Antiseptic Vs. Disinfectant

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Antiseptic Vs. Disinfectant

Antiseptics and disinfectants are the basic tools of cleaning and sanitizing, yet the difference between the two substances is unclear. Knowing the difference between antiseptics and disinfectants and how each works to sterilize wounds or surfaces can help you select the most appropriate product for your needs.

Difference

Both antiseptics and disinfectants eliminate disease-causing organisms, notes the Mount Sinai Department of Microbiology. The difference is in how each substance is used. Antiseptics are applied to living skin or tissue to prevent infection, whereas disinfectants are applied to surfaces, equipment or other inanimate objects. Disinfectants are stronger and more toxic than antiseptics because they are applied to surfaces, not living tissue.

Significance

Sterilization kills or removes all living organisms, including viruses, bacteria and cells, from an object, explains Mount Sinai. Disinfection kills or removes disease-causing organisms, but not necessarily all organisms present on an object. Heat, radiation, filtration or chemical processes are used to sterilize objects such as medical instruments or surgical or laboratory equipment. If properly sealed, a sterilized object will remain sterile until the seal is broken. Sterilization is uncommon outside of hospital or laboratory settings. In

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8 Ways to Keep Your Mouth Healthy

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Brushing, flossing, and rinsing are the ABCs of oral health, but they’re only the beginning. A marvelous mouth takes more than squeezing paste out of a tube — think improving your toothbrushing technique, ditching the daily soda habit, and saying good-bye to cigarettes.

David Leader, DMD, an assistant clinical professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, outlines eight oral care musts for a healthy mouth.

  1. Pay a visit. If you’re prone to ditching the dentist, you’re among the roughly 50% of adults in the United States who don’t see a dentist yearly because of dental phobia, finances, or just plain neglect. But spend some quality time with your dentist (twice a year, the American Dental Association advises), and you’ll catch problems such as decay, gum disease, trauma, or cancer at an early stage when they’re treatable, not to mention more affordable to take care of.
  2. Count the years. Toddlers and older adults tend to fly under the dental health radar, but they need mouth maintenance just like the rest of us. Children should see a dentist by the time they’re 1, and until they are coordinated enough to tie their own shoes they’ll need help cleaning their teeth. Older folks
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The Truth About Belly Fat

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Surprise: Everyone has some belly fat, even people who have flat abs.

That’s normal. But too much belly fat can affect your health in a way that other fat doesn’t.

Some of your fat is right under your skin. Other fat is deeper inside, around your heart, lungs, liver, and other organs.

It’s that deeper fat — called “visceral” fat — that may be the bigger problem, even for thin people.

Deep Belly Fat

You need some visceral fat. It provides cushioning around your organs.

But if you have too much of it, you may be more likely to get high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and certain cancers, including breast cancer and colon cancer.

The fat doesn’t just sit there. It’s an active part of your body, making “lots of nasty substances,” says Kristen Hairston, MD, assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

If you gain too much weight, your body starts to store your fat in unusual places.

With increasing obesity, you have people whose regular areas to store fat are so full that the fat is deposited into the organs and around the heart, says Carol Shively, PhD, professor of pathology-comparative medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

How
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Top Tips for Beautiful Teeth and Gums

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Ax the Dental Visit Anxiety

If being in the dentist’s chair makes you anxious, encourage calm by bringing a music player and headphones to your next appointment. And because some people hold their breath when they’re nervous — boosting that anxious feeling — focus on breathing regularly. Above all, communicate with your dentist. They understand your fears and want to help.

Floss First or Brush First?

Flossing first helps make brushing your teeth more effective by removing food that gets trapped between teeth. If handling floss flusters you, look for floss holders at the drugstore. When it’s time to brush, be sure to angle bristles 45-degree at the gum line, then brush gently, moving the brush back and forth.

Go Easy With Toothpicks

If you don’t have floss, a toothpick will work to remove food stuck between teeth, but be gentle. It’s easy to press too hard and damage your gums, or even worse, break off a toothpick below the gum line. Floss helps remove food from between teeth better than a toothpick and fights plaque buildup by getting rid of bacteria that form there. Regularly using a toothpick to remove food trapped in a single area may indicate a bigger problem that requires a

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Helpful Hints for Healthy Teeth

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Remember how your mother used to tell you almost everything you did was “bad for your teeth?” You may have forgotten some of her warnings. And some things she said might not be as bad as you think. Read on.

“The function of teeth is to chew food — and to some extent, help you talk and form words,” Richard H. Price, DMD, retired dentist and former faculty member of the Boston University School of Dentistry, tells WebMD. He is also a spokesman for the American Dental Association.

Teeth, Price says, are not to be used for:

  • Pliers
  • Coat hangers
  • Ice crushers
  • Potato chip bag openers
  • Knot looseners
  • Fork tine straighteners
  • Chomping frozen candy bars full of caramel or frozen nuts

“Blenders have special blades to crush ice, for heaven’s sakes,” he laments.

Whiteners: Good or Bad?

Gregory L. Paskerian, DMD, a private dentist and former assistant professor at Tufts University, tells WebMD that the new whitening rage follows a continuum of products. “The strips and other over-the-counter whiteners do not damage teeth or burn gum tissue,” he says. “The trays (to hold the peroxide solution) you can buy may can contain an acidic, unbuffered solution, which could damage enamel.”

The best tray-type lightening, he says, is provided by the dentist, who can

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Three Proven Tips to Keep Teeth White

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Thanks to advances in oral care, people no longer have to walk around with stained or yellow teeth. These days, brightening your smile is as easy as visiting your dental professional for a whitening treatment or purchasing one of the many at-home treatment options available. Although these methods do help to produce a brighter smile, in order to keep teeth white, you must combine your efforts. Here are three proven methods for doing so:

Practice Good Oral Hygiene

Practicing good oral hygiene is essential for anyone who wants to keep his teeth white. Make a point of brushing your teeth immediately after you eat – this is especially true if you are consuming foods and beverages that are known to stain teeth. Consider using a whitening toothbrush twice a day to help remove any surface stains and decrease any yellowing effects. Additionally, you can also replace your current toothpaste with one made specifically for whitening. It’s also important to floss at least once a day to remove any plaque that has built up.

Pay Attention to the Foods You Consume

Keeping your teeth white is a process. While practicing good oral hygiene is clearly important, watching what you eat or drink is just as

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10 steps to a healthy pregnancy

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Pregnancy is an ideal time to start taking really good care of yourself both physically and emotionally. If you follow the few simple guidelines below, you should give yourself the best chance of having a problem-free pregnancy and a healthy baby.

1. See your doctor or midwife as soon as possible

As soon as you find out you’re pregnant, get in touch with your GP or a midwife to organise your antenatal care. Organising your care early means you’ll get good advice for a healthy pregnancy right from the start. You’ll also have plenty of time to organise any ultrasound scans and tests that you may need.

2. Eat well

Aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet whenever you can. Try to have:

  • At least five portions of fruit and vegetables daily.
  • Plenty of carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta and rice, as the basis of your meals. Choose wholegrain carbohydrates rather than white, so you get plenty of fibre.
  • Daily servings of protein, such as fish, lean meat, eggs, nuts or pulses, and some milk and dairy foods.
  • Two portions of fish a week, at least one of which should be oily. Fish is packed with protein, vitamin D, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids.
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Healthy habits for a healthy life12 tips

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You can help your child establish healthy behaviour, eating and activity habits from birth. If these habits are established early as part of your family’s lifestyle – a natural part of the way you do things – you won’t have to bring in unpopular ‘rules’ later.

Maintaining healthy habits from the start can help your whole family avoid lifestyle problems that can occur later in life, such as overweight and obesity, type-2 diabetes, types of cancer and high blood pressure.

Here are 12 tips to help you and your family with a healthy lifestyle

1. Promote healthy eating in your home
Children are more likely to develop healthy eating behaviours when they’re given a choice of healthy foods at home, so put healthy foods on your shopping list and prepare nutritional meals and snacks for the whole family. Having fewer unhealthy foods (like soft drinks, chips, lollies and snack bars) in your cupboard means you won’t have to ‘police’ what your children eat.

2. As a family, remind yourselves of the basic foods
These are fruit, vegetables, wholegrain cereals, lean meats and fish, and low-fat dairy foods. Make your shopping list from these groups so it will be easier to prepare family

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Twelve steps to a healthy pregnancy

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Now that you know you’re pregnant, it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself both physically and emotionally. You can boost your chances of having a problem-free pregnancy and a healthy baby by following a few simple guidelines.

Get early prenatal care

Good prenatal care is essential for you and your baby. Call your healthcare provider right away and schedule your first prenatal visit, During that visit you’ll be screened for certain conditions that could lead to complications.

If you haven’t yet chosen a provider, get started now. Finding the right person — whether you’re looking for a doctor or a midwife — can take a while. In the meantime, let your current caregiver know if you’re taking medication or have any medical concerns.

Watch what you eat

Now that you’re eating for two, you may be surprised to learn that you only need about 300 additional calories per day. Make sure you get plenty of protein. You now need 70 grams a day compared to 45 grams before you got pregnant. And while your calcium requirement remains the same, it’s more important than ever that you meet it, which is a challenge for many women.

You’ll want to steer clear of undercooked

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Tips for Parents Ideas to Help Children Maintain a Healthy Weight

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You’ve probably read about it in newspapers and seen it on the news: in the United States, the number of obese children and teens has continued to rise over the past two decades.1 You may wonder: Why are doctors and scientists troubled by this trend? And as parents or other concerned adults, you may also ask: What steps can we take to help prevent obesity in our children? This page provides answers to some of the questions you may have and provides you with resources to help you keep your family healthy.

Why is Childhood Obesity Considered a Health Problem?

Doctors and scientists are concerned about the rise of obesity in children and youth because obesity may lead to the following health problems:

  • Heart disease, caused by:
    • high cholesterol and/or
    • high blood pressure
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Asthma
  • Sleep apnea
  • Social discrimination

Childhood obesity is associated with various health-related consequences. Obese children and adolescents may experience immediate health consequences and may be at risk for weight-related health problems in adulthood.

Psychosocial Risks

Some consequences of childhood and adolescent overweight are psychosocial. Obese children and adolescents are targets of early and systematic social discrimination.2 The psychological stress of social stigmatization can cause low self-esteem which, in turn, can hinder academic and social functioning,

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Some Teething Remedies Can Make Babies Sick

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It’s normal for your baby to experience oral pain as teeth buds emerge. But how you treat the pain could make your baby sick, according to the FDA. Learn which over-the-counter remedies to avoid and safer alternatives to use instead.

When the tears flow and wailing begins, a mother will do just about anything to make her baby’s teething pain go away. But according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, she shouldn’t head to the drugstore. The FDA warned parents in a recent Consumer Update that mouth-numbing gels and liquids don’t belong on babies’ gums.

FDA warning

The FDA has previously warned parents not to use over-the-counter mouth-numbing benzocaine products, but the new warning adds prescription drugs, such as lidocaine viscous, to the list of medications that should not be used on children younger than 2, unless directed by a medical professional. Babies who are given too much lidocaine viscous may suffer the following overdose symptoms, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices:

  • jitters
  • confusion
  • falling asleep too easily
  • vision problems
  • shaking
  • vomiting
  • seizures
  • heart problems
  • severe brain injury

Although mouth-numbing products may provide relief from teething, using them puts a baby at risk for methemoglobinemia, a disorder which limits the amount of oxygen in the child’s bloodstream.

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How to Make Your Child’s Shots Less Stressful

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Yes, shots will always sting, but you can take steps before, during and after a vaccine visit to ease your child’s pain and stress.

Parents and kids can agree: Shots hurt. We parents know that these vaccines provide babies with safe, proven protection against serious diseases. But that can be hard to explain to our little ones in a way they understand. What we can do is take steps to remove some of the stress that comes with vaccine visits to the doctor.

“Getting children each dose of every vaccine according to the recommended schedule is one of the most important things parents can do to help keep their children safe and healthy,” says Dr. Andrew Kroger, a father of two and medical officer at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccines can save your child’s life. Because of advances in medical science, babies and young children can be protected against 14 serious diseases by their second birthday. Some diseases that once injured or killed thousands of children a year, such as polio, are no longer common in the U.S.—primarily because of safe and effective vaccines.

Even though you

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5 Ways to Maintain Baby’s Sleep Schedule While Traveling

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If baby’s not happy, nobody’s happy. Use these tips to keep your little one rested and in a good mood on your next trip.

Traveling with your baby or young child can be challenging, especially when it comes to keeping his or her naptime and bedtime routines. Getting good rest is the key to keeping your little one in a good mood when you are away from home, so keep these five tips in mind if you are thinking about traveling in the near future:

  1. Keep baby feeling safe and secure by following the same naptime and bedtime routine that you do at home. Bring along her favorite books, toys and blankets, especially those that she associates with napping and bedtime.
  2. When possible, try to include lots of outdoor activities during the day, but stay close to home (that is, where you are staying) in the evening to help your baby wind down and fall asleep for the night.
  3. Buy a good travel crib. Investing in a sturdy travel crib that offers good support and a comfortable mattress will pay off in better rest for baby—and for you.
  4. Bring along a source of soothing background noise for baby’s room: baby’s nighttime
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Myth vs Fact Which Solid Foods Baby Should Start With and Why

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The baby food landscape is continually evolving, so parents can feel lost and confused when they start feeding their baby solids. Let’s break down what’s myth and fact.

While introducing your baby to solids is an exciting rite of passage, it can also bring a lot of uncertainty, especially for first-time parents. Whether the conversations are taking place in a mommy group or on a message board, many parents circle around those age-old questions about how to give baby the best start possible:

  • “When do I know when my little one is ready?”
  • “Which foods are best to start with?”
  • “And what about food allergies?”

As the science and baby food landscape continue to evolve, parents can find that even between their first and second babies, the answers and available food options have changed. But let’s start with some basics: according to the USDA, during the first year of baby’s life he transitions from being able to only suck and swallow to being able to hold his head up independently and chew more textured foods. On the inside, your precious little one’s digestive tract also undergoes changes as it matures—at first taking in only breast milk or formula, but soon digesting

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How I Handled the News Your Baby Needs a Helmet

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Having the helmet not only changed my baby, it changed me too.

“It’s not your fault.”

I wanted to believe him. Considering he was a doctor who specialized in cranial therapy and development, I should have believed him. But I didn’t.

I looked down at the beautiful head of my 6-month-old baby sitting in my lap and felt a rush of guilt spill over me.

I saw the flat spot. I had seen it since he was born. My husband and I tried to adjust the car seat; to use a baby positioner; to try to turn his head more one way rather than the other. But none of it had worked. After six months of trying, now we were here in a specialist’s office being told our baby needed a helmet.

According to a study in the journal “Pediatrics,” 47 percent of infants have flat spots on their heads. And although many of them don’t require helmet therapy, the practice is becoming more common.

But it didn’t matter that the doctor said it wasn’t our fault and it was caused by how he had been positioned for months in the birth canal. It didn’t matter that he said

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Giving Babies Antibiotics May Cause Obesity Later in Life

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The negative effects of penicillin on good gut bacteria early in life may make it easier for children to become obese when they are older.

A study has found a possible link between giving young children antibiotics and them developing obesity later in life. The study focused on penicillin’s effects; however, the problem appears not to be caused by penicillin itself, but rather by the damage it does to certain types of good bacteria in the digestive tract.

The study, by microbiologist Martin Blaser at New York University, was conducted on mice. It adds to other studies, which found that children who were given antibiotics before 6 months of age were more likely to be overweight at 7 years old. Blaser believes there’s a “window of time” during which penicillin can have the greatest consequences on good bacteria. He thinks it’s somewhere between 6 months and 3 years old.

Approximately 100 trillion bacteria live in and on the typical human. As we’ve learned in recent years, part of a healthy life includes good microbes. Blaser’s study found that disruption of the “microbiome” of the mice during their first month of life resulted in 25 percent more weight later. It also

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Scientists May Have Cured Second U.S. Baby with HIV

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Five Canadian babies are also showing no signs of virus after treatment

Babies born with HIV now have hope because scientists may have found a way to eliminate the virus from their bodies.

A second U.S. baby and five more in Canada have possibly been cured of the virus that leads to AIDS. No traces of the virus have been found in the children’s systems after receiving treatment.

“This could lead to major changes for two reasons,” says Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, executive director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Both for the welfare of the child and because it is a huge proof of concept that you can cure someone if you can treat them early enough.”

The first instance of a cure was found two years ago when a Mississippi baby was diagnosed with the virus. Just 30 hours after birth, the infant was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and was started on antiretroviral treatment. Doctors prescribed three aggressive drugs immediately after birth, which proved to make the difference.

Initial levels of the virus were high, and they decreased in the first month. After the initial testing, the virus was detected three times, but

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The Down Syndrome Diagnosis What to Expect after Delivery

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It may not be the path you envisioned, but knowing what to expect will give you the confidence to parent a child with Down syndrome

Receiving a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis can feel overwhelming. While most expectant parents worry about which breast pump to use and which diapers to buy, you will concentrate on what to expect when caring for a baby with Down syndrome.

First, repeat the Boy Scout motto,”Be Prepared,” to yourself about 10 to 20 times. This should become your family’s go-to saying and your key to gliding through the early months. Being prepared and knowing what to expect will give you the confidence you’ll need to parent a child with Down syndrome more easily.

First Appearances

Have you ever held a baby with Down syndrome before? If not, you have a lot to look forward to! Spending time with one of these little cherubs is such a special experience. According to the National Down Syndrome Society, babies with Down syndrome often share a specific and differentiated set of physical characteristics, which include:

  • Almond-shaped eyes
  • Small noses
  • A round face with a slightly flat profile
  • Hyperextending joints
  • Muscle tone deficiency
  • Larger gap in between the big toe and second toe
  • A deep line down the
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