Beware of seasonal influenza !

Having fever, cough and a runny nose due to wet weather? Then you are possibly experiencing a seasonal influenza; also known as the viral flu. While it is a common occurrence, virologists observe this time of the year as a peak season for influenza activity. However, high risk groups need to take extra care during this period. With that in mind the Mirror Health Capsule spoke to Dr. Jude Jayamaha, Consultant Medical Virologist at the National Inf

get proper cure at the right time

Reported as the second most common killer in other countries, but only affects around 6% of those who suffer from cancer in Sri Lanka, colorectal cancer is a cancer that has a overall survival rate of 60%, if detected between stages 1- 3. Daily Mirror spoke to Dr. Wasantha Ratnayake, a Consultant Clinical Oncologist attached to the Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama to educate you more on this topic.

Let your child sleep!

Every time you ask your child to stay up late studying, you are inherently asking her to fight against his or her own biological design. Every time your child stares at his or her phone late in the night, he is endangering his psychological wellbeing.

Keto diet An efficient way to lose weight

Have you ever wondered why your diet isn’t working for you? Or why you are back in square one a few months after you stop your low calorie diet?Well, the reason is simply because you are not following a proper diet plan. The conventional low calorie diet plan, which is popular in Sri Lanka, mainly focuses on reducing the calorie intake. Although this diet may be successful through hard work and dedication, its results may not last long. However a

Dangers of Hot Tea

As Sri Lankan most of us start our day with a cup of tea. Some like to have lukewarm tea while others needs very hot tea. Both green tea and black tea are beneficial for our health since they contain plenty of health-related chemical compounds. Tea is considered as a health-promoting beverage. It is believed to be able to prevent cancer, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic abnormalities. Ho

Simple steps that’ll help to Avoid long-term complications of CKD

Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology, commonly known as CKDu is prevalent especially in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Today, many villagers have given up hopes on life because once diagnosed, they are unable to do anything on their own. The inability to urinate, feeling tired, dizziness and various other complications confine them to one place. In remote areas, dialysis cycles are time consuming and patients sometimes don’t have

Living with HIV Follow-ups, treatment and handling stigma

A life void of medical maladies is quintessential to lead a happy and fulfilled life. Among the many diseases already plaguing the people today, HIV and AIDS can also be listed as diseases that could not only deteriorate one’s live but is also incurable; with the only alternative left is to slow down the disease progression with constant treatment.

Osteoarthritis Let’s deal with that ’Crackling’ sound

Have you come across your grandmother or grandfather complaining about a crackling sound in the knee with pain during movement? Have you noticed that this pain has been worsening over time and he or she prefers to be bed-bound rather than move around to avoid pain? If so this discussion we had with Dr. Solith Senanayake, Registrar in Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, University of Sri Jayawardanapura is for you to read to know what that condi

Ensuring a healthy immune system

The immune system of the body is like a natural body guard that comes as a bonus in life. It is the body’s defense against infectious diseases, ensuring a healthy and happy life. The immune system consists of a network of cells, tissues and organs that works together to protect the body.

Establishing a bond between mom and child

Breastfeeding is a natural practice that happens when a child is born. In fact it plays an important role in establishing a bond between the child and the mother. While breast milk is given during the first six months, today, many infant formulae are being advertised.

Caring for adolescents with disabilities

Adolescence, the period between ages 10-19, is a very special age. This is because this is the period where a child is becoming an adult. During this period physical mental, social, hormonal and behavioral changes take place. It is important to see how an adolescent would adapt to these changes. Eventually it will be the future of that adolescent.

Your AC can deteriorate your health

With the improvements in the standards of living people require more and more comfortable and healthful indoor environment. As a result air-conditioning systems have been widely used worldwide in order to provide thermal comfort and an acceptable indoor air quality for occupants in homes.

Are you consuming too many antibiotics?

Do you feel a little under the weather? Have yougot a common cold? Perhaps a slight fever? Well,that’s alright. Just get some antibiotics and everything will be fine, right? WRONG!

Diabetes Let’s study preventive methods

Ranging as one of the leading causes of illnesses that affects the lives of many today, diabetes is a chronic health condition that has risen over the years with the global prevalence nearly doubling since 1980 according to United Nations.

Caring for those born too early

Conceiving a child is usually something of great happiness to both the parents. The mother always tries her best to take care of herself and the foetus in a manner that would facilitate the safety of the foetus within and the safe delivery of the child. The safest birth is the full term birth however World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 15 million babies worldwide are born before 37 weeks.

Let’s study joint pain and vasculitis

A somewhat rare disease that we encounter in patients with joint pain is vasculitis. This condition presents with a strange combination of features that usually baffles both doctors and patients alike. Unfortunately vasculitis is detected late and by the time of diagnosis this disease has affected many organs creating more complexities with regard to treatment. I will briefly highlight some of the key features of vasculitis so as to help patients

Do mosquitos frequently attack you?

These days we all need to protect ourselves from mosquito bites due to the prevailing dengue epidemic. Mosquitoes are carrying the disease causing parasites such as malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis etc. Feeding of blood is an essential part of the life cycle of most mosquito species. This provides the proteins which are necessary for egg production by female mosquitoes.

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME- a pain in your hand!

The human hand is made up of bones in the wrist (carpal bones), small muscles attached to the bones (digits) of the fingers, nerves and blood vessels.

Preventing infections Prevention is better than cure

These days we experience a heavy rainy season. The rainy season always invites infectious diseases. This is because water is a prominent source that distributes germs. A few main public health concerns are resulting from climate change such as vector-borne diseases and specifically dengue fever. These diseases are expected to increase in prevalence and incidence due to Dengue transmission. Its transmission is sensitive to humidity and temperature

Spreading awareness on lung cancer

What could be worse than suddenly getting diagnosed with cancer? Cancer is a disease that shatters all hopes of living. It is well known that cancer patients are mostly incurable and their treacherous lifestyle that is filled with many hardships, pain and sorrow is usually expected to end soon. There is little hope on being cured when diagnosed with this fatal disease.

Viewing parenting as a transformative process

In the previous article titled ‘Mindless parenting : Nurturing a generation of unhappy adults’ the Mirror Health Capsule shed light on acceptance, strengthening the parent-child bond and allowing them to chase their dreams. While some children grow-up in the presence of both parents, others are taken care of by a single parent. Single parenting is one of the challenging aspects in parenting.

What you need to know about Chronic cough and allergic rhinitis

Chronic cough and allergic rhinitis are two types of respiratory diseases often encountered by people. To shed more light on these areas, the Daily Mirror Health Capsule interviewed Consultant Paediatric Respiratory Physician at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Dr.Ganganath Gunathilaka.

How heavy schoolbags affect children’s health

Do you ever look at your child all ready for school, carrying his or her schoolbag, and see the hunchback of Notre-Dame instead?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Be breast aware !

Cancer is defined as an uncontrollable, purposeless abnormal cell growth in any part of the body. When this growth takes place in the breast, it is known as breast cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in women, impacting around 2.1 million women each year. In 2018, around 15% of the cancer related deaths in women worldwide was due to breast cancer. Annually, October is marked

Rapid recovery from chronic wounds

What is a wound? A wound is any damage or break in the surface of the skin. Wounds can be accidental, surgical or occur because of underlying disease (such as diabetes or vascular disease) or changes to the skin that occur with ageing.

Read this before selecting your toothpaste !

Fluoride is considered as a trace mineral which is needed in small amounts for human growth and development. It is beneficial in the maintenance and solidification of our bones, dental health- especially in prevention of tooth decays. Also Fluoride is involved in a number of enzymatic reactions in our body. However, if it is used frequently and absorbed too much it may adversely effect our health.

Sound mental health key to happiness

Every year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrates World Mental Health Day on October 10. This year’s theme highlights the need to prevent suicides; since every 40 seconds someone loses his or her life as a result of suicide.

Why contraception matters

Contraception is not a widely spoken of topic among women and couples. Over 200 million women worldwide would like to avoid a pregnancy, but they are not using an effective method of contraception. The reasons for this vary from country to country. The reasons revolve around the lack of supplies, cultural social beliefs and stigmas and political barriers, poor quality of services and most importantly the lack of education. Since the introduction

World Obesity Day Dealing with weight gain

People face many challenges and hardships in the modern world. Sometimes, these hardships are caused when biting off more than one can chew. Or in the case of Obesity, biting off more than one can burn.

Nurturing a generation of unhappy adults

Almost all parents want to do the best for their children. But unlike many other professions or tasks, parenting doesn’t come with a guided set of instructions. As a result, parents take time to adjust in order to respond and react to their children’s habits. While this is completely normal some parents follow strict parenting styles as passed down by generations. This may cause a tension between children and parents and the outcome may not be po