Regardless of who may be correct about how colds are spread (see p. 13), it seems wise to follow the prevalent advice: wash your hands often, especially if you are working or living with someone with a cold. Change towels and washcloths often and wash them in hot water; better yet, give each person in the household his or her own color-coded hand towel and washcloth.
Unless you have just washed your hands, keep them away from your nose and eyes. According to B. Burton, a nurse and infection control specialist at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, Colorado, “The average person touches his face within the area of the eyes, nose and mouth about once every 20 minutes.”
Of course, if you are the one with the cold, it’s only common courtesy to wash your hands often, especially after blowing your nose, and to keep your hands to yourself. If you want to show really good manners, when you have a cold and must greet someone, refrain from the conventional handshake. Apologize and explain that you’d rather keep your cold to yourself.
It is also time to question whether it is good manners to cover coughs and sneezes with your hands. To reduce the risk of spreading your illness to others, it would be better to keep your hands away from your face and instead turn your head away.
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December 25, 2010
PREVENTING COLDS: WASH THOSE HANDS
December 20, 2010
суставной синдром
Первичным ведущим симптомом является суставной синдром, т.е. периодически возникающая боль и скованность движений в области позвоночника и суставов конечностей по утрам. Больное место слегка припухает. В этот период больные могут активно заниматься обычными делами. Болезнь не ограничивает профессиональную деятельность.
Далее, по мере нарастания болезни, возникает лёгкая атрофия мышц, пигментация кожи. Боли при движении, иногда в состоянии покоя, явно выраженная припухлость и температура кожи над суставом. Больные с трудом могут обслуживать себя, при резко выраженных болях они теряют профессиональную трудоспособность.
В запушенной стадии заболевания – скованность движений, боли держатся и состоянии покоя. Высокая температура тела, значительно выраженная припухлость, покраснение и температура кожи над суставом. Возможна полная потеря движений. Больные не могут обслуживать себя, теряют трудоспособность.
December 19, 2010
ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT: FACTORS IN SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT
Having alluded to failure and some sense of what to avoid, let us proceed to success. The likelihood of success is greatly enhanced if treatment is tailored to the characteristics of the disease being treated. The following factors, always present in the alcoholic, should guide both the planning and process of treatment.
Dysfunctional life-style. The alcoholic’s life-style has been centered on alcohol. If this is not immediately evident, it is because the particular alcoholic has done a better-than-average job of disguising the fact. Thus, the counselor cannot expect a large repertoire of healthy behaviors that come automatically. Treatment will help build these, as well as dust off and rediscover behaviors from the past to replace the warped “alcoholic” responses. This fact is what makes residential treatment desirable. Besides cutting down the number of easy drinking opportunities, it provides some room to make a new, fresh beginning.
Few experiences of handling stress without alcohol. Alcohol has been the alcoholic’s constant companion. It is used to anticipate, get through, and then get over stressful times. Alcoholics, to their knowledge, are without any effective tools for handling problems. In planning treatment, be alert to what may be stressful for a particular client and provide supports. In the process, the counselor can tap skills within the alcoholic to be turned to rather than the bottle.
Psychological wounds. Alcohol is the alcoholic’s best friend and worst enemy. The prospect of a life without alcohol seems either impossible or so unattractive as to be unworthwhile. The alcoholic feels lost, fragile, vulnerable, fearful. No matter how well put together the client can appear, or how much strength or potential the counselor can see, the client, by and large, is unable to get beyond those feelings of impotence, nakedness, nothingness. Even when being firm and directive, the counselor has to have a gentle awareness of this.
Physical dysfunctions. Chronic alcohol use takes its toll on the body. Even if spared the more obvious physical illnesses, the alcoholic must contend with other subtle disturbances of physical functioning. Sleep disturbance can last up to 2 years. Similarly, a thought impairment would not be unusual on cessation of drinking. The alcoholic in the initial stage of recovery will have trouble maintaining attention. There will be diminution of adaptive abilities. During treatment, education about alcohol and its effects can help allay fears.
Chronic nature of alcoholism. A chronic disease requires continuing treatment and vigilance regarding the conditions that can prompt a relapse. This continued self-monitoring is essential to success in treatment.
Deterioration in family function. The family needs as much help as the alcoholic. Better outcomes result when they have a treatment program of their own in conjunction with the alcoholic’s treatment.
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December 12, 2010
CHEMICAL MEDIATORS OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS
Chemical Mediators Causing Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis
Mediator Symptoms Produced
Histamine Stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing, itchy nose,
itchy throat, itchy palate, itchy ears
Prostaglandin D2 Inflammation of nose
Leukotrienes Runny nose, stuffy nose, inflammation
Each of these mediators exerts its effect by interacting with a receptor on the surface of a specific cell in the nasal tissue. Histamine, for example, binds to one of two types of receptors, called H1 and H2 receptors. Tissue that doesn’t contain either of these receptors cannot be acted upon by histamine. It is mainly through the H1 receptor that histamine stimulates tissues in your nose and causes allergic symptoms. Antihistamines and other medications used to treat allergic symptoms act by blocking the receptors through which the chemical mediators work. Thus, antihistamines work mainly by blocking the interaction of histamine with the H1 receptor.
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