Tag: Medical

Infographics Information

Blood Pressure According To Your Age

Do you know what your blood pressure should be?

Regulating your blood pressure can become a real virtue, unless you are older and unable to do so. In that case, this is pretty harmful and sometimes impossible. This was shown in a study that involved 2,000 seniors. The results were published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine and they actually surprised the world.

When it comes to high blood pressure, there is no place for mistakes – hypertension is a real life threat. It affects the function of your arteries, kidneys, and your body in general. This causes heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other dangerous health issues. This is the reason why most doctors reach for aggressive therapies when it comes to treating hypertension.

Blood Pressure According To Your Age

Same as other health conditions, a particular method cannot be applied to everyone. There are different treatments for 50-year-old men and 80-year-old men, as the therapy of the first group does not correspond to the individuals in the second.

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Infographics

What Your Fingernails Say About Your Health

Did you know that some fingernail irregularities are signs of medical conditions?

What Your Fingernails Say About Your Health

It’s often said that the eyes are the window to the soul. But might fingernails reveal your health status? All kinds of conditions and diseases can affect your nails. For example, small depressions or pitting often occur in people with psoriasis.

A 2012 paper noted that 77 percent of psoriasis sufferers have nail abnormalities, most commonly pitting and onycholysis (a separation of the nail from the nail bed). Though far more common on toenails, fungus can also infect fingernails (onychomycosis), causing nails to thicken and turn yellowish.

Here are some other telltale signs:
  • Nail clubbing. Nails normally curve at a slight upward angle from the nail bed. Nails that curve downward could be indicative of lung, cardiovascular, liver or inflammatory bowel disease or HIV infection.
  • Spoon nails (koilonychia). This refers to nails that are abnormally thin and flat—or even concave enough to hold a drop of water. The condition is associated with severe iron-deficiency anemia and other systemic illnesses, and commonly results from repeated exposure to chemicals or trauma.
  • Horizontal indentations (Beau’s lines). These lines may be a sign of injury to the nail or of peripheral vascular disease, diabetes or zinc deficiency. They can occur as a result of a high fever and in people being treated with chemotherapy.
  • White bands (Muehrcke’s nails). This condition is characterized by a pair of horizontal white lines running parallel to the nail base. It can be associated with liver or kidney disease and may also occur because of chemotherapy.
  • White nail plates (Terry’s nails). Characterized by white nails with a dark band at the tip, seen on all fingers, Terry’s nails are common in people with liver disease and are also associated with congestive heart failure, diabetes and HIV, though they may also occur as part of normal aging.




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How To

How To Of The Day: How To Stop A Nosebleed

How to Stop a Nosebleed
PeopleImages/iStock

Nosebleeds are fairly common, especially in children. They usually happen as a result of a minor injury, nose picking, or blowing the nose. Very occasionally, nosebleeds can be a sign of underlying illness or injury. Very rarely, a nosebleed can be life-threatening, especially in older people.

When to Seek Medical Advice for a Nosebleed

  • Frequent nosebleeds (more than once a week); this can be a symptom of high blood pressure
  • Persistent nosebleeds in a person who is on blood-thinning medication such as warfarin
  • Thin watery blood from the nose following a blow to the head, which can indicate a possible skull fracture
  • Frequent nosebleeds accompanied by bleeding gums as well as bruises that develop for no apparent reason

How to Stop a Nosebleed

1. Sit the patient down. Tell her to lean forward (not backward) so that the blood can drain. Wear nonlatex disposable gloves if you have them to protect yourself and the patient.

2. Pinch the nose. Tell the patient to breathe through her mouth and pinch the soft part of her nose to help reduce blood flow. She can lean over a sink or give her a bowl so that she can spit out any blood; swallowing it can make her sick. Advise her not to sniff, swallow, or cough, as it can disturb the clots that are forming.

3. Check the nose. After 10 minutes release the pressure and check the nose. If it is still bleeding, pinch the nose again for another 10 minutes.

4. Offer a cold compress. Give the patient an ice or cold pack to hold against the bridge of her nose to help reduce blood flow.

5. Check the nose again. Once the bleeding has stopped, let the patient clean around her nose with a damp cloth. Tell her not to blow her nose and avoid strenuous activity for up to 12 hours.

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