The thyroid is a small gland in front of the neck that makes produces hormones to control the body organs. When there is a deficiency in making these hormones then the body functions get affected. It also affects one’s energy levels, mood and weight.

If the thyroid gets inflamed then the condition is known as thyroiditis. This happens mainly when the body makes antibodies that attack the thyroid by mistake. Such a condition is called as autoimmune thyroiditis, lymphocytic thyroiditis or Hashimoto’s disease.

What are the causes for thyroiditis?

Still it is not very clear why the immune system behaves in such a harmful way. There are possibly many reasons including a defective gene, a virus attack or a combination of many causes.

Who can get affected?

Women are more likely to get autoimmune thyroiditis and especially if they are in the middle age group. Those having other autoimmune disorders like lupus, type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis are also likely to be affected. Those exposed to environmental radiation is also susceptible to get the disorder.

What are its symptoms?

As the disease progresses, the thyroid may become enlarged and lead to goitre formation. The front of the neck will be swollen, which makes the throat feel always full. It usually does not give any pain and if left alone will shrink on its own, though it does not mean the patient is cured.

Since the thyroid is damaged it leads to hypothyroidism or too little of thyroid hormones leading to major symptoms like  tiredness, puffy face, sensitivity to cold, trouble in passing stools, enlarged tongue, pale and brittle nails, hair loss, weight gain, muscle aches and joint pains, depression, memory lapse and irregular menstruation.

What is the treatment for autoimmune thyroiditis?

The doctor will treat an autoimmune thyroiditis patient with prescription medicines like levothyroxine or Unithyroid which is human made thyroid substitute. The dosage of the medicine will be adjusted frequently to suit your progress and medicines are for life. The diet is important during the therapy and so foods like high-fibre diet and soy products are best avoided.

The doctor should also know whether you are taking iron supplements, cholesterol medicines, antacids that have aluminium hydroxide, ulcer medicines or calcium substitutes.

Asthma treatment is basically a way to help a patient lead a normal and healthy lifestyle instead of suffering from the effects of the disease. This is done by undertaking a regime of exercise and other physical activities,regular medications, avoiding allergic triggers and monitoring lung function etc. If the asthma symptoms do not allow you to fully participate in physical activities then you may need a small change in the asthma action plan. This will provide the required asthma relief during any exercise or activity.

THE MOST SUITABLE EXERCISES FOR ASTHMA

The exercise plan for an asthma patient can involve short, intermittent periods of exertion by taking activities like volleyball, gymnastics, baseball, and wrestling. These activities are found to be fairly well tolerated by asthma patients.

Activities that require long periods of exertion like distance running, basketball or field hockey may not be so well tolerated. Similarly sports in cold weather like skating, ice-hockey etc may pose serious problems. Though swimming which is an endurance sport is well tolerated by many asthma patients. This is because it is performed while breathing warm moist air and it is a good physical fitness activity. Other activities like cycling, aerobics, walking, running on treadmill are also beneficial for people with asthma.

HOW TO CONTROL ASTHMA DURING AN ACTIVITY?

First and foremost consult your doctor and chalk out an action plan for your activity or exercise and then only indulge in it.
Take care to use the pre exercise asthma medicine like bronchodilators if it is required into the action plan.

Do the necessary warm ups and cool down before and after the exercise

In cold weather wear a mask or scarf over the mouth and nose or exercise indoors

If prone to allergies do not exercise outside when the pollution count is high

Restrict exercise when there is an attack of cold or some infection

Keep the exercise well within the levels already planned

An active life ensures mental and physical health and asthma need not come in the way of a healthy lifestyle.

WHAT IF THERE IS AN ASTHMA ATTACK DURING ACTIVITY?

If there is a sudden appearance of asthma symptoms during exercise, then immediately stop and follow the instructions as given in the action plan. It is safe to keep the inhaler handy and use it as instructed by your physician. If you still feel the symptoms are not stopping then reach for the nearest medical centre or hospital.

When there is excess sweating during night and your sleep gets disturbed due to it, then it’s called a night sweating. Better be sure that you are not sleeping in a bedroom that is unusually hot or you are not wearing too many bedclothes, since they also cause you to sweat. Whereas true night sweats are hot flashes occurring during night that drenches the clothes and sheets and not related to an overheated environment or thick layer of clothing.

There are umpteen reasons for a night sweat and the doctor will have to study the health history in detail to come to a conclusion or find a relevant cause. Sometimes proper tests are done to decide if you have any underlying health conditions that are causing the night sweat.

Here are few of the more common reasons for a night sweat:

MENOPAUSE

Women undergoing the menopause stage in life will experience hot flashes during their sleep and this will cause the night sweat. This is a very common cause of night sweat.

INFECTIONS

Conditions like tuberculosis infection is a common reason associated with night sweats. Sometime bacterial infections like endocarditis which causes inflammation of the heart valves, osteomyelitis (bone inflammation) and abscesses can be the reason for night sweats. Those affected with HIV will also experience night sweats.

CANCER

Many medical researchers infer that a person suffering from cancer can experience night sweating. The most common of them all is Lymphoma which is sure to cause night sweats. People with undiagnosed cancer will also have other symptoms like unexplained weight loss and fever.

HYPOGLYCEMIA

Those with low blood sugar can also suffer from night sweats. Patients taking insulin or oral diabetes medications may at times get hypoglycaemic at night and this will be accompanied by severe night sweating.

HORMONE DISORDER

A person suffering from hormone disorder including carcinoid syndrome and hyperthyroidism. Sweating or flushing is a common occurrence for such people.

NEUROLOGICAL CONDITION

Health conditions like autonomic dysreflexia, posttraumatic synriongomygelia, stroke and autonomic neuoropathy can cause increased sweating and this will continue in to the night to give night sweats.

Some other reasons for night sweat include medications and diseases affecting the sweat glands.

When the body does not have enough sugar to use then the person with diabetes gets hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar. This can happen due to particular diet, excessive exercising or some medicines. It is better to consult the doctor with information about the date and time of low blood sugar to manage the condition.

What are the symptoms of low blood sugar?

A person feels the symptoms of hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar when the sugar level in the blood falls to 70 mg/dl or lower. The symptoms in diabetic patients are different. The early symptoms of hypoglycaemia include confusion, dizziness, feeling shaky, hunger, headache, irritability, a pounding heart, racing pulse, pale skin, sweating, trembling, weakness and anxiety.

The severe conditions include:

Poor body coordination

Poor concentration

A numb feeling in the mouth and tongue

Becoming unconscious

Seizures

Sudden nightmares and bad dreams

Coma

Medications can cause hypoglycemia

Some medications can also cause hypoglycaemia. Diabetic medications  commonly used sulfonylurea’s like Am aryl, Glucotrol and Micronase and can at times cause hypoglycaemia. It is seen that some of the older sulfonylureas causes low blood sugar rather than the newer ones.

Similarly the type of insulin and its dosage can also be a reason for sudden hypoglycaemia. All the medications including insulin have to be taken strictly under medical supervision and adjusted according to individual needs by the doctor alone.

One does not get hypoglycaemic if alpha- glycosidase inhibitors like Metformin are used but if they are taken along with sulfonylureas or insulin then hypoglycaemia can happen.

Diet and hypoglycemia

A proper diet is most important for management of sugar levels and it can get upset if you take too much of insulin or medication whereas as you don’t match it with the amount of carbohydrates you eat or drink.

It can happen when you eat a meal that has lot of simple sugars or if you miss a snack or when you don’t eat a full meal and that too on time. If you drink alcohol without eating enough food then too you can get low blood sugar symptoms. Do not skip timely and enough quantity of food or meals when you are taking diabetic medications.

How to prevent hypoglycaemia?

These are the steps that will help to prevent hypoglycaemic conditions to a large extent:

• Follow a proper meal plan
• Eat at least 3 evenly spaced meals with in-between snacks as prescribed
• Each meal should be 4-5 hours apart
• Exercise for 30 to 1 hour only after meals
• Check blood sugar before and after the exercise and let your doctor know about it
• Take care to double check your dose of insulin and medication before you take it
• Drin alcohol in moderation with proper food
• Monitor your blood sugar regularly and let your doctor know about any change
• Carry some identification of having diabetes or info about it so that you may get help during an emergency