Healthcare Ozoheal Clinic is one stop center that specializes in health screening, total body rejuvenation, & non-invasive aesthetic treatments located at MVC, KL. Our services includes treatments from head to toe such as outpatient treatments, annual medical check-ups, blood and urine test, anti-wrinkle therapy, acne & scar therapy, total detox, weight management, anti-pigmentation, body shaping, facelifts, anti-cellulite therapy, vitamin Infusion, Vampire Facial.
A Pap Test or Pap Smear checks for changes in the cells of the cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the womb ,which opens into the vagina. The test can find cancer cells or cells that could turn into cancer.
When should women getting PAP TEST?
All women should start getting Pap test about 3 years after they first have vaginal sex. All women should be getting Pap tests by the time they are 21 years old.
How is a PAP TEST done?
A doctor/ nurse inserts a speculum into vagina to see the cervix.
A doctor/nurse takes sample of cell from inside and outside of the cervix.
How to get ready for a PAP TEST?
- For about 2 days before before Pap Test.
DO NOT
Have Sex
Use tampons
Use use birth control that is put into the vagina, like foam, cream or jelly
Use any medicine that is put into the vagina
Use a vagina lubrication
Use feminine deodorant sprays or powders
Swim
Take a tub bath
Do not have a Pap test id you are having period. It can make it harder to find cells that are not normal. Call to change your appointment.
How often should women get Pap Test?
A woman should talk with her doctor or nurse to decide how often to have Pap tests. How often a woman should have Pap test is based on many things, including
Her age
Result of pap test in the past
Medical history
Having human papillomavirus (HPV)
Smoking
When should women stop getting PAP Tests?
Women can stop getting a Pap Test at 70 years old if the results of all Pap tests in the last 10 years were normal. all women over 70 should still have a pelvic exam every year.
What about women who have had a hysterectomy?
Women who have a partial hysterectomy still need to get Pap tests. This surgery takes out the womb (uterus) but NOT the cervix.
Women who had a total hysterectomy may stop getting Pap tests. This surgery takes out the the womb and cervix.
Even after stopping Pap smears, all women should ge a pelvic exam every year.
from http://www.wellnessproposals.com/health-care/handouts/womens-health/pap-tests.pdf
When
it comes to New Year’s resolutions, our self-improvement efforts often
focus on getting a better body. And we ignore that other, equally
important part of our wellbeing: our mental health.
Certain
health hazards come with warnings, like cigarettes or alcohol, but less
obvious ones, like loneliness and rejection, can take just as great
toll, says psychologist Guy Winch, author of Emotional First Aid: Healing Rejection, Guilt, Failure and Other Everyday Hurts. Research shows
social isolation is linked to shorter lifespans, yet we often ignore
our emotional hygiene. “If our dental hygiene were as poor as our
emotional hygiene, we’d be all gums and no teeth,” says Winch.
This year, prioritize your mind as well as your body, and make a
resolution for better mental health. Here are some of Winch’s tips for
prioritizing your emotional hygiene in the new year (and all year long).
1. Pay attention to emotional pain. Psychological
pain is much like physical pain—if something hurts for more than a few
days, you need to do something about it. If you experience rejection,
failure, or have a bad mood that lingers too long, don’t ignore it.
2. Take action when you feel lonely. Chronic loneliness is devastating to your emotional and physical health because it increases your chances
of an early death by 14%. Therefore, when you feel lonely, actions like
reaching out to family members, connecting with friends or joining a
dating website can help. Make a list of people who you’ve been close to
in the past (use your phone book, social media friends, and email
contacts) and reach out to one of them each day to chat or to make
plans. It will feel scary and risky to take those kinds of steps, but
that’s what you need to do to break the cycle of disconnection and end
your emotional isolation.
3. Stop your emotional bleeding. Psychological
wounds tend to create vicious cycles that get worse with time. Failure
can lead to feelings of helplessness that in turn can make you more
likely to fail again in the future. To break the negative cycle of
failure, find ways to gain control of the situation. Our minds are not
as reliable as we tend to think, so ignore misleading feelings from your
gut that tell you to give up, and focus on the aspects within your
control, such as your preparation, planning, effort and execution.
4. Protect your self-esteem. Your self-esteem is
like an emotional immune system—it can increase your resilience and
protect you from stress and anxiety. Good emotional hygiene involves
monitoring your self-esteem and boosting it when it’s low. How? Avoid
negative self-talk that damages it further—despite how tempting it might
be to indulge these kinds of thoughts at times.
5. Revive your self-worth after a rejection. It’s
very common to be self-critical after you get rejected. It’s an
unfortunate reaction, since that’s when your self-esteem is already
hurting. You’re most likely to call yourself names, list all your faults
and shortcomings and generally kick yourself when you’re already down.
The most important thing you can do after getting rejected is to treat
yourself with the same compassion you would treat a good friend. Make
sure your inner voice is kind, understanding and supportive.
6. Battle negative thinking. When something
upsetting happens, it’s natural to brood over it. But replaying the
scene over and over in your mind will not give you much insight or
closure. The best way to break a brooding cycle is to distract yourself
with a task that requires concentration, like a game on your cell phone,
a quick run or a crossword puzzle.
7. Be informed on the impact of common psychological wounds and how to treat them. You
know how to treat a cut or a cold, so you should also know how to treat
rejection, failure, loneliness, guilt and other common emotional
wounds. By becoming mindful about your psychological health and adopting
habits of good emotional hygiene, you will not only heal your
psychological injuries when you sustain them, but you will elevate your
entire quality of life
Curcumin quiets crosstalk in tumor cellular environment
Tuesday, October 7, 2014. The journal PLOS One
published an article on September 19 demonstrating BCM-95® curcumin
altered the microenvironment of a colorectal cancer cell culture model,
thereby reducing tumor promoting factors and potentially enhancing
chemotherapy effectiveness.
"Accumulating evidence suggests that the development and progression of
colorectal cancer is due to genetic and epigenetic alterations that are
the result of complex interactions of transformed cells with their
microenvironment," explain authors Constanze Buhrmann of Ludwig
Maximilian University in Germany and her colleagues. "The tumor
microenvironment is regarded as the tumor bed, which comprises of
resident components, such as stromal cells and the factors that are
stable within the milieu of the stroma, and nonresident components such
as different immune cell populations, which influence tumor invasion and
metastasis. The synergistic impact of the microenvironment on
inflammatory responses and tumor progression is now considered to be an
essential feature of carcinogenesis, and there is growing interest in
the identification of agents that specifically target the pathway
interaction between the tumor and stromal cells."
Dr Buhrmann and associates cultured human colon
cancer cells with human stromal fibroblast cells for three days. They
observed clustering of the cancer cells around the stromal cells, which
established close cell-to-cell contact. This cellular interaction was
associated with increased expression of adhesion and metastatic
molecules, active cell cycle proteins, transforming growth factor-beta3
(TGF-beta3) and vimentin, which is a marker of epithelial to mesenchymal
transition (EMT), a process that supports the initiation of metastasis.
The team then employed a three dimensional high
density tumor microenvironment in which colon cancer cells were
co-cultured with stromal cells and treated with varying concentrations
of BCM-95® curcumin and/or the chemotherapeutic drug 5-fluorouracil
(5-FU). While 5-FU alone increased tumor-promoting factors, TGF-beta3,
and EMT, pretreatment with curcumin prior to 5-FU administration reduced
these factors. Treatment with 5-FU and/or curcumin promoted
disintegration of high-density tumor spheres, an effect that was greater
in curcumin-treated co-cultures.
Cancer stem cells, which are believed to be
responsible for treatment resistance and tumor recurrence, were more
numerous in co-cultured cancer and stromal cells in comparison with
cancer cells alone, indicating the role of crosstalk in supporting in
tumor promotion. Administration of curcumin with or without 5-FU
inhibited and diminished the expression of cancer stem cell markers,
while 5-FU alone was associated with an increase—a fact that the authors
attribute to a defense reaction of the tumor cell culture and
microenvironment.
The results, according to the authors, demonstrate
"for the first time, the modulating effect of curcumin on the crosstalk
between the colorectal cancer cells/cancer stem cells and the
fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment, creating an adequate climate
for more effective chemotherapeutic action of 5-FU to specifically
target chemoresistant colorectal cancer cells."
They conclude "that the natural NF-kB inhibitor
curcumin is a promising modulator of the synergistic crosstalk in the
tumor microenvironment and curcumin-based anti-EMT and tumor progression
may be a promising therapeutic strategy to prevent resistance to
chemotherapeutic agents, sensitizing cancer stem cells to 5-FU and
impede metastasis."
Writing in an article published online on October 5, 2012 in the journal Carcinogenesis,
German and Italian researchers report an anti-metastatic effect for
curcumin, a compound that occurs in the spice turmeric, in an animal
model of prostate cancer. Previous experimentation by the team uncovered an
inhibitory effect for curcumin against the expression of
pro-inflammatory immunomodulator cytokines that include CXCL1 and CXCL2,
which are associated with breast cancer metastases. The current
research found a similar inhibitory action for curcumin in prostate
carcinoma cells via inhibition of nuclear factor kappa-beta (NFκB). Upon
testing curcumin in a mouse model of prostate cancer, a significant
decrease in lung metastases was observed. "Chronic inflammation can induce a metastasis prone phenotype in
prostate cancer cells by maintaining a positive pro-inflammatory and
pro-metastatic feedback loop between NFκB and CXCL1/-2," the authors
write. "Curcumin disrupts this feedback loop by the inhibition of NFκB
signaling leading to reduced metastasis formation in vivo." "Due to the action of curcumin, the tumor cells synthesize smaller
amounts of cytokines that promote metastasis," commented lead researcher
Beatrice Bachmeier of Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. "As a
consequence, the frequency of metastasis formation in the lungs is
significantly reduced, in animals with breast cancer, as we showed
previously, or carcinoma of the prostate, as demonstrated in our new
study." "This does not mean that the compound should be seen as a replacement
for conventional therapies," she added. "However, it could play a
positive role in primary prevention – before a full-blown tumor arises –
or help to avert formation of metastases. In this context the fact that
the substance is well tolerated is very important, because one can
safely recommend it to individuals who have an increased tumor risk." Dr Bachmeier is planning a clinical trial to
evaluate the effects of curcumin in treatment-resistant prostate cancer
patients.
The eye depends on the flow of tears to provide constant
moisture and lubrication to maintain vision and comfort. Tears are a
combination of water, for moisture; oils, for lubrication; mucus, for
even spreading; and antibodies and special proteins, for resistance to
infection. These components are secreted by special glands located
around the eye. When there is an imbalance in this tear system, a person
may experience dry eyes.
When tears do not adequately lubricate the eye, a person may experience:
Pain
Light sensitivity
A gritty sensation
A feeling of a foreign body or sand in the eye
Itching
Redness
Blurring of vision
Sometimes, a person with a dry eye will have
excess tears running down the cheeks, which may seem confusing. This
happens when the eye isn't getting enough lubrication. The eye sends a
distress signal through the nervous system for more lubrication. In
response, the eye is flooded with tears to try to compensate for the
underlying dryness. However, these tears are mostly water and do not
have the lubricating qualities or the rich composition of normal tears.
They will wash debris away, but they will not coat the eye surface
properly.
What Causes Dry Eyes?
In addition to an imbalance in the tear-flow system
of the eye, dry eyes can be caused by situations that dry out the tear
film. This can be due to dry air from air conditioning, heat, or other
environmental conditions. Other conditions that may cause dry eyes are:
The natural aging process, especially menopause
Side effects of certain drugs such as antihistamines and birth control pills
Diseases that affect the ability to make tears, such as Sjogren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and collagen vascular diseases
Structural problems with the eyelids that don't allow them to close properly
How Are Dry Eyes Treated?
Though dry eyes cannot be cured, there are a number
of steps that can be taken to treat them. You should discuss treatment
options with an eye care specialist. Treatments for dry eyes may
include:
Artificial tear drops and ointments. The use of
artificial teardrops is the primary treatment for dry eye. Artificial
teardrops are available over the counter. No one drop works for
everyone, so you might have to experiment to find the drop that works
for you. If you have chronic dry eye, it is important to use the drops
even when your eyes feel fine, to keep them lubricated. If your eyes dry
out while you sleep, you can use a thicker lubricant, such as an
ointment, at night.
Temporary punctal occlusion. Sometimes it is necessary to
close the ducts that drain tears out of the eye. This may be done
temporarily with a dissolving plug that is inserted into the tear drain
of the lower eyelid to determine whether permanent plugs can provide an
adequate supply of tears.
Non-dissolving punctal plugs and punctal occlusion by cautery (application of heat to tear exit duct).
If temporary plugging of the tear drains works well, then
longer-lasting plugs or cautery may be used. These measures increase the
tear level by blocking the “drainpipe” through which tears normally
exit the eye and enter the nose. The plugs can be easily removed.
Rarely, the plugs may come out spontaneously or migrate down the tear
drain. Many patients with particularly bothersome dry eyes find that the
plugs or surgical occlusion (cautery) improve comfort and reduce the
need for artificial tears.
Lipiflow. Lipiflow is a medical
device that uses heat and pressure on the eyelids to unclog blocked
glands. These glands produce oil as part of the tear film. The oil
lubricates the eye and prevents the tears from evaporating.
Restasis. The FDA approved the prescription eye drop
Restasis for the treatment of chronic dry eye. It is currently the only
prescription eye drop that helps your eyes increase their own tear
production with continued use.
Other medications and nutrition. Other medications,
including steroid eyedrops, can be used for short periods of time as an
adjunct to other long-term measures. There is growing evidence that
increasing the oral intake of fish oil and omega-3 via diet or
supplement is very helpful to those suffering with dry eye.
source from http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/eye-health-dry-eyes
