Scary Dengue!!

DENGUE HEMORRHAGIC FEVER is an acute infectious disease manifested initially with fever.

>Signs and symptoms:

>Sudden onset of high fever which may last 2 to 7days.

>Joint and muscle pain

>Weakness, skin rashes, abdominal pain

>Nose bleeding when fever starts to subside

>Vomiting of coffee-colored matter

>Dark-colored stools

We just got out of the hospital, my kids were infected by the famous 'dengue fever'. First was my youngest daughter who is only 6 years old. She had a fever for 3 days, she had undergone CBC and platelet count but was still within the normal range value. We went home but the next day we noticed rashes on her skin we went back to the hospital for another platelet count. Now the platelet went really low and she was admitted to the hospital for 3 days. She was given paracetamol and antibiotic.

After 3 days in the hospital, our eldest daughter started to show symptoms of dengue fever. She had a high fever, muscle pain and was vomiting. Anything that she ate, she threw it out. We had her undergone CBC and platelet count, but the platelet count was still high. The doctor advised to admit her to the hospital because she might be dehydrated since she continued to vomit. The next day her platelet count went low. Then she had cough and abdominal pain. They x-rayed her lungs, there was fluid also her liver was enlarged. Red rashes started to appear all over her body. We stayed in the hospital for 5 days.

It was really a nightmare, my two kids were both infected by this dengue virus. Especially my eldest daughter, she was crying because of abdominal pain and can’t sleep because of cough. She had fluids in her lungs. It was her first time to be admitted in the hospital.

Dengue fever is a life threatening disease. Maintaining cleanliness in our homes and communities can prevent the breeding and spread of dengue carrying mosquito. At home we can eliminate mosquito breeding places by covering all water containers, cleaning roof gutters and canals regularly. Use mosquito repellent regularly, keep our doors closed and windows screened. As of now, there's no commercially available dengue vaccine.

Everyone hears about the plant 'tawa tawa', they say it treats dengue fever. But the Department of Health advised to not depend on the said plant since it's not yet scientifically proven.

While my children were in the hospital my Mom bought a dried tawa tawa plant from her neighbor. We boiled it and mixed its water to Nestea then put sliced lemon so the kids won't be able to smell the dried leaf scent. Because if they knew that it was a boiled plant they won't drink it. The tawa tawa plant helped them increase their blood platelet. My eldest daughter stayed in the hospital for only 5 days unlike others were admitted for more than a week.

I agree with the Department of Health, this is only my opinion, though tawa tawa helped increase blood platelet we still need to bring the patient to the hospital. So our medical professionals can check the patient for other complications of dengue fever.

Help your Teens manage stress

Adults are not the only one who experience stress, kids too. My eldest daughter is now a freshman in high school. Her school starts at six o'clock in the morning, so she has to wake up by 4:00 am, then the class ends at three in the afternoon. Whenever she comes home she'll just eat snack then start her homework like research for their science investigatory project, Math problems, prepare visual aids for their reporting and even drawings for their story telling. Then review lesson for the next day. She goes to bed by 10 pm. School is really demanding, she's enrolled in a Science Oriented Class, a special curriculum of DepED for public schools.

As a Mom I'm really worried that it might affect her health. I always plan activities for our weekends so she can relaxed. Like going to the mall, at the park, playing badminton, or jogging. Also during weekends I allow her to play online or chat with her friends in Facebook, but it should be after doing her homework for Monday.

I noticed that she has a high level tolerance for stress, she never complains. Always her comfort zone is her anime drawings. She feels good whenever she's with her Manga book.

For more information I read books and searched online about fighting stress at school. I learned some tips like:
-Listen to your child. Ask what’s wrong let the child express his/her feelings.
-Commend your child for doing a great job on his/her exams or class reporting.
-Support involvement in sports and other prosocial activities
-Keep a positive atmosphere at home.
-Tell your child you will always be there.
-Teach the child to eat healthy food.

I always prepare foods with high nutritional value. Aside from drinking 2 glasses of milk everyday I serve them meals with fruits and vegetables.

Do your kids eat vegetables? How about a health drink that's made of vegetables?

As a Mom we all want our kids to be healthy and we use the food Pyramid as a guide for a healthy food choices. The pyramid says that we need 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. I never had problem letting my kids eat fruits but with vegetables it's still under negotiation.

Just recently I discovered a natural health drink called Vitaplus. It's made of 5 different vegetables that can be found anywhere here in the Philippines. These are MALUNGGAY (Moringa Oleifera), SALUYOT(Corchorus Olitorius), DAHON NG SILI (Capsicum Frutescens), KULITIS OR URAY (Amaranthus), TALBOS NG KAMOTE (Ipomoea Batatas). It's flavored with Dalandan (Sweet Orange) so everyone can enjoy especially the kids.

MALUNGGAY (Moringa Oleifera) has vitamin A and C, calcium, iron, and potassium. It can rebuild weak bones, enrich anemic blood and nourish breastfed babies. Ounce per ounce, it has the calcium of four glasses of milk, the vitamin C of seven oranges and the potassium of three bananas.

SALUYOT(Corchorus Olitorius) has vitamin A, B, C, iron, calcium, phosporus, protein and fiber. Reported to be demulcent, deobstruent, diuretic, lactagogue, purgative and tonic, it may also be a remedy for aches and pains, dysentery, enteritis, fever and pectoral pains.

DAHON NG SILI (Capsicum Frutescens) is an excellent source of calcium and iron, a good source of phosphorus and vitamins A and B. It is an important gastrointestinal deoxidant and a remedy for Intestinal Inflammation, Menstrual Cramps, Ulcer, and Varicose Veins

KULITIS OR URAY (Amaranthus) is a very good expectorant and an effective astringent especially in stopping liquid bowels. It has been reported that a decoction of the root relieve ones breathing from acute bronchitis. the dried leaves contains iron, calcium, fiber, beta carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid.

TALBOS NG KAMOTE (Ipomoea Batatas) Its roots are high in calories and vitamin A and the leafy tops are eaten as vegetables. The tops, especially purplish ones are used for diabetes and the crushed leaves are applied to boils and acne.

To all Moms like me we can now end our worries for the kids not eating vegetables because they can now drink it with Vitaplus. Instead of buying sodas, flavored powdered juice, artificial fruit shake why not choose Vitaplus. It's affordable and really a healthy drink.

What is Pterygium?

Many things happened to me this past few weeks, I never had a chance to blog. Had a problem with my work, health, and with my Nanny. But everything is back to normal now and I just hope that it will continue to be ok.

Last month, a redddish pimple-like grew in my left eye. I thought it's because of stress so I made sure I had enough rest.I also appplied an eye drop to lessen the rednness but one week after I noticed that the size increased. I went to the ophthalmologist and had my eyes checked. The doctor said it's because of stress he gave me a sterile ophthalmic drops,he also checked my eye pressure and it's within the normal range. I was impatient because I've been using the drops for two weeks but I haven't seen any improvement. I went back to him and he just said not to worry then just finish the bottle. Since he is the expert I followed what he said. After a week the reddish pimple-like grew bigger and it's already near my iris. I was impatient again so I visited another ophthalmologist and I was advised that it's called pterygium.

Pterygium is a raised, wedge-shaped growth of the conjunctiva. It is most common among those who live in tropical climates or spend a lot of time in the sun. Symptoms may include irritation, redness, and tearing. Pterygiums are nourished by tiny capillaries that supply blood to the tissue.

The second ophthalmologist advised me to stop the eye drops I'm using since it didn't help, I used it for four weeks. He said to wait for another week if it's still red then I have to undergo surgery because it may affect my vision since it's already near the iris. He also advised to avoid too much exposure to the sunlight and use shades with uv protection.

Benefits of Whole Grains in our Kid's Health

Some parents are having problems with their children's eating habit. We can seldom encounter kids that enjoy eating fruits and vegetable. Kids now love to go to their favorite fast food chain or can easily buy junk foods from any convenience store. TV ads influences us so much.

I've read that whole grains have been found to be nutritionally superior in giving health benefits than refined grain. Cereals, bread, pasta contain all the healthy parts of the grain. There are also snacks that are made of whole grains which can easily be found in our favorite supermarket.

Whole grains contain all three important parts of a grain: Bran - which is rich in fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc,copper and phytonutrients. Germ - which is rich in vitamin E, B vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fats. Endosperm - which offers carbohydrates, protein and small amounts of B vitamins.

Whole grains provide energy to support kid's growth and activities, promotes healthy digestive functions. Fiber helps clean the digestive tract to prevent constipation, promotes regular bowel movement and keep digestive tract in tiptop shape. Whole grains also encourage healthy dietary habits, by incorporating whole grains into our kid's diet at an early age we establish good lifelong dietary habits in our child.

Vasovagal Syndrome

Last Saturday I went to the gym then after, I went to the hospital to visit my Aunt who's in the ICU. We just started the conversation and immediately I feel dizzy so I went out and I found a chair in the Nurse's station. In less than 5 minutes I collapsed, when I woke up I saw the doctor getting my blood pressure. My blood pressure really went down, 100/50, it's the first time that happened to me. Also a week before this I played badminton with my officemates, it was a 2 hour play. When I went home, I feel pain from my chest through my back as if I'm going to faint.

This thursday I went to Medical City for a check up, the physician advised to have a blood test and an ECG . After an hour of waiting, I got the results. The blood test result was normal but I was reffered to the cardiologist. I discussed everything to the cardiologist and also my previous experiences. I can't stay longer in a "dawn mass" because of the crowd. There was a time that I fainted at the middle of the mass.

The cardiologist said that I may have a "vasovagal syndrome". To confirm he gave me option to have a "tilt table test ". It's funny because he said on the evaluation they will give the patient physical exercises with a certain amount of time, if he faints then it's confirmed that he has "vasovagal syndrome ". I guess no need for me to perform the evaluation. He discussed the precautionary measures which I've been doing eversince.

Normally when we are tired our heart rate would go fast and blood pressure should go up. But what's happening to me is my blood pressure goes down the result is less oxygen going to my brain then I start to feel dizzy. I cannot take the drug to let the blood pressure up because of family history for hypertension. To avoid symptoms that may trigger to fainting I was advised to have a high salt diet and stay well hydrated, avoid long exposures to sun. So far my condition is not that really scary, the doctor said that I can continue my daily activities especially going to the gym and playing badminton. We are going to continue to observe my condition and if it happens again I may have to undergo several heart examinations.

Which is better, soap or sanitizer?

During the AH1N1 outbreak, we would always see on TV ads health professionals advising people to frequently wash our hands at the same time doing a demo the right way of hand washing to prevent the spread of germs.

Which works better, is it soap or sanitizer? While alcohol based gels removes more germs, plain soap and water are fine for everyday washing according to our health experts. But neither works unless we do it right. With soap it takes 15 seconds of lathering to reduce bacterial count by 90%, 30 seconds to get 99.9%. Also health experts advised to dry our hands for at least 20 seconds with a towel. With our wet hands germs are more likely to spread compared to dry ones. With sanitizers, studies shown that most people don't use enough. We need to cover all surfaces of our hands - the tops, between fingers and the palms.

Gel sanitizers will evaporate into the skin and kill bacteria, but soap and water washes away more germs according to one of our health experts.

Online Community

While bloghopping I found the site Little Four Eyes, it's a community of parents and friends of young children who wear glasses. The site is very informative so I joined. Each parent shared their experiences with their children who wear glasses. I learned that there so many children all over the world that has vision problem. You can also find tips and tricks how to deal with children if they don't want to wear their eyeglasses.

They have a Facebook account. It's nice to know that there are communities like them online. The site inspired me to continue to hope that we can find ways to improve my daughter's vision.

Excited for summer..Ready to be exposed

Here in Philippines summer starts during the month of March up to May. As a family we always plan ahead our summer outings, we love swimming and enjoy the beach.

Sun, sand, sea these are the elements that makes a fun-filled summer but they can also lead to sunburn. Applying sunblock is important, it should be applied 30 min going out under the sun and must be reapplied regularly.

When you start to feel really hot and your skin is hot to touch chances are you've already got sunborn. Burning continues even after you've gotten out of the sun. There are things in our pantry that we can grab for a quick sunborn relief.

Cucumber - known for its cooling and soothing properties. Slices of cucumber can help alleviate discomfort from extra hot skin or anything cold for thart matter will serve the same purpose like a slice of watermelon.

Guava leaves - they've been used as cure-all. Boil some in water and let the tea cool, apply on the sunburned area using a compress.

Oatmeal - is extremely soothing as long as its mixed in with bath water, not rubbed or scrubbed on the skin. It is recommended even for babies. Cornstarch or baking soda can work too.

Milk - cool off with a cold glass of milk. Soak a facecloth in equal parts cold milk and cool water, then gently press it on the affected area.

Congenital Cataract (part 3)

This is Andy my daughter who had congenital cataract, she's now 5 years old and just finish nursery. We went to another pediatric - opthalmologist in Asian Eye Institute for a second opinion. The doctor discussed to us my daughter's case and they have the same diagnosis with our first doctor. She has a miotic pupil, we tried to dilate her pupil. She was under medication for two weeks using Atropine and Mydfrin but pupil didn't dilate into a descent size. It wasn't enough for them to get her exact eye grade. They both recommend surgery but this time the doctor wants surgery for the pupil, it's called "pupillatomy anterior vitrectomy", and have lens implant when she turns 7. The doctor wants a conservative way in dealing my daughter's case because of the risks and there was a history of inflammation during her cataract surgery. One thing that I got afraid of was the 2 doctors have different way of putting a lens implant on the eyes. Our first opthalmologist said that lens will be placed infront of the iris. The risk is when the pressure on the eye went high there's a possibility of retina detachment or even loss of vision. The second opthalomologist said that he will put the lens behind the iris because putting infront might damage the cornea. I didn't know where to go so I searched online to educate myself more. Then I found Medhelp an online health community. I posted a question and glad that they responded so quickly.

Me and my husband decided to go with the second opthalmologist because we agree to him. We don't have to be agressive in dealing the case because she's still young. There was a history of inflammation that made the pupil not fully developed. We all do not know how fast is she going to recover.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care/lens-implant/show/856417

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care/Congenital-Cataract/show/740387

Medhelp: Online Health Community

Medhelp is an online health community where anyone can ask questions about their health problem. I discovered Medhelp when I was searching online about the case of my daughter who had congenital cataract and has to undergo lens implant. Their ophthalmologist team was a big help to me they answered all my questions. I read everyday their eye care forum and I learned a lot. The team are really generous in sharing their knowledge and experiences about eye diseases.

I am confident with our ophthalmologist here in the Philippines but I'm glad that I was able to hear opinions from doctors in USA with no cost. Joining them is so easy, sign up for free then you can start to post your health questions.

More power to you Medhelp!

How much do we care about our health?

Wealth doesn't only mean how many house and lot a person has or how many luxury cars he has. We all grew up on a saying 'Health is Wealth'.

As parents being financially stable does not assure that we can give a brighter future to our children. Aside from teaching them good values, staying healthy is the most important. Children doesnt only need good education they also need someone who will guide them. Not only until they finish their studies but until they have their own family and that's us.

In recent study, people who had healthy habits lived an average of 14 years longer than people who didn't. With these simple steps we can add up years to our lives.

1. Eat fruits and vegetables - they provide fiber and minerals that help lower down blood pressure. Help lower LDL cholesterol by replacing food high in saturated fat. Soluble fiber may also block absorption of cholesterol from other food.

2. Exercise regularly - lowers blood pressure by 10 points in as little as three to four weeks, raises HDL and lowers LDL, and stimulates bone growth.

3. Don't smoke - prevents exposure to damaging health effects of smoking such as: temporarily increased blood pressure, narrowing of blood vessels which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, and diminished bone mineral density.

4. Lose extra pounds - lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of developing hypertension. It can reverse prediabetes, in some cases with as little as 5 percent loss of body weight. It also increases HDL while reducing LDL and total cholesterol.

By adding years to our lives we will not only be seeing our children's success but also our grandchildren.