Difficulty breathing - one of the symptoms of heart failure

Dyspnoea or Breathlessness can be defined as an awereness of increased drive to breathe. It is normal on exercise. It is pathological if it occurs while doing something that does not require much exertion.

Breathlessness is a non-specific symptom as it can be caused by cardiac, respiratory, neuromuscular and metabolic conditions. Today we will look at the cardiac causes of difficulty breathing.

There are several caused of difficulty breathing  due to heart problems:

1. Acute left heart failure
2. Chronic heart failure
3. Arrythmia
4. Angina equivalent

5 reasons for not being able to lose weight!

I am sure you understand the importance of maintaining a healthy weight and probably the reason you are reading this article is because even though you are trying, you are just not being able to lose weight!

There can be many reasons for not being able to lose weight. Some you can control and some (your metabolic rate) you can't control. Let's look at the ones you can.

What is the Difference Between Obesity and Overweight?

Differentiate between obesity and overweight. Find out your BMI and compare it with the BMI chart.

Although the terms overweight and obesity may sound alike, they are two different things.

What is considered overweight?

Overweight is defined as any weight in excess of weight recommendations for a given person (> 18 years) in the desirable weight table (see the table below).

Heighta (IN.)	Weight (LB)
	Men	Women
60		109 ± 9b
62		115 ± 9
64	133 ± 11	122 ± 10
66	142 ± 12	129 ± 10
68	151 ± 14	136 ± 10
70	159 ± 14	144 ± 11
72	167 ± 15	152 ± 12
74	175 ± 15

a = Heights and weights without shoes and other clothing.
b = Desirable weight for a small framed woman at this height would be approximately 109 lb. minus 9 lb., or a total of 100 lb; for an average framed  woman, 109 lb.; for a large framed woman 109 lb. plus 9 lb., or a total of 118 lb.
Source: Food and Nutrition Board, National Research Council

Causes of excess weight

The cause of excess weight might include:

• Excess fat.
• Extra-heavy skeletal framework.
• Excessively muscular physique due to weight lifting or prolonged physical activity. 

A person can be overweight without being fat. Studies of college freshmen show 23 percent of the male students and 36 percent of the female students are overweight!

List of Foods with Vitamin C

Today we present you with our list of top 10 common foods with high vitamin C. Hope you enjoy it!

Vitamin C is just awesome!

Did you know that man, monkey and guinea pigs are perhaps the only species known to require vitamin C in their diet?

Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, just like all the other vitamins! We need vitamin C for many good reasons, and one of them is the production of Collagen.

Collagen is a protein that accounts for 25% of the total body protein! It forms the supporting structure for blood vessels, bones etc. Without vitamin C, body doesn't produce enough collagen, and even the collagens that are produced are not strong enough to support the different structures. So, deficiency of vitamin C leads to a disease condition called Scurvy, which is characterized by bleeding gums, subcutaneous bruising, weak bones, delayed wound healing and so many other things.

So, since we humans can't produce vitamin C, the only way to make sure we get enough vitamin C is by eating lots of foods which are high in vitamin C.

What vitamins to take during pregnancy

It is extremely important to have a healthy and adequate diet during pregnancy to make sure you and your baby stay safe and go through the whole process of pregnancy smoothly. You diet should be rich in a wide variety of nutritious foods to meet the needs of your baby and your body. It is only natural that the daily requirement of energy increases in pregnancy as well as lactation.



Today's post is about "What vitamins to take during pregnancy?". Please do not have the misconception that the vitamins that I am going to mention today are the only vitamins that you have to take during pregnancy.

Your body requires all the vitamins in certain amounts, whether you are pregnant OR not. This post is about some particular vitamins that you have to take in additional amounts during pregnancy (and lactation).

Classification of Vitamins

What is the classification of vitamins? Read to find out!

Vitamins are extremely important essential micro-nutrients for your body even though they are required by the body in very small amount. Vitamins do not produce energy but they enable the body to use other nutrients to produce energy. In the coming weeks I'll write more about vitamins and minerals. Let's start today by classifying vitamins.

Classification of Vitamins!

Minerals- Definition, Types, Functions, Sources, Daily requirements, Deficiency disorders of common minerals

What are minerals?

Minerals are inorganic substances required by the body in minute amounts for growth, repair and regulation of body functions.

Classification of minerals

1. Major minerals: Present in the body in large amounts and their daily requirement in man to maintain optimum nutrition is appreciable. A few examples are, Ca2+, Na+, K+, Mg2+.

2. Minor elements: Also known as trace elements. They are required by the body in amounts less than few milligrams per day. A few examples are Iron, Iodine, Copper, Cobalt, Zinc, Fluorine, Molybdenum, Selenium, Chromium, Tin, Nickel, and Manganese.

Functions of minerals

1.Formation of bones and teeth

2.Contraction of muscles

3.Transmission of nerve impulse

4.Specific functions like formation of thyroid hormones by iodine

5.Maintenance of osmotic pressure of fluids.

Let's have a look at some of the most important minerals individually.

HIV/AIDS: How HIV spreads and evades the immune system, Pathogenesis and Differences between HIV 1 and HIV 2

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, if not treated. Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely, even with treatment. So once you get HIV, you have it for life.

What is Diabetic Foot? What are the symptoms of diabetic foot?

Diabetic Foot

Introduction to diabetic foot

The foot is a frequent site of complication in long-standing diabetic patients. The patients usually come with diabetic foot gangrene, ie, necrosis of the foot with super-added putrefaction (The process of decay or rotting in a body). And in majority of the cases the final treatment is amputation of the foot.

What are the causes of Diabetic Foot?

Diabetic foot is mainly caused by injury to the foot followed by infection in the presence of diabetic complications like diabetic neuropathy and diabetic vascular disease.The injury may go unnoticed because most of the time it is a small injury and also because the pain can not be felt due to nerve damage (neuropathy).

Diabetic Neuropathy and Diabetic Vascular Disease

Due to diabetic vascular diseases (diabetic macrovascular disease) in diabetes the blood supply to the foot decreases in considerable amount (ischaemia). 

Diabetic neuropathy also contributes to the formation of diabetic gangrene or ulcer because healing is delayed or hampered in areas with damaged nerve supply (neuropathy).

The extent to which either ischaemia or neuropathy develops varies from person to person.

An Introduction to HIV-Human Immunodeficiency Virus and AIDS-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Today we will learn about the properties, genetics and diseases caused by HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an RNA virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). There are two types of HIV virus - HIV 1 and HIV 2 - and they both cause AIDS.

HIV 1 is found worldwide but HIV 2 is found primarily in West-Africa.

Shock - Definition, Types, Morphology, Stages and Clinical Course

Find out everything you need to know about shock: definition, types, pathogenesis, morphological changes in the body, clinical features, stages and treatment of cardiogenic, hypovolaemic and septic shock...

What is SHOCK?

Shock is a disorder that result from systemic hypo-perfusion due to reduction either in cardiac output or in the effective circulating blood volume.

Common Causes of shock are profuse haemorrhage, large myocardial infarction, severe diarrhoea, severe vomiting, extensive burn, trauma, bacterial sepsis, and pulmonary embolism.

Effects of Hypo-perfusion:

Due to hypo-perfusion there is less supply (hypoxia) of oxygen and nutrients to the cells and tissues and inadequate removal of metabolites. 

Hypoxia leads to less aerobic and more anaerobic metabolism with increased production of lactic acid. At first there is reversible injury to cells which passes on to irreversible injury with persistence or severe shock (see stages of shock below). Finally there may be necrosis of cells or even death of the patient.

Herpes Simplex Virus: Sign and Symptoms, Complications, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Herpes 1 and 2

Get to know about the Clinical features/Sign and Symptoms, Complications, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Herpes simplex 1 and 2. Also find out the difference between herpes simplex virus 1 and 2

Herpes Simplex virus 1 and 2:

They cause various widespread mucocutaneous infections. 

HSV 1 usually involves the skin of the head, neck and trunk (above the waist) while HSV 2 involves the skin of the genital organs (below the waist). These viruses infects sensory and autonomic neurons and cause latent infection in the nerve ganglia. Primary infection is followed by episodes of reactivation throughout life.

Basic concepts of Rheumatology

Rheumatology is a branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of rheumatic disorders involving the joints, muscles, blood vessels and other connective tissues.

Some people think that rheumatology is a part of physical medicine which is not correct. Rheumatology and physical medicine do overlap but they both are separate specialties.

Asthma: Epidemiology, Classification, Causes, Pathogenesis, Morphological changes of airway, Signs and Symptoms, Investigations, Treatment/Management, Asthma in pregnancy and Prognosis of Asthma

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory condition of the airway which is classically characterized by:

Asthma most frequently occurs between
the ages of 3-5 years

1. Airflow limitation which is usually reversible spontaneously or with treatment.
2. Airway hyper-responsiveness to a wide range of stimuli which would cause no ill effects in the normal airways of nonasthmatic individuals.
3. Inflammation of the bronchi/airway with T lymphocytes, mast cells, eosinophils with associated plasma exudation, oedema, smooth muscle hypertrophy, matrix deposition, mucus plugging and epithelial damage.

What happens during an asthma attack?

The underlying genetic basis for hyper-responsive airways is not entirely clear, although significant advances have been made in understanding the pathogenesis and environmental triggers of asthma "attack." In some cases, the attacks are triggered by exposure to an allergen to which the person has been previously sensitized, but often no trigger can be identified.

Typical symptoms of asthma include wheeze (high pitched musical sound), cough, chest tightness and dyspnoea (breathlessness) particularly at night and/or early in the morning.

In chronic asthma, inflammation may be accompanied by irreversible airflow limitation as a result of airway wall remodelling that may involve large and small airways and mucus impaction.