Dietary Management In Gout

The main three primary objectives of gout management are:
(i) quick relief from the inflammatory condition,
(ii) to stop recurring attack, and
(iii) to lower the rate of deposition of uric acid crystals in the joints and to increase the rate of excretion of it through urine.
Dietary management in gout
In this disease, although some relief from the pain can be achieved by temporarily excreting out uric acid from the body by medicine, but total cure is not possible. It is only by restriction of the diet, that is, by proper diet control that relief from gout can be obtained. The primary condition of this diet control is to have only purine-less foods. But one may take foods containing very less amount of purine as well. If the amount of daily intake of purine can be restricted to 100 - 150 mg, then the symptoms of gout and hyper-uricaemia will be considerably less. The following chart shows the level of purine in different types of foods:
Purine level maximum (150 - 825 mg / 100 g )- to be avoided completely:
Liver, kidney, red meat, shellfish, herring, sardine, meat extract, gravy, broth, chopped meat, sweet bread, soyabean, rajma, lentil, alcoholic drinks (specially beer and wine).
Purine level medium (50 - 150 mg / 100 g)- can be taken occasionally:
Wholegrain bread, spinach, grains, cauliflower, peas, mushroom, asparagus, oatmeal, wheatgerm & bran, chicken, sweet-water fishes.
Purine level minimum (0 - 50 mg / 100 g)- can be taken plentifully:
Tea, coffee, soda, refined cereal, egg, cheese, milk, nuts, cream soup, macaroni/noodles, fruits & fruit-juices, vegetables, butter, vegetable oil.
Food policy in gout
Since carbohydrate meal is very helpful to increase the amount of urate excretion, therefore, 50 - 55% of the total calorie content of the diet of any gout patient should come from carbohydrate foods. The amount of protein intake should be restricted to 1g / kg ideal body weight. The amount of fat intake should also be controlled. Only 30% of the total calorie should come from fat. The amount of cholesterol, anyway, should not exceed 300 mg / day.
Generally, majority of those who suffer from gout or hyper-uricaemia also suffer from the problem of obesity. So to keep the disease under control, it is necessary to keep the body-weight under control. For this, it is required to cut short the daily calorie requirement by 400 - 500 calories.
Beside these, it is to be seen that there are adequate amounts of Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, Calcium, Potassium and Phosphorus in the daily diet chart. It is required to control the uric acid level in the blood and to eradicate the chance of kidney stone. It is necessary to drink at least 3 - 4 litres of water daily. Vegetables, fruit juice, milk and milk-products are very useful in this case.
Foods that can be taken in gout
* refined cereal & cereal products, cornflakes, bread, flour, arrowroot, sago, suji, tapioca, noodles, rice, rice flour, etc. -- 150 - 250 g
* milk, milk products, cheese, paneer
* egg (1no.), linfish/linmeat (30 g, 3 - 5 times/week)
* potato, carrot, garlic, onion, cabbage, pumkin, capsicum, gourd, etc.
* guava, tomato, amla, cucumber, melon, papaya, apple
* giletin, sweets, dessert, pudding
* butter, vegetable oil, olive oil (10 - 30 g/day)
* tea, coffee, cocoa, fruit juice, vegetable juice, pure drinking water.
But if the condition of gout is too severe, then beside avoiding high and medium purine containing foods, egg, butter, cheese and fries should also be avoided.
Do tea & coffee increase the uric acid level?
Many people think that tea and coffee should be completely avoided in gout since both of them contain purine. But, in actuality, the purine present in tea or coffee does no harm in gout. Because, tea or coffee contains methylated purine, which gets converted to methyl uric acid. It does not get deposited in the body, but is excreted out through urine.
A sample diet chart to control gout
Breakfast:
* breakfast cereal/bread + jam/butter
* apple pudding
* tea/coffee
Before noon:
* cucumber + orange juice
Lunch:
* rice/chapatti
* vegetable (potato-pumkin curry or gourd curry)
* small fish/paneer
* white curd
Tiffin:
* mixed fruit salad
Dinner:
* vegetable pulao
* cucumber + tomato salad
* pudding/custard
This is a sample diet chart. But considering the individual health condition, age, body weight, height and ability to work, for the actual diet chart, it is needed to consult a specialist.
Precautions
It is very dangerous to fast completely in order to lose body weight in gout, since due to fasting the fat deposited in the body starts breaking down which creates pressure on the liver. Moreover, the nucleic acid in the cell breaks down and increases the uric acid level in the blood. Due to higher rate of fat metabolism, the chance of severe gout condition increases very much. Apart from these, the lactic acid level in the blood may increase and complicate the condition more. It is also essential to control the blood sugar level always.

How Driving For A Living Can Affect Your Health, You May Be Surprised

Have you ever stopped for long enough to consider some of the health issues that may associated with driving for a living, or even driving a great deal for work?
Aside from the risks and dangers associated with their mobile working environment, drivers are also confronted with health damaging effects of their job's nature. In one research study it was found out that 0.1% of car driving accidents are caused by health problems. Of this figure, 10-25% are heart related disorders.
According to research, people who drive for a living are more prone to suffer from a wide range of illnesses including gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and respiratory disorders than people who drive less often. Compared to other people of their age, drivers are more likely to be diagnosed with bowel and lung cancers due to their unhealthy lifestyle.
People who engage in trucking are highly exposed to high levels of air pollutants which can create drastic damage to their health. For instance, diesel fuels contain carcinogenic properties and emit carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides which are proven to have negative impacts to a person's respiratory functions.
Carbon monoxide can actually reduce the level of oxygen delivered to the tissues, especially the myocardium. Furthermore, these substances are directly associated with the occurrence of bronchitis, asthma and other conditions such as sore eyes, ear problems and headaches.
It is claimed that prolonged exposure to noise can actually increase the level of blood pressure which influences an individual's risk for cardiovascular disorders. Also, vibration which can be derived in fork lift truck operation and driving create severe effects on the arterial intima which can cause adverse effects to the functions of the cardiovascular system.
Aside from the environmental hazards and risks which drivers have to face regularly, they also need to deal with the effects of observing an unhealthy and non-conducive lifestyle while on duty. Long term driving can trigger substantial physical changes in the body.
These include changes in vision, attention, reaction time, coordination, strength, flexibility and hearing. These changes may drastically affect one's driving ability which when left unaddressed can lead to major road accidents.
A person's eyesight and peripheral vision decline with age. Through time, some drivers are diagnosed with eye disorders including macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataract. These conditions can affect the driver's ability to drive at night and see to the side. When left untreated, these conditions can increase the risk of crashes.
Moreover, long hours of driving regularly can trigger the accumulation of environmental, physical, nutritional and emotional stresses. Over-exposure to these stresses can actually increase one's risk for cardiovascular diseases.
Environmental stresses are normally caused by too much traffic, too many accidents, traffic jams, inadequate lanes and highways, as well as poisonous toxins such as lead and carbon monoxide produced by vehicles.
Long term driving can also trigger the onset of headaches, backaches and illness. It can cause nutritional stresses due to poor diet which may trigger nutrient insufficiency. Drivers spent most of their time on the roads, thus they are less likely to get adequate amount of food in appropriate times.
Unlike other groups of workers who can go home to take their dinner or lunch on time, drivers are more likely to succumb to a diet which contains high levels of carbohydrates and fats. Furthermore, there are higher chances that their intake of salads, fibres and fresh fruits are reduced. This can significantly contribute to poor health.
According to surveys, most drivers are smokers. Undeniably, cigarette smoking has huge drastic impact to the health of humans. It is one of the major factors that aggravate many fatal health conditions including hypertension, respiratory disorders and lung cancer.
Furthermore, posture in driving exerts certain amount of force in the spine which in the long run, can trigger the development of many musculoskeletal disorders including pulled muscles, neck problems, general stiffness and backaches.
Reclining or sitting for long hours create tremendous impact to a human's body. In fact, aside from diet, it is one of the most common factors that can trigger the formation of kidney stones. Continuous driving during hot weather while suffering from fatigue may actually trigger kidney stone relapse.
Many serious health conditions are caused by long term driving. It is important to seek out treatment whenever diagnosed with certain illnesses as it doesn't just put the driver's life into danger, it can also put other drivers at risk. Traffic police recommend driving for not more than 4 hours and frequent rest should be observed. Also, drivers should drink plenty of water while on the roads.

An Alternative To Liposuction That Safely Removes Fat

With educational programs concerning the crisis of obesity in our country, many have become conscious of their own health status and have tried several methods for improvement. In order to improve health, regular exercise and eating a healthy, balanced diet are both important. One of the many benefits of incorporating a healthier lifestyle is the transformation of your outward appearance. As you exercise more and eat right, you may notice a whittling down of your waistline. You may also notice that no matter how hard you try, you just cannot seem to get rid of that stubborn fat from certain areas of your body.
Many individuals have chosen a surgical procedure known as liposuction to get rid of unwanted fat deposits from their bodies; however, there is a new, non-surgical option that is an effective and safe alternative. This procedure, known as CoolSculpting, targets specific areas of the body in order to kill excessive fat cell by using a non-invasive fat freezing technology. During the procedure, no incisions or anesthesia is used, and there is no long-term recovery time. This procedure does not damage the musculature or skin. This procedure will not even put too much of a damper in your regular schedule. You may be able to return to your normal activities almost immediately, since your body naturally gets rid of the dead cells in order to reveal a more contoured and shapely body.
The results of the fat freezing process in the CoolSculpting procedure may begin to show 2-4 months following your treatment. This procedure will kill fat and produce dead cells in your body. The natural response of your body to the dead cells is to get rid of them, which requires no surgery. You will have an applicator that will be attached to the area you want to target, which will draw the fat between cooling panels in order to kill and treat fat cells. Many of the patients who have this treatment experience no discomfort or pain; however, some experience temporary bruising. The procedure only takes around 1 hour to complete, with most patients simply relaxing or reading during the procedure.
If you are interested in the alternative procedure to liposuction known as CoolSculpting, locate a reputable plastic surgical clinic to set up a consultation. You will have the opportunity to learn more about the procedure as you speak to the surgeon. Make sure the surgeon has board certification through the American Board of Plastic Surgery and has memberships with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, as well as other important credentials. This surgeon will give you a detailed account concerning the procedure so you can make an informed decision as to whether it is right for you.

Identifying the Best Medical Transcription Services

Outsourcing medical transcription services have now become popular because of the benefits it has for medical practitioners. Identifying the best transcription service provider who suits your needs is the most challenging task. Especially because there are a number of providers offering these services and you will have to compare a list of features between them to decide on the final choice for outsourcing your transcription work. This article discusses the three areas to be assessed to identify the best transcription agencies for your requirements.
Experience Of The Service Provider
First of all you will require making a list of companies who are providing these services and choose the ones who have a good experience in this field. Experience of the service provider would mean that they know this field and they understand the need for accuracy and timeliness. The knowledge level of the staffs working with them would also be good and would be well versed in the medical terminologies used for medical transcription. You may go through the clientele, and contact a few of them personally to get feedback on their services.
Efficiency In Services Rendered
The efficiency of the service provider would major depend on the turnaround time and cost. You require choosing a service provider who offers a turnaround time of less than 24 hours. Some of the companies have transcriptions working from eastern countries; this would ensure you have your transcripts ready when you step in for work the next day. There are transcription services who offer a delivery time of 4 to 6 hours but these might be expensive than the others. You may choose the turnaround time depending on your requirements. Most of the service providers charge per line transcribed. You will require seeing through their billing process thoroughly to rule out any hidden fees or rework fees. You may also ask them on how much it would cost you to move you present patient records to the new system.
Online medical transcription services offer a number of options to submit your dictations online like digital recorders, software for dictation and toll-free numbers. You may choose the dictation method convenient to you. They also offer editing and reviews of reports online. They usually follow a specific format in which they would be delivering the transcript, so you may want to look through the format and see if you require any changes to be done to improve readability.
HIPAA Complaint
HIPAA compliance is essential to ensure that patient's records are protected, especially because the information is being processed in service provider's environment and the information is transmitted over the internet. Medical transcription services operating from outside the country also require being HIPAA complaint. This would ensure that patient's medical identity is protected.

Gone Keeps Your Tattoo Sharp and Vibrant

Tattoo Healing Process
While a tattoo is an exciting method of self-expression, a tattoo is also a wound. During tattooing a needle pierces your skin thousands of times, depositing a foreign substance - ink - below the skin. This process usually results in bleeding, as the body attempts to push ink and other contaminants out of the wound and create a scab so that it can heal beneath it. Keeping your tattoo safe and free from contamination and infection means keeping the tattoo covered and thus preventing debris and germs from entering this wound. But allowing your tattoo to heal with all of the color and desired appearance intact also means that you need to prevent scab formation. You can accomplish both of these goals, allowing your tattoo to heal quickly and safely but also with the best appearance possible, by using a revolutionary new moist wound healing gel called Wound-Be-Gone. This gel is the perfect answer to keeping your tattoo color bright and the lines sharp, showing off your body art for a lifetime.
Caring for Your New Tattoo
The key to proper healing of your tattoo is to keep it clean and safe from contamination, while also maintaining a moist healing environment. Obviously, keeping your tattoo clean prevents disease and infection. What you may not know is that keeping your tattoo moist throughout the healing process prevents your body from forming a scab. This healing without a scab is good because scab healing allows for more bleed out of ink and promotes development of scar tissue. By keeping your tattoo moist 24 hours a day until the skin is completely healed you ensure that the new skin grown over your tattoo is healthy, and not full of scar tissue, which would diminish the appearance and color of your tattoo. It is also important to note that scar tissue does not tattoo well. Thus, if scar tissue does form you cannot simply have an artist tattoo over it to correct the color. If a tattoo's appearance is damaged through improper healing there is little that can be done to correct it. Instead, you need to keep the tat moist from the start, to minimize growth of such tissue, and to ensure that the initial healing happens quickly and efficiently. The proper healing gel can make this healing process fast and easy.
Wound-Be-Gone® is a patented healing gel that provides optimal healing power. Though extremely powerful and known to help heal even the most severe wounds, Wound-Be-Gone® is available without a prescription, and is perfect for healing various household injuries - especially tattoos!
When considering tattoo aftercare there are a number of products on the market. This abundance of options may leave you wondering what makes Wound-Be-Gone® a better choice. You may also have question about whether Wound-Be-Gone® will clog your skin pores or cause allergic reactions, or how often you should apply Wound-Be-Gone.® The answers are simple, and the choice is very important, so keep on reading.
The Deficiencies in Other Options
Bacitration and Neosporin are popular tattoo aftercare products, as are Vaseline and other specifically marketed tattoo gels. However, healing products such as Bacitration and Neosporin contain antibiotics. For most wounds and tattoos, these antibiotic properties are unnecessary. Assuming you chose a well established, reputable tattoo artist, your art should be mostly clean and free of bacteria. The gel that the artist applies immediately after the tattoo will kill any minor surface bacteria, and simple cleansing after the initial tattoo is done will remove airborne contaminants; no further antibiotic is necessary. In fact, overuse of topical antibiotics can cause you problems in the future, so antibiotic gels are not the best choice for the 7 - 14 days that it takes a tattoo to heal.
Vaseline and other petroleum based products are not good either. While they will help keep the wound moist, they contain petroleum derivatives which are not healthy for the wound and do not provide the proper environment for healing. Specifically designed tattoo goo's and gels do help provide moist healing, but that is all they do.

Preventing Shoulder Injuries in Youth Athletes

Youth sports injuries can end an athletic career before it ever has a chance to begin, and yet few parents are aware of steps their young athletes can take to help avoid injury. Likewise, many athletes and parents are unaware that some of the most severe, and preventable, injuries are of the "non-contact" variety.
Non-contact injuries are injuries that occur without direct contact and include overuse injuries, ankle sprains, and the majority of shoulder injuries. These injuries become surgical issues because alterations in joint mechanics and muscle tension result in overload and tearing of the shoulder joint structures.
So just what should concerned parents and young athletes be doing to prevent these injuries? Start with a preventative evaluation and then make a comprehensive warm-up routine part of every athletic outing.
Preventative Evaluation
Going beyond the basic pre-participation sports physical, a 30 - 60 minute evaluation can assist in identifying your young athlete's strengths and weaknesses along with establishing a baseline for future comparison in the event of sports related pain or injury. It's important to establish this starting point so it will be easier to track healing and recovery.
Warm Ups Help Prevent Injuries
One of the most common complaints reported among young athletes is shoulder injuries, so this article, and several others to follow, will focus on those injuries. The good news is, as your youth athlete takes to the field, there are some things you can do to assist in preventing shoulder injuries.
One of the most important parts of practice, the warm-up is often under stressed. Often times coaches instruct their players to go warm up and players are left to use their own judgement in to assess when they are ready to play. As a result, the youth tend to discredit the warm-up and spend time chatting instead of properly warming up. It is important that these athletes be instructed on proper warm up stretching and throwing protocols. This is especially important during the early season and spring league games.
But you may be surprised to learn that warm ups should ideally begin well before the season does. Players should begin throwing at least one to two months prior to the start of practice. This will ensure that arm strength and endurance is appropriate and will decrease the occurrence of the injuries caused by fatigue. Just taking the time to get outside or within a facility is important, it would be much better to follow a tiered plan designed to assist in increasing arm strength and endurance. The following is a suggested program designed to have you ready for the season. Remember that soreness may be normal when beginning any program, but taking an extra day off when this occurs is important. It is also suggested that a pitcher be able to complete this program prior to setting foot on the mound.
Interval Throwing Program
The Interval Throwing Program is a safe program to follow if you have had a shoulder injury or a long layoff from throwing competitively. Throwers who are returning to throwing after injury or getting ready to start the season should follow the interval-throwing program, exactly, on an every-other-day basis. The criteria to progress from step to step are that the throwing session was pain free and there is no residual soreness the next day. For throwers who are free of injury, but returning to throwing after a lay-off period, follow the interval-throwing program, on an every-other-day basis, without the rest periods. You should use the 'crow-hop' method for each throw when performing the interval throwing session. The 'crow-hop' method consists of first a hop, then a skip, followed by the throw. This method helps simulate the throwing act, allowing emphasis on total body mechanics involved in the act of throwing. The path of the ball should be an arcing trajectory, not on a flat line trajectory. You should avoid throwing flat-footed to avoid placing excess stress on the throwing shoulder in your training program.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this program or the best course of exercise for your particular sport, position, or injury, contact a sports medicine chiropractor for more information.

Visit a Hearing Center to Learn About How You Hear

A hearing center is a location that specializes in providing testing and services for individuals experiencing a loss or with other types of concerns with the functional aspects of their ears. Though you may not think about them often, the ears are incredibly important for so much beyond just the ability to hear. They also control your balance, for example. When you begin to be unable to hear what others are saying, it may be time to turn to a professional at a hearing center to find out what is happening.
How the Ear Works
The ear's inner workings are amazing. The actual process of hearing starts when sound waves reach the internal structures inside the ear. The vibrations from the sound waves are converted at that point into signals sent through the nerves. The brain recognizes those signals and assigns them a specific description. This is how you know the difference between the sound of a car horn and singing.
There are three main portions of the ear: the outer portion, which is most recognizable as the ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Each portion has a different job to do in the process of interpreting sound waves. When sound waves approach the ear, they are passed from the outer portion into the inner portion. This creates vibrations on the eardrum. The middle ear has three very small bones. These amplify the vibrations significantly, as they travel into the inner ear. Then, the vibrations continue even further into the cochlea. This structure holds fluid and connects the nerve cells to the ear. These nerve endings are very tiny hairs. There are thousands of them present in this area. They help translate the sounds of the vibrations into electrical signals. Your brain then receives these electrical signals and can interpret the vibrations into the sounds they actually are. Different sound vibrations have a different effect on these tiny hairs.
Damage
Often, there is damage to some portion of this structure that limits the transmission of sound into the ear and through the various portions so you can interpret it. As people age, various components of the inner workings of the ear can break down, leading to a loss of hearing ability.
In some cases, it is possible to restore some or all of a person's ability to hear by simply helping to amplifying sound. This can bee done by using a device placed inside the ear. By visiting a hearing center, you can learn more about this process, as well as what you can expect from the use of such a device. Doctors can help determine which portion is not working well and fit you for a device to improve sound quality in some situations.