - Time To End The Silent Suffering in Women

 Endometriosis Means:

Tissue that forms the lining of the uterus (endometrium) is sometimes present in other places in some women. These sites can be ovaries, fallopian tubes, cul-de-sac (behind uterus), intestines, rectum, bladder.

 Endometrial tissue outside the uterus also responds to changes in hormones. It also breaks down and bleeds like the lining of the uterus during the menstrual cycle every month. The bleeding inside the uterus has a passage to come out as menstrual bleeding. The bleeding at these extra uterine sites collect and forms cysts (chocolate cysts) or adhesions. This can cause pain, especially before and during period. Endometriosis is found in about one third of infertile women.

Who Is At Risk :

•      Young women in their reproductive age
•      Women with infertility
•     Women with uterine defects like septum or bicornuate uterus 
•      It can run in the family

Symptoms:

•   Pelvicpain (pain in lower abdomen and back). Such pain may occur with sex, during bowel movements or urination, or just before or during menstrual cycle.
•   Menstrual bleeding may occur more than normal or in abnormal pattern
•   Endometriosis also may cause infertility.
•  Feeling of gaseous distension around the periods.
•  Some women with endometriosis may have no symptoms.

Diagnosis: 

•   Pelvic examination
•  Ultrasonography
•  Laparoscopy-Visual inspection is the standard method in diagnosing endometriosis

Author: Dr.Rooma Sinha

Anaemia - Signs and Symptoms

In India, the commonest cause of anaemia is iron deficiency. The Indian diet is generally low in iron, making growing children, menstruating women, pregnant women and strict vegetarians (whose diet has less absorbable iron ) more susceptible to iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is also caused by slow, chronic blood leak such as from gastric ulcers (in India, a bacterial infection called helicobacter pylori is very common and causes such ulcers), tapeworm infestations in the gut, haemorrhoids (piles), heavy menses or cancers of the gut. 

Iron deficiency anaemia is often the first sign of such a cancer! In an elderly patient with iron deficiency, it is mandatory to consider the possibility of an intestinal cancer.

7 Reasons

Generally, decreased red blood cell production, increased RBC destruction or blood loss are the mechanisms responsible for anaemia. All conditions causing anaemia usually work through one of these mechanisms. Causes include:

1. Nutritional deficiencies (most notably iron or vitamin deficiencies).
2. Inherited disorders (such as thalassemia or sickle cell anaemia).
3. Infections.
4. Some kinds of cancer.
5. Exposure to certain medicines or chemicals.
6. Autoimmune haemolysis (where the red blood cells are destroyed by a dysfunction in the body’s own immune system).
7. Excessive bleeding.

 Apollo Life will guide you more on women health issues.

What causes a frozen shoulder?

Primary adhesive capsulitis usually has no known cause of onset. However, the condition can also be secondary to virtually any other shoulder condition, including sprain or tear of structures surrounding the shoulder (tendinitis of rotator cuff, bicipital tenosynovitis, etc)

The onset is usually between 40 and 60 years of age. It is gradual with no cause, although it can develop gradually after trauma. Relative immobility of the shoulder due to coronary artery disease, mastectomy or other chest operations may also cause a frozen shoulder.

A body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest! This means that the limited use of the shoulders can lead to capsular contracture and result in stiff shoulders. Finally, a frozen shoulder is very commonly seen in diabetic patients.

Stiff Shoulder And Diabetes

One reason why a frozen shoulder is common in diabetics could be the typical bonding of glucose (sugar) molecules with collagen protein - the process of ‘Glycation’. Collagen is one of the building blocks for the ligaments and tendons that hold the bones together in a joint.

Phases Of Pain

Phase 1: The pain is experienced in and around the joint. It is worsened by movement. There is minimal loss of range of motion around the shoulder.
Phase 2: The pain increases, seriously restricting movement. There is loss of range of motion. The joint starts to stiffen up.
Phase 3: The pain will reduce steadily, but the stiffness will begin to increase. There is loss of range of motion.
It is a self-limiting condition, which gets resolved in about 12–18 months in majority of the cases. The area affected is generally the shoulder region and is often referred to as the anterolateral aspect of the upper arm.
Look in to our site Apollo Life to know about the treatment process for a frozen shoulder.

FoodAllergy Is Not For Life, But Infants Need Help

8 Common Allergy Causing Foods

• Egg
• Cow’s milk
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts, e.g., walnuts and almonds
• Wheat
• Crustacean shellfish
• Soy

Though incidences of allergies to milk, eggs and wheat are common in India, they are relatively less common than in the West. A recent Delhi-based study conducted by the Indian Council for Medical Research, estimated the prevalence of food allergy to be 4.5 per cent in adolescents and adults with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis. The common offending agents were found to be rice, citrus fruits, black gram and banana. Food allergies are the adverse health effects arising from the immune response triggered in the body when certain kinds of food are eaten. It affects children more than adults – manifests in six per cent of young children and three to four per cent of adults. 


Have a look at our Apollo Life website to know some more facts like symptoms and its treatment.

Things to be considered while choosing Skin Metallics

Cheaper prices, brighter colours and the latest designs make costume jewellery popular with people across all age groups.
That brings us to our skin metallics! Why all metals don’t suit all skin types? Or why some people have trouble with metal allergies? A large number of people who wear artificial jewellery on a regular basis suffer itchiness in the area where the jewellery comes in contact with the skin. The ear lobes, is the common example to mention. At times it could manifest as pain, swelling or oozing.

Metal In Costume Jewellery
Costume jewellery is commonly made of nickel alloys. It is nickel mixed with other metals. Nickel is easily mouldable, durable and cheap, making it the preferred metal for making artificial jewellery, watchbands, spectacle frames, hairpins, buttons, zippers and other metal items of daily use. However, nickel is also a notorious allergen and is in fact one of the commonest agents to produce allergic contact dermatitis.

The increased popularity/use of costume jewellery has only spelt an increase in the incidence of contact dermatitis. The incidence of nickel contact dermatitis is about 10 per cent and it presents itself as itchy red patches. Its primary onset is during adolescent years and is more common in women. The degree of allergy varies. While some people develop mild dry allergic dermatitis (also called eczema) others may produce oozy wounds. Allergy can break out even after several years of use of the metal.

Testing Your Jewellery

Nickel-testing kits are now available online and at pharmacies. The test kit does no harm to the jewellery being tested, irrespective of whether it contains nickel or not. 

Go through our site Apollo Life to get more related information on the same.

Simple Kitchen Hacks for Working Women

 Today’s women have to wear a lots of hats, that of a home-maker, wife, mother, working woman etc. In this competitive busy environment, women find it tough to juggle these hats, resulting in poorly planned meals; frozen foods, ready to cook meals, processed foods or home delivery. What we fail to see is, that these foods are made for taste and not for nutritive value. The healthiest food is what one makes at home with caution. If you can’t cook yourself then don’t give in, make sure you supervise what’s being cooked.

I myself have a busy life, as I load it with activities chalked out for me, and so I understand truly how difficult it is to make that extra effort to cook at the end of a working day. You already have a full plate and it goes without saying that filling your family’s plate is just one more thing that you have to think about. So, here are a few tips to make it easier for you.

Plan - First and foremost, planning is very essential. Plan your menu for the entire week ahead.

Guests - If any guests are expected, keep that in mind while planning your menu to avoid last minute tension.

Shopping -Prepare your grocery list for the week ahead, while planning the menu.

Weekend - It’s the best time to tick off your ‘things to do’ list, so make sure you find time to do the grocery every weekend.

Ground work - If you have any ground work to be done, like preparing ginger-garlic paste, tomato puree or crushed pepper etc. Do it over the weekend and store it under proper conditions.
 
 Apollo Life will guide you more on the same.

#kitchentips #workingwomen #busylife

Stenting - Opening The Pathways

Coronary angioplasty is usually performed by an interventional cardiologist, a doctor specialised in the treatment of the heart using invasive catheter-based procedures.

Where Coronary Angioplasty/Stenting Is Indicated?

• Cases of chest pain – acute or chronic (angina), proved to have single or multiple discreet blocks on an angiogram.
• Patients having positive treadmill tests and demonstrable blocks on angiogram.
• Post ‘heart attacks’ where angiogram shows residual blocks after the use of clot busting drugs.
• Post ‘bypass surgery’ cases who develop fresh blocks and are not considered fit for a re-do surgery.
• Patients with borderline blocks having positive ‘myocardial perfusion studies’.

When Not To Go For Coronary Angioplasty/Stenting

• Left main stenosis in a patient who is a surgical candidate. (Although bypass surgery is still the preferred treatment for left main stenosis, this area is rapidly evolving toward safe and feasible angioplasty options.)
• Diffusely diseased small-caliber artery.
• Multiple blocks, especially in diabetic patients, where bypass surgery has better outcome.

Follow our online portal Apollo Life to know complete details and the process of Stenting.