The Symptoms of Diabetes Publishes Details Information About Diabetes Symptoms

We’ve all seen the movie scenes where a man gasps, clutches his chest and falls to the ground. In reality, a heart attack victim could easily be a woman, and the scene may not be that dramatic. “Although men and women can experience chest pressure that feels like an elephant sitting across the chest, women can experience a heart attack without chest pressure, ” said Nieca Goldberg, M.D., medical director for the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health at NYU’s Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association volunteer. “Instead they may experience shortness of breath, pressure or pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, upper back pressure or extreme fatigue.”
Even when the signs are subtle, the consequences can be deadly, especially if the victim doesn’t get help right away.

‘I thought I had the flu’  Even though heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, women often chalk up the symptoms to less life-threatening conditions like acid reflux, the flu or normal aging.
“They do this because they are scared and because they put their families first,” Goldberg said. “There are still many women who are shocked that they could be having a heart attack.”

A heart attack strikes someone about every 34 seconds. It occurs when the blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely. This happens because the arteries that supply the heart with blood can slowly narrow from a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances (plaque).

Watch an animation of a heart attack.
Many women think the signs of a heart attack are unmistakable — the image of the elephant comes to mind — but in fact they can be subtler and sometimes confusing.
You could feel so short of breath, “as though you ran a marathon, but you haven't made a move,” Goldberg said.
Some women experiencing a heart attack describe upper back pressure that feels like squeezing or a rope being tied around them, Goldberg said. Dizziness, lightheadedness or actually fainting are other symptoms to look for.
“Many women I see take an aspirin if they think they are having a heart attack and never call 9-1-1,” Goldberg said. “But if they think about taking an aspirin for their heart attack, they should also call 9-1-1.”
Take care of yourself
Heart disease is preventable. Here are Goldberg’s top tips:

• Schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider to learn your personal risk for heart disease. You can also learn your risk with our Heart Attack Risk Calculator.
• Quit smoking. Did you know that just one year after you quit, you’ll cut your risk of coronary heart disease by 50 percent?
• Start an exercise program. Just walking 30 minutes a day can lower your risk for heart attack and stroke.
• Modify your family’s diet if needed. Check out these healthy cooking tips. You’ll learn smart substitutions, healthy snacking ideas and better prep methods. For example, with poultry, use the leaner light meat (breasts) instead of the fattier dark meat (legs and thighs), and be sure to remove the skin.

Heart Attack Signs in Women

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help. Call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.

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Persons with severe symptoms of mental illness are at higher risk for being HIV-infected

People receiving mental health care are up to four times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population, according to a new study published Feb. 13 in the American Journal of Public Health from researchers at Penn Medicine and other institutions who tested over 1,000 patients in care in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Of that group, several new HIV cases were detected, suggesting that not all patients are getting tested in mental health care settings, despite recommendations to do so from the CDC and the Institute of Medicine.
The study is one of the largest studies to date to estimate HIV prevalence and risk factors among persons receiving treatment in mental health settings and included researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the University of Maryland and Columbia University Medical Center.

"These findings paint a recent picture of HIV infection rates in the community, and reinforce how important it is to identify patients and get them into appropriate infectious disease care in a timely manner while being treated for mental illness," said lead author Michael B. Blank, PhD, associate professor in Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine. "With such a high-risk group, it's imperative to be routinely testing patients to improve care and reduce transmissions to others. Historically, though, HIV testing is often not implemented in mental health care."
For the study, researchers provided rapid HIV testing to 1,061 individuals (621 men and 436 women) seeking treatment for symptoms, including depression, psychosis, and substance abuse, at university-based inpatient psychiatry units, intensive case-management programs, and community mental health centers from January 2009 to August 2011. About 0.3 percent of the general population is HIV infected, and CDC estimates a much higher prevalence of 1.4 percent in Philadelphia and 1.3 percent in Baltimore, since both cities are HIV epicenters.
The research team found that 4.8 percent of the mental health patients receiving care (51 individuals) were infected with HIV, which is about four times the base rate in each city and about 16 times the base rate for the United States population. Thirteen of the 51 infected patients reported that they did not know they were HIV positive, which represents an important failure in our public health system since they were already receiving ongoing mental health care. These results suggest that even in areas in the U.S. where prevalence is lower those with mental illness may be at substantially higher risk and should be routinely tested.
Results of the study also showed that persons with more severe symptoms of mental illness were at higher risk for being HIV-infected. HIV prevalence was also higher among the groups most likely to be infected in the general population, including African American, gay or bisexual men, and those infected with Hepatitis C, which is often an indicator of past injection drug use.
Previous studies have found that people with serious mental illness are at an increased risk for being infected with HIV, but many were from the 1990s and early 2000s and produced wide variations in risk, most likely because of small sample sizes, differences in sampling frames, and inadequate adjustment for confounding effects of factors associated with the disease. What's more, the demographics of the HIV epidemic have shifted in the past decade, and the degree to which HIV prevalence among persons with mental illness has changed remains unclear.
Both CDC and the Institute of Medicine recommend routine HIV screening be conducted in all clinical settings, including mental health settings, to increase identification of those infected and strengthen access to care. However, little progress has been made toward integrating HIV testing into mental health care, said Blank.

"There are barriers to testing, be it funding, system-level barriers or access to rapid HIV testing, that need to be addressed in order to have a wider adoption," said Blank, who also serves as the co-director of the recently-established Penn Mental Health AIDS Research Center, alongside co-author David S. Metzger, PhD, director of the HIV/AIDS Prevention Research Division at Penn Medicine, and chair of Psychiatry Dwight L. Evans, MD.
"The results of this important study highlight the need for research into integrated treatments for people with complex, co-occurring conditions like HIV and mental illness," said Dr. Evans.
The health care system's approach to these patients may also play a role in the health disparities that are observed in them. Mental illness and HIV often times go hand in hand; however, today's system is not fully equipped to treat these co-morbidities in tandem. In order to achieve optimal outcomes, patients would be better served with a more integrated approach, rather than today's fragmented one.
Better integration of HIV testing in mental health settings is one example, the authors assert, that can help to relieve significant health burdens and even economic costs associated with these chronic illnesses. More specifically, it will help identify those who do not know they are HIV-positive, as well as improve linkage to and, presumably, retention in HIV medical care.

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5 Miscarriage Symptoms Every Pregnant Woman Should Know

Pregnancy is that happy moment in a woman’s life that brings with it a number of questions and queries. But, sometimes a problem-prone pregnancy can lead to an unfortunate miscarriage. Medical attention during pregnancy is as important as a healthy diet and rest.  Read on to know about the early signs of miscarriage, so that you can get immediate medical attention.

Dr. Jaydeep Tank, Gynaecologist, IVF Specialist, Programme Director and Board Member, Profert IVF Fertility Clinic, Mumbai says, “There are several signs of an impending miscarriage. However, these signs can also indicate other unrelated problems that are not connected to the pregnancy itself. Therefore, when a pregnant lady faces any problems out of the ordinary, it is best that she report to her doctor to establish a diagnosis”.

A miscarriage is the loss of foetus which usually happens at the early stages of pregnancy. The first 20 weeks of pregnancy are crucial and most miscarriages happen at that time. It is a fast and spontaneous effect that enables the women to act against it. If you are a first-time mom awaiting your little bundle of joy, there are some early signs of miscarriage you should be aware of.

“More than 80% of miscarriages occur within the first three months of pregnancy. Miscarriages are less likely to occur after 12 weeks gestation; these are termed second trimester miscarriages. In addition, women may be at increased risk for miscarriage as they get older. Some studies show that the risk of miscarriage is 12% to 15% for women in their 20s and rises to about 25% for women at age 40. The increased incidence of chromosomal abnormalities contributes to the age-related risk of miscarriage,” explains Dr. Tank.

Dr Kunal Doshi, Gynaecologist, Mumbai adds, “Miscarriages seldom happen post the second trimester and thus it is important for the new mom to take good care in the first few months of her pregnancy.”

Symptoms of miscarriage:

1. Cramps: There can be signs of strong cramping in your lower abdomen or the pelvic region and this is an early sign of miscarriage. “Cramps in the stomach during pregnancy are usually a sign of an underlying problem and must be checked with the doctor,” advises Dr. Doshi.  However, slow cramping is normal. You should be careful if the cramping is accompanied by heavy breathing. If you face heavy cramping and bleeding you need to go see a doctor immediately.


2. Bleeding: Though many women experience intermitted spotting all throughout the pregnancy, heavy bleeding indicates signs of miscarriage. This situation needs immediate medical attention.
“The cardinal sign of miscarriage is bleeding per vaginum. The problem may not indicate that the woman is aborting or miscarrying but any bleeding should be bought to the notice of the doctor,” says Dr. Tank.

3. Pain: A sharp pain in the abdomen is a sign of miscarriage in the early days of pregnancy. The pain may even spread and will be felt in the lower back or pelvic region. Contact your doctor and tell her all the symptoms. Preferably you should also go for a check-up just to make sure all is well. “Pain in the abdomen and pelvic regions could also indicate trouble,” says, Dr. Doshi.

4. Blood clots: When blood clots pass through the vagina in the early days of pregnancy, it is a sure sign of miscarriage and if you are able to spot this sign you should get medical help as soon as possible as it will help save the foetus.

5. Movement of foetus: The foetus usually begins to move in the fourth month of pregnancy. This is the time when the mother feels her baby moving and developing. If that movement has stopped, and there is no further development, it can be a sign of miscarriage. Contact your gynecologist immediately.

Timely prediction and awareness of the symptoms of miscarriage can save the foetus and even help it develop into a healthy child. About half of the women who experience early signs of miscarriage and get medical attention are able to carry the baby to the full term. Another well known fact is that women who go through one or two miscarriages can carry babies to their full term without any problem in future too.

Although Dr. Tank believes otherwise and says, “It is a myth that most miscarriages are preventable. Miscarriages can be avoided only in certain cases. Irrespective of the treatment, some miscarriages may still proceed and lead to an aborted baby.”

He continues, “A very large majority of miscarriages are due to chromosomal abnormality of the foetuses and since this genetically programmed into the foetus at the time of fertilisation, it is inevitable.”

According to Dr. Tank, around 10-15 % miscarriages are in the second trimester and these may be due to anatomical problems of the uterus or the cervix like cervical insufficiency where the mouth of the womb is weak and cannot hold the pregnancy back. Corrective measures could be taken in selected cases for these problems.

Miscarriages happen due to hormonal changes, infection or any health problem with the mother. It can also be due to unhealthy lifestyle habits of the mother like smoking, malnutrition, drug use, mother’s age and many more.

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