Showing posts with label Health Info. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Info. Show all posts

Monday, August 8, 2011

9 Helpful Tips On How To Identify Bug and Insect Bites

bee 9 Helpful Tips On How To Identify Bug and Insect Bites

Summer is here and so are bugs and insects. Baby Boomers all over will be looking to know How To Identify Bug and Insect Bites. If not for their selves for their grand children that will playing outside.

Identifying Bug and Insect Bites can be difficult, but 9 Helpful Tips On How To Identify Bug and Insect Bites can make this process easier:

1. Look at the bite spot. Fire ant bites show up in clusters and in significant numbers. In most cases, they will usually bring about hives.

When most of the time a wasp or bee will only leave a single larger mark.

Examining the bite mark meticulously can assist in identifying or ruling out certain types of bug and insect bites.

2. Tick bites: When a tick bites onto skin, it many times moves to the warm area, where there is a fol of the skin, like the armpits, back of the knees and genital area.

When it feeds, it feeds on blood and unless it is pulled or scratched off, you will find the blood sucker right where it is feeding. This nasty little bug feeds on blood and can pass on any disease it carries and passes it on to you, like Lyme disease.

A tick bite can also trigger an allergic reaction. Removing  the tick properly is very important. There will be a red bump with a center hole where the tick attached it self to the individual.  wooded areas.

Lyme disease shows up like a bulls eye spot. Go to the doctor immediately.

3. Mosquito bite reactions are generally fairly uncomplicated to recognize, especially since we have seen a million of them. The bite area displays a small raised soft red bump or is welt-like.

They have no skin damage or tearing until we scratch them. These kinds of bites really itch, but usually are not serious. Whenever, when it comes to identifying insect bites, those of the viscous  mosquito are the largest percentage of bites and are the most widespread culprit and pest. This is true especially in the south area of the U.S., where it is hot and humid and they bred.

Nevertheless, in a few extreme cases, the mosquito bite can continue for a number of days (especially children), especially if the individual is allergic to bug or insect bites.

4. Head lice, what every parent dreads. YIPES! These bugs will get in your hair and make small itchy spots on your scalp, neck and behind your ears. They also lay eggs called nits, which are easy to see after one becomes infected with them, as they actually stick to the hair.

5. Identifying insect bites can easily assist you in telling the distinction between mosquito bite typical reactions and a poisonous bite, that may possibly be serious and needs to be treated immediately.

In the event that you are actually bitten, shake out your clothing and start looking in the surrounding location for the biting insect.

6. Search for indicators and symptoms of any significant responses. For example, home treatments for spider bites might be acceptable in many cases, but if you observe a darker coloring around any bite that is a bluish or purple color…seek medical attention immediately.

Even if you can not recognize the insect. This is a indication of poison and tissue death, and needs to be taken care of by a medical professional immediately.

7. Identifying insect bites can easily assist you in telling the distinction between mosquito bite typical reactions and a poisonous bite that may possibly be serious and needs to be treated immediately. In the event that you are actually bitten, shake out your clothing and start looking in the surrounding location for the biting insect.

8. Spider bites. All ways, start looking at the bite. For instance, a spider bites with two fangs. So, usually you will find there are two puncture wounds from spider fangs. This differs from the majority of many other insectsbites as they do not have fangs ans there will usually just leave one puncture mark or bump. This might aid with identifying insect bites.

Signs and symptoms of an infection can easily aid on How To Identify Insect Bites. Mainly because, spiders and a number of other insects often bring about bites which become infected. Some are so poisonous that you can die from them or your skin can rot away from the bite site.

9. Gnat bites, like mosquito bites, are also an additional common insect bite problem. An individual might not even see the gnat or discover that they have been bitten for a while and by the time an individual recognizes that he has been a tasty meal for the gnat, the pesty insect has left and flown away for another victim.

A small red area along with swelling is all that is found initially and then the itching starts in full force.




Source : http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/2011/08/05/7-helpful-tips-on-how-to-identify-bug-and-insect-bites/

The best natural insect repellent recipe



What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe

There are lost do homemade insect repellent recipes, but What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe?

It is summer and the mosquitoes are here, so it is time for me to make my natural insect repellent recipe.

I can not tolerate the commercial products with DEET and other poisonous chemicals in them, so here is an all natural and organic insect repellent recipe to keep the nasty bugs and insects away, without harming you, your pets, the children or the enviroment.

There are some natural solutions on the market, but they can get really pricey. So, let’s make our own Natural Insect Repellent.

Here is my recipe for a non-toxic, homemade natural insect repellent recipe so you that you too can tackle your bug problems for a price you can afford and live with (meaning no DEET).

Some folks do not like natural insect repellents because they have to be reapplied if you are out in nature all day. But just like sun screen, you will need to apply them during the day if you are going to be outside all day or night. So, if you are sweating or are in and out of the water, reapply.
The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe

Find a 2-4 oz refillable glass spray bottle What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe, or recycle a spray bottle you already have. Add these oils first.

30 Drops Cedar (or Cedarwood) Essential Oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe
30 Drops Citronella Oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe
20 Drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe
20 Drops Geranium Oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe
20 Drops Tea Tree Essential Oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe

Then fill your sprayer with a carrier oil. Good examples are olive What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe, almond What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe or jojoba oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe.

lavender70 What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe

* If you want it to smell sweeter, add 20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe.

This recipe is for a 2oz size bottle. Simply increase the drop amounts to adjust for the size of the spray bottle that you will be using and for the amount of people that you will be using the organic bug spray on.

Remember to shake the bottle and spray liberally on and around body and to reapply as needed.

* Having a pool party, use thick spray bottles for around the pool and hand out as pool favors for your quests to take home. The plastic containers will not bust when dropped. It will make your pool party bug free and safe.

A QuickFix: You left without your organic bug spray. Not to worry, just stop and get a bottle of regular Rubbing Alcohol and “RUB” the rubbing alcohol on and around your body. Allow to dry.

Reapply as needed. Rubbing alcohol can dry out your skin, but it is better than being attacked by blood thirsty mosquitoes or deer flies.

**CAUTION** It is flammable, watch out for camp fires, BBQ grilles, cigarettes and such. Make sure that your skin is dry, because even the vapors are highly flammable.

Now that you know, What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe is, all you have to do is make your organic bug spray What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe and wait for the bugs to attack…which probably will not be long. Have a safe summer and remember to read BBAC.




Readfull article : What Is The Best Natural Insect Repellent Recipe | Baby Boomer Advisor Club

Friday, July 1, 2011

How is the diagnosis and treatment of cancer

How is cancer diagnosed and staged?



Early detection of cancer can greatly improve the odds of successful
treatment and survival. Physicians use information from symptoms and
several other procedures to diagnose
cancer. Imaging techniques such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, PET
scans, and ultrasound scans are used regularly in order to detect where a
tumor is located and what organs
may be affected by it. Doctors may also conduct an endoscopy, which is a
procedure that uses a thin tube with a camera and light at one end, to
look for abnormalities inside the body.



Cancer testing


Extracting cancer cells and looking at them under a microscope is the
only absolute way to diagnose cancer. This procedure is called a biopsy.
Other types of molecular diagnostic tests
are frequently employed as well. Physicians will analyze your body's
sugars, fats, proteins, and DNA at the molecular level. For example,
cancerous prostate cells release a higher
level of a chemical called PSA (prostate-specific antigen) into the
bloodstream that can be detected by a blood test. Molecular diagnostics,
biopsies, and imaging techniques are all used
together to diagnose cancer.







After a diagnosis is made, doctors find out how far the cancer has
spread and determine the stage of the cancer. The stage determines which
choices will be available for treatment and
informs prognoses. The most common cancer staging method is called the
TNM system. T (1-4) indicates the size and direct extent of the primary
tumor, N (0-3) indicates the degree to
which the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, and M (0-1) indicates
whether the cancer has metastasized to other organs in the body. A
small tumor that has not spread to lymph
nodes or distant organs may be staged as (T1, N0, M0), for example.



TNM descriptions then lead to a simpler categorization of stages, from 0
to 4, where lower numbers indicate that the cancer has spread less.
While most Stage 1 tumors are curable, most
Stage 4 tumors are inoperable or untreatable.



How is cancer treated?



Cancer treatment depends on the type of cancer, the stage of the cancer
(how much it has spread), age, health status, and additional personal
characteristics. There is no single treatment
for cancer, and patients often receive a combination of therapies and
palliative care. Treatments usually fall into one of the following
categories: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy,
immunotherapy, hormone therapy, or gene therapy.



Surgery



Surgery is the oldest known treatment for cancer. If a cancer has not
metastasized, it is possible to completely cure a patient by surgically
removing the cancer from the body. This is often
seen in the removal of the prostate or a breast or testicle. After the
disease has spread, however, it is nearly impossible to remove all of
the cancer cells. Surgery may also be instrumental
in helping to control symptoms such as bowel obstruction or spinal cord
compression.



Radiation



Radiotherapy treatment


Radiation treatment, also known as radiotherapy, destroys cancer by
focusing high-energy rays on the cancer cells. This causes damage to the
molecules that make up the cancer cells
and leads them to commit suicide. Radiotherapy utilizes high-energy
gamma-rays that are emitted from metals such as radium or high-energy
x-rays that are created in a special machine.
Early radiation treatments caused severe side-effects because the energy
beams would damage normal, healthy tissue, but technologies have
improved so that beams can be more
accurately targeted. Radiotherapy is used as a standalone treatment to
shrink a tumor or destroy cancer cells (including those associated with
leukemia and lymphoma), and it is also used
in combination with other cancer treatments.



Chemotherapy



Chemotherapy utilizes chemicals that interfere with the cell division
process - damaging proteins or DNA - so that cancer cells will commit
suicide. These treatments target any rapidly
dividing cells (not necessarily just cancer cells), but normal cells
usually can recover from any chemical-induced damage while cancer cells
cannot. Chemotherapy is generally used to
treat cancer that has spread or metastasized because the medicines
travel throughout the entire body. It is a necessary treatment for some
forms of leukemia and lymphoma.
Chemotherapy treatment occurs in cycles so the body has time to heal
between doses. However, there are still common side effects such as hair
loss, nausea, fatigue, and vomiting.
Combination therapies often include multiple types of chemotherapy or
chemotherapy combined with other treatment options.



Immunotherapy



Immunotherapy aims to get the body's immune system to fight the tumor.
Local immunotherapy injects a treatment into an affected area, for
example, to cause inflammation that causes a
tumor to shrink. Systemic immunotherapy treats the whole body by
administering an agent such as the protein interferon alpha that can
shrink tumors. Immunotherapy can also be
considered non-specific if it improves cancer-fighting abilities by
stimulating the entire immune system, and it can be considered targeted
if the treatment specifically tells the immune
system to destroy cancer cells. These therapies are relatively young,
but researchers have had success with treatments that introduce
antibodies to the body that inhibit the growth of
breast cancer cells. Bone marrow transplantation (hematopoetic stem cell
transplantation) can also be considered immunotherapy because the
donor's immune cells will often attack the
tumor or cancer cells that are present in the host.



Hormone therapy



Several cancers have been linked to some types of hormones, most notably
breast and prostate cancer. Hormone therapy is designed to alter
hormone production in the body so that
cancer cells stop growing or are killed completely. Breast cancer
hormone therapies often focus on reducing estrogen levels (a common drug
for this is tamoxifen) and prostate cancer
hormone therapies often focus on reducing testosterone levels. In
addition, some leukemia and lymphoma cases can be treated with the
hormone cortisone.



Gene therapy



The goal of gene therapy is to replace damaged genes with ones that work
to address a root cause of cancer: damage to DNA. For example,
researchers are trying to replace the
damaged gene that signals cells to stop dividing (the p53 gene) with a
copy of a working gene. Other gene-based therapies focus on further
damaging cancer cell DNA to the point
where the cell commits suicide. Gene therapy is a very young field and
has not yet resulted in any successful treatments.

Genes - the DNA type of Cancer

Genes - the DNA type

Cells can experience uncontrolled growth if there are damages or mutations to DNA, and therefore, damage to the genes involved in cell division. Four key types of gene are responsible for the cell division process: oncogenes tell cells when to divide, tumor suppressor genes tell cells when not to divide, suicide genes control apoptosis and tell the cell to kill itself if something goes wrong, and DNA-repair genes instruct a cell to repair damaged DNA.

Cancer occurs when a cell's gene mutations make the cell unable to correct DNA damage and unable to commit suicide. Similarly, cancer is a result of mutations that inhibit oncogene and tumor suppressor gene function, leading to uncontrollable cell growth.
Carcinogens

Carcinogens are a class of substances that are directly responsible for damaging DNA, promoting or aiding cancer. Tobacco, asbestos, arsenic, radiation such as gamma and x-rays, the sun, and compounds in car exhaust fumes are all examples of carcinogens. When our bodies are exposed to carcinogens, free radicals are formed that try to steal electrons from other molecules in the body. Theses free radicals damage cells and affect their ability to function normally.
Genes - the family type

Cancer can be the result of a genetic predisposition that is inherited from family members. It is possible to be born with certain genetic mutations or a fault in a gene that makes one statistically more likely to develop cancer later in life.
Other medical factors
Holding hands

As we age, there is an increase in the number of possible cancer-causing mutations in our DNA. This makes age an important risk factor for cancer. Several viruses have also been linked to cancer such as: human papillomavirus (a cause of cervical cancer), hepatitis B and C (causes of liver cancer), and Epstein-Barr virus (a cause of some childhood cancers). Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - and anything else that suppresses or weakens the immune system - inhibits the body's ability to fight infections and increases the chance of developing cancer.
What are the symptoms of cancer?

Cancer symptoms are quite varied and depend on where the cancer is located, where it has spread, and how big the tumor is. Some cancers can be felt or seen through the skin - a lump on the breast or testicle can be an indicator of cancer in those locations. Skin cancer (melanoma) is often noted by a change in a wart or mole on the skin. Some oral cancers present white patches inside the mouth or white spots on the tongue.

Other cancers have symptoms that are less physically apparent. Some brain tumors tend to present symptoms early in the disease as they affect important cognitive functions. Pancreas cancers are usually too small to cause symptoms until they cause pain by pushing against nearby nerves or interfere with liver function to cause a yellowing of the skin and eyes called jaundice. Symptoms also can be created as a tumor grows and pushes against organs and blood vessels. For example, colon cancers lead to symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, and changes in stool size. Bladder or prostate cancers cause changes in bladder function such as more frequent or infrequent urination.

As cancer cells use the body's energy and interfere with normal hormone function, it is possible to present symptoms such as fever, fatigue, excessive sweating, anemia, and unexplained weight loss. However, these symptoms are common in several other maladies as well. For example, coughing and hoarseness can point to lung or throat cancer as well as several other conditions.

When cancer spreads, or metastasizes, additional symptoms can present themselves in the newly affected area. Swollen or enlarged lymph nodes are common and likely to be present early. If cancer spreads to the brain, patients may experience vertigo, headaches, or seizures. Spreading to the lungs may cause coughing and shortness of breath. In addition, the liver may become enlarged and cause jaundice and bones can become painful, brittle, and break easily. Symptoms of metastasis ultimately depend on the location to which the cancer has spread.
How is cancer classified?

There are five broad groups that are used to classify cancer.

  1. Carcinomas are characterized by cells that cover internal and external parts of the body such as lung, breast, and colon cancer.
  2. Sarcomas are characterized by cells that are located in bone, cartilage, fat, connective tissue, muscle, and other supportive tissues.
  3. Lymphomas are cancers that begin in the lymph nodes and immune system tissues.
  4. Leukemias are cancers that begin in the bone marrow and often accumulate in the bloodstream.
  5. Adenomas are cancers that arise in the thyroid, the pituitary gland, the adrenal gland, and other glandular tissues.

Cancers are often referred to by terms that contain a prefix related to the cell type in which the cancer originated and a suffix such as -sarcoma, -carcinoma, or just -oma. Common prefixes include:

  • Adeno- = gland
  • Chondro- = cartilage
  • Erythro- = red blood cell
  • Hemangio- = blood vessels
  • Hepato- = liver
  • Lipo- = fat
  • Lympho- = white blood cell
  • Melano- = pigment cell
  • Myelo- = bone marrow
  • Myo- = muscle
  • Osteo- = bone
  • Uro- = bladder
  • Retino- = eye
  • Neuro- = brain

What is Cancer? What Causes Cancer?

What is Cancer


Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. There are over 100 different types of cancer, and each is classified by the type of cell that is initially affected.

Cancer harms the body when damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors (except in the case of leukemia where cancer prohibits normal blood function by abnormal cell division in the blood stream). Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems, and they can release hormones that alter body function. Tumors that stay in one spot and demonstrate limited growth are generally considered to be benign.

Cancer cell
More dangerous, or malignant, tumors form when two things occur:
  1. a cancerous cell manages to move throughout the body using the blood or lymph systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process called invasion
  2. that cell manages to divide and grow, making new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.

When a tumor successfully spreads to other parts of the body and grows, invading and destroying other healthy tissues, it is said to have metastasized. This process itself is called metastasis, and the result is a serious condition that is very difficult to treat.

In 2007, cancer claimed the lives of about 7.6 million people in the world. Physicians and researchers who specialize in the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer are called oncologists.

What causes cancer?

Cancer is ultimately the result of cells that uncontrollably grow and do not die. Normal cells in the body follow an orderly path of growth, division, and death. Programmed cell death is called apoptosis, and when this process breaks down, cancer begins to form. Unlike regular cells, cancer cells do not experience programmatic death and instead continue to grow and divide. This leads to a mass of abnormal cells that grows out of control.

What is cancer? - Video

A short, 3D, animated introduction to cancer. This was originally created by BioDigital Systems and used in the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon.



see the video about cancer


3D Medical Animation - What is Cancer?