B12 deficiency a concern for long-term care

A high proportion of older adults entering long-term care homes in Ontario are B12 deficient, with more developing deficiencies over the course of their first year in residence, according to research. There is a connection between B12 deficiency and several serious health conditions.

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Denied Surgery in the USA, Residents Get Affordable and Better Treatment Options Overseas

Inadequate health cover pushes US residents to seek affordable treatment options overseas - Global Medical Tourism. The combination of an exotic holiday overseas with affordable treatment options lure medically denied US residents towards medical tourism.

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Diagnostic Health Camps for Rural India

Diagnostic health camps are held throughout the country by various welfare organisations which offer free check-ups and distribute medicines inside them. They also offer referral services depending upon the extent of severity of the cases.

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The Best Instagram Accounts for Non-Cheesy Fitness Motivation

Here's What Really Happens If You Leave a Tampon in for Too Long

We have lots of rules to live by—some optional, some not. There's the five-second rule (for picking up food that fell on the floor); the one-day rule (for texting that heart-eyes-emoji guy from the night before); and of course, the eight-hour rule (for changing your tampon).

But if you forget to switch, or you're stuck somewhere you don't have a spare tampon, what's the worst that can happen? We've all heard about the apparent price you pay for laziness—the terrifyingly named toxic shock syndrome—but we've also heard it's super rare. So is it a real risk, or are we unnecessarily freaking out in the final hours?

Grasping at Threads

The long and short of it: Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is extremely rare. It affects around one in 100,000 women, says Wendy Chang, M.D., an OB/GYN and scientific director of Southern California Reproductive Center. As any tampon box will tell you, TSS is the result of an infection by two major kinds of bacteria, staphylococcus aureus (staph) and group A streptococcal (strep). Leaving a tampon in after the recommended eight-hour limit ups the risk, as does choosing the super-mega absorbency option (the more material, the higher the risk).

Turns out, everyone actually has some trace of staph bacteria on their skin, and in this case, in their vagina. That's normally fine—it typically won't do any harm. The trouble arises when that bacteria starts mass-producing, a situation that can be sparked by the extended presence of a tampon hanging out in your vaginal canal, says Sherry Ross, M.D., an OB/GYN at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

But that's not to say leaving a tampon in for 12 hours spells certain death, or even an onset of TSS, Ross says. Lost or forgotten tampons are super common, sometimes for weeks at a time, and the only negative effect is a bad (OK, extremely foul) smell.

On the flip side, TSS can affect people at just nine hours—so what gives? Ross says it probably comes down to your staph bacteria at any given point. It's still unclear what makes people more susceptible, but tampons give the bacteria a place to flourish—so the more material there is, the more room there is for them to grow (thus, the 80s jumbo-size scare). And when blood is present, it acts as a fuel—as Ross puts it, it's "like a buffet for this staph to duplicate, because it’s so rich with everything it needs."

Your Action Plan

Some rules exist for a reason. (That one-day texting thing? Not one of them.) Although TSS is super rare, gambling with your health is not a smart plan. And it's safe to say we'd all rather make a trip to the bathroom (or drugstore) instead of the hospital.

That said, don't freak out if you realize you've forgotten to change your tampon. If it's only been left in for 12 to 24 hours, and you feel fine, just remove it and go on your way. Any longer than that or if you can't remove it yourself, see a doctor for removal and a check-up.

In either case, you'll want to keep an eye out for the flu-like symptoms of TSS, which usually include the sudden onset of fever, feeling sick, faint, and dizzy, says Jonathan Schaffir, M.D., an OB/GYN at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Another tell-tale sign is a rash that looks like a sunburn, sometimes all over—if you see that, get yourself medical help.

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Why Are My Fingers and Toes Always So Cold?

No matter what the weather is, some of us always seem to suffer from chronically cold fingers and toes. And beyond making people jump at your touch, icy extremities can be annoying (thick, scratchy wool socks = not fun) and pretty painful.

Rather than settle for pat answers like “cold hands, warm heart” or the vague idea you might have poor circulation, we dug into the common causes for cold digits and when they might be cause for concern.

Ice, Ice Baby

As it turns out, poor circulation is not the cause. “When you have poor circulation, your skin actually gets red—not white or blue,” says Venita Chandra, M.D., a vascular surgeon at Stanford. “The tiny little blood vessels in the feet and hands are trying to pull as much blood as possible there, so they’re completely vasodialated.” Meaning your blood vessels have widened to their full capacity, allowing them to take in the maximum amount of blood.

Although cold tolerance is different for everyone, for the most part, it’s completely normal for your hands and feet to feel the freeze first when you’re in the cold, Chandra says. It's part of your natural physiology and method for regulating body temperature: Your body temp is controlled by the hypothalamus, the thermostat in your brain. When you’re exposed to cold, your body pulls blood away from your skin in closer to your core. As the blood—and accompanying heat—rush to warm your vital organs, your extremities are left cold.

But could it be something more? Yes, experts say. Super-cold extremeties could be a symptom of Raynaud’s disease, a medical condition that causes an extra sensitivity to cold.

When people with Raynaud’s—which is around 20 percent of the U.S. population and is more common in women and people living in cold climates—are exposed to cold temps, the blood vessels in the hands and feet close (or vasoconstrict). This causes the extremities to first turn white, then blue. As you warm up, your skin may feel prickly or tingly and turn red. It most commonly occurs in fingers and toes, but may also affect lips, ears, noses, or even nipples.

“Usually, if you see a color change, or if the hands or the feet look pale or are numb, it’s worth seeing a doctor to test for Raynaud's,” says Catherine Forest, M.D., a family medicine doctor at Stanford. In rare cases, Raynaud's can be serious and lead to further issues, but for most people, it isn't debilitating.

In addition to Raynaud's, occupations that require you to regularly work with vibrating instruments (think power tools) or more commonly perform repetitive motions all day (like typing) could permanently damage your blood vessels and leave you with a feeling of cold or numbness, Chandra says.

Other Reasons to Check With a Doc

If you start to experience numbness, it could indicate another underlying cause—so see a medical professional ASAP. “Numbness is more concerning from a neurological component,” Chandra says. “That could be due to diabetes or peripheral neuropathy, a condition that leaves your extremities less sensitive to touch.

Also: “If you have really cold hands and cold feet in conjunction with other signs like hair loss or changes in your skin, that might signal a real problem with circulation,” Chandra says. And if one particular extremity (think one foot or a few fingers) seems to be suffering from the chills more often than others, that could be a sign of a more serious circulation problem or blood clot.

Your Action Plan

“The best thing one can do is try and avoid the triggers like cold and repetitive motions or vibration,” Chandra says. If you can’t avoid being out in the cold, make sure you’re layering up and not exposing your bare skin to the cold air. (Wearing warm gloves is your best bet—keeping your hands in pockets could lead to a potentially serious injury if you trip on slippery ice!) Also avoid sudden changes in body temperature, like jumping into frigid lake on a hot summer day.

In more drastic cases or when triggers can’t be avoided, there are more extreme solutions. The nerves that cause the blood vessels in your fingers and toes to constrict can be cut to prevent the body's natural response to the cold, Chandra says—but that’s pretty rare. As for us, we’ll be content with our fuzzy mittens and socks.

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Weight Loss - Can You Lose Weight Without Exercising?

Many people are quick to connect exercise and a healthy eating plan to help them succeed with their weight loss goals. A healthy eating plan for better health and weight loss goes without saying. But why is exercise so often thrown into the mix? Adults of all ages have lost weight by altering their eating plan until they reached their weight loss goals. There are two questions we will answer today. First, what is so important about exercise? And secondly, can you lose weight effectively without it?

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