Fungal Nail Infections

Fungal Nail Infections

A fingernail or toenail infection that is caused by a fungus is called onychomycosis (say: "on-ee-koh-my-ko-sis"). Toenails are more likely to become infected than fingernails.
This infection can make your nails thick and discolored. Your nails may also be brittle or change their shape. You may even have pain in your toes or fingertips.

Who gets fungal nail infections?
Anyone can get a fungal nail infection. These infections are more common in adults older than 60 years of age. They are especially common in people with diabetes or circulation problems. Children rarely get fungal nail infections.

Why did I get a fungal nail infection?
It may be hard to know where or how you got a fungal nail infection. A warm and wet place provides the perfect conditions for a fungus to grow. If you often wear heavy work boots that make your feet warm and sweaty, a fungus can grow around your toenails. If you often walk barefoot in locker rooms, you can pick up a fungus from the warm, wet floors.

People whose hands are often wet (for example, dishwashers in restaurants and professional house cleaners) are more likely to get fungal fingernail infections.

Sometimes several people in a family will get fungal infections in their nails at the same time. This can happen because their immune systems aren't't able to fight off the infection very well or because the infection is being passed when they use the same towels.

How do I find out if I have a fungal nail infection?
If you think you have a fungal infection in your fingernails or toenails, see your doctor. By looking carefully at your nails, your doctor might be able to tell if you have an infection.

How is a fungal nail infection treated?
Several medicines can treat a fungal nail infection. Some of these medicines are not safe for people who have liver problems or a history of congestive heart failure. Be sure to let your provider know if you have one of these conditions. Your provider will decide which medicine is right for you.

You might only need to take the medicine for 6 weeks. You might need to take it for 6 months, or longer. It depends on where the infection is and the severity of the infection.
Topical treatments, or creams and polish that you apply to the top of your nail, also may be available for mild infections.

Because of the high price of some of these medications your provider may consider other treatments like toenail removal in severe infections.

What can I do to take care of my nails?

• Keep your nails cut short and file down any thick areas.
• Don't use the same nail trimmer or file on healthy nails and infected nails. If you have your nails professionally manicured, you should bring your own nail files and trimmers from home.
• Wear waterproof gloves for wet work (like washing dishes or floors). To protect your fingers, wear 100 percent cotton gloves for dry work.
• Wear 100 percent cotton socks. Change your socks when they are damp from sweat or if your feet get wet. Put on clean, dry socks every day. You can put over-the-counter anti-fungal foot powder inside your socks to help keep your feet dry.
• Wear shoes with good support and a wide toe area. Don't wear pointed shoes that press your toes together.
• Avoid walking barefoot in public areas such as locker rooms.
  

Information Source: FamilyDoctor.org

Diabetes: What the Diagnosis Means

If you just found out you have diabetes, you probably have a lot of questions and you may feel a little uncertain. It may help to know you're not alone. In the United States, nearly 16 million people have diabetes. Most of these people lead full, healthy lives. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to learn all you can about diabetes. This handout will tell you some of the basics about diabetes.

What is diabetes?
Your body changes most of the food you eat into glucose (a form of sugar). Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that allows glucose to enter all the cells of your body and be used as energy. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when a person’s body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use insulin properly. When you have diabetes, the sugar builds up in your blood instead of moving into the cells. Some, but not all, of the excess sugar is carried out of your body (through urine), and the energy is wasted.There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 occurs when the body doesn’t produce any insulin. People with type 2 diabetes either don’t produce enough insulin or their cells ignore the insulin. Nearly 95% of people with diabetes have type 2.

How can I help myself stay healthy if I have diabetes?
Although diabetes can’t be cured, you can live a long and healthy life. The single most important thing you can do is control your blood sugar level. You can do this by eating right, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and, if needed, taking oral medicines or insulin.Eat a healthy diet. The recommended diet for many people who have diabetes is very similar to that suggested for people who don't have diabetes. It's important to eat at least 3 meals per day and never skip a meal.
Exercise. Exercising will help your body use insulin and lower your blood sugar level. Maintain a healthy weight. Losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy body weight will help you in 2 ways. First, it helps insulin work better in your body. Second, it will lower your blood pressure and decrease your risk for heart disease.Take your medicine. If your diabetes can’t be controlled with diet, exercise and weight control, your doctor may recommend medicine or insulin. Oral medicines (taken by mouth) can make your body produce more insulin or help your body use the insulin it makes more efficiently. Some people need to add insulin to their bodies. Always take medicines exactly as your doctor tells you to.

How do I check my blood sugar level?
Your doctor may suggest that you check your blood sugar level (also called blood glucose level) at home. Checking your blood sugar level involves pricking your finger to get a small drop of blood that you put on a test strip. You can read the results yourself or insert the strip into a machine called an electronic glucose meter. Check your blood sugar level as often as your doctor suggests. You may need to check it more often at first, until you get the feel for how it changes and what makes it change.

What if my blood sugar gets too low?
People with diabetes are at risk of hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia occurs when the amount of sugar in your blood drops. The signs of low blood sugar may include having a headache, sweating, and feeling weak or anxious. Talk to your doctor about how to treat hypoglycemia. Usually, you can correct this problem by quickly eating some candy or drinking some regular (not diet) soda or fruit juice.

source: FamilyDoctor.org

Toilet Training Your Child

When should I start toilet training my child?
Do not start toilet training until both you and your child are ready. You are ready when you are able to devote the time and energy necessary to encourage your child on a daily basis for at least 3 months.Your child is ready when he or she can signal that the diaper is wet or soiled, or when your child is able to say that he or she would like to go to the potty. This usually occurs when a child is 18 to 24 months of age. However, it is not uncommon for a child to still be in diapers at 2 and a half to 3 years of age.

How should I prepare my child for toilet training?
Allow your child to be present when you go to the bathroom and make your child feel comfortable in the bathroom. Allow your child to see urine and bowel movements in the toilet. Let your child play with flushing the toilet.Before toilet training your child, place a potty chair in your child's normal living and play area so that your child will become familiar with the potty. Consider placing a potty chair on each floor of the house if you live in a multilevel home. Allow your child to observe, touch and become familiar with the potty chair.Tell your child that the potty chair is his or her own chair. Allow your child to sit fully clothed on the potty chair, as if it were a regular chair. Allow your child to leave the potty chair at any time. Do not force your child to spend time sitting on the chair.After your child has become used to the potty chair and sits on it regularly with his or her clothes on, try having your child sit on the potty without wearing pants and a diaper. Let your child become comfortable with sitting on the potty without wearing pants and a diaper.The next step is to show your child how the potty chair is used. Place stool from a dirty diaper into the potty chair. Allow your child to observe the transfer of the bowel movement from the potty chair into the toilet. Let your child flush the toilet and watch the bowel movement disappear down the toilet.

How do I teach my child to use the toilet?
After your child has become comfortable with flushing the toilet and sitting on the potty chair, you may begin teaching your child to go to the bathroom. Keep your child in loose, easily removable pants.Place your child on the potty chair whenever he or she signals the need to go to the bathroom. Your child's facial expression may change when he or she feels the need to urinate or to have a bowel movement. Your child may stop any activity he or she is engaged in when he or she feels the need to go to the bathroom.Most children have a bowel movement once a day, usually within an hour after eating. Most children urinate within an hour after having a large drink.In addition to watching for signals that your child needs to urinate or have a bowel movement, place your child on the potty at regular intervals. This may be as often as every 1and a half to 2 hours.Stay with your child when he or she is on the potty chair. Reading or talking to your child when he or she is sitting on the potty may help your child relax. Praise your child when he or she goes to the bathroom in the potty chair, but do not express disappointment if your child does not urinate or have a bowel movement in the potty. Be patient with your child.Once your child has learned to use the potty chair, your child can begin using an over-the-toilet seat and a step-up stool.

How long will it take to toilet train my child?
It may take up to 3 months. It is important for you to be patient and supportive. Do not punish your child when he or she has an accident.If your child is not toilet trained within 3 months, consult your family doctor. The most likely reason your child has not learned to use the potty is that your child is not yet ready for toilet training.

source: FamilyDoctor.org

Quit Smoking

Why does it seem so hard to stop smoking?

Smoking causes changes in your body and in the way you act. The changes in your body are caused by an addiction to nicotine. The changes in the way you act developed over time as you bought cigarettes, lit them and smoked them. These changes have become your smoking habit.When you have a smoking habit, many things seem to go along with having a cigarette. These might include having a cup of coffee or an alcoholic drink, being stressed or worried, talking on the phone, driving, socializing with friends or wanting something to do with your hands.

Immediate reasons to stop
Bad breath and stained teeth
Bad smell in clothes and hair and on skin
Lower athletic ability
Cough and sore throat
Faster heartbeat and raised blood pressure
Risk of second-hand smoke to people around you
Cost of smoking
Long-term reasons to stop
Toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke
Risk of lung cancer and many other types of cancer
Risk of heart disease
Serious breathing problems
Time lost working or having fun because you're sick
Wrinkles
Risk of stomach ulcers and acid reflux
Risk of gum disease
Risk of damage to babies of pregnant women who smoke
Setting a bad example for your children

How can I stop smoking?
You'll have the best chance of stopping if you do the following:
Get ready.
Get support and encouragement.
Learn how to handle stress and the urge to smoke.
Get medication and use it correctly.
Be prepared for relapse.
Keep trying.

How should I get ready to stop smoking?
Set a stop date 2 to 4 weeks from now so you'll have time to get ready. Write down your personal reasons for stopping. Be specific. Keep your list with you so you can look at it when you feel the urge to smoke.To help you understand your smoking habit, keep a diary of when and why you smoke. Using information from this diary, you and your doctor can make a plan to deal with the things that make you want to smoke.Just before your stop date, get rid of all of your cigarettes, matches, lighters and ashtrays.

How can I get support and encouragement?
Tell your family and friends what kind of help you need. Their support will make it easier for you to stop smoking. Also, ask your family doctor to help you develop a plan for stopping smoking. He or she can give you information on telephone hotlines, such as 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669), or self-help materials that can be very helpful. Your doctor can also recommend a stop-smoking program. These programs are often held at local hospitals or health centers.Give yourself rewards for stopping smoking. For example, with the money you save by not smoking, buy yourself something special.

What about stress and my urges to smoke?
You may have a habit of using cigarettes to relax during stressful times. Luckily, there are good ways to manage stress without smoking. Relax by taking a hot bath, going for a walk, or breathing slowly and deeply. Think of changes in your daily routine that will help you resist the urge to smoke. For example, if you used to smoke when you drank coffee, drink hot tea instead.

What will happen when I stop smoking?
How you feel when you stop depends on how much you smoked, how addicted your body is to nicotine and how well you get ready to stop smoking. You may crave a cigarette or feel hungrier than usual. You may feel edgy and have trouble concentrating. You also may cough more at first, and you may have headaches.These things happen because your body is used to nicotine. They are called nicotine withdrawal symptoms. The symptoms are strongest during the first few days after you stop smoking, but most go away within a few weeks.

What about nicotine replacement products or medicine to help me stop smoking?
Nicotine replacement products are ways to take in nicotine without smoking. These products come in several forms: gum, patch, nasal spray, inhaler and lozenge. You can buy the nicotine gum, patch and lozenge without a prescription from your doctor. Nicotine replacement works by lessening your body’s craving for nicotine and reducing withdrawal symptoms. This lets you focus on the changes you need to make in your habits and environment. Once you feel more confident as a nonsmoker, dealing with your nicotine addiction is easier.Prescription medicines such as bupropion SR (one brand name: Zyban) and varenicline (brand name: Chantix) helps some people stop smoking. These medicines do not contain nicotine, but help you resist your urges to smoke.Talk to your doctor about which of these products is likely to give you the best chance of success. For any of these products to work, you must carefully follow the directions on the package. It's very important that you don't smoke while using nicotine replacement products.

Will I gain weight when I stop smoking?
Most people gain a few pounds after they stop smoking. Remember that any weight gain is a minor health risk compared to the risks of smoking. Dieting while you're trying to stop smoking will cause unnecessary stress. Instead, limit your weight gain by having healthy, low-fat snacks on hand and being physically active.

What if I smoke again?
Don't feel like a failure. Think about why you smoked and what you can do to keep from smoking again. Set a new stop date. Many ex-smokers did not succeed at first, but they kept trying.The first few days after stopping will probably be the hardest. Just remember that even one puff on a cigarette can cause a relapse, so don't risk it.

source: FamilyDoctor.org