Q My teenage girls want to use nail polish, but I have heard that many nail polishes contain formaldehyde and can cause cancer. Is it safe for my daughters to use it?

As per the guidelines given by FDA if the formaldehyde content of nail polish is less than 0.2 percent by weight than it is safe to use. So make sure you buy good quality nail polish for your daughters. If you used carefully nail polish as are safe.

Q Does sperm die when it touches water?

Yes. The sperm will die in the water after sometime and not instantly as it touches it. This is due to change in the environment of the sperm in the body and outside the body like change in the temperature, pH etc.

Q How do drugs affect driving?

Driving requires skills, such as information processing and psychomotor skills, which may be impaired by the use of drugs. The effect of drugs vary according to the individual, drug type, dosage, the length of time the drugs stays in your body, or if the drug has been taken with other drugs or alcohol. Drugs affect your ability to drive in different ways like - poor concentration and coordination, blurred vision, nausea, hallucinations, decrease the reaction time etc. A driver who is impaired through any drug is at risk of having an accident which may be life threatening in rare cases. And note that, driving under the influence of a drug is illegal.

Q Having complaint of recurrent stye, occasionally painful what to do?

Bacterial infection of the eye lid causes stye. It is very common for stye to recur. Poor hygiene, blepharitis and acne rosacea increases your risk of developing stye. To prevent recurrence maintain adequate personal hygiene, take adequate treatment for underlying disorders like blepharitis or acne rosacea, if you use contact lenses make sure they are clean.

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 Body too thin...some diet tips

Weight gain depends upon your diet and exercise pattern. Include calorie and protein rich foods in your diet such as eggs, chicken, fish, milk and milk products, nuts, pulses etc. Every morning have a glass of milk with honey and 2 bananas. Consume handful of mixed nuts everyday. Weight gain should be healthy and hence you should limit your intake of junk food. Instead of 3 large meals have 5-7 small meals. Join a gym and practice weight training under supervision.

Q Sir, I am tested HIV positive, for almost 3 years i was in a relationship with a boy, but now we broke up and hes getting married to someoneelse. He wants to be sure that hes not HIV positive.... I have asked him to do the CDcount, but is there any other test which can give accurate result... Pls advice.... Also is it possible that after being in relationship with an HIV person one can still result as Negative???

Sexual relationship between HIV positive and HIV negative partners is called as "mixed status" relationship. For mixed-status couples, the possibility of HIV infection is a constant reality. There is always a risk, but it can be minimized. Antiretroviral therapy can lower the viral load and may decrease chance of HIV positive partner transmitting it to the HIV negative partner, but does not prevent it. Safe sex practices and use of condom may lower the risk of transmission. Do not share syringes, water, drug preparation equipment with others. In your case, the boy needs to do HIV test ( it is diagnosed by presence of antibodies to the HIV virus in blood) and also visit a good HIV consultant to get investigated and counseled thoroughly. HIV testing is carried out on voluntary basis with appropriate pre-test and post-test counseling.

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 Are cigars less detrimental to health than cigarettes?

"No. Cigars arent less harmful than cigarettes in any way. Rather they contain more carcinogenic tars, which make them worse than cigarettes. Moreover, when one smokes stogy, excess nicotine and carcinogens are inhaled through the mouth, which could cause dental problems,lung diseases, and cancers.
The reason behind the false repute of cigar being less harmul might be that generally cigar smokers are "occasional" users, and while puffing, most of them don~t inhale the smoke into their lungs. Stay away from cigarettes, cigars, pipes etc if you want to live healthy."

Q What are the key statistics about thyroid cancer?

Thyroid cancer are not the deadliest cancers. Thyroid cancer has a 5 year survival rate of about 97%. It is estimated that by the end of year 2015 there will be 62,450 new cases of thyroid cancer.