Q What kind of diet is not advisable for when you have pain in neck and shoulder?

Unhealthy diet and lifestyle are on second rank when it come to pain in body like neck and shoulder pains. Modern food habits are actually producing harmful effect on body by promoting accumulation of toxins in body. These type of food include: chocolates, ice-creams, food containing caffeine, highly processed food, canned or preserved food specifically with MSG, junk food or fast food, food high in sodium and sugar, high fat dairy products, meat, cigarette, wine, beer or any other alcoholic drink etc. These type of food in diet put your body under constant metabolic stress and promote production and accumulation of unhealthy chemicals or toxins in your body. This combined stresses, irritate and spasms nerves and skeletal muscles resulting in pain. So, healthy way to avoid or reduce neck and shoulder pain is to eat healthy, well cooked, preferably home made and fresh food including lots of veges and fruits.

Q Why do people lie pathologically?

There are many reasons people lie pathologically. It could be from family abuse (covering up or lying so they arent beaten.) It can be immaturity (afraid of the world in general) or it can simply be the person doesnt think they rank high on the ladder of life and make up stories to make themselves look better to others, or because they want sympathy or attention that they are not getting. There are just too many reasons.

Q Brown discharge after sex?

If you have the discharge immediately after sex, then it might be possible that you are having the sex for the first time. If the discharge is after a few days, then it is suggestive of the pregnancy and the it is the implantation bleeding. When you rule out the two condition, then the probability goes to the any infection of the vaginal tissue. For this you must consult the gynecologist.

Q Pericarditis develops after what?

In most the cases the cause of pericarditis is unkown. In some cases it may develop due to viral infection or after a major heart attack. Other causes include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney disease, trauma to heart region, side effect of medications such as blood thinning medicines, etc.

Q My 1 year old boy vomits while sleeping what can be the reason?

The cause of vomiting could be a viral infection, the food your child ate or disorder related to stomach such as reflux disorder. In either cases it is necessary that you consult your childs pediatrician who after a thorough examination can tell you the exact cause and treatment.

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 My underarms have become dark. I wax regularly and don~t use any hair removal creams. Can you please suggest something?

Excessive sweating is the main cause of dark underarms. Make sure not to keep the underarm hair too long. Wax your underarms every 15 days. Tight clothes may cause excess sweating and affect the area. Friction can darken the underarm skin too. So, avoid wearing tight clothes as far as possible.n Gently exfoliate the underarm skin every week to remove the top layer of dead skin cells, which can cause darkening. To reduce darkening, scrub underarms daily with pumice stone while taking shower. Waxing removes hair from the roots and dead cells from armpits. Thus usually it does not darken underarms.

Q Sir, what is severe eccentric mitral regurgitation which my wife has got in the recent echocardiogram...??

Human heart has four chambers. Between each chambers there are flaps which prevent back flow of blood. Mitral valve is one such flap that is present between left atrium and ventricle. Mitral regurgitation means that mitral valve is not functioning adequately and causing back flow or leakage of blood from left ventricle into the left atrium. Mitral valve prolapse is one the most common cause for this. You must get your wife examined by a cardiologist at the earliest.

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 Why do women experience post-delivery depression?

Depression in first few months after childbirth is called postpartum depression. It is due to hormonal changes that take place after pregnancy. The risk factors for postpartum depression can be history of depression, stress in life, poor support from the partner and family, and physical health of both baby and mother. In some cases, there are more disturbances with regards to thoughts, fears and behavior; this is termed as postpartum psychosis.