All posts by Sumana Rao

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Halloween Safety

Halloween Safety

October means Halloween fun for kids who celebrate the ghost day with enthusiasm and fun. Kids would love to wear best costume and get all those candies to fill their basket/bucket. Parents accompany toddlers and young children while they visit the neighborhood houses on a designated day.

However there are teen kids who would love to go out in costume slash parents. Parents should be cautious while stepping out with children or sending out children to walk through the community.

Children might get hurt or face risk of injury when they wear certain costume and their behavior can also put them under risk when they step out in dark. Fact is that children are more than twice as likely to be hit by an automobile and dye than any other day of the year.

Parents must guide children and instruct them how to be safe during Trick or Treat.

  1. Decorate costumes, buckets, baskets with reflective stickers or tape. Choose light colored stickers and tape.
  2. If kids prefer makeup apply nontoxic pain on child’s face or arms.
  3. Costume should be of right size for kids – if not they may trip and fall
  4. While using masks make sure their vision is proper and clear
  5. If a sword, cane, or stick is a part of your child’s costume, make sure it is not sharp or long to avoid getting hurt, trip or fall.
  6. Children under the age 13 should not be alone at night and must be accompanied by adults.
  7. For those children who would like to go out with friends, tell them to stick to familiar areas around your home and stick to the timings – generally between 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
  8. If strangers offer treats on side walk or on roads – kids should not accept it.
  9. Once they bring back their treat, go through the treats to make sure there is nothing unusual stuffs in the treat.
  10. Tell your child to take precautions while crossing roads -to: look for cars, use reflective gear, walk with a group, and carry a flash light.

Other Points to remind your young adults:

  • Stay in a group and communicate where they will be going.
  • Remember reflective tape for costumes and trick-or-treat bags.
  • Carry a cellphone for quick communication.
  • Remain on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk.
  • If no sidewalk is available, walk at the far edge of the roadway facing traffic.
  • Never cut across yards or use alleys.
  • Only cross the street as a group in established crosswalks (as recognized by local custom). Never cross between parked cars or out driveways.
  • Don’t assume the right of way. Motorists may have trouble seeing Trick-or-Treaters. Just because one car stops, doesn’t mean others will!
  • Law enforcement authorities should be notified immediately of any suspicious or unlawful activity.

CDC- Center for Disease Control has provided “SAFE HALLOWEEN” tips to make sure kids are healthy and safe.

S: Swords, knives, and other costume accessories should be short, soft, and flexible.

A: Avoid trick-or-treating alone. Walk in groups or with a trusted adult.

F: Fasten reflective tape to costumes and bags to help drivers see you.

E: Examine all treats for choking hazards and tampering before eating them. Limit the amount of treats you eat.

H: Hold a flashlight while trick-or-treating to help you see and others see you. WALK and don’t run from house to house.

A: Always test make-up in a small area first. Remove it before bedtime to prevent possible skin and eye irritation.

L: Look both ways before crossing the street. Use crosswalks wherever possible.

L: Lower your risk for serious eye injury by not wearing decorative contact lenses.

O:Only walk on sidewalks whenever possible, or on the far edge of the road facing traffic to stay safe.

W: Wear well-fitting masks, costumes, and shoes to avoid blocked vision, trips, and falls.

E: Eat only factory-wrapped treats. Avoid eating homemade treats made by strangers.

E: Enter homes only if you’re with a trusted adult. Only visit well-lit houses. Never accept rides from strangers.

N: Never walk near lit candles or luminaries. Be sure to wear flame-resistant costumes.

How to make it healthy treat for kids?

A good meal or early supper before the parties and trick-or -treat will discourage them filling up their treats.

  • Buy small size treats and add few non-food treats for those who visit your home, such as coloring books or pens and pencils.
  • As mentioned above, examine your child’s treat closely. There might be spoiled, suspicious, unwrapped treats. If you are not convinced then take control and throw it away.
  • Try to ration treats for next several days.

Parents! If you are hosting a party for kids and adults take following precautions:

  •  Provide healthier treats for trick-or-treaters such as low-calorie treats and drinks. For guests, offer a variety of fruits and vegetables.
  • Use party games and trick-or-treat time as an opportunity for kids to get their daily dose of 60 minutes of physical activity.
  • Be sure walking areas and stairs are well-lit and free of obstacles that could cause someone to fall.
  • Keep candle-lit jack o’lanterns and luminaries away from doorsteps, walkways, landings, and curtains. Place them on sturdy tables, keep them out of the reach of pets and small children, and never leave them unattended.
  • Remind drivers to watch out for trick-or-treaters and to drive safely.

Follow above safety tips to make the festivities fun and safe for everyone.

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References:

  1. https://www.cdc.gov
  2. https://www.aap.org

Image credit: Photo by Alexandru Georgescu from Pexels (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: October 26, 2017
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When should you wash your clothes?

When should you wash your clothes?

We all have that habit – sniffing and wearing clothes.

Sniffing may give you satisfaction of smelling deodorant that is sitting in your shirt but it won’t tell you how dirty is your cloth.

When should you wash your clothes? It is better to wash clothes as per the fabric and as often as it needs.

Here are recommendations –

  1. Dress and office pants: Wash after 6 wears- Generally dress pants are worn for office and party occasions. They are made of synthetic blend material. Don’t need to wash them everyday. Wash after 6 wears.
  2. White clothes: After every and each wear – To retain the white color of the cloth one need to wash white clothes often. If not, color will change to yellow and looks dirty.
  3. Winter clothes:
  • Gloves, scarves and hats: In a season minimum 4 times. Because they will collect oil from hair, facial oil and make up. Gloves get dirty easily as we wear them whenever we stepout during cold season.
  • Sweater: Every 3 wears – Sweaters absorb sweat and dirt. Sometimes we wear them inside our winter jacket. This retains more sweat inside the sweater.
  • Synthetic jacket: Once every 6 wears – Dirt, sweat and exposure to outside conditions makes them dirty easily (snow removal, leaf removal or car wash during winter). Most synthetic jackets can be washed in washing machine in and out. Inner linings can be removed and washed separate.
  • Leather jacket: Never or may be once in a season. If you are a fan of leather jacket and have one, try not to wash leather jacket because they are extremely resilient and meet your skin.
  • Socks: Wash them often. Socks after every wear should be washed and dried. Keep extra pair of socks always.
  1. Leggings and meditation yoga pants: Wash them every 2 wears or alternate days. Depending on how often you exercise you can decide. Often wearing yoga pants causes sweating and they also absorb sweat.
  2. Swimsuits: After your every wear – considered similar to undergarments, must wash them after every wear to protect hygiene.
  3. Undergarments: Underwear: Wash everyday.  No explanation needed – it is critical and important.
  4.  Bras : can be worn 2-3 times before washing. Give your bra a rest day in between. This will give elastic a chance to regain its shape.
  5. Regular shirts and T-shirts: After every wear. If you are planning to wear them without washing – test before wearing. Body odor and sweat odor can come out from the shirts which you may not able to recognize after wearing. Shirts absorb sweat easily as shirts are primary contact of the arm pit and body.
  6. Pajamas : Every 3 wears is fine. If it is cold at night you might not sweat. If you sweat while sleeping and wearing pajamas then you may have to think of washing pajamas next day.
  7. Jeans: After every 5 wears. Washing jeans every time can only harm and stretch the jeans a lot. When you wash jeans use cold water to retain the color and freshness of the jeans.
  8. Bath towel : Once or twice a week. Depends on how much your body sweating, how much you are exercising or doing physical work. Bath towels should be hung to dry between uses. Towels need to be allowed to dry before they are used again.
  9. Bathing suits: should be washed after every wear.
  10. Suit: 3-4 times for wool and 4-5 times for synthetics. Depending on the lifestyle or environment you may need to dry clean more often. You need to clean them often if you expose suit to smoky bars, smog or smelly environments or if your suit gets stained.
  11. Wash all types of cloths:
  • If you drool, vomit or spill something on the cloth.
  • If you sweat a lot
  • If you cook for a longtime in kitchen
  • If you cleaned bathroom and toilet
  • If you spent time cleaning backyard and dirt removal
  • If you come in contact with blood and other stains

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Grandma’s tips: www.healthylife.werindia.com

Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-looking-searching-clean-2371/ (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: October 17, 2017
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Black henna?! Henna is never black

Black henna?! Henna is never black

Often you read the news or listen to someone telling how bad is temporary tattoo and how skin in hands and legs developed rashes and blisters because of application of henna or mehndi or “black henna”. Is henna bad for the skin? Before concluding without knowing the facts, one need to understand what exactly is the reason (for reaction) or is it a chemical that is responsible for this?

Traditional Henna is not black!

Many countries and religions are using a plant popularly known as “Henna” for traditional body art tattoo. These tattoos are temporary and women especially use this art to decorate/design hands and feet to celebrate auspicious occasion like wedding, engagements, festivals etc. Henna is a plant scientifically called “Lawsonia enermis”. It is also known by other names as mignonette tree and the Egyptian privet. Lawsone is the tannin compound produced by this amazing plant. Henna is popular in Asian countries. Traditional preparation for mehendi art starts by plucking the leaves of henna plant and grinding to make a paste of it with other ingredients like lemon juice, black tea, drops of Eucalyptus oil etc. Use of other ingredients varies from region to region.

Once mixed henna/mehendi will be kept for 24 hours to get desired reddish-brown color. And, artists with the help of fine tools (cone or small thin stick or thread) draw the body art. After drawing the design, it will be left to release the color for couple of hours. While waiting, lemon water with little sugar dissolved in it will be sprinkled on the design. This helps to release darker color and temporary henna tattoo remains longer than expected.

As you can tell the ingredients generally used in traditional henna is safe and one can use it without much doubts.  IF the fresh leaves of henna is not available, one can use dry powder of leaves available in the market. While bringing it to home, one must read the ingredient label to make sure there is no artificial or synthetic chemicals added. If so, don’t buy it.

Addition of essential oils like eucalyptus or tree tea oil and the body heat can turn traditional henna to dark color giving black color look in the palm and hands. This color will turn to reddish brown in a day or two and looks beautiful. On the rest of the body, the stains will remain brown.  It means, henna never leaves “black” stains on arms, legs and bellies!

What causes allergy? Henna, Indigo or Black henna

Decades ago, when there was no synthetic hair dye, people used to color the hair using henna and indigo color. Indigo color also extracted from plant. It is darker blue. While tattooing, Henna plant color was termed as Red Henna and Indigo was marketed as “Black Henna”.  The name Indigo was given to hair and cloth dye. After dying hair with henna, applying indigo color to hair turns hair color to jet black. And it is safe.

Now in the market  there is another product that is also sold as ‘black henna’ and it contains chemicals that can cause health issues.

Beware of black henna or kali mehendi

Also known as ‘peko”, black henna is the one consumers need to be aware off. It can cause blistering, open sores, scarring, and lifelong health problems.  How and why these reactions happen? Reason for these horrible reactions is due to chemical reactions. Synthetic henna or black henna is made of chemicals. Let us see what exactly it is.

In many countries instead of traditional henna, artists use black henna that contains chemical Para-phenylendiamine, a black hair dye. It is the reason for blunders happening in the name of Henna and black henna. A temporary tattoo drawn using “Black Henna” is not safe as it can cause dangerous skin reaction.

Para-phenulendiamine is base for black hair dye that should not be put directly on skin or mixed with any material that touches skin. When we apply it on hair we should take precaution and use gloves. It should not touch scalp as it can cause serious injury. It is a strong sensitizer, transdermal toxin and considered to be a carcinogen.  Many people get itching, blistering and hair loss from using black hair dye on their hair.

How to differentiate real henna, indigo and black henna?

If you look in the box, if the powder is green and has herbal dry leaf or hay odor then, it is probably powdered henna leaves or can be indigo color (not harmful). If the powder appears coffee colored or black then it could be para-phenylenediamine based hair dye.

To test, take little powder and mix with water.

  • If the color of water turns to light green then it is henna. Powder might settle down at the bottom.
  • If it turns blue then it is indigo color and it also does not stain skin black.
  • If the color turns darker brown and back then it is because of PPD. It also gives strong chemical odor and turns skin black and gives reaction. This is hazardous and is a byproduct of coal tar!!

Next time when you visit a henna artist, before applying temporary tattoo, look at the ingredients of the tattoo powder. Ask the artists for details. If you feel it is unsafe and black henna then don’t apply. Traditional henna that is described above, is the best method as there are no complications develops when you apply on the skin.

References:

  1. http://www.hennaforhair.com/indigo/
  2. http://hennalounge.com/resources/black-henna/
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Recognizing mental illness

Recognizing mental illness

General opinion and believe is that mental illness is rare and it happens to few people. It is not true. Mental disorders are common and widespread conditions. Many times, recognizing mental illness is difficult. Conditions like cancer, diabetes, kidney problem, heart problem can be diagnosed. Diagnosis of mental illness depends on the observations, manual and other criteria.

Most families cannot accept the fact that someone in family is suffering from mental illness. It is hard for people to  see the loved one suffering. But, there is always hope and help for such conditions.

A mental illness is a disease that causes mild to severe disturbance in thought and behavior. It results I an inability to cope up with life’s regular demands, structure and routines.

There are more than 200 classified form of mental illness. It includes:

Depression, ADHD, Anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorder, Psychosis, Eating disorder, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), Schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia  etc.

There is not any easy test that can let someone detect if there is mental illness. It might have caused by situation related to stress, hereditary or series of events. People feel stressed out due to conditions like cancer, diabetes or chronic pain. Or it might be due to environmental stress, genetics, biochemical disorders in the system or combination of all these. With treatment individuals learn to recover or cope up with emotional disorder.

How to recognize mental illness?

Each mental condition has its own symptoms, but the common symptoms in both adults and adolescents include the following:

  • Excessive worrying or fear
  • Feeling excessively sad or low
  • Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
  • Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
  • Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
  • Avoiding friends and social activities
  • Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
  • Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
  • Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
  • Changes in sex drive
  • Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
  • Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
  • Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
  • Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
  • Thinking about suicide
  • Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
  • An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance

Symptoms in younger children is most obvious in their behavior.  Symptoms in children may include the following:

  • Changes in school performance
  • Excessive worry or anxiety, for instance fighting to avoid bed or school
  • Hyperactive behavior
  • Frequent nightmares
  • Frequent disobedience or aggression
  • Frequent temper tantrums
  • Changes in sleeping and eating habits

Certain health conditions are more often related to mental illness: Suicidal thought, anosognosis, dual diagnosis, self-harm and sleep disorders.

Receiving a diagnosis: Learning, understanding, knowing and observing warning signs can help an individual and immediate family to speak to a professional. As mentioned above unlike other body conditions there is no medical test that accurately diagnose mental illness. The list of criteria in the study manual helps professional to detect and diagnosis.  They will develop a treatment plan based on the diagnosis. Based on the severity of the symptoms they may recommend therapy, medication, life style changes or any other type of treatment including online therapy. After diagnosis, a health care provider can help develop a treatment plan based on these diagnosis that could include medication, therapy or other lifestyle changes. These diagnosis can vary from person to person.

How to cope up with individual who has mental illness?

  • Break the stigma of mental illness. Accept the person and find a way to cure. Talk to mental health professional.
  • Discuss about such behavior of individual with professional help like – quiet or withdrawn from social activities, anxiety, outburst of anger, anti-social behavior. This may help you to develop a strategy for coping.
  • Establish a support network – If you cannot discuss with other family members, find a self help or support group. They listen and might offer advice.
  • Seeking counseling – Therapy is beneficial for both individual and family members. A mental health professional can suggest ways to understand illness better and suggest ways to cope up with.
  • Take time out – Attending constantly on someone who is suffering from mental illness is frustrating and one might get angry. Schedule time for yourself and help yourself to be healthy both physically and emotionally.

Don’t be afraid to reach out if you or someone you know needs help. Learning all you can about mental health is an important first step. If you know your family has history of mental illness talk to your doctor. Seek support, talk to your friends whom you trust, talk to your siblings or family members. Express yourself. There are people around you who will always listen and come to help.

References:

  • http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net
  • https://www.nami.org/
  • https://mental-health-matters.com
  • Image credit: Photo by Haidar Rais on Unsplash
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: October 13, 2017
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Home remedies of honey

Home remedies of honey

Home remedies (Benefits) of honey (continued …)

  1. Weight loss: Honey and lemon are two popular natural remedies for weight loss.
  2. Digestion: Adding honey to milk has beneficial effect on digestive system.
  3. Bad breath: Honey with cinnamon takes away the bad breath.
  4. Face mask: Honey with turmeric and curd is a good face mask to remove dead skin. Similarly honey with apple paste helps in skin rejuvenation.
  5. Asthma: Honey with black pepper powder is good to reduce asthma and breathing problem
  6. Cold and cough: Honey and grated ginger good for congestion and cough
  7. Insomnia: Study says honey contains tryptophan that helps in overcoming insomnia and promotes sleep
  8. Acid reflux: Honey can reduce acid reflux. Even though it is acidic in nature, after entering stomach it becomes basic and reduces acidity.
  9. Scrapes and burns: Honey applied on scrapes and burns will reduce the wounds.
  10. Herpes: To reduce herpes breakout honey can help
  11. Moisturizer: Honey with rose and almond oil acts as a good moisturizer and protects dry skin.
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: October 12, 2017
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Health Benefits of honey

Health Benefits of honey

Honey gives tremendous health benefits to humans. It has been in use from many centuries and is popular ingredient in home remedies. In India, it is one of the ingredient for religious purposes too.

  1. Sweetener: Raw liquid honey, used in tea and sharabath as sweetener.
  2. Dark honey: The darker the honey, it contains more antioxidants. Pinocembrin an antioxidant present in honey helps to improve brain functioning.
  3. Wounds: Honey can be applied on wounds (burn wounds) to heal.
  4. Immunity booster: Because of its anti-microbial and antioxidant property honey helps to improve digestive system and stay healthy and fight disease.
  5. Anti-cancer: Consuming honey reduces the chance of getting cancer as it prevents carcinogens and is anti-tumor
  6. Brain booster: It helps to reduce dementia by improving brain’s cholinergic system and circulation
  7. Reduces inflammation: Honey reduces body inflammation and chronic pain
  8. Cough remedy: Honey with other herbs (ginger, holy basil) reduces cough. There are many cough medicines available with honey as ingredient
  9. Sobering agent: Honey acts as a sobering agent in liver and reduces alcohol affect
  10. Self-detox agent: Honey with vinegar detoxifies the system
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Types of honey

Types of honey

Based on extraction and processed procedures honey types are:

  1. Comb honey: Taken directly from hives. Rich in fatty acids and help lower bad cholesterol. It also contains antioxidants and bee wax. One should be careful to consume this as it may cause gastrointestinal blockage.
  2. Liquid honey: Prepared by cutting and removing wax from comb. It is most common type of honey used by everyone. It is also used as sweetener.
  3. Granulated: Powdered form of honey obtained by drying and freezing the honey. It does not contain moisture. Granules can be turned into powder and are used in tea, cosmetic products, smoothies, juices, soaps etc.
  4. Creamed honey: Blend of granulated honey and liquid honey (9:1) and stored at low temperature to become firm (57 F). It makes it easy to spread on bread toast and sticks.
  5. Chunk honey: It is comb honey stored in jar with liquid honey poured on it.

Color of the honey depends on the plant sources in each area where bee hive is present.

  • Mild honey produced by plants like sweet clover, clover and alfalfa.
  • Dark, stronger honey: Health wise more popular is dark honey. It contains more antioxidant. Orange blossom, and other citrus trees, tupelo trees, wild sage, buckwheat, horse mint, basswood and the tulip tree and taste is mild.
  • Dark honey has very intense flavor. Tasmania leatherwood honey and Manuka honey both have unusual aroma. Other dark honey examples: Blackbutt, Jarrah, Thyme, Dandelion, Meadow, Heather, Chestnut, Honeydew. Buckwheat honey is darker in color.
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Will honey go bad?

Will honey go bad?

The honey we all buy from market that are available in bottles are heated, strained and processed to remove all particulates. It means there is nothing in the liquid to crystallize on. This will not spoil for many years!

Honey that we buy from local, small scale vendor will contain particulates and may contain pollens and enzymes. If you close it properly, it won’t spoil for long time.

Honey is not supernatural, it is natural and if you leave it out in humid environment it will spoil. If you add water in the bottle it will go bad.

Generally, honey jars that we get from farmers and bee keepers will not contain expiration date. Those available in supermarkets and shops are required to have expiration date for commercial purpose. Honey bottles are generally come’s with a stamp saying, “best before …” suggesting a shelf life period of 2 to 5 years from the day of processing/manufacturing.

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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