Why You Feel Tired

Fatigue is the feeling of tiredness and exhaustion after doing too much work. But for some people, fatigue can set in without them even knowing why. This article will discuss the reasons why you may be feeling tired all the time, but before we go to these suggestions, let us first review what happens during fatigue.

There are two types of fatigue: mental and physical fatigue. Physical fatigue occurs after the muscles get tired because of physical work. Fatigue sets in because these overworked muscles feel weak and lack strength. This may be due to the fact that these muscles have already used up their energy and the by-products of this energy burning process are already sending signals to the brain to stop working. The brain responds by sending a feeling of fatigue to the body.

Mental fatigue, on the other hand, is due to too much energy expenditure from focusing or concentrating in things that we are thinking about. Mental fatigue is harder to deal with because a person with mental fatigue may not have the drive to wake up in the morning each day. Mental fatigue is characterized by being sleepy and having a decreased state of consciousness. Mental fatigue is not easily satisfied by physical rest and sleep. You may appear well rested but deep inside you are undergoing mental fatigue and stress.

If you feel fatigued all the time, here are some things which you may be suffering, which you may not know about.

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Dehydration

Dehydration is the lack of water inside the body. We need water in the body so that it can perform its normal physiological processes. Dehydration can give out a feeling of fatigue because neurons in the hypothalamus are activated and send messages to the brain and to other parts of the body to feel weakness, encouraging you to drink more water. To fix this feeling, you should drink 8 glasses of water a day and more if the weather is warm.

Low Vitamin B12 levels

Vitamin B12 is needed by the body for proper nerve functioning and for making red blood cells. If your body is low in Vitamin B12 levels, your blood cannot carry enough oxygen for the needs of the body. As we age, we produce less intrinsic factor, a substance secreted in the gut that helps us absorb Vitamin B12 from food. Vegetarians and vegans may also suffer from vitamin b12 levels because not many vegetables contain this vitamin, which can only be found in red meat and liver. Those with stomach or intestinal surgeries cannot easily absorb vitamin b12 well because vitamin b12 is absorbed in the stomach and intestines.

Symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency include numbness, restless legs, and forgetfulness. If you have these symptoms, you should have yourself checked for this deficiency.

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You Are Stressed

When you are stressed and not well-rested, your body secretes high amounts of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Cortisol levels, when high, can disrupt your sleep and can give you a feeling that you are not well rested. If you think that too much stress is the culprit, you should slow down and rethink your priorities in life. If you value your life and your family, you should not stress yourself out too much with work.

You have Hidden Medical Problems

People who have heart problems also feel unexplained fatigue because the heart cannot pump well to meet the needs of the bodily tissues. If you have chest pain or if you had a prior history of heart problems, you should let yourself checked out by your doctor. Other illnesses which can make you feel tired all the time include anemia and infections.

You Don't Exercise or You Exercise Too Much

In either way, you can feel tired with this. You should have 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week

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Your Body’s Metabolism

Our body lives through the wonderful process of metabolism. Metabolism is a process by which the body sustains the cells and tissues of its organ systems. Metabolism can either be catabolism or the breaking down of food into molecules or anabolism, which is the building up of molecules into compounds. Metabolism works so as to provide us with much-needed nutrients and to provide us with energy.

Metabolism cannot exist without nutrition, because nutrition sustains the metabolic process with its much-needed molecules and compounds. Thus it is of no wonder that we can boost metabolism only with food. If our metabolism is fast enough, our energy levels will remain at constant levels all throughout the day and we will remain refreshed and energetic even in times of stress. People who have a faster metabolic rate also tend to be lean, because their bodies digest food faster and create more energy for them. On the other hand, a slow metabolic rate can make one be sluggish and lethargic. To boost our metabolism, we must consume the right kind of foods with the right number of calories. Here are some foods which can keep us going all throughout the day.

 Foods that Make You Chew

 Chewing burns calories and makes our digestive system assimilate food for an enough period of time. Examples of these chewy foods include fruits, vegetables, lean meats and nuts. Whole foods are better, so that the chewing state can be maximized. High protein foods also go in this category because they give your mouth ample time to chew and your gut ample time to digest food. Chewy foods also make you fuller and satisfy your appetite early so that you can't load on more calories.

 Bulky Foods

 Bulky foods are foods that occupy more room in your belly while containing the same calories as that of typical food. Examples of these space-occupying foods include whole grains, cereals, brown rice, vegetables and fruits. What makes them bulkier is the fact that they contain fiber. Fiber containing foods also lessen your appetite, clean up your digestive system and help in excreting cholesterol out of the body so that you will maintain a lean body. These foods also increase food's thermic effect so that ease of digestion is facilitated.

 Foods That Provide Energy

 Energy boosting foods can boost your metabolism. Examples of these energy-giving foods include green or black tea, coffee and dark chocolate. Coffee contains caffeine which is a stimulant of the nervous system; caffeine is said to boost memory in some studies. Green tea contains catechins which can also increase your body's metabolism and slow down aging. Dark chocolate also contains caffeine and catechins and other antioxidants which fight off aging and boost your metabolism.

Fat Burning Foods

Is there such a thing as food that burns fat? Yes there is. Examples of fat-burning foods include dark-colored fruits and vegetables such as berries, grapes tomatoes and cherries. These foods are rich in antioxidants that give off a bright color. Antioxidants fight off free radicals in the body which can poison the cells causing them to work sluggishly. To speed up your metabolism, snack up on foods rich in antioxidants so that waste products are easily excreted from the body and the metabolic process can be faster. These antioxidants can also help you lose weight and can give you glowing and young-looking skin.

 Foods that Provide Warmth

 Examples of these foods are spices such as garlic, cinnamon, pepper, cloves and mustard. These warming foods can burn energy after eating. Peppers contain capsaicin which can burn up to 100 calories a day. They exert their effects by binding to nerve receptors and signal the brain to burn fat.

 For more healthy tips, you can read our other health articles on this site.

Traditional Chinese Medicines

The Problem On Diabetes

In this world where chronic diseases abound from poor diet and lack of exercise, who has not heard of diabetes? It seems that diabetes is one of the medical illnesses which have stemmed from modernization and busy lifestyles. Diabetes has been described by books as a disease wherein there is a defect in metabolism, or the way the body uses up food to build energy to provide for the needs of bodily tissues. We already know that when we take in food, especially those with carbohydrates, the body digests them or breaks them up into glucose, a simple form of sugar that can be absorbed by the blood.

Glucose passes from the intestines into the blood which takes it to various tissues of the body so that the cells can utilize glucose to perform various processes such as growth and energy creation. However, glucose cannot pass through the cells without the action of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas in the abdomen. Normally, the pancreas secretes just the right amount of insulin for the glucose to move into cells. However, in people with diabetes, the pancreas is not able to secrete insulin in sufficient amounts or it lacks insulin at all. In some cases, the cells are resistant to the action of insulin. Thus glucose does not enter the cells and continually builds up in the blood, some of which is excreted by the kidneys as urine. As a result of these processes, the body cannot utilize glucose well for energy and the person remains weak and feels fatigued.

There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a result of an autoimmune disease affecting the pancreas, making it secrete little or no insulin. Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is the most common type, and is due to the resistance of the body cells to the action of insulin. This type of diabetes is usually encountered in older individuals, in overweight people, in sedentary lifestyles and in certain families. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes resulting during pregnancy and usually disappears after the baby's birth.

The symptoms of diabetes range from weight loss to unexplained thirst and hunger, frequent urination, blurred vision and slow healing wounds. When no treated, diabetes can result to complications such as eye problems, skin problems, cardiovascular diseases, non-healing wounds, infections, gastropathy, stroke, atherosclerosis, nerve problems, erectile dysfunction, and many more. This is why it needs to be treated as soon as possible. Diabetes is a treatable medical condition, in the form of medications and lifestyle changes. However, these medications are not without side effects. This is why experts recommend lifestyle modifications first before giving medical treatment. Many people are continually searching for natural remedies with fewer side effects than conventional medicines have on the body.

Traditional Chinese Medicines and Diabetes

New research published at the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) has said that traditional Chinese herbal medicines can slow down the progression of pre-diabetes to full-blown diabetes. Pre-diabetes is a condition in which a person has elevated blood sugar levels but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Still, people with pre-diabetes are said to be at risk for many medical complications as full-blown diabetics do. These patients are also at high risk for deadly disease such as cardiovascular disease and stroke.

This study is a randomized double-blind trial which utilized 389 pre-diabetics from 11 research sites in China. Some of these subjects were made to take a capsulated from of a mixture of 10 different Chinese herbal medicines (called Tianqi) for one year, three times daily before meals. The study found out that Tianqui reduced diabetes risk by 32.1 % as compared to placebo. The effect was comparable to that of medicines metformin and acarbose. The results are favourable, because now people may have natural alternatives to conventional diabetes medications. Still more studies should be done with regards to its safety and efficacy. For more articles on how to control diabetes, feel free to browse other articles on this site.

How Sedentary Life Can Kill You

Are you fond of sitting down all day at your desk for hours? You better stop now. Researchers from Cornell University studied 93,000 postmenopausal American women and have found out that those who are sedentary most of the time died early than their counterparts who are more active. Sedentary activity was defined as sitting, lying down or resting. The researchers found out that women who remain sedentary for 11 hours daily are at risk for all-cause premature mortality by 12 percent compared with women who are more energetic. The sedentary group of women were also prone to cardiovascular disease by 13 percent, to coronary heart disease by 27 percent and to cancer by 21 percent.

This is why women should stay physically active all the time, because it can protect you through a number of ways. Being sedentary can also weaken you and make it hard for you to regain physical strength. At age 35, majority of women lose muscle mass, and this speeds up while approaching menopause. Lifting weights and other forms of physical activity can counteract the changes encountered when one leads a sedentary life. This is why working out daily is recommended to maintain good health. It is better to start while younger so that more health benefits can be enjoyed.

Even in the office, women can get up and move frequently; the same also holds true when inside the house. You can move while watching TV, having breaks after being in the computer too long or after reading and being conscious of sedentary time.

Physical Activity

Now that you know that a sedentary lifestyle can kill you, what are the steps you should take? Let us bear in mind that physical activity is any movement by the body that is considered muscle work and requires more energy than sitting or lying down and resting.  Physical activity may be aerobic physical activity, muscle strengthening physical activity, stretching and bone-strengthening physical activity. It is said that aerobic exercise has the most benefits for your health. Aerobic physical activity is a type of physical activity wherein there is movement of the arms and legs. Examples of aerobic physical activity include walking, biking, jogging, and dancing.

Muscle strengthening physical activities strengthen muscles and builds endurance. Examples of muscle strengthening physical activities include push-ups, sit-ups and climbing stairs. Bone strengthening exercises, on the other hand, enables better support of your body weight and builds strength within bones. Examples of bone-strengthening activities include jumping rope, running and weight-lifting. Stretching exercises can improve the way you move your limbs and joints and your flexibility. Yoga and stretches are examples of stretching physical activities.

Physical activity is also classified as to whether it is light-intensity, moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity. Light intensity physical activities do not require much effort on your part while moderate-intensity physical activities can cause changes in your heart rate and breathing. Vigorous intensity activities, on the other hand, urge your body systems to work hard and make you almost breathless that you can barely speak a word.

For children, it is recommended that they do about 60 minutes of physical activity every day and should mostly consist of moderate physical activity, such as running, jumping, skipping rope, basketball and other sports. Vigorous intensity activities should be included within 3 days each week, such as running, swimming and jumping jacks.

Adults, on the other hand, need about 2 hours and a half of moderate intensity activities each week. Vigorous physical activities should also be done for 1 hour and 15 minutes each week. More health benefits can be enjoyed for physical activities which are 5 hours or more every week.

If you want to know some more tips on how to stay healthy, feel free to browse other articles on this site.

The Feeling of Pain

Pain”everybody has experienced it. Pain refers to a hurting sensation which produces discomfort and agony to the sufferer. It can be short-lived or long-lived, mild or severe, or constant or intermittent. There are also many different types of pain: throbbing, aching, pulsating, stinging, or sharp. Whatever its characteristic, pain is generated when nerve endings in an area of the body such as limbs, trunk, head, skin or abdomen react to hurt and injury. Signals are then transmitted to the spinal cord and the brain. The brain then sends a signal to the nerve supplying the affected area in the form of pain. Upon feeling pain, a person withdraws his or her part of the body from the stimulus creating injury or hurt.

Pain occurs when there is a threat to tissue damage. This sensation is created by nerve fibers that signal to the brain and can be modified or even blocked by medications or even physical factors such as heat and massage.

Pain is a wonderful sensation created by the body to tell you that something is wrong in the body. For example, headache sets in whenever there is fever resulting from an infection. Pain is felt in a bruised area or a fracture to tell you to stop moving that part of the body and to facilitate rest and healing. Once the injury is repaired, pain goes away. A type of pain, known as chronic pain, goes on for weeks, months or even years. Chronic pain is usually due to an ongoing disease process in the body such as cancers, inflammation or arthritis. You can also classify pain as nociceptive or non nociceptive. Nociceptive pain comes from the body itself such as from the organs and tissues of the body; it may be classified as visceral or somatic pain. Somatic pain comes from the skin, joints, muscles and bones of the body. Visceral pain is pain felt in the viscera or the internal organs of the body, as well as the cavities surrounding them.

Non-nociceptive pain can either be neuropathic or sympathetic. Neuropathic pain is pain that comes from the brain, the spinal cord and the nerves. This can be due to a pinched or an inflamed nerve. It can also be due to nerve damage from hypoxia, multiple sclerosis or stroke. Sympathetic pain, on the other hand, is pain that has something to do with blood flow into the muscles and the skin. An example of this is pain from fractures or soft tissue injuries. Still, another type of pain is referred pain, which is pain felt distal to the site of injury.

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Pain and Gray Matter

Have you ever wondered why some people are extremely sensitive to pain while some are not? A recent study sheds light to this finding, its results having been published by the journal Pain. This study done by researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has shown that there is a part of the brain that determines how people can intensely perceive pain. They have found out that the amount of grey matter in the brain determines how sensitive the person is to pain. We can recall that the brain is made up of both gray matter and white matter. Gray matter is the part of the brain involved with processing information, while white matter is the one involved with communication between the other parts of the brain.

The researchers studied more than a hundred volunteers to find out whether there is truly a relationship between the amount of gray matter and pain sensitivity. They were tested by heating a small spot of their limb skin at 120 degrees Fahrenheit and making them rate the intensity of the pain that they have experienced. They then underwent MRI scans so that the researchers can study their brain structure. The researchers found out that subjects who have less gray matter in their brain have higher pain intensity levels.

The researchers hypothesized that those with a higher threshold for pain who have less gray matter in their brains can control their thoughts and attention well than their counterparts. This means that people who can focus their attention well can also keep their pain under control.

Browse through our other articles to know how to effectively fight pain.

What is Salmonella

Salmonella is a type of Gram negative bacteria which are found in the environment and in the bodies of animals and humans. This rod-shaped organism is the cause of sufferings of numerous people around the world. This is because it has the tendency to cause gastroenteritis (infection and inflammation of the gut), typhoid fever and food poisoning.

Salmonella can be transferred from one human to another; it also can be transferred from animals to humans and from food. There are various types of Salmonella strains. The strains responsible for typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever and gastroenteritis are especially virulent, meaning that they can easily cause disease among us. The bacteria responsible for these diseases have a certain virulence factor complete with a capsule protein which serves as a virulence antigen; it can incite a cascade of reactions in the body, further leading to serious illness.

You can get infected by Salmonella if you ingest foods contaminated with it. Salmonella bacteria love to live in raw, undercooked and reheated food. Its favourite dwellings include eggs, beef, milk and poultry. What is interesting about salmonella is that they can survive for many weeks outside the human body. They are not even destroyed by freezing. They can only be destroyed by heat and ultraviolet radiation. Infection usually results from the consumption of food which is contaminated by the bacteria through processing or handling. Food may also become contaminated if it was being handled by a food handler who carries the bacteria and who does not practice good hygiene (e.g. who does not wash his hands after being in the bathroom, etc). Food may also be contaminated by pet feces that may have huge amounts of salmonella bacteria. Other animals which are likely to carry salmonella bacteria include chickens, ducks, rodents and reptiles.

Once ingested, the bacteria travel from the mouth to the stomach. Majority of the bacteria are destroyed by the gastric juices of the stomach, but they can be trapped within gastric mucus and gastric tissue; in this way they can cause damage to internal organs. This usually results when salmonella bacteria have been ingested in large numbers.

In normal people, there may be no symptoms. Symptoms are only found in immunocompromised people such as infants, children, those with HIV and those with cancers. In infants, infection through inhalation of salmonella-laden dust is possible. After a few hours, the bacteria multiply in the lumen of the intestines and cause inflammation, leading to symptoms of diarrhoea and stomach pain. Stools may contain pus or mucus. Continuous diarrhoea may lead to dehydration in infants and children, which when not corrected, can cause death. Salmonella bacteria may spread to other parts of the body and may cause infections such as meningitis, bone and joint infections and others.

Septic shock can ensue with salmonellosis. Salmonella can also cause hypovolemic shock as a result of too much dehydration. The bacteria contain a certain toxin that inhibits the immune system of the body thorough an enzymatic process. Through this invasive process, salmonella are able to invade living cells in the body, causing illness in a matter of hours.

Salmonella Can Be Highly Resistant To Disinfectants

A recent study has reported that salmonella is difficult to control once it has invaded a food processing facility, due to its ability to form biofilms. These researchers from National University of Ireland tried to kill salmonella bacteria in hard surfaces using three different kinds of disinfectant. They have found out that it was difficult to kill bacteria with these three disinfectants if the bacterial biofilm has already grown for seven days before treatment. They also found out that soaking these biofilms with these disinfectants failed to kill them. This is why the researchers have warned food processing plants to strictly guard against salmonella in their facilities and to make sure that their foods are properly prepared and packaged.

You can learn more about how to keep yourself safe from diseases by browsing other articles on this site.

Why Toothpastes are Important

We have to take good care of our teeth. We may not know this but our teeth plays a major role in our digestive system. It functions by chewing food and breaking it into smaller pieces so that digestive enzymes can easily digest it. We also need our teeth to pronounce words accurately. A beautiful set of teeth makes a perfect smile complete. It also gives a firm shape to our jaw, without which our face would have hollow spaces on each side. These are all the reasons why we need to take care of our teeth.

Taking care of our teeth entails careful brushing, and our toothpaste plays a major role in brushing. This is because the right kind of toothpaste can remove films of bacteria growing on our teeth and gums. These bacteria are responsible for plaque and cavity formation which may further lead to tooth loss and gum disease. Also, the components of toothpaste make tooth enamel stronger and helps promote mineralization to repair tooth decay. Toothpaste polishes the teeth like a floor polisher does to the floor and also removes debris and stains. If we brush with the right kind of toothpaste, our mouth remains fresh and clean.

Toothpaste typically contains fluoride, an ingredient that helps fight off cavities and tooth decay. Other components include sodium lauryl sulfate, an ingredient which is responsible for toothpaste foam.

Toothpastes and Triclosan

A recent review from the Cochrane Library shows that a certain antibacterial agent renders a toothpaste more effective than the usual toothpaste. This antibacterial agent is known as triclosan, which when combined with a copolymer, can reduce gingivitis, plaque and bleeding gums. It can also lessen the extent of tooth decay. The researchers undertook this endeavour of finding out what ingredient makes a toothpaste more effective because they are aware that gingivitis and tooth decay would lead to tooth loss and gum problems. These diseases can also lead to a condition known as periodontitis, a painful gum disease than can also lead to tooth loss.

In this review, toothpaste with triclosan reduced plaque by 20%, reduced gingivitis by 22%, reduced bleeding gums by 48% and reduced tooth decay and cavities by 5% as compared to toothpaste with fluoride only. However this review failed to show that toothpaste with triclosan can reduce the incidence of periodontitis. The researchers did not note any adverse effects.

Other studies in the past have reviewed the safety and efficacy of triclosan toothpastes and have noted that indeed these toothpastes were able to reduce cavity formation, plaque formation and gingivitis.

Triclosan is a phenol which has antibacterial and antifungal activities. According to experts, this substance has no other benefits except the reduction of plaque formation and gingivitis in the form of toothpastes. It has been used for decades as an ingredient in soaps, deodorants, powders, shampoos, mouth washes, handwashes and cleaning products. Though it has antibacterial and antifungal activities, some environmentalists say that it is toxic to both humans and the environment. However, authorities concluded that exposure of triclosan through the skin and the mucous membranes can facilitate its penetration to the bloodstream in minute quantities but these levels do not pose a risk to human health such as cancers, endocrine effects, reproductive effects and the like.

Users should be careful if they have previous allergies to phenol however, because triclosan can precipitate food allergy and allergic contact dermatitis. More studies should be performed especially by some toothpaste companies as to how safe and effective are toothpastes containing triclosan. The researchers stated that their work did not have sponsorship from certain toothpaste companies and are independent in their own way.

Do you want to learn more on how to take care of your teeth? Feel free to browse other articles on oral health at this site.

Are You Suffering From Asthma?

It is very difficult to breathe if you have asthma. An asthmatic attack feels as if you have something heavy weighing down on your chest, preventing you from breathing fully. You gasp for breath and hunger for more air to enter your lungs, but that air fails to reach down to your bronchioles. You feel dizzy, nauseated and dry-mouthed as a result.

Yes it is very difficult to suffer from asthmatic attacks frequently if you are an asthmatic. Asthma is a disease which causes inflammation and obstruction in the airways where air passes from your nose and mouth to your lungs. The airways appear swollen and inflamed due to a triggering allergic process caused by allergens in the air, further narrowing so that less air passes through them. This process in turn causes a wheezing sound during breathing, difficulty of breathing, tightness of the chest and coughing. However, this obstruction is reversible with the use of anti-asthma drugs such as nebulizers and beta-agonist inhalers.

Asthma no More

Thus asthma needs to be controlled as much as possible. Uncontrolled asthma can lead to expensive clinic visits and hospital admissions. Worse, it can lead to death. Good asthma control can be achieved if there is careful monitoring of your symptoms and good compliance to maintenance medications.

Good Asthma Control

To obtain good asthma control, you need to watch out for your symptoms. You should watch out for symptoms such as shortness of breath, difficulty of breathing, cough and chest tightness. Once you feel these symptoms, it is best that you go to your doctor so that you can undergo peak flow meter testing or spirometry. This determines the amount of air that enters your lungs. Depending on your symptoms, your doctor is going to adjust the dose of the medications. The two types of medications used to treat asthma are short-term relief medications and long-term control drugs. Short term medications include albuterol inhalation and other bronchodilator drugs. Long term medications include inhaled corticosteroids. Your control of asthma is greatly dependent on the types of medications you use and your compliance with them.

Recommendations for the treatment of asthma involve the use of a combination of long acting bronchodilators to relax and open up the airways and inhaled corticosteroids to lessen inflammation and mucous production in the airways. The problem with these medications is that they should be stopped as soon as possible when there is no need for them. Long term side effects of steroids include infections, diabetes, weight gain, peptic ulcer, hypertension and other problems. Long-term side effects of long-acting beta-agonist drugs include tremors, palpitations, chest pain and other symptoms. This is why these drugs need to be stepped-down when asthma is already well-controlled.

Better Asthma Control for Sufferers

An incoming study from researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are seeking 450 participants from 18 Asthma Clinical Research Centers in the US to make them take part in a study that will establish treatment guidelines for stepping down medications in asthma. The researchers claimed that the present guideline says that patient treatment should be reduced once asthma has been controlled for three months. However, there lies the difficulty in finding out whether asthma is truly controlled or not in a span of three months. Thus, the study seeks out more data that will tell physicians how to find out whether treatment needs to be adjusted or not.

Ideal volunteers for this study will include those who have well-controlled asthma and have no asthma symptoms at the commencement of the trial period and those who have moderate asthma. Volunteers who have moderate asthma will receive combination therapy with fluticasone and salmeterol twice a day for eight weeks. Those who have well-controlled asthma will be randomized to three arms: those who will receive 50%-reduced dose of combination therapy, those who will take fluticasone and those who will take the original un-titrated dose. The results will be analyzed and compared as to what regimen works best for good asthma control.

Are you an asthma sufferer? You should control your asthmatic attacks in the long run. Feel free to browse other articles about asthma in this site.

Tummy Problems and Probiotics

Babies often spend most of their times feeding. Thus it is of no wonder that their gastrointestinal system is the one which is always upset and appears overused. There are various causes of stomach problems in babies such as colic, reflux, stomach flu and constipation. These problems may also be due to the fact that an infant's gut is not yet developed as to structure and function unlike adults. A baby's digestive system may be quite immature and contains fewer digestive juices and enzymes that can help digest food. Few enzymes and digestive juices can result to incomplete digestion of proteins found in milk ingested by babies. Incomplete digestion of food can lead to the build-up and painful passage of gas. Also, babies cry a lot, adding to gas passing from his or her mouth into the digestive tract. This gives rise to tummy trouble.

One of the most common symptoms of gut problems in babies is abdominal colic. This may cause a baby to cry and be irritable for more than three hours. This may cause baby's tummy to look quite enlarged and may make him or her pass gas or move legs. Colic seems to affect more often babies who are between three or four months of age.

Gastroesophageal reflux is another common problem among babies. Babies who have it may vomit and spit out milk after feedings. It is commonly observed among babies within one year of age. This may also be accompanied by tummy pain or coughing. Gastroesophageal reflux is caused by irritation of the baby's esophagus by digestive juices and food on his or her throat. Babies can cry a lot and refuse to feed when they have GERD.

Another common problem among babies is constipation. This is defined as a lack of bowel movement for two to three days. Oftentimes, babies with constipation may express hard, small and dry stools. This may be due to the fact that the baby is still adjusting to his or her first foods. Once he or she has adjusted to changes in diet, there will be no more constipation. Constipation can cause tummy pain and pain on moving bowels.

All these symptoms make a baby uncomfortable. This is why we have to be careful in giving food or changing the diet of our babies.

Probiotics in Babies

A recent study has shown that an infant who receives a probiotic during the first 3 months of life can reduce his or her risk for having tummy problems. This method may also reduce the costs associated with gut problem management and treatments in the clinics and hospitals. Baby tummy problems are the most common causes of infant hospitalization, paediatrician consults, anxiety among parents and caregivers and absences in work.

In this new study, researchers studied more than five hundred newborns in Italy. Babies were randomized to receive either the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 or placebo for 90 days. The parents of these babies were told to report to the researchers if their babies experience vomiting, bowel emptying, uncontrollable crying and the number of doctor visits. The researchers found out that probiotic use reduced crying time, regurgitations and bowel evacuations per day. The families of the babies who received probiotics also saved some money due to reduced hospital and outpatient visits.

Thus the researchers inferred that lactobacilli intake during the first three months of life may improve intestinal function among babies due to increased intestinal permeability, gut sensitivity and reduction of gut inflammation.

About Probiotics

Probiotics are microorganisms which have beneficial effects on health. It is said that probiotics can boost immune function, treat gut diseases, improve diarrhea, and treat eczema. There are over five hundred different types of bacteria in the gut. These bacteria and yeasts keep the stomach and intestines healthy and get rid of toxins, harmful microorganisms and other waste products inside the digestive system.

So, care to give baby his first probiotic drink? Learn what other foods to give baby through the other articles in this site.