Health Alert – Guides for your Health

Other common skin disease during summer season is prickly heat rash.  My daughter wake up one morning and told me that her neck is very itchy, I check her neck and I notice some red skin rash. I think it is a prickly heat rash because of very hot weather.

Prickly heat is an itchy, red skin rash that usually occurs when there is excessive sweating due to heat exposure of overheating.  It also called miliaria or uticaria (hives).  It is not a serious skin disease since it is usually self-limited and resolves in hours to a few days without treatment.  But, if it may be more severe, it requires professional medical care.

Miliaria or prickly heat is can be found any parts of the body area like face or neck where tiny, pinpoint and pick.  It is due to small sweat particles that are trapped in the skin.  It may cause inflammation and itching around the sweat pores.  It may look like small clear blisters or like gooseflesh.  It is often occurs during repeated episodes of sweating in a hot humid environment like summer season.  It is more common in infants but may also occur in adults.

Prickly heat can be resolves without treatment, often within a day after changing to a cooler environment.  Some of the home remedies for prickly heat are to take cool showers or bath and avoid skin to skin contact by placing a clean cotton washcloth or material between skin folds. Also, drinking a lot of water is always helpful to maintain cooler body temperature and for overall hydration and body temperature regulation.

March 10th, 2010 | Tags: heat rash treatment, prickly heat rash | Category: Parenting | Leave a comment

I prepare pork bistek for lunch. It is a combination of soy sauce and calamansi juice.

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork chop, sliced
3 to 4 garlic, crushed
1  red onion, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1/2 calamansi juice
3/4 cup soy sauce
Salt and pepper to tase
Cooking oil
1/4 cup water

Preparations:

1. In a bowl, combine calamansi juice and soy sauce.  You can add more calamansi juice if needed. Add salt and pepper.
2. Marinate pork chops for 30 minutes to 1 hour to the mixture.
3. In a saucepan, saute garlic and onions and then set aside.
4. Fry pork chops in cooking oil until cook or golden brown.
5. Put pork back in the saucepan and add the marinade combination. Add water.
6. Simmer until the pork is tender.

March 8th, 2010 | Category: Daily Menu and Recipe | Leave a comment

Philippines is now experiencing measles outbreak in most areas in Manila including Baseco compound and moriones in Tondo, Barangay Pulang Lupa in Las Pinas City and some provinces.

According to health authorities that the number of measles cases are increasing because of rising temperature as summer season approaches.  Most measles victims are children in the 1 to 9 age range and they were not vaccinated so they are prone to infection.

Some other causes of measles outbreak are transmission of infection from one child to another since measles is highly contagious. It is transmitted via droplets from nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.  Since Measles is caused by a virus

Furthermore, according to the WHO, there is no specific treatment for measles and prevention can be done through immunization.  Measles is actually caused by a virus that’s why there is no specific treatment and the virus has to run its course.  A child with measles should be sure to drink plenty of fluids and receive a plenty of rest and be kept from spreading the infection to others.

Measles is a respiratory infection and it is also called rubeola.  It is a total body skin rash and flu like symptoms such as fever, cough and runny nose. Symptoms of measles are hacking cough, runny nose, high fever and red eyes.  There is also a small red spots with blue-white centers that appear inside the mouth. The measles rash has a red or reddish brown blotchy appearance and first usually shows up on the forehead and then spreads over the face, neck and body down to the arms and feet.

To prevent measles, baby and children should be given immunization against measles that’s why DOH is now using a door-to-door strategy immunization nationwide to decrease measles cases in the country.

Serious complications of measles are blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear infection and pneumonia but in most cases measles victims can recover within two to three weeks.

March 2nd, 2010 | Tags: measle prevention, measles, measles symptoms | Category: Parenting | Leave a comment

Philippines are now experiencing very hot weather so it is important to protect our skin from sun exposure as well as our eyes.  It is recommended to wear protective UV blocking sunglasses because it can protect the delicate skin of the eye area from damage due to UV rays.

Due to excessive sun exposure, eyes can expose to sun and can develop serious and permanent eye damage.  It is important to protect our eyes from eye related disease such as cataracts, photokeratitis and much other eye disorder. The risk of getting eye related disease due to long exposure to sun is from about 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon  Some people such as fishermen, farmer and beach goers who spend long hours under the sun without adequate eye protection can develop photokeratitis which result in temporary loss of vision.

When you are planning to buy sunglasses, always make sure to look for a label states that the sunglasses offer 99% or 100% UV protection.  Don’t ever think that glasses with a darker tint or with pricier sunglasses can get more UV protection. Also, you can ask Opthomalogists to test your sunglasses about the level of UV protection. In addition, your sunglasses must be dark adequate to cut down glare but not dark enough to distort color that affects the recognition of traffic signals. It is recommended to wear lenses that are amber, brown or green and neutral gray.

Last week, I bought sunglasses for my daughter since we are planning to go swimming.  Remember your children should also wear real sunglasses just like adults not toy sunglasses.

February 26th, 2010 | Category: Healthy Lifestyle | Leave a comment

Summer is approaching here in the Philippines that’s why Department of Health (DOH) warns the public of the possible illnesses during this summer.  One of the common illnesses during summer season according to DOH is heat stroke aside from skin disease due to very hot climate nowadays.

Heat stroke is a heat related disorder and is the one of the most dangerous disorder because it is often put the victim’s lives in danger so it is important to protect yourself against heat stroke. It is a disease due to an environmental exposure to heat which results a high body temperature which can exceed to 40 degree or higher. Some symptoms of heat stroke are red and flushed skin without sweating, seizure, headache, rapid pulse and unconsciousness.

Here are some tips to prevent heat stroke.

• Always drink a plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated.  It is recommended to drink eight or more glasses of water per day during normal weather conditions and twice that during high heat temperature.
• Wear loose fitting dress or cotton clothing during excessive heat to aid your body in breathing.
• Find a place where there is plenty of airspace which helps your body to naturally cool itself.  Stay in the shaded and wide open area will help your body rid itself of heat through sweating.  If your inside your house, always open windows, or use a fan or air-conditioning during heat season.
• Limit yourself from sun exposure.  If you go outside, make sure to have umbrella to protect yourself from the sun or stay in the shaded area if you feel yourself getting warm.

February 25th, 2010 | Tags: heat stroke, heat stroke prevention | Category: Healthy Lifestyle | Leave a comment

Last New Year my mother cooked her favorite recipe which is bringhe.  It is a rice dish as the Filipino version of the Spanish paella.  Sometimes, it is called Philippine Paella.

Ingredients:

1 cups regular rice
4 cups of coconut milk
1 cup sticky (malagkit ) rice
1 pc. chicken breast, cut in strips
2 pcs. hardboiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup yellow ginger (turmeric juice)
1 head garlic, crushed
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 pc. bell pepper, cut into cubes
250 g. shrimps, peeled and steamed
100 g. cooked hotdog, sliced
100 g. frozen green peas, thawed
Cooking oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Banana leaves

Preparations:

1. In a large casserole, heat oil and saute chicken strips until cooked.  Then remove chicken and set aside.
2. Again add some oil and saute onion and garlic.
3. Add regular and sticky rice and stir thoroughly to coat in oil.
4. Mix together water, coconut milk and turmeric juice in a large bowl. Then pout into casserole.
5. Simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the rice is done.
6. Blend shrimps, chicken strips, cooked hotdog and green peas when the rice is fully cooked.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Garnish with bell pepper and sliced egg.

February 18th, 2010 | Tags: bringhe, bringhe recipe, filipino bringhe | Category: Daily Menu and Recipe | Leave a comment

Last night, my friend calls me and told me that her son was bite by a stray cat.  She was so worried because of the infection of cat bite as well as rabies.  We all know that rabies is dangerous to our health. Since she was worried very much, she decided to get her so human rabies immune globulin (HRIG).  It is a series of five rabies shots.  Rabies is most common in wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes but still 7% of rabies cases occur in domestic animals including dogs and cats.

After biting by cat, it is important to know the basic first aid for cat bite. First, Stop the bleeding and clean wound with soap and water and apply antibiotic ointment and bandage to the bite.  Then, bring your child to the nearest health department or pediatrician to see if your child is at risk for bacterial infection, tetanus and rabies.

Cats are usually have Pasteurella multocida bacteria in their mouth which may affect wound infection so it is recommended  to treat your children with antibiotiucs such as Augmentin and if your children is allergic to penicillin, it can be treated with a combination of clindamycin or Bactrim.

February 6th, 2010 | Tags: cat bite | Category: Parenting | Leave a comment

Every new year my tita used to prepare palitaw because she believe that palitaw give good luck the whole year round.  Palitaw is one of the Filipino kakanin delights.  It is made from sticky rice (malagkit).

Ingredients:

3 cups  sticky rice flour (malagkit)
1 small grated coconut
1 cup sugar
1 to 2 cups water
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted and powdered

Preparations:

1. Put together rice flour and water then mix thoroughly.
2. Shape dough into egg-size ovals with your floured hands and flatted with your thumb.
3. Drop the dough into 2 cups boiling water.
4. When the dough float, scoop out with skimmers.
5. Roll in grated coconut and serve with sugar mixed with toasted sesame seeds.

January 25th, 2010 | Tags: palitaw | Category: Food and Nutrition | Comments (1)

I noticed red patch in her cheek.  At first, I thought it just like an insect bite so I ignored it.  But the following day, I find it red and scaly so I started to observe this small bump.  As day passes it become inflamed and red as well as it become like a ring.  Based on the appearance, I conclude that it is a ringworm infection.   My sister in law recommends putting Nizoral Cream an antifungal medication, on her cheek to cure the ringworm infection twice a day.  Even though, it looks that the ringworm is clear, it is important not to stop medication for two weeks to avoid the recurrence of infection.  Complete treatment is necessary even after symptoms disappear.  When the symptoms does not improve in two weeks after antifungal medication treatment, make sure to consult a doctor.

By the way, ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin.  Anyone can get ringworm infection whenever it has direct skin to skin contact with the infected person or pet.  Someone also get ringworm indirectly contact with the object touch by infected person such as hair brush, combs, telephone, bed sheets, etc.  So it important not to share clothing, towel, hair brush and other personal items and always keep common areas clean.

January 21st, 2010 | Tags: antifungal infection, fungal infection, ringworm infection | Category: Parenting | Leave a comment