Posts Tagged ‘asthma’

How to handle some medical emergencies during health crisis?

Medical emergencies are not pre-planned. They occur all of a sudden. There is an emergency room available in all hospitals. What can be done to handle some medical emergencies that occur all of a sudden is described below:

- Asthma
When the symptoms of asthma like wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, breath shortness worsens until he / she is unable to speak more than four words, blueness around lips and reliever medication is ineffective, person should be admitted to the emergency room in which he would be put on a nebuliser in which oxygen is directly delivered to the lungs. Oxygen mask can also be used.

- Heart Attack
Symptoms of heart attack include pain across chest, arms, jaws or neck and it does not lessen with rest, nausea, vomiting, difficulty in breathing, rapid weak and irregular pulse. Move to an emergency room and on the way to hospital chew a 160mg aspirin to stop clumping of blood platelets. In an emergency room, ECG is done and blood studies are done. Intravenous nitroglycerine reduces heart’s oxygen need and improves coronary circulation. The chance of death is halved if you reach in first hour.

- Fractures
When a fracture is suspected, pain worsens with the movement, that particular area swells, a limb is crooked. Transport to an emergency room very carefully. In the emergency room, x-ray of the limb is done and broken bone ends are treated.To relieve pain, a muscle relaxant is given. The area is immobilized with plaster cast or splint.

- Internal Bleeding
Sometimes, there is internal bleeding after an injury. Symptoms are pale and clammy skin, rapid weak pulse, shallow and rugged breathing, fainting, swelling, pain and tenderness. While you are waiting for ambulance to go to an emergency room, raise the legs and cover with blanket and do not offer an food or water. In an emergency room, the person is diagnosed and then treated.

- Diabetes
Sometimes, the blood sugar falls below 50 because of delayed and missed meals, sudden vigorous activities, irregular medications. It results in blurred vision, numbness, paleness, headaches, unconsciousness, tingling in lips and and fingers. When a person is admitted to an emergency room, the IV fluids are administered.

- Poison
Induce vomiting if poison is not in the form of kerosene, gasoline, turpentine, cleaning fluid, insect sprays. In an emergency room, urine and blood tests are done to identify the poison and specific antidotes are suggested.

- Urinary Retention
Sometimes a person has a full bladder but they could not urinate. When you are admitted to an emergency room, a catheter is inserted to allow the person to empty the bladder.

- Heat Exhaustion
It can hit you in a hot, noisy, smoke filled disco or pub resulting in loss of electrolytes. In an emergency room, patient is pumped with IV fluids to revive the blood pressure.

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What are the side effects of smoking? Difference between active and passive smoking?

Smoking is injurious to health. There is hardly a part of the body that is not affected by smoking.
Immediate side effects of smoking a cigarette includes:
- raised blood pressure
- decreased blood flow.
- nausea and dizziness.
- Hyper-acidity
- Loss of appetite
- Chronic cough
- Breath shortness
- Yellowish teeth and fingers

The withdrawal symptoms include:
- lack of concentration
- coughs
- headaches
- strong cravings
- changes in sleep patterns

How smoking affects different parts of the body?
- If we start from the top, risk of developing mouth cancer is increased. Tobacco can cause mouth ulcers, bad breath and tooth decay. Headaches
also caused by smoking.
- Chemicals like hydrogen cyanide and others damage the bronchi causing inflammation which results in cough. In lungs, the mucous secretion is affected causing chronic cough.
- Nicotine present in tobacco affects the heart as it raises the blood pressure and carbon monoxide leads to the development of cholesterol deposits on artery walls.
- Smoke tars can cause esophagus and throat cancer. The stomach acid increases which leads to ulcers and heartburn.
- Carcinogens in tobacco case damage to genes that control the cell growth.
- The chemicals present in smoking affects the immune system of the body and makes it weak.
- Smokers have low level of anti-oxidants in blood as compared to non smokers.
- Heart diseases and heart attack are very common among smokers as compared to non-smokers.
- During pregnancy, the risk of premature baby, low birth weight, spontaneous abortion are observed.
- Tobacco is responsible for cancer of lungs, mouth, pharynx, larynx, stomach, urinary bladder, gall Bladder, penis.
- Tobacco consumption reduces estrogen levels in women.
- Vitamin D metabolism decreases resulting in slow absorption of calcium in the body. Deficient calcium absorption can lead to osteoporosis or thinning of the bones.
- Antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E and carotenoids help the body fight off diseases ranging from cancer to heart disease, and help stave off the degenerative effects of aging.

TYPES OF SMOKING
In active smoking, the person is lighting up the cigarette actively and smoking it.
Passive smoking is also called involuntary or second hand smoking as it involves people in your surrounding to inhale certain toxic gases which in turn could harm more than active smoking. In this type of smoking, people are forced to smoke.

The health risks that a passive smoker may occur are considerably less than those of an active smoker, secondhand smoke still contains many of the chemicals and carcinogenic compounds that are also breathed in by the active smoker.

Indoor air pollution is ranked as one of the top five major environmental health risks that affect us today.