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 How to control thyroid in pregnency

Thyroid control will require intake of thyroid medication. Medication will depend upon the type of thyroid disorder such as hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Hence you should consult your family physician at the earliest as uncontrolled thyroid disease can affect the fetus.

Q My wife is breastfeeding. Can she take iron and calcium medicine. My baby is 11 months old

If she has deficiency then she can take. It is actually advisable for a lactating woman to have calcium supplement. Also encourage her to have well balanced and nutritious diet.

Q What can you tell me about Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a Mental Health disorder that generates significant emotional instability. This can lead to a variety of other stressful mental and behavioral problems. When you have borderline personality disorder, you often have an insecure sense of who you are. Your self-image, self-identity or sense of self often rapidly changes. You may view yourself as evil or bad, and sometimes you may feel as if you dont exist at all. An unstable self-image often leads to frequent changes in jobs, friendships, goals and values. This is because people with borderline personality disorder often have difficulty accepting gray areas; things seem to be either black or white. The common symptom of borderline personality disorder are overwhelming feelings of distress, anxiety, worthlessness or anger, difficulty managing such feelings without self-harming, for example by abusing drugs and alcohol or taking overdoses, difficulty maintaining stable and close relationships, sometimes, periods of loss of contact with reality, in some cases, threats of harm to others. Treatment may involve a range of individual and group psychological therapies (psychotherapy) carried out by trained professionals.

Q Do women need Sildenafil/Viagra?

Sildenafil has been developed for men to deal with erectile dysfunction. It increases blood flow to penis thus helping erection. Its effectiveness in woman has not yielded any beneficial results.

Q Does stress really cause heart disease?

Stress is a normal part of life. But if left unmanaged, stress can lead to psychological and physical complaints. Stress by itself does not cause heart disease but it increases the risk of developing heart disease. Stress is known causative factor for hypertension, high cholesterol levels, binge eating, alcohol abuse, excessive smoking. All these in turn can lead to heart disease.

Q How fast are calories absorbed?

The calories absorption depends on the physical and mental well being of the person. It also depends on the age, sex, occupation, environmental factors etc. It varies from person to person. Some one doing heavy physical work spend the calories early than other one who does relax work in the office.

Q How soon can I use tampons after giving birth?

You should not be using tampons for at least 6 weeks after childbirth. The uterus sheds lochia during this period for which you must stick to a sanitary napkin. Tampons can easily introduce infection since the tissues of the vagina have not yet healed completely. Once the discharge of lochia has stopped and your vaginal musculature has returned back to normal, you can start using tampons.

Q Diagnosis of high cholesterol

The diagnosis of high cholesterol levels is based on a simple blood test. Usually a complete Lipid profile is advised to test the levels of different components of cholesterol and triglycerides. Total cholesterol levels should be less than 200 mg/dl. LDL levels less than 100 mg/dL ( 2.6 mmol/L) are considered optimal. An acceptable HDL range is between 40- 60 mg/dL (1.04-1.56 mmol/L). Triglyceride levels should be maintained less than 150 mg/dl. High levels of HDL have a protective effect against heart disease whereas high levels of LDL and triglycerides increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Q Can dark circles be treated completely with laser?

There are very effective modern laser and light treatments that can permanently remove the dark circles under your eyes.However, these dark circle treatments must be directed at the underlying medical cause of the dark circles for removal to be effective. Always consult a good doctor and ensure that he knows what he is doing. Since the skin under the eyes is delicate, a wrong laser treatment may cause serious damage to the eyes. You may also consult a dermatologist to recover from dark circles.