How to have bigger and healthier babies?

The best way for pregnant women to have a healthy baby is to live a healthy lifestyle and remember that what you eat, baby eats too. The food you consume is your baby's major source of nutrition. All the expectant moms wish to have bigger and healthier babies, but one big question arises that how it’s possible? Pregnant women who take an iron supplements daily have considerably bigger and healthier babies, as per a new study. Study found that taking iron during pregnancy is connected with a noteworthy raise in birth weight, and a decrease in risk of low birth weight.

A research from Harvard University stated that taking iron supplements daily during pregnancy can lessen the chances of having a small baby and also anaemia - low red blood cell count. Iron supplements are not given to pregnant women in the UK until their iron levels appear to be low. The most common nutritional deficiency in the world is Iron deficiency - the most widespread cause of anaemia during pregnancy, mainly in poorer countries, and it affects nearly 32 million pregnant women worldwide.

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Home remedies for stomach worms in children

We love to watch our children playing in garden or on playground, but sometimes kids might get infected by worms due to playing at the infected places. Even when your kids walk barefoot on infected soil or play in the contaminated water or eat infected food, then they are at major risk of having intestinal worms in near future. These parasites depress the mental and physical health of your kids and also lead to some serious malnutrition problems. When these worms reach to your kid’s intestine; it starts laying eggs and increase their numbers. They live on nutrition and inside the blood of the host body. There are certain specific symptoms that will let you know that your kid is having the intestinal worms. In some cases, any symptoms are not found in the patient and it becomes worse when a doctor identifies the real problem.

How worms or parasites affect your child’s growth?

Intestinal worms are parasite and as a nature of parasite; it feeds on the host’s body. So, whenever your kid gets infected by the parasites, they will feed on the vitamins and nutrients of your kid’s body. It can lead to malnutrition, low weight and anaemia. Children suffering from the intestinal worms frequently are more vulnerable to illness, as their immune systems are damaged. It also affects their future physical and intellectual development due to iron-deficiency anaemia.

So, it is better that you do not take lightly for any signs of presence of intestinal worms. Once your child have intestinal worm or parasite, then it might be possible that he/she show one or more symptoms as given below:
Children may caught diarrhea, recurrent stomach pain, itching in anal area, kid crushing his teeth during sleep, your child may feel restless during whole night and also get irritated, weight loss though your kid has normal diet, loss of appetite, anaemia may occur if hookworms are present, rashes may be seen on body, nausea, constant coughs, blood in the stool, painful and frequent urination, vomiting.

What are the tests used to confirm that your kid has a worm infection?

If you see one or more of the above signs in your kid, then you should visit your doctor to confirm that your child is suffering from the intestinal parasite or not? There are some of the simple ways conducted by the doctor to confirm the presence of worms like the sticky tape test, checking under fingernails, a cotton-bud swab test, stool examination and an ultrasound test.

Different medications are available in the medical stores in the form of antibiotics, but they are harmful for your children’s digestive system. In addition to removing the intestinal worms, antibiotics weaken the strength of the digestive system. There are some of the home remedies practiced from olden times to remove the intestinal worm or parasite by strengthening the digestive system.

Fibrous food: One of the best ways to solve the problem of the worms is to make your kid eat fibrous food. Due to more consumption of fibrous food, worms might get excreted out by the rigorous bowel movement.
Asafetida: Asafetida or hing is very effective remedy for toddlers and kids. To resolve the problem of intestinal worms, you can dissolve pinch of asafetida in a glass of warm water and give it to your child. As asafetida is very strong, do not give it in more amounts. Even take care that only once in two weeks, you have to give the hing dissolved in warm water to your kid.

If you come to know that your infant or toddler has intestinal worms, then you can rub the paste of asafetida in the navel area of the infant or toddler.

Make soup of one or two tomatoes, and then sauté it with pinch of asafetida and give it to your infant to drink to get relief from the worms.

Coconut: Take small amount of grated coconut and boil it in one glass of milk. Then give this mixture to your kid for 3 to 4 times a day in same amount. You can also give 1 tsp of warm castor oil in the night to your toddler. It will flush out worms in 1-2 weeks.

Papaya: Papaya is very effective to flush out intestinal worms. An enzyme called papain is present in unripe papaya, which can naturally destroy all the parasites specially roundworms. Mix 1 tsp of unripe papaya juice with 1 tsp of honey and hot water. Give this mixture to your kid in the morning and after two hours give your kid 250 ml of warm milk with 1 tsp of castor oil.

Mix one tsp of powder of papaya seeds in cup of milk or water and give it to your child to flush out the worms in stool. It is preferred to give this mixture in the morning with empty stomach to destroy all worms.

Garlic: Garlic has antibacterial and antifungal properties. For kids, make juice of 2 garlic cloves and mix it with half cup of fruit or vegetable juice. Give this mixture to your kid to flush out the intestinal worms.

Carrot: If your child loves to eat carrot, then you can give it to him to flush out the parasites. Grate two medium sized carrots and give it to your child in the morning with the empty stomach. It will help to cure problem of intestinal worms in two to three weeks and if it is followed daily, then you can also protect your child from the future attacks of parasite.

Pomegranate: Make your kid to eat fresh pomegranate daily to remove the parasites from stomach. You can also give fresh juice of pomegranate to your child to flush out the worms from stomach.

Onion: Cut one onion and put it overnight in the cup of water. In the morning, the onion will be pulpy; squeeze out the onion in the cup and make your child to drink that water in the morning. In 4 to 5 days, worms will die and easily flush out naturally.

Other home remedies:

• Give your child a handful of shelled pumpkin seeds for 2 weeks in any edible form.
• Mix black walnut in the water, fresh fruit or vegetable juice or milk. Give 4-5 drops to your child every alternate days.
• Make your child to eat fresh raw carrots, pomegranate and beet roots to get relief from the intestinal worms.
• Give fresh pineapple or juice of it to your child to remove the worms in just seven days.
• Make juice of bitter gourd and give 2 to 3 spoon of juice 3 times a day to your kid to flush out intestinal worms.
• Mix one spoon of powder of papaya seeds in one cup of fresh curd; give this mixture to your child 2 to 3 times a day to remove worms naturally.
• Give fresh oranges to your child to eat daily to flush out parasites naturally.
• Make juice of leaves of Indian Lilac or neem and give 2 to 3 spoon daily to your kid to flush out worms.

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Health benefits and effects of walking barefoot

When you go to the seaside and walk on cool sand of bay with barefoot or when you walk on grass with barefoot; at that time you will feel so much relaxing and stress free. This is because you will get direct contact with the mother Earth, and it makes you feel very good both mentally and physically. Walking with barefoot on any natural surface is called “Grounding or Earthing,” and it gives you many benefits to improve your overall health. Due to our improved high profile lifestyle, we rarely go barefoot or we get fewer chances to walk barefoot for a while in today’s fast forward lifestyle. But you will certainly take out some time daily to walk barefoot; once you know how many special benefits you get by walking barefoot. So, let's get familiar with benefits of the barefoot walking.

What happens when you walk barefoot on natural Earth surface?

Human body is a good conductor of electricity and it regularly produces the positive charges that are used in the oxidation process. Earth is electrically conductive and produces free electrons. So, whenever any person walks with barefoot on sand or grass, direct contact between Earth’s surface and person’s foot skin occurs. It leads to transfer of electric positive and negative charges. This transfer of electric charges will help us to maintain the level of positive charges. “Kidney 1” is connected to all of the acupuncture meridians and fundamentally connects to every nook and cranny of our body that acts as a main point of our feet from where electric charges get transferred.

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PlanB one-step is now approved by FDA

Millions of women take birth control or contraception pills to prevent unplanned pregnancy after an unprotected sex. This backup method is safe, convenient and effective way to avoid unnecessary pregnancy when a regular birth control method fails or used wrongly. Every year, nearly 2 million unplanned pregnancies are prevented with the help of publicly funded contraception in the United States. Recently, FDA has approved Plan B one-step progestin-only emergency contraceptive pill as a nonprescription product that means it is going to be sold over-the-counter for all women without age restrictions.

Since July 2009, Plan B one-step was already approved by FDA as a nonprescription product for women age 17 years or above. In 2011, the FDA was planning to allow emergency contraceptives as a nonprescription product without age restrictions but Kathleen Sebelius (Health and Human Services Secretary) overruled her own scientists in an extraordinary move. In April 2013, Edward Korman (U.S. District Judge) ordered the FDA to approve emergency contraceptive for all women with child-bearing potential without any prescription. Due to this approval, PlanB one-step emergency contraceptive age limit has been decreased to 15 years.

The Plan B One-Step is a single-dose emergency contraceptive that cut the chances of being pregnant by 89% if taken within 72 hours (3 days) of unprotected sexual intercourse, rape or condom failure. It works best if taken within the first twenty-four hours. The pill does not work if girl or woman is already pregnant.
The active ingredient of pill is levonorgestrel, the same ingredient found in many birth control pills. The pill works just like other birth control pills. It prevents ovulation (the release of an egg from the ovary) or fertilization (joining of an egg cell and a sperm cell) and thus, avoids pregnancy. The pills are available at the retail pharmacy stores.

The pill is not as effective as regular birth control pills so don’t consume it regularly. Common side effects of pill are changes in period, breast tenderness, nausea, headache, dizziness, fatigue and lower abdominal pain. It will not protect a woman from HIV infection or STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). Women who are allergic to levonorgestrel should not take Plan B One-Step.

At present, three types of emergency contraceptive are available in the U.S. such as ella, Plan B and One-Step. Ella is prescription-only product while Plan B is available as OTC product for women aged 17 and above.

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How to take care of Belly Button Ring Infection: Symptoms & Treatment

Belly button piercing, also known as navel piercing, is quite a rage amongst youngsters. A lot of people in recent times, especially women, are getting their belly button pierced with cute, fun or flirty rings to beautify their looks and personality. However, many of them are completely unaware of the risks and dangers associated with this fashion trend. It can cause skin irritation and severe infection in individuals. And never ever commit the mistake of taking an infected belly button piercing lightly because if it is not treated at the right time then there are chances that it may spread to the bloodstream, and this in turn can cause life-threatening problems.

So, if you just recently got your belly button pierced, then you must observe the piercing carefully for signs of infection. Of course, there are certain signs and symptoms that will let you know an infection is present and that immediate treatment is needed. A few such common symptoms of an infected belly button piercing are given below. Also read on the article to learn about the treatment of infection after belly button piercing.

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Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Causes, Symptoms & Diagnosis

Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, also known as MSBP, is one type of mental illness that causes an individual to lie about disease in a person under his or her care. The syndrome is named after Baron von Munchausen - an 18th-century German dignitary known for telling strange stories about his travel experiences simply to seek attention. And the term ‘by proxy’ specifies that a person is simulating or exaggerating symptoms in any other person and not in himself or herself. The worst part of this disease is that victims are mostly children and that’s why this disease is also referred to as a form of child abuse. In most cases (95%), MSBP occurs with mothers whereas in some rare cases a father, grandparent or even a babysitter may abuse the child in this absurd manner.

Individuals with MSBP purposely harm or describe fake symptoms in their children just to get the sympathy and special attention given to the family of someone who is sick. MSBP sufferers might exaggerate the child’s symptoms in many ways, for example - they might alter diagnostic test results by contaminating urine or stool sample, falsify medical records, etc. And in the worst cases, a parent may also try to induce real symptoms of a disease in his/her child through various means like poisoning, starving, suffocating and causing infection.

MSBP is certainly a serious condition and requires immediate medical treatment as this disorder can lead to severe short term as well as long term complications, including frequent hospitalizations and even death of the victim. Now, go through the article given below to learn about Munchausen Syndrome by proxy causes, symptoms and treatments.

What causes MSBP?
The exact cause of MSBP is still unknown. However, according to researchers, both biological and psychological factors play an important role in the development of this illness. Some theories imply that people who were abused or neglected as children or those who had experienced the early loss of a parent are more likely to develop this disorder. Other two common factors that may incline a person to MSBP include a serious disorder in childhood or an existing personality disorder. Some research even indicates that severe stress (such as marital problems) can also trigger the MSBP disorder in an individual.

Warning signs of MSBP

According to the health experts, any of the warning signs mentioned below may point towards the likelihood that MSBP disorder is a factor in a child’s apparent illness:

• Disease that continue in spite of traditionally effective treatments
• The child has been taken to several doctors without receiving a clear medical diagnosis
• The parent is extremely reluctant to leave the child’s side and is overattentive
• The parent seems very keen for the child to undergo additional treatments, tests or even surgeries
• The parent has a health-care background
• Another child in the same family has/had mysterious illness or death
• The symptoms may get worse only when the parent is present nearby the child, while it may improve when the suspected caretaker is absent
• Symptoms are such that do not make any medical sense
• The victim continuously fails to respond to therapy
• The parent appears to have close relationship with the medical staff of a hospital
• A family history of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
• A caregiver who has a history of MS (Munchausen Syndrome)
• Blood in lab sample do not match with the child’s blood
• Signs of chemicals found in the child’s blood, urine or stool sample
• The other parent is not involved in the child’s treatment, even if the child’s condition is worse

Now, following points would depict the profile of a typical MSBP perpetrator:

• Are most often upper-class and well-educated persons
• Seems to be enormously knowledgeable about the victim’s illness
• Appears quite concerned (sometimes over-concerned) about the child or the victim
• Prevents the victim from participating in outdoor activities
• A history of marital conflict
• Feeling alone and isolated
• Strange involvement in the victim’s care, to the point where he/she tries to exclude medical staff
• A history of Munchausen syndrome and/or suicide attempts
• Very friendly with medical and nursing staff
• May falsely report that the child has fever, bleeding, diarrhea, mental depression, skin rashes or trouble breathing

How is Munchausen syndrome by proxy diagnosed?

The diagnosis of this condition is very difficult. The child, who is victimized by MSBP, typically has a history of several diseases and even multiple surgeries. However, at the same time, the caretaker usually appears as a devoted & caring parent, and hence any clue of abuse is hardly seen. Therefore in order to diagnose this disorder, sometimes a fully detailed medical history from other family members, friends or relatives will be required. Plus, the child is checked for signs of any physical abuse. Besides this, the following may also be required:

Documentation: This method is all about noting down how the child reacts when he/she is with the caretaker.

Separation: The child may be separated from the caretaker for sometime. Once separated, the child’s condition as well as the behavior is closely observed. By doing so will help diagnose the condition, if the child shows improvement without any treatment.

Video monitoring: In this method, a video footage is recorded to check the behavior of the caretaker when left alone with the child. This footage can even act as a strong evidence of abuse.

How is MSBP treated?

Children victimized by sufferers of MSBP can have severe complications from injuries, medications, infections or tests. Moreover, risk for psychological complications such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, etc. will be also increased in them. Hence, once the syndrome is recognized, it’s very important to remove that child from direct care of the parent immediately. Such children must be placed in a special home or day care center.

Complete treatment of people with MSBP is quite difficult since they often resist treatment or deny that there is a problem. No doubt, certain psychiatric medications such as antidepressants, mood stabilizer and anti-anxiety medications can help ease some of the symptoms in perpetrator or the victim but in no way these medications can cure the disease completely.

Individual psychotherapy (a type of counseling) for the patient of MSBP, the victim, as well as for the family members, is often included in the treatment program. Even after the treatment, there are chances that the patient may repeat his/her behavior. So, counselors, doctors, and most importantly family members must closely watch how the caretaker is interacting with her children.

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Healthy Indian recipes for Lazy housewives

In this fast forward life, women also like to help their family to become financially stable. That is why, women of today’s date, don’t want to spend their all worthy time only in the kitchen, so it might happen that women avoid to make dishes that takes more time. If you are one of those women who have to handle both professional life and family at the same time, then you should be aware of some of the fast and easy Indian dishes that you can serve to your family in the breakfast for the right start of day. Instant Indian recipes do not take more than half an hour and some of them are ready to eat in just 15 minutes. You can serve hot and delicious breakfast to your family everyday. Here are provided some of the delicious and instant Indian recipes.

1, Vegetable Upma

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