Health News

Raw vegetables and fruits counteract heart risk genes

People who are genetically susceptible to heart disease can lower their risk by eating plenty of fruit and raw vegetables, a study suggests.

It says five or more daily portions should be enough to counteract culprit versions of a gene on chromosome 9, thought to be possessed by a fifth of people of European ancestry. 

---

Back to School: Child Safety

Parents have control over two of the day's three meals: breakfast and dinner. A good breakfast, a healthy lunch and a nutritionally complete dinner can be hard for working moms and dads to provide, but it can be done.

---

Baby Safety from Newborns to Toddlers

Safety issues change and increase significantly as newborns grow into toddlers. It is important to consider your child's physical and mental development when evaluating current and future hazards.

---

Travel Tips

With a week of sunshine and winter well behind us our thoughts quickly turn to our summer holidays. Each year throughout the summer months I and my colleagues see patients who have developed illnesses on holiday which have caused much anxiety, destroyed everyone’s pleasure and  often been costly in terms of traveling home early and medical bills. Many of these simple illnesses can often be avoided by a little planning before and by simple preventative measures.

---

Summer Advantage

Summer is a special season when you have an opportunity to strengthen a child’s health significantly and improve child’s host defences. At the same time, summer is also an insidious season, as the risk of contracting different infections, especially enteric ones, increases during hot periods of the year.

---

Facts about Heart Disease

Perhaps nowhere in medicine is such attention and finding evident than in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of heart disease. It is perhaps because of that attention that I have chosen it as the subject of my first article. The heart has always been a very special organ as recognised by the early Greek and Chinese doctors and it has always been attributed with special powers and some spiritual sense. Indeed it is a remarkable organ beating some 30 million times in an average Western life. It is awesome to think of any mechanical equivalent that supports such technological brilliance and yet at a basic level it is a very simple 4 chambered muscular pump with 4 valves and an electric circuit that maintains its operation.

---

Diabetes - The New Epidemic

It's refreshing to live in Ukraine where I don’t have to regularly see obese children and as a doctor have to try and negotiate this difficult subject with their mothers - an exercise in communication that normally leaves all parties unhappy. The growth in obesity in both adults and children in America and Western Europe, indeed in nearly all affluent countries, has been huge and quite apparent to me in my 35 years as a doctor. It is for example now estimated that some 30% of adult Americans, some 10% of infants and toddlers, and some 18% teenage children are classified as obese. To give a clearer picture if you are 183cm tall  (6 ft) you should weigh no more than 83 Kg (183 lbs). If you weigh up to 100 Kg (220 lbs) you are overweight and only over that classified as obese.

---

A H1N1 flu in Ukraine: update II

As I fly back into Ukraine after a few days in London I am struck by masked passengers at the check in for the Kiev flight and have already been warned of the “huge epidemic”. As a health care professional it is difficult and yet important to obtain an objective picture and to give sound advice.

---

Influenza A/H1N1 preventative measures

October 31, 2009---The Minister of Health of Ukraine Vasyl Kniazevych announced today, that epidemic of the A (H1N1) virus, also known as swine flu, has started in Ukraine.

---

Swine flu and seasonal Influenza in Ukraine

As winter approaches and we read about a second wave of swine flu we wonder what will be the implications for Ukraine where only 2 cases have so far been reported

---

Chain Reaction

An allergy is your immune system's reaction to certain plants, animals, foods, insect bites, or other things. Your immune system protects you from diseases by fighting germs like bacteria and viruses, but when you have allergies, it overreacts and tries to "fight" ordinary things like grass, pollen, or certain foods.

---

Sleep Deprivation

We all live in a society that is becoming increasingly demanding on our emotions and our psychology. Despite this it is estimated that we are in general sleeping one hour a night less than 75 years ago and by sleeping less we are increasingly adopting behaviours that increase such emotional demands and fail to allow us to restore our psychological well-being.

---

Influenza virus vaccine 2008-2009 season

While some people are still recovering from their busy summers, flu season is just around the corner and flu vaccines are now available around the country.

---

A Cold or the Flu? What's the Difference?

People sometimes use the words cold and flu interchangeably, or they use flu to mean a stomach virus, with symptoms such as diarrhea. Actually, the flu is a viral disease called influenza. It may have symptoms in common with a cold, but it's more serious, since it can have potentially fatal complications. The flu kills 20,000 Americans each year.

---

Tips for Staying Safe This Summer

Whether you plan to spend the summer in your own back yard or traveling the world, there are a number of precautions to take to avoid having your fun disrupted by health problems.

---

A new era in cervical cancer prevention

New vaccines will ultimately help to prevent the infections that cause most cervical cancer in women -- saving thousands of lives around the world in the future

---

Keep Your Child Well at School - Part III (Stress and Playground Safety)

To our patients, clients and friends from the world over - American Medical Centers offers sincere and heartfelt condolences to all those who were affected by the tragedies in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania on September 11. As we continue our Healthcare Updates today, we are reminded of all those fine individuals from around the globe who have offered their support and understanding and we thank you most sincerely.

---

When to Call the Doctor About Your Child's Cold

Colds are very common, and most children with a "simple" cold do not need to see the doctor. However, some viral respiratory infections result in ear infections, wheezing, or asthma-like coughing, bronchitis or pneumonia (lung infection), and other complications. How can you tell when to call the doctor, and when your doctor needs to see your child for a cold? Call your pediatrician if...

---

Vitamins: Why Pregnant Women Need Them

The best time to start taking prenatal vitamins is before you conceive. Prenatal vitamins are safe and comprehensive and help support a normal and healthy pregnancy. You may not need every ingredient in them, but most include the water-soluble vitamins that need to be replaced daily (C, the Bs).

---

Migraine Headaches

Migraine headaches are a specific type of headache that often results in recurring episodes for those that experience them. Migraines are different from other headaches because they also often occur with symptoms such as acute nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light. Those that experience migraines may have warning symptoms, called an aura, before the actual headache begins. Most people, however, do not have such warning symptoms and endure what is often a debilitating headache.

---

Scoliosis: Home Check for Spine Curvature

Scoliosis is a very common problem among children. In this HealthCare Update you can learn how to diagnose early childhood scoliosis and how to prevent this serious disease. A doctor should examine children for curvature of the spine during annual visits. Older children are often checked in school screenings. However, parents can perform simple tests at home, using the following tips from the Scoliosis Research Society.

---

Keep Your Child Well at School - Part II (Infectious Diseases)

A schoolroom full of children is an ideal environment for disease transmission. Many school systems or local health departments require that children have a full set of immunizing shots before they go to school.

---