For the positive atmosphere it creates, many of us love the monsoon season, don`t we?! It is true that we don`t like excessive heat, sweating, bad odour etc that are common in the summer season as they would create a lot of discomfort for us. Not many of us would know that the monsoon season would also bring us infections and diseases etc in us. The presence of humidity and moisture would help the viruses, fungus and bacteria to breed. Mostly elders or senior persons are at high risk of getting infections etc especially in the monsoon season. There are certain tips that would help the elders to avoid infections in the monsoons season.  The tips By eating fresh and light meals: Meals that are easy to digest and that would boost the immunity levels must be eaten by the elderly persons during the monsoon season. The elderly persons must avoid eating street foods, cut fruits and raw salads etc as these foods could cause contamination. By drinking safe water: It was brought out by a doctor that hydration is importantand the seniors must drink boiled filtered water only. It must be noted that in the monsoon season water borne infections are very common and these infections might attack the elders. It is necessary to store the water in clean closed container. By making hygiene a priority: It is highly essential to have a good hygiene for the sake f the health to be good. In this regard, the elders must wash their hands regularly, cut their nails and must avoid contact with dirty water. This would help them to have protection against fungal and bacterial infections. By staying safe from mosquitoes: Especially in the monsoon season, diseases like dengue, chikungunya and malaria etc spread rapidly. In this scenario, the senior persons must use mosquito net or mosquito repellents and wear full sleeved clothes. More than these, it is highly important to make sure that the stagnant water during the rainy season gets cleared near the houses. By identifying the symptoms early: It is necessary that fever must be given importance in the elders and must not be taken casually. It must be note d that senioror persons who are affected by mosquito based diseases or viral diseases would show several symptoms like fever, body aches, chills, sore e throat etc. It is true that timely medical consultation is a must to avoid make treatment more effective and to avoid certain complications etc.

If you ask pre-menopausal women regarding the endocrine based disease they have, then the majority would reply as PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome!! Yes, PCOS is a very common endocrine disease that occurs in teenage girls and in other pre-menopausal women. It has been revealed that PCOS in women could cause issues like irregular periods, hirsutism or excess facial hair growth, acne, infertility and type2 diabetes etc. It was later explained by a famous gynaecologist that PCOS in young girls could occur due to fast food culture. Girls and other pre-menopausal women could get hormonal imbalance and menstrual disturbances by eating junk foods and due to unhealthy eating habits etc. Bigger impact of intake of junk foods: Bitter fact is that across the globe obesity in women has gone up to 26percent and up to 18percent in adolescent girls. Those with higher BMI or body mass index would have metabolic issues and gynaecological problems etc.  Point is that consuming junk foods would slow down metabolism, increase unhealthy weight gain, and cause hormonal imbalances. All these would lead to perfect conditions for PCOS to develop in the girls and pre=menopausal women. There is a strong link between intake of junk foods and menstrual issues especially in the pre-teen girls. The body`s calorie burning capacity would get lowered by frequent intake of fried foods and processed foods etc and insulin sensitivity would be disrupted resulting in obesity. As a result, hormonal imbalance would be created and this would affect menstrual health and reproductive health. Early habits and long term consequences: It is worthy to note that inappropriate food behaviours formed in the adolescence stage would persist in the adulthood stage too. It is true that women with issues like obesity, endometrial defects, hormonal imbalances etc would find it harder to conceive. Moreover, these women would also have higher risks of early miscarriage. Poor diet choices in the teenage years are responsible for these complications later on. It must be noted that harmless snacking in the teenage years can result in serious health issues later on in their lives. In such a scenario, it is good to eat home cooked nutritious foods, and staying active and these could protect the health of a woman. Treatments for PCOS: Lifestyle changes like diet modifications and regular exercises, intake of medicines prescribed for lowering cholesterol, regulating periods etc and finally regular medical checkups to monitor BP, blood sugar levels etc could help a woman to manage her PCOS well.

Intermittent fasting can be a double edged sword!! On one hand, it could help us to lose our excess body weight but on another hand it can also result in heart diseases in us. Shocking? The intermittent fasting has gained huge popularity in recent times. Here, persons eat their meals in a restricted time span of a few hours  (8 hours per day)and not eat any food for the remaining time of the day. Recently, research study has brought out that intermittent fasting could be dangerous as it can lead to heart diseases etc in us. The research has been published in Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome. In the research study, as many as 19000 individuals were taken into consideration. Point is that the research was based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey or NHANES. It was revealed by the research study that participants who restricted eating to an 8 hour time frame every day had 135% more chances of getting affected by heart related illness like heart attacks, strokes etc when compared to participants who eat food in the 12 hours to 14 hours range time.. Various reasons why intermittent fasting can result in above mentioned heart issues are Loss of lean muscle mass: By extreme fasting, loss of lean muscle mass would be there and this would not be good for the heart. Circadian rhythms: It must be noted that a diet that has too little time in the day might mislead the body clock and affect heart functions. Low quality of foods: Truth is that a person might over eat on energy dense and low nutrient foods during the period of consuming such meals. This could lead to risk to the heart. Body strain: It is learnt that prolonged fasting over a period of time would lead to strain on the body`s stress levels leading to adverse effects on the heart. Things to keep in mind during intermittent fasting: Please keep away from very short eating windows of less than 8 hours. It is necessary to eat heart healthy and weight healthy foods while eating in the windows. Watching out for symptoms like dizziness, palpitations, tiredness etc. Consulting a medical expert is very important t before beginning fasting routines. For heart health to be good, gradual calorie cutting plus good nutrition is important. Please take care it`s your health.