Heat stroke is a form of hyperthermia caused due to abnormal elevation of the body temperature. It is an acute emergency medical condition. It is extremely fatal if untreated.

Heat strokes occur mainly in infants, elderly, those who work out doors and in athletes. Heat stroke is an advanced stage of hyperthermia. Heat stroke is diagnostic if the body temperature is more that 41 degrees or 106 degree F with neurological symptoms.

The diagnostic criteria for heat stroke are temperature more than 41 degrees, absence of sweating and altered sensorium.

Types of Heat stroke

Classic heat stroke or non exertional heat stroke: It is characterized by hyperthermia, absence of sweating and altered sensorium. It occurs after period of prolonged elevations in ambient temperatures.

Exertional heatstroke is featured by high body temperature, diaphoresis and altered sensorium which occur after extreme physical exertion in hot climate.

Signs and symptoms of heat stroke

• Extreme fatigue.
• Weakness.
• Nausea.
• Vomiting.
• Increased body temperature
• Headache.
• Giddiness.
• Change in behavior.
• Muscle cramps
• Absence of sweating
• Red, hot, dry skin.
• Increased pulse rate.
• Breathlessness.
• Confusion.
• Disorientation.
• Hallucinations.
• Agitation.
• Seizure.
• Coma

Treatment of heat stroke

• The affected person should be brought to shady area.
• Remove the clothes and cool water is applied to bring down the temperature.
• Ice packs should be kept under armpits and groin.
• Body temperatures should be checked.
• The patient is immersed in cool bath tub.
• Take plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration.

Prevention of heat stroke

• Avoid dehydration
• Avoid vigorous physical activities in hot and humid weather.
• Drink lot of plenty of fluids while working outdoors and avoid alcohol, caffeine and tea which may cause dehydration.
• Take breaks in between and hydrate to prevent heatstroke.
• Wear hat, light colored and light weight loose cloth while outside.

Eye strain

Office going people or just about anyone who stares at a computer screen for long periods of time tend to suffer from eye strain.

Eyestrain means different things to different people. It can be experienced as burning, tightness, sharp pains, dull pains, watering, blurring, double vision, headaches, and other sensations, depending on the person. If you have any eye discomfort caused by viewing something, you can call it eyestrain.

At Computer workstations, the principal factors affecting the ability to see well are:

• Glare
• The luminance (brightness) difference between what is being looked at and its immediate environment
• The amount of light
• The distance between the eye and the screen
• The readability of the screen and document
• The workers vision and his or her corrective lenses

Watch out for direct glare. Direct glare involves a light source shining directly into the eyes — ceiling lights, task lights, or bright windows. To determine the degree of direct glare, you can temporarily shield your eyes with a hand and notice whether you feel immediate relief.

Reflected glare, such as on computer screens, sometimes causes eyestrain. But its worst effect may be causing you to change your posture to an uncomfortable one, in order to see well. See if you can adjust the light source by turning off unnecessary lights or by closing the window blinds. A visor or hood on themonitor may shield the screen from the light source, or perhaps you can reposition the monitor, keyboard, and yourself to a more favourable angle so the glare is reflected differently.

The most overlooked cause of eyestrain in offices is “contrast” — usually, a dark screen surrounded by a bright background such as a window or a lit wall. The best solution is to find a way to darken the area around the screen. This problem occurs mainly on screens with light letters on a black background. If you can’t darken the area around and behind the screen, change the screen colors so that the background color is lighter than the text colors.  Also, try adjusting the monitor brightness and contrast controls.

How much light is right? It depends on your age, the quality of the print you’re reading, and other factors. There should be plenty of light for easy reading, but too much can, depending on the person, cause eyestrain.

Eyes are strained more by close viewing than by distant viewing. The “right” distance for computer monitors and documents depends entirely on how clearly they can be read at a given distance. The general rule is to keep viewed material as far away as possible, provided it can be read easily!!!

If you gaze at something too long, your eyes can tire.  Eyes need to focus at different distances from time to time. It’s a good idea to follow the “20/20 rule” — every twenty minutes, look twenty feet away for twenty seconds.

If two objects are only a couple of inches different in their distance from the eyes, the eyes actually doNOT have to refocus to look from one to another.

Greater distance differences, however, can overwork the eyes if you have to look from one object to another frequently – — as when typing from printed copy and looking at the screen. In general, keep viewed objects at about the same distance if you have to look back and forth a lot.

Can computer work cause nearsightedness? Rarely, according to optometrists. It’s more likely that computer work makes you realize that you need glasses.

Sometimes eyestrain is just a case of dry eyes. Lowering the monitor can help. Looking downward means more of the eye surface is covered by the eyelid, and two other things happen:  the eyes unconsciously blink more, and they produce more lubrication.

People who need bifocals should consider other options besides bifocals. Two good ones are:

1. Computer glasses that focus at the right distance for the computer screen.
2. Wearing contact lenses —corrected for computer or reading distance in one eye, and for far distance (if needed) in the other eye.

Bifocal wearers often experience sore necks and shoulders because they have to tip their heads back to see the computer screen:

• Lower the screen as much as possible —if it sits on the CPU, move the CPU.
• If necessary, remove the monitors tilt-swivel base (consult a computer hardware person first) to gain a couple additional inches.
• Lower the work surface that the monitor sits on.
• Raise the chair and consider a footrest

Article is related to

Diseases and Conditions

Eye strain,   Headaches,   Postural headache,   Pain in eye

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a common condition which makes the skin, and sometimes the hair, turn white in patches.  This is due to damage of the pigment producing cells of our skin, called Melanocytes.

It is estimated that 1% of humanity suffers from this autoimmune condition. Anyone can develop the condition, whatever their skin color or ethnic origin. Vitiligo can begin at any age but about 50% of people who get it. Get it before the age of twenty.

In Vitiligo, the immune system attacks the body’s own skin and connective tissues. The most common and painful myth for most vitiligo patients is this that it is contagious and that just by touching someone you can get it. It’s NOT infectious and Vitiligo suffers cannot spread the disease.

Generalized vitiligo is the most common and affects both sides of the body. In some cases only one half of the body is affected (segmental vitiligo); this variant has limited progression and is more difficult to treat. Vitiligo can spread to cover the entire body surface (universal vitiligo) but this is not usual.

The way the condition develops is unpredictable.  Some people may not notice a change in their condition for many years; for others it can spread quite quickly.  In some cases, the white patches can regain their color without the person having any treatment.  This is more likely with children.  However, it is very unusual for the condition to be resolved completely without treatment.

The main available treatments are:

1. Steroid creams which can be prescribed by your doctor, which are used for up to 2 months or longer under close supervision.
2. Light treatment, (narrowband UVB and PUVA) for which you would have to go to hospital 2 or 3 times a week.  This is sometimes given with medication as well.

No cure for vitiligo has been discovered yet. These treatments are very effective in bringing back color to the white skin patches and slowing down its progress.  The effects of treatment vary from one person to another.  In some cases, treatment can bring about complete re-pigmentation.

Treatments may not work on all areas of the body and they do not work for everyone. If color does return to the white patches, there is still a risk of the vitiligo coming back at a later date.

Recent research suggests that the effectiveness of treatments depends less on a person’s age than where the vitiligo is and when it started:

• Treating vitiligo on the face seems to be particularly effective.
• Children are more likely to be more responsive to treatment.
• Using treatments when vitiligo first develops is more effective than later on.
• Small areas are easier to treat than larger ones.
• Bleaching (depigmentation treatment) and skin grafting are used very occasionally, in specific circumstances.

Article is related to

Diseases and Conditions

Vitiligo,   Hypopigmentation,   Segmental vitiligo

Treatment/Therapy

Puva therapy

Medical Procedures

Depigmentation