Health care information – Health Darkdaughta

We moved a lot, so I went to ten schools in twelve years. I was always the new kid.

Take it from me, most teachers are a whole lot less than delighted when the new kid turns out to be a loud, energetic tomboy who doesn’t pay attention, but still scores highest test grades.

As if that weren’t enough, I exhibited a symptom of my whacked-out adrenals (a problem yet to be discovered) that few people know about: I sighed a lot. Totally involuntary. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.

Well, you can imagine the thrill teachers got from hearing me sigh as I didn’t pay attention to whatever they were teaching.

It got me into a lot of trouble.

My tenth grade English teacher kept me after school one day to ‘talk things over.’ As we talked, her whole body jolted as if I’d hit her with a cattle prod.

“Why do you do that!” Screaming. Eyes blazing. All but frothing at the mouth.

“What?”

“You sighed!”

“I did?”

Knowing my sighing was an involuntary habit and not an editorial comment helped some, but it was a hard year.

The connection between the adrenals and sighing came up in my research years later. If I had known in time to tell the teacher, it might have paid big dividends in sympathy, but who knew?

I thought I had the sighing business under control, but one day, while waiting in line at the grocery store, the couple in front of me all of a sudden started apologizing and offering to let me go ahead of them. It appeared they needed me to forgive them for living.

I realized I must have heaved one whale of a super-sized sigh. So I asked if I had sighed, and they-wide-eyed and mute-nodded in unison.

Well, I don’t ever want to give an I’m-better-than-you-so-why-are-you-breathing-my-air impression. Some people seem to think it’s great fun, but I don’t want to be an attitude polluter.

So I apologized and explained my problem. The line was long, and we drifted into a friendly conversation. They probably repeated the story of my strange reason for sighing to their friends. And it is kind of weird.

Why do I tell this story? The endocrine system has a gazillion symptoms. Our bodies tell us what’s going on, but we have to understand what they’re saying to make any kind of progress in getting everything to march in the same direction.

Anemia is a state in the blood when the count of red blood cells reduces below desired level and common in infants below 2 years of age. The cause of anemia is deficiency of iron which affects development and growth. Iron is either not absorbed or not sufficient in the infant’s blood.

Reduced RBC implies reduced hemoglobin. These are transporters of oxygen to various organs and parts of the body. Growing infants require adequate amounts of oxygen for overall development. Their deficiency will become evident only when it is severe. Hence regular check-ups of the infant’s health at prescribed time durations become essential. Some of the symptoms of this condition are:

• Pale skin, nail beds and lips: This indicates insufficient circulation of oxygen and RBC in the blood stream. Severity can be judged by grayish or bluish coloration of the skin. Paleness usually goes unnoticed causing anemia to be detected only when it becomes severe, which can be hemoglobin count of approximately 7 gm/deciliter.

• Delay in growth and development: Such delays are due to anemia which occurs due to the lack of oxygen supply to the heart or brain. Consult the pediatrician if the infant’s progress digresses from the normal rate or if certain milestones and not reached as required at that stage.

• Jaundice: Anemic infants can get jaundice easily. The skin or the white portion of the eyes will begin to turn yellow. This is caused by the build up of bilirubin in the blood caused by the body breaking down too many RBC. The liver assists in filtering broken down RBC. When the numbers become too many, bilirubin does not get filtered thus causing a yellowish coloration of the skin.

• Rapid heart beat or heart murmur: The natural tendency of the heart will be to beat at a faster rate and pump more blood if the organs do not receive enough oxygen due to anemia. This causes stress and murmurs.

• Reduction in appetite: Anemic babies will tire easily and feed less. One should note the frequency and duration of feed or volume of baby drink formula in order to report the decrease in appetite.

• Excessive fatigue and sleep: Weakness will not permit staying awake or being playful for long due to lack of oxygen thus inducing sleep. One should note the wake -time and activity levels in a day’s period.

• Irritability: Anemia causes weakness even to feed making the infant over-tired and hungry, yet unable to feed well, resulting in irritability.

This season, when you go grocery shopping, be sure to pick out this winter season’s prime farm produce in the form of vegetables. Eating the season’s fruit or vegetables lets you gain full advantage of what they have to offer because these are in their prime at that particular season. The cold weather approaches and with it comes a large variety of veggies that we wouldn’t normally be able to consume during summers. Here are some vegetables you should look for next time you’re in the department store.

Broccoli
Most wouldn’t normally be sold on this particular vegetable but the good news is that winters is probably the best time to stock up on broccoli. This is because they are sweeter during the winter and far less bitter. So, in a nutshell, yummier. This is because when harvested during cooler climates, broccoli tastes better. Even though this vegetable is available all year round, it tastes better during the colder season. The benefits of consuming it are many such as: helping in preventing cancer, improving your eye sight, keeps your blood pressure in check as well as protecting your heart. Also, from a nutritional point of view, it is one of the best vegetables to juice. When purchasing a juicer, make sure it is the best juicer available on the market.

Cabbage
Same is the case with cabbage. Cabbage will taste sweeter and crispier during the winter than other seasons. It’s one of those leafy vegetables that aren’t bitter so let’s just take advantage of the few leafy veggies that aren’t and full fill our green, leafy, vegetable in take – with cabbages. Cabbages also help to prevent cancer and look after your heart. They also help in the ongoing battle of reducing weight that many people face. If you decide to juice your cabbage, you must make sure that you only have one quarter of cabbage juice – because it is green juice and may cause gas for some people. These can easily be processed through a juice extractor.

Carrots
When you think of winters and vegetables, you think of carrots. Carrots are juicier and sweeter during the winters. Besides eating them raw, carrots are used in a vast variety of dishes and desserts like carrot cake. Juicing of carrots with the help of a juicer or a  juice extractor can create fresh carrot juice which is quite delicious. You can also mix carrot juice with orange or grapefruit juice to create a more tangy taste. Carrots also offer the same benefits that other vegetables of this season offer: they help improve your eye sight, prevent cancer and help with weight los