Notebook Archives

If your pooch is not eating, is vomiting, is lethargic, seems depressed or is ‘just not himself’, do not hesitate to see the vet. Don’t wait for him to get worse.

And take care to choose the right vet: Go with recommendations from other dog lovers or check out a reliable pet magazine. Consider these points: Does the vet ask you questions about your pet? Does your dog like him or is he scared of him? (It is natural for a dog to be a bit nervous of a vet, but he should not seem too frightened.) Do you feel comfortable with the way he treats your dog? And, finally, the most important query – does your vet have a proper license?

A sneeze. A scratch. A tear. Typically, these reflexes barely register on your consciousness or, if they do, its as an annoyance. In reality, however, each is an unconscious action that, in its own way provides essential protection against disease causing microbes or toxins before they can do harm.

Scratching is a natural reaction to itching, which is triggered by tiny receptors in the skin’s nerve endings.

Coughing helps to clear mouth, throat and lung tissues of foreign invaders, such as moulds, pollen, dust mites and pet dander, as well as mucus laden with microbes. The irony of this is that many respiratory infections may be spread by droplets of pathogens put into the air by the cough.

Sneezing is like coughing but directed through the nose. We also sneeze to get ride of microbes that multiply in the nasal passageways, as the result of having cold.

Vomiting occurs when harmful substances in the stomach are identified by the receptors in the walls of the digestive tract.

Tearing keeps the surface of the eyes moist and sterile. Tears also protect the eye when dust or debris irritate it. Crying, a natural response to stress, flushes away certain harmful chemicals produced by anxiety.

Despite this impressive range of barriers, reflexes and chemicals, dangerous invaders do occasionally manage to penetrate the body.

You know the saying, you can take a horse to the water, you can’t make him drink. I am taking you to water via different routes. Enjoy it.

• Don’t eat food in portions larger than your fist.
• Do-it-yourself. Do you own laundry. Dust your won shelves, buy your own groceries. Don’t leave it to your domestic help.
• Takes the weight off you.
• Avoid buffets. Be the diva and get the chef to make you something special. Ask nicely.
• Therapeutic massages help control stress and put your body in a state of relaxation, allowing it to internally start a healing process. And no, it has nothing to do with sex.
• While oil and carbs are the big guns of bad health, the word is out that no carbs and no oil is even worse. Low carbs is the mantra.
• The bad news. You can stay on the treadmill for hours and not lose weight. The good news. You can stay on the treadmill and watch your calories. It works wonders.
• If you are a chronic sufferer of migraine, blood pressure, and other ailments that refuse to go away, ask your doctor to enrol you for a biofeedback reading. It enables you to monitor your body, to recognise stress build-up and to make you more aware of when the monster is going to strike again. Our grandmothers were right: Prevention is really better than cure.
• Change your routine. While there is great comfort in habits, health and fitness experts claim that changing routines frequently keeps you alert because you are entering new territory which could throw up surprises, good and bad. It helps the body cope with new obstacles, lower immunity to situations and generally helps you cope better with life situations.
• Stay balanced. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, join a dance class, a trekker’s club, in short, stay active. If you are a travel guide, join a book club, watch movies that make you laugh, in short, stay passive.
• When you are tempted to take a second helping, give yourself 20 minutes before you do. Research shows it takes that long for the stomach to signal to the brain that it has had enough.
• Rise with the sun, sleep with the moon. Ancient wisdom. Still applicable.

Pregnancy is not an illness; it is a natural phenomenon. Contrary to traditional belief, you carry on your daily activities at this time – climbing stairs, bending, light lifting. Activity ups your chances of a trouble-free normal delivery. If there’s cause for concern, your gynae will tell you anyway.

• Good muscle tone is important for easy childbirth. Yoga and stretching exercises are good. Begin with the fingers, go on to wrists, elbows, shoulders; similarly legs; twist and turn, bend from side to side – it is good for your hips too. Walk every day for 40 minutes.

• Breathing exercises are important too. There are two kinds of breathing: that using the abdominal muscles and that using the chest or rib cage. Abdominal breathing is the normal sort, where you can see your belly sweel and relax as you breathe. But as the prgnancy advances, abdominal breathing is less effective. So train for chest breathing: Take deep breaths with your stomach pulled in, so that your chest expands.

• Doing these exercises near the sea, in an open park or near greenery is best. Early morning or after sunset is a good time for breathing exercises.

• Gym workouts, as in light cardio or weight training, can be continued. But avoid anything strenuous.

• Work out on a slightly empty stomach – two hours after a light meal is fine.

• When it is one toast too many: If you are a modest drinker, even a little excess can make you sorry, so it is best not to get too carried away.
• Is there a right amount? Take no more than 30 ml of hard liquor, 100 ml of wine or 350 ml of beer (the amount that a typical shot glass, wineglass or beer bottle respectively hold) per hour. It is all an average person can metabolize in that time. Also, alcohol is dehydrating, so follow each drink with water or juice.
• What to do if you overdid it: If you wake up with a pounding headache, rehydrate with water and drinks that contain frutose (found in honey and fruit juice)

You wake up and can’t turn your head. Your first thought is you slept funny. More likely you strained your neck the day before – cradling the phone between your neck and shoulder, for example. To relax those frozen muscles, first take a nice hot shower. Then try this kink remover:

Lie back with knees up, feet flat on the floor, head down; pull in stomach, tuck chin in slightly. Slowly and gently turn head right, then left, five times each. See the doctor if the pain is severe or radiates down your arms, or if you have chills or fever.

Global research shows that turmeric (rich in the phytochemical curcumin) is an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant and analgesic. The yellow tuber:

• Prevents flatulence, ulcer, heart disease; protects the liver (clearing out toxins) – raw turmeric is recommended for jaundice
• Facilitates scabbing if applied on rashes (even chicken pox); eases sprains, strains, bruises or itching if applied with honey
• Soothes respiratory trouble (cough, asthma)
• Draws out pus from infected wounds/boils

Don’t try turmeric as a remedy if you have a bile duct blockage, blood-clotting disorder or stomach ulcer. Avoid concentrated/medicinal turmeric if trying to conceive, pregnant or breastfeeding.

1. Do not sleep with lenses on. Continuously worn contacts rub away the cornea, causing tiny rips that invite infection and may lead to vision loss.
2. Never use homemade saline solutions. They might harbor a microorganism that can scar the cornea and cause partial or complete blindness.
3. Never wear two pair of lenses simultaneously. Never wear cosmetic lenses over your corrective lenses – they may get stuck!
4. Clean and disinfect lenses when you remove them. If they are disposable, throw them away within the time prescribed.
5. Stick with one lens-care regimen. Follow the routine specified for your lens type.
6. Remove lenses before swimming/bathing. Hard lenses may float out when your eyes get wet; soft lenses are likely to absorb impurities in the water.
7. Get glasses before cleaning up. Make the switch whenever using household cleaners containing ammonia or other volatile chemicals.

Being in an aeroplane can make certain medical conditions worse. Ask your doctor whether you need to reschedule your trip if:

1. You’ve had abdominal, eye or chest surgery in the last couple of weeks. Gases inside the body expand during flight, causing swelling that’s painful and that could also interfere with wound healing.
2. You’re wearing a rigid cast. The limb in the plaster cast is likely to swell.
3. You have a cold or other respiratory infection that’s blocking your eustachian tubes. But if you really must get on a plane, taking a decongestant (nasal spray or pill) can help keep tubes open; also drink lots of water to counter the plane’s dehydrating effects.

Another way to listen to your self is to check in with your body wisdom. Our bodies give us messages and clues all the time about what is going on with us in the form of aches and pains, tight jaws, knots in the stomach, fatigue, or shallow breathing. What many of us do though, is to ignore what our bodies are saying and instead dismiss them to just being a limb to our heads.

To point a few examples: Do you get sick to your stomach when you drive to work? Do you suffer from Sunday night insomnia? If yes, then your body is telling you loud and clear that something is wrong at work. Do you ignore these messages from your body and continue to suffer? Or do you listen to them and do whatever it takes to make changes so that you can look forward to your work? Doing whatever it takes may mean resolving a conflict with a boss or co-worker, finding a new job, or following your dream to become self-employed.