Read this before you take sleeping pills

Insomnia or sleep disturbance is the most common of all sleep disorders. Insomnia is the difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep, even when a person can sleep in. According to a report by the National Institutes of Health, it is estimated that around 30 per cent of the total general population complains about sleep disruptionand over 10 per cent have been associated with symptoms of daytime functional impairment consistently, with the diagnosis of insomnia. Treatment of insomnia depends on the severity of symptoms and underlying cause. Sleep medications are not the first line…

Transition Care: Everything You Need To Know

With a significant number of patients suffering from critical ailments being re-admitted to hospitals after being discharged, the shortcomings in the healthcare industry are evident more than ever before. Even the most advanced critical care management system fails to ensure holistic recovery in the absence of follow-up care. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure efficient utilisation of critical care facilities for improved patient outcomes. This is the context where transition care gains importance in India”s healthcare scene. Most major medical/surgical illnesses are sudden, unanticipated and need a tertiary care facility…

Now Treat Your Eczema With This New Unusual Approach

I hate my eczema. When it flares, the skin on my eyelids becomes red and angry. The nape of my neck itches and burns. My earlobes prickle and weep from irritation. Mostly, I feel like a hostage in my own skin. I’ve tried countless remedies – including elimination diets and prescription creams and ointments. They provide a slight respite, but there’s been no magic cure. New research, though, suggests an unusual new approach that might change things for me and the 32 million other Americans who suffer from eczema: applying…

Chronotherapy Could Make Cancer Treatments More Effective, Here’s How

Chi Van Dang generally declines to discuss the science that made him famous. A leading authority on cancer metabolism, he routinely is asked to speak about how tumors reprogram biochemical pathways to help them slurp up nutrients and how disrupting these noxious adaptations could be a powerful approach to treating cancer. Instead of doing so, Dang uses his soapbox at every research meeting, lecture and blue-ribbon panel to advocate for something else: a simple yet radical tweak to how oncologists administer cancer drugs. The approach, known as chronotherapy, involves timing…

Beware! UV Rays Of The Sun Can Actually Damage Your Eyes: What You Should Know

Not only can the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays harm your skin, they can damage your eyes as well. For protection, says the American Academy of Ophthalmology, wear sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB rays. Retailers say that requires a rating of UV400 or higher. Over time, sun exposure can increase your chances of developing eye disease such as cataracts, growths on the eye, macular degeneration and even a rare form of cancer, ocular melanoma, according to the academy. In addition, eye “sunburn” — known…

Do You Schedule Your Free Time? Don’t! Study Suggests It Could Make You Unhappy

Your social calendar might be sucking the joy out of activities that are supposed to be fun or relaxing, according to an upcoming paper co-written by a professor who studies time management. The paper argues that when a leisure activity is planned rather than spontaneous, we enjoy it less. That’s because we tend to mentally lump all our scheduled activities in the same bucket – whether it’s a dentist appointment or grabbing coffee with a friend. And that makes the pleasurable activities more of a chore. “It becomes a part…