Schizophrenia

 Hello people! As you all know we are in the middle of our summer time and I wish you are all using the benefits of summer. Except the people who are living on the Southern Hemisphere :) You should enjoy the benefits of winter, I should say! Well, you are lucky. My favourite season is winter! Anyways, I really miss writing on my blog and now, as you see, I am here. My freshman year is over and I will be completing the rest of my high school education in the USA and I will keep writing on my blog over there.
 Last night, I watched a movie and as an effect of that movie, I am announcing today's topic...(Actually I have already announced it with writing the title.) Today's topic is "SCHIZOPHRENIA"  For too many people, it can be hard to pronounce it...Okay, it is time to learn about schizophrenia:

 WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA?

 Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, mental illness which may cause various bad effects on teenagers, young adults and adults. According to the statistics it is stated that, this mental illness affects men about one and a half times more than women. 

WHAT ARE CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA?

Because of it is a mental illness, schizoprenia is not directly passed from one generation to another genetically. But if someone has the illness in his or her genes, it doubles the risk of having the illness. It is mostly the environment which triggers the illness. The causes of schizophrenia are commonly the psychological damages and bad, unforgettable events. Difficult life circumstances during childhood, like the early loss of a parent, parental poverty, bullying, witnessing parental violence etc. are some of the examples  of those bad events. Repressing the feelings, it always damages the brain and it causes illusions and two seperate, imaginary lives in brain.

SYMPTOMS

A person diagnosed with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations, (like hearing voices and seeing things) and he or she will have some disorganized thoughts and speech. Someone who has the illness schizophrenia will have two seperate realities in life. One of it, is the real life going on. And the other is the patients' life in their brains. The patients cannot seperate those two lives and those two lives are both real for them.

  WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IS...

  If you know someone who has the symptoms of the mental illness schizophrenia, you should immediately get help from the doctors as soon as possible. It is NOT a kind of an illness which heals itself as the time passes.  Just the opposite. Unfortunately, it might end up with a suicide or a murder. Also people who are near to the patient should support him or her because it is a very hard time for the family of the patient as well as the patient himself.

 ***Here is a video below which is told by a women who had the mental illness schizophrenia.

SOURCES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKLvmB9uqtQ

                                      STAY HEALTHY AND HAPPY EVERYONE!!!

                                             HAVE A GOOD DAY & SUMMER :)

                                                                 GULSEN XX

Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief

AT LAST!!! Hello everyone! I have just recognized that I really really missed writing on my blog and after a long time, I am here again and it makes me feel very happy!

Today, I am going to write about the relaxation techniques to expel the stress from our precious lives. The reason that I chose this topic is, in last 3 months, I had to make very important decisions about my life and also exam, homework and project triangle created a stressful mood inside my brain. I shared those things with a wonderful person. She gave me an advice and said: “Why don’t you try some meditation therapies Gulsen?” Also it was a very good topic to write about. Well, here it is:

 How do we act when we are stressful? What is our reaction?

-Being Overexcited

Symptoms: Being very angry and being in panic all the time.

Relaxation Technique: The best meditation technique to calm you down is deep breathing or meditation itself.

-Being Underexcited

Symptoms: Being depressed.

Relaxation Technique: Best relaxation technique for being underexcited should stimulate and energize your nervous system, such as rhythmic exercise.

-Being Frozen

Symptoms: Not giving a reaction to anything, being shocked.

Relaxation Technique: It should provide both safety and stimulation of your nerve system to help you. Those techniques might be mindfulness walking or power yoga.

To practice meditation therapies, your setting should have the following qualities:

▪    A quiet environment

▪    A comfortable position.

▪   A point of focus.

▪   An observant, noncritical attitude.

*Also you can search some meditation centers from internet. There are various institutions about meditation in different spots of the world. In these days, the most popular and common meditation therapy is yoga.

What type of yoga is best for stress?

   Satyananda:

Is a traditional form of yoga. It features gentle poses, deep relaxation, and meditation, making it suitable for beginners as well as anyone primarily looking for stress reduction.

   Hatha yoga:

Is also a gentle way to relieve stress and is suitable for beginners. Alternately, look for labels like gentle, for stress relief, or for beginners when selecting a yoga class.

  Power yoga: With its intense poses and focus on fitness, is better suited to those looking for stimulation as well as relaxation.

STAY HEALTHY & TAKE CARE...

GULSEN XX

Source of the Pictures: Google Images

Rotavirus Infection

 Hi everyone! Since my school started, I was very busy with the homework assignments and exams. Finally we are in holiday for Christmas and after a long break, I'm here. Today, I will write about an illness which is very dangerous for young adults, but especially for infants and children. It is called "Rotavirus Infection". A few weeks ago, I had the same illness and it was terrible. Even words are not enough to describe it. I stayed in hospital for a few days and they gave me 3 serums.The salt ratio in my body was near to zero and I learned that nearly 500,000 children under five years of age still die from rotavirus infection each year. So directly proportional with my age and being aware of my illness early, I turned into normal in 6 days. After I came home from hospital, I immediately made a research about Rotavirus Infection and I wanted to share it with you. So, here it is:

                                                                              Rotavirus

                       
      The symptoms of Rotavirus Infection are diarrhea, nausea and a low-grade fever 
  

Serums can balace the ratio of salt and water that you lost because of vomiting and diarrhea by dehydration therapy

                                                        


 -Rotavirus is the virus which causes nausea and diarrhea at the same time. It was first discovered in 1973. It is a genus of double-stranded RNA virus in the family of Reoviridae. 


Signs and Symptoms:
If a person has a rotavirus infection. She or he vomits all the time just like seen in food poisoning, has a watery diarrhea and a low-grade fever. The stomach doesn't accept any kind of food or medicine. 


Transmission:
It can be transmitted by  the respiratory route, the foods that we eat and the drinks that we drink, via contact with unhygienic hands and surfaces of objects. So, rotavirus can be everywhere. It usually appears in cold weather.


Treatment:
There is no medicine for rotavirus. First, if you get an antibiotic or an antiseptic for your intestine, (for an example, Ercefuryl) it will not work because it is a virus, not a bacteria. Second, if you get a medicine for nausea or fever again, it will not work because you will also throw it up. The only way to be healthy again is going to a hospital and getting a serum so that it can balance the ratios of water and salt that you lose because of diarrhea and vomiting by dehydration therapy. Also if you are not ill yet, there is a vaccination to prevent the disease. Be careful, Rotavirus causes death and it is everywhere! Please, be careful, be hygienic, be healthy and be happy. 

Here is a video above which is about Rotavirus. Don't forget it, an early detection can always save lives.


Happy New Year and Christmas Everyone! Take care...


Source: Google Images, YouTube

Malignant Melanoma

As you can see from the topics, less than three weeks ago, I wrote about Tanorexia and sunburn. Now, this new topic is related to Tanorexia. That is why I wanted to share it with you.

Malignant melanoma (also known as melanoma) is a malignant (which means bad)tumor of melanin-producing cells. Melanin-producing cells are called melanocytes. Melanocytes produce dark pigment

and they give colour to our skin. Melanoma is one of the types of skin cancer but it is less common and also the most dangerous one.

The treatment includes surgery which is necessary to remove the malignant tumor, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Causes:

1. Ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds (Sunbathing without protection which is related to Tanorexia and sunburn)

2.Genetic mutations

3. Genes (which comes from your family and ancestors)

-You have higher risk if you have:

1. Too much freckles and moles on your skin (More than fifty)

2. White skin

3. Red hair

4. Too big and dark blemishes on your skin

5. Asymmetry and different colours (on your moles, blemishes or freckles)

Images: Google Images

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4jgUcxMezM

Please check the video above. It is about people who had the illness melanoma.

Video: YouTube-www.dcmf.ca

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease,Symptoms and Prevention

Today, I will write about one of the diseases of our age. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Generally, people call it Reflux because it is the easiest way to say that. Also the other names for this disease are Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD), Gastric Reflux Disease, or Acid Reflux Disease.

The valve of the stomach is the barrier between our stomach and esophagus. It holds the top of the stomach closed and helps to stomach to keep the food inside for the digestion with the hydrochloric acid.

If the valve of the stomach cannot work properly and the food and the stomach acid comes through to the esophagus, and it happens too often, it means that you have the disease reflux.

Symptoms:

1. Heartburn

2.Regurgitation (Burping)

3.Trouble swallowing (Dysphagia)

4.Nausea

5.Chest Pain

6. Coughing

If you have these symptoms and they are too often, please go and see your doctor. You may have the disease reflux.

Prevention:

1. Sleep on the left side, or with your upper body raised.

2. Don’t drink alcohol or fizzy drinks like coke. Especially when you are hungry and haven’t eaten anything.

3. Lose weight

4. Eat smaller meals.

5. Don’t eat anything before 3 hours when you go to bed. If you are too hungry prefer the foods which are easy to digest.

Images: Google Images

Source: Mayo-Clinic Encyclopedia

Sunburn,Tanorexia,Symptoms and Treatment

As you all know, during the summer time, getting a tan skin is an important issue for people who love spending time outside and swimming. We see people with reddish skins often while we are walking on the streets. It is also another symbol of being popular for some of the teenagers. But, there is a fact that everybody should never forget: sunburn can be very dangerous and also it can cause to skin cancer, so people should be very careful while they are spending their time under the sunlight.

A sunburn is a burn on the living tissue on skin. Ultraviolet radiation which comes from the sun reaches our skin and if we stay too long under the sun without protection, it can damage our skin and our skin become red and it would be hard and hot to touch. It gives pain to touch to a sunburn. To protect our skin, you should use suncream which has the best factor for our skin, you should wear hats and sunglasses to protect our eyes and head. You should use the suncream 30 minutes  before when you go outside so that it can start to protect your skin.

Today, when I read the newspaper I saw a disease which was very interesting but also very dangerous. The disease is called “TANOREXIA”. Tanorexia the name of  the addiction of tanning. Sunbathing and using tanning beds out of control. This illness causes to skin cancer and the patient knows that and still wants to get a tan skin. It is an addiction just like using alcohol and drugs. The University of Texas Southeast Medical Hospital says that the people who have the illness tanorexia have the same features with the  people who are addictive to drug and alcohol. Although they have the risk of skin cancer, they are still sunbathing and then, the ultraviolet rays creates the same effects with drugs and alcohol in brain. It makes the blood flow faster so that, the feeling of addiction increases.

The symtoms are typically the redness on skin (erythema),nausea,fever,itching and peeling skin. The sunburn will dissapear by the time pass but if you want to reduce the pain of  it, you can take an aspirin or use diaper rash cream.But if your sunburns are too much and deep, and if you have a habit like sunbathing without protection nearly every day, you should immediately go to a doctor because skin cancer and tanorexia are sneaky illnesses and people cannot recognize them easily. Be careful and don’t spend time outside without protection too much. Take care… J

                                                    Peeling Skin

                                                These materials are good for protection
Pictures: Google Images

Food Poisoning

Today, I will give you some information about food poisoning because these days, I heard that some of my friends had food poisoning because of the  foods that they ate. I know how terrible that illness is because when I was 5 years old, I had that illness because of a bar of chocolate which is expiry day has passed.

Food poisoning is an illness which occurs when people eat foods or drink liquids which are corrupted because of many various reasons.

Here are some of these reasons:

1.Bacterias:  If people  eat food  which includes bad bacterias in it, it will affect their stomach and the whole digestion system in a bad way and they will have the illness food poisoning. Bad bacterias are very harmful for human health and they make people ill.These bad bacterias will occur in these foods by the time pass and there are three other facts and factors for bacterias to hide in those foods.

You can see these facts and factors below:

a.Hygiene- If people do not consume hygenic foods, that will be another reason for being ill because of food poisoning. The word hygenic means clean, so we should keep our food clean and before we eat, we should be sure that our food is clean. For example, if we buy a vegetable from a green grocer, we should wash it carefully before we eat unless the bad bacterias will be on these vegetables and make us sick.

b. Expiration Date- There is a reason for every single food that we buy from market  to have expiration date on them. If we don’t consume these foods before their expiration dates, the illness food poisoning will occur and the food will be corrupted and include bad bacterias in it after it’s expiration date past.

c. Weather- The weather is another fact for food to include bad bacterias and corrupt.  Hot weather makes the food corrupted and also disrupts the chemistry of the food. If we put a food which corrupts easily outside the sun will affect it and it will corrupt quickly and if we eat it, we will have food poisoning. For example, the city where I live in is famous with it’s hot weather and when I put a food outside it corrupts easily and immediately goes into the bin.

2.Chemicals: And also the chemical substances that are used in the food sometimes  can react with the food by the time pass. This reaction makes us ill and causes food poisoning.

3. Allergic Reactions:  If a person has an allergy to a substance which  the food includes, it can also cause food poisoning. But sometimes, the food itself can include its own poison in it. Just like mushrooms. The %50 of people who eat poisonous mushrooms  are dying because of that.

The symptoms of food poisoning:

1.Stomach ache

2.Vomiting

3.Diarreha

4.Fever

The Treatment for Food Poisoning:

If you had food poisoning, you should immediately go to a doctor and the doctor should find out that what caused your food poisoning. If it is caused by a bacteria, antibiotics can be necessary but if it is caused by a virus, the antibiotics will not be effective. Sometimes  there is no need to a remedy and the poisoning will stop in between 12 or 24 hours , but in this time period, the patients will vomit and have stomach aches. The best thing to do for them is a home rest. They should not eat oily foods but they also shouldn’t  eat foods which have sediments. They should just eat foods which make their digestive systems work properly. So, try to eat carefully and don't have food poisoning...That's all :)

Pictures: Google Images