Health Watch

‘Little’ things do matter!

Nadira Gunatilleke

Certain seemingly insignificant things we do today may cause severe problems later in life. This is specially the case with health related issues. We have to be careful about minor and insignificant things we do today, in order to avoid major health problems in the future.

In several media interviews on liver transplant surgery, Prof. Mandika Wijeratne has mentioned certain ways a healthy liver can get affected. One way is infection with hepatitis virus. According to him Hepatitis B and C can cause permanent liver damage going on to cirrhosis (without consuming alcohol). Unprotected sex is a method by which Hepatitis virus is spread.

How many individuals think about getting infected with Hepatitis virus and die with a permanently damaged liver when they have unprotected sex? According to scientific facts, Hepatitis virus can be transmitted very easily among homosexuals and others who are engaged in abnormal sexual behaviours.

Another important fact is ignoring certain sicknesses such as headaches, falls and bruises caused during accidents and other incidents. An ignorant person can die from a cancer later because he does not care when he or she got his/her hand/leg trampled during a fall. Unattended serious bruise/a trampled place can turn into cancer or a blood clot (in the head) later. Therefore when something happens to the body, it should be treated on time and taken care of.

There are many other minor things that can cause major health problems. Unattended tooth problems could lead to heart aliments. There is a connection between tooth/gum diseases and heart aliments. Therefore you have to take a very good care of your mouth to prevent heart aliments. Regular tonsils can lead to Rheumatic arthritis. You may never think about arthritis when suffering from tonsillitis.

How many of us are concerned when we get a severe headache? Many of us totally ignore it and some would take only a few pain killers and continue to work. No matter whether it goes away or not we do not stop our work and other regular activities. We pay adequate attention only if we get more symptoms or if we are unable to concentrate on our daily work. But a headache can be a symptom of a brain tumor or blood clot.

The public should be aware of Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA). Symptoms of a stroke are shown only for a few minutes or more, bur these symptoms do not last longer than 24 hours. The possibility of suffering from a major stroke within next three months is very high for these persons. Therefore it is a must for them to seek medical advice.

Those are only a few inter connected sickness. There are many more similar sicknesses and incidents where you get one disease and get another later due to the first disease. Proper attention and treatment can prevent many of these other connected diseases and life threatening situations.

Unfortunately some doctors do not tolerate learned, educated patients who are well aware of diseases and health problems. A very pathetic and dangerous trend has been noticed by the public since the recent past. It often happens in the private sector.

In the State sector rarely do patients get a chance to voice their concerns to the doctors.

But in the private sector, patients pay money to obtain medical services and also get a chance to voice their concerns. Unfortunately some `doctors' have discovered a `solution' for their inability to diagnose diseases. It is diagnosing `depression' in all the patients when they fail to diagnose the actual disease.

They are ashamed of referring the patient to another relevant/talented specialist doctor.

Only the patients who are well aware and educated or the patients with educated and intelligent guardians save themselves from this trap. It is very interesting how such patients got treatment for their real illness and got cured after consulting the second doctor.

Your health during pregnancy

K M Prabhath Madhuranga Bandara Kulathunga

Are you a pregnant woman or planning for a pregnancy? So you are one of the most important social groups in the country.

Major physiological changes can be seen during pregnancy. Weight gain and change of the body shape and size are the most prominent changes. You should be careful of your weight. Usually your weight should be increased approximately by 12.5 kg than the pre pregnancy weight.

In Sri Lanka most of the pregnant mothers do not gain enough weight during their pregnancy and it will cause many adverse effects on the baby. Low gestational weight gain increases the risk of having a Low Birth Weight (LBW) infant, whereas excessive weight gain during pregnancy increases the risk of obesity in the mother after the birth.

LBW infants who are having birth weight less than 2.5 kg are at risk of increased morbidity and mortality. There is also as an increased risk of adult diseases in later life, such as cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. So it is very important to increase your weight during pregnancy to obtain a healthy baby.

Diet

The consumption of variety of food items is important to obtain a number of nutrients through the diet. These nutrients will help maintain your health and that of the foetus. The maternal diet must provide sufficient energy and nutrients to meet the mother's usual requirements, as well as the needs of the growing foetus. You should pay your attention towards your daily energy requirement. To meet your extra food needs for a healthy weight gain, you need to add an average of 300 extra calories per day to your diet after the first three months of pregnancy. You can add these extra calories with extra servings of milk, low fat cheese, lean meat, poultry, fish, leafy and dark green vegetables, dried beans and peas, fruits, whole grain and enriched breads and cereals.

You should be careful about the energy source and it must be congenial for the health of you and your baby. Don't eat lots of cookies, candies, cakes, chips, soft drinks and fats such as butter, margarine, gravy, fried foods, salad dressings, and mayonnaise. These high-calorie foods provide very little nourishment for you and your baby, and also these foods cause adverse health problems such as diabetes, heart problems and some cancers.

In addition to the energy, nutrients are also required to deliver a healthy baby. You need 925g amount of protein during your pregnancy. This protein is important to increase your weight and development of muscles and other organs of the foetus. So you should eat protein rich food items such as lean meat, poultry, and soya to fulfill your protein requirement.

How is your knowledge about fats and oils? Do you think fats are essential in pregnancy? Yes, some fatty acids are essential for human and some of them are very important during pregnancy. The long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are particularly important for neural development and growth. DHA is a long chain omega-3 fatty acid called as docosahexaenoic acid which is essential for the development of the brain and eye of the foetus. The best dietary source of DHA is oil rich fish. As a pregnant mother, you should try to consume at least two portions of fish per week, one of which should be oil-rich. Nutrients are important to both you and your baby's growth and also needed for future lactation. In the situation of pregnancy you should pay attention towards Iron and Folate, because these micronutrients play a major role during pregnancy.

Iron

Iron is needed to transport oxygen to your baby. Now you need more iron than before. You should eat more iron-rich food items to fulfill your extra iron requirement. Lean meat, poultry, fish, organ meats (such as liver), dried beans and peas (Lima, navy, kidney and pinto beans and split green and black eyed peas), dark-green vegetables (collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, spinach and broccoli), whole-grain are some iron rich food items.

Folate or Folic Acid is a type of B vitamin that helps make red blood cells and genes. The amount of Folate you need, more than doubles when you are pregnant.

So you are needed to eat Folate rich foods such as Liver (any kind), dried beans and peas (black-eyed peas; red, kidney, or white beans; butter beans; lentils, dark-green leafy vegetables (spinach, broccoli, turnip greens, mustard greens, lettuce), fruits (oranges and orange juice, grapefruit, bananas, cantaloupe and tomatoes and tomato juice).

Do you omit animal- origin foods? Is it good or bad? As you know there is an increased requirement for energy, protein and some micronutrients during pregnancy, including thiamin, riboflavin, Folate and vitamins A, C and D. Sometimes diets of pregnant vegetarians are low in calcium, zinc, vitamin B and D, omega-3 fatty acids and riboflavin, because these are rich in animal sources. If you are a vegetarian you have to take these nutrients by eating a variety of plant origin foods.

You can fulfill your calcium requirement by eating legumes such as soybeans, tempeh, navy beans and black beans. And also nuts and seeds that contain calcium. In addition to that you can eat vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, Chinese cabbage to take calcium.

To be Continued