You may have experienced just lying in your bed and attempting to fall asleep, and suddenly your body decides that it has its own way to do it. It shakes you awake and you start feeling your heart racing. If you have experience this rest easy that you are not the only one in this world. You have just got what is called hypnic jerking or sleep twitch.

Hypnic jerking is nothing but an involuntary twitch which tends to happen just as you are about to fall into a deep slumber. While it comes with a few different names, they all stand for the same thing.

What are its symptoms?

Sleep twitch is not actually a health condition or disorder; therefore there are no symptoms as per the medical definition. The most important thing to consider is whether the twitch wakes you up often. Apart from that, mild jerks will not affect our health. Usually sleep twitch is uncontrollable and they don’t seem to have any particular reason.

What are the causes?

Till now no one has been able to pinpoint the causes for these problems. Some of the causes attributed are stress, coffee, anxiety as well as rigorous exercise just before retiring to bed. These twitches also occur in people with some bad sleeping habits. The problem occurs mainly in completely normal and healthy living individuals.

Treatments for sleep twitch

Reduce Caffeine

First thing to do is avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Even drinking a cup of refreshing coffee in the afternoon can lead to serious effect on the overnight sleep. The lack of sleep in turn causes hypnic jerk.

Avoid Alcohol

Saying no to alcohol will allow you to enhance your sleep and prevent any hypnic jerk. Alcohol is a stimulant and drinking it will affect the overall chemical make-up of the brain and thus prevent a person from going to sleep. So drinking alcohol will compromise the quality of your sleep and keep you awake.

Exercise

Exercising is great for the body, but exercising just before retiring to bed is not advisable. If you exercise just before bed then you’ll turn out to be hypnagogically jerky.

Relaxing Herbs

There are available a range of herbs and essential oils which can help to distress you and get you good sleep. Eucalyptus oil, for example is known for producing cooling, relaxing and enjoyable aroma. Everything that smells nice and not too strong will help go through the night without any hypnic twitch and problems.

The lack of healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin in the blood is a condition which is called as anaemia. Haemoglobin is actually the main constituent of the red blood cells and it binds oxygen to the blood. If there are very few numbers of red blood cells, or haemoglobin is abnormal or low, the cells in the body will not receive enough of oxygen. The result is a person feeling fatigued because organs aren’t getting what they require to function normally.

Some forms of anaemia may be hereditary and infants may be affected from it at the time of birth. Women in childbearing years are particularly prone to iron-deficiency and anaemia. Older adults also are at greater risk of developing anaemia because of their poor diet and other medical conditions.

Types of Anaemia

There are many type of anaemia and they are different in their causes and treatments too. The most common is the iron-deficiency anaemia and it is very treatable with diet changes and iron supplements. Some anaemia like the one that develops during pregnancy is considered quite normal. However certain other types of anaemia may be chronic and will be present lifelong causing serious health problems.

What causes anaemia?

Basically it is the loss of red blood cells that causes anaemia. The red blood cells can be lost through bleeding. The loss can occur slowly over a long period of time and can go undetected.

The chronic sort of bleeding can be the result of some gastrointestinal conditions such as ulcers, haemorrhoids (piles), gastritis (inflammation of the stomach) or cancer. Certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen can cause ulcers and gastritis. Menstruation especially with excess bleeding is also a reason for blood loss.

Due to faulty red blood cell production

The body may produce too few blood cells or blood cells may not function properly. In both cases, anaemia is the result. The reduction in red blood cells may be due to the abnormal red blood cells or lack of minerals like vitamins needed for red blood cells to work properly. Conditions associated with these causes of anaemia include sickle cell anaemia, iron-deficiency anaemia, vitamin deficiency anaemia and bone marrow & stem cell problems.

Anaemia due to other causes 

This sort of anaemia occurs when there are too few hormones available that is necessary for red blood cell production. Conditions causing this type of anaemia include advanced kidney disease, hypothyroidism, and chronic diseases like cancer, lupus, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis or simply due to old age.

Anaemia due to destruction of RBC

There are instances when blood cells due to their fragile nature find it difficult to withstand the stress of circulatory system and rupture prematurely. This causes haemolytic anaemia.

This type of anaemia can be present at birth or it may develop in the later stages of life. Some of the causes for such anaemia are diseases like hereditary diseases like sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia. Stress giving conditions like infections, drug use, snake or spider venom and certain foods are all causative. Toxins from advanced liver or kidney disease, inappropriate attack by the immune system, vascular grafts, prosthetic heart valves, tumours, shock due to severe burns, exposure to chemicals and clotting disorders are listed in the reason for anaemia due to destruction of RBC. In haemolytic disease spleen enlargement can trap red blood cells and destroy them.

Odontoma tissue is a tumour of the odontogenic epithelium. They are composed of all the mature components of dental hard and soft tissue – enamel, dentin and pulp.

How do they affect us?

They are the most common odontogenic tumours but cause quite some problems.
They interfere with the eruption of permanent teeth
They develop along with the growth of the normal teeth
Their development stops once the teeth attains full growth
They occur mainly in the young age groups
What are the symptoms?
Usually odontogenic tumours are asymptomatic and are discovered only during a routine radiographic dental examination when the normal eruption of teeth is delayed. There is no pain or swelling as in the case of other dental problems.

What are the types of odontogenic tumours?

There are mainly two types of odontoma tumours, they are Compound tumours and Complex tumours.

Compound Odontoma : This is usually a collection of small tooth-like structures called ‘denticles’. It occurs in the anterior region of the maxilla and associated with the interrupted crown of the canine. It is caused by a manifold growth of the dental lamina or growing into a collection of small enamel organs.

Complex Odontoma : It is generally composed of hapazardly arranged dental hard and soft tissue. It will have no resemblance to normal teeth. It usually occurs in the posterior region of the mandibles. There may be a missing tooth where it arises from a normal tooth follicle.

How is it diagnosed?

Differential diagnosis of odontoma is the way to detect its presence. Compound odontomas are detected easily due to their tooth like appearance. Complex odontomas can be differentiated due to their nature to be associated with the crown of the growing teeth. They develop at a very young age and have a dense body that can be well differentiated.

Treatment for Odontoma

Odontomas are treated by simple local excision and their prognosis is excellent. They don’t recur and are not invasive.

What is a heat boil? A heat boil is a skin infection that begins in a hair follicle or oil gland. Usually the area of the infection turns red and a tender lump is formed. Thereafter in four to seven days the lump starts to turn white due to the formation of pus that collects inside it.

Heat boils commonly affect hairy area, the face, neck, armpits, shoulders and buttocks. It can also form on the eyelid when it is called a sty. If it is a single boil it is common but if several boils appear in a group, it is a bit serious and the infection is called a carbuncle. It is usually in diabetic.

What causes boils?

Boils are mostly caused by a bacterium called staphylococcal bacteria. The bacteria enter the body through tiny lesions and cuts on the skin. It then travels down the hair to the follicle on the skin.

Who are at risk to get boils?

Certain health problems make people more susceptible to get boils and skin infection. The diseases are diabetes, problem with immune system, poor nutrition, poor hygiene and exposure to harsh chemicals or irritants that affect the skin.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of a heat boil can be varied. First the boil starts as a hard, red, painful lump on the skin. After a few days, the lump becomes softer, larger and more painful. Then pus gets formed on the top area of the boil. The signs of skin infection due to the boils include the boil turning red, painful, warm and swollen. Later more boils may appear around the original one, there may be a fever developing and the lymph nodes get swollen.

What are the treatments?

Home remedies:

Home remedies  does not apply for diabetic patients. First you can try some home remedies to treat the boil and if it is successful soon you may get rid of the infection.

Soak the boil in warm water using a warm compress with a towel. This will reduce the pain considerably and allow the pus to come to the surface. Once the pus reaches the surface of the boil it will get ruptured due to continuous soaking. This can be tried within 10 days of the boil’s appearance.

Once the boil starts draining of the pus, wait for some time and wash it with an anti-bacterial soap until all the pus is gone. Then softly wipe the area with rubbing alcohol.

Apply a medicated ointment mainly a topical antibiotic. Then bandage the area properly. You should continue to wash the area two or three times a day and use warm compress until the would heals.

Medical treatment:

If you feel that the boil is not healing and the infection is serious, then additional tests are required and you should consult your doctor. The doctor will prescribe antibiotics if the infection is severe. The boil is drained properly and culture will be done to determine the type of bacteria causing the infection and then suitable antibiotic is prescribed by the doctor.

How to prevent boils?

There are few steps you should take to avoid getting heat boils.

• Take care of hygiene by washing clothes, bedsheets and towels of a infected person
• Clean and treat minor skin wounds promptly
• Practice good personal hygiene
• Protect your skin and take proper diet
• Try to remain healthy and increase your immunity