By Blue Rose on Monday, 11 of May , 2009 at 4:56 pm
What is stress? What causes it? Is it really that bad on our health?
Stress is usually thought of as a particular response of the body to threatening external events. Surprisingly, perhaps, stress is the body’s general response to ay demand on it, regardless of whether that demand is pleasant or unpleasant, and whether it is emotional or physical. The stressful effects of accidents or bereavements, or of simply trying to keep up with the many tasks you have to accomplish during the day, are obvious. But the physiological responses to happy events such as getting married, having a baby, receiving an increase in salary, or falling in love, are strikingly similar to those brought about by unhappy events.
Stress is sometimes gives us help, all living creatures need challenges to keep them stimulated, and human beings are no exception. Without challenges, people become dull and apathetic, and lose the will to live life to the fullest. Overt, damaging stress occurs when challenges become impossible to cope with. In this sense, stress is a protective reaction to too much challenge.
In order to combat stress, you have to be able to recognize when it’s affecting you. Use the physical and mental symptoms listed to help you discern whether stress is affecting you; but remembers that many of them can have other causes and it is the changes in the behavior that are significant. If an activity is ingrained, it is a habit, not a sign of stress.
Do you recognize two or more of the following in yourself or someone close to you? If so, the problems need to be tackled immediately.
Physical Symptoms
- Have your eating habits changed?
- Has your sleep pattern altered?
- Is your digestive system upset?
- Have you developed any nervous habits, such as fidgeting or touching your hair and face repeatedly?
-Is your blood pressure raised?
- Do you have frequent headaches, cramps and muscle spasms?
- Have you become hyperactive?
- Have your sexual performance, drive and enjoyment, deteriorate?
- Are you drinking or smoking more?
Mental Symptoms
- Have you began to suffer from a phobia or obsession?
- Have you lost self-confidence and self-esteem?
- Do you constantly feel guilty?
- Do you dread the future?
- Have you memory and concentration deteriorated?
- Do you find yourself unable to finish one task properly before having to rush on to the next?
- Do you feel constantly irritated and angry?
- Do you feel isolated?
- Do you fill the day with trivial tasks?
- Do you find it hard to make decisions?
- Do you often cry or feel like crying?
- Does your mind race so that you cannot focus on one tasks or thought?
Evaluate your self; I will bring you up next time on how you can manage your stress out.
By Blue Rose on Tuesday, 28 of April , 2009 at 4:04 pm
Swine influenza (also swine flu) refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus (family Orthomyxoviridae) that is endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus (SIV). Of the three genera of Orthomyxoviridae that are endemic in humans, two are endemic also in swine: Influenzavirus A (common) or Influenzavirus C (rare). Influenzavirus B has not been reported in swine. Within Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus C, the strains endemic to swine and humans are largely distinct.
People who work with poultry and swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of infection with influenza from these animals if the animals carry a strain that is also able to infect humans. SIV can mutate into a form that allows it to pass from human to human. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak is believed to have undergone such a mutation.
Signs and Symptoms
In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. In most cases, the strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak causes only mild symptoms.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in humans the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A few more patients than usual have also reported diarrhea and vomiting.
Because these symptoms are not specific to swine flu, a differential diagnosis of probable swine flu requires not only symptoms but also a high likelihood of swine flu due to the person’s recent history. For example, during the 2009 swine flu outbreak in the United States, CDC advised physicians to “consider swine influenza infection in the differential diagnosis of patients with acute febrile respiratory illness who have either been in contact with persons with confirmed swine flu, or who were in one of the five U.S. states that have reported swine flu cases or in Mexico during the 7 days preceding their illness onset.” A diagnosis of confirmed swine flu requires laboratory testing of a respiratory sample (a simple nose and throat swab).
Prevention
Recommendations to prevent infection by the virus consist of the standard personal precautions against influenza. This includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after being out in public. People should avoid touching their mouth, nose or eyes with their hands unless they’ve washed their hands. If people do cough, they should cough into a tissue and throw it in the garbage immediately, cough into their elbow, or, if they cough in their hand, they should wash their hands immediately. Vaccines that are effective against the current strain are being developed.
Safe Care Campaign reports that hand transmission is one way that germs are carried, not only from one area to another (for instance, a contaminated surface to your nose or mouth, but also from one person to another as when shaking hands). When attending to a patient, it is imperative to wash and/or sanitize hands, not only prior to touching them but afterwards as well.
Remember “prevention is better than cure.” Take care.
