My Science School

Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow, or brown-yellow protein-rich fluid called liquor puris that accumulates at the site of an infection.

Pus is the result of the body’s natural immune system automatically responding to an infection, usually caused by bacteria or fungi.

Leukocytes, or white blood cells, are produced in the marrow of bones. They attack the organisms that cause infection.

Neutrophils, a type of leukocyte, have the specific task of attacking harmful fungi or bacteria.

For this reason, pus also contains dead bacteria.

Macrophages, another type of leukocyte, detect the foreign bodies and release an alarm system in the form of small, cell-signaling protein molecules called cytokines.

Cytokines alert the neutrophils, and these neutrophils filter from the bloodstream into the affected area.

The rapid accumulation of neutrophils eventually leads to the presence of pus.

 

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When sports professionals or teachers refer to fitness they divide the topic into three separate areas. These categories are Stamina, Strength and Flexibility.

Stamina (or endurance)

Stamina is the ability of your body to continue physical activities for an extended time. To improve your stamina you need to do more aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercises Include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling and even dancing. There are many classes offering different styles of aerobic exercise depending on your fitness level.

Aerobic exercises strengthen your lungs and heart, which means that more blood and oxygen can be pumped around your body to where and when it is needed most, and you can work for longer length of time without getting out of breath.

Strength (or power)

To increase your strength and power, and build up your muscles you need to concentrate on anaerobic activities. Strong, well developed muscles support your joints and lessen the risk of injury when you are doing sudden, explosive movements like sprinting or simply when you are lifting things.

If you have not finished growing it is ill advised to take up lifting weights, as you can do serious damage to your body

The best and fortunately the cheapest way to build up strength is to use your own body in resistance when training, eg push-ups, where your arms are pushing against the weight of your body.

Flexibility (or suppleness)

Flexibility is your bodies ability to go through all its regular movements without feeling any sort of pain. Stringy tissues called tendons fasten your muscles to your bones, without regular movement they can get tight and make it harder to do things like touch your toes or scratch your back.

Gentle stretching eases stiffness. You should always warm up your body gently before you start any physical activity.

 

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Feet can take a person from point A to point B, but they are subject to aches, pains, and smells along the way.

While most people will experience a case of smelly feet from time to time, some people live in fear of taking their shoes off.

Socks and shoes can cause foot sweating, which can worsen smelly feet.

Each foot has 250,000 sweat glands and produces about a cup (500 ml) of sweat daily. Excessive perspiration, combined with bacteria, can cause offensive foot odour. The bacteria that grow on the soles of feet actually produce gases similar to those released by bacteria used in producing cheese; hence the name ‘cheesy feet’.

However, if a person suddenly experiences a new onset of smelly feet, they should inspect their feet for signs of sores or cuts that could be infected.

A person can put a mirror on the floor and examine the bottom of the feet to look for any abnormalities. If their feet do have signs of wounds, a person should see their doctor. If they do not, they can try over-the-counter and at-home measures to reduce the incidence of smelly feet.

If a person’s smelly feet and excessive sweating cannot be controlled using home remedies, prescription treatments are available. A person should not suffer or feel self-conscious due to their smelly feet.

 

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Cough and sneeze etiquette refers to simple hygiene practices everybody can take to prevent passing on respiratory infections like cold and flu to other people.

It is especially important that people who are sick with cold or flu practice good cough and sneeze etiquette. However, infections like cold and flu can be transmitted even before symptoms like sore throat and cough let you know you’re sick. So even when you’re perfectly healthy, it’s important to practice proper cough and sneeze etiquette.

Cover your mouth and nose every time you cough or sneeze. Use a disposable tissue to cover your mouth or nose if possible. If a cough or sneeze sneaks up on you and no tissue is available, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve. This prevents your hands becoming contaminated with cold or flu viruses.

Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 15–20 seconds every time you cough or sneeze.

Wash your hands every time you touch a contaminated object like a tissue.

If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based hand sanitising products containing ? 60% alcohol. These products are also effective in removing cold and flu germs from contaminated hands.

 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelinesTrusted Source are to scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. If you have trouble keeping track, try humming the entire “Happy Birthday” song twice before rinsing.

Rushing the process can result in cross contamination and increased sickness.

A 2018 report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that up to 97 percent of us wash our hands incorrectly.

Knowing when and how long to wash your hands makes a difference in how often you and your family get sick, especially while the new coronavirus is active.

In one workplace study, employees who were trained in handwashing and hand sanitation practices used 20 percent fewerTrusted Source sick days due to improved hygiene.

 

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Bloating is a condition where your belly feels full and tight, often due to gas. When you are bloated, you feel as if you’ve eaten a big meal and there is no room in your stomach. Your stomach feels full and tight. It can be uncomfortable or painful. Your stomach may actually look bigger. It can make your clothes fit tighter.

Bloating happens when the GI tract becomes filled with air or gas. This can be caused by something as simple as the food you eat. Some foods produce more gas than others. It can also be caused by lactose intolerance (problems with dairy). 

Your doctor can generally diagnose the cause of your bloating through a physical exam in the office. He or she will ask you questions about your symptoms. They will want to know if your bloating is occasional or if it occurs all the time.

Temporary bloating is usually not serious. If it happens all the time, your doctor may order other tests. These could include an imaging test to look inside your abdomen. This could be an X-ray or CT scan.

 

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The stomach flu (gastroenteritis) is a nonspecific term for various inflammatory problems in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Food allergies may produce eosinophilic gastroenteritis, a sign of which is increased eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) seen in the blood. Children with the stomach flu or gastroenteritis have similar symptoms to adults, but also may have symptoms such as refusing to drink or being very thirsty.

The main way contagious causes of the stomach flu are spread is person to person via the fecal-oral route. Individuals at most risk of catching the stomach flu are those in close association with an infant, child, or an adult that has a viral or bacterial cause of stomach flu .

Stomach flu is diagnosed in most cases without specific tests, however, tests can help define the underlying cause. Home remedies may reduce symptoms of stomach flu, including diet changes. Most people with viral or mild bacterial gastroenteritis require no treatment. Some individuals may require symptom reduction with medications but more serious bacterial infections may require antibiotic therapy.

 

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Ulcers are sores that are slow to heal or keep returning. They can take many forms and can appear both on the inside and the outside of your body.

They can be found on places of your body you can see, such as a leg ulcer found on the skin, or in places you can’t see, such as a peptic ulcer in the lining of your stomach or upper intestine. From your eye to your foot, you can get them just about anywhere on your body.

Injuries, diseases, and infections can cause them. What they look like depends on where you have them and how you got them. While some go away on their own, others cause serious problems if you don’t treat them.

 

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The amount of water you consume affects how well your bones can do their job.

Water brings calcium and other nutrients throughout the body, including to your bones. You may know that kidney stones are comprised mostly of calcium, and they are partly a result of not drinking enough water. 

Toxins in our body, if not removed, built up in the bones. This manifests in several problems, including inflammation, weakening, and loss in bone density. Water is needed here to wash away these toxins.

Our bones also have several of other tasks aside from providing us a skeletal structure. For example, the marrow in bones produces red blood cells, which adds strength and mass to the bones. Water plays an important role here.

These are some ways how water plays a critical role in our orthopedic health. Of course, drinking enough water isn’t an absolute measure and doesn’t guarantee to get rid of bone and joint-related problems. It isn’t a miraculous practice that assures to have everything right. However, it is one of those little steps that can take you a long way, possibly ensuring you less orthopedic problems as you get older.

 

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Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don't replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated.

It’s normal to lose water from your body every day by sweating, breathing, peeing, and pooping, and through tears and saliva (spit). Usually you replace the lost liquid by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water. If you lose too much water or don’t drink and eat enough, you can get dehydrated.

People (and animals) lose water every day in the form of water vapor in the breath we exhale, and as water in our sweat, urine, and stool. Along with the water, we also lose small amounts of salts or electrolytes. Our bodies are constantly readjusting the balance between water (and salts or electrolytes) losses with fluid intake. When we lose too much water, our bodies may become out of balance or dehydrated. Most doctors divide dehydration into three stages: 1) mild, 2) moderate and 3) severe. Mild and often even moderate dehydration can be reversed or put back in balance by oral intake of fluids that contain electrolytes (or salts) that are lost during activity. If unrecognized and untreated, some instances of moderate and severe dehydration can lead to death. This article is designed to discuss dehydration in adults.

 

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In general, children and teens need about 6 to 8 cups of water a day. They should also eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, which are full of water.

When our bodies heat up—because of a hot day or because of physical activity, for instance—the brain alerts the sweat glands to produce sweat. The body cools itself by the evaporation of sweat from the skin. If dehydrated, the body can’t sweat enough to stay cool. Water is essential in keeping bowel movements regular and helping to prevent conditions such as urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

When kids are playing or exercising vigorously, or if it's very hot outside, they'll need more liquids to make up for the fluid their bodies lose as they sweat. Depending on their size, your child could need anywhere from four to 16 ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise.

If you're not sure if your child is drinking enough, keep an eye on how much they're urinating and what color their urine is. Well-hydrated kids will pass urine frequently and their urine will be clear. If this is not the case for your child, take it as a sign to increase their fluid intake.

 

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People with the disorder pica compulsively eat items that have no nutritional value. A person with pica might eat relatively harmless items, such as ice. Or they might eat potentially dangerous items, likes flakes of dried paint or pieces of metal.

In the latter case, the disorder can lead to serious consequences, such as lead poisoning.

This disorder occurs most often in children and pregnant women. It’s usually temporary. See your doctor right away if you or your child can’t help but eat nonfood items. Treatment can help you avoid potentially serious side effects.

Pica also occurs in people who have intellectual disabilities. It’s often more severe and long-lasting in people with severe developmental disabilities.

There’s no single cause of pica. In some cases, a deficiency in iron, zinc, or another nutrient may be associated with pica. For example, anemia, usually from iron deficiency, may be the underlying cause of pica in pregnant women.

Your unusual cravings may be a sign that your body is trying to replenish low nutrient levels.

People with certain mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), may develop pica as a coping mechanism.

 

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Emotional eating is the tendency of its sufferers to respond to stressful, difficult feelings by eating, even when not experiencing physical hunger. Emotional eating or emotional hunger is often a craving for high-calorie or high-carbohydrate foods that have minimal nutritional value. The foods that emotional eaters crave are often referred to as comfort foods, like ice cream, cookies, chocolate, chips, French fries, and pizza. About 40% of people tend to eat more when stressed, while about 40% eat less and 20% experience no change in the amount of food they eat when exposed to stress.

Warning signs for emotional eating include a tendency to feel hunger intensely and all of a sudden, rather than gradually as occurs with a true physical need to eat that is caused by an empty stomach. Emotional eaters tend to crave junk foods rather than seeking to eat balanced meals, and the urge to eat is usually preceded by stress or an uncomfortable emotion of some kind, like boredom, sadness, anger, guilt, or frustration. Other hallmarks of emotional eating are that the sufferer may feel a lack of control while eating and often feels guilty for what they have eaten.

A number of different health care professionals evaluate and treat emotional eating and may also help with weight loss when this contributes to overweight or obesity. As this symptom can occur at nearly anytime across the life span, everyone from pediatricians, family practitioners, and other primary care physicians may address this problem. Nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants may be involved in caring for emotional-eating sufferers. Mental health professionals who are often involved in assessing and treating this issue include psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, and licensed counselors. While any one of these practitioners may care for people who engage in emotional eating, more than one may work together to help the person overcome this symptom.

 

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Binge eating disorder (BED) is a type of feeding and eating disorder that’s now recognized as an official diagnosis. It affects almost 2% of people worldwide and can cause additional health issues linked to diet, such as high cholesterol levels and diabetes.

BED was first explained in 1959 by Albert Stunkard, a psychiatrist, and researcher, as Night Eating Syndrome (NES). The term Binge Eating Disorder was created to define similar binge eating behavior without the nocturnal aspect.

Though BED can occur in men and women of normal weight, it often leads to the development of unwanted weight gain or obesity, which can indirectly reinforce further compulsive eating.

Men and women suffering from BED struggle with emotions of disgust and guilt and often have a related co-morbidity, such as depression or anxiety.

Professional support and treatment from health professionals specializing in the treatment of binge eating disorders, including psychiatrists, nutritionists, and therapists, can be the most effective way to address BED.

Such a treatment program would address the underlying issues associated with destructive eating habits, focusing on the central cause of the problem.

It is necessary to concentrate on healing from the emotional triggers that may be causing binge eating, having proper guidance in establishing healthier coping mechanisms to deal with stress, depression, anxiety, etc.

 

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Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental health condition and a potentially life threatening eating disorder. However, with the right treatment, recovery is possible.

The exact cause of anorexia is not known, but research suggests that a combination of certain personality traits, emotions, and thinking patterns, as well as biological and environmental factors might be responsible.

People with anorexia often use food and eating as a way to gain a sense of control when other areas of their lives are very stressful or when they feel overwhelmed. Feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, anxiety, anger, or loneliness also might contribute to the development of the disorder. In addition, people with eating disorders might have troubled relationships, or have a history of being teased about their size or weight. Pressure from peers and a society that equates thinness and physical appearance with beauty also can have an impact on the development of anorexia.

Eating disorders also might have physical causes. Changes in hormones that control how the body and mind maintain mood, appetite, thinking, and memory might foster eating disorders. The fact that anorexia nervosa tends to run in families also suggests that a susceptibility to the disorder might partially be hereditary.

 

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