Posted by admin
You be instructed as to what type of insulin your child needs and the correct dose for him. He may be on a single type of insulin – for example, Isophane insulin – or he may be on a mixture of insulins – for example, Isophane and Actrapid insulin. It is of course important to measure the dosage accurately, as a small variation may affect the blood glucose significantly. The method of drawing up the insulin is set out below.
Clean hands
Wash hands thoroughly in soap and water. Dry them well.
Clean the insulin bottle
Wipe over the upper cap of the insulin bottle with a cotton wool swab which has been moistened with spirits.
Mix the cloudy insulin well
Any insulin which is cloudy such as Isophane insulin must be agitated so that it is thoroughly mixed just before drawing up. You can do this by gently inverting the bottle a number of times or by rolling the bottle gently between your hands. This must be done immediately before drawing up as insulin suspension settles very quickly.
First put air in the syringe
Take the syringe and draw the plunger down to the mark giving the correct dose that you are to give. This allows air to enter the needle and syringe and the volume of air will be the same as the dose that you are giving. Next, checking that the insulin has been mixed properly, plunge the needle through the cap of the bottle so that the needle is just through the cap.
Put the air into the bottle
Invert the bottle so that the point of needle is below the surface of the insulin, and push the plunger up so that all the air is expelled into the insulin bottle. This will make it easier to withdraw the insulin, as the pressure will remain the same inside the bottle, the withdrawn insulin being replaced by an equal volume of air.
Draw down insulin
When you draw down the plunger to the correct mark some air will enter the barrel. Hold the syringe with the needle and bottle still in place in a vertical position with the needle pointing upwards and tap the barrel gently so that the air bubble is at the top of the insulin in the syringe.
Now push the plunger back a little way to force the air back into the bottle. Draw down again to the correct mark. If air is still in the syringe, repeat this until it is completely gone. Now finally check that the plunger is down to the correct mark giving the right dose.
Remove the syringe and needle from the bottle. You are now ready to give the injection.
*15/54/5*
Posted by admin
You or your partner may be in a job that regularly exposes you to hazards and you will need to think about whether the risk can be minimized or whether you may have to change your occupation.
For example, working with lead (used to make storage batteries), radiation, pesticides and solvents can be a problem. If you work in a dry cleaners or hairdressers you are likely to come into contact with many different chemicals.
Visual Display Units
Research on the risks of radiation from VDUs is still in its early stages. However, you can reduce the risk if you:
• Keep the time spent on the VDU to a minimum, with the most being four hours per day.
• Ask your employer if it’s possible to give you other, non-computer work for at least the first three months of pregnancy.
• Use houseplants to stop the air becoming too dry. (Some plants are able to absorb a certain amount of radiation and to act as air purifiers, according to a NASA space project, which showed that the plants could remove toxic substances like carbon monoxide from the air. The most beneficial plants are the tropical ones such as lady palm (Rhapis), bamboo, parlour palm (Chaemaedorea), ficus, peace lily (Spathiphyllum) and spider plants.)
Occupational Hazards for Your Partner
The male organs are on the outside of the body for a good reason. The testes need to be several degrees cooler than body temperature because sperm production can only take place at 32°C (89°F). And our normal body temperature is 37°C (98.4°F). Anything that brings the testes closer to the body, and so raises their temperature, may affect the sperm count. An increased temperature of only 1°C has been shown to decrease the sperm count by about 14 per cent.
A number of studies on drivers have found that men who spend more than three hours a day in a car or lorry are less fertile. When men drive they are not only sitting for a long time but are getting the vibrations from the vehicle. So they are literally ‘in the hot seat’.
The same research showed that men who are exposed to heat during their work are four times less likely to make their partner pregnant within three months. This might apply to a range of occupations – including anyone working with boilers or welding. One man I saw, who is a baker, was getting great blasts of heat directly on his genital area every time he opened an oven door.
What He Can Do
• Avoid crossing his legs when sitting down.
• Take regular breaks to move around.
• Avoid wearing tight trousers or underpants which constrict the testes.
• Avoid hot baths – he should shower instead.
• Shower his genitals with cold water to lower their temperature and improve circulation.
• Avoid using electric blankets – particularly once he is in bed.
Exercise
It is important to have a good level of physical activity because it improves heart function, controls cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, reduces excess weight and generally optimizes health. But it is also important to keep a balance and some sports may compromise male fertility.
If a man exercises excessively it can lower his sperm count. Long hours of training for a marathon, for instance, could therefore be a problem.
Very vigorous sports, like squash or running, may not be advisable because of the knocking effect of the testes against the thighs as the man runs.
Likewise tight-fitting nylon shorts, either worn on their own for running or under shorts in the gym, may contribute to male fertility problems.
Finally, men who regularly go for long bike trips, especially on a racing bike, may spend a lot of time bent over, bringing the testes quite close to the body and crushing them against the seat of the bike, causing overheating and constriction.
*68/73/5*
Posted by admin
• Eat a diet rich in fibre, low in animal protein and low in sugar. Sucrose (table sugar) can increase the rate of absorption of calcium from the gut and also its level in the urine of some people. Lactose (milk sugar) also enhances calcium absorption by the body.
• Drink plenty of water or other watery drinks. Try to drink a glass of water in between the normal drinks you would have. This keeps the urine dilute and flushes out any tiny crystals that are about to form. Those who already have stones should aim at drinking enough fluids to produce 2-3 quarts of pale urine a day and should set their alarm clock to wake them at night to drink a glass or two. Most don’t produce another stone if they take this action.
• Magnesium supplements appear to inhibit stone formation, a fact first documented as far back as 1697! A recent Swedish experiment gave 200 mg magnesium a day to a group of forty-one men and fourteen women who individually averaged about one stone a year and who as a group had formed 460 stones during the ten years before the experiment. After 2-4 years on magnesium only eight of the patients reported new stones. As a group their average rate of new-stone formation fell by 90 per cent. A control group was kept as a comparison and not given magnesium. After four years 59 per cent had developed new stones.
• Vitamin B6 could be a valuable preventive too because of its oxalate-lowering effects. You can reduce your oxalate intake by avoiding spinach, rhubarb, tea, chocolate, parsley and peanuts, all of which are rich in oxalates. But you can also improve things with vitamin B6. This vitamin seems to be especially valuable in lowering the oxalate level of the urine of stone-formers. Indian researchers recently found that only 10 mg of vitamin B6 a day significantly lowered the oxalate levels in the urine of twelve stone-prone people all of whom had developed at least one stone a year in recent years.
This relatively small dose of the vitamin produced better results than a group of drugs called the thiazides which doctors use to increase urine output and so wash out any stones. Unfortunately, thiazides have certain unpleasant side-effects: they produce light-headedness, elevate the amount of sugar and uric acid in the blood (promoting diabetes and gout), and can also reduce the level of potassium in the blood, which produces muscle weakness and cramps.
• It seems that certain individuals are sensitive to increased dietary calcium which, in turn, results in high levels of calcium in their urine. It makes sense to limit your dairy produce intake if you are a stone-former. Having said this, be very careful not to so limit your calcium intake that you lay yourself open to osteoporosis.
• It appears that in some people salt produces an increase in calcium in the urine. If you or your family are stone-formers it makes sense to cut out added salt altogether.
• Alcohol increases the excretion of uric acid, calcium and phosphate and has an adverse effect on vitamin B6 and magnesium metabolism, both of which are useful in protecting against stone formation. Avoid alcohol or drink only in moderation.
• Vitamin Ñ is metabolized to oxalic acid, so don’t take high doses of the vitamin if you are at risk of forming kidney stones.
• If you have ever had an oxalate-containing stone (the commonest kind), avoid tea, coffee, chocolate, peanuts, spinach, rhubarb and beetroot because they are rich in oxalic acid.
*191/72/5*