Eye Care

"Oh, something is wrong with my eye!" We have all said this at some time. How uncomfortable it can be! Fortunately, many common eye (ocular) disorders disappear without treatment or can be managed by self-treating. Various products -- from artificial tears and ointments to ocular decongestants -- are available over the counter (OTC). These products can help with dryness, itching, or excessive watering of the eye. However, a word of caution: In some instances, what may seem like a minor eye problem may lead to a severe, potentially blinding condition.

Many safe and effective OTC products for mild eye disorders are available for self-treatment. Two important factors to remember when considering self-treatment are: (1) if the problem appears to involve the eyeball itself, you should consult a physician immediately; and (2) if you use an OTC eye-care product for 72 hours without improvement of the condition being treated or the condition worsens, you also should see a doctor immediately. If blurring of vision or visual loss is one of your symptoms, see an ophthalmologist (MD) immediately.

To self-treat common ocular disorders with OTC eye-care products, viewers should understand: (1) the structure of the eye; (2) the cause of the disorder; (3) which disorders are safe to self-treat and which should be referred to a physician; (4) the types of OTC eye-care products that are available and the disorders in which they are useful.

What is the structure of the eye?

The eyes are complex sensory organs. About 85% of the total sensory input to our brains originates from our sense of sight, while the other 15% comes from the other four senses of hearing, smell, touch, and taste. The eyes are designed to optimize vision under conditions of varying light. Their location, on the outside of the face, makes them susceptible to trauma, environmental chemicals and particles, and infectious agents. The eyelids and the position of the eye within the bony orbital cavity are the major protective mechanism for the eye.

The eye itself has the shape of a sphere measuring about 1 inch in diameter. It consists of a clear, transparent dome at the front (the cornea) that is surrounded by the white of the eyeball (the sclera). The iris of the eye is the circular, colored portion within the eye, and behind the cornea, and the pupil is the central opening within the iris. Behind the iris and pupil is the eye's lens. The space behind the back of the cornea and the front of the lens is called the anterior chamber and is filled with the aqueous fluid. Behind the lens is a large space that is filled by the transparent vitreous gel. The inside of the back of the eye is lined by the retina, the thin, light-sensitive tissue that changes light images to electrical signals via a chemical reaction. These electrical signals generated by the retina are sent to our brain through the optic nerve. Our brain interprets what our eyes see.

The inner sides of the eyelids, which touch the front surface of surface of the eye, are covered by a thin membrane (the palpebral conjunctiva) that produces mucus to lubricate the eye. This thin membrane folds back on itself and covers the visible sclera of the eyeball. (This continuation of the palpebral conjunctiva is called the bulbar conjunctiva.) Natural oil for the tears is produced by tiny glands located at the edges of the eyelids, providing additional lubrication for the eye. The main component of tears are formed by the lacrimal gland located under the upper lid at the outer corner of the eye. The tears are composed of a combination of the substances produced by the lacrimal gland, the oil glands, and the mucus glands. Tears flow toward the nasal side of the eye and drain into the lacrimal sac in the area between the eye and the side of the nose.

How Is TB Disease Treated?

There is good news for people with TB disease! TB disease can almost always be cured with medicine. But the medicine must be taken as the doctor or nurse tells you. The most common drugs used to fight TB are:
* isoniazid (INH)
* rifampin or rifabutin or rifapentine
* pyrazinamide
If you have TB disease, you will need to take several different drugs. This is because there are many bacteria to be killed. Taking several drugs will do a better job of killing all of the bacteria and preventing them from becoming resistant to the drugs.
If you have TB of the lungs or throat, you are probably infectious. You need to stay home from work or school so that you don't spread TB bacteria to other people. After taking your medicine for a few weeks, you will feel better and you may no longer be infectious to others. Your doctor or nurse will tell you when you can return to work or school.
Having TB should not stop you from leading a normal life. When you are no longer infectious or feeling sick, you can do the same things you did before you had TB. The medicine that you are taking should not affect your strength, sexual function, or ability to work. If you take your medicine as your doctor or nurse tells you, the medicine will kill all the TB bacteria. This will keep you from becoming sick again.

How Is TB Spread?

TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. Laughing, singing, or playing brass or woodwind instruments can also spread the germs in an enclosed space. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected.
When a person breathes in TB bacteria, the bacteria can settle in the lungs and begin to grow. From there, they move through the blood to other parts of the body, such as the kidney, spine, and brain.
TB in the lungs or throat can be infectious. This means that the bacteria can be spread to other people. TB in other parts of the body, such as the kidney or spine, is usually not infectious.
People with TB disease are most likely to spread it to people they spend time with every day. This includes family members, friends, and coworkers.

what is TB

TB, or tuberculosis, is a disease caused by bacteria calledMycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria can attack any part of your body, but they usually attack the lungs. TB disease was once the leading cause of death in the United States.
In the 1940s, scientists discovered the first of several drugs now used to treat TB. As a result, TB slowly began to disappear in the United States. But TB has come back. After 1984, the number of TB cases reported in the United States began to increase. More than 25,000 cases were reported in 1993. But since then the number has steadily declined to about 14,500 cases in 2004.
TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected.
People who are infected with TB do not feel sick, do not have any symptoms, and cannot spread TB. But they may develop TB disease at some time in the future. People with TB disease can be treated and cured if they seek medical help. Even better, people who have Latent TB Infection(LTBI) but are not yet sick can take medicine so that they will never develop TB disease.

This short guide answers common questions about TB. Please ask your doctor or nurse if you have other questions about TB infection or TB disease.

What Is Cough?

A cough is a natural reflex that protects your lungs. Coughing helps clear your airways of lung irritants, such as smoke and mucus (a slimy substance). This helps prevent infections. A cough also can be a symptom of a medical problem.
Prolonged coughing can cause unpleasant side effects, such as chest pain, exhaustion, light-headedness, and loss of bladder control. Coughing also can interfere with sleep, socializing, and work.

Overview

Coughing occurs when the nerve endings in your airways become irritated. The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. Certain substances (such as smoke and pollen), medical conditions, and medicines can irritate these nerve endings.
A cough can be acute, subacute, or chronic, depending on how long it lasts.
An acute cough lasts less than 3 weeks. Common causes of an acute cough are a common cold or other upper respiratory (RES-pi-rah-tor-e) infections. Examples of other upper respiratory infections include the flu, pneumonia (nu-MO-ne-ah), and whooping cough.
A subacute cough lasts 3 to 8 weeks. This type of cough remains even after a cold or other respiratory infection is over.
A chronic cough lasts more than 8 weeks. Common causes of a chronic cough are upper airway cough syndrome (UACS); asthma; and gastroesophageal (GAS-tro-eh-so-fa-JE-al) reflux disease, or GERD.
"UACS" is a term used to describe conditions that inflame the upper airways and cause a cough. Examples include sinus infections and allergies. These conditions can cause mucus to run down your throat from the back of your nose. This is called postnasal drip.

Asthma is a long-term lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. GERD occurs if acid from your stomach backs up into your throat.

Outlook

The best way to treat a cough is to treat its cause. For example, asthma is treated with medicines that open the airways.
Your doctor may recommend cough medicine if the cause of your cough is unknown and the cough causes a lot of discomfort. Cough medicines may harm children. If your child has a cough, talk with his or her doctor about how to treat it.

The Importance of EXERCISE

Most people do not recognize the importance of exercise. This is evidenced in a host of ways. Are yougetting enough of the right kind of exercise?

The average American watches three and a half hours of television every day. That adds up to 56 days of channel surfing per year. By the age of 65, over nine years will have been spent in front of the small screen!

Nearly one-third of children ages 4 to 19 eat fast food every day, and over 15% in that age group are obese. In order to become slim, thousands of U.S. teens become bulimic or anorexic, or undergo a procedure known as gastric bypass.In addition, from 1991 to 1999, participation in physical education (P.E.) in schools dropped from 42 percent to 29 percent. Since it is not a required part of the curriculum in most schools, kids basically opt not to be involved. (In only one state in the U.S. is P.E. a mandatory part of the curriculum.)

Also known as “obesity surgery,” this procedure involves getting their stomach stapled in order to restrict the food intake. As a result, they eat less and lose weight. Yet, a host of other problems develop.

One such problem involves deterioration of the stomach lining. Also, the staples sometimes come apart, causing tears and leaks. And, due to the stomach’s poor absorption, nutrient deficiencies can occur. Is this the only way in which overweight, out-of-shape people can become healthy? Is there any alternative? Yes! And that alternative is exercise!

Becoming Strong and Healthy

Many factors contribute to the degradation of health in teens today. You live in a terribly polluted world. The atmosphere, water supply, and—unless everything you eat is totally organic—food supply are all contaminated. You are bombarded by fast food at every corner. And video games have led the majority of teens to spend countless hours in front of the television being sedentary. And, as a result of all of this, there exists a generation that is out-of-shape, overweight and obese.

But there is hope. The wonderful tool of exercise can help teens become fit and healthy. Performing some form of physical activity daily will significantly boost your “basal metabolic rate”—the number of calories your body burns in order to keep you alive. By having a high metabolism, you burn calories 24 hours a day—even while you sleep! You can literally turn your body into a fat-burning machine!

This has many benefits: With a strong metabolism comes a strong immune system. When you burn fat, the toxins are released into the bloodstream, and are quickly carried out of the body through sweat. This inoculates you against the probability of developing cancerous and diseased cells. Therefore, hard exercise—that makes you sweat—is very good for you.

Exercise also helps to regulate the amount of insulin released into the bloodstream. Insulin is commonly referred to as “the fat-making hormone.” Its job is to metabolize blood sugar into energy. But too much insulin in the bloodstream keeps your body from burning stored fat. Years of an overworked pancreas—the organ that produces insulin—can lead to “onset (type 2) diabetes.” However, if you use—burn—more calories than you consume, you significantly reduce the chances of developing this disease.

Exercise can also help control other problems, such as: Sleep apnea, moodiness, stress, decreased energy, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol and others. There are too many benefits to list here. But be assured that this tool can help you become a fit, stronger, disease-free, and overall healthier person.

“What Type of Exercise Should I Do?”

The main goal of aerobic exercise is to keep the heart elevated for an extended period of time for the purpose of strengthening the heart and lungs. The most common aerobic exercise is walking. It is easy to do. You have been doing it since you were a toddler. By now, you are a “pro” at it. Increase the pace, and walking turns into an aerobic exercise. But, if you are more advanced or are easily bored, then you can move on to jogging or running.

Running is the quickest way to lose weight, because it burns many calories. It also tones your calves and thighs. However, to avoid extreme muscle aches or injuries, do not begin a running routine until you have performed two to three months of aerobic walking.

Other aerobic exercises could include: Bicycling, hiking, basketball, swimming, golf, tennis, etc. Aerobic exercise should be done a minimum of 3 days a week, but 5 to 6 is recommended. The important thing is to pick something that interests you. If you like what you are doing, you will be more likely to stick with it.

Proverbs 20:29 states, “The glory of young men is their strength.” Therefore, strength training—also known as toning and weight lifting—is also a very good exercise. Through moderate toning, you gain muscle definition and increased bone mass, which helps to prevent diseases such as osteoporosis.

Interestingly, every extra pound of muscle that you have burns 50 calories a day just to maintain its mass. So, if you gain five pounds of muscle, then an extra 250 calories per day is burned! (3,500 calories equal one pound of fat.)

The easiest way to implement a strength training program is to use your own weight as resistance. For example, push-ups are great for strengthening the chest muscles. Yet simultaneously, they strengthen your upper back, biceps, triceps and shoulders. However, strength training should be done no more than three times a week. You should pick one exercise for each body part. Never train the same body part two days in a row, or you will overwork the muscle, possibly causing injury.

Time to Take Action

By now, you may be thinking, “I’ve tried all of this, but nothing worked.” Seriously and honestly think for a moment. Did you really try? Were you diligent in your pursuit? Did you try as hard as you could? Were you driven to SUCCEED? Your answer to these questions will tell you a lot about why you did not succeed.

In The Laws to Success, Mr. Pack shows that without good health, it is very difficult—if not impossible—to succeed in life. The way to succeed in anything is by exercising your will. Employ the laws of success. Anything of value takes time and effort.

First, you must increase your motivation. You can do this by thinking about the benefits of exercising every day. Nothing can stop the person who is driven to succeed.

Next, you must resolve to begin exercising, and then DO IT! Don’t put it off until tomorrow, because tomorrow will never come. Make it a habit of visualizing yourself as fit and healthy—and make it happen.

And finally, you must be diligent and persevere. This is called “stick-to-it-iveness.” Once you start, you must never stop. Determine to keep going, regardless of outside circumstances.

Ear Pain Relief - Quick and Easy

There are pains that can stop you from your daily activity and having a good time at life like you normally do. When you have ear pain, it can keep you up at night with excruciating pain. This will make you frustrated and restless. What you need is ear pain relief quickly. Ear pain can cause headache pain at the same time. You must make sure that you take care of the earache pain because it can affect the hearing if not treated. Here are some suggestions and tips that will help provide quick and fast ear ache pain relief.

Some Causes of Ear Infection Pain Relief

Some of the common causes of ear ache pain are:

Swimming - when you swim without ear plugs and this allows the water to enter your ear canal. There are different bacteria in the pool from all the other users of the pool. This water get into you ear and causes ear infection and you will need ear pain relief.

Common cold - this can cause pressure to build up in the ears, causing ear ache pain relief.

Injured part of the body that is related to the ear, like a tooth ache, can cause headache pain.Each of the different ear pain has different types of pain relief. But there are some things that you can do to get relief from many different types of instances. This will help you get a good nights rest.

The Different Types of Ear Pain Relief

When you or someone in the family is suffering from ear ache pain, try to sleep with the bad ear facing up. Sometimes you think that sleeping on the painful ear will help, but in fact it doesn't.There are pain killers that you can take to help with ear pain relief. These pain killers contain acetaminophen like Tylenol or Ibuprofen can help with the headache pain relief. You need to be careful on how much you take as they can cause stomach problems.You can also find antiseptic eardrops. These eardrops will provide fast and efficient ear ache pain relief. Use them according to the instructions on the box.There is also warm compresses, like a hand towel that can be applied to the hurt ear for quick ear pain relief.If you don't have any medicated eardrops available to use, here is a household remedy. Warm up some garlic, vegetable or olive oil and put a couple of drops in the infected ear for ear pain relief. You need to make sure that the oil is warm and not hot. If the oil is hot, you can cause permanent damage, such as affecting your hearing.

There is an easy way for you to check to see if the oil is warm or hot. Apply a drop on your inner arm to see if it is okay to administer in your ear infection for fast pain relief.

What you Need to Know

If you have any liquid such as puss coming out of the hurt ear, do not apply any drops or oil in the ear. Instead see you doctor immediately. When there is puss you have an ear infection and you need antibiotics. You can still use the warm compresses to get through the nigh for temporary ear ache pain relief.If your ear is swollen, and you are not getting any ear pain relief in 24 hour from the above medication, you need to see the doctor so you can get ear pain relief.