Computer vision syndrome

Consultant Ophthalmologist Dr. Upali Mendis stressed on the need for computer operators not to work for long periods at a stretch at the machine to avoid getting affected with what is called - the computer vision syndrome.

It is best for health to take short breaks of a few minutes and take a walk out at every 15 minutes of work at the machine.

The professor said computer vision syndrome causes you headache, blurred vision, tearing from the eyes, neck pain and backache. He also mentioned the following for the prevention of this ailment, which are -

* Proper lighting where the computer or computers are kept.

* There should be minimum glare in the place.

* Correction of refractive errors.

* Adjusting the brightness and contrast of the computer screen.

* Blink your eyes more often.

* Taking frequent breaks.

* Wearing computer glasses which have a special coating and tint to filter glare.

In adults the most common condition that causes visual imparement is cataracts.

Cataract is caused by clouding of the crystalline lens.

In the early stages of cataract formation, patients have good near vision but poor farvision. With increasing opacification of the lens visual imparement worsens for both near and far.

Vitamins no solution

Development of cataract cannot be prevented by giving large doses of vitamin supplements to older people. Less awareness education and income are related to cataract formation.

The low-income group

In getting over this problem for those in the low-income group easy access to medical, surgical and low vision care facilities could be of benefit.

Doctors’ wives could help

The Doctors Wives Association could think of many ways they could come into help this poor economic groupers to meet this eye care need.

No surtures surgery

Lasers cannot be used for treatment of cataracts. Instead the preferred method is surgery where a small incision is made and the affected lens is removed and replaced with a introoccular lens. No sutures or injections are used in this surgery.

Glaucoma

As most of you doctors’ wives know glaucoma is neither preventable nor curable, but with appropriate treatment blindness can be avoided.

One thing the public should know is that in glaucoma the patients show no symptoms until the condition is advanced.

Therefore, early diagnosis can be done during a routine examination. Glaucoma occurs due to several causes one of which is raised intro-ocular pressure. However, about 50 percent of patients with glaucoma have normal introccular pressure. Therefore lowering of introccular pressure prevents further visual loss.

Hereditary disease

It is very important for the public to know that glaucoma is a hereditary disease.

Therefore, if one member of a family is affected all should be careful about it, and all the relatives also should know about it that the disease runs in the family.

Diabetes

Diabetes which is also a hereditary disease, cause visual imparements. Therefore it is always best for those with diabetic retinopathy to get eye examinations done annually.

Tuberculosis and children:

The missing diagnosis

Almost 500 children a day die from tuberculosis (TB). That figure is likely to rise unless prevention and treatment efforts are increased. More people, in more countries, are at risk of TB than ever before.

Tuberculosis creates more orphaned children than any other infectious disease. It is also the leading killer of women, surpassing all causes of maternal mortality. TB deaths among women have major implications for child survival and for family welfare.

TB is difficult to diagnose in children. However, effective control and treatment is both possible and affordable. In this special supplement, Child Health Dialogue looks at the ways to prevent the spread of TB to children and how to treat those who have the disease.

Tuberculosis can be cured

* Young children and infants living in the same household as an adult with infectious TB are at greatest risk of catching the disease.

* TB kills more women each year than all causes of maternal mortality combined. TB deaths among women have major implications for child survival, economic productivity and family welfare.

* TB in children is difficult to detect and diagnose. If an adult in a household has TB, young children in the family should be checked for TB.

* Children who are malnourished or suffering from another infection are particularly at risk from TB.

* Vaccination (with BCG vaccine) at birth or within a few months can protect young children from the most severe and life-threatening forms of TB.

* With correct treatment, adults and children with TB are no longer infectious after two to three weeks. Almost all can be cured.

(Courtesy AHRTAG)

Measuring your personal fitness level

Heidi Tyline King Medically reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH

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Body shape, lifestyle, genes, and cardiovascular ability all help shape your individual fitness factor.

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Evaluating your fitness level is not a one-size-fits-all process. Differences in lifestyle, muscle tissue, genetic makeup, and overall health all help determine your personal fitness level.

“It is an individual measurement that is not always dependent on how much physical activity you do,” notes Jim Pivarnik, PhD, president of the American College of Sports Medicine and director of the Center for Physical Activity and Health at Michigan State University in East Lansing .

So how can you tell if your exercise and healthy diet habits are paying off? There are several ways to measure your fitness level.

The Five Components of Fitness

“Measuring fitness is multi-dimensional,” explains Pivarnik. “Long-distance runners have excellent cardiovascular health, but if all you are is legs and lungs, you won’t have a lot of strength or flexibility. By the same measure, someone who is overweight and aerobically fit is healthier than someone who is in the normal weight range but doesn’t exercise.”

Overall physical fitness is said to consist of five different elements:

Aerobic or cardiovascular endurance

Muscular strength

Muscular endurance

Flexibility

Body composition

Thorough fitness evaluations include exercises and activities that specifically measure your ability to participate in aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise as well as your muscular strength, endurance, and joint flexibility. Special tools are also used to determine your body composition or percentage of total body fat.

Working to optimize each of these five components of fitness is crucial to enhancing your overall fitness and general health.

Fitness: How to Develop an Action Plan

If you have specific health problems, check with your doctor before implementing a routine to boost fitness. Once your doctor gives you the go-ahead, you have no more excuses. To improve your fitness level, take these important steps:

Follow U.S. guidelines for the minimum amount of exercise. That means exercising at a moderate intensity level for at least 2.5 hours spread over most days each week. At least twice a week, supplement aerobic exercise with weight-bearing activities that target all major muscles. Avoid inactivity; some exercise at any level of intensity is better than none while you’re building up your endurance.

Walking is the easiest way to get started. Get motivated by enlisting a friend to join you and adding variety to your routine. “Walking is simple and manageable for anyone,” says Jill Grimes, MD, a family physician in Austin, Texas. “Wear a pedometer from day one. Think of it in three parts: a five-minute warm-up of walking slowly, followed by a fast walk, then a five-minute cool-down of walking slowly.”

Compete only against yourself. No matter what activity you choose for getting fit, never compare your progress to someone else’s. “Do set goals, and if you are out of shape and hate exercise, start low and go slow,” recommends Dr. Grimes. “Do not compare yourself with your best friend who weighs 50 pounds less and just finished her 10th triathlon.” Pivarnik agrees: “Even if the same group of women walked at the same pace every morning, they would not all show the same fitness measures.”

Avoid overexertion. One preventive step Pivarnik suggests is checking your resting heart rate before getting out of bed every morning and making a chart so you can see a consistent, but gradual, decrease over time. If your resting heart rate begins to increase, you may be overdoing it.

Another indicator of overexertion is muscle soreness that doesn’t go away after a couple of days.

“People generally err on the side of not pushing themselves enough,” says Pivarnik. “But the worst offenders are those who think they can jump in where they left off — the bunch of 40-year-old guys who think they are still on the high school football team and start running laps, but end up red in the face.” As you work on improving your fitness, take it slow and steady to avoid injury or burnout. Above all, remember that consistency is key — if you keep at it, your hard work will pay off.

Art Health

First aid in snake-bite

Effective first aid should always be given to snake-bite victims. It will prevent or minimise the spread of venom that may have been introduced into the tissue, and prevent or minimise complications resulting from the bite. Incorrect first aid may cause harm.

The following simple, practical, effective and safe measures are recommended:

The commonest reaction following snake-bite is fear: The victim thinks of death. Reassurance is vital and should be done in a positive and authoritative manner and continued for as long as necessary.

Most snakes are not venomous. Even if a biting snake is venomous, it may not inject venom. The presence of fang marks alone does not mean that venom has entered the body. If envenoming has taken place, effective treatment is available in hospitals and full recovery is likely.

The snake-bite victim, and especially the bitten limb, must be kept still because,

* Movement of the bitten part and of the victim hastens absorption of venom which may have been introduced into the body by the bite. Therefore keep the victim still. It is better to carry him than to let him walk.

* In addition to retarding absorption of venom, immobilization also reduces pain. The bitten limb could be immobilized by splinting it with a piece of wood.

To remove the venom which may lie on the surface of the skin, the bitten area should be washed gently with soap and water, or wiped with a wet cloth.

Swelling of the bitten limb is a common feature after a venomous snake-bite. Prevent complications by removing, as early as possible, rings, bangles, anklets, cords or clothing which could cause constriction if swelling were to occur. Two tablets of paracetamol may be given for the relief of pain.

Take the victim to hospital as early as possible. It is advisable to take the offending snake, alive or dead, along with the patient, to hospital. This will enable the snake to be identified by the doctor. Management of the bite will be influenced by its identity. Live snakes should be handled carefully.

A few don’ts

Incision of or application of suction to the bite wound is not advisable. Snakes usually inject venom too deeply for suction to be of any use. Inexpert incisions may damage tendons, blood vessels and nerves, bleeding from these wounds and infection may create added problems.

The application of tourniquets in the first aid treatment of snake-bite is controversial. It has caused more harm than good when applied by inexperienced persons. It is therefore not recommended.

(From the Health education book published by the SLMA, and revised by Prof. Colvin Goonaratna in 1999 sent by Dr. Kelum Pelpola)

Sri Lanka model for Asian school health project

Hiroshi Kobayashi is a Professor Emeritus of Hokkido University Japan, who is engaged in a child centered approach supported by teachers and parents in a life style related disease prevention program in the community. In an interview with the Daily News on Wednesday, the professor was highly impressed with our health education approach through the medical crossword feature in the Daily News medical page Healthwatch.

Prof. Kobayashi said he generally visits Sri Lanka about three times a year and this was his thirty second visit and he would very much like to participate in a draw of one of the medical crosswords in his next visit, if it could be so arranged by the Healthwatch Medical Advisory panel headed by Dr. Dennis J. Aloysius.

Prof. Kobayashi who was accompanied by Prof. Motoyuki Yuasa said that he started implementing the school project here in a few schools from the Matara and Galle districts in the Southern province, and was very pleased about the progress achieved so far. He found that the students in the project following the training imparted to them by the teachers have been able to change the lifestyle of their families leading to prevention of communicable thus ensuring better health for the family.

He said he had discussions with the Health and Education Ministers here to start the project in the Colombo district too shortly. Thus he was confident of Sri Lanka becoming a model for this school health project for Asia.

He said why he selected Sri Lanka to implement this project was that he was greatly launched by the smiling faces of the schoolchildren he met.

Honestly, the professor said he hasn’t yet met with any group of children in his travels abroad who had such genuine, impressive smiles, that would draw anybody to them.

Laughter the best medicine:

Things you don’t want to hear during surgery

* “Accept this sacrifice, O Great Lord of Darkness”

* Bo! Bo! Come back with that! Bad Dog!

* Better save that. We’ll need it for the autopsy.

* Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what’s that?

* Hand me that... uh... that uh... thingie

* Oh no! I just lost my Rolex.

* Oops! Hey, has anyone ever survived 500 ml of this stuff before?

* There go the lights again...

* Ya’ know... there’s big money in kidneys...and this guy’s got two of ‘em.

* Everybody stand back! I lost my contact lens!

* Could you stop that thing from beating? It’s throwing my concentration off.

* What’s this doing here?

* I hate it when they’re missing stuff in here.

* That’s cool! Now can you make his leg twitch?!

* Well folks, this will be an experiment for all of us.

* Sterile, shcmerle. The floor’s clean, right?

* What do you mean he wasn’t in for a sex change?

* OK, now take a picture from this angle.

* This is truly a freak of nature.

* This patient has already had some kids, am I correct?

* Nurse, did this patient sign the organ donation card?

* Don’t worry. I think it is sharp enough.

* What do you mean, “You want a divorce”!

* FIRE! FIRE! Everyone get out!

* Rats! Page 47 of the manual is missing!

* Isn’t this the one with the really lousy insurance?

Submitted by Stormlover: www.butlerwebs.com