Health Blog

Headache hits most of us and almost everybody gets it at one time or another during their lifetime. In fact general practitioners say it is a very common cause of concern. Head pain can be described as debilitating, humming, vague, rhythmic, throbbing, and steady. They can interfere with your ability to work and to play, but rarely life threatening, if they exist by themselves. Headaches can also be because of some medications like dilators or nitrates for heart disease; anti-hypertensive; calcium channel blocker; acidity and ulcer H2 blocker; hormone replacement drugs; contraceptives and many others.
However, headaches can also be caused by serious organic disorder which is why one needs to go through proper evaluation by competent doctors.

Different types of headache:

Tension Headache:
It is the most common type. Tension headache causes mild to moderate pain and feels like tightening of a band around the head. It can last from 30 minutes to 7 days and affect the whole head. But it does not cause nausea or vomiting. Physical activity does not worsen the pain.
This type of headache can be controlled with OTC pain relievers, anti-depressant, muscle relaxant, ice packs, heat treatment, massage, meditation or yoga.

Migraine:
It hits women more than the men between the age of 20 and 45. It may cause moderate to severe pain and usually the pain is felt on one side of the head. The pain gets worsened by sound, light, physical activity. It can also cause nausea and vomiting. It occurs after many weeks, months or even years and may last four hours to three days.
It can be controlled by avoiding trigger foods, stress and with OTC pain relievers like paracetamol and anti-nausea medication. Ultrasound physiotherapy and Biofeedback is also helpful.

Cluster Headache:
This occurs specially among men between 30 and 50 years of age. Such headache causes severe and piercing pain focused around a single eye. It lasts for 15 minutes to 3 hours and occurs in clusters, separated by pain free periods. On the same side of the pain, the nostril runs, the eye waters, eyelid drops, lower eye area swells. But it does not cause nausea or vomiting and is not worsened by lights or sounds.
If you have it consults your physician.

There are other types of headaches as well.

Hypertension:
It causes severe high blood pressure (over 160/110), occurs in spasms and felt at the back or top of the head. The pain is most severe in the morning. If it happens to you, consult with a specialist.

Eye Disorders:
Eye disorders might also cause headache. In this case the pain can be moderate to severe and worsen after using the eyes. The pain is felt at the front of the head or in/over the eyes.
Consult an eye specialist.

Sinusitis:
This is a condition when inflammation happens on hollowed out areas of bone at the front of the skull with openings into the back of the nose. The pain is severe, dull or sharp and felt around nasal area, one or both eyebrows. It may happen suddenly and last for few minutes or may happen gradually and be persistent. The pain worsens when you look down and in day time.
One can try steam inhalation or hot towel over eyes to shrink or unblock sinuses along with using some painkillers. Surgical drainage is the last option.

Brain Tumor:
The pain initially is mild but as the tumor grows, it gets from severe to unbearable. It occurs frequently and with time becomes constant.
The only way for relief is to see specialists.

Brain Abscess:
The pain and patterns are much like brain tumor except if it ruptures when meningitis occurs. The pain may be felt on one spot or all over the head.
Surgery is the only way for permanent relief.

Meningitis:
It is a condition when inflammation of the thin membrane that covers brain and spinal cord. Intense and constant pain is felt all over the head and it travels to neck which becomes stiff and makes bending to rest chin on neck difficult. It is accompanied by high fever and vomiting.
Immediately consult your physician and get admitted into hospital if possible.

Temporal Arthritis:
It happens when inflammation occurs on large arteries on the side of the scalp. It usually hits older people. This might cause disturbances or loss of vision. One might feel the pain while brushing hair or the jaw may hurt when eating or talking.
Steroids, Prednisone can be used to stop inflammation and prevent blindness.

There are many other conditions and disorders like TB, Syphilis, Sarcoidosis, Cryptococcosis that can affect the brain and cause headache. Best way to get relief is to see a doctor as early as possible and get proper diagnosis and treatment. Remember, early detection or diagnosis of a disease at its nascent stage might save a lot of trouble.

Infertility in female is a condition where a female is potentially capable to become a mother, but unable to become one due to some problem. Sterility is a condition where a female does not produce eggs or ova. Her egg count is zero. Due to absence of eggs the female is unable to conceive.

But advancement of modern medical sciences have made it curable to a great extent. At first conventional methods of treatment should be tried, medical management, certain lifestyle changes like stopping smoking and alcohol, regular sleep, regular moderate exercise, supplementation of vitamins and minerals are advised. Male partner should also be investigated and treated, if some problem is found. If after investigations it found that the male partner is normal and the female partner does not have eggs, at that time artificial insemination is done with eggs from donor.

Artificial insemination is the last management form in treatment of infertility and sterility. Artificial insemination is done by fertilizing the donated eggs with the sperms of the male partner. Artificial insemination can be done vivo (inside the body) or in vitro (out side the body in test tube). After in vitro fertilization, the fertilized egg is transferred to the womb of the female.

In most countries, egg donation is strictly controlled by Government agencies, and has to follow very strict norms. Both egg donor’s identity and the recipient’s identity are kept secret. The egg donor has to be a healthy person and without known genetic deformity. The egg donor should not be suffering from AIDS or other viral and bacterial infectious disease. Consent of both the partners is mandatory for egg receipt from egg donor.

Aromatherapy is comparatively new concept in modern medicine. Aromatherapy remedies can be used in treating various ailments. It can be used successfully in management of stress related disorders. In aromatherapy various fragrances & aromas are used for soothing effects to patients, which reduces stress & various stress related disorders. Aromatherapy is one form of stress remedy. Yoga is an excellent way to get rid of stress. One should practice yoga for half an hour everyday to remain free from stress. Yoga is a technique which work as a stress remedies process, it also cures many incurable diseases. Yoga not only cures certain incurable diseases, it also prevent many diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, back ache to name a few. Yoga make the body physically strong, it causes secretion of certain hormones which help fight stress as well as immunity of body develops to a great extent. Meditation is another way out from stress related problem. Meditation calms down the mind, body & soul and one can get peace of mind. Some people get sick while traveling. Commonest sickness during travel is motion sickness & sea sickness. Treatment is same for both motion sickness & sea sickness. In travel sickness remedies one has to take promethazine theoclate (avomine) one tablet one hour before undertaking journey. In sea sickness one can use transdermal patch of Hyoscine which acts for three days