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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 01:41 AM PDT

Particles emitted by forest fires (resulting in the haze) can be toxic to the lungs. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and get absorbed by the blood stream.

I LIVE in Muar, where schools have been closed due to the haze and visibility is very poor. I dare not let my children go out at all. We have shut ourselves in the house and switched the air-conditioning on. I am worried for my old parents. Can we die from the haze?

Yes, you can. But it has to be disease-related.

But first of all, you have to understand what the haze is. The haze is an atmospheric condition where particles, smoke, dust and moisture suspend in the air. The more of these particles, smoke and dust there are, the less visible our environment will be.

The haze is only one of the "horizontal obscurations" that we have in the world.

The World Meterological Organization classifies horizontal obscuration into different categories: fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, haze, smoke, volcanic ash, dust, sand and snow.

A "haze" may be produced by open burning (what is occurring now), farming (if you plough the fields in dry weather), pollution from traffic (it seems that there is a permanent haze in Los Angeles, for example), and smoke from industry and wildfires (like what occured in Australia a few years ago).

What kind of diseases can I get from the haze?

You can get a spectrum of diseases involving your respiratory tract as you breathe in those particles, and your eyes, which is exposed to the environment.

You can get:

·Conjunctivitis or inflammation of the eye.

·Nasal irritation, causing you to produce a lot of mucous and start clearing your throat excessively, or sneeze and cough.

·Throat irritation, leading to a sore throat, which in turn can produce mucous and clog up your pharynx area.

·Lung tissue inflammation and scarring. At high levels of the haze, you may start to cough and even feel breathless. At lower levels of pollution, people with a pre-existing lung or heart disorder may start to feel breathless and cough.

So if your loved ones or friends have conditions such as asthma, heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, you should make sure they stay indoors as much as possible and avoid the haze.

It is stated that if the API goes from 50 to 150, you can see a 12% increase in upper respiratory tract diseases, a 19% increase in asthma cases, and a 26% increase in nose inflammation.

How would I know if the haze is affecting me?

You may start to experience these symptoms. These are usually short-term. Look out for:

·Watery or irritated eyes.

·Actual reddening, itchiness and inflammation of the outer lining of your eyes (conjunctivitis).

·Runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing.

·Post-nasal drip (where the mucous from the back of your nose drips into your throat, causing irritability, soreness and cough, especially at night when you are trying to sleep).

·Sore, dry and irritable throat, which you have to keep clearing.

·Coughing.

·Headache and dizziness.

·Fatigue and the feeling of malaise.

·Mental irritability and the feeling of being stressed out.

·Difficulty breathing, especially on exertion, because your lung function has decreased.

·Bronchitis and lung infections.Most of these symptoms are usually mild. They will get better if you stay indoors and do not expose yourself to the haze.

My elderly father has chronic bronchitis. Will the haze affect him more than me?

Yes. You have to be very careful with your loved ones or friends suffering from lung and heart diseases, including asthma (especially for children).

If you have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) like chronic bronchitis or emphysema, obstructive sleep apnoea and heart diseases like coronary artery disease or heart failure, be very careful.

You may have acute exacerbations of your existing conditions. For example, if you have asthma, the haze can actually induce an acute attack, which you may have to manage by rushing yourself to the emergency department of the hospital. Will the haze have any long-term effects, like lung cancer?

Particles emitted by forest fires can be toxic to the lungs. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and get absorbed by the blood stream.

Studies have shown that people exposed to the haze (fine particles) frequently experience a faster thickening of their arteries, and this reduces life expectancy by a few years.

Long-term exposure to particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller can increase your risk of developing diabetes.

For pregnant mothers, be extra careful, because this is associated with spontaneous abortion, birth defects and high infant death rates.

It is not known at this stage if the risk of lung cancer is higher.

> Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health advice, computers and entertainment. For further information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

Fight for your life

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 01:41 AM PDT

Boxing helps Parkinson's patients fight back.

RIGHT uppercut! Harder, harder, harder!"

At T3 Health and Fitness in Cooper City, Florida, physical therapist Craig Marks barks instructions as he spars with William Defreitas, who swings wildly and charges forward with more jabs.

There's an invisible opponent here: Parkinson's disease.

Marks mixes boxing techniques into his training sessions for people with Parkinson's disease, the neurological brain disorder affecting about 1.5 million people in the United States. It's a concept that has been catching on in recent years, with former boxers and gym trainers throughout the US launching programmes to help Parkinson's patients looking to benefit from the pow-pow-pow, high-cardio regimen.

"Exercise at high levels can start to stimulate and produce low levels of dopamine, which is lost with Parkinson's," Marks said.

"I won't hit them, but they might hit me," added Marks, jokingly, as he continued blocking jabs during the recent morning session with Defreitas.

Parkinson's patients, typically diagnosed at age 60 or 70, take various medications to slow the march of the disease, which occurs when brain cells that produce dopamine begin to die off. People then begin to lose coordination, balance and muscle control, leading to rigid muscles and tremors that can cause loss of independence and, sometimes, depression.

For Marks, the sparring sessions began as a personal journey. His late father, Harold Marks, struggled with Parkinson's in his 60s.

"One day I went to see my dad and he was down, feeling sorry for himself. I went to my car and grabbed my (boxing) gear pads and a light bulb went off in my head. I told him, 'Hit the gloves. Come on'. I started insulting him," Marks recalled. "He got angry, stepped forward and started hitting me and running around the room. He was reacting. His adrenaline shot up."

At the time, Marks thought his father's physical therapy, which involved stacking multi-coloured cones, wasn't working. So he began looking into how boxing might help.

Neurologist Dr Carlos Singer said any regular exercise, whether high or low impact, can help increase levels of a substance in the bloodstream that has to do with nerve cell growth.

Although he hadn't heard of boxing therapy, he noted that exercise – whether it's walking, dancing or shadow boxing – can improve a Parkinson's patient's gait, stamina, energy level and overall quality of life.

"It's a dose of exercise," said Singer, director of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Center. "There are a number of studies that are showing that exercise improves functioning with Parkinson's disease. We advise our patients to get involved with regular exercise."

Of course, one wouldn't want to be punched in the head like professional boxers, who have been known to suffer from Parkinson's after years of the sport.

"If you can punch a bag, shadow box or spar, then it should be OK," Singer added.

Marks trains one-on-one with his clients in a small warehouse-type setting inside an office park. His demeanor: Friendly but tough.

Students say the sessions help with flexibility, improve hand-eye coordination and strength building and lift their self-confidence. The workouts also help patients release their frustrations and anger associated with the condition, which doesn't have a cure and can make simple tasks such as buttoning a shirt or picking up a glass difficult.

Lisa McFarland has been training with Marks for four years and said the intense workout helps her manage her tremors better.

When she's boxing, "you're having to multi-task in your head with everything that is going on. It's a little harder than running on a treadmill or doing sit-ups," said McFarland, 53, who was diagnosed 11 years ago. "There are a lot of things that have to go on at the same time.

"With Craig, he will say, 'Give me a left-right-left.' And if you don't duck, he is swinging. You are still trying to think of what the third punch is."

To warm up, Marks has patients run up and down stairs or jog outside. They also use their abs to balance themselves as they move small platforms or risers from side to side.

Defreitas, of Davie, Florida, was diagnosed with Parkinson's six years ago at age 42. "At first I didn't think I had Parkinson's because of my age," he said. "When I would read the newspaper, my left arm would shake."

The pressure-cleaning business owner said the classes help loosen up his stiff muscles. The disease mostly affects his left side, causing him to drag his leg or walk slowly. He speaks in a low voice, another symptom of the condition.

After an hour of punching and kicking a bag, a sweaty Defreitas, who had arrived this morning moving cautiously, seemed invigorated.

"I feel great," he said toward the end of his session, ready for another round. – Sun Sentinel/McClatchy Tribune Information Services

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 26 Jun 2013

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health

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