BY GEORGE NAVA TRUE II
THIS IS the second part of my series which shows that in the world of medicine, things are not always what they appear to be.
Morning sickness
This is common in pregnant women and doesn’t necessarily mean they get it in the morning. Morning sickness can occur at any time either day or night. It is believed to be triggered by hormonal changes in pregnancy. This usually happens during the first trimester of pregnancy, but it can occur throughout pregnancy in some.
Anyone who’s had the condition knows how uncomfortable it can be. There are nausea and vomiting that can be triggered by certain odors, spicy foods, heat, or excess salivation. Often, no triggers can be identified at all.
In rare cases, morning sickness can be severe and cause hyperemesis gravidarum. This leads to severe dehydration that can be dangerous and require hospitalization. This is more likely to occur if you’re pregnant with a girl, you have a history of the disease, or experienced it before.
See a doctor if there is much nausea or vomiting, there is little urine that’s dark in color, you have a rapid heartbeat, and there is dizziness or you feel like fainting.
While it can affect anyone pregnant, morning sickness is more likely to occur in someone with migraines, those who are sensitive to certain smells or tastes or had estrogen from taking birth control pills before pregnancy. It is also common if you had it before or you’re pregnant with twins or more.
Pink eye
Depending on how they look at it, some people say their eyes turn pink when they have this condition. However, pink eye or conjunctivitis (also called “sore eyes”) normally turns the eyes red.
This contagious disease is caused by an inflammation or infection of the conjunctiva, the transparent membrane that lines your eyelid and covers the white part of your eyeball. The inflammation makes the small blood vessels in the conjunctiva more visible.
Many things can cause pink eye. These include bacterial or viral infection, an allergic reaction, chemicals or foreign objects in the eye, and a blocked tear duct in babies. Other symptoms are tearing, and a gritty feeling in one or both eyes. An eye discharge from one or both eyes may form a crust during the night and prevent you from opening your eyes the next day.
Pink eye rarely affects vision but it can be mistaken for other serious conditions. See a doctor if there is blurred vision, eye pain, a feeling that something is stuck in your eye, (foreign body sensation), and sensitivity to light. You might have an inflamed cornea or other complications that need treatment.
If you use contact lenses, stop wearing them if you have pinkeye. If symptoms don’t improve in a day, consult a doctor to determine if your problem is related to contact lens use.
Ringworm
There is no worm here but ringworm of the body (tinea corporis) is a contagious fungal infection caused by parasites that live in the outer layer of the skin. This is characterized by a red, itchy, circular rash with clear skin in the middle. The condition is related to athlete’s foot (tinea pedis), jock itch (tinea cruris), and ringworm of the scalp (tinea capitis).
You can get ringworm if you have direct skin-to-skin contact with an infected person or animal. You can acquire it while petting or grooming dogs, cats, or cows.
Another way of getting ringworm is by contact with objects or surfaces that have been recently touched by an infected individual. This includes clothing, towels, bedding and linens, combs, and brushes. In rare cases, you can get the disease from prolonged contact with infected soil.
Symptoms include an itchy, scaly ring-shaped area in the buttocks, trunk, arms, and legs, and a round flat patch of itchy skin. There is a clear or scaly area inside the ring and the latter may overlap and expand.
The risk of getting the disease increases if you live in a warm climate, wear tight or restrictive clothes, have a weak immune system, have close contact with an infected person or animal, and use the clothes, bedding, or towels of infected people.
Mild ringworm often responds to antifungal medications applied to the skin. For more severe infections, you may need to take antifungal pills for several weeks.
See a doctor if the infection doesn’t improve after two weeks of treatment with an over-the-counter antifungal product. People with weak immune systems may find it difficult to stop the disease.
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National Press Club and Philippine Dental Association awardee George N. True II has written two bestsellers based on his popular column that has been running for almost 40 years. For questions about health, email georgenavatrue@yahoo.com./PN
