Q What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is a sudden onset of intense fear or apprehension without any known cause. A panic attack comes suddenly lasts for few minutes and may disappear of its own without any medicine. Sometimes, panic attacks can be very frightening. Some of the symptoms you may experience during the panic attack include - palpitations, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, a choking sensation, chest pain and feeling sick etc. If the attack is recurrent, it is advised to consult the physician to get the best possible treatment.

Q What causes a rash on babies elbow?

While most rashes are not serious, a few need close attention as blisters can indicate a serious infection, like a bacterial infection or herpes. Small red or purplish dots can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection. In the first few months of a babys life, any rash associated with other symptoms (such as fever, poor feeding, lethargy, or cough) needs to be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible. Acne or pink pimples can be caused due to blocked pores on babies elbow. The moisture on elbow creates fungal infections as candidiasis. Dry, sensitive skin, and sometimes allergies may create red, itchy patches as in eczema. Other rashes like erythema toxicum-red blotches on skin, salmon patches-nest of blood vessels, mongolian spots-melanin deficiency are commonly seen in children and most of the times needs no treatment and get cured by the age.

Q Is it possible to raise your IQ?

Intelligence is mostly hereditary. Intellectual ability grows until about age 16, and after that changes very little. Practicing various skills which are tested on IQ tests will increase your IQ score some, but it is not likely to increase your intelligence. Intelligence is basically the abilities to learn, to reason, to remember, to think abstractly, to problem-solve, etc. These abilities are very difficult to improve once you are an adult, though you may improve specific skills. E.g. you can improve basic mathematical skills by practicing them often and learning certain mathematical shortcuts, or you can learn to read faster by pushing your reading speed and learning to scan for meaning. Generally, the best way to improve your performance in specific work tasks is to do those tasks a lot. When you do that, you gradually learn the best possible techniques to efficiently and accurately complete that work, in the minimum necessary amount of time.

Q Are anabolic steroids addictive?

Anabolic steroids are synthetic version of male sex hormone testosterone. It is prescribed in several medical conditions where there is muscle loss. However it can be abused by athletes and bodybuilders to enhance their performance. Thus they have the potential of being addictive.

Q What can i do if my child is overweight?

Overweight children are more likely to grow up into overweight adults, so your concern for raised weight of child is appropriate. It is usually better that the child maintains their current weight while they continue to grow in height. Making changes to your family~s lifestyle can make a real difference to your child~s weight. Eat regular meals, together as a first step towards a healthier diet. Use homemade food rather than relying on ready-made meals to help you to lower the fat and sugar content in your meals. Avoid the diet like snacks and meals that are high in fat or sugar, such as chocolate, biscuits, sweets and fizzy drinks, and aim to replace these with healthier alternatives such as fruits. Exercise is helpful to burn extra calories in your child. Kindly focus on light exercises done by your child like standing up, moving around, walking at a slow pace and less energetic play. Also active play (such as hide and seek and stuck in the mud), fast walking, riding a bike, dancing, swimming, climbing, skipping rope, gymnastics are helpful depending upon the age.

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.

Q I have been suffering from hyper-acidity as a result of antibiotics. Please advice.

Hyper-acidity is a common side effect of most antibiotics. Most physicians will prescribe an antacid or a H2 blocker along with antibiotics to circumvent this side-effect. If your physician hasnt done so, please visit him and ask him to prescribe the same. If you are on long term antibiotics, a multivitamin will help. As a home measure, include plenty of cold milk and yogurt in your diet to counteract hyper-acidity.

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 What are low-glycemic index foods?

Foods that are very slowly absorbed are said to have low glycemic index. These don~t affect blood sugar levels much.

Q I have sagging breast, since 2 years. I m very concerned about my sagging breast.

There is not much you can do about sagging other than gym exercise which will tone up the muscles and make breasts firm. Wear well fitting bra and sports bra during any strenuous physical activity. Breast lift surgery may help you to recover the condition to some extent.