Asthma (also called Bronchial Asthma) is a long-term condition in which the air passages in the lungs become narrow due to inflammation and tightening of the muscles around the small airways. It makes breathing difficult and can make some physical activities challenging or even impossible. Causes- It is caused by a variety of factors such as: (i) Extreme weather conditions like air pollution, environmental irritants, allergens etc. (ii) Respiratory infections, people exposed to tobacco smoke, strong chemicals. (iii) People with a family history of Asthma or other allergic diseases have a high risk of developing asthma. (iv) Exercise (v) Certain medications like Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), aspirin etc. Types of Asthma-

1. Exercise-induced asthma:  It is triggered by exercise and is also called exercise-induced bronchospasm.
2. Occupational asthma: This type of asthma happens to people who work around irritating substances.
3. Asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS):  This type happens when a person has both asthma and  chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Both diseases make it difficult to breathe.

Symptoms- The most common symptom  is wheezing. There is a whistling sound that occurs when a person breathes. Other asthma symptoms include:

1. coughing, especially at night, when laughing, or during exercise
2. tightness in the chest
3. shortness of breath
4. difficulty talking
5. anxiousness or panic
6. fatigue
7. chest pain
8. rapid breathing
9. frequent infections
10. trouble sleeping

Diagnosis and Treatment-

1. Bronchodilators:  These medicines relax the muscles around the airways which helps to move the air and let mucus move more easily through the airways. Used for intermittent and chronic asthma which help to relieve the symptoms.
2. Anti-inflammatory medicines:  These medicines reduce swelling and mucus production in the airways. They make it easier for air to enter and exit your lungs. Mainly used for chronic asthma.
3. Biologic therapies for asthma:  These are used for severe asthma when symptoms persist despite proper inhaler therapy.
4. Medicines:  metered-dose inhalers, nebulizers etc.

Prevention and Control-

1. Wear masks while going outside especially in crowds, polluted places.
2. Prevent exposure to allergens such as dust, pollens, molds, pets etc.
3. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle- nutrient rich diet, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy BMI as asthma tends to worse in obese people.
4. Management of stress
5. By quitting smoking as smoking triggers Asthma and increases the risk of COPD.
6. Take preventive medicines in case of emergency.

Either you currently have knee osteoarthritis, or just developing knee pain from time to time and worry about the best way of exercise. This health article got some answers for you. Exercising is a vital activity for boosting the immune system as well as your endurance. The most appropriate exercise for patients with knee pain or knee osteoarthritis is the one that causes the least impact at the knee joint. The lesser impact at the knee joint means a lower chance of knee injury, so this is why most research suggests that cycling and swimming are the best exercises for patients with knee problems. Therefore, cycling is a very great exercise for patients with knee osteoarthritis condition. In addition, cycling is also a right choice of exercise for patients who suffer from spondylosis with nerve root compression in some cases (and we will definitely talk about this in later articles). Cycling makes knee joint bend and stretch gently and helps to ease the movement of the joint. Cycling also improves the muscle strength around the knee joint, which ultimately protects the knee joint if there are any impact actions. So it’s wise to say that cycling promotes knee joint health in many ways. Furthermore, cycling is a cardio workout. Cardio workout is known to enhance cardiology strength, improving sleep quality, and a great way to relieve stress. here are so many concerns about whether cycling could cause more severe knee osteoarthritis or not. The answer can be both “yes” and “no”. Usually, cycling cause quite a small impact to the knee joint. The joint also moves gently in a circular motion. Cycling has to be very extreme to develop osteoarthritis condition, like athlete cycling – which involves standing and fast-paced cycling. Cycling in this way causes intense pressure at the knee joint and cartilage. If the knee joint and knee muscle are not strong enough, the knee will be severely injured. Another point to concern is to tone down the pressure at the knee cap during cycling. You can do this by customizing the bicycle appropriately. Adjust the seat to be a little higher. The seat is in a good position when you paddle the pedal to the farthest bottom; your knee position is bending by only 10-15 degrees angle. You may move the seat to the front or the rear as desired. The position of the knee joint when you paddle the pedal at the very front should be absolute vertical and directly match to the thumb joint of the foot. Cycling tips for the beginners:

• Recommend to ride using lesser efforts; you can gradually extend the riding time based on your present conditions
• Stop the ride immediately if there is any pain. Take a break and reduce effort level for the next ride
• Stretch the muscle around your hip joint, knee joint, and ankle joint every time before and after cycling

The preferred bicycle should have these options:

• Can adjust the seat upper or lower to match your physique
• Offers bicycle gears to let you customize the effort level
• If you have neck, shoulder, or back pain, consider the bicycle with high handlebars

Taking good care of your knee joint today surely reduces the risk of osteoarthritis knee, which ultimately lower the concern knee pain as well as the chance for the patient to undergo knee replacement surgery. Having free of pain in your everyday life promotes better life quality.

Sleep apnea is a serious  sleep disorder  that happens when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night. If it’s not treated, sleep apnea can cause a number of health problems, including  hypertension  (high blood pressure),  stroke,  cardiomyopathy  (enlargement of the muscle tissue of the heart),  heart failure,  diabetes  and  heart attacks. Untreated sleep apnea can also be responsible for job impairment, work-related accidents and motor vehicle crashes, as well as underachievement in school in children and adolescents. There are two types of sleep apnea,  obstructive  and  central:

• Obstructive sleep apnea  is the more common of the two. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs as repetitive episodes of complete or partial upper airway blockage during sleep. During an apneic episode, the diaphragm and chest muscles work harder as the pressure increases to open the airway. Breathing usually resumes with a loud gasp or body jerk. These episodes can interfere with sound sleep, reduce the flow of oxygen to vital organs, and cause  heart rhythm irregularities.
• In  central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe due to instability in the respiratory control center. Central apnea is related to the function of the central nervous system.

Who gets sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea occurs in about 25% of men and nearly 10% of women. Sleep apnea can affect people of all ages, including  babies and children  and particularly people over the age of 50 and those who are overweight. Certain physical traits and clinical features are common in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. These include  excessive weight, large neck and structural abnormalities reducing the diameter of the upper airway, such as nasal obstruction, a low-hanging soft palate, enlarged tonsils or a small jaw with an overbite.

What happens when you stop breathing?

When you stop breathing, your heart rate also tends to drop the longer your body is deprived of oxygen. Then, your involuntary reflexes cause you to startle awake at the end of that period of not breathing. When this occurs, your heart rate tends to accelerate quickly and your blood pressure rises. These are changes that take place acutely when you stop breathing. However, your body starts to experience chronic effects if you experience frequent apnea. Data suggests increased risk, particularly when you stop breathing roughly 30 times or more per hour. But there is likely a risk at even lower frequency rates. For example, your blood pressure tends to go up, your heart walls thicken due to increased workload and the structure of your heart changes. It tends to become stiffer and less flexible because there are more fibrous cells growing in between the muscle cells. All of those things increase the risk that you can have either atrial or ventricular arrhythmias. They also tend to reduce the function of the heart so that it’s less efficient at pumping blood.

The third wave have seen a massive surge in the Covid cases. So far, many cases are mild and Doctors are recommending Home Isolation as a pre-emptive measure. Let us know more about 8 important tips on how to keep yourself and others safe.

1. Stay Isolated in one Room: Stay away from your family and other people with Covid symptoms as much as possible
2. Open Windows: Opening windows helps in circulation of the air and reduced the viral load of the room in which you are enclosed. Also try to use a seperate bathroom if there is an option.
3. Avoid shared space as much as possible: When using using shared spaces, limit your movements. Keep your kitchen and other shared spaces well ventilated.
4. Clean often touched surfaces: Frequently use sanitizer and surface disinfectant to clean the surfaces you toch on a regular basis.
5. Avoid sharing personal household items: Avoid sharing items such as dishes, towels, bedding and electronics. If possible, do not allow others to wash your dishes and clothes. Try to do it yourself.
6. Wear a mask: Always wear a mask especially when you are near others. Change your mask every day.
7. Frequently wash your hands: Wash your hands wkith soap. Apply soap and rub your hands for at-least 20 seconds. For complete information on Hand Wash, read our article (20+) Facebook. Also use an alcohol based hand sanitizer thatb contains at-least 60% alcohol.
8. Consult a Doctor: If you develop any symptoms or experience any difficulty in breathing or fever, consult a Doctor immediately.

R-naught, or R0, indicates the average number of people who will contract the infection and how many healthy people can be infected by a Covid positive individual. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, Omicron is the predominant circulating strain in the spiking Covid cases. As per data, the R0 stood at 2.69 — higher than the value of 1.69 that was recorded during the peak of the pandemic’s second wave in April-May last year. So, what is this R0 value? Is it something you should be worried about it, or is it yet another jargon in the information overload that we have been battling since the onset of the pandemic, along with it? R0 is the rate at which a virus spreads or is transmitted from one person to another. It is a mathematical representation of how contagious an infectious disease  is. It is also called the reproduction number — when the virus is transmitted, it reproduces itself. It is calculated by the epidemiologists by a simple equation: R0 = new cases of the infection over a said period/ existing cases of the infection. According to a BBC report, an infection’s R number has to be determined considering a number of factors, including the rate of deaths, hospitalisation and positive results from tests. What is R0’s significance in policymaking? The number tells the health policymakers about the average number of people who will contract a contagious infection like Covid-19 and how many healthy people can one infected person affect. This is pertinent when the infection, or a variant of the virus as in the case of Omicron, has not affected a population yet. Simply put, this is applicable to the population that was previously free of infection and have not been vaccinated, and thereby do not have immunity for the disease in question. Policymakers consider it to be an early warning signal that can suggest what trajectory the infection can take. Even minor variations can hold major significance — even a change of 0.1 in the values can translate to major numbers in terms of active cases. While the numbers are scary, they cannot be taken in isolation. Despite Omicron being a new variant, the fact of the matter is that India has achieved major milestones in its Covid vaccination drive. Nearly 90 per cent of India’s eligible population has received one shot and over 63 per cent of the population has received both doses, as per government data. With Indian teens also being vaccinated, and the “precautionary” third dose set to begin for the frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens with comorbidities, most of the population has some level of resistance against the virus. As prior immunity in a population plays role in determining the R factor, India’s number need not cause the alarm that was there ahead of the second wave. However, that does not mean the infection can be taken lightly.

The Health Ministry revised guidelines relating to home isolation of mild and asymptomatic Covid-19 cases on Wednesday amid the surge of cases around India. “Over the past two years, it has been seen globally as well as in India that majority of cases of COVID-19 are either asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. Such cases usually recover with minimal interventions and accordingly may be managed at home under proper medical guidance and monitoring. The guidelines are applicable to Covid-19 positive patients who have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. This includes having an oxygen saturation of more than 93% without shortness of breath and other common symptoms. Guidelines for home isolation The Ministry underlines that for patients with mild/asymptomatic cases will be given a designated control room contact number at the district/subdistrict level to help with guidance for testing and management of illness. Such cases should have the required facility at their residence for self-isolation and for quarantining Ideally, the patient should have a caregiver who has completed their COVID-19 vaccinations on a 24×7 basis Elderly patients aged more than 60 years and those with co-morbid conditions will only be allowed home isolation after proper evaluation Immunocompromised patients are not recommended for home isolation and will also only be allowed home isolation after proper evaluation Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/new-home-isolation-guidelines-for-mild-asymptomatic-covid-19-cases/articleshow/88707406.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Scientists in France on Tuesday announced the discovery of a new Coronavirus variant  IHU. Announcement came amid alarming rise of positive cases of the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Named IHU, the B.1.640.2 variant was discovered by the academics at institute IHU Mediterranee Infection. According to the researchers, the new variant contains  46 mutations  â€“ even more than Omicron. This variant has reportedly infected twelve individuals in France itself, near Marseilles, and has been linked to travel to the African country Cameroon. The Omicron variant was detected first in  South Africa  in November 2021 and has been spreading like wildfire globally since then. The B.1.640.2 has not been reported in any other country or labelled a variant under investigation by the  World Health Organization (WHO). The Health agency mentioned that the variant was first detected in November and would have picked up considering the opportunities it had. The health agency also assured that the variant has been on their radar since then. Who monitors several variants and examines their risk factors. The cases reported of this variant are limited to France and therefore has not been designated a ‘variant under investigation’ by WHO. Several virologists have been noting the presence of this variant and this has popped up in discussions. “There are scores of new variants discovered all the time, but it does not necessarily mean they will be more dangerous. What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.

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