DIFFERENT TYPES OF ALLERGIES

he body's immune system is responsible for detecting foreign elements that enter the body and are therefore responsible for the different types of allergies that some people have. An allergy is the immune system's overreaction to a certain foreign substance known as an allergen. It is referred to as an overreaction because the immune system attacks these allergy-causing substances which are actually harmless unlike other foreign elements that bring diseases and harm to the body. Having an allergy is actually a defence mechanism of the body to prevent further entry of the allergen into the body.

The different types of allergies are dependent on the type of allergen that caused it. Allergens can be anything from the environment. The popular ones are pollen, dust mites, animal fur and dander, foods, medicines and insect stings. There are also some uncommon allergens like cigarette smoke, latex, mold, etc. Hay fever is one of the types of allergies that are caused by pollen grains and some substances. Others simply call this pollen allergy. Hay fever in the spring is associated with tree pollen allergies. In the summer, having hay fever may be due to weed and grass pollen. The pollen inhaled by a person is considered as invasive elements. Special cells called the mast cells release histamine and some leukotriene which cause inflammation of the nasal passages, sinuses and eyelids. A person having hay fever may also experience sneezing.

One of the types of allergies that are becoming more prevalent today is food allergy. The most common food allergy is peanut allergy. This type may be moderate to extremely severe allergies. Sometimes, people who are allergic to peanuts also show sensitivity to other tree nuts such as pecans, walnuts and pistachios. Egg allergies are also common in children but can be outgrown eventually. Egg allergies are associated with the proteins present in the white part of the egg. Another common food allergy is shellfish or other seafood allergy. However, it is important to note whether the occurring symptoms are due to food allergy or food intolerance. This can be determined upon consulting a physician.

It is also important to notice sensitivity to medications and drugs, may it be an allergic reaction or not. Unexpected reactions to medications are alarming and can lead to serious complications when not given attention. Penicillin and sulpha drugs are some of medications that cause an allergic reaction to many people. Patients with penicillin allergies are treated with other antibiotics. A true allergy to medications is characterized by a rash, itchy throat, difficulty of breathing or anaphylaxis. Symptoms that are not allergic in nature may just be a side effect of the medicine. Caution should be observed especially when taking a certain drug for the first time. Any unusual effects must be taken into account and reported to a physician to know whether an allergic reaction is taking place or not.

It is important to identify the different types of allergies a person may have. By knowing the specific type, a person may distinguish what substances or objects to avoid so that an allergic reaction can be prevented. Avoiding the allergen is usually the main treatment for allergies. Also, knowing the different types of allergies enables the physician to come up with the right management and medication to relieve discomfort resulting from the symptoms accompanying the allergy.

TYPES OF MENSTRUAL DISORDERS

Menstrual disorders are irregularities that follows the otherwise process of menstruation. its often observed in the adolescent age range.psychological and physical factors play individual role in menstrual disorders. To help appreciate the concept and types of menstrual irregularities. its important that we understand the basic idea of menstruation and menstrual cycle.
   Menstruation is the shedding off of the endometrial lining of the uterus following an inability of fertilization to occur while menstrual cycle refers to the physiological rhythm of a woman that occurs from when the oocyte matures,ovulates,and enters the uterine tube. it begins at roughly age11-13 while most cycles last between 21-35 days. Regular menstruation last between 3-5 days, though a range of 2-10 days is considered essentially normal.
   

Types of Menstrual Disorder

The types of disorders that can arise in the otherwise normal process of menstruation include

• Menstrual pain or Dysmennorhea
• Irregular menstruation e.g Amenorrhea and oligomenorhea
• Abnormal flow e.g menorhagia and methrorhagia 

MENSTRUAL PAIN: This remains a very important complaint made by women worldwide. its groupes into primary and secondary though the primary is easily treatable and more common. it presents as a pain in the lower abdomen which is felt before or during menstruation .dysmenorhea is caused by chemicals (leukotriene and prostalgladin) which are secreted during the menstrual cycle. sIecondary dysmenorhea usually have an underlying cause e.g endometriosis



IRREGULAR MENSTRUATION: Irregular menstruation is where there is variation in menstrual cycle length of more than approximately eight days for a woman.it could either be Amenorhea,oligomenorhea or polymenorhea.
Amenorhea refers to an absence of menstrual period in a woman who's of reproductive age. it could either be primary or secondary with the primary being caused by developmental factors as the menstrual flow never did start, secondary amenorrhea is caused by an hormonal imbalance usually from the hypothalamus and pituitary gland both in the brain
Oligomenorhea is defined as menstrual periods separated by more than 35days apart. its usually due to hormonal imbalance



ABNORMAL FLOW: Menorrhagia is an abnormally heavy and prolonged menstrual period at regular intervals. Causes may be due to abnormal blood clotting, disruption of normal hormonal regulation of periods or disorders of the endometrial lining of the uterus. Depending upon the cause, it may be associated with abnormally painful periods.
Metrorhagia is bleeding between periods . it usually signify  the presence of another pathology.


MEDICAL CARE OF MENSTRUAL DISORDERS

• In amenorrhea and menorhagia, treatment is done with respect to types.its advisable that women see their doctors as soon as possible if they suspect a case amenorrhea.
•  dysmenorhea: for help on menstrual pain, refer to this post

EASY STEPS TO READ AND COMPREHEND

   I'm actually writing this article because of a question a friend asked me the other day. "I try so hard to read for hours and at the end, i can only remember but a few things, whats wrong! What can i do?" I could tell and feel the despair in her voice, so i decided to do some research and post it here for others who may be having problems with reading and understanding or others who just want to brush up on their reading skills.

Here are a few tips. 

DON'T S 

1. Never try to read when you're tired, stressed,angry or in any of those hyper emotional state. Fact is, you might succeed in getting a few words in but generally it would never stick. Its like trying to pass through a tiny door wit a lot of luggage. It would never fit until you decide to calm down. Take a deep breath, go for a walk, calm down, the books definitely aint going anywhere and would be there and easier when you're sober. 
2. Majority of students tend to see reading as stress. Yea! One gigantic task. You can't really help it. Its normal but certainly there's a way out. You really don't have to finish chapter 1 if its just too complicated. Move on to chapter 2, there's a possibility that it'll give you more insight and when you finally get back to chapter 1.it'll be so easy and far more understandable. Read at your own pace. Its not a race. Don't feel pressurized or setting a deadline, the problem with setting a deadline is you probably might meet your deadline but it mostly wouldn't stick after that.
 3.DON'T read in noisy environments. We both know its a waste of time. If your room or classroom is as noisy as a danceclub by all means move out. Somethings are just plain impossible, reading in a clubhouse is definitely one of them. You sure can find a place where u feel calm and easy. Thats the best place 'd like to read. It could be the library, or even a church with no congregation of course. It could be an empty classroom or that spot where only you know. 

4. An hungry man is an angry man!. Thats a saying i was born with. Never try to read on an empty stomach. There really any much explanation about this. You'd agree its self explanatory. The brain requires energy in the form of glucose to perform that task of decoding and storing those informations you're trying to put in it. Least u could do is give it some fuel. hunger makes u edgy and from step 1, you'd know it doesn't mostly work. 
5. Sleep! This is important. Always try to get some sleep before putting in those hours into the books. Sleep refreshes the brain. Its like a system reboot. Makes it all ready for a new round of activities. 

6. Music: a couple of us tend to find Music as a reading aid just as it can also be a distraction. If it works for you. By all means, continue but if it doesn't, do drop the earphones before picking up those papers. 
7. Reading and comprehension: Its one thing to read and yet another to comprehend or understand what you're reading. We all tend to read different materials differently because our goal of reading in each case is different. Reading a newspaper is different from reading a school's text. Reading a news paper is passive and light reading while a school text is active and focused. Try to be focused and take note of the first and last sentences in a paragraph because usually that embodies the main point of the paragraph. 
8. Make use of Memory aids!: Memory aids like mnemonics help a great deal in memorizing keypoints, list etc. For example, the first mnemonic i ever learnt was for the characteristic of living things summed up in MR NIGER D. Where M stands for movement, respiration, nutrition, irritability, growth, excretion, respiration and death. I learnt that more than 10years ago and still it sticks. Relate your concepts to other things and it'll be easier to memorize.
 9. Visualize! : The mind is a powerful and indispensable tool. The ability to picture things, points, concept, and graphs makes it more easy to comprehend. Picture the concept, relate it to wat u already know,if its an organism picture it. Relate the characteristic to it. See it in your mind's eye. If its a concept or a law. Get the basic idea, relate it to what u already know. Its easier to remember and reproduce it this way. 

10. Be yourself! Do what works for you. Make use of footnotes, jot down important points. Underline difficult concept and read more about it. Study the diagrams and graphs. Use the index at the back of the book. see reading as an enjoyable process and it will be. Like i'll always say it doesn't matter the method with which you read provided you get those grade legitimately and if you must read, read smart.HAPPY READING!


Pls leave a comment on how best you read and share with your friends on facebook. You never can tell which of them would find this important. Thanks for reading.

REAL FACTS ABOUT DIABETES

• DIABETES MELLITUS commonly known as diabetes is directly related to high blood sugar either because the body can not produce enough insulin or the body can not utilize the insulin. Globally as of 2010, an estimated 285 million people have type 2 diabetes, making up about 90% of all diabetes cases.
• Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure in the world. Besides this every year it is responsible for 5% or 5 million blindness in adults and one million limb amputations. Diabetes is also an important cause of heart disease, stroke and cataract.
• For at least 20 years, diabetes rates in North America have been increasing substantially. In 2010, nearly 26 million people have diabetes in the United States alone, from those 7 million people remain undiagnosed. Another 57 million people are estimated to have prediabetes.                                                                                               
• Diabetes was one of the first diseases described with an Egyptian manuscript from 1500 BCE mentioning “too great emptying of the urine”. The first described cases are believed to be of type 1 diabetes. Indian physicians around the same time identified the disease and classified it as madhumeha or "honey urine", noting the urine would attract ants. The term "diabetes" or "to pass through" was first used in 230 BCE by the Greek Appollonius of Memphis. The disease was rare during the time of the Roman empire, with Galen commenting he had only seen two cases during his career.
• DIABETES comes from a latin word which comes from an ancient greek word which in turn is derived from yet another greek word....(diabainein)
•  Do you know that cats and dogs also tend to develop Diabetes? with females being at higher risk.
• Diabetes complications tends to affect the eyes, kidneys.nerves and usually lead to foot complications even amputation
• Type 1 diabetes can occur in an older individual due to destruction of the pancreas by alcohol, disease, or removal by surgery. It also results from progressive failure of the pancreatic beta cells, the only cell type that produces significant amounts of insulin.,People with type 1 diabetes require insulin treatment daily to sustain life.
•  Exercise: Regular exercise, in any form, can help reduce the risk of developing diabetes.

HOW TO CLERK A PATIENT..THE GUIDE

A suggested format for clerking patients with all the standard questions you might ever want to ask.  this should be of help to medical students,trainee nurses and other general medical disciplines

Generally clerking is divided into two:
 1.    HISTORY TAKING
 2.    SYSTEMIC REVIEW


We'd begin with history taking


Introduction
Always begin by introducing yourself,develop a rapport.  that the key to a successful history taking
all patients are humans and humans generally are apprehensive when giving out personal information so develop a rapport.


1.         Introduce myself
2.     Tell patient what U want to do
3.     Ask patient if it is alright
4.     Ask patient if they are comfortable



Preliminaries

After the rapport development and the introduction, its important you get the bio-data of the patient next.
follow either of the two format

1.         Full name
2.     Age
3.     Occupation
4.     Marital Status
5.     Patient's Address & Telephone
6.     Next of Kin's Address & Telephone
7.     GP's name & area
8.     Hospital consultant

or break it down into acronyms NASOMATI
 N      NAME
 A      AGE
 S      SEX
 O      OCCUPATION
 M      MARITAL STATUS
 A      ADDRESS
 T      TRIBE/RELIGION( DEPENDING ON YOUR LOCATION)
 I      INFORMANT...(its necessary to point out the person who answered the questions if twas the patient or the relation)


Presenting Complaint  (PC)
        ask the patient what brought him to the hospital...and categorize complain chronologically in descending order of date the complain started
        its important that you put this in the patient own word.

History of Presenting Complaint  (HPC)
1.         Could you take me through everything leading up to you coming to hospital.
2.     Symptoms most symptom can be exhausted under the acronym (SOCRATEIS)
    Site
    Onset  (Sudden  /  Gradual)
    Character
        (Aching,  Burning,  Stabbing,  Throbbing)
        (Crushing,  Constricting,  Distending)
        (Constant  or  Colicky)
        (Deep  or  Superficial)
        (Sharp  or  Dull)
    Radiation
    Alleviating factors
    Time
    Exacerbating Factors
    Intensity  /  Severity
    Associated features
    Preceding events
    Ever had it before?
    Getting better  /  worse





Past Medical History  (PMH)
1.         Have you had any other problems requiring treatment or hospitalisation before?
2.     IS THE PATIENT CURRENTLY ON TREATMENT FOR ANY CONDITION
3.     Ask about :-

    Rheumatic Fever
    Diabetes
    Jaundice      Epilepsy 
    Tuberculosis 
    Hypertension  
    Asthma   
    Myocardial Infarction   
    Heart Disease      Stroke
    Chronic Bronchitis
    Kidney Disease
    Venereal Disease
    Tropical Diseases
    Operations )
    Anaesthetic Problems (Anaes)
    Immunizations (Imun)
    Childhood Infections
        (Measles, Mumps, Chicken Pox, German Measles)
        (Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Scarlet Fever)
    Allergies  /  Drug Reactions
    Anything else which I haven't mentioned or we haven't covered?


NEXT IS THE SOCIAL/FAMILY HISTORY
     Ask about the family background of the patient,marital status, marital setting if  married (monogamous/polygamous) number of children etc
    Also ask about
    Smoking
    Drinking
    Drugs
    Allergies to either food and drugs




Review of Systems  (ROS)

General
1.         Weight Loss  /  Gain
2.     Appetite  /  Diet
3.     Thirst
4.     Energy  /  Fatigue
5.     Lumps
6.     Fevers
7.     Itches
8.     Sleep
9.     Night Sweats

Respiratory
1.         Cough
2.     Sputum
3.     Haemoptysis
4.     Dyspnoea
5.     Wheeze
6.     Chest Pain
7.     Tachypnoea

Cardiovascular
1.         Exertional dyspnoea
2.     Paroxysmal Nocturnal Dyspnoea
3.     Orthopnoea
4.     Chest Pain
5.     Palpitations
6.     Ankle oedema
7.     Intermittent Claudication
8.     Headaches
9.     Rheumatic Fever  /  Chorea
10.     Pedal edema
Gastrointestinal

Upper Alimentary Tract :
1.         Abdominal Pain
2.     Appetite
3.     Vomiting  /  Nausea
4.     Vomit  /  Haematemesis
5.     Belching  /  Flatulence
6.     Water Brash
7.     Heartburn
8.     Indigestion
9.     Swallowing  /  Dysphagia
10.     Haemotypsis

Lower Abdominal Tract :1.         Diarrhoea
2.     Constipation
3.     Stools  (Steatorrhoea, Blood, Slime, Consistency, Colour, Flushing)
4.     Pain
5.     Frequency  /  Bowel Habit
6.     Tenesmus  /  Urgency

Liver & Gallbladder :
1.         Jaundice
2.     Colour of Urine and Faeces
3.     Itching Skin
4.     Pain

Genito-Urinary System

Urinary :
1.         Loin Pain  /  Dysuria
2.     Oedema
3.     Incontinence
4.     Haematuria
5.     Nocturia
6.     Frequency
7.     Polyuria  /  Oliguria
8.     Hesitancy
9.     Terminal Dribbling

Genital :
1.         Vaginal  /  Urethral Discharge
2.     Menses  (Frequency, Regularity, Heavy or Light, Duration, Pain)
3.     Perineal Pain  /  Swelling  /  Ulceration
4.     Pregnancies  (Gravida  /  Para)
5.     Menarche  /  Menopause
6.     Infertility
7.     Sex Life  /  Dyspareunia

Neurological
1.         Sight
2.     Hearing
3.     Taste
4.     Touch
5.     Smell
6.     Epilepsy  /  Seizures
7.     Faints  /  Blackouts
8.     Headaches
9.     Injuries
10.     Parasthesia  /  Sensation
11.     Motor Weakness  /  Muscle Twitches
12.     Nausea  /  Vomiting
13.     Paralysis  /  Stroke
14.     Balance  /  Coordination
15.     Speech
16.     Higher Mental Function
17.     Psychiatric Symptoms
(Anxiety, Phobias, Obsessive Thoughts, Compulsive Acts)
(Depression, Mania, Psychoses)

Musculo-Skeletal
1.         Pain
2.     Stiffness
3.     Swelling of Joints
4.     Functioning of Joints  /  Mobility

Skin
1.         Rashes
2.     Itching
3.     Smell
4.     Drugs
5.     Hobbies  /  Occupation
6.     Personal Hygiene
7.     Allergies

systemic reviews comes next..