Are Headphones Safe for Your Kids Ears?

These days, headphones join us on the bus, on the train, on the sidewalk, mid-conversation with a friend, and in the check-out line. These contexts might make it difficult to hear, which might lead us to turn the volume all the way up.

But how loud is too loud? A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that increasing the volume on your headphones to drown out background noise can increase your risk of hearing loss.

Brian Fligor, director of diagnostic audiology at Children's Hospital Boston, addressed this issue in a recent Time.com article. He explained when to be concerned about the use of headphones and what we can do to reduce our risk of hearing loss, such as lowering the volume or reducing listening time. As a recent New York Times article points out, other options include using earbuds that build volume safety into their hardware.

HIV AIDS

What is AIDS?
AIDS denotes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is caused by the HIV virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). AIDS is the final disease stage of HIV whereby the patient’s immune system is completely destroyed and the patient suffers from variety of problems.

Is AIDS the same as HIV infection?
HIV infection means that a patient is infected with HIV virus. A patient with HIV infection may look completely healthy (asymptomatic carrier state), may have opportunistic infections such as TB, pneumonia or may finally go into full-blown AIDS. AIDS is the condition where the patient’s immune system is completely destroyed and the patient succumbs to various infections, has wasting and develops symptoms such as cancers, fever and diarrhea.

REMEMBER, NOT EVERY HIV INFECTED PERSON HAS AIDS.

How does one get HIV infection?
o Unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person
o Sharing infected syringes and needles (as seen in drug abusers)
o Transfusion with contaminated blood & blood products.
Over 80% of HIV infection worldwide is sexually acquired.

In children, in addition to the above-mentioned routes of transmission, mother to child transmission during pregnancy, at birth or through breast feeding is the predominant mode of transmission and accounts for almost 80-85% of HIV infection in children.

What happens when a person acquires HIV infection?
Soon after contracting HIV, some persons may develop flu like illness with swollen lymph nodes, fever, malaise and rash lasting for 2 to 3 weeks. This is called as Acute (Primary) HIV infection. This stage is usually not seen in children as the primary infection is acquired at the time of pregnancy or at birth due to mother to child transmission.
Following the primary infection, a patient may remain and feel completely healthy. This is known as the asymptomatic stage. This stage usually lasts for 8-10 years in adults. However, in children this stage is shortened. During this stage, the virus is actively replicating in the body but the body’s immune system is also working hard to control the infection. Hence the patient remains asymptomatic. In children, the immune system is not fully mature. As a result, the virus soon overcomes the immune system and the patient starts manifesting signs and symptoms of the disease.
Once, the immune system breaks down, patient develops various infections such as TB, Pneumonia, Diarrhea, Herpes zoster etc. The virus may also affect various organs of the body such as lungs, eyes, gastrointestinal tract, brain, heart, liver and skin and cause various organ dysfunctions. During advanced stage of the disease, patient develops unexplained weight loss, fever; infections by unusual organisms and in adults’ rare cancers (Lymphoma & Kaposi’s sarcoma) can also develop. With development of AIDS, patient usually succumbs to the disease until and unless intervention with drugs is given.
I know an HIV infected person. Can I get HIV through such a contact?
No, HIV is not transmitted through casual contact at home or elsewhere. Sharing toilets, utensils, swimming pools, working in the same office, going to same school, insect bites do not transmit the virus.
There is also no risk of contracting HIV while donating blood, as all equipments used are sterile, used only once and discarded.

How does one test for the HIV virus?
Once a person gets HIV infection, the antibody against HIV appears in the blood only after 3-6 months after the virus has entered the body. The routine test (ELISA) detects the antibody to HIV virus. A positive test means that the person is infected with HIV. A negative test result means that no antibodies were detected at the time of the test. This would mean that either the person is uninfected or is in the window period (The period where the HIV virus is present in the body but antibodies have not developed). If there is a strong suspicion of exposure to the virus, a repeat test may be required after few weeks to overcome the window period. Confirmation of HIV infection can be done by other tests such as Western-Blot test. To detect the virus itself, tests such as PCR tests and viral culture are available. These tests are especially useful to diagnose HIV infection in infants as they may have maternal antibodies to HIV virus in their blood, which may give a false positive ELISA test. These tests can also be used to diagnose HIV infection during window period.

REMEMBER, A POSITIVE TEST DOES NOT MEAN THE PERSON HAS AIDS. IT INDICATES THAT THE PERSON IS HIV INFECTED.

Is there any treatment for HIV infection and AIDS?
At present there is no cure for this disease. Certain drugs called as antiretroviral drugs (ART) slow down the progression of the disease and can help the patient lead a normal, healthy life.
Certain vaccines are being developed against the HIV virus, however they are still in the trial phase.
Thus, the best treatment is prevention against the infection.

What are the precautions that an HIV infected person undertake?
First and foremost, the person suspected to have HIV infection should consult an HIV counselor and an HIV physician to understand the disease, various treatment options available and to ensure a normal healthy life as long as possible. Such a person should not have casual sex, should not donate blood or organs and in case of a female should avoid getting pregnant.

Adults should follow the following precautions:
· Advocate monogamous relationship with one uninfected partner.
· Avoid casual sex and practice safer sex (e.g., use of condoms)
· Do not inject drugs or share needles & syringes
· Receive only safe blood products
· Ensure that ear piercing; tattooing and acupuncture instruments are sterilized.

To avoid mother to child transmission of HIV following steps have found to be beneficial:
· ART to pregnant lady and to the baby after birth.
· Elective caesarian section (this prevents contact of baby to vaginal secretions at time of birth).
· Avoiding breast feeding (Breast milk is known to transmit HIV virus).

A pregnant lady should undergo voluntary testing for HIV infection and it found positive should consult an HIV specialist for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

All about Head Lice

What are head lice? Head lice (Pediculus Capitis) are insects that are found on human head on the scalp and hair. These insects are parasitic in nature and feed on human blood that they suck through the scalp. They are almost a quarter on size as compared to rice grain and somewhat brownish in color. Though they are difficult to spot especially when they are in hair, but they can be seen by naked eyes when you put strain on your eyes. How does one suspect that one has head lice? A head louse can be very irritating as it very hard to find in the human hair due to its color and causes itching. But whenever there is itching in head, doesn’t mean that there are head lice. The only sure indication is when you see a head louse (lice is plural for head louse) in head. Is head live seen in people with poor hygiene? Often it is confused that that people with bad hygiene are infested with head lice. Head lice has nothing to do with personal hygiene, and they spread when people come in contact with a person already affected by head lice. How do head lice spread? Head lice are wingless creatures and cannot fly or swim. They spread whenever a person comes in direct contact with an infected person, or maybe using a comb that an infected person is using, or may be through bedrolls and pillows which a louse may use to migrate to other person scalp. How did head lice come into existence? It would be interesting to know when did head lice started, but as in case of all living beings, nobody knows this fact. But it is assured that they have been accompanying humans since quite long. What is the life span of head louse? The life cycle of head lice is very small, approximately 40 days in total. There entire life cycle is divided in three phases, i.e. nits, nymphs and adults. Nits are somewhat off-white in color and these are eggs which are laid by female head louse. Nits are very difficult to be identified as they are very small and can be often confused as dandruff. Once nits are layed, it takes around a week’s time for these nits to hatch. After hatching, they lice are undeveloped and immature and are called nymphs. The life cycle of nymphs is approximately a week, but they are mature enough to suck blood during this period. After a week, these nymphs are developed in a fully grown adult head lice. They have six legs with claws which they use to hold the hair firmly to avoid falling from the head. An adult head lose lives nearly 30 days on a human head if it is lucky. If it falls from a human head, it will hardly survive for 48 hours if it fails to find another human host as it survives only on human blood. How fast can head lice multiply? A female head louse can start laying eggs within 10 days of adult lifecycle. A female louse can lay upto 100 eggs during her entire life cycle on the human head. Not all of them hatch, hence at a time not many head lice are present in the head. How can head lice be prevented? Avoid use of others comb, caps, and mufflers. Make sure that the bed lines have been properly cleaned before you lie on it. Avoiding head to head contact if you know the person is infested with head lice. Though these are golden rules for head lice, it is very hard to make them follow to children’s. Hence it is found that most of the infected people are children. Can head lice be removed without medications? If you want to avoid applying medicated lotions, you might prefer wet combing or combing on oiled hair with special fine comb as the best option. These combs are designed specifically for head lice, as the space between two teeth of comb is very small, which avoids the louse getting slipped through it. Also as the hair is wet or oiled, the grip of lice on hair is comparatively weaker as compared to dry hair. The only problem comes when you have to comb again and again, which sometimes can leave a burning sensation on the scalp

What is Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction ?

Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction

My baby has excess watering of the eyes. What is the cause? Nasolacrimal duct obstruction is the commonest cause of watering of eyes in infants. Nasolacrimal duct is the duct that drains the tears from the eyes to the nose. In most of the children, the nasolacrimal duct opens before the first birthday.  What are the signs and symptoms of nasolacrimal duct obstruction? The most common symptoms of nasolacrimal duct obstruction are excess tearing and mucus discharge. This may lead to recurrent red eyes and infections. The excessive tearing can produce secondary skin changes on the lower eyelids as well.  What is the treatment for nasolacrimal duct obstruction?  Massage of the nasolacrimal sac leads to relief of obstruction. Antibiotics may be required for recurrent infections. In children in which the nasolacrimal duct obstruction does not resolve, probing is the surgical treatment.