Health Questions & Answers

Taste dialect implies that the region of birth determines the taste of a person or community. Just as in speech dialect, taste is predetermined by genetic make-up, say researchers, and the person seeks out foods of that region naturally. The research, carried out on thousands of people, proved that they favoured foods traditional to their region of birth.

Silent birth is all about providing the best possible environment for the birthing mother and her new baby. Its origins can be found in L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and are firmly rooted in a fundamental and abiding principle that women, particularly expectant mothers, be given the utmost in care and respect. A silent birth …

Nido (Nest) therapy is focused on changing a person’s environment, not their personality. The idea that changing the environmental context can help heal mental illness is important. This includes our physical environment as well as our culture and biochemistry. Nido (Nest) therapy places a high priority on individualized plans and individual therapy for the treatment of anorexia, bulimia, exercise addiction …

Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS) is a relatively uncommon condition that involves the exaggeration or fabrication of illnesses or symptoms by a primary caretaker. One of the most harmful forms of child abuse, MBPS was named after Baron von Munchausen, an 18th-century German dignitary known for telling outlandish stories.

Montezuma was the Aztec emperor of Mexico from 1502 to 1520. It was during his reign that the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire took place. Referring to this incident, travellers from Europe termed the disease caused by consuming local water while visiting Mexico and other Latin American countries as Montezuma’s revenge’. The disease caused by E.coli bacterium was later …

In sports and orthopedics, a tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to “torn cartilage” in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of one of the tibiae. Menisci can be torn during …

By definition, Kosher is food prepared according to Orthodox Jewish law. Kosher rating is an internationally accepted symbol of purity and quality that is both recognised and respected throughout the world. To achieve this quality mark, a rabbi from a certified laboratory is required to inspect the processing facilities, the formula of the stabilization method, the manufacturing process and all …

Kangaroo touch is a technique used to encourage skin-to-skin contact between a newborn, usually premature baby and its mother as this touch is believed to keep it healthy. It is also encouraged between siblings. The name comes from the way kangaroos hold their young in their pouches. Kangaroo touch or care is now increasingly promoted in hospitals for the many …

Ferberization is a technique invented by Dr. Richard Ferber to solve infant sleep problems. It involves “baby-training” children to self-soothe by allowing the child to cry for a predetermined amount of time before receiving external comfort. Dr. Richard Ferber discusses and outlines a wide range of practices to teach an infant to sleep. The term ferberization is now popularly used …

Dandy fever, also called dengue fever, is a viral fever that spreads through mosquito bite. Its symptoms are headache, fever, muscle and joint pains, swollen glands and rashes. The disease is not contagious and can be contracted only when an Aedes aegypti mosquito which has already bitten a patient with the disease, bites another person. No vaccine is available as …