The name might sound fancy to you, but deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is more common than you think. So, what are the DVT symptoms and who is at risk?

Blood Clot Formation
DVT is characterized by the formation of a blood clot in one of the deep veins, which are usually found near the artery and within the leg muscles that carry most of the venous return to your heart.

Most DVT cases occur in the legs in one of the following deep veins: femoral vein, common femoral vein, popliteal vein, profundal femoris vein, and the calf veins. However, DVT can also occur in other parts of the body. When a blood clot occurs, the blood will clump together and thicken in a specific area. Symptoms of DVT in the legs, if there are any, might include leg cramps, swelling and discoloration, gradual onset of pain, warmth, redness, and tenderness in the leg.

Pulmonary Embolus
When the clot in the veins break off, it can travel up the bloodstream and block blood flow. The clot that is loosened is called embolus, and this can travel to the lung artery and block the flow in a condition called pulmonary embolism. When this happens, the lungs and other organs are damaged and it can even lead to death. Unfortunately, most people who experience this do not show symptoms, but if there are any symptoms, it’s important to seek medical attention right away. Some symptoms may include chest, pain, shortness of breath, and coughing up of blood.

Even if there is no pulmonary embolism, DVT can still damage the vein valves and cause long-term swelling, pain, and sores in the affected leg.

Causes of DVT
DVT is a result of one of the following conditions:

1. Injuries in the lower body
2. Hip or leg surgery
3. Damages in the inner lining of the veins
4. Slow or sluggish blood flow
5. Medical conditions that cause blood to thicken or clot

Number 4 is a common cause of DVT, especially when the person spends hours without moving during travel or while sleeping in bed after a surgical procedure. If you have had surgery on your fractured knees or hips for example, your doctor must take precautions against DVT because you will not want to move much. You are also at risk if you have heart or respiratory problems (including hypertension), have medical conditions that affect the veins, or if you are obese.

Treatment of DVT
DVT is often treated as a medical emergency and the doctor must stop the clot from getting bigger, prevent it from breaking off, and reduce the chances of having another incident.

You will be prescribed the following medications: anticoagulants and thrombin inhibitors to decrease clotting and thrombolytics to dissolve large blood clots or vena cava filter if you can’t have blood thinners. You will also have to wear graduated compression stockings to reduce swelling in your leg.

What happens to your body when you do 300 push-ups a day? Well, exercise as awe all know is a very healthy thing to do every single day as it does not only improve our performance and the condition of our body but it also keeps our body strong and healthy, ready for whatever lies ahead. One thing we do not always realize is that growth is part of life and if we are not growing towards improvement, we are growing in reverse as we become weaker and weaker the more we do not take care of our bodies.

Discipline may be a hard thing to cultivate if you are only starting but the more you practice discipline, the more disciplined you actually get. Most people think that the more you practice discipline, your discipline depletes and you end up becoming less disciplined than you actually were, this theory is definitely wrong. Being able to keep yourself disciplined is a hard thing to do. You see, consistency is not a sexy word, but it is very effective. Without consistency, we would hardly be able to move anywhere forward and would be stuck just where we are. Growth does not always happen when you sprint into doing something new, sometimes growth happens when you do one thing countless times until you have mastered it. The more you do something over and over again, the less of an effort you have to extend for you to actually do it.

Doing 300 push-ups a day may be a hard thing to do at the start because your body is still rejecting the change in lifestyle. The trick is to not think of the task too much but then actually just do it. At first, it would be really hard to do 300 push-ups straight which is why we suggest that you divide your 300 pus-ups into 100 push-ups thrice a day. If you have a hard time with 100 push-ups, you can divide it into three sets. The first set would be 50 push-ups, the second set would be 30 push-ups and the last set would be composed of 20 push-ups.

Once you’ve started doing that for over a week, you can start adjusting your workout into twice a day with 70 push-ups for the first set, 50 push-ups for the second set, and 30 push-ups for the last set. This might still be a challenge but hey, the point of doing push-ups is to improve right?

Push-ups aren’t just good for your body but also a great way for you to improve your discipline. The more important thing to be cultivated is discipline because without the necessary discipline, you won’t be able to improve different skills.

In a fast-paced world swarmed with deadlines and rush hours, there is almost no time to keep check of our holistic well-being. Most of us could not afford to bat an eye over our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health when we have other things we consider as priorities. What we don’t realize is that each is just equally important. In order for us to function fully and unleash our potentials, we also need to learn to kick it up a notch for our holistic health.

Louise Racine from Thirteen Moons Wellness gives five tips on to how we can step up our overall well-being. When we learn to be open to these things, we also learn to nurture ourselves better.

Stay open to possibilities
To live out our potentials require avenues to hone these passions to their fullest. When opportunities arrive our way, it is best that we continually stay open to doing them as well as learning from them. Even if they are outside our comfort zones, we need to learn how to brave through it. We never know how much we can learn about ourselves even from the simplest possibilities.

Push through fear
We all fear the unknown. If something happens to be completely unfamiliar to us, we instinctively cower away from it. Fear often fuels our resistance in trying out new things but when we manage to push through that barrier, we learn to build courage. We learn to be brave and stand on our own feet. We also gain confidence and a massive sense of self-belief.

Challenge self-imposed limits
All of us have activities we excel at, and activities where, well, we don’t. When we find ourselves not liking a certain activity, most of the times we begin to think we are not capable of doing it and thus find plenty of reasons not to take part in it. However, if we think beyond our self-imposed limitations, it can lead us to be strong.

Balance your brain
Sometimes we just need to challenge our thinking skills and general intellect. Engaging in activities that require the use of both sides of our brain can lead to impressive cognitive results like whole brain thinking, improved physical coordination, increased creativity, and a sharper intuition.

Care for your spiritual health
Spiritual health is often given the least priority compared to the other spheres of one’s well-being. We often overlook how important it is to connect with our selves, knowing what we like and dislike, or even connecting with each other and finding people who interest us or share our passions. Simple activities such as taking a walk in nature or setting aside time during the day for contemplation and prayer fills the heart with gratitude and in turn, makes yourself at ease.

With the hustle and bustle in the city life in Singapore, staying fit and healthy has become increasingly difficult for the average person who works eight to ten hours a day trying to keep up with ends meet. The lack of time has been the main reason and excuse for person to disregard living a healthy life. However, despite popular notion, it is the little things you do daily that help you live fit and healthy despite living the busy life. With that, here are some tips to help you stay fit and healthy.

Medical Checkups

Getting checked by your doctor does not always have to be frequent and very regular. Monthly or bi-annual checkups are enough for anyone busy enough to find time for a meeting with the doctor. Getting checkups would allow you to get to know more about your current state of health. Knowing how healthy or unhealthy you are is a good start in setting health goals for your self.

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is often disregarded in today’s increasingly busy world. Little do people know that sleep is actually a good way of keeping your self fit and healthy as a good amount of sleep keeps your hormones and metabolism in check. Lack of sleep would often entail a decrease in metabolic activity, cardiovascular health, and memory and motor skills, all of which are important in keeping a fit body.

Eating Healthy

It is often said that building a fit body is made in the kitchen and not in the weight room. The most important part of fitness and health is actually what you put into your body. With that, it is important to always know what you’re eating. It is advisable to swap out carbs for whole grain foods such as wheat and oats. For protein sources, always go for lean meat such as chicken breasts, fish, and low-fat cuts of beef.

Never Skip Breakfast

They don’t say that breakfast is the most important part of the day for nothing. Breakfast is where you get all the nutrition you need to start-up your day. Some people nowadays would skip breakfast in order for them to get to work immediately or earlier. However, lack of nutrition from breakfast would cancel out an early start of work, as you would normally lack the energy and mental performance to be able to start the day properly.

Exercise

Some people would skip exercising totally due to the lack of time. However, a 10 to 30 minute exercise already reaps a lot of benefit for total health and fitness. There are plenty of exercises a person can do in such a short amount of time. You can go for a ten-minute high intensity run or you can go for circuit exercises that can be done in shorter than 30 minutes a day. Even short stretching exercises would already yield good results for your heart and muscle.

Water

Water composes more than 70% of our bodies. Yet, people would tend to disregard the fact that our body needs a lot of water to function in its optimal state as water functions as the body’s cleanser for the organs and as a hydrating factor for the brain.

A disturbed sleeping pattern is a common problem among adults and older people. If you happen to be one of those people who often find themselves having the hardest time to sleep at night, you might also be guilty of doing these things:

1. Sleeping with Pillows That Are Either Too Fat or Too Flat

Your head pillow should be thick enough to provide just the right support for your neck to maintain a neutral position while sleeping. A pillow that’s too fat or too flat can cause stiff neck when you wake up the next day.

2. Sleeping with Blue Lights On

Whether it’s from your phone, tablet, laptop, or TV, any blue light that illuminates the room can make falling asleep difficult for you. Once you get in bed, try not to use your phone or your laptop—or better yet turn off all your electronics—for a good night’s sleep.

3. Sleeping On a Dirty Mattress

It is advisable to have your mattress aired out at least once a month to get rid of dust and bacteria caused by dust mites and molds. These can cause allergies that keep you awake at night. If it has been a long while since you last remembered when your mattress was last replaced, now is the best time to get a new one.

4. Taking Long Day Naps

Napping too much during the day is not helpful in sustaining a good sleeping pattern. A nap should be no longer than 20 minutes and should only be done no later than three in the afternoon.

5. Constantly Checking the Time

If you keep checking the clock and worrying about how much time you have left to sleep, it would make sleeping more difficult for you. Before getting to bed, just make sure to set your alarm clock so you wake up at the right time the next day.

6. Lack of Exercise

Regular exercise is believed to improve a person’s quality of sleep. However, it’s not advisable to do exercises three to four hours before going to bed.

Getting back into a healthy sleeping pattern isn’t that difficult. However, you really have to be dedicated with it to make sure it works and you get the most revitalizing sleep that will energize you the next day.

Having a bloated tummy isn’t just reserved for most Singaporean women during that time of the month. Sometimes it’s actually the foods that we eat that causes that full, and gassy feeling. To help you prevent bloating, here is a list of foods that may be contributing to your bloated belly.

1. Apples and Pears. Each of these fruits contain around five grams of fibre, which makes them an excellent source of soluble fibre, but can wreak havoc for people with sensitive bellies. However, don’t completely avoid these fruits. Just consume a quarter or a half of these fruits so that you still get to enjoy their flavour without getting a bloated tummy.

2. Dairy Products. Lactose intolerance usually ranges from mild to severe, and gas is known as one of its common symptoms. If you think you’re experiencing this condition, then limit the amount of dairy products that you consume. If it helps, then opt drinking lactose-free milk, or taking Lactaid pills to aid your body in digesting milk products.

3. Beans. This fruit is rich in oligosaccharide, a sugar that isn’t normally digested by the body. But there’s no need to completely avoid beans, just eat small amounts of it along with other digestible whole grains like quinoa or rice to help your body get used to eating them.

4. Asparagus, Broccoli and Cabbage. Their odoriferous outcome is the reason why these veggies are usually avoided. The gassy feeling caused by these veggies is brought by raffinose, another type of sugar that our bodies don’t normally digest. Sadly, there’s nothing that you can about the gas they produce, but consuming them moderately will help in preventing a bloated tummy afterward.

5. Salty Foods. Although sodium doesn’t directly cause gas, it can definitely make you retain some water. To avoid this, cut back on your salty foods consumption, and practice reading the labels of the foods that you purchase. Also, make sure that you don’t exceed 2,300 mg salt intake each day.

6. Fatty Foods. We all know that fat is a main culprit in slowing down our digestion, which gives food more time to ferment while increasing the sensation of fullness.

7. Chewing Gum and Hard Candies. Every time you suck or chew on these, you usually end up swallowing more air. Also, consuming candies that contain artificial sweeteners usually leads to gastrointestinal issues.

8. Carbonated drinks. Carbonated drinks like beer and soda is one of the main culprits for a bloated belly as they release carbon dioxide that eventually leads to bloating. Replace these drinks with water or juice to avoid getting a bloated belly.

Like in other things, moderation is the key to effectively avoid getting a bloated tummy. So, consume these foods in moderation, and enjoy a gas-free tummy.