Common Cold Mystery

Here are some commonly held mis-information about the common cold:

There is a myth that common cold enters through our nose. The reality is that studies have used volunteers where the cold virus is dropped directly into the nose. The interesting effect was that only 75% developed cold symptoms. The rest had the virus growing in the nose, but no cold.

This is a mystery. One possible theory is that some people are not able to produce extra inflamatory mediators. These are actually the chemicals produced by the body, which causes the cold symptoms. Ironically, this might imply that people with weaker immune systems, might get infected, but do not show any cold symptoms. This is opposite of those with strong immune systems, which produces the chemical in reaction to the cold virus.

Isn't this an interesting mystery?

Fever Myths

As we strive for a healthy life, children are our big concern. Many children are not able to express themselves clearly, especially when they are ill. Here are some common myths about fever that may help you:

Myth: All fevers are bad for children.
Fact: Fevers are one of the body's protective mechanisms. It is an indication that the body's immune system is kicking into action.

Myth: Fevers cause brain damage or fevers above 104°F (40°C) are dangerous.
Fact: Fevers with infections don't cause brain damage. Only body temperatures above 108°F (42.2°C) can cause brain damage. Fevers only go this high with high environmental temperatures (e.g., confined to a closed car).

Myth: Anyone can have a febrile seizure (seizures caused by fevers)
Fact: Only 4 percent of children can have a febrile seizure.


Myth: Febrile seizures are harmful.
Fact: Febrile seizures are scary to watch, but they usually stop within 5 minutes. They cause no permanent harm.

Myth: All fevers need to be treated with fever medicine.
Fact: Fevers only need to be treated if they cause discomfort. Usually fevers don't cause any discomfort until they go above 102° or 103°F (39° or 39.5°C).

Myth: Without treatment, fevers will keep going higher.
Fact: Wrong. Fevers from infection top out at 105° or 106°F (40.6° or 41.1°C), due to a thermostat in the brain.

Myth: With treatment, fevers should come down to normal.
Fact: With treatment, fevers usually come down 2° or 3°F (1° or 1.5°C).

Myth: If the fever doesn't come down (if you can't "break the fever"), the cause is serious.
Fact: Fevers that don't respond to fever medicine can be caused by viruses or bacteria. It doesn't relate to the seriousness of the infection.


Myth: If the fever is high, the cause is serious.
Fact: If your child looks very sick, the cause of the fever is serious.


Myth: The exact number of the temperature is very important.
Fact: How your child looks is what's important.

Myth: Oral temperatures 98.7° to 100°F (37.1° to 37.8°C) are low-grade fevers. Fact: Oral temperatures 98.7° to 100°F (37.1° to 37.8°C) are normal temperature variations--often peaking in the late afternoon and evening. For rectal temperatures, normal elevations are 99.5° to 100.3°F (37.5° to 37.9°C).

The above is an article found on the Texas Children's Hospital website.

Can you catch H1N1 twice?

Here is an interesting health question that would concern many people: can you catch the H1N1 bug more than once?

Usually, when you get infected with with any influenza virus, your body should develop an immunity to that particular strain. Hence, H1N1, which is a strain of influenza virus, should be no different. However, if your immune system is not fully developed (young children) or weakened, then you might contract the illness again.

Sometimes, a person appears to have contracted the illness twice. But this could be due to him or her having H1N1, then another "regular" flu.

Another reason could be because of the finicky nature of the influenza virus, which usually create "false positives" in tests. This is more likely to happen when the diagnosis is made with the rapid flu tests. More information about flu diagnosis is available at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/diagnosis/.

Generally, if you eat fruits like apples, tomatoes, oranges and so on, you can help boost your immune system and avoid many of these illnesses. Also, they are low on cholesterols and will help you maintain a healthy weight.

Wheat Allergy

Wheat contains a lot of proteins. Usually, wheat allergy is due to one or more of these proteins. This allergy is most common in young children.

What happens in wheat allergy is the body mistakenly creates an anti-body (a disease fighting agent in our blood) that is targeted at a wheat protein. There is a wide range of symptoms to wheat allergy, including hives, difficulty in breathing and nausea. Wheat allergy can also cause a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis.

Avoiding wheat is the primary treatment for wheat allergy. Medications may be necessary to manage allergic reactions when you accidentally eat wheat.

Note that wheat allergy is not the same as another disease which is an intolerance for Gluten, another specific protein found in wheat.

Milk Allergy

It is ironic, but here is an allergy that is most common in children - milk allergy

Usually, when we talk about milk allergies, it refers to cow's milk. However, milk from sheep, goats and buffalo also can also cause a reaction. Unfortunately, some children who are allergic to cow's milk are allergic to soy milk too. This is unfortunate because soy-milk is the de-facto replacement for cow's milk in many instances.

A milk allergy usually occurs a few minutes to a few hours after you consume milk. Signs and symptoms of milk allergy range from mild to severe and can include wheezing, vomiting, hives and digestive problems. Rarely, milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis — a severe, life-threatening reaction.

Avoidance is the primary treatment for milk allergy. Fortunately, most children outgrow a milk allergy by age 3.

Soy Allergy

Here is an allergy that is the gastronomical opposite to milk allergy. Usually, milk allergies are more common in infants and they are then put onto a soy-based diet.

Soy is a product made from soybeans. It is a very healthy food, rich in proteins and minerals. Fortunately, most children will outgrow any soy allergies when they get older. Usually, soy allergy starts when infants are placed on soy-based formulas.

In most cases signs and symptoms of soy allergy are mild. It is very rare for soy allergy to cause a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). If your soy allergy persists into adulthood, you will have to learn as much as you can about soy and avoid foods that contain soy.

If you or your child has a reaction to soy, tell your doctor about it, no matter how mild the reaction may have been. Tests can help confirm a soy allergy, so you can take steps to avoid future and potentially worse reactions.

Shellfish Allergy

One of the most common allergy is shellfish allergy. The problem is this: sometimes, when shellfish is not fresh, it can cause symptoms similar to some of the allergies.

The interesting thing about shellfish allergy is that you can have allergic reactions to all shellfish, or only a selected few. For example, some people are allergic to crab and are perfectly fine with lobster and prawns. Yet others cannot take oyster, but have no problems with octopus and squid.

As in all food allergies, reactions can range from mild to severe. Itchiness, rashes, and even anaphylaxis which is life-threatening. Many people have swelling around their faces when they consume shellfish to which they are allergic.

If you think you have a shellfish allergy, ask your doctor to do some tests. You need to know for sure so that you can  take steps to avoid future reactions.

Generally, shellfish are very high in cholesterol and rich in minerals. There are many alternative foods that can give you the minerals, without the allergy reactions. 

Peanut Allergy

When we talked about egg allergies, some friends pointed out that there was another common allergy - peanuts.

Peanut allergy is common and often occur when we are young. This is similar to other allergies such as milk and egg. Unfortunately, while many children outgrow allergies to other foods such as milk or eggs, most of them do not outgrow peanut allergy as they get older.

The symptoms for peanut allergy can be minor, like itch or some irritation, or can be very serious, even causing anaphylaxis, a condition that requires quick medical attention. Those who do not normally get such a violent reaction are still at risk.

If you suspect that you have peanut allergy, tell your doctor. He will most likely recommend some tests to confirm the allergy. This will help you take steps to prevent any worse reactions from your allergy.

It is relatively easy to avoid peanuts compared to milk and egg. You just need to be more careful and you can continue to leave a happy and healthy life.

Egg Allergy

Egg is one of the most common foods. It is also one of the most common allergy among young children. Fortunately, most children will outgrow their egg allergy, but not everyone.

What is egg allergy?

Usually, after a few minutes (maybe a few hours) after consuming eggs or food with eggs, some allergic symptoms appear. These could be as mild as itchy skin, or break out into rashes, hives, vomiting and even an inflamed nasal passage. It is quite rare for egg allergy to flare up into anaphylaxis — a severe, life-threatening reaction.

If you are allergic, avoid egg and foods that contain egg. This will be difficult, as egg is an ingredient in many recipes. For mild allergies, over-the-counter antihistamine medications may help relieve the symptoms. Anaphylaxis requires a shot of epinephrine and emergency medical treatment.

You might want to try some of our egg free recipes that are healthy and delicious.

Colon Cleansing - good or bad?

It is commonly accepted by advocates that colon cleansing helps to eliminate toxins from the intestinal tracts. In fact, they believe that this will help with many health problems, for example: arthritis, allergies and asthma.

Colon cleansing is believed to promote healthy intestinal bacteria, boosting your energy and enhancing your immune system.

Critics, on the other hand, say that colon cleansing is unnecessary and could even be harmful to the body. Doctors almost never recommend colon cleansing for detoxification, though they do prescribe it as preparation for medical examinations like colonoscopy. The reasons are simple enough to understand: Our digestive system and bowel naturally eliminate waste material and bacteria — your body doesn't need enemas or special diets or pills to do this.

Well, there is little scientific evidence to clearly support or refute claims for or against colon cleansing.

One very real concern with colon cleansing is the risk of dehydration. Also, taking the medication for colon cleansing might be risky for people with kidney or heart diseases.

If you still want to do colon cleansing, be sure to take these simple precautions:

• Ask your doctor first, especially if you take any medications or have any health problems.
• 
  Make sure your colon-cleansing practitioner uses disposable equipment that hasn't been previously used.
• 
  Get a list of specific herbal ingredients and dosage in colon-cleansing product — some herbal supplements can cause health problems.
• 
  Beware of broad Ask your doctor first, especially if you take any medications or have any health problems.

If you are doing colon cleansing because of constipation, consider trying these steps first to relieve constipation:

* Drink plenty of fluids, including water
* Eat a diet rich in fiber
* Get regular exercise

Stress Myths: Our mind is where the stress originates

*MYTH #5: Our mind plays a role in much of the stress we experience.*

FACT: This is a myth. Stress is not just about your mind, but is an accumulation of many factors. In fact, a recent field called Biolinguistics have brought to light the inadequacies of our old theory about mind-body relationships.

Habits are hard to break. Stress is also difficult to deal with when we focus on only trying to change our mindset. Biolinguistics point out that our bodies and words affect us in profound ways. Over the years, as we keep listening to words like "I am not good", "I cannot solve my own problems" and so on creates a powerful pattern in our life that is very hard to change or get rid of.

When you learn how to identify these negative "conversations" and "action patterns", you will be closer to eliminating the root causes of your stress.

In fact, you can even use Biolinguistics to profit from habitual patterns that may have caused you nothing but pain and suffering in the past.

Stress Myths: We need to manage stress

*MYTH #4: We need to manage stress, not to make it go away*

FACT: This is actually quite a dangerous myth. When we think that the best way to deal with stress is to manage it instead of eliminating it, we are basically saying that stress is a part of life.

Many stress experts talk about positive benefits of exercise, meditation, and relaxation techniques, but may not inform you of the *negative side* to these same coping strategies.

You see, using exercise, meditation and so on as stress management techniques are often ineffective. They are very poor strategies for dealing with certain types of problems, such as the death in the family, retrenchment or rejection. Also, these exercises take up a lot of time. Worse, the effects usually last a short while and you might have to keep doing them a few times in a day.

But really, the worse thing about it is the fact that dealing only with the symptoms of stress does absolutely nothing to cure the underlying ills. As long as we do not deal with the underlying causes, stress will persist and maybe even get worse.

So, if you think you are "managing" your stress well, think again.

Stress Myths: Some stress is good for us

*MYTH #3: Some stress is good or healthy for us.*

FACT: There is no such thing as "good" or "healthy" stress. Also, there is no truth to the rumor that a little stress is necessary for us to be happy, successful, or maximally productive in our jobs.

This kind of myth is rather fatalistic in its outlook. Just because you have stress, and a lot of people have stress, we try to rationalise it and try to justify. After all, if we want to lead a successful, healthy life, we should not have stress. Some look at stress in their lives as an indication of failure. This is not so.

Having said that, stress is never good for you. While many experiences in life can excite us, such as movies, plays, and athletic events, these experiences have nothing at all to do with stress (i.e. problems and conflicts that are painful or troubling to us). Confusion about this, however, causes many people to incorrectly assume that a certain amount of fear, anger, frustration, or other negative emotions is actually "good" or "healthy" for them.

We should be teaching our children that much of the pain and suffering people endure in the name of "good stress" is unnecessary. The truth is most of this stress could be eliminated without any adverse effects on our health, happiness, or productivity.

Stress Myths: Stress can be dealt with directly

Here is an interesting myth about stress:

*MYTH #2: Stress is something we can cope with or deal with directly.*

FACT: Stress is not something you, I, or anyone else can cope with directly.

What does this actually mean? You see, contrary to popular belief, stress is not some "thing" that exists or afflicts us like a disease.

"Stress" actually refers to a situation or a state of mind that is a result of some other problems or conflicts. In other words, to deal with stress, we need to deal with these causal issues rather than try to deal with the "concept" of stress.

This means we have all been trained to think about stress incorrectly. Instead of asking "what can I do to cope with my stress?" you should be asking yourself "what specific problems or conflicts are troubling me, and how can I deal with each of these problems effectively?"

In this way, we will find that stress becomes much more manageable and we have specific actions that we can take.

Stress Myths: Stress in inevitable

*MYTH #1: Stress is inevitable--there's little we can do to prevent or eliminate it.*

FACT: Stress is not an inevitable part of life. Many people do lead stress-free lives. When exposed to identical situations, some people experience high degrees of stress while others experience little or none. More importantly, it is possible to change yourself from "high-stress" to "low- stress" individuals.

How can we accomplish this feat? Clearly, it is not because they were born this way, or they wouldn't have become stressed in the first place. How about luck, the amount of schooling they received, or a sudden religious conversion?

While religious conversions do take place, the majority of people who change themselves from high-stress to low-stress individuals do so by acquiring a new type of KNOWLEDGE. Not the type of knowledge they learned in school, but knowledge that allows them to correct many of the myths and misconceptions other people believe.

As Richard Ecker points out in his 1985 book /The Stress Myth/: "We like to believe that stress is inevitable--that life is so complex these days, that we're being dragged along by a runaway world which offers us less and less that we can depend on. But this belief is nothing but a myth, a myth that has done more to perpetuate stress in our society than any other single factor."

Ecker goes on to say, *"Ironically, the main proponents of this myth are the very same ones who claim to be teaching people how to deal with stress!"*

What Ecker says is unfortunately true. Most of what we've been taught about stress--including what it is, what causes it to occur, and how we should cope with it--is based upon inaccurate, out-dated theories that are no longer accepted by twentieth-century thinkers.

The good news is that once you learn to recognize these myths, and once you correctly understand what stress is and what really causes it to occur, you can prevent or eliminate much of the stress you ordinarily experience.

Live a healthy life. Start with a healthy diet, and learn more about how you can enjoy life.

Chocolates are Bad for You

One of the greatest myths in losing fats is the stigma on chocolates. Some people seem to think that Chocolate is loaded with saturated fat and is bad for your cholesterol.

Let us get the facts right - this is simply not true. Apparently, stearic acid, which is the main saturated fat found in milk chocolate, is unique among saturated fats. Research have shown that it doesn’t raise cholesterol levels in the same way that other types of saturated fats do. In fact, eating a 1.4 ounce chocolate bar instead of a carbohydrate-rich snack has been shown to increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

We all know that the balance of HDL vs LDL is one of the most important factors in cardio health. By increasing HDL levels, we help to clear the blood of potential blockage and thus, improve our overall cardio well-being.

But remember, eating anything in excess is never good. So, while chocolates may be good for you, fat intake must be regulated together with all the other components in your healthy diet plan.

And don't forget a sensible exercise program.

Our Body Runs on Glucose

Sometimes, in our anxiety to reduce fats, we forget that our body runs on glucose. Without that, we cannot function.

Glucose is derived from the digestion of sugar and starch in carbohydrates in noodles, pasta, bread, rice and even vegetable and fruits.

When we consume carbohydrates, digestion begins in the mouth. An enzyme called salivary amylase is produced which converts the starches in the food to sugars like dextrins, maltose and maltotriose.

Further digestion occurs in the small intestine. The pancreas secrets the enzyme amylase which breaks carbohydrates into simple sugar like maltose, lactose and sucrose.

As these sugars move down the intestine, the enzymes maltase, lactase, and sucrase respectively break maltose, lactose and sucrose down into smaller molecules. These are eventually converted to the simplest form of sugar - glucose - and absorted throught the intestinal walls into the bloodstream.

So, simply cutting down on calories is not necessarily good for us. We need to understand what our body needs to function properly, and then plan a diet that is sensible and healthy. This means that it must have enough glucose to help us function, sufficient vitamins and minerals to help us replenish what is consumed.

One way to help regulate the uptake of sugar is to use carbo-inhibitors. This is good if we have a habit of eating a lot of rice or pasta. But remember, combine your diet with a proper exercise program.

Raw Sugar is Better than White Sugar

Here is an interesting myth that has persisted for a long time:

*Myth: * Brown or Raw sugar are healthier than refined white sugar

*Truth:* All sugars contain the same amount of calories.

So, what is the real difference between brown sugar, raw sugar and white sugar? Brown and raw sugar have more minerals than refined sugar. However, the mineral content is minimal and therefore insignificant when considered in the overall balanced diet. You need to ensure that your daily additional sugar intake should be less than 10% of your total daily intake.

*Types of Sugar*:

Refined sugar is any sugar product treated to remove the molasses - the by-product presents itself in the form of brown sugar syrup.

Brown Sugar is refined white sugar but with added molasses.

Raw Sugar is sugar which has been minimally processed and has a higher molasses content.

Secret to reducing weight - cut TV viewing

The Dec 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine reported that people who cut their TV time by half burned 119 more calories per day on an average.

This is definitely an interesting study. Reducing the time spent in front of the TV has the potential to improve a person's activity level, said Dr Jennifer Otten in the online edition of Stanford Medicine. She is the lead author of a study that determines how reduced TV viewing can affect calories consumed, energy used, body weight, time spent sleeping and the balance between calorie ingestion and activity in obese and overweight adults. This study was conducted at the University of Vermont.

Dr Otten also said that the more time one spent in front of the TV, the higher the chances they have to suffer from obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obviously one contributing factor is the sedentary lifestyle.

So, health tip for today - press the red button and go out for a walk.

Coffee, Tea and Diabetes?

Here is an interesting health tip that will interest those who like coffee and tea. Is seems that coffee and tea drinkers have a lower risk of developing Type
2 diabetes than others.

BBC Health reported that they have looked at 18 separate studies and found that people who drink 3-4 cups a day cut their risk by a fifth. Is that good news or what?

What is Type 2 diabetes? This is a form of diabetes where the body is not able to produce sufficient insulin as opposed to cases where the body is unable to produce any insulin. It could also be that the insulin produced does not seem to work as required.

This identification of the active component in tea and coffee opens up new therapeutic options.

Source: Mind Your Body, The Straits Times, 17 Dec 2009