It’s "summertime, and the livin' is easy." But for kids, life during summer can be downright sweltering. Many activities—ball games, tennis clinics, band camp, and football training—take place during this hot season, and everyone is at risk for dehydration and heat illness when exposed to sun, high temperatures, and humidity.

However, children are at a greater risk because a child’s body surface makes up a much greater proportion of his overall weight compared to an adult. So before you send your youngster out to play, follow these tips and guidelines.

• Know the Signs of Dehydration
  The first signs of dehydration include thirst, dry lips and tongue, fatigue, lack of energy, and feeling overheated. The problem is that if kids wait to drink until they "feel" thirsty, dehydration has already started. The thirst mechanism does not kick-in until a child has already lost about 2% of her body weight through sweat.If left untreated, dehydration can become worse and bring on heat exhaustion (dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headaches, weakness, and muscle pain), which can lead to life threatening heat stroke (nausea, body temperature of 104 degrees or higher, vomiting, seizures, disorientation, lack of sweating, shortness of breath, unconsciousness, coma, and death).

• Treatment
  Getting your child out of the sun and to a cool place is the first line of defense if heat exhaustion occurs. Your child should take off excess clothing and bulky equipment, and drink plenty of chilled water. Apply cool, wet towels to the skin or have your child sit in a cool shower.

  Prevention is the Key!
  The good thing is that heat illnesses aren’t inevitable. A little prevention goes a long way:

  Get Acclimated The first line of defense against dehydration in children is slowly getting them acclimated to the summer heat and humidity. Spending time outdoors, playing in the heat, riding bikes, running, jogging, playing ball, and doing yard work will build up their bodies to handle the heat. Allow for regular breaks and encourage them to drink plenty of fluids.

  Drink Make sure your child drinks plenty of cool, plain water or sports drinks to stay completely hydrated. Regular breaks to drink fluids should be scheduled, even if your child is not thirsty. Regular fruit juice and soft drinks do NOT re-hydrate the body because they don't contain the right amounts of sugar and electrolytes.

  What About Sports Drinks? Sports drinks can be used to keep your child hydrated. In fact, children will often drink more because of the taste. However NOT ALL SPORTS DRINKS ARE CREATED EQUAL. Do not be fooled by fancy packaging and wording. Check the label and select a sports drink that meets these guidelines for active children:

  Eight ounces of a sports drink should contain at least 100 milligrams of sodium and at least 28 milligrams of potassium. It should also be non-carbonated.

• How hot is too hot? 
  A growing number of athletic programs are developing guidelines to determine when it is too hot to practice. In fact, many are restricting outdoor practice based on the heat index and temperature.

Cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco are made from dried tobacco leaves, and ingredients are added for flavor and to make smoking more pleasant. The smoke from these products is a complex mixture of chemicals produced by the burning of tobacco and its additives. Tobacco smoke is made up of more than 7,000 chemicals, including over 70 known to cause cancer (carcinogens). Some of these substances cause heart and lung diseases, too, and all of them can be deadly. You might be surprised to know some of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke include:

“Traditionally, fat and sugar are used as a preservative in the food industry for many years as this is what gives these products a long shelf life. Some brands of meat burgers, for instance, can be preserved in the frozen state for up to four years. Any processed or packaged food with a shelf life of more than three months is likely to have trans fat in it. The worst kind of product that contains trans fat are processed sausages, which mothers lovingly feed their children [as a snack or part of a meal]. They have a good percentage of trans fatty acids and as a staple food for children are highly avoidable.”

- Dr. Juliot Vinolia Rajarathinam

Clinical Dietitian and Consultant Nutritionist, 
GULF NEWS HEALTH, July 5, 2015.

It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness. Leisurely eating allows ample time to trigger the signal from your brain that you are full. And feeling full translates into eating less.

The prostate gland is a walnut sized gland situated below the bladder in men, surrounding the urethra or tube which carries urine and semen out through the penis. Its main function is to add volume to the semen.  It can be affected by infection, benign enlargement as a normal part of ageing or cancer.

How common is prostate cancer

After 50 it is one of the most common cancers in men and may affect 1 in 7 men over all. The incidence increases with age but in general  1 in 14 men aged 65 and 1 in 5 men aged over 75 can have prostate cancer. It is a slow growing disease and many elderly men with prostate cancer may ultimately die of other age related illness rather than prostate cancer. Also this slow natural history makes it possible to provide long lasting cure when it is diagnosed and treated early.

Predisposing factors for prostate cancer

Although the actual cause of prostate cancer is unknown it is well recognized that:

• It is more common in USA and Africa. Even second generation immigrants to these countries have a higher risk implicating unknown environmental factors.
• It is more common and aggressive in Black Americans, followed by whites, Asians and Indians have a low incidence and the lowest incidence is seen in Japanese men.
• If a male relative has the disease the chance is doubled.
• It is more common in people using diets rich in red meat(beef,pork,sausages,bacon,ham) as compared to vegetarian diets rich in green leafy and colored vegetables and fruits.

Computer & Desk Stretches

Poor sitting and standing ergonomics are the commonest causes for back pain, neck pain and headache.

Poor neck posture for prolonged period of time causes a classic tension across the shoulders, sometimes down the middle of upper back, up to the neck.

A forward head posture is the commonest cause for such pains. A forward head posture can eventually damage neck and upper stretches as they bend and rub at angles they were not built for. Doing some stretches in between long hours will release tension on the neck and will make you feel better. Maintaining a good posture, doing stretches in between long hours of work and proper exercises will reduce incidents of neck pain.

• Stretching should be done slowly without bouncing.
• Hold this feeling for 5-10 seconds
• As you hold this stretch, the feeling of tension should diminish. If it doesn’t, just ease of slightly into a more comfortable stretch
• After holding the easy stretch you can move a fraction of an inch farther into the stretch until you feel mild tension again
• This is the developmental stretch we should be held for 10-15 seconds
• This feeling of stretch tension should also slightly diminish or stay the same
• If the tension increases or becomes painful, you are overstretching. Ease off a bit to a comfortable stretch.
• The developmental stretch reduces tension and safely increases flexibility
• The key to stretching is to be relaxed while you concentrate on the area being stretched.
• You breathing should be slow, deep and rhythmical.
• If you have had any recent surgery, muscle or joint problem, please consult your personal healthcare professional before starting a stretching or exercise programme.

Few Easy steps to Stretch your body

Separate and straighten your fingers until tension of a stretch is felt. Relax, then bent your fingers at the knuckles and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat stretch once more.

• Shoulder shrug: Raise the top of your shoulders towards your ears until you feel slight tension in your neck and shoulders. Hold this feeling or tension for 3-5 seconds, and then relax your shoulder downwards into their normal position. Do this 2-3 times.It is good to do this exercise at the first signs of tightness or tension.
• With fingers interlaced behind head keep elbows straight out to side with upper body in a good aligned position. Now pull your shoulder blades towards each other to create a feeling of tension through upper back and shoulder blades. Hold this feeling of mild tension to 8-10 seconds, and then relax. Do this for around 3-4 times. This is good to do when shoulders and upper back are tensed or tight.
• Start with head in a comfortable, aligned position. Slowly hit head to left side to stretch muscles of right side of neck. Hold stretch for 10-20 seconds. Do not overstretch. Then tilt head to right side and let left side of neck muscles stretch. Do this exercise 2-3 times for each side.
• From a stable, aligned position turn your chin towards your left shoulder to create a stretch on the right side of your neck. Hold right stretch tensions for 10-20 seconds. Do each side twice.
• Gently tilt your head forward to stretch the back of the neck. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Repeat 3-5 times. Hold only those tensions that you feel comfortable with. The stretch should not be painful at all.
• Old your left arm just above the elbow with the right hand. Now gently pull elbow toward opposite shoulder as you look over your left shoulder. Hold stretch for 15- 20 seconds. Do this on both sides.
• Interlace fingers then turn palms upwards above your head as you straighten your arms. Think of elongating your arms as you feel a stretch through arms and upper sides of rib cage. Hold for 10-20 seconds. Hold only stretches that you are comfortable with, repeat this 2-3 times.
• Hold onto your lower leg just below the knee. Gently pull bent leg towards your chest. To isolate a stretch in the side of your upper leg, use the right arm to pull bent leg across and do this on both sides, towards the opposite shoulder. Hold for 30 seconds at easy stretch tension.
• Keep chin tucked in, not as tight so that it will hurt, but easily so that your ear is above your shoulder and not in front of it. Do this  a number of times in a day if you have a forward head posture

Studies show that one in four children has vision problems and half of parents with children 12 or younger have not taken their child to an eye doctor. most often, vision screening programs at schools pick up the most common problems. Eye doctors recommend to start getting eye exams at the age of six months. This is usually done by the qualified pediatricians with a few simple tests to make sure the baby's vision is tracking properly, that light is getting through to the retina and that there is no evidence of the eyes crossing.

Even if their eyes are fine, they should be seen again at 3 years old, and once more before they start first grade. 

Doctors stress that parents should talk to the child's doctor if they suspect a vision problem. It is said that, if vision problem is detected early, i.e at  the age of 3 or 4 years, children's eye conditions are very treatable. But if (eye diseases) are not caught until children are 8 or 9 years old, they may not have good vision for the rest of their lives.