My Green Corner

Spring time brings green cheerfulness everywhere. It is time for families to take care of their gardens and the green grass often needs proper dressing with lawn mowers.

The “Power Lawn Mower” is one of the most unsafe tools around the home. The unsafe use of lawn mowers poses a serious public health threat and it results in more than 55,000 injuries every year due to that.

In such accidents, a significant proportion of the victims either lose a part of their toes or fingers or could face dislocated bones, burns or it might even prove to be fatal. According to the medical data, in almost 95 percent of such injury cases amputation and extensive reconstructive surgery was found to be inevitable.

The types of injuries caused by unsafe and improper use of power lawn mowers could include lacerations, fractures and amputations of the fingers, hands, toes, feet and legs. Thousands of unfortunate children not only suffer the physical injuries but also have to undergo the emotional and social problems associated with these kinds of injuries. Other type of injuries include being run over by a riding mower, any object being flung and striking the child, or the burns due to the gasoline or by touching the hot metal parts.

Most of the ‘lawn mower injuries’ occur on slopes, particularly when the ground is damp, in poor lighting conditions and among inexperienced mowers. Among the victims are usually the innocent bystanders, often children, injured or killed by someone else operating the mower. Fatalities usually occur during the following situations:

• When adults while moving the mower, allow children to stand on it or sit at the back of riding mowers while moving lawn mower.
• Children try to operate the mower themselves, when they are too young to do so.
• Sometimes even rocks or stones can be thrown by the mowers and they can hit the head or eyes of the children.
• Injuries also occur when the lawn mowers are placed into reverse and children moving behind them are not aware of it.

Lawn mowing experts and other health professionals including some medical societies recommend that virtually all of these injuries could be prevented if some necessary precautions are taken. An initial training would always be more beneficial because it will help in understanding the working of power lawn mowing machine and its operational guidelines. According to the expert’s recommendations, individuals and families should observe following precautions:

• It is important for one to familiarize oneself with the equipment before operating it and after checking that it is in proper working condition. It is always safe to go through the manufacturer precautions.
• It is recommended to use lawn mowers with guards and a cutoff switch and be certain that the cutoff switches should not be disconnected. All electrical connections must be checked properly prior to operating the machine. Any negligence could give you a shock.
• One should be extra ordinarily careful while operating the mowers on slopes and avoid mowing when the ground is damp.
• Other people, especially the children under the age of 6, should not be allowed inside the yard when operating a lawn mower.
• Kids should not be allowed to ride as passengers on mowers or let them be towed behind mowers. They should not be allowed to play on or around stored mowers.
• Children should not be allowed to operate the equipment unless they have strength and are totally aware of the know how of it. It is always better to keep them off instead of making them participative in this ‘adventurous activity’.
• It is dangerous to go barefoot while mowing. Sturdy shoes should be worn. Use your legs in movements with caution and more attention.
• Always wear protective eye gear, hand gear and footwear such as goggles, gloves and heavy rubber sole boots.
• It is advisable to pick up stones, toys, and debris from the mowing area. These objects can act as potential projectiles from the lawn and could hit back affect head, eyes and other parts of your body.
• It could be dangerous while pulling backward on a mower or mow in reverse. This should be done while looking carefully behind you before backing up a mower.
• It is advisable to start and refuel mowers outdoors, not in a garage or shed. Refueling should be done with the motor turned off and cool.
• While removing any objects from the blade, one should be extra careful as any negligence could result in to severe cuts and injuries.

In addition to the above precautionary steps adopted by the consumers, it should be made necessary for the lawn mower manufacturers to include a safety manual with every lawn mower sold and imprinting safety instructions on all machines. There should also be awareness campaigns among the public so that such injuries could be prevented, contributing to a decline in costs on health care as well as eliminate suffering to the injured.

“Lawn mowers severely injure thousands of children every year. So many of these tragic injuries could have been prevented with just a few precautions”, says AAP President Dr Jay. E. Berkelhamer.

Lawn mower injuries are a seasonal threat to children and the leading cause of amputations in adolescents, say specialists from the ‘Johns Hopkins Children’s Center’, Maryland’s designated pediatric trauma center where the most severe injuries are treated.

Ardent lovers and frequent mobile phone users are at 50% more risk of developing the “Parotid Gland Tumor” compared to those who either do not use mobile phone devices or use it quite less frequently.The “parotid gland” is located near our jaw and ear, the place where we normally place the mobile phone devices while communicating. It is the largest human salivary gland in our body.

Mark Kidd in an article published in the year 2006 in the “Ear Nose and Throat Journal “reported that approximately one to three per hundred thousand people is the rate of occurrence of ‘salivary gland tumors’ on an annual basis. Projecting the same rate ahead, if the rate is increased by 50% would raise the theoretical risk of developing a brain tumor from its rate of 0.003% to 0.0045% per year.

Presently, the rate of deaths caused by the car accidents in the United States alone is nearly 14 per hundred thousand people per year. A close comparison with this ratio can easily make a perspective of dangers posed by the frequent use of cell phones to the common people.

The debate is constantly on as the use of cell phone is dangerous or not. The possible outcomes and resulting health effects are among the focus of several of the studies that are still underway. But one aspect is clear which concerns the radiation impacts on human beings. Researchers around the world will have to work with all available data but since the number of mobile phone devices users is growing exponentially they should opt for more comprehensive studies involving large populations. Some experts feel that this may be a time taking exercise but to derive conclusive findings it is required in the interest of people’s health concerns.

Risk of cancer is also one such debatable issue as scientists across the world seem to be divided on this issue. Some favor such health effects like cancer and some of course do not. However, there appears to be a consensus emerging in favor of a risk of cancer though very small but real. More specific research studies are required to obtain conclusive proof.

It is clear from the findings of the ‘U.K. Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme’ which remarked that they “found no association between short term mobile phone use and brain cancer”. At the same time they also expressed that “the situation for longer term exposure is less clear”.

Findings of another study conducted by professor Kjell Mild of Sweden’s ‘Orebro University’ revealed that prolonged use of mobile phone devices for a period of over ten years definitely enhances the probability of brain cancer and children in particular are far more susceptible to this great risk as the radiations are more likely to affect their developing skulls. Researchers feel that probably it is the prolonged use of devices that causes adverse effects on health and this is perhaps the reason that researches conducted with a short term focus have not been able to find out such results.

On the contrary, findings of a Swedish research conducted last year and published in the “American Journal of Epidemiology” said that an analysis was made for possible risks of using mobile phones related to the parotid gland tumours but the researchers could observe no direct relation between the two.

Both these specific studies focussed on ‘parotid tumour risks’ differ in their approach and methodologies. The study conducted in year 2006 involved 172 people who were having Benin and malignant tumours along with the 691 health control subjects. On the other hand the present study conducted by an Israeli scientist, Dr. Siegal Sadetzki at the ‘Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research’ at the ‘Sheba Medical Center’ included almost 500 people with benin and malignant tumours and nearly 1,300 healthy controls.   

Israeli people were among the early cell phone adaptors and they are heavy technology users, according to Sadetzki. This tendency, she says, exposes them to higher radio frequencies compared to any other populations. In rural areas, her study reveals, the risk of cancer is increased considerably among the frequent cell phone users. Presence of fewer antennas the radiation output is also increased and this affects the rural people while communicating with the mobile phone devices. She expressed her concern that the frequent users and specifically the children are at greater risk of various health effects.

Precaution is the best way, Sadetzki says, in order to diminish the exposure and lower down the risk. She strongly recommends use of hands free devices and holding the phone away from body. She also calls for reducing the talk time on phones making them shorter calls and less frequent use. Parents must impose a limitation on their children to follow a controlled routine with mobile phone devices.

“Desynchronosis” is popularly known as the “Jet Lag”. It is a typical temporary disorder causing tiredness, insomnia, and other related problems that people normally face when they undertake a long air travel across the time zones.

Apart from the fatigue and insomnia, a person in such a situation may also face other problems including anxiety, constipation, diarrhea, confusion, irritation, headache, sweating, nausea, and some other coordination problems. “Jet Lag” could even cause a loss of memory in extreme conditions. In some cases few ‘Jet Lag sufferers’ have also reported irregular heartbeats and increased susceptibility to illness.

If you are undertaking an air travel across one or just two time zones it is more likely that you and your body will readily accept the change in timings and your biological clock of the body will help you adjusting faster and the effects of the Jet lag would not be of noticeable degree almost. But in case you are flying across three or even more time zones your biological clock will be under tremendous stress and it is very much probable that ‘Jet Lag’ related symptoms will surface out.

Similarly the direction of travel along with the number of time zones that you are travelling across will determine the severity of the ‘Jet Lag’ problem and related symptoms will crop up with more intensity.

It is important that the travelers undertaking frequent and long journeys must keep themselves fit and healthy in order to cp up with the changed circumstantial and environmental factors. In order to keep the biological clock and the circadian rhythms of the body under constant adjustments one must take complete care of its routine in life and should be well aware of the available techniques of remaining fit.

The effects of a ‘Jet Lag’ can be minimized by adopting the following few tips:

• Before taking the flight, it is important to consider few things. All the personal and business affairs should be in order so that they should not bother you when you take a long flight. Exercising profusely few days before departure and avoiding any kind of sickness with good night’s sleep helps in combating with the jet lag condition.

• Coping up with diseases which need regular monitoring should be strategically planned in consultation of the physician. Medication schedules and appointment with the doctor should be properly chalked out so that it should not be a matter of anxiety when arriving in a new place.

• Making few changes in the routine according to the time zone of the place where you are about to travel to, also helps a lot. Attuning yourself to a new routine and schedule in familiar surroundings will save from the shock you might receive all at once while arriving at a place with a all together a different time zone.

• Alcoholic and caffeinated drinks should be avoided a day prior, during or just after the flight as during the flight they might cause dehydration, sleep disturbance, nausea and general discomfort. Drinking lots of water during the flight helps in working against the dry atmosphere inside the plane.

• Keeping yourself active and mobile during the flight also helps a lot. While seated, exercise the limbs from time to time. After every hour or two, it’s advisable to get up and take a small walk. Sitting for long periods slows down the blood movement and thereby may cause a blood clot. The clot if breaks loose, may travel to the lungs, gets embedded in an artery, and thereby hindering the flow of blood. It may cause a severe pain to the victim accompanied by breathing problems and he may cough up blood. It may be fatal too. So exercising helps in keeping the body revitalized and fresh and also fights against stiffness and sluggishness thus avoiding the trauma.

• Breaking up the trips especially when it includes travelling for longer hours across eight, 10, or even 12 time zones, is advisable. It is better to plan out a stay in a in a city about halfway to your destination.

• Outfit also plays an important role. Dressing up in comfortable clothes and shoes and avoiding items which might pinch or restrict also affects the jet lag condition. It is important to dress up keeping the destination time zone in mind.

• Staying in comfortable and satisfactory surroundings on arrival so helps in coping up faster. The bath and bedroom facilities should be comfortable and the cooling and heating systems should be in proper working condition.

• Getting adapted to the local schedule will help in adjusting yourself quickly. Taking long walks or sitting in outdoor cafes, exposure to sunshine helps in reducing the production sleep-inducing melatonin during the day, thereby kicking off the process of adjusting the body clock.

• Some people use sleeping pills to lessen the effects of a jet lag but it is not a healthy approach as pills would reduce the body mobility and can lead to fatal blot clots so it is not advisable to take the sleeping pills at all. Taking a mild sedative and that too with the proper consultation of your physician during the first few days could be recommended. But one should avoid getting habitual to the sedatives.

• “Melatonin” is a controversial and complex treatment for jet lag which involves the synthetic manoeuvring of a hormone in the body, starting in the days before the travel. Few studies recommend it as it might help the travellers to restore the normal sleeping patterns. However there is still lack of enough medical evidence to prove the efficiency of this drug. The long-term effects of taking this drug and the standards are the few things yet to be worked upon. Higher doses of melatonin can cause sleepiness, lethargy, confusion, and decreased mental sharpness. So any activity demanding high level of concentration should be avoided.

Nevertheless, it is always worthwhile to take an advice from your physician before undertaking a long, across the time zones air travel.

“Hives“, medically known as “Urticaria“, are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes ranging from a few millimeters to several inches in diameter. They can be round, or they can form rings or large patches. Wheals (welts), red lesions with a red “flare” at the borders, are another manifestation of hives. Hives can occur anywhere on the body.

Hives tend to change size rapidly and to move around, disappearing in one place and reappearing in other places, often in a matter of hours.

Swelling deeper in the skin that may accompany hives is called ‘angioedema‘. This may be seen on the hands and feet as well as on mucous membranes.

Hives are produced by histamine and other compounds released from cells called mast cells, which are a normal part of skin. Histamine causes fluid to leak from the local blood vessels, leading to swelling in the skin. In rare cases, hives are found to be medically serious, 80% are idiopathic, which means that no cause could be manifested. Some hives are caused by allergies to foods, medications, and insect stings.

In rare cases, including some hereditary, others caused by bee stings or drug allergy, ‘urticaria’ and ‘angioedema’ are accompanied by shock and difficulty breathing. This is called anaphylaxis.

Almost all hives fall into two categories:

• Ordinary Hives (ordinary urticaria ),and
• Physical Hives (physical urticaria).

Ordinary hives flare up suddenly and usually for no specific reason and go within few minutes and last less than six weeks. The hives that last more than six weeks are often called “chronic.”

In most cases of ordinary hives, no cause is known. Others may be triggered by viral infections or caused by medications, like morphine, codeine, aspirin, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen), cause the body to release histamine and produce’ urticaria’ through non-allergic mechanisms.

Chronic hives can last from months to years. Allergy testing and laboratory tests are hardly ever useful in such cases.

The term ‘physical urticaria’ refers to hives produced by direct physical stimulation of the skin. By far the most common form is “dermographia,” which literally means “skin writing.” In dermographia, raised, itchy red welts with adjacent flares appear wherever the skin is scratched or where belts and other articles of clothing rub against the skin.

Another common form of physically induced hives is called ‘cholinergic urticaria’. This produces hundreds of small itchy bumps. These occur within 15 minutes of physical exertion, or a hot bath or shower happening more often in young people. Few might be triggered by cold, water, and sunlight.

The goal of treating most cases of ‘ordinary urticaria’ is to relieve symptoms while the condition goes away by itself. The most commonly used oral treatments are antihistamines, which may cause drowsiness.

Many antihistamines are available without prescription, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton) which can cause drowsiness, so often taken at bedtime. Among the over-the-counter used drugs are Loratadine (Claritin, 10 milligrams), cetirizine (Zyrtec, 10 milligrams), Claritin-D, Zyrtec-D. They are less likely to cause drowsiness.

Antihistamines that require a prescription include hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril) and cyproheptadine, fexofenadine (Allegra) and levocetirizine (Xyzal). Sometimes physicians combine these with other types of antihistamines.

Oral steroids (prednisone, montelukast), ultraviolet radiation, antifungal antibiotics, and other agents that suppress the immune system, and tricyclic antidepressants (Amitriptyline, Elavil, Endep), nortriptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl), doxepin (Sinequan, Adapin), and some more topical therapies are also used in certain cases of hives.

To determine the kind of hives one has to understand certain important facts about the immune system, basic characteristics and symptoms of hives, and about some of the rarer forms of this disease. However, it is always better and advised to consult the physician.

It is also important, however, to keep in mind that most cases of this common disorder represent either ‘ordinary urticaria’ or ‘physical urticaria’, which are annoying but not serious or allergic, and almost always temporary.

Maternal and child under-nutrition has grave consequences rather than been confined to infant health and the mortality rate. Occurrence of Maternal and child under nutrition is highly prevalent in countries with abundant low and middle-income populations. Such a situation in these countries results in to the substantial increase in mortality and overall burden.

Scientists in an international collaboration project performed specific analysis of the five different studies that were conducted on considerably large populations in these countries. This study results analysis included various parameters including the nutrition, health and human capital in developing and middle-income countries.

Scientists could observe that the overall impact of malnourishment in young mothers and their babies has extensive and far-reaching consequences going even beyond the common parameters of infant health and mortality.

Scientists also conducted a thorough review of the previous studies made in this regard and the new data analysis related to the communities in countries including Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines and South Africa. The researchers were able to demonstrate the documentary evidences supporting their new finding that under nutrition was strongly associated with indicator parameters like shorter adult height, less schooling, and reduced economic productivity. It was also observed that the poorer life outcomes had more tendency of getting passed on generally from one generation to the next. This was significantly reflected with the offspring of undernourished mothers who also displayed low birth weight.

Researchers analyzed the adult ‘Body Mass Index (BMI)’ and height data and found that the lower birth weight and under-nutrition in early childhood were increasingly becoming the great risk factors for high glucose concentrations, blood pressure and coronary heart disease during the later years of life. Scientists also suggested that the “malnutrition suffered in the womb and as an infant could not be reversed simply by access to more food at a later stage in life”. Taking a conclusive view on the vulnerable situation of under nutrition and the importance of healthy, well nourished dietary patterns in the early childhood, Professor Caroline Fall, at the “MRC Epidemiology Resource Center” in Southampton remarked that particularly the children who remain malnourished in the first two years of their life and gain weight with faster rate in their subsequent years during the adolescent age are actually at the greatest risk of chronic diseases related to nutrition. This is mainly because of the rate of metabolism of their bodies. The metabolic rate gets largely adjusted during the early development stage. Under nourished children were found to be ill-equipped for coping up with many such health problems in the later years of life. However, the “rapid height gain in the first 2 years of life is not associated with adverse health consequences in later life”, says Caroline Fall.

An interesting large-scale trial is also being carried out among the young women in Mumbai. This trial has engaged the young women at an early stage, before they become pregnant, and providing them with a daily dietary supplement in the form of a “samosa” with high micro-nutrition contents.

Study results also revealed that mother and child under-nutrition leads to permanent physical and mental impairment with harmful future generations’ impacts. Populations adversely affected by stunting and the negative health and life impacts of under-nutrition in early life will not be capable of grasping opportunities to get rid of poverty.