World Breastfeeding Week is from October 1st to 7th. This year’s theme highlights the importance of providing support to breastfeeding moms and their families. A guest blogger, Melanie Foster shares her experience learning to breastfeed her daughter and how a support system helped.

Here’s Melanie’s story.

When my daughter arrived, the midwife gave her to my partner and guided him to place her on my bare chest, skin-to-skin. She cried with all her might and looked into my eyes. I stroked her face and at that moment, started to think about breastfeeding.

Click here to read more:

Picture Courtesy: WHO

Ear infection can be caused by a bacteria or virus which gets inside the middle ear and causes problem. People can get ear infection at any age. It is common in children but adults can also get an ear infection. Ear infection causes inflammation in the ear and can be very painful at times. Sometimes the infections get clear on their own but if not, then by following some tips you can easily prevent it. 5 tips to prevent ear infection are as follows:

Tea Tree Oil

Take tea tree oil (3 drops), olive oil (2 tablespoons) colloidal silver (1 teaspoon) and apple cider vinegar (1 teaspoon). Mix them well and then heat the mixture slightly. Then you should lie down and place your head on a towel and use a dropper and put this mixture into your ear. Leave it for 5 minutes.

Click here to read more: 

Photo credits: http://www.saintthomashealth.com/

One of the common emergencies that require surgical procedures is appendicitis, which is one of the major causes for a patient suffering from abdominal pain.Appendix, which is a vestigial organ in the body, has remained though evolutions have managed to get rid of such use less organs. Appendix needs to get removed from the body, though it has remained for whatever reason.

Appendix has the structure of a small pouch, having a finger like shape in the large intestine in the right lower area of the abdomen.  The function of the pouch is to drain mucus that may form in it.  However, appendix does not possess entry or exit of the products and so can not take active participation in the process.

Click here to read more:

Photo Courtesy: http://i.huffpost.com/

On July 10th, we saw Dr.Ananthakrishnan Sivaraman from Apollo Hospitals talk about the importance of Sanitation and also how to prevent various diseases involving Kidney, Bladder and Prostate Cancer. The following is a summary of his pointers:

• Dr.Sivaraman advised us saying that it is very important to be physically active. Obesity & Smoking have been related to Kidney/Bladder/Prostate Cancer. So it’s good to be physically active and stop smoking!
• If older men find that they need to visit the restroom very often at night, it’s a sure sign that an immediate prostate check is required!
• He also said that Alcohol consumption in moderation is acceptable but that one should not give into peer pressure, it is only the company that matters.
• Robotic Surgery can be used to  remove tumors on the Kidney nevertheless it is about 40% more expensive BUT is more accurate and recovery time is far less.
• Dr.Ananthakrishnan Sivaraman concluded by saying that Cranberry Juice and Water are the top preventers of urinary tract infection for Women
• Loose clothes, undergarments and frequent Water intake are the Key factors for Men for better sperm count and to prevent urinary infections.

Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene claim the lives of an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five each year. Reading these facts alone is not going to solve the sanitation crisis in India. We have to join hands and eradicate the issue. Tune in to the Slice of Health show on Chennai Live 104.8 FM between 9am – 10am tomorrow to understand why Sanitation is so important. Click here to read more Photo Courtesy: http://phlessons.com

Detoxification means cleaning the blood. This is done by removing impurities from the blood in the liver, where toxins are processed for elimination. The body also eliminates toxins through the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph and skin. However, when this system is compromised, impurities aren’t properly filtered and every cell in the body is adversely affected.

Click here to read more:

Picture courtesy: http://consciouslifenews.com/

By now, you probably know that you should use sunscreen every day both to help reduce your risk of skin cancer and to prevent pesky wrinkles, dark spots, and other signs of premature aging. Yet even people who do slather it on religiously make potentially dangerous mistakes.

Click here to read more: 

Photo courtesy http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/

Damaged hair is not an uncommon condition these days. Environmental conditions, stress, chemical hair treatments etc. all contribute dull and damaged hair. Natural oils are chemical free and can help prevent split ends, detangle hair and nourish them. Here are a few such natural oils, which you can use to get healthy hair.

Click here to read more

Image courtesy: http://www.glanzindia.com/

While they seem to be very casual about it, men are look-conscious like women. But habits like drinking, smoking, lack of skincare and dodging of skincare products leads to a lot of skin damage men indulge in unknowingly. We list out bad skincare habits in men that causes skin damage.

Click here to read more