10 Facts About Malaria

Malaria is a tropical disease that poses a risk for residents of and travelers to parts of Africa, Asia, Central America and South America. There is no vaccine and the symptoms are severe, but with preventative medicine, transmission is unlikely.

Below are some facts about malaria.

1. What Is Malaria?

It’s a blood-borne disease spread by the bite of an infected female mosquito. Malaria can cause serious complications and is potentially fatal.

2. Where Does It Come From?

A particular mosquito called the Anopheles mosquito can harbor a parasite called Plasmodium. This is the most deadly parasite out of the five that cause malaria.

Image source: https://www.euroclinix.net/en/travel-health/malaria/transmission

When an Anopheles mosquito bites and infects a person with parasites it causes malaria.

3. How Does It Make A Person Ill?

When the parasite enters the human blood stream via an infected mosquito it travels to the liver where it infects red blood cells. This leads to red blood cells bursting.

If an uninfected Anopheles mosquito bites a person with malaria, it picks up the parasite in its salivary glands and so the life-cycle continues.

4. The Anopheles Mosquito

There are over 400 species of Anopheles mosquito and 30 of these are of malarial importance.

They bite at dawn and dusk, but the veracity of the infection is dependent on the human, the environment and the parasite itself. Anopheles mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, even managing to breed in the rain-filled hoof print of horses, which means there are a great deal of breeding habitats available to them.

Although the Anopheles mosquito is the main risk of malaria transmission a person can also become infected through a blood transfusion or organ transplant. Sharing infected needles is another route as is mother to baby during birth - known as congenital malaria.

5. Symptoms

Malaria symptoms can be mild to begin with and can be mistaken for other illnesses. This is dangerous as malaria such as the P. Faciparum strain can lead to serious complications if not treated within 24 hours.

Some people develop partial immunity to malaria in areas that are particularly prone to the parasite. Symptoms of the disease can vary for person to person.

Well-known symptoms are:

•    High temperature or fever
•    Chills and sweating
•    Headaches
•    Vomiting
•    Diarrhea
•    Muscle pains
•    Children can develop anemia and breathing difficulties

6. Incubation Period

Because the parasite needs time to develop a person won’t feel ill with malaria symptoms right away. Usually symptoms appear a week after infection but it can take up to 18 days and sometime up to a year. It depends on the parasite’s life cycle.

7. The Global Effect

Parasites need time to grow and complete their life cycle, so severe malaria is more frequent in areas where the mosquito lives longer. Some mosquitoes also prefer to bite humans. This converges in Africa where 90% of malaria cases occur. Malaria is one of the main reasons for poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Image source: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog030/node/148

Conditions for optimum mosquito breeding are when there’s heat and dampness. When humidity is high epidemics can occur. Rainy seasons or when a large group of people with no immunity move to an infected area, such as refugees, there may be an upsurge in cases.

There is some concern that global warming may mean currently uninfected areas start to see tropical diseases such as malaria. Researchers in the UK for example believe a two-degree rise in temperature could lead to pathogens such as malaria, becoming a risk in the UK.

8. Who Is At Risk?

Sub-Saharan Africa had 88% of malaria cases and 90% of malarial deaths in 2015. It kills approximately 438,000 people every year. In 2015, 300,000 children in Africa died of malaria under the age of 5.

Asia, Latin America and some parts of the Middle East have high malaria risks but 97 countries have malaria transmission. It’s thought 3.2 billion people are at risk of contracting malaria.

Everyone exposed to the virus is at risk, but some are in especial danger. Pregnant women and their unborn children are at risk of dying from complications or experiencing spontaneous miscarriage. The immune-compromised, such as HIV or chemotherapy patients, infants and children under 5, the elderly, and those with no immunity, such as travelers, are particularly at risk.

All travelers to North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands should be aware of the dangers of malaria.

9. Prevention

There’s no vaccine for malaria although research is underway and shows promise.

Malaria can be prevented by following these steps:

•    Researching malaria areas before travel.
•    Use insect repellent, covering arms and legs, and using a mosquito net. Insecticidal nets provide good protection
•    Take anti-malaria tablets and finish the course. They are 90% effective. Brand names include mefloquine, doxycycline, atovaquone and proguanil. Some of these medications need to be taken in advance of traveling.
•    People feeling unwell after travel to a malarial area should seek medical advice immediately and up to a year afterwards.

10. Treatment

A blood test will confirm malaria and treatment must begin immediately afterwards.

Treatment usually consists of taking anti-malarial tablets. Those already taking medicine will not be treated with the same type, so keeping a note of medication is essential during and after travel.

A treatment will be selected depending on the type of malaria, where it was transmitted, severity of the symptoms, what medicines have already been taken, age, and in women - whether or not she is pregnant because some anti-malarial treatments are not suitable for pregnant women.

In severe cases malaria may be treated intravenously in hospital.

Many people who are not affected by malaria underestimate its effects. Those traveling to infected countries must ensure they have taken the appropriate anti-malarial treatment. Those not able to take medication should seriously reconsider their plans.

Despite efforts to eradicate malaria, The World Health Organization says that anti-malarial drug resistance and insecticidal resistance are growing concerns. Malaria is still a threat to human life and must be taken seriously.

This is a guest blog entry.

Children Are Getting Fatter and Their Home Environment Is to Blame

We know that the world is getting fatter. Take one look around you, and you will be bombarded with diets, exercise equipment and more. We know that we should lose weight, and we know that obesity is bad. Yet, we don’t really seem to do anything about it. And, unfortunately, it is starting affect our children.

When you consider there is a staggering rise in the number of people looking for bariatric procedures for children, it becomes clear that something must be done.

Understanding Obesity

The obesity statistics are frightening and sobering to look at. The percentage of people over the age of 15 who are obese in different countries is as follows:

•    30.6% in the USA
•    24.2% in Mexico
•    22.4% in the United Kingdom
•    21% in Australia
•    17% in New Zealand
•    14.9% in Canada
•    12.9% in Germany
•    9.4% in France

What Causes Obesity?

Very simply put, obesity is caused by three things:

•    Eating too much
•    Eating the wrong things
•    Not moving enough

We are sedentary, yet stuff our faces full of high calorie, high sugar, high fat, high cholesterol, processed food that contains almost no nutrition.

What it Mean to Be Obese?

Around the world, the most important contributor to poor health is now obesity, overtaking even infectious diseases. Some 300,000 people in this country alone die each year as a direct result of an obesity-related illness, including cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes,  sleep apneas and more. It is even believed that, unless something is done soon, more people will die of obesity than what they will of smoking.

The most frightening thing, however, is the impact this has on our children. The chance of the child of an obese parent becoming obese themselves is frightening. In fact, most children of obese parents reach a dangerous level of weight by the time they are just four years old.

Children and Obesity

It is now increasingly normal for children to be obese. Over the past 10 years, there has been an increase of 30% in obese children in our country. It is obvious why this is happening: children copy the lifestyle of their parents. At the same time, our consumerist society plays an important role as well. There has been a 300% increase in fast food outlets between 1977 and 1996, for instance. The various industries involved in treating obesity are worth billions of dollars as well. So we are fighting a losing battle: our own poor lifestyle choices, and the constant drive from commercial institutions to continue to make poor lifestyle choices.

What it Means for a Child to Be Obese

Obese children have to deal with many difficulties. The first is that the health dangers for them are as high as what they are for adults. Not just that, however, but fat cells developed in childhood are even more difficult to get rid of. Then, there is the significant psychological impact as well. While more and more children are obese, they still experience greater levels of bullying. Something needs to be done.

This is a guest blog entry.

7 Amazing Health Benefits to Playing Wind Instruments

While most might assume that playing a musical instrument is nothing more than a hobby, there’s a lot more to it. Learning to play an instrument provides you with skills that include hand/eye coordination, improved motor skills and memory, as well as better concentration.

Depending on the type of instrument you learn, there are increased benefits that directly relate to your health. Let’s take a look at how playing musical instruments like the trumpet, tuba, or saxophone can benefit your health in the long run:

1.  Builds Confidence – If you’re looking for a real confidence booster, you should consider learning how to play a wind instrument. With the right instructor from sources like LessonRating.com, you can receive personalized instruction at your own pace. There’s simply something about the sense of accomplishment once you’ve mastered the hurdles of learning an instrument.

2.  Strengthens Breath and Lung Capacity – Your diaphragm is one of the most utilized parts of the body when playing a wind instrument. It assists you in being able to blow air in and out of your lungs and into the instrument to create sound. Through controlled and measured breaths, you can begin to strengthen your breath and lung capacity. In fact, pulmonary rehabilitation experts that help those who  suffer from chronic lung and respiratory illnesses, agree that music therapy, such as playing wind instruments, as a method for healing and speeding up recovery actually works on a physical and emotional level.

3.  Strengthens Core Muscles – As you’re utilizing your diaphragm which is located just beneath the lungs, you’re also using your abdominal muscles. The in and out movement of your breaths flex the abdominal muscles which help to strengthen your core.

4.  Boosts Adrenaline – Did you know that an adrenaline rush in some ways can be a great benefit to your health? In fact, small spurts of adrenaline can help to boost energy levels and help you burn calories. Well, as you learn how to play an instrument and perform for others, you find an adrenaline rush as you belt out musical notes to your favorite tune.

5.  Improved Hand/Eye Coordination – There’s a lot that goes into playing a wind instrument. Aside from learning how to control your breaths to generate a positive sound, you must also learn how to push the right buttons, where to position your fingers and more. The more you practice with your instrument, the better your hand-eye coordination becomes.

6.  Relieves Stress – When looking for safe ways to relieve the stresses of life pick up a wind instrument. Whether you’ve mastered the instrument completely or not, the sound of music and the feeling of accomplishment you feel from playing it (to the best of your abilities) can help to minimize cortisol – the stress hormone. The better you get at playing, the more you will find your instrument to be a tool for relieving stress.

7.  Helps You Set and Accomplish Goals – Learning a musical instrument is a great and fun way to begin setting and accomplishing goals. In the beginning, your goal might be to learn all the notes on the instrument. Once you’ve accomplished that you might move on to learning a new song. As you conquer each of these goals, you begin to feel more accomplished and motivated to set goals not just with music – but in other parts of your life as well.

You don’t have to be a musical genius to enjoy the above-described benefits of learning a musical instrument. All you have to do is have the willpower to try something new. As you begin to master each concept of playing wind instruments, you’ll begin to see the above-mentioned benefits materialize in your life. If you haven’t the faintest idea how to play a musical instrument – it’s never too late to learn. With the help of a music instructor, you could be well on your way to enjoying the many healing powers of music.


This is a blog post by Nancy Evans.

What Are Skin Tags?

Skin tags are small parts of skin that are soft and benign knobbly growths of skin cells on the exterior of the skin. Their scientific name is ‘acrochordons’ or ‘fibroepithelial polyps.’  They can occur on any area of the body but mainly in areas such as the neck, back, armpit, breasts, eyelids and groin area.

They are absolutely harmless and nothing to worry about. They are a natural occurrence, and many people have them. Dermatologists and doctors see them every day and they’re very simple to treat.

Why Do They Occur?

Unlike warts, they are not contagious and occur naturally due to a number of reasons such as:

•   Changes in hormonal levels – for this reason they are common in pregnant women and anyone with fluctuating hormones from treatment or a pre-existing condition.

•   Things rubbing against skin for a long term period, like clothing – this commonly occurs where there are folds of skin. For instance in people who are overweight or have lost weight resulting in an excess of skin.

•   Sometimes they appear for no reason at all

Why Remove Them?

Some people feel self-conscious about them and they can affect your self-esteem if you feel they are unsightly. If you feel like you’d rather not have a skin tag, there are always options for removal if you choose, no matter how small or large they are. You can find many skincare experts that can help you with skin tags, such as Sk:n who can offer a variety of safe treatments dependent on your needs. Sometimes, skin tags can cause issues when it comes to shaving as they get irritated easily and are at risk of being cut with blades of razors.

How Are They Removed?

Skin tags are easily dealt with and only need a very minor procedure which involves a minimum of discomfort. The 3 ways medical professionals remove skin tags are as follows:

1.  Excision – the part of skin will be removed surgically using a scalpel.

2.  Cryotherapy – much like the treatment for warts, cryotherapy freezes the skin until the unwanted area’s cells die, and it simply falls off.

3.  Hyfrecation – a therapy that uses electrical pulses to damage only the cells of the skin tag, so the unwanted skin naturally falls away,

These treatments all ensure skin tags are gone permanently, but won’t stop new ones arising in the future.

All of these treatments are very minor procedures and are considered cosmetic surgery. They don’t take very long – usually a matter of a few minutes – and they don’t cause much in the way of pain.


This is a guest blog entry.