Fight Stress with Healthy Habits

Healthy habits can protect you from the harmful effects of stress. Here are 10 positive healthy habits you may want to develop.

• Talk with family and friends. 

A daily dose of friendship is great medicine. Call or write your friends and family to share your feelings, hopes and joys.

• Engage in daily physical activity.

Regular physical activity relieves mental and physical tension. Physically active adults have lower risk of depression and loss of mental functioning. Physical activity can be a great source of pleasure, too. Try walking, swimming, biking or dancing every day.

• Accept the things you cannot change. 

Don't say, "I'm too old." You can still learn new things, work toward a goal, love and help others.

• Remember to laugh. 

Laughter makes you feel good. Don't be afraid to laugh out loud at a joke, a funny movie or a comic strip, even when you're alone.

• Give up the bad habits. 

Too much alcohol, cigarettes or caffeine can increase stress. If you smoke, decide to quit now.

• Slow down. 

Try to "pace" instead of "race." Plan ahead and allow enough time to get the most important things done.

• Get enough sleep. 

Try to get six to eight hours of sleep each night. If you can't sleep, take steps to help reduce stress and depression. Physical activity also may improve the quality of sleep.

• Get organized. 

Use "to do" lists to help you focus on your most important tasks. Approach big tasks one step at a time. For example, start by organizing just one part of your life — your car, desk, kitchen, closet, cupboard or drawer.

• Practice giving back. 

Volunteer your time or return a favor to a friend. Helping others helps you.

• Try not to worry. 

The world won't end if your grass isn't mowed or your kitchen isn't cleaned. You may need to do these things, but today might not be the right time.

This article was originally published on heart.org

Our Doctors' Articles: Straighten Your Teeth Without Braces!

Would you like to get your teeth into shape?

There are many adults who are unhappy with the arrangement of their teeth and would really like to straighten them. But what holds them back is the thought of wearing braces and metal wires. Now, there is a system of straightening teeth without braces or wires.

The system, called Invisalign, uses a series of custom-made, transparent, removable aligners that fit over the teeth – like contact lenses for the teeth! Each aligner is worn for 2-3 weeks and is designed to move the teeth a little at a time. This American technology uses a patented computer system to design and manufacture the clear aligners.

The main advantages of Invisalign are that the aligners are

• Clear – people don’t need to know you are straightening your teeth 
• Removable – you can eat whatever you want and it is easy to clean your teeth. 
• More comfortable – no sharp braces or wires to get used to 

Invisalign is suitable for adults who have mild to moderate irregularities of their teeth. It is particularly suitable for those who have had treatment with braces in their teens but experienced some mild relapse. With the Invisalign Lite package, their teeth could be straight again in as little as 7 months!

If you want to know whether Invisalign treatment is appropriate for your condition, you need to have an orthodontic consultation. At this consultation, your records like X-rays, photographs and moulds of your teeth will be made by the clinic. These records will be sent to the Invisalign Laboratory and in a few weeks, a computerised simulation of how your teeth will move during treatment, and the expected end-result, will be sent to the clinic. Only after the clinic and you have reviewed the treatment results -- and you agree to it -- will the Invisalign aligners be manufactured.

The aligners need to be worn about 20-22 hours a day. i.e. they are only removed for eating and cleaning. Each aligner needs to be worn for a minimum of 2 weeks before changing to the next aligner in the sequence. Patients need to be reviewed by the dentist every 6-8 weeks to ensure that the teeth are moving according to plan. As there are no wires to change or adjust, each appointment is usually much faster – and less painful.

And here’s another benefit: If you want a brighter smile, the aligners can be used with teeth whitening gel so that you get your teeth whitened as you straighten them!

Invisalign treatment for more complex cases may take a year or more and some cases may simply be unsuitable for this method. Hence, it is essential to have a thorough clinical examination and all your records analysed to see if this method is right for you.

For the fees involved, please see http://www.smilemakers.com.sg/fees.htm

This article was written for Tab A Doctor by;

Dr. Asha Karan of Smile Makers Dental Clinic – the clinic for all members of the Family.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by a germ known as mycobacterium tuberculosis. Up until about 50 years ago, there were no drugs to cure TB. Now, we have adequate facilities and means to diagnose, prevent and treat TB. Yet, we are still facing a worldwide epidemic of TB. Worse, we are seeing an emergence of a TB germ that is resistant to the drugs we use to treat the disease.

TB infections are spread by breathing in droplets containing the TB germs. When people who are infected cough or sneeze, they spray TB germs into the air. Other people get infected when they inhale these TB germs.

Not everybody who gets infected with the germ develops the disease. The body's immune system 'walls off' the TB germ, which can lie dormant in the body for years. TB disease develops in about 10% of those infected. If your immune system is weakened e.g. by AIDS or drugs the chance of getting TB will be higher.

Causes & risk factors

TB is an air-borne disease transmitted through respiratory droplets from a person with the disease.
The risk of developing active TB disease is higher in:

• Persons with prolonged close contacts with someone known to have untreated TB
• Persons with underlying medical conditions such as HIV disease and diabetes
• Persons who have a weakened immune system e.g. due to drugs or sickness
• Persons who have poor nutritional status
• Drug addicts

Signs & symptoms

The following features raise the suspicion of TB:

• Cough lasting longer than 3 weeks
• Coughing out blood
• Feeling tired all the time
• Fever and night sweats
• Loss of weight
• Chest pain

Complications

Infection with TB can cause permanent lung damage if not treated early. It can also spread to other parts of the body such as the bone, intestine, brain and central nervous system where it can lead to life-threatening complications. The most serious complication, however, is when TB infection recurs and the strains causing the disease are resistant to multiple anti-TB medications.

Screening & diagnosis

If you have a cough that persists longer than 3 weeks or any of the other symptoms, see your doctor right away. If you know of someone who has the same symptoms, encourage the person to go as well. Your doctor will ask you to go for a chest X-ray. Some of you may be referred to a specialist for further investigations.

Treatment

TB disease can be cured with anti-TB drugs. To be effective, the drugs must be taken exactly as prescribed. Treatment usually involves a combination of several different drugs. Because TB germs die very slowly, anti-TB drugs must be taken for 6 to 9 months. You must continue to take your medicine until all the germs are killed, even if the symptoms of disease go away and you start to feel better.

Incomplete TB treatment means that the TB germs in the body that survive continue to grow and multiply. But this time, the germs may develop resistance to the usual TB drugs. In such situations, a different set of drugs with more side effects must be taken for a longer period. The chance of cure is also considerably reduced. What's more, the next person e.g. a family member, who gets infected, will have the same drug-resistant germs.

The World Health Organisation has advocated DOT as the standard of care for TB patients. DOT stands for Directly Observed Treatment. It means having your TB treatment supervised, usually at the polyclinics. Trained nurses will observe you taking the correct dosage and combination of TB medications. The best way to cure TB and curb its spread is to receive your treatment under the Ministry of Health's DOT programme.

Prevention

TB is a preventable disease. People with TB should be treated before they develop active disease. Also, one of the ways to control the infection is to take careful precautions with people hospitalised with TB.

There are also measures you can take on your own to help protect yourself and others:

• Complete the full course of your TB medications.

TB bacteria have a chance to become resistant to most TB drugs if full course of TB treatment is stopped. The mutant TB strains become more deadly and difficult to treat.

• Go for regular testing.

Skin testing is advised annually for those people whose immune system is weakened due to HIV or for those who have a substantially increased risk of exposure to the disease such as healthcare workers.

• Lead a healthy lifestyle.

Keep your immune system healthy by adopting healthy eating habits, exercising regularly and having enough sleep

If you have active TB, you can help keep your family and friends from getting sick by:

• Staying at home all the time especially the first two to three weeks of treatment.
• Covering your mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and wear a mask in the presence of other people during the first few weeks of treatment.
• Disposing properly the dirty tissue by sealing it in a bag and throwing it away.

This article was originally published in http://www.hpb.gov.sg