Some Health Conditions Can Be Responsible For Pleural Effusion!

Have you ever heard about “water in the lungs”, also called pleural effusion?

In general, very few amounts of pleural fluid are present in the pleural spaces of your lungs. This fluid is not detectable by your regular health check up or by any routine methods.

When this accumulation of fluid is high in between pleural spaces, then it can lead to several heart or lung disorders such as pleural effusion.

Pleura are the thin membranes that are normally lined to your lungs and also inside your chest cavity. These membranes contain fluids that act as lubrication and also help in the respiration process.

When the accumulation of pleural fluid is more inside these spaces, then it can interfere in the normal functioning of your chest and lungs and results in pleural effusion.

Pleural effusions are very common and according to the estimation given by national cancer institute of United States, approximately 100, 000 are diagnosed with this disorder every year.

Depending on the reason for the accumulation of the fluid, the excess fluid in your pleural spaces is distinguished as either protein poor called transudative or protein rich also known as exudative. These two categories of fluid are very helpful for the physicians to determine the main causes for pleural effusion.

Most specific reasons for transudative pleural effusion include:

1. Congestive heart failure: In almost 40% of patients suffering with pleural effusion, this is the common reason and it is present on both sides of chest. This heart failure is the most common reason for bilateral effusion to occur in an individual and if it affects only one side of your chest, then it could be probably your right portion of heart.
2. Pericarditis: This inflammation of the pericardium is also responsible for the accumulation of fluid in the pleural spaces and can lead to pleural effusion.
3. Liver disease: It has been estimated that about 5% of the patients who are suffering with chronic scarring liver disease can have chances to develop water in their lungs.
4. When too much fluid is accumulated in your body tissues due to kidney disease or any bowel disorder, then this excess fluid can also be responsible for developing pleural effusion.

Pleural tumors, tuberculosis and certain viral and fungal infections in your lungs are some of the causes for exudative pleural effusion.

If you are having any of these abnormal health conditions, then be attentive towards your health and seek proper medical assistance in order to take proper precautionary measures to avoid complications.

Learn How Physical Activity Plays A Key Role in Controlling Your Diabetes!

–Diabetes Is Not An Obstacle To A Long And Healthy Life With Regular Physical Activity!

Everybody knows the fact that physical activity has great benefits on your health. Regular physical activity can help you in controlling your blood glucose, blood pressure and weight. Also, it shows a great rise in your good cholesterol level and at the same time lowers your bad cholesterol level.

Physical activity helps the problem associated with heart and blood flow. It reduces the risk of nerve damage and heart disease, which are the problems that result from diabetes.

Types of physical activity suitable for diabetics:

Before starting any physical activity, consult your doctor to find what kind of activity is right for you. Exercises which you need to practice will depend upon whether you have any other health problems.

Most of the practitioners will recommend aerobic exercises as they make you breathe more deeply and make your heart work harder.

You can practice the exercises like walking, jogging, bicycling or aerobic dancing.

Along with these exercises, some other exercises like hiking, skating, skiing, basket ball, tennis, and volleyball are good to practice as they will work on large muscles, improves your heart rate and make you breathe deeper and harder.

If you have any nerve problems associated with your feet or legs, then your doctor recommends you to do the exercises which will not cause stress on your feet. People with these types of problems can practice exercises like rowing, bicycling, swimming or chair exercises.

Regardless of type of exercise you do, warming up before you start and cooling down after you complete is must. In order to warm up, practice low-intensity exercises like walking for 5-10 minutes. Then stretch for another 5-10 minutes gently. Repeat the same procedure after exercising in order to cool down.

According to the experts, practicing moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 30 minutes on each day for 5 days per week is good for diabetics.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the physical activity, then you can start with a little workout. When you become familiar, you can add extra time for the physical activity.

Walking each day for 10-20 minutes is better than one hour once a week. Consult your health care provider to get a safe exercise plan.

Safety measures while exercising for people with diabetes:

You need to consider few things while exercising.

Physical activity is dangerous for people with high complications:

Avoiding some kinds of exercises is must for people who have complications associated with diabetes. Lifting heavy weights causes some problems in people with eye problems, blood vessels and blood pressure.

Hypoglycemia due to physical activity:

Your blood glucose level drops too much with physical activity and results in hypoglycemia. This condition can quickly result in people who take oral medications and insulin. Hypoglycemia can happen while you are exercising, after completion or even after a day.

This condition results in situations like becoming weak, confused, anxious, tired, sweaty, shaky, irritable, or hungry. Even it can result in severe headache or loss of consciousness.

In order to prevent hypoglycemia, before practicing any of the physical activity, check the blood glucose level. If the level is below 100, you can take glucose tablets or have a small snack when you exercise.

After completion of physical activity, once again check your glucose level and observe the change.

Glucose level above 300:

Don’t practice physical activity if your blood glucose level is very high. Exercising with blood glucose level above 300 is not safe.

Also, do not exercise if you have ketones in the urine or your fasting blood glucose level is above 250.

Wear comfortable clothes:

Wearing comfortable clothes, athletic shoes with cotton socks is very important so that you will feel well and comfortable while exercising. After completion of exercise, check your feet for any cuts, sores, injuries, blisters, or irritation.

Consume plenty of water:

Drinking plenty of water during physical activity is essential as physical activity causes dehydration.

Know when to stop the physical activity:

If you notice any symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, chest pain, faintness, heart palpitations or pain in your arm or jaw, immediately stop doing exercise. If you don’t feel well within 15 minutes, then immediately seek medical help.

Physical activity for people with type 1 diabetes:

In people with type 1 diabetes, there is a considerable variation in their blood glucose levels depending on the type of exercise, intensity, duration, carbohydrate intake and timing of insulin administration.

There is a decrease in blood glucose level with low-moderate intensity exercises, which increases the risk of hypoglycemia and there is a rise in blood glucose levels with high intensity exercises.

These effects can be controlled with the right balance between carbohydrate intake to insulin and proper planning of timing and type of exercise.

Every one with type 1 diabetes will show a different response to different workouts. The only way to determine your response is self monitoring of your blood glucose levels.

Monitoring glucose levels before, during and after a great amount of time is very important to observe how exercise affected your blood glucose level.

Physical activity for people with type 2 diabetes:

Exercise is essential in managing type 2 diabetes. Combining exercise with diet and medicine will help in controlling your weight and blood glucose levels.

Physical activity helps in controlling type 2 diabetes by:

• Decreasing your blood pressure
• Reducing the risk of heart disease
• Improving your blood circulation
• Improving your energy levels and work capacity
• Improving your muscle strength
• Burning excess and stored body fat, assisting to reduce and control your weight
• Improving strength and bone density
• Diminishing stress, tension and anxiety, and promoting relaxation
• Protecting against blood vessel and heart disease by increasing good cholesterol and decreasing bad cholesterol levels

Most of the type 2 diabetics are sedentary and overweight, therefore it is recommended to do low-impact exercises like cycling or walking.

Along with exercise; medication and good nutrition are enough to make a diabetic feel good and live a full life.

Is Radiotherapy A Best Treatment For Bladder Cancer?

A wide range of treatment options are available for treating your bladder cancer such as surgical procedures, radiation therapy, biological therapy, chemotherapy, radio therapy, etc.

A recent study has found that the survival rates among all bladder cancer patients who are treated with radio therapy were as same as those who were treated with surgery to completely remove the bladder.

Important facts about radiotherapy:

Radiotherapy is used to treat cancer with the help of high energy rays, which are capable of destroying the cancer cells while doing comparatively as little harm as possible to your normal body cells. It is more often used for bladder cancer treatment as an alternative to surgery, which is necessary if the cancer comes back.

This kind of bladder cancer treatment is normally given for you in radiotherapy department as a sequence of short regular sessions.

Treating with radiotherapy doesn’t mean to remove your bladder, but you’ll need to have cystoscopy, usually for every 3 months or so in order to ensure that the bladder cancer has not come back.

This therapy for bladder cancer doesn’t make you radioactive and it is completely safe and harmless for you to be with other people including your children after the treatment.

Radiotherapy is not painful but you need to lie completely at rest without moving for few minutes when the treatment is being given to you.

Radiotherapy is involved with certain other health conditions!

Radiotherapy when given to treat the bladder cancer can irritate the bowel and can lead to diarrhea and also soreness around your anus.

Some times, it can also cause mild cystitis, which can cause a burning sensation when you pass urine or it can also lead to frequent urination. These effects gradually disappear with in few weeks after the treatment is completed.

Apart from these, certain other side effects which you can observe after having radio therapy include effects on your skin, ability to have erections (in men), narrowing of vagina (in women), tiredness etc.

Choosing a right option for bladder cancer treatment plays an important role in curing the disease. It becomes very important for you to know about various treatment options that exist in the treatment of bladder cancer [Cranberries to treat bladder infection].

So, try to consult any bladder cancer specialist or urologist for second option and get better and safe treatment for your bladder cancer.

Birth Defects Are More Common In Infants With Diabetic Mothers!

Controlling the blood glucose levels is very important for women before they think about getting pregnant.

If you have diabetes before you got pregnant or developed gestational diabetes, then you are at increased risk of having babies with birth defects when compared with the women who neither have diabetes before pregnancy nor developed mild gestational diabetes.

It has been estimated that about 4.8 percent of women with diabetes before pregnancy have children with birth defects where as 1.5 percent of birth defects occurred in women who did not have diabetes.

It has also been estimated that almost 1.2 percent of women with mild gestational diabetes have babies with some or the other kind of birth defect in them.

Birth defect and diabetes:

The level of risks in a pregnant women suffering with diabetes usually depends on the degree of insulin need and also on the severity of complications involved with diabetes and control of blood sugar levels in her body.

Birth defects are more likely in infants who have diabetic mothers, especially in females who are dependent on insulin. Some of these birth defects are serious and can lead to fetal death. Some times these birth defects usually originate in the first trimester of your pregnancy.

Major birth defects that can occur in infants with diabetic mothers include brain and spinal cord abnormalities, certain digestive tract disorders and also abnormal heart and connecting blood vessels.

What is the role of genes in causing birth defects?

In certain cases, change in genes can lead to birth defect in an infant. Genes play a major role in combining the cells to form parts of our body.

For example, genes are very important to guide certain cells in your body to make heart, brain and also kidneys and many other parts of your body. They also guide other cells of your body to make certain physical features such as green eyes, brown hair etc.

Genes when combined with many other genes forms chromosomes and any changes to single genes or to entire group of chromosomes can cause birth defects. These genetic changes can happen only in infants or it can be passed from one or both the parents.

In some very rare cases, birth defects can occur in an infant when any other relatives in your family have same kind of birth defect as your child has.

Tai Chi for Health and Wellness

There are many forms of exercise that people do everyday. Some of the most common forms of exercise include jogging, weight lifting, swimming, and yoga. These are good forms of exercise, but one alternative that millions of people practice around the world is Tai Chi. Tai Chi is an ancient form of Chinese exercise. It is over 2,000 years old and originated in China. Tai Chi is a great exercise for everyone no matter how old you are.

Tai Chi is originally and still is a form of Chinese martial arts. In Chinese martial arts there are two main categories external and internal. External martial arts looks to develop your muscles and bones first then your energy, whereas internal martial arts looks to develop you energy or Qi first then muscle and bones. Internal martial arts also look to develop your mind and body together. Tai Chi is a form of mind/body exercise. Many people will say that Tai Chi is a form of moving meditation.

Benefits of Tai Chi

Tai Chi can help you with:

• Balance
• flexibility
• cardiovascular exercise
• stress reduction
• coordination
• self defense

There are many benefits to Tai Chi. There have been studies done that Tai Chi can reduce the falls among seniors by 50%. There have also been other studies done that Tai Chi can even help improve the immune system.

Tai Chi is a great exercise for everyone no matter how old you are.

Here at Master Lu's Health Center, we practice the Old Yang Style Tai Chi as passed down through Grandmaster Yin Chian Ho. We can help you learn Tai Chi and improve your health and wellness. Many people who practice Tai Chi can experience increase energy and balance within their lives.

For more information about Tai Chi and class times please visit our website at www.luhealthcenter.com or give us a call at (801) 463-1101. You are also welcome to come to a free class anytime.