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Sleep Hygiene

Sleep hygiene refers to a set of recommended practices and habits that help to promote good sleep. Following the recommendations can help people maximize the hours they spend asleep, even in cases of jet lag, shift work or insomnia.

28 Apr 2017

How to Use Dental Floss

Although teeth can be cleaned by brushing, it is not effective in reaching the adjacent tooth surfaces - flossing using dental floss can do this successfully.

27 Apr 2017

Hearing Loss and Genetics

Genetic mutations, environmental factors, and postnatal complications are all potential causes of hearing loss in infants.

27 Apr 2017

How Does the Ear Work?

The ear is the organ of hearing and balance. One of the very advanced sensitive organs of the human body, the ear detects, transmits, and transduces sound to the brain and maintains a sense of balance.

27 Apr 2017

Vaginal Flora

A healthy vaginal flora protects the body against urogenital infections. It is made up of many different types of bacteria, the predominant bacteria being lactobacilli. These beneficial or “good” bacteria play a key role in defending against infection.

27 Apr 2017

Treatment of Middle-of-the-Night Insomnia

Intermittent or middle-of-the-night Insomnia afflicts 10-40% of adults in the US population. It is characterized by nocturnal awakenings with difficulty in returning to sleep afterwards.

27 Apr 2017

FODMAP Research

FODMAPs (fructose, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) comprise a large class of compounds which appear to be closely associated with symptomatic bowel inflammation.

26 Apr 2017

Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Insomnia is the inability to initiate or maintain sleep, or to experience restful or high-quality sleep. It is considered to affect about a third of the population. Different types have been identified depending on the phase of sleep in which difficulty is reported.

26 Apr 2017

Treatment of Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Insomnia is a common condition which causes emotional and physical stress, and is also responsible for many workday losses and decreased productivity. The management of insomnia starts with taking a detailed history to identify the exact nature of the sleep problem.

26 Apr 2017

Why Do We Sleep?

We are programmed to make sure that we sleep when we are tired, and thus regain our normal performance standards. There are two mechanisms by which the body becomes sleepy or aware of its need to sleep.

26 Apr 2017

High FODMAP Foods and Low FODMAP Food Alternatives

FODMAPs stand for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. They are small osmotically active molecules that often trigger functional symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Several studies showed that a low FODMAP diet often leads to complete or partial symptom relief in up to 77% of patients with IBS.

24 Apr 2017

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Pregnancy

From one-quarter to half of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are below 35 years of age when diagnosed, or will become pregnant after they receive this diagnosis. The single most important principle of managing IBD during pregnancy is the paramount need to control the disease during the period of conception and throughout pregnancy.

23 Apr 2017

Types of Combined Birth Control Pills

The combined birth control pill uses synthetic hormones akin to the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. The chemicals manipulate the ovulation cycle, as well as the uterine lining and the cervical mucus, to ensure that fertilization does not occur. They are 99% effective as a birth control method, when used correctly.

21 Apr 2017

Male Condom versus Female Condom

Condoms are essentially a barrier method of contraception. The concept is that if the sperm can be prevented from entering the uterus, it will not be able to fertilize the egg leading to protection against pregnancy.

21 Apr 2017

Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs)

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are small organic acids with less than six carbons, which are produced by fermentation of unabsorbed and undigested components of food in the large intestine, by the gut microbiota.

20 Apr 2017

Combined Pill FAQs

The combined pill is a birth control method used by women to avoid unwanted pregnancy. It contains synthetic versions of female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. The dosage of the hormones allows control over the release of the egg or ovulation.

20 Apr 2017