Q What is "Selective Mutism"?

Selective mutism is a condition in which a person who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations or to specific people. Selective mutism usually begins in childhood. It usually co-exists with shyness or social anxiety. Its important to understand that when the mutism happens, the child is not voluntarily refusing to speak but is literally unable to speak, feeling frozen. In time, they learn to anticipate the situations that provoke mutism and do all they can to avoid them. Example: selective mutism while interacting with the opposite sex. Other attributes of children or adults with selective mutism are nervousness, socially awkward, clingy, excessively shy or withdrawn, stubborn or aggressive. Behavioral therapy forms the mainstay of treatment with medications used in a few older patients. Most children will work their way through SM with sympathetic support, although they may remain reserved and anxious in social situations.

Q I am married and I still dont have baby

Difficult in conceiving is called as infertility. Causes of primary infertility in females are: irregular menses, hormonal imbalance, being obese, thyroid disorder, PCOD, diabetes, birth defects, etc. In males the cause of infertility are: hormonal imbalance, poor quality and quantity of sperms, birth defects, impotence, retrograde ejaculation, etc. If it is been more than one year since you are trying for pregnancy then you should consult a gynecologist. Preliminary test like sonography for female partner and semen analysis for male partner will help to identify the probable cause.

Q My penis bleeding during sex and its hurts. my age 31

You seem to have injured yourself during the act. Please visit a physician to determine the cause and further management. Meantime maintain hygiene, avoid sexual intercourse to allow healing process, wear cotton underwear.

Q How to treat an oat allergy?

In an acute episode use of over the counter antihistamines are beneficial. As far as prevention is considered the best way is to avoid eating oats. Cereals, cereal bars, cookies and other similar foods are main sources of oats and hence should be avoided. Rice, potatoes, fruits contain many of the same health benefits as oats and can be substituted for oats.

Q Stool test report. Color - brown, Consistency - soft, Reaction - acidic, Pus celss - 1-2/ hpf. Kindly advice as soon as possible. I have pain and lubricant stuff without stool

Presence of pus cells and acidic nature of the stool is an abnormal finding. The most probable cause for this is poor absorption of foods. Kindly consult with your doctor to co-relate the report clinically.

Q Hello doctor, my grandfather was diagnosed with an alzheimers dementia; could u give me more info about this disease? What is the cause? Is it hereditary? Any treatment for the same?

Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, a serious brain disorder that impacts daily living through memory loss and cognitive changes. Alzheimers is a degenerative disease, progressing from mild forgetfulness to widespread neurological impairment and ultimately death. nAlthough a direct cause of Alzheimers is not known certain common factors are found in the clinical picture of sufferers. These include; prior personality organisation of the individual and stressfulness of their life situation. You are at higher risk, if family history of this disease is there.nAlthough there is no cure for Alzheimers, and various psychotherapies appear to be ineffective, there are ways to treat some of the symptoms of the disease: Use of medications to treat cognitive decline and memory loss. Also appropriate activities such as exercise, recreation, and adult day care services appear to assist in the management of the patient.

Q Why is babys head dropping when crawling?

Crawling is seen at the age of 6-9 months of the baby. During this period, the baby tries to hold his head high and try push ups to move forwards. Developing head control varies from baby to baby. Some may develop quickly while other may take time. But, if your baby is unable to hold at all, then you must consult your paediatrician to rule out the cause.

Q Can stress cause weigh gain? How is stress related to weight gain? How to prevent it?

Yes stress is the major cause for weight gain! People turn to food for comfort whenever they feel stressed and tend to overeat. To make it worse, often we choose junk food. So, one, we eat unnecessarily without being hungry and two, junk food means much more added calories than needed.n Over a period, the caloric imbalance leads to weight gain and eventually elevates risk of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.n Now that you know, choose healthy alternatives like an apple or roasted almonds next time you feel stressed and are tempted to eat!n Moreover, try alternate ways like going for a walk or dancing to the tunes of some soothing music. This will not only relieve stress but will give bonus benefit by burning excess calories.

Q Please guide me proper veg diet chart for gain weight

In order to make a proper vegetarian diet chart more details are required such as your age, gender, height, current weight and physical activity level. Following is a general vegetarian diet chart to gain weight: Meal 1-8 am: Whole wheat bread and paneer sandwich and 1 cup milk. Meal 2-11 am: 1 Banana. Meal 3-2 pm: Roti, sabji and curd. Meal 4- 5 pm: Handful of roasted nuts and 1 cup milk. Meal 5- 8 pm: Roti, Sabji and dal or Rice, Sabji and dal.

Q My mother is 69 years, last year we accidntally came to know that she has polycystic kidney disease. She never had any symptoms of this disease. When she went for an ultra sound scan for porlonged cough, doctor deteced PKD, then a nephrologist suggested to go in for continuous dialysis and we have been doing the same twice a week. She is normal now. Should we continue doing dialysis? She is not BP or Sugar patient

Whether to continue with dialysis or not will depend upon how well is the kidney functioning. Frequency of dialysis can be decided only by nephrologist considering her response to the treatment. Do regular consultation with your doctor and follow his advises.