Category: Health

Black Fungus Crisis In India! Symptoms, Cause, Treatment

What is Mucormycosis or Black Fungus? What are it’s symptoms, causes and treatment? Why there is sudden rise in cases of it? And who is at most risk?

Black Fungus

From the past few days, many cases of black fungus are found in India. Black Fungus or Mucormycosis is a very rare and a dangerous fungal infection that could even lead to death. This disease was made notifiable to public by government of India on thursday after asking states to report detail of confirmed and suspected cases to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.

Black Fungus cases have been confirmed in 18 states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh. Most of these have confirmed it as a notifiable disease. Some states have also declared it as an epidemic like Gujarat, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and union territory of Chandigarh.

Mucormycosis is a very rare and deadly infection caused by exposure to mucor mould. It is present everywhere including the surroundings like soil, plants, decaying fruits and vegetables and even in nose and mucous of healthy people as per Dr. Nair.

It affects brain, lungs, sinus, eyes and other parts and could be extremely dangerous, especially in the case of diabetic individuals or those with very low immunity such as patients of cancer or AIDS.

Basically the floating fungal spore is the cause of it. It can enter your body through any cut in your skin and cause infection. But it is more dangerous if it travel through nose or sinus.

The reported cases of this infection are usually those who were under treatment or were recovered recently. The overusage of steroids is triggering this fungal infection.

Those who are under treatment of Covid 19 are given steroids so that inflammation in their lungs could be reduced. But these steroids also result in reducing immunity and pushing up the sugar levels of infected whether he/she is diabetic or not. It is believed that reduction in immunity and a high increase in sugar level is the primary cause of it.

The disease is having a dangerous mortality rate of about 50%.And if not treated earlier, the doctors have to remove affected part by surgery to save the patient.

Black Fungus symptoms:

  • Sinus Pain
  • Nasal Blockage
  • One sided headache
  • Swelling or Numbness
  • Toothache
  • Loosening of teeth
  • Chest Pain
  • Blurry vision
  • Blackness in skin

Who are at most risk?

  • Recently recovered people from corona
  • Diabetic people
  • People with low immunity
  • People who intake lots of steroids
  • People suffering from Cancer or Aids

Prevention for Black Fungus

  • Use masks
  • Wear long sleeved clothes
  • Wear shoes
  • Maintain personal hygiene
  • Exercise
  • Control Diabetes
  • Maintain Blood Sugar Levels
  • Reduce steroids
  • Keep hydrating yourself
  • Discontinue immunomodulating drugs

There is no specific treatment of black fungus till now. The only option to cure it is by surgery which makes this disease more dangerous. As the infected people have to get their eyes, jaw or any part of body that is infected to cure it.Overall currently in this tough time, one need to stay at home, stay fit, have a healthy diet and exercise. Try to keep your immune system strong and keep patience in current situation.  

 

White fungus – Another deadly disease?

  

 
 
Following black fungus ( mucormycosis), another severe fungal infection has been reported in the country – white fungus. The first case was reported in Patna, Bihar and several other cases have been reported since then. The disease is caused by fungal molds called mucormycetes present naturally in the environment. Though not contagious it can be easily contracted by immuno-suppressant patients. 
  What are the symptoms?

  The infection is more deadly and lethal compared to black fungus according to experts in the field. Besides pulmonary infections, it affects skin, stomach, kidney, private parts, nails, and mouth. The symptoms are very similar to COVID including breathlessness, chest pain, cough, inflammation, swelling, and headaches. Usually, patients go for an antigen test or an RT PCR on seeing such symptoms but get a negative report. The white fungus can be detected by a CT scan or an X-Ray.   

 Who is the most affected?
The infection is primarily seen in COVID patients who have taken steroid medication as steroids reduce immune responses. Patients with low immunity like diabetes patients and cancer patients can be easily infected. Patients on oxygen support are more likely to be infected. The affected are treated with antifungal drugs and they have been showing improvement.   
   How to prevent it?
Both black fungus and white fungus can be prevented by boosting immunity. For non-COVID-affected people, staying healthy and having nutritious food is the key and for COVID-affected patients avoiding overuse of steroids is necessary. Steroids should be used only if the oxygen levels drop significantly.   
Though many reports of white fungus being four times more deadly than black fungus surfaced, India today reported that white fungus is just a common fungal infection called Candidiasis that usually affects humans. According to the report, there are many drugs available to treat this, fluconazole being the common one.  
The fungal mold causing white fungus is present abundantly in the environment therefore Immuno-suppressant patients can easily contact it through water or even from the oxygen cylinders. There have been 5 cases reported in Patna so far and one case is suspected in Uttar Pradesh. Officials have said that it can affect pregnant women and children too. We need to be cautious and boosting immunity must be our priority.

 

Depression

Many people will walk around and talk about being depressed. Truly in every way, this is the most prominent topic to talk about.

What is depression?

Depression is not a disease in a person well it is a general emotion that comes when you have a lot of suffering inside. Not gaining what you always wanted to have, or put all the effort and unable to accept the failure, maybe because a group of people made you feel that this work isn’t made for you or you are not capable of the same. These are just some examples but other than this there is a lot more to talk about on its topic. There are probably 100s of reasons favoring the cause of Depression.

Death note

Personally taking my view into consideration. I find that keeping something that had happened maybe a failure or lost someone very close to you, makes you depressed.

But pals there exist no way in which you hide things and keep that up to you and be fine the next day.

NO!! If you are feeling bad about something, it can be about anything. Remember to talk to people, share your issue whatever is bothering you from inside, or anything making you stop from doing anything.

There are many medical prescriptions and necessary treatments for this but till the time you don’t talk about the issue depression phase can’t be recovered. Answer in each way is a big NO. Just share your issue with anyone who is close to you or someone who really understands and is a good listener. Just speak out other than keeping it.

Maybe the issue would be really scary or something personal (taking into consideration). It may be about being tortured or Someone continuously blaming you for any past event that occurred.

 

TIPS TO CURE DEPRESSION:

  1. Consult a counselor
  2. Talk to your close friends
  3. Read a book
  4. Go on a trip
  5. Avoid being alone
  6. Avoid taking sleeping pills or overdosage any medicine

It is totally admitted that being very honest in the 21st century isn’t fortunate for you. There exist an infinite number of people who will betray you, disobey you, bully you, torture you to do something against your will.

Forcing someone without knowing his/her will is terribly insane thought an individual can have. It is like living in a society when the nation didn’t get its freedom. It’s a very cruel thought.  Each one has got all rights to decide what he/she wants to do. And forcing them without their will is truly unsupportive by society. Maybe society may judge you, but you need not stop okay!!

Whatever is blowing your head talk about it. If you still do not find anyone to talk with there are many counselors who will help you to get rid of the trouble. The quality of a counselor is that they are good listeners and will totally understand what you really want and will give all possible ways you can solve it. You can easily find counselors on different web portals on Google.

It is highly recommended that stay away from the people who make you feel that level bad and just make a distance. Stay surrounded by people who are really positive and understand you and who don’t put you in trouble.

Just be happy every problem has a solution there exists nothing which can’t be understood. Think about it twice. Do not take any bad decision of ruining a life, giving up, or anything. Everyone has got the potential to defeat every failure. Stand up and prove to those assholes that you can do everything.

Stay Alert! Stay confident! and Never stop Good luck!!

 

Stay positive even if it feels like your life is falling apart

 

 

 

 

 

 

The secret to curing much faster from Corona

The secret to curing much faster from Corona

Corona disease has adversely affected the life of everyone in some or another way. The government, police, doctors are contributing to saving the lives of corona sufferers. It is rightly said that Doctors are the second God to give life and proudly we all can say and should find reasons to always uplift them with our appreciation. All of us care about just two things. The first is earning and the second is getting good health and secure life. And what if it is a matter of giving up your life, in no way we all would agree on giving life to someone you don’t know and either save their life. And doctors are one of them who are working all day curing several covid patients. It is almost more than a year since the pandemic and still, we are finding ways to defeat coronavirus.

Ways to cure yourself of corona disease:

  1. Drink warm water:

Avoid having cold water directly from the fridge, either prefer to drink warm water throughout the day and practice to have it on daily basis. Not only corona patients should drink warm water but also other members of your family too. The reason is that viruses can be easily killed by consuming warm water as it is proven to kill viruses and doesn’t allow viruses to enter the body.

 

  1. Kadha:

Let me tell you this is the best remedy which anyone can have and make using some easy steps.

Step 1: Boil water

Step 2: Add some cloves

Step 3: Add Black pepper

Step 4: Add a pinch of turmeric powder

Step 4:  Add Tulsi leaves

Step 5: Add a pinch of black salt

Boil all ingredients for about 5 minutes and serve them hot to the patient suffering from the disease.

 

  1. Exercise regularly:

Practice exercising regularly along with yogasana, pranayama, and meditation for at least 30 minutes a day. This would not only make the immune system stronger but along with will make you feel fresh and better together giving the inner positivity.

 

  1. Consume Hot food

Try to add hot ingredients in the food that can keep the body warm from the inside.

This can be done by adding spices like turmeric, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander are recommended in cooking

 

  1. Isolation:

This is not a much-needed point, but yes an alert to alert yourself and isolate as soon as possible after you find any symptoms or change in the body according to the guidelines provided for the detection of covid. Do not step out in any other room or outside your home.

Patients under home isolation will stand discharged and end isolation after at least 10 days have passed from the onset of symptoms (or from date of sampling for asymptomatic cases) and no fever for 3 days. There is no need for testing after the home isolation period is over.

 

  1. Maintain hygiene:
  • Take bath twice daily.
  • Ensure you brush your teeth, clean your tongue and clean the used brush and other things well enough to use on the next day.
  • Ensure you change your clothes strictly and wash them and allow them to dry in presence of sunlight to get viruses killed.
  • Separate your utensils with others and also wash them separately.
  • Also ensure that you keep on washing your toothbrush daily, as your mouth already has a virus inside. Therefore cleaning your toothbrush will make you riskless.
  • Always keep your mask on, if you go out of your room this will ensure that your family should stay away from the virus you are infected

 

Most importantly be happy, don’t stress out yourself. Read a book you like or invest your time in what you like doing much. Watch your favorite show and call people you like talking too and you will surely get better soon.

Fight like a warrior

Mental Health: Best ways to take care of it

Mental Health problems have persisted for a long time. However, in the context of India, mental health problems were only being highlighted, and precautions to take care of them were only started to be given in the contemporary context.

Mental health is defined as the well-being of the state of mind of a person. The sanity of a person is measured in terms of mental health. The more sane and cheerful the person is, the better their mental health is doing. If the person is depressed and has feelings of sorrow, fear, or so on in the presence or absence of such emotion-causing factors, the person is said to be having mental issues.

The prevalent notion is that mental issues lead to insanity. However, this is not always the case. The word “mental” has been vilified by society. Its original meaning was lost and was replaced with the meaning of “insanity.” This notion is being slowly changed by society by the rising number of counselors and therapists.

How does one take care of their mental health?

Mental health is just as important as a person’s physical health. It is directly connected with physical health as well. Any imbalance with one will affect the other. Keeping one’s physical and mental health is the key to a good lifestyle. Here are a few points on how to take care of your mental health.

  • Know what stresses you out: Knowing what stresses you out is winning half the battle. It may be exams, confrontation, or anything. Knowing what stresses you out will help you recognize those fears or anxiety and handle them better. For example, if you have a fear of examination, the best way to overcome it is to continuously take a lot of mock tests to familiarise yourself with the examination conditions. Similarly, know that each problem has a solution. If you are stressing out, figure out what is causing your stress and strike the problem at its root.
  • Talk to your friends or family: The best way to overcome and keep your mental health in top condition is to socialize. This may include talking to friends, hanging out with them, or talking to your family members. You can only indulge your secrets to those who are close to you. Hence, talk to your friends if you are facing any mental health issues. If you have depression or anxiety, tell your friends, they will be able to help you out and cheer you up. Know that there will be people out there to help you overcome the challenges.
  • Exercise: Exercising will release endorphins which make your body feel ecstatic and happy. This not only keeps your physical health in the top condition but will also keep your mental health good as well. It has been found out that exercising has helped a lot of people suffering from depression. People who worry about their physical appearance are more likely to fall into depression. Hence, it is advisable to hit the gym and lift weights to keep both your physical and mental health good.
  • Seek out things that you like: If you are a person who loves to dive into the fantasy worlds of books, please do so. It will help you out a lot. It will give your mind a much-needed break from reality, and you will feel more refreshed once you are done. You could also watch your favorite movie or TV series, whichever you like more. Doing things that make you happy will increase your mental health. It will be much better if you can seek out things that make you excited and happy. In most of our lives, we seek out things that never make sense in the end. That is why it is important to learn new things that you like and do things you love.
  • Meet a therapist: If things are really bad and you feel like you are in a constant pit of despair every single moment of your life. It would be best to approach a therapist, who will then guide you and help you out tremendously. Do not fear that you had to resort to this. This is the only best solution to taking care of your mental health.

Mental problems plague most of us. The only thing that defines a person is how they can overcome those problems effectively and bring out a better person from within themselves.

Cyclone Tauktae

The Tropical Cyclone Tauktae has crossed Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Mumbai. The cyclone made it way north towards Gujarat on Monday evening.


There were heavy rains along the regions covering the coastline of the Arabian Sea. The winds blew stronger and the rains were heavier today in Maharashtra. Even though many cities are still in lockdown and everyone is safely in their homes sheltered the cyclone has caused a few damages and also cost lives. The state of Maharashtra has also experienced heavy rainfall rains in Konkan, Mumbai, Palghar, Raigad and Thane regions on 17th of May that is Monday.


The Indian Meteorological Department or IMD had informed that Mumbai is not under the direct threat of the cyclone Tauktae. However, it was predicted to pass through the sea cost of Mumbai. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is mainly responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and studying the changes in the tectonic plates and prediction of earthquakes and other natural disasters.
The news channels showed pictures of the sea, the high tides, water getting accumulated on the roads causing the vehicles to get stuck, potholes getting filled with rain water and trees falling on the road. The power lines have been cut off in some areas for a certain period of time and issues in the internet connectivity is seen due to the cyclone.


15 fishermen who went to sea are found missing in Kozhikode. Kozhikode is also know as Calicut, a city in Kerala. The water level in many dams across Kerala increased immensely after heavy rains were seen. The Cyclone Warning Division of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that the wind speed is expected to increase to 150-160 km per hour. Around 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from low lying coastal areas in Gujarat and 54 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in Gujarat beforehand.
It is very important that we keep ourselves updated with the latest incoming news regarding the cyclone in order to keep ourselves braced and prepared for emergency situations like this.


Precautions to take when informed about a cyclone beforehand are given below:
Keep the mobile phones fully charged for emergency.
Keep in handy the emergency numbers of Disaster Management National / District / Region or Maharashtra Control Room contact information.
Do not keep the mobile phone on charging and use it simultaneously.
Make sure that torches or other emergency lights are in working condition.
It is important to keep food, especially medicines and other essential things stored in the house to avoid stepping outdoors unnecessarily.
Keep the important documents handy and keep them all together in a safe place.
The gas pipeline should be switched off when not needed.
Stay away from broken buildings and structures since they are more prone to damage.
Vehicles should be safely parked in the areas where there is less possibility of water getting accumulated.

6 easiest weight loss tips you can practice now!

Are you the one who wants to lose weight while eating junk food? Well, today is your lucky day, because this is possible! As I was thinking about losing weight, I worried about food constraints, workout strength, and scheduling. I kept on researching for easier and adaptable methods and I learned some amazing and unique weight loss tips.

Weight loss does not always associate with body image. It is also a means of being healthy for some and a professional requirement for others. All we need is motivation to act. Remember why you want to do this and DO NOT BE AFRAID to start now. Baby steps are fine and the results will amaze you!

If you are working from home like me, you must have plenty of time and resources. If not, all the more reason for you to read my tips. Imagine yourself after achieving your desired weight! I am losing at least 3KGs per month since then!

  1. First dose: Start your day with a glass of lukewarm water mixed with 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 medium-sized lemon. This tonic not only helps in weight loss but also helps in the proper digestion of your subsequent meal or breakfast.
  2. The 5-minute breaks: If you don’t have time or interest for 40-60 minutes of continuous exercise daily, 5-minute breaks are very important for you. This way, you don’t have to plan or do every exercise in one go. Whenever you are sitting or standing for long hours, take a 5-MINUTE GAP EVERY HOUR to practice some easy weight loss ‘Yogasanas’ and do some stretching. You can also play a song and enjoy aerobic dance for 5 minutes. Maintain the intensity. Remember, unless you sweat, you have done little. If you take at least 8 breaks a day, you are giving 40 minutes to it daily, which is ideal. If you have time, you can escalate the duration of the break. If you are in an office and you can’t do it there, do it in the lounge, bathroom, parking basement, or terrace. You know you can find a place. *winks*.
  3. Walk: If you are not in quarantine, wear a mask, and instead of driving, walk to the nearby stores for buying grocery or stuff which is available nearby, instead of driving. (You are also helping in environmental protection.) If you do phone calls, walk every time you are on a call. Stop just sitting or standing while you talk on call.
  4. 3-hour meal plan: You need to do your homework and maybe need some help with it. Search and note the healthiest recipes which are also tasty. Choose one for each meal and stick the plan on your kitchen wall. The food needs to be tasty, otherwise unwanted cravings! Your meal plan goes like this: Eat small portions of food every 3rd hour. Yes, that’s just it!
  5. Tiffin: Keep a tiffin filled with fruits, and have them in between the meals whenever you feel hungry. Eat them, make juice or shake. But do not add sugar. You can also freeze it and eat it like ice cream. Vegetable juices are also a very healthy option. I suggest, eat the fruits and drink the vegies. The sweet taste of fruits compensates for the sour taste of vegetable juice.
  6. Eat junk food: Yes, you can, but in calculated proportions. If you are okay with not eating junk at all, it’s best. Otherwise, plan your junk diet as well. Out of your favorites, make a list and ideally have one meal of junk in every two weeks. If it’s difficult, make it once a week. Remember, only one meal of junk. Don’t overeat. Don’t force yourself into not eating junk for months. Because if you do, there is a 70% chance of you snapping and eating junk every day due to long-standing cravings.
  7. Celebration: Sunday is not an exception. Celebrate your Sunday by relaxing, dancing, and a bit of exercising. Work your body out for a minimum of 40 minutes. Sunday is not an excuse for unplanned junk. Keep track of your parties, so that you can plan your junk meal accordingly.

As the World Health Organization states, “Health is a state of complete mental, social and physical well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” And Gautam Buddha knew “To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep the mind strong and clear.”

Bioenzymes : Feed Your Soil

Bioenzymes are organic soil growth supplements which has natural and essential nutrients to replenish the soil. Also known as “Jeevamrit“, does exactly what the name says!
It contains growth stimulants like potassium humate, amino acids, vitamin B complex, probiotics as well as blends of various enzymes like proteases, lipases, amylase, etc. Proteases breaks down bigger proteins into smaller amio acid units. Lipases acts on fats molecules and Amylase breaks down carbohydrates like starch.

Benefits of using bioenzymes:
Talking about the benefits, it works miracles. The enzymatic activity increases the concentration of good bacteria thereby, increasing the overall biological activity of the soil. It also increases the NPK levels, boosting plant growth and the difference is quite visible. Plants appear greener and fresher. Flowers are more fluffy n bright. Fruits, bigger and better resulting in good yield. Its a good natural herbicide, insecticide and pesticide which repels pests, enriching the soil of your home garden and orchards, helping plants to grow well in full potential.

Bioenzyme : works miracles

Bioenzymes : DIY
Making bioenzymes at home is extremely easy and simple. All you need is water, fruit peels and jaggery in 10 : 3 : 1 ratio. The peels could be dried or fresh, whatever is available. Even rotten fruits could be put to use. Do not replace jaggery with sugar. Chop the fruit peels into small pieces and mix them all together in an air tight container. Smaller the fragments, better the results. And that’s all! To speed up the process, a pinch of yeast is added. It would be ready to use in a month. If you don’t want to add yeast, have patience and wait for 3 months. Make sure that you don’t fill the container completely. Leave some space, about 1/4th, for the gases to evolve during fermentation. Don’t forget to open the container and stir once in a day or two for at least a few weeks. This is because the gases evolved should be released time to time or the container may explode.

Strain the liquid in a separate bottle for convenience. The fruit peels could be used to make next batch or it could be decomposed to add to the fertility of soil. As long as you maintain the proper ratio, results would be the best!

Vegetable peels can also be utilized but fruit peels, preferably citrus peels are used as they are full of antioxidants and the final product has a very pleasant fruity smell. Even flowers like dahalia are used to make bioenzymes. They have a mild fragrance which gives an aesthetic touch to your house and garden.

How to use bioenzymes?
Bioenzymes could be used in multiple ways. It acts as an excellent cleaner and could be replaced with floor and bathroom chemical cleaners which are extremely polluting & lead to fat bergs in the sewer system. They are also used in rest rooms as surface cleanerns, odour eliminators and even more!
Bioenzymes can be added to the plant roots as liquid fertilizer, mixed with water in the ratio 1:50. Its good to always start with a more diluted solution.
Or it can be applied as foliar spray. Just add a teaspoon of it to 1 litre of water and there you go! Spray it all over the plants. It could be added once or twice a week depending on the vegetation.

Happy Gardening!

Too Much Information- Source of your stress?

Input overloading. Information overload concept. Young woman running away from information stream. Concept of person overwhelmed by information. Colorful vector illustration in flat style

Too much information is harmful for us, yes you read that right. In this age of internet, we are surrounded by so much information on all sides, its actually adding onto our stress levels. With so many sources of information just at the palm of your hand be it work related, entertainment or political, we do not even realize how little of it is actually important for us.

“We are now so preoccupied with keeping up with the bombardment of new facts, new developments, and new points of view that we have no time to listen to the past, or reflect on even the most recent history, much less to make a judicious reckoning of its significance.”

-Regis McKenna, public relations specialist.

Due to information overload in workplace, the employees have to deal with tension between work colleagues and loss of job satisfaction. This amount of stress is affecting the health of the employees and even their personal relationships suffer.

Having too much information interferes people’s ability to make decisions and most of the time is wasted in collecting and searching information. Many people believe that internet is the prime cause of information overload over the years. Wherever you go on social media, be it a social networking site or even our e-mail accounts, it is all filled with so much content totally irrelevant, but we scroll through it anyway, reading and taking in most of it anyway even after knowing that it would be of no use to us.

We should be smart enough to decide how much information we actually need. The key is to ‘filter’ and be selective in our information intake. We know it very well that it’s impossible to gather and analyze all the information related to your work and doing so would leave us no time to complete our necessary task.

Most of the information we absorb on a daily basis is largely irrelevant, both to our business and to our personal lives. So much of it is either sensational or celebrity focused, earlier most of the people depended on it to kill their boredom, but now when we are already so busy, we don’t even have the time to be bored but yet continue to do so.

All we need to do is a social media detox and save some time by cutting low content media from our diet and make sure the content that we are following is beneficial to us in some way. Keeping only the useful and content of our interest will help us to keep our stress levels in control, after all we use the internet as way to release our stress so it should definitely not be a source of it.

Glassophobia 🎤🤐😰

Glassophobia & shyness are two different things. But people often misunderstood themselves as shy.If you also think that you are just shy of speaking in public, then you need to rethink if it’s just shyness or something worser than this, a phobia of public speaking.

Shyness when crosses the limits then turns to the glassophobia.Sometimes the past negative experiences cause or intensify the fear. It all starts with the thoughts like what will people think about me ? what if I will stumble over my words ? what if I will forget what to say ? what if people start laughing at me ? With time these thoughts intensify and may cause physical and mental problems. Sometimes it may cause the person to suffer from inferiority complex.

Glossophobia is the medical term for the fear of public speaking. It isn’t a dangerous disease but yes it can lead to stress in the extreme cases. It may be due to lack of preparation , & in this case it doesn’t cause that much harm. It’s cause may be one of the most common psychiatric disorders, . Social anxiety disorder.

Anxiety due to lack of preparation or due to amaturity is common to many.In fact, some experts estimate that as much as 77% of the population has some level of anxiety regarding public speaking.Of course many people are able to manage the fear.

But about 10 percent are genuinely terrified and are physically debilitated by even the thought of public speaking. True glossophobics will go to great lengths to avoid speaking in a group situation.If you are the one who faces problems in work,school or in social life due to this anxiety, then it’s possible that you suffer from a phobia of speaking out.

Even the thought of presentations, group activites & answering a question can cause the anxiety.Such people start thinking of excuses to avoid the events where they are going to be the centre of attention.

Physical symptoms of glassophobia may include – Sweating , Increased heart rate , Raise in blood pressure ,Dry mouth , Difficult breathing , Nausea or vomiting in extreme cases, Headache, Muscle tension, Dizziness, Dilation of pupils, need to urinate, vocalised pauses , Shaking or quivering voice , weakened voice tone , Trembling , Panic attack , Feeling lack of energy.

Of course it’s difficult to overcome the fear , but it’s not impossible. Psychotherapy, medication,exposure therapy and herbal remedies , different ones can be applied , depending on the severity of fear. Many people are able to overcome their glossophobia with cognitive behavioural therapy(CBT). There are other ways one can try at home. Like practicing in front of mirror , talking with close ones & then asking them to analyze you , focusing on your way of speaking. According to me , Meditation is the best way to overcome any fear.

Remember , everything you want is on the other side of fear. Choose fight instead of flight.

Happy Public Speaking…🙂

Recent reports show an increase in number of the malnourished in India

According to the Center for Science and Environment (C.S.E.) State of India Environment Report – 2021, the corona epidemic has had a lasting impact on the health and economic conditions of 37.5 million children across the country.

CSE Director General Dr. Sunita Narayan, said that children from new-born to 14 years will have more health-related problems. There is a possibility of low weight of children, lack of physical development according to age and increase in mortality.

Child from a poverty stricken family gets a free meal at his school.The schools are run by some volunteer organisations or individuals and have inadequate facilities. Yet some people are working relentlessly to help these poor children.

One of the reasons could be India’s struggling with Covid-19 lock down interrupted crucial government schemes that benefit hundreds of millions of women and children. But that still doesn’t explain the rise in malnutrition rates in the years leading up to the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.

According to reports, India’s latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which shows that children in several states are more undernourished now than they were five years ago, is based on data collected in 2019-20. The survey was conducted in only 22 states before the onset of the pandemic – so experts fear the results will be much worse in the remaining states, where the survey began after the lock down ended.

In rural places the problem seems to have begun earlier. Rural areas have seen a steep rise in the proportion of undernourished children compared with 2015-16, when the last survey was conducted.

Due to malnutrition in infants and young children stunting in growth and even experience wasting away of muscle and anemia. The proportion of severely underweight children has risen. Stunting refers to lower than expected height for age, wasting shows lower than expected weight for height, and anemia is a deficiency of hemoglobin in blood.

Most of the Indian women are anemic and poor women, especially so. According to the experts, the worsening rate of malnutrition could be a result of women struggling to access nutrition benefits because undernourished mothers give birth to undernourished babies.

Migration to cities is also a reason for this. Many families migrate to cities to make a better living. But that also means being left out of massive government schemes that are mostly delivered at local level – so benefits aren’t easily transferred across districts or states.

The National Family Health Survey-5 report, the latest data set on health and nutrition, showed that of the 22 states and Union Territories in the year 2019-20, a majority reported an increase in malnutrition parameters such as stunting and wasting of children, anemia in children and in women between 15-49 years of age.

Due to poor health of children, there may be adverse effects on education and workplace too. This report released online, has been prepared by 60 environmental and other experts from all over the world. The epidemic forced approx. 50 crore children over all the world to leave school. More than 50 percent of these children are in India. Dr. Sunita Narayan said, “An additional 115 million people have come under extreme poverty due to the epidemic.” Most of them live in South Asia.

Given this situation, there is a need to enhance allocations for government schemes to address child malnutrition as well as for schemes promoting nutrition for pregnant and lactating mothers. A group of people should be assigned who provide health and nutrition counseling to pregnant mothers. Better health care and nutritious meals for the pregnant mother, because with proper pre-natal care, adequate food and timely health check-ups, a pregnant woman stays fit and gives birth a healthy child and for that there is a need for huge amount of investments. Different sectors of the government need to coordinate to handle this problem effectively. There are some independent organizations who are working actively to help the unprivileged sections of India and educating others about the problem and with enough funds and support from us maybe they can tackle with the problem more effectively.

Green nanotechnology and Sustainability

Everybody knows what is nanotechnology, it is the study and control of matter at the nano-scale, rearranging atoms and molecules. Nanotechnology has made marvelous contributions in the world of science especially in computer science and medical science.

But have you heard of green nanotechnology? The name itself suggests that it has something to do with greenery. It is the study of how nanotechnology can benefit the environment, such as by using less energy during the manufacturing process, the ability to recycle products after use and using Eco-friendly materials.

It builds on the principles of green chemistry and green engineering, and focuses on using the unique effects that occur in nano-scale materials.

Green nanotechnology can help to provide clean water to billions of people via novel filtration techniques, and has the ability to decontaminate dirty water. It can help in increasing the use of renewable energy and help in waste management too.

It can also influence the design of nano-materials and products by eliminating or minimizing pollution from the production of these materials.

It is all about making green nano-products and using them in support of sustainability. Sustainable development refers to a development that meets the needs of the present of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It will aim at producing nano-materials without harming environmental or human health.

Nanotechnology can help reduce agricultural waste and bring down pollution levels. Scientists are working on nano-engineered enzymes that will allow simple and cost-effective conversion of cellulose from waste plant parts into ethanol.

Another example is rice husk that can become a source of renewable energy with nanotechnology. When rice husk is burned into thermal energy or bio-fuel a large amount of high quality nano-silica is produced, which can be further utilized to make other materials such as glass or concrete.

Nano sensors dispersed in the field can also detect presence of plant viruses and the level of soil nutrients.

Nanotechnology can reduce manufacturing costs for solar cells as a result of using a low temperature process.

Nanotechnology is being hailed as the next sunrise industry for India. The Department of Science and Technology of the Central Government has announced a national initiative in nano-materials, while the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, has pioneered the study of nanotechnology in India. Prof. C.N.R Rao and the center has done world class research in nanotechnology using state of the art equipment.

A stream of nanotechnology-based products is beginning to emerge in India, with applications in the security realm. Besides D.R.D.O. (Defense Research & Development Organization) serious researches are also taking place in institutions like IIT, and Madras University.

Hopefully, in the near future as we advance further in the field of green nanotechnology, it will help us in replacing existing products with Nano-products that are more environment friendly.

Exams coming up? Here’s how to battle examination anxiety

With the examination schedules being declared its hard not to get anxious about our exams. Examination anxiety is a fairly common among students of all age groups, you would think a grown-up would know how to prepare for exams without being stressed out given all their previous experiences but that’s not the case. It is the uneasiness that occurs before, during, or after an examination and is not age-restricted.

Many people experience feelings of anxiety around examinations and find it helpful in some ways, as it can be motivating and create the pressure that is needed to stay focused on one’s performance. Examination nerves or fear of failure are normal for even the most talented student.

However, stress of examination results in such high degrees of anxiety in some students that they are unable to perform at their full potential, like they have shown in less stressful situations.

Sometimes it can result from the pressure to perform well in examination so that they don’t get judged by others (relatives, classmates, teachers), which is often the root cause for their negative thoughts about themselves, feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, and loss of status and self-esteem.

High stress can interfere with the student’s preparation, concentration, and performance so it is very important to manage it effectively so that it doesn’t get in the way of you giving your best performance in the exams. Just like other stressful situations, it is very easy to cope with examination anxiety and here are some ways to do so-

  • Prepare well– Plan it out and give yourself enough time to familiarize yourself with the content and the pattern of the question papers.
  • Multiple rehearsals- Practice as many mock papers as possible, when you are with your friends’ test each other by asking each other questions on the examination topics.
  • Inoculation- When practicing for examinations try to do so in an environment that is similar to the examination hall to prepare yourselves physically and mentally.
  • Think positive- Have faith in your abilities and emphasize on your strengths and try to think positively to motivate yourself.
  • Seek help- When facing a problem, do not hesitate to ask for help from your friends, seniors, teachers or parents. It will help you to feel stress-free and also give you an insight into the problem.

While preparing for examinations, exercising regularly even if a little bit and resting properly before the exam will be really helpful. Overview and weigh one’s strengths and weaknesses, plan a revision timetable, space out revision periods, and most importantly on the examination day concentrate on staying calm.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION CAUSED BY THE UNHEALTHY USE OF GADGETS

It is said that “Sleep deprivation will kill you more quickly than food deprivation.” A good night’s sleep is one of the basic necessities of the human body for its active metabolism and better productivity. An average adult human requires 8 hours of continuous sleep each day. Any interference in the natural regular sleeping patterns can have a tremendous impact on one’s health: mentally as well as physically. Nowadays, people tend to sleep less than they did in the past and their quality of sleep has also faced a downturn.

We live in the middle of a world full of technologies and are surrounded by screens of smartphones, laptops, tablets, e.t.c. Though these gadgets make our lives easy and fast, we are least bothered about its negative effects on our lives. The overuse of technology causes eye strain, musculoskeletal health issues, sleep deprivation, etc. not only in adults but also in teens and kids. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), prolonged use of computers, tablets, and cellphones can lead to digital eye strain which results in blurred vision, dry eyes, headaches, due to screen glare, bad lighting, and improper viewing distance. The unnatural way of holding the smartphones induces a lot of stress on the neck, shoulder and spine. Initially, these physical strains might seem negligible but can cause severe health impacts in the long run. 

Technology in the bedroom can interfere with sleep in a number of ways. Studies have found that 90% of US citizens use screening devices in the hour before going to bed, which can cause immense psychological and physiological impacts, capable enough to disrupt one’s sleep. Scientifically speaking, the blue light emitted from the gadgets suppress the sleep-inducing hormones like melatonin disturbing the biological clock. Lack of sleep causes stress, increased blood pressure, memory issues, weakened immunity, increased risk of heart diseases etc, thus dramatically decreasing our quality of life. Studies reveal that the increasing number of depression and anxiety among people, especially youth, has a correlation with the overuse of gadgets and social networks. Kids who are exposed to television, video games, mobile phones, and tech toys beyond the recommended time limit is seen to have retarded brain growth than other kids. They too experience sleep problems in addition to behavioural and social problems. 

From buying groceries to attending online classes, from consulting a distant doctor virtually to paying bills and dues, technology and gadgets plays an intangible role in making our lives smooth and less hectic. The technologies which we depend on for our comforts should never be the reason for our own distress. For that, we should always make sure to keep a balance between technology and healthy lifestyle.

Food Waste – The Social , Economical and Environmental Issue

Do you know that more than 40% of food produced in India is wasted ?

Inspite of adequate food production , India’s ranking is 103 in global hunger index. According to UN approximately 190 million Indians remain undernourished. Estimated value of food wastage in India is ₹ 92,000 crore per annum.

Why the data seems so much scarious ? Do you know how much you contribute to this wastage of food ?

Well , next time if you go to a wedding , or a party , or function , just observe everyone around you , you yourself”ll get the answers of these questions. Just observe people in restaurants or observe everyone in your house.

And if you want to see the dark side of India , then just move out of your house , & observe people around the bins. There’re a lot who just eat food from the dustbins. Can you just imagine about them ?

For some it’s waste , for some a day’s Meal

There’s a lot of leftover but edible food which can be provided to those who need this. Many NGOs work in this direction. They collect the leftover edible food from restaurants , households , weddings & from other sources & provide them to the needy.

It’s not always like that , one can also leave some food in their plates when it’s simply not edible or when she/he isn’t feeling good.

And this leftover food from your plates then go to dustbins & then it decompose in landfills. This leads to the emission of green house gases like CO2 & CH4 .

The impacts of food waste on the global scale are huge. According to the World Resources Institute, if food waste was a country, it would be the world’s third largest carbon emitter after the USA and China.

Food waste rotting in landfills produce millions of tonnes of methane in CO2 equivalents , a measure that directly compares the global warming potential of pollutants.

But do you know that wasted food can be used effectively ?

Yes , food waste can be transformed into valuable resources. It can be used as fertilizer , can be transformed into energy , & can be transformed into a bunch of innovative products , from pharmaceuticals to building materials.

Food waste can be recycled to produce nutrient rich fertilisers. Household composting recycles food waste in an environment where lot of oxygen is available. Fungi and bacteria break down the proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the waste into compost and CO2. The CO2 released from the breakdown of organic materials returns to the atmosphere , which is then captured by the plants. So it’s a carbon-neutral process.

Food waste can generate sustainable energy through waste-to-energy processes , where organic waste is used to generate electricity or heat. It is categorised as renewable energy. Various technologies are available to generate such energy ,although they do produce greenhouse gases like CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, so measures should be taken to reduce these emissions.

Extractions from the food waste can be used in production of biofuels like biodiesel & bioethanol.

Fruits and vegetables have the highest wastage rates of any food products. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  estimates that globally, 45 per cent of fruits and vegetables are wasted along the supply chain. But these scrapped by-products can be reprocessed into functional and valuable products.

There are researches investigating how mango seeds could be used to make surfboard wax & fibres in root vegetables could be used in super strong concrete. Rice husks have variety of applications , such as cement, insulators, adsorbents and various construction material.They can also be ground with glass to create lightweight bricks that are resistant to fire and termites.

Discarded parts of fruits & vegetables are often rich in bioactive phytochemicals. These extracts can be used in pharmaceuticals , dietary supplements & food preservatives. Extracts & oils derived from food waste also be used in cosmetics.

The essential chemicals needed to create bioplastics include various carbs, fats and cellulose fibre that can be extracted from food waste using methods like freeze drying and hydrodynamic shockwave technology. Bioplastics ,are plastics produced from renewable sources and can be used for packaging, coatings and adhesives.Turning food waste into bioplastics can reduce food and plastic waste. It could also minimize the emissions associated with plastic production.

There’s need to reliase that this waste is not only causing social & economical problem but is also a cause of green house gases emissions, & thus is a harm for the environment.

Obviously , we should think of alternate ways to transform the waste into resource but our first priority should be to minimize the waste.

Avoid wastage of food. Provide the leftover edible food to those who need this instead of throwing this out. Use the leftover food as fertilizer

Love & Food are meant for sharing not for wasting
🙂 Don’t waste Food 🙂