It may surprise you to know that missing a period is not the first sign of pregnancy and in fact, it comes after quite a few signs and symptoms. By the time you miss a period that indicates pregnancy; there can be at least 5 very early symptoms that you failed to notice. If you are sensitive enough to notice, it may not be difficult to notice these symptoms.

Some very early signs of pregnancy which happen much before the expected mom misses a period are:

• Breast tenderness â€" Changes in the breast are one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of pregnancy. After conception, a lot of hormonal changes start in the body and within a week or two, the breasts become swollen, tender or sore. You will find them to be sensitive when touched and they also feel fuller and heavier. The areas around the areola can darken too. Bear in mind that tenderness in breasts can also be caused by hormonal changes due to other factors such as change in birth control pills and menstruation.

• Rise in body temperature â€" When you conceive, your basal body temperature (when temperature is at its lowest, i.e. during rest) starts rising. This happens because of implantation of fertilised eggs. After the release of eggs from the ovary, i.e. ovulation, it is fertilised by a sperm. This takes from 6 to 12 days. The hormonal changes due to these processes cause the basal body temperature to rise by one to one-and-half degree. You will need a special thermometer to measure the rise in basal body temperature. This symptom can show even two days after ovulation.

• Nausea accompanied with vomiting - Also called “morning sickness,” this very early and discomforting sign of pregnancy generally occurs in women around the 6th week of pregnancy. But it can occur earlier too. Around half of all pregnant women face morning sickness problems â€" but all of them may not have the problem of vomiting. But, it is nearly always accompanied by nausea. Often thought to be caused by increased levels of hormones in the body, there are doctors who feel morning sickness is a sign of health of the baby. It shows that baby is developing normally, and that there is nothing much to worry about the progress of pregnancy.

• Constipation â€" This is an early pregnancy symptom which is often overlooked. Constipation has been defined as less than 3 bowel movements in a week. But needless to say, one can easily confuse it to be caused by some other reason. As the level of hormones keep on changing due to pregnancy, your digestive system slows including the frequency and time of bowel movements. So, if you are conscious of pregnancy and want to know about as early as possible, look for the signs of constipation along with breast tenderness and rise in basal body temperature. Do not ignore constipation as it may indicate “good news”.

• Fatigue â€" You do feel tired daily but fatigue is different from the usual tiredness that comes after working the whole day. Fatigue is different from tiredness as the latter is a case of the body having lost its energy which needs to be replenished. Fatigue, on the other hand, is due to cancer, auto-immune disorder and other conditions. One of these is pregnancy. With the rise in level of progesterone, the other bodily functions are affected a lot. Other than progesterone, the very fact that your body now needs to have energy for your baby as well as your own needs puts a big strain on the energy resources. So, watch out for apparently inexplicable fatigue as a very early sign and symptoms of pregnancy.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

Diagnosis of Pregnancy

Know the Warning signs of Tubal Pregnancy

How Early Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?

Dietary Advice during Pregnancy

How to Treat Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy?

Baby Grows: Fetus Size During First Semester of Pregnancy

Purchase A Suitable Health Insurance Policy And Cover Your Pregnancy

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Addison’s disease?

Common Concerns & Their Solution during Pregnancy

Effects of Smoking Before and After Pregnancy

Hugo Campos

Hugo Campos' implantable cardioverter-defibrillator was a mystery to him. So he decided to ask his doctor for access to the data. He made this image with one of his own X-rays.

Each year, tens of thousands of Americans are implanted with tiny battery-controlled devices that regulate the beating of their hearts. Those devices transmit streams of medical data directly to doctors.

But some patients, like Hugo Campos of San Francisco, fear they're being kept out of the loop.

Campos has a genetic heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which means the muscles of his heart are too thick. It's the same disease that causes 17-year-olds to suddenly drop dead on the soccer field.

 

A few years ago, the disease was diagnosed, and Campos was implanted with an ICD â€" an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. The device saved his life one morning when he nearly collapsed on the street.

At first he felt weak, like he was going to pass out. But as his heart went into overdrive, the device kicked in, coaxing his heart back to its normal rhythm.

"You feel the blood rushing to your head," Campos says. "It feels great. Life feels great."

Campos has had other scares since then. He lives in constant proximity to death. And that's left him with a powerful desire to know everything about his health. He wears a FitBit pedometer, sleeps with a sleep monitor, and checks his blood pressure constantly.

But unlike those devices, the ICD is a mystery to him.

That's because even though Campos' ICD can wirelessly transmit data twice a day about his heart and the ICD itself, that information goes only to his doctor. Campos has to make an appointment and ask for a printout. And that, he says, just doesn't seem fair.

"It's my body, my life, my health. Why shouldn't I have access to do as I please with this data?" Campos says.

This has become his crusade, and that of a growing movement of people who call themselves "e-patients." They want access to all kinds of medical data.

But with ICD patients there seems to be an added urgency, in part, because when the device kicks in, it isn't always as painless as it was for Campos that day.

ICDs can also defibrillate the heart with a powerful and excruciating shock. In rare cases, this has happened to some patients unnecessarily.

Campos says he just wants to know as much as he can about his ICD â€" how well it's working, what it's detecting in his heart.

Enlarge Courtesy of Hugo Campos

A few years ago, Hugo Campos was diagnosed with a heart condition. Then he received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, shown here in his X-ray.

Courtesy of Hugo Campos

A few years ago, Hugo Campos was diagnosed with a heart condition. Then he received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD, shown here in his X-ray.

He even wrote a song, based on an old civil rights anthem, and posted it online.

"You know, Hugo is a remarkable guy," says David Steinhaus, medical director of the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management division at Medtronic, which makes Campos' device. "We don't get very many requests like this."

Steinhaus says, in principle, the company is fine with giving patients their data directly. The problem is how to format it so it's useful to everyone. As is, the raw data is highly technical. Would patients understand it?

"You want to do it in a way that makes sense for the patient, that they can interpret correctly, so they don't generate a lot of angst and difficulty for the physician or anyone else," Steinhaus says.

To Campos, that's not the point. "Whether I can make sense of it or not, it's another problem. I should be allowed at least to have a chance to look at this data and see if I can make sense of it," he says.

Steinhaus says Medtronic is exploring ways to get Campos his ICD data. Campos says after two years of asking, he'll believe it when he sees it.

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

It may surprise you to know that missing a period is not the first sign of pregnancy and in fact, it comes after quite a few signs and symptoms. By the time you miss a period that indicates pregnancy; there can be at least 5 very early symptoms that you failed to notice. If you are sensitive enough to notice, it may not be difficult to notice these symptoms.

Some very early signs of pregnancy which happen much before the expected mom misses a period are:

• Breast tenderness â€" Changes in the breast are one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of pregnancy. After conception, a lot of hormonal changes start in the body and within a week or two, the breasts become swollen, tender or sore. You will find them to be sensitive when touched and they also feel fuller and heavier. The areas around the areola can darken too. Bear in mind that tenderness in breasts can also be caused by hormonal changes due to other factors such as change in birth control pills and menstruation.

• Rise in body temperature â€" When you conceive, your basal body temperature (when temperature is at its lowest, i.e. during rest) starts rising. This happens because of implantation of fertilised eggs. After the release of eggs from the ovary, i.e. ovulation, it is fertilised by a sperm. This takes from 6 to 12 days. The hormonal changes due to these processes cause the basal body temperature to rise by one to one-and-half degree. You will need a special thermometer to measure the rise in basal body temperature. This symptom can show even two days after ovulation.

• Nausea accompanied with vomiting - Also called “morning sickness,” this very early and discomforting sign of pregnancy generally occurs in women around the 6th week of pregnancy. But it can occur earlier too. Around half of all pregnant women face morning sickness problems â€" but all of them may not have the problem of vomiting. But, it is nearly always accompanied by nausea. Often thought to be caused by increased levels of hormones in the body, there are doctors who feel morning sickness is a sign of health of the baby. It shows that baby is developing normally, and that there is nothing much to worry about the progress of pregnancy.

• Constipation â€" This is an early pregnancy symptom which is often overlooked. Constipation has been defined as less than 3 bowel movements in a week. But needless to say, one can easily confuse it to be caused by some other reason. As the level of hormones keep on changing due to pregnancy, your digestive system slows including the frequency and time of bowel movements. So, if you are conscious of pregnancy and want to know about as early as possible, look for the signs of constipation along with breast tenderness and rise in basal body temperature. Do not ignore constipation as it may indicate “good news”.

• Fatigue â€" You do feel tired daily but fatigue is different from the usual tiredness that comes after working the whole day. Fatigue is different from tiredness as the latter is a case of the body having lost its energy which needs to be replenished. Fatigue, on the other hand, is due to cancer, auto-immune disorder and other conditions. One of these is pregnancy. With the rise in level of progesterone, the other bodily functions are affected a lot. Other than progesterone, the very fact that your body now needs to have energy for your baby as well as your own needs puts a big strain on the energy resources. So, watch out for apparently inexplicable fatigue as a very early sign and symptoms of pregnancy.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

Diagnosis of Pregnancy

Know the Warning signs of Tubal Pregnancy

How Early Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?

Dietary Advice during Pregnancy

How to Treat Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy?

Baby Grows: Fetus Size During First Semester of Pregnancy

Purchase A Suitable Health Insurance Policy And Cover Your Pregnancy

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Addison’s disease?

Common Concerns & Their Solution during Pregnancy

Effects of Smoking Before and After Pregnancy

Pat Sullivan/AP

A label on a package of Tide laundry detergent packets warns parents to keep them away from children. Nearly 250 cases of illness from such packets have been reported to poison control centers this year.

Something that looks good enough to eat can sometimes turns out to be a really big mistake.

Take those small, brightly colored single-use packs of laundry detergent that are becoming popular. To a curious toddler or small child, they look like candy.

But once inside childrens' mouths, the tempting packs can burst, releasing a concentrated blast of irriitating detergent. Already this year there have been at least 250 cases of illness from the packs reported to poison control centers across the country.

And the particulars of the illnesses are worrisome. Children vomit. More than you would expect, says Dr. Michael Beuhler, medical director of the Carolinas Poison Center in Charlotte, N.C. And the kids often get much sicker in a hurry. "Children grow excessively tired and lethargic," he tells Shots. Some then develop so much trouble breathing they need help from a ventilator.

"We don't have a good handle on exactly what's going on," he says. But the symptoms are worse than with other types of detergent that kids ingest. One hypothesis, he says, is that something in these detergent packs is acting like a strong, short-acting sedative.

Within a few hours those symptoms usually pass. The prognosis for kids is very good overall, he says, assuming they get prompt medical care. "It's really just a matter of supporting their breathing for that short period of time," he says.

There haven't been any reports of deaths, but an analysis of the data from poison control centers continues. The specific hazards posed by the detergent packs were only recognized this month.

Buehler says parents need to treat the detergent packs with respect. "They can't be left where a child can find them," he says.

For its part, Procter & Gamble, maker of Tide Pods, said Friday it would add a double-latch to the containers of pods as a safeguard. Those will show up in stores starting in July.

For what it's worth, injuries to kids from household cleaning products dropped by almost half to about 12,000 in 2006 from around 22,000 in 1990. Kids between 1 and 3 years old remain the most vulnerable, accounting for almost three-quarters of the cases.

It may surprise you to know that missing a period is not the first sign of pregnancy and in fact, it comes after quite a few signs and symptoms. By the time you miss a period that indicates pregnancy; there can be at least 5 very early symptoms that you failed to notice. If you are sensitive enough to notice, it may not be difficult to notice these symptoms.

Some very early signs of pregnancy which happen much before the expected mom misses a period are:

• Breast tenderness â€" Changes in the breast are one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of pregnancy. After conception, a lot of hormonal changes start in the body and within a week or two, the breasts become swollen, tender or sore. You will find them to be sensitive when touched and they also feel fuller and heavier. The areas around the areola can darken too. Bear in mind that tenderness in breasts can also be caused by hormonal changes due to other factors such as change in birth control pills and menstruation.

• Rise in body temperature â€" When you conceive, your basal body temperature (when temperature is at its lowest, i.e. during rest) starts rising. This happens because of implantation of fertilised eggs. After the release of eggs from the ovary, i.e. ovulation, it is fertilised by a sperm. This takes from 6 to 12 days. The hormonal changes due to these processes cause the basal body temperature to rise by one to one-and-half degree. You will need a special thermometer to measure the rise in basal body temperature. This symptom can show even two days after ovulation.

• Nausea accompanied with vomiting - Also called “morning sickness,” this very early and discomforting sign of pregnancy generally occurs in women around the 6th week of pregnancy. But it can occur earlier too. Around half of all pregnant women face morning sickness problems â€" but all of them may not have the problem of vomiting. But, it is nearly always accompanied by nausea. Often thought to be caused by increased levels of hormones in the body, there are doctors who feel morning sickness is a sign of health of the baby. It shows that baby is developing normally, and that there is nothing much to worry about the progress of pregnancy.

• Constipation â€" This is an early pregnancy symptom which is often overlooked. Constipation has been defined as less than 3 bowel movements in a week. But needless to say, one can easily confuse it to be caused by some other reason. As the level of hormones keep on changing due to pregnancy, your digestive system slows including the frequency and time of bowel movements. So, if you are conscious of pregnancy and want to know about as early as possible, look for the signs of constipation along with breast tenderness and rise in basal body temperature. Do not ignore constipation as it may indicate “good news”.

• Fatigue â€" You do feel tired daily but fatigue is different from the usual tiredness that comes after working the whole day. Fatigue is different from tiredness as the latter is a case of the body having lost its energy which needs to be replenished. Fatigue, on the other hand, is due to cancer, auto-immune disorder and other conditions. One of these is pregnancy. With the rise in level of progesterone, the other bodily functions are affected a lot. Other than progesterone, the very fact that your body now needs to have energy for your baby as well as your own needs puts a big strain on the energy resources. So, watch out for apparently inexplicable fatigue as a very early sign and symptoms of pregnancy.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

Diagnosis of Pregnancy

Know the Warning signs of Tubal Pregnancy

How Early Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?

Dietary Advice during Pregnancy

How to Treat Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy?

Baby Grows: Fetus Size During First Semester of Pregnancy

Purchase A Suitable Health Insurance Policy And Cover Your Pregnancy

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Addison’s disease?

Common Concerns & Their Solution during Pregnancy

Effects of Smoking Before and After Pregnancy

Enlarge Jeff Barnard/AP

Even if students have a prescription for pot, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Colleges that let students self-medicate on campus could jeopardize their federal funding.

Jeff Barnard/AP

Even if students have a prescription for pot, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Colleges that let students self-medicate on campus could jeopardize their federal funding.

Medical marijuana is legal in 16 states, and that number is expected to grow. But these state laws put colleges in a bind. That's because under federal law, marijuana is still illegal. So colleges that let students make use of their pot prescription on campus risk losing their federal funding.

For 25-year-old University of Maine junior Robyn Smith, this situation has led to a new kind of "reefer madness": Even though he has his doctor's authorization to use medical marijuana, when he self-medicates, Smith either goes home or retreats to his SUV, which he parks across the street from the university so that he doesn't violate school policies on smoking and drug use on campus.

 

Smith is an Army veteran who spent 15 months in Afghanistan; he has been diagnosed with anxiety and a joint disorder. He also suffers from severe and frequent migraines. He has been prescribed a half-dozen painkillers and other drugs to ease his symptoms â€" and he's free to bring those on campus. But Smith says he doesn't like the way they make him feel. He also worries about becoming dependent on them. Instead, he prefers medical marijuana.

"I was told to use a very small dose," he says. "So I took two or three hits, and I have to say that it made me feel quite a bit better than the painkillers or the migraine medication or the muscle relaxers."

University administrators say they sympathize, but they can't afford to violate the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act and the Drug Free Workplace Act by allowing Smith or other student patients to use pot.

"It's not a question of right or wrong, ethical or not ethical, any of that," says Stephen Nelson, who oversees student misconduct at the University of Southern Maine. "Right now, we just can't run the risk of losing federal dollars."

He says the university receives more than $60 million worth of Title 4 financial aid. Couple that with research funding, and Nelson says hundreds of millions of dollars could be withheld. Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the group NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, calls that scenario "far-fetched."

"There's no historical precedent," he says, adding, "If a student patient can have really dangerous and addictive drugs like Percocet, Vicodin and morphine, then there's no moral or pharmacological reason why they can't have a mildly psychotropic vegetable matter."

Jill Creighton of the University of Colorado, Denver, says colleges don't have much choice. Creighton has been presenting on the topic of medical marijuana to college administrators around the country for the past several years.

"Some student codes of conduct are much more lax about marijuana use in general, but the assumption is if we were to allow medical marijuana on our campuses, we would then be jeopardizing our Title 4 funding," she says.

Requests for comment from the U.S. Department of Education were not returned. In a written statement, Alison Price, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, said, "The Department of Justice is focusing its limited resources on significant drug traffickers, not seriously ill individuals who are in compliance with applicable state medical marijuana statues."

Robyn Smith says he won't wait for his university to relax its policy. He plans to stop taking classes on campus and stick with online courses next year.

It may surprise you to know that missing a period is not the first sign of pregnancy and in fact, it comes after quite a few signs and symptoms. By the time you miss a period that indicates pregnancy; there can be at least 5 very early symptoms that you failed to notice. If you are sensitive enough to notice, it may not be difficult to notice these symptoms.

Some very early signs of pregnancy which happen much before the expected mom misses a period are:

• Breast tenderness â€" Changes in the breast are one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of pregnancy. After conception, a lot of hormonal changes start in the body and within a week or two, the breasts become swollen, tender or sore. You will find them to be sensitive when touched and they also feel fuller and heavier. The areas around the areola can darken too. Bear in mind that tenderness in breasts can also be caused by hormonal changes due to other factors such as change in birth control pills and menstruation.

• Rise in body temperature â€" When you conceive, your basal body temperature (when temperature is at its lowest, i.e. during rest) starts rising. This happens because of implantation of fertilised eggs. After the release of eggs from the ovary, i.e. ovulation, it is fertilised by a sperm. This takes from 6 to 12 days. The hormonal changes due to these processes cause the basal body temperature to rise by one to one-and-half degree. You will need a special thermometer to measure the rise in basal body temperature. This symptom can show even two days after ovulation.

• Nausea accompanied with vomiting - Also called “morning sickness,” this very early and discomforting sign of pregnancy generally occurs in women around the 6th week of pregnancy. But it can occur earlier too. Around half of all pregnant women face morning sickness problems â€" but all of them may not have the problem of vomiting. But, it is nearly always accompanied by nausea. Often thought to be caused by increased levels of hormones in the body, there are doctors who feel morning sickness is a sign of health of the baby. It shows that baby is developing normally, and that there is nothing much to worry about the progress of pregnancy.

• Constipation â€" This is an early pregnancy symptom which is often overlooked. Constipation has been defined as less than 3 bowel movements in a week. But needless to say, one can easily confuse it to be caused by some other reason. As the level of hormones keep on changing due to pregnancy, your digestive system slows including the frequency and time of bowel movements. So, if you are conscious of pregnancy and want to know about as early as possible, look for the signs of constipation along with breast tenderness and rise in basal body temperature. Do not ignore constipation as it may indicate “good news”.

• Fatigue â€" You do feel tired daily but fatigue is different from the usual tiredness that comes after working the whole day. Fatigue is different from tiredness as the latter is a case of the body having lost its energy which needs to be replenished. Fatigue, on the other hand, is due to cancer, auto-immune disorder and other conditions. One of these is pregnancy. With the rise in level of progesterone, the other bodily functions are affected a lot. Other than progesterone, the very fact that your body now needs to have energy for your baby as well as your own needs puts a big strain on the energy resources. So, watch out for apparently inexplicable fatigue as a very early sign and symptoms of pregnancy.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

Diagnosis of Pregnancy

Know the Warning signs of Tubal Pregnancy

How Early Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?

Dietary Advice during Pregnancy

How to Treat Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy?

Baby Grows: Fetus Size During First Semester of Pregnancy

Purchase A Suitable Health Insurance Policy And Cover Your Pregnancy

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Addison’s disease?

Common Concerns & Their Solution during Pregnancy

Effects of Smoking Before and After Pregnancy

iStockphoto.com

Yes, hepatitis C is big among baby boomers. And the feds are moving toward a recommendation that all of them get tested at least once for the infection.

But new hepatitis C cases are cropping up in young people, too, and some of them live in out-of-the-way places that haven't been hotbeds for the illness.

The Wisconsin Division of Public Health noticed a strange uptick to 24 cases a year recently, from eight, or so, annually before. Some cases of the liver disease were bad enough to land people in emergency rooms, an unusual situation. Those cases provided the initial tip that something was up, Marisa Stanley, an epidemiologist with the state told Shots.

Researchers looked at 25 cases of hepatitis C, all involving people under 30, in 2010. The investigators interviewed 17 of them and found that 16 had either injected or snorted illicit drugs. Many were also sharing their gear.

"People were using all sorts of different drugs," Stanley said. "It wasn't just sharing needles. It was sharing all sorts of drug preparation, snorting and injecting equipment."

 

The hepatitis C virus is pretty hardy, said Sheila Guilfoyle, a colleague of Stanley's, and drug paraphernalia contaminated with it can be hazardous for a while.

Stanley and Guilfoyle were among the authors of the report about the cases in the latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Now a couple of things seem worth pointing out. The problems were concentrated in a half-dozen rural counties, not cities where hepatitis C was already recognized as a problem.

Several of the people who injected drugs started out with opioids, such as morphine or oxycodone, before moving on to heroin, which is less expensive.

So the uptick in hepatitis C cases appeared to be tied, at least in part, to an increase in abuse of injected narcotics that began with legal drugs. "We've looked at this as a substance abuse issue," Stanley said. But, she added, the link with hepatitis C cases means "we have to look at it as a bigger public health issue."

It may surprise you to know that missing a period is not the first sign of pregnancy and in fact, it comes after quite a few signs and symptoms. By the time you miss a period that indicates pregnancy; there can be at least 5 very early symptoms that you failed to notice. If you are sensitive enough to notice, it may not be difficult to notice these symptoms.

Some very early signs of pregnancy which happen much before the expected mom misses a period are:

• Breast tenderness â€" Changes in the breast are one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of pregnancy. After conception, a lot of hormonal changes start in the body and within a week or two, the breasts become swollen, tender or sore. You will find them to be sensitive when touched and they also feel fuller and heavier. The areas around the areola can darken too. Bear in mind that tenderness in breasts can also be caused by hormonal changes due to other factors such as change in birth control pills and menstruation.

• Rise in body temperature â€" When you conceive, your basal body temperature (when temperature is at its lowest, i.e. during rest) starts rising. This happens because of implantation of fertilised eggs. After the release of eggs from the ovary, i.e. ovulation, it is fertilised by a sperm. This takes from 6 to 12 days. The hormonal changes due to these processes cause the basal body temperature to rise by one to one-and-half degree. You will need a special thermometer to measure the rise in basal body temperature. This symptom can show even two days after ovulation.

• Nausea accompanied with vomiting - Also called “morning sickness,” this very early and discomforting sign of pregnancy generally occurs in women around the 6th week of pregnancy. But it can occur earlier too. Around half of all pregnant women face morning sickness problems â€" but all of them may not have the problem of vomiting. But, it is nearly always accompanied by nausea. Often thought to be caused by increased levels of hormones in the body, there are doctors who feel morning sickness is a sign of health of the baby. It shows that baby is developing normally, and that there is nothing much to worry about the progress of pregnancy.

• Constipation â€" This is an early pregnancy symptom which is often overlooked. Constipation has been defined as less than 3 bowel movements in a week. But needless to say, one can easily confuse it to be caused by some other reason. As the level of hormones keep on changing due to pregnancy, your digestive system slows including the frequency and time of bowel movements. So, if you are conscious of pregnancy and want to know about as early as possible, look for the signs of constipation along with breast tenderness and rise in basal body temperature. Do not ignore constipation as it may indicate “good news”.

• Fatigue â€" You do feel tired daily but fatigue is different from the usual tiredness that comes after working the whole day. Fatigue is different from tiredness as the latter is a case of the body having lost its energy which needs to be replenished. Fatigue, on the other hand, is due to cancer, auto-immune disorder and other conditions. One of these is pregnancy. With the rise in level of progesterone, the other bodily functions are affected a lot. Other than progesterone, the very fact that your body now needs to have energy for your baby as well as your own needs puts a big strain on the energy resources. So, watch out for apparently inexplicable fatigue as a very early sign and symptoms of pregnancy.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

Diagnosis of Pregnancy

Know the Warning signs of Tubal Pregnancy

How Early Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?

Dietary Advice during Pregnancy

How to Treat Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy?

Baby Grows: Fetus Size During First Semester of Pregnancy

Purchase A Suitable Health Insurance Policy And Cover Your Pregnancy

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Addison’s disease?

Common Concerns & Their Solution during Pregnancy

Effects of Smoking Before and After Pregnancy

Enlarge iStockphoto.com

If you run more, you may hurt less.

iStockphoto.com

If you run more, you may hurt less.

Ever wonder why some people can run a 50-mile ultramarathon while for others even the thought of such endurance sports borders on torture?

Exceptional physical fitness, of course, sets the ultramarathoners apart from the rest of us. But scientists say what might be more important is athletes' excellent ability â€" both psychologically and physically â€" to cope with pain.

It turns out that most athletes' high tolerance for pain while exercising may also help them deal with it when they're at rest.

A fresh analysis of studies on pain perception by researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany finds that athletes can tolerate more pain than non-athletes. And, the researchers conclude, regular physical activity can change the way practically anyone perceives and tolerates pain.

 

Of course one size doesn't fit all when it comes to pain relief, but the German researchers think that exercise could help people with chronic pain learn how to better deal with it. The findings appear today in the journal Pain.

The researchers looked at 15 studies that evaluated people's pain threshold, comparing the jocks with the couch potatoes. The athletes â€" and especially endurance athletes â€" consistently seem better equipped to grin and bear pain than non-athletes.

But athletes don't seem to have a higher threshold for pain than others. In other words, most people recognize pain the same way. Athletes can just stand more of it longer.

That seems to be because athletes tend to develop coping skills in their training. "Athletes are frequently exposed to unpleasant sensory experiences during their daily physical efforts, and high physical and psychological resistances must be overcome during competitions or very exhausting activities," the researchers write. "However, athletes are forced to develop efficient pain-coping skills because of their systematic exposure to brief periods of intense pain."

The researchers hope that non-athletes will take a cue from athletes and use exercise as a form of treatment to build up these skills. Exercise is far from a new treatment for pain, but neurobiologists are just starting to learn how it works on the brain's perception of pain.

Still, as Jonas Tesarz, a pain specialist who lead the study, said in a statement, "Further research is needed to clarify the exact relationship between physical activity and modifications in pain perception."

As we've reported, researchers are also exploring how meditation might also help people suffering from chronic pain, as another way to relieve pain without highly addictive drugs, or their side effects.

Common cold (also known as cold, coryza etc.) is an infectious disease of upper respiratory tract (which include nose and throat) caused by virus. Generally common cold does not produce serious complications, although it may produce troublesome symptoms. Most susceptible to common cold are preschool children, although nobody (adults and healthy individuals alike) is immune to common cold. Even without any treatment common cold generally go away within a week or two. If your common cold symptoms do not go away by two weeks or they are troublesome, consult your doctor.

What are the symptoms of common cold?

Common cold can be caused by 100 to 200 different viruses; hence the symptoms of common cold may vary according to the causative virus. The symptoms of common cold are mainly related to respiratory system, such as:

• Runny nose (nasal drip or post nasal drip)
• Nasal congestion, due to inflammation of nasal mucosa
• Irritation, itching or soreness of throat
• Sneezing due to allergy
• Loss of appetite or anorexia
• Cough
• Mild generalized body ache and fatigue
• Mild headache
• Mild or low grade fever (high fever is generally indicative of a superimposed bacterial infection)
• Lacrimation or watering from eyes.

Common cold generally begins with mild fatigue, sneezing and mild headache. These are followed by respiratory symptoms such as runny nose, cough etc. Most of the symptoms of common cold generally appear and peak in 3-4 days and disappear in a week to 10 days, although sometimes symptoms may last as long as three weeks (may be due to different types of causative viruses).

When to see a doctor?

You should see a doctor if you have:

• Fever more than 103 degree Fahrenheit
• Swelling of glands and sore throat
• Fever with cough, colored phlegm, chills
• Symptoms (moderate to severe) lasting more than two weeks
• If symptoms are troublesome for you, i.e. if symptoms are disturbing your daily activity, such as going to office or school for children.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

Symptoms of Common Cold

What is Common Cold?

Symptomatic Treatment of Common Cold

Common Cold in Babies

Symptoms of Cold Sores

Complications of Common Cold in Babies

Treatment and Prevention of Common Cold in Babies

Symptoms and Causes of Post Nasal Drip

Risk Factors of Common Cold

What to Discuss With Your Doctor for Common Cold

Paul Sakuma/AP

Gilead Sciences' Truvada is a step closer to being approved as a way to prevent HIV infection.

In what could mark a watershed in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a panel of experts recommended that the Food and Drug Administration give a green light to a pill that can cut the risk of infections.

The daily pill Truvada, made by Gilead Sciences, combines two medicines that inhibit the reproduction of HIV. It's already approved as a treatment for HIV, but its use could soon expand to include protection of uninfected people.

The advisory panel concluded Thursday that the benefits to healthy people vulnerable to HIV infection outweigh the risks, including such side effects as kidney damage and a dangerous increase in acid in the blood.

 

The people the panel has in mind are gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples in which one partner is positive for HIV.

About 15,000 people in the U.S. become infected with HIV each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of new infections are in gay or bisexual men.

There's no guarantee the FDA will heed the panel's advice, but the agency typically does so. A decision is expected by June 15.

Studies have shown that Truvada can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 63 percent or more over the course of a year. But the drug is expensive â€" about $11,000 a year in the U.S.

Some critics think money would be better spent on other means of prevention.

Now, it's already the case that doctors in the U.S. are free to prescribe an approved medicine for any use they see fit. And some do.

But even after data first showed Truvada's ability to protect against HIV infection, a doctor at a Boston clinic told Bloomberg News that people weren't beating the door to get it.

One worry, some doctors say, that healthy people may not stick with the daily Truvada regimen, undercutting its effectiveness.