Sex hormones: The problem of too high or too low
It is all about sex hormones and controversy rages in the international arena whether star athletes should be tested for them in the light of a ruling that Olympic Gold Medallist sprinter Caster Semenya should take hormone suppressants. What are sex hormones, how is gender determined and what are the medical conditions that can [...]
Bedtime snacks for better sleep
Early birds or night owls, we all want to fall asleep when we lay our head on the pillow. Who wants to be tossing and turning and counting sheep, it doesn’t work all the time and then we wake up tired and groggy. When our stomach is growling, sleep will evade us, so go ahead, [...]
Easter Sunday attack survivors: Let them grieve
Nearly a month has passed by since the tragedy of the Easter Sunday bomb blasts. As the communities affected directly attempt to limp back to normalcy and the country as a whole tries to come to grips with what hit Sri Lanka on that fateful day, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Athula Sumathipala keeps stressing the [...]
Post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth – two sides of the same coin
What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger – Nietzsche On April 21, the series of bombs that exploded killing 253 persons and injuring over 500 left the nation in a state of shock. Less than a month later the sense of unreality and numbness still continues. More so because we have enjoyed a state of [...]
Instead, people should drink plenty of water or fluids and take painkillers.
Ditch cranberry juice for urine infections Drinking lots of cranberry juice is no way to fix a urine infection, say new draft guidelines from health body the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Although some studies have claimed it may help, NICE says there is not enough good evidence to recommend it. They [...]
The answer to ulcers? Maggots
A study from Iran has confirmed the healing power of maggots for infected wounds. Fifty patients with foot ulcers that had not healed for at least three months were divided into two groups. Both were treated with antibiotics and had their wounds cleaned; one group was also given maggot therapy, where live fly larvae were [...]
What is lupus?
May 10 was World Lupus Day – a global call-to-action on behalf of the millions of people affected by lupus. Imagine a disease that is so unpredictable that it can affect the entire body without ever being diagnosed, confusing doctors and sufferers alike. That’s lupus. But while, staggeringly 90 percent of sufferers are women, few [...]
