Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Health Tips


Your health is one of the most important things you will ever have in life and it is imperative that you take good care of your health. From keeping your weight down with a great diet to making sure to exercise on a regular basis, there is definitely quite a bit to keeping your body as healthy as possible. If you are looking for the best health information and tips on the web today, then you have arrived at the right place. Welcome to GoodHealthTips.com, where you can find all the health related information that you need. Here you will find many helpful articles, tips, and even health news that you need to know. It’s all right here – right at your fingertips.




Of course, taking care of your health is much more than diet and exercise. There are many other factors to be considered as well, such as your skin, your hair, dealing with various common infections, and many more. So, what type of things will you find here at the Good Health Tips site? Well, you’ll find great health tips and health articles that will prove to be informative and helpful. Just a few of the categories that you can browse here include the following:
- Fitness
- Food
- Hair
- Health
- Heart Burn
- Sinus Infections
- Yeast Infections


Fitness

One of the most important parts of keeping your body healthy is staying fit, which is why we offer so many articles and health tips on fitness here at this site. While diet is important as well, without fitness training your great diet will not be as effective. Here you’ll learn more about fitness and you’ll find articles discussing things like personal trainers and other great fitness topics.

Food
Of course, food is also extremely important when it comes to staying healthy. What you put into your body is definitely going to be reflected in your overall health. So, it is important that you learn what foods are healthy to eat and how they can affect your body. Are you interested in health food? If so, then you can find more information about health food right here. You’ll learn how important it is, how effective it can be, and even a bit on where you can find it. For those who are trying to improve their health by eating the right foods, this site has a great deal of advice and many tips to offer.

Hair
Believe it or not, many people forget their hair when they are thinking about their health. If you want hair that looks great, then you are going to have to take care of that. A person that keeps themselves in the best possible health is definitely going to have great looking hair as well. Perhaps you are suffering from hair loss and you’d like to find out how you can stop the problem. If so, then you can find great information on hair loss, products to help, and other great tips for keeping your hair healthy and avoiding even more hair loss.

Health
Looking for topics on general health? You’ll find what you’re looking for here. From topics regarding women’s health to special health issues for men, there are great health articles that you’ll find helpful and informative.

Heart Burn
Heart burn is a very common problem that many people deal with; however, many of them actually are unaware of what they are experiencing. Here you can learn more information about heart burn and how it can affect your life. Not only will you learn more about heartburn, but you’ll also learn about great over the counter and prescription medications that can help. If you prefer natural medicine, then you can also check out our articles dealing with herbal remedies for heart burn as well.

Sinus Infections
If you’ve ever had a sinus infection, you no doubt know how miserable they can be. Here at Good Health Tips you can find great articles that will help to educate you even more on these miserable infections. You’ll find information about the signs of a sinus infection, some helpful information on various sinus infection remedies, and some great tips to prevent and get rid of a sinus infection.

Yeast Infections
Yeast infections are usually problems that women deal with, and they can be quite uncomfortable to deal with. If you think you may have a yeast infection or you are looking for great cures for yeast infections, then you need to check out this section here at GoodHealthTips.com. You’ll find great articles discussing the symptoms to watch out for, natural cures for yeast infections, causes of the infections, and other treatments that can help as well.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Cow Milk Allergy And The Mechanisms Of Food Allergy


A food allergic reaction occurs as a result of some component of the immune system, which normally protects us from infectious agents, inappropriately reacting to the proteins in foods we eat. Food allergic diseases usually occur in the first decade of life and are directly linked to the maturation of the immune system. In general, clinical symptoms are not detected at birth and although the production of IgE starts in the eleventh week of gestation, no specific sensitization to food allergens can be detected in cord blood.

During the first months of life initial IgE responses to food proteins, particularly hen's egg and cow's milk may be observed even in exclusively breast-fed infants. In such individuals, it is proposed that exposure occurs through proteins in their mother's milk.

Allergic reactions to foods can be broadly divided into immediate on-set and delayed on-set reactions.




IgE-Mediated Food Allergies

The parts of the immune system responsible for immediate on-set reactions (the most dramatic example of which is food anaphylaxis) are IgE antibodies.

In allergic individuals (who are sometimes referred to as being "atopic") eating certain food proteins (such as whey and casein protein contained in cow's milk) results in the production of specific IgE antibody molecules directed against the protein. The second time the individual eats the food, these specific IgE molecules interact with each other, and the protein, to cause the release of harmful chemicals (such as histamine) from special mast cells. This causes the damage associated with the symptoms of food allergy. Damage may occur to the skin, respiratory system or gastrointestinal tract, where the symptoms of food allergy are almost exclusively seen.

Non-IgE-Mediated Food Allergy

"T-cells" are the components of the immune systems responsible for delayed-type food allergic reactions. In individuals with a predisposition for delayed on-set food allergy, initial ingestion of food protein leads to the production of specific types of "T-cell". When the food is subsequently ingested, the food protein is "processed" in a variety of ways and "presented" to the previously generated food-specific T-cells. These T-cells then "invade" the area of the body about to suffer damage, as the skin or the bowel. This processing, presenting and invasion can take 24-48 hours which explains the delayed response. T-cells release chemicals that, through a chain of events, lead to the damage associated with symptoms of food allergy.

You can find more information on food allergies the immune mechanisms on Act Against Allergy - Food allergies

Infants and Cow Milk Allergy

Cow milk allergy (CMA) is a reaction to cow milk that results from a hypersensitive immune response to one or more milk proteins.

Milk is the most common cause of food allergy affecting a minimum of 2-3% of infants. However symptoms suggestive of cows' milk allergy may be present in up to 15% of babies, highlighting the importance of getting an accurate diagnosis.

Most babies with cow milk allergy develop symptoms within the first few months of life. It is rare for symptoms to begin after the age of 12 months.

Symptoms of cow milk allergy can be:

- skin symptoms, (e.g. eczema and rash),
- stomach or gut symptoms (e.g. vomiting, diarrhea or constipation)
- breathing symptoms (i.e. wheezing)

Most babies with cow milk allergy will have two or more symptoms.

The recommended management approach to cow milk allergy is to completely avoid cow milk protein. Because milk is an important food for infants, cutting it out from a baby's diet may put them at risk of poor growth. This risk can be overcome with an alternative hypoallergenic formula, such as amino-acid based formulas (AAF) or extensively hydrolyzed formulas (eHF), which can provide rapid relief of symptoms and enables optimal growth and development.

About Act Against Allergy

Act Against Allergy - For the treatment of Cow Milk Allergy is a global educational initiative with information and tools to know and increase the awareness of childhood cow milk allergy and other infant food allergies and to support parents and healthcare professionals.