Good Health Blog

Everyone can feel sad, particularly when faced with loss or grief. Depression, however, is more than low mood and sadness at a loss. It is a serious medical illness. It is the result of chemical imbalances in the brain. The sufferer feels extremely sad, dejected and unmotivated.

One in four women and one in six men suffer from depression at some time in their life. Only about 20 per cent of people are correctly diagnosed, because depression can mask itself as a physical illness (like chronic pain, sleeplessness or fatigue).

A combination of factors
Depression results from a combination of physical and psychological factors, which cause chemical imbalances in the brain. Diagnosis in every case needs a careful analysis of causes.

If you feel you may have depression or if you notice family or friends going through the changes of depression then seek medical help. It is a serious illness with serious consequences untreated.

Some of the symptoms of depression can include:

* Feeling sad or depressed
* A loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities
* Loss of appetite or weight
* Inability to get to sleep or waking up early
* Feeling tired all the time
* Having trouble concentrating
* Feeling restless, agitated, worthless or guilty
* Feeling that life isn’t worth living.

It is recommended that adults with a normal glucose (sugar) level be tested for diabetes every three years.
Annual tests should be done if you have increased risks such as being overweight, inactive and a family history of diabetes.
Most people do not have any symptoms when they develop type 2 diabetes. However, when the levels of glucose in the blood are particularly high (this is common in type 1 diabetes), symptoms can include weight loss, tiredness and lack of energy, excessive thirst, blurred vision, increased infections and frequent urination.
Occasionally, the onset of diabetes can be abrupt. This is particularly the case with type 1 diabetes. The symptoms include: Loss of appetite, weight loss, vomiting, excessive passing of urine, altered consciousness and coma.
Seek immediate medical advice if these symptoms occur.

So – should you have a sugar test? A good rule is YES – if you think you need a test you probably do. Ensure your Doctor does one as a routine as detailed above. A blood sugar level takes less then a minute to have a result.

If your mother or sister had cervical cancer, your chances of developing the disease are increased by 2 to 3 times. Some researchers suspect that some instances of this familial tendency are caused by an inherited condition that makes some women less able to fight off HPV infection than others. In other instances, women from the same family as a patient already diagnosed may be more likely to have one or more of the other non-genetic risk factors.

If one of your relatives has had ovarian cancer, this can raise your chance over the baseline risk:
* the average woman has a 1% (1 in 70) lifetime risk of ovarian cancer
* having one first degree relative with ovarian cancer (mother, sister or daughter) gives a 5% lifetime risk for ovarian cancer
* having two first degree relatives increases the lifetime risk to 20-30%.

With the above family history it is recommended you establish a complete family history with medical records if possible. Armed with all the information possible, obtain good genetic counseling and consider screening as directed by your Doctors.