Q What Psychological Factors Contribute to Mental Illness?

The reasons which cause mental illness- Significant interpersonal loss and family instability, such as death of loved one, misfortune, poor relationship with family, domestic partner violence, separation, and divorce, emotional detachment have all been identified as risk factors. Financial stress, unemployment, and a drop in socioeconomic status can also be triggers for mental illness. This is also the case for a range of acute and chronic health problems, such as pain syndromes, or diagnoses of conditions like HIV or cancer. Some mental illnesses have been linked to an abnormal balance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters help nerve cells in the brain communicate with each other. If these chemicals are out of balance or are not working properly, messages may not make it through the brain correctly, leading to symptoms of mental illness. In addition, defects in or injury to certain areas of the brain also have been linked to some mental conditions.

Q I am 43 year old man and my wife 41 year we have 4 year and 6 month daughter. We are very confused whether to go for second child as my only daughter feels very lonely. Can you advice?

First, determine whether you and your wife are physically, mentally and financially ready to have a second child. It is definitely possible to conceive at this age; however there are many factors that you should take into account before arriving at a decision. A womans fertility decreases drastically in her forties so there is a major possibility that your wife may have to use donor eggs to achieve pregnancy. The risk of complications during pregnancy such as diabetes and high blood pressure increases. Moreover, there are higher chances of premature and still births. You may need to use assisted reproductive techniques thus escalating costs. I am not trying to discourage you, but giving you the facts. On the other hand, some women do get pregnant well into their 40s, and many of them have complication-free pregnancies and healthy babies. Both of you should make an informed decision after knowing all the pros and cons. For any further clarification, visit a gynaecologist who will brief you about all available options. Do consider the possibility of adoption too.

Q Sir, My dad has HIV positive..What is the treatment for me? What are the precautions should be taken for family members to be free from HIV?

Just because your father is HIV positive, it doesnt mean that you too are. Yet, you must get tested once to confirm. The only precaution to be taken by you and your family members is to avoid sharing razors with him. The biggest risk is to your mother due to sexual intercourse. It can be prevented if they always use condoms. The rule of thumb is that there should be blood to blood contact with him. All other activities such as sharing food, hugging, kissing, sleeping or any other family activity with your father is absolutely safe.

Q How can I improve my chances of becoming a father?

You must follow a regular exercise and diet plan in order to be fit and fine, and to increase the chances of being a father. It is necessary to have the intercourse during the ovulation phase of the female. Normally, ovulation takes place at 14th day after the last menses counting from the starting of the bleeding as Day 1. In irregular cycle, one can use the ovulation kit to get the ovulation period. If you are quite young and unmarried, avoid excessive masturbation and other things which make you feel arousal. Because, it may lead to less erection and early ejaculation which will affect your sexual life and some other problems related with general physical and mental health. Avoid multi-partner sex which may gives you any sexually transmitted disease.

Q What do you mean by Social Phobia? How it is expressed?

Social phobia is a strong fear of being judged by others, and of being embarrassed. This fear can be so strong that person start worrying about the things he is going to do in front of others weeks before, or it may restrict him from going into public places/school/work etc. Person will have overwhelmed fear that others will judge him wrongly or make fun of him. He might be afraid of eating or drinking in front of others, using public restrooms, going in social functions, performing anything in front of a crowd etc. This may end up with staying away from such situations or completely avoiding them. For some, it is a problem only in few situations, but some may have this fear constantly. This fear can express itself in the form of difficulty in getting acknowledged with others, talking with other people, high level of self-consciousness when in public, worries excessively before weeks or days of any upcoming social function, difficulties in making friends and becoming friendly with others, physical symptoms of fear may appear like sweating, trembling, blushing, palpitations, nausea, etc.

Q I am diabetic and having erectile dysfunction and very late ejaculation. I do not have babies planning due to it. Why is erectile dysfunction caused in diabetes? What can I do?

Uncontrolled diabetes causes damage to small blood vessels and the nerves that control erection. Damage to these blood vessels and nerves leads to the development of erectile dysfucntion. As far as fathering a child is concerned if you have healthy sperm quantity and quality you need not worry. For erectile dysfunction it is necessary that you keep your blood sugar levels under control. Treatment options include oral medications, penis pumps, surgery and implants. Consult an andrologist to know what treatment option will suit you best.

Q Hello doctor, my grandfather was diagnosed with an alzheimers dementia; could u give me more info about this disease? What is the cause? Is it hereditary? Any treatment for the same?

Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, a serious brain disorder that impacts daily living through memory loss and cognitive changes. Alzheimers is a degenerative disease, progressing from mild forgetfulness to widespread neurological impairment and ultimately death. nAlthough a direct cause of Alzheimers is not known certain common factors are found in the clinical picture of sufferers. These include; prior personality organisation of the individual and stressfulness of their life situation. You are at higher risk, if family history of this disease is there.nAlthough there is no cure for Alzheimers, and various psychotherapies appear to be ineffective, there are ways to treat some of the symptoms of the disease: Use of medications to treat cognitive decline and memory loss. Also appropriate activities such as exercise, recreation, and adult day care services appear to assist in the management of the patient.

Q I have diarrhea,headaches,nausea,upset stomach,and pain. since 4 days

The symptoms you are suffering from are indicating an gastrointestinal infection by the microorganisma like bacteria or parasites. You must take the light diet and take more water to control the dehadration cuased due to diarrhoea. It may be due to certain other pathologies like appendicitis, crohns disease, intussuseption etc. It is necessary to rule out the cause and treat the diarrhoea at the early stage because dehydration may lead to life threatning complications.

Q My 10 year old daughter continues to wet the bed. Not every night, but i thought it would stop as she grows but still hasnt. I wonder if there is something medically wrong.

If you daughter has nocturnal enuresis sometimes, it may need further evaluation, as this is not so common in teenagers. There are some factors that may affect urine control in teens. These include excessive intake of caffeine drinks like tea or coffee, deep sleep pattern which can be a normal for growing teen, excessive emotional stress or fear of something, inconsistent sleep timings etc. These things can be corrected in order to fix the problem. Other things to give consideration are certain medications, diabetes of other medical diseases, family history of parents having the same problem, urinary tract infection, etc. If she is having this problem since her childhood, then this can be considered as primary nocturnal enuresis and she can be out of 2% of girls who continues with this till they reach their teen. This thing can be improved with proper counselling to her. Making her to use bathroom before going to bed. Limiting her fluid intake before going to bed. She can be effectively treated with moisture alarms while asleep. It will be less likely that she will need medications for this. Proper counselling and educating her may motivate her to take initiation to cure herself. You may take her to physician to rule out underlying disease if any.

Q When is herpes contagious? I have not had an outbreak of genital herpes in years but i do take valtrex if i feel an outbreak may be coming on. If i take valtrex as needed and i do not have an outbreak, am i still contagious?

Genital herpes is the most contagious when the lesions are active and a few days before that. However, an infected person can potentially be shedding the virus all his life. Since, the virus is spread by direct skin to skin contact, it is very easy to spread it through intercourse or oral sex. Thus, protect your partner by always using a condom.