Q What triggers hormonal migraines in women?

The hormonal migraines are also known as menstrual migraines in females. The cause of headache is due to sudden drop of estrogen levels. This may happen during menstrual period, in menopause, due to sudden stopping of oral contraceptive pills and in pregnancy during first few weeks.

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 Is ensure a safe drink to have while on both chemo and radiation for metastasized stomach cancer? I have read articles stating that ensure is filled with sugar, which can actually be counterproductive in cancer patients

Ensure drink can be had as a supplement to regular meals but not as a replacement. It is best to stick to actual food in order to get energy and necessary nutrition. As long as you have a small quantity (1 serving a day), you shouldnt face any problems. However, there is a possibility of Ensure interacting with certain medications, so it is imminent to discuss this issue with your treating physician.

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 What are monounsaturated fats? Are they healthy?

Monounsaturated fats are the fats present in vegetable oils, nuts, fruits, legumes, and seeds. They are heart-healthy and help in lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol and increasing HDL (good) cholesterol.

Q What is pelvic floor muscle dysfunction?

Pelvic floor muscle dysfunction is a condition in which the muscles of the pelvic floor shows disability to work as they should be. Factors such as being over weight, pregnancy, menopause, disorder of the nerves in the pelvic region can lead to pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. Treatment will be determined by the underlying cause.

Q Can I get a vasectomy reversal at NHS ?

Vasectomy is known as male sterilisation. The procedure works by preventing sperm from the testes, reaching the semen that is ejaculated during orgasm. This is achieved by cutting or blocking the tubes that carry sperm from the testes to the penis. Vasectomy reversal is not usually available on the NHS. You need to talk with your gynecologist regarding this.

Q How can I help my child avoid and manage stress? and tension headache?

Following measures can help your child to manage stress and tension headache: Identifying and avoiding the known triggers. Taking well balanced diet. Enroll your child in any physical activity like his/her favorite sport. This will help to de-stress. Make sure your child gets good quality 7-9 hours of sleep on regular basis. Try and talk to your child if anything at school or at home is bothering him/her. Lastly ask him/her not to skip medicines prescribed for the headache.

Q Can you have a normal ECG but an abnormal chest X-ray ?

Yes. This can happen. As both the investigations serve different purposes. ECG is restricted to evaluate and diagnose heart conditions. It does not give an idea about other structures in your chest cavity. But a chest X-ray is more elaborated and preliminary examination to detect any problems inside thoracic cage. Most commonly chest X-ray is advised to see lung condition, but its scope does not limit there. A normally functioning heart with problems to other organs and spaces inside chest cavity can give normal ECG with an abnormal chest X-ray.

Q Suffering from fibromyalgia since last 12 years fade up of that now please suggest solution

We can understand your despair about your condition. Fibromyalgia syndrome is characterized by generalised pain, hypersensitive and painful response to pressure, joint stiffness, chronic fatigue and sleep disturbances. Also it is commonly associated with psychological disorders like depression. As it is a complex syndrome and has no specific cause, it is one of medically not fully understood syndromes, as a result there is no universally accepted permenant cure for this condition. The aim in management of it is to alleviate the pain and other associated symptoms of this condition. This include various methods that collectively will give relief from symptoms. The methods include cognitive behaviopural therapy, prescribed medicines, exercise(specially aerobic). FM is not a fatal condition and is not prograssive. So, if you maintain healthy lifestyle including exercise, eat healthy and balanced diet, get an adequate sleep, and stay away from stress and depression, it can get better over a time. Trying complemetary or alternative therapies is definitely a thing to consider. You can choose any from a variety, like Ayurveda, Homoeopathic, Accupressure or accupuncture, massage therapies, physiotherapy, herbs etc. These are proved to be effective in many such patients.