According to a new WHO report “Women and Health: Today’s Evidence, Tomorrow’s Agenda,” more Filipino women/girls are smoking now than ever. The Filipino data for both sexes is also higher than the global average and is up 6.8% from the previous WHO report.
This is terrible news indeed. I hope we could arrest this trend. Smoking tobacco is the 2nd most common cause of death after hypertension and it would serve us well to intensify information campaigns to educate or warn young people about the danger of getting hooked on tobacco.
This post should be titled "how not to treat a sprained foot"... I was cleaning my room when I stubbed my toe on the foot of the bed frame--actually it's the area between the 2nd and 3rd toe of my left foot to be specific--it hurt but the pain was bearable and I just went about my business walking around like nothing happened until 5 hours later when my foot was swollen to 3x its usual size and I couldn't take another step because the pain was so bad.
They say people in the medical profession make terrible patients and I'm no exception... I've treated several cases of sprains (ankle, toe, foot, hand) and I feel I can recite the P.R.I.C.E protocol in my sleep. But with all these knowledge at my disposal, and because I know no bone was broken, I didn't apply first aid on my sprained foot until I absolutely had to and suffered more for it.
So as a service to my readers, I'm posting the P.R.I.C.E. protocol from the Mayo Clinic here so you'd know how to take care of a sprained ankle or whatever and hopefully follow it if something like this happens to you.
1. Protect the injured limb from further injury by not using the joint. You can do this using anything from splints to crutches.
2. Rest the injured limb. But don't avoid all activity. Even with an ankle sprain, you can usually still exercise other muscles to minimize deconditioning. For example, you can use an exercise bicycle with arm exercise handles, working both your arms and the uninjured leg while resting the injured ankle on another part of the bike. That way you still get three-limb exercise to keep up your cardiovascular conditioning.
3. Ice the area. Use a cold pack, a slush bath or a compression sleeve filled with cold water to help limit swelling after an injury. Try to ice the area as soon as possible after the injury and continue to ice it for 10 to 15 minutes four times a day for 48 hours. If you use ice, be careful not to use it too long, as this could cause tissue damage.
4. Compress the area with an elastic wrap or bandage. Compressive wraps or sleeves made from elastic or neoprene are best.
5. Elevate the injured limb above your heart whenever possible to help prevent or limit swelling.
*** This really works... when I woke up today, the swelling has lessened and the pain is almost gone (I took 1 Ibuprofen tablet before going to bed). I'm now able to wiggle my toes and though it's still sore, my injured foot's range of motion is good. I just put on socks because I couldn't find compressive bandages. I'm still hopping around the house on one foot but I feel loads better.
A new study conducted by the National Nutrition and Health Survey found that 1 in 4 Filipinos has hypertension and are at risk from lifestyle-related diseases like diabetes. Not really surprising considering the popularity of fast food chains in the country and the sedentary lifestyle of most people.
Recent results of the National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHeS II) FNRI showed that more Filipinos have hypertension, high fasting blood sugar, and high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related diseases.
They found out that one in every four Filipino adults (25.3 percent) has hypertension or a blood pressure (BP) reading equal to or higher than 140/90 millimeter mercury (mmHg), a significant increase in the prevalence of hypertension. In 2008, the prevalence of hypertension increased to 25.3 percent from 22.5 percent in 2003.
This is good to know. There's a recently released study that proves parents pass on less genetic mutations to their offspring than previously believed. I mean 75 genetic mutations from each parent?
Now researchers estimate that kids just receive about 60 mutations from both parents, so that's infinitely better, obviously. Although most genetic mutations are thought to have no ill effect on a child's overall health, thank God!
WASHINGTON – American scientists have for the first time unlocked the genetic code of an entire family, and made a startling discovery – that parents pass on fewer mutations than previously thought. Scientists had long believed that each parent passed on some 75 genetic mutations to their children.
But the result of research by a team at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle and the University of Utah found this was nowhere near the case, according to their study published in Thursday's edition of Science Express.
This is good news for consumers, drugs are too expensive as it is. I hope the government won't stifle innovation though, by imposing price controls that would prevent drug companies from investing on new research. Everyone wants cheap medicines--but we have to remember, the pharmaceutical companies have to make a profit to be viable too.
MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) announced Friday a new round of price reductions for at least 97 types of drugs sold in drug stores and hospital pharmacies. The “voluntary” price reductions, to take effect on March 31, were made by 11 local pharmaceutical companies, according to Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral.
The price cuts, according to Cabral, translate to about P2 billion worth of “consumer savings” on drugs for cancer, diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, asthma, infectious diseases and on dialysis solutions and medical devices. Drug companies volunteered to reduce prices to avoid government-ordered mandatory price cuts, Cabral said. She commended the companies for reducing their prices by an “average of 50 percent.”
