A persistent cold is actually sinusitis
A common cold that lingers on for more than a week may very well have transformed into sinusitis. The cold is accompanied with a stuffy nose and a persistent headache.
Statistics revealed by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology show that around 31 million Americans develop the disease of sinusitis each year. This results in over 18 million visits to the physician and raises the over all health costs to $5.8 billion. Generally it is the people that suffer from allergies that develop sinusitis over time. Such people are most vulnerable during the winter season.
Dr. Anju Peters, Chairman of the academy’s rhino-sinusitis committee stated in a news release that “Early on, the symptoms of colds and sinusitis are similar, but if symptoms are worsening after three to five days, or if they are present for more than 10 days, then sinusitis is the likely culprit.”
The hollow areas situated behind the forehead and cheeks are known as sinus cavities. When these areas become blocked due to inflammation that results from a cold or allergy then sinusitis develops. The blockage of the sinus cavities hampers the routine draining of mucus which can lead to infection. Sinusitis has a number of symptoms which include greenish gray nasal discharge, bad tasting nasal drip, fever and facial pain.
If sinusitis is not treated with the proper treatment then it can last for years. Generally doctors prescribe the use of antibiotics in order to eradicate the infection along with decongestants that give the patient relief from stuffiness.
One of the things that can help prevent sinusitis from the start is longer breast feeding. Even if Children are breast fed up to four months they will develop much better lungs which will prevent sinusitis from developing in the future. Bottle feeding however weakens the development of the lungs thereby making children vulnerable to develop sinusitis, asthma and other allergies.
The doctors gave their reasoning for the increase in lung strength for babies that are breast fed saying “The physical exercise caused by suckling at the breast – about six times daily on average for more than 4 months — may result in increased lung capacity and increased airflow in breast-fed children compared with bottle-fed children.”
In the case of grown ups who are suffering from a persistent cold it is highly advised to seek proper treatment without which sinusitis is likely to remain for quite some time.
Lifestyle habits during adolescence impact future health
The adolescence years are times when a child is going through fundamental physical changes. Medical experts suggest that great care needs to be taken at this important transition phase with regards to shaping up good health for the growing child.
Biological changes take place at an accelerated place between the ages of ten to nineteen. Although you would find the bulk of the teenagers to be thriving with activity this time period is actually quite sensitive when it comes to the consequences that your actions can have on your health.
The habits that adolescents pick up during this period of time will determine their health for the future. Many youngster experiment with drugs and alcohol and then there is the fear of sexually transmitted diseases along with car accidents etc.
Dr. Frank Biro from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital says “They are quite literally our future. If we don’t take good care of them, there’s a strong likelihood when they’re running the ship they’re not going to have a good time running the ship.”
The problem is that the care system designed for children in this age bracket is quite poor. Not many doctors are specialized in adolescent’s complex problems. The bulk of those at risk are the poor yet there has not been much effort in this direction. The National Research Council and Institute of Medicine has concluded that the medical experts need to step up their efforts in this direction.
There is no doubt that smoking habits have declined in teenagers over the years and so has teen pregnancy. The problems for the teens are however much wider than these two issue. Teen obesity is on the increase, children are less likely to engage in physical activity, chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma amongst children have also increased and injuries resulting from car crashes are amongst the leading teen problems today.
During the pediatric years the children are taken for routine check ups. After crossing the age of twenty the number of individuals consulting doctors is the lowest. The decline starts to take effect during the adolescent years. This makes it impossible for the doctors to play a role in intervening in the lives of teenagers that are on their way to picking up bad habits which are bound to have long term effects on their lives in the future.
Unusual weather makes it difficult to predict allergy season
The unprecedented changes that have been taking place in the weather conditions around the world has made it difficult for health care experts to predict when the allergy season would arrive. 
This winter was remarkably slow to come almost through out the U.S. The winter season is now in full bloom but it has never been delayed to the extent that it was this year. The experts are uncertain as to what affects the weather changes will have on allergy sufferers.
The allergy season is always bound to come. With it the season brings coughing , wheezing, sneezing, itchy eyes, headaches and runny noses for a great many people.
There is not one single season that can be termed as an allergy season. In fact allergies pick up in several seasons. The summer and winter peaks are usually the seasons that allergy sufferers suffer the most. Mold is a one of the potential causes of allergies that is there pretty much the whole year round.
The role of the weather is what is making the allergy season extremely difficult to predict. Mike Tringale who works with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America says “It’s a hard call to make, it’s not just pollination, but what the wind and the rains and the other weather patterns do to that pollen; whether it washes it away or blows it 500 miles to the next town or city is a very difficult thing to project.”
This winter hospitals have received an unusually large number of patients complaining of hay fever in the winter season. “There were people complaining this winter of itchy, watery eyes, which is something you don’t see until April or May,” said the hospital officials.
These complaints were reduced as the freeze kicked up the States. The out break of the cold season could actually delay the allergy season or give it a kick start. This depends on how close the trees are to releasing their pollen. Elm and cedar pollen count has increased due to the unseasonably warm temperatures experienced this winter.
All the doctors can say to the patients is to make use of preventive allergy medications ahead of the allergy season. The problem is that since the allergy season cannot be predicted patient’s having no idea when to get started with their preventive medication.
Super benefits of “Superinsulation”
The benefits of insulating your home in order to save energy have long been known. Most home owners try their best to get their homes insulated especially if they are the energy conscious type. Recently however Alex Cheimets has taken to a superinsulation plan for his home.
The superinsulation project involves a lot more than adding a couple of inches of standard cellulose insulation in the attic. Cheimets has a different idea in mind. He will be insulating his house from the outside using two layers of insulating foam board. This thick foam blanket will keep the air on the inside on the inside and it will also serve to block the cracks through which the outside air may enter the home.
The project which may seem absurd to some will result in much energy conservation. Oil consumption will be reduced by up to 70% which is quite a remarkable feat. The individual who has initiated the project is taking it on as a hobby. He has been working on the project for two years trying to gain knowledge and overcome the various hurdles that lie in the way.
The work has gotten underway since a couple of months. The home owner has got the contractors working on the job and the house is all set to be superinsulated by the end of the first month of 2009. The finished project will not only benefit the people that live in rather it will serve as a pilot project on which future projects can be based.
If the superinsulation idea manages to successfully bring down the energy consumption level it will become the next big trend in home building. Of course there are many different aspects that need to be considered such as the cost effectiveness of insulating your home from the outside.
The home owner has started benefiting from turning his house into a guinea pig for the super insulation program. This is because he has been contacted by window makers and other material suppliers that are willing to donate to the construction of the house because they see a lot of potential in the idea and want to invest in it from the start.
The perfect mirror becomes the perfect tool for laser surgery
Doctors have managed to make a breakthrough in minimal invasive surgery by making use of a tool that enables them to use laser surgery for complex operations. Made from the perfect mirror the fiber optic tool allows the reflection of C2 lasers. This is the first time such a feat has been achieved.
Ironically the tool that is now being used to perform complex laser surgeries was initially developed for military use. The use of the tool for medicinal purposes has provided a stepping stone especially when it comes to brain surgeries.
Professor Yoel Fink is credited with the development of the Omni Directional dielectric mirror. The professor was only 29 years of age when he developed the mirror during his student years at the Massachusetts Institute of technology.
Fink informed CNN “I was asked to participate in a project funded by the DOD to create the perfect mirror,” Fink told CNN. “The perfect mirror reflects light from all angles and does not absorb any of it. It could have been used, for example, to reflect back enemy laser beams,” he further added.
The newly discovered technology has surprised many of the agencies involved in developing such technology. The proposed timeline for the realization of such technology as has now been discovered was set out to the next 25 years. Surprisingly the answer has been unearthed just this year.
The perfect mirror provided them with the solution. Fink discovered that if he took two different materials that possessed different optical properties and then stacking them up in extremely tight and thin layers can create an omni reflector. One of the material used was a semi conducting glass where as the other was a polymer. The perfect mirror has the capability to reflect any type of electromagnetic energy at any given wavelength.
The invention was initially used for telecommunication devices for the military. Today the world of medicine has realized the great benefits of the perfect mirror in its application of performing laser surgery. This allows the surgeons to make use of lasers to operate all sorts of complex surgeries in place of scalpels.