The Age After Acne: Skin Health Concerns that Adults Face

You may think that skin health concerns are over once you reach the end of puberty, but many adults face issues over their skin wellness throughout their lives. The good thing about skin problems is that it’s easy to tell when your wellbeing has been affected, as when something goes awry, it is often easily visible during an examination of the skin. We’ve rounded up the top skin offenders out there, so you know what to watch out for.

 

1. Shingles: Also known as herpes zoster, shingles is basically a second round of chicken pox. The infection reoccurs due to latently infected nerve cells in your spinal cord or brain. At first, you might mistake shingles for a musculoskeletal injury, as it often begins with a painful sensation. However, the skin condition soon becomes apparent with a red, blistering unilateral (one-sided) rash. While shingles most frequently impacts the elderly, you can get it at any age. However, the good news is that you can prevent shingles with a vaccination, while antiviral drug treatment within 48 hours of the onset of the eruption limits the development of persistent, severe pain (neuralgia).

 

2. Hives: This very common skin condition – the scientific name for which being urticaria, if you’re interested – occurs when antibodies in your blood stream recognise foreign chemicals. You’ll notice elevated bumps surrounded by an intensely itchy red rash anywhere on your body. There may also be lesions, but each one disappears after eight to 12 hours. In most cases, the hives will spontaneously resolve themselves within eight weeks, but oral antihistamines can provide relief to your symptoms.

 

3. Psoriasis: In this chronic, inflammatory genetic condition, you develop scaling red bumps that combine into plaques. Typically, these appear on your scalp, elbows, and knees and will come and go by themselves. Depending on the severity and extent of involvement, you may be able to find relief by using topical creams and ultraviolet light exposure to oral drugs and injectable medications. Unfortunately, psoriasis is not curable and raises your risk for cardiovascular disease.

 

4. Eczema: Like psoriasis, eczema – or atopic dermatitis if you’re feeling fancy – is a genetic condition. It turns up during your childhood with a chronic itchy, weeping, oozing dermatitis, often localised in the creases opposite your elbows and knees. You might also experience allergies, such as asthma and hay fever. Luckily, the condition improves as you age and there are treatment options, such as the application of emollients to wet skin and the use of topical steroids.

 

5. Rosacea: This chronic inflammatory condition pops up on your face, giving you redness, dilated blood vessels, papules, pustules, and occasionally by the overgrowth of nasal connective tissue (rhinophyma) – lovely. On a superficial level, it resembles that teenage acne you were so keen to get rid of, and often incurs persistent facial flushing, which is an early sign that your skin has an uncontrolled sensitivity to certain naturally produced inflammatory chemicals. Topical and oral drugs can be used for treatment, as well as avoiding certain foods like tomatoes.

 

6. Cold Sores: Herpes labialis, fever blisters, cold sores – whatever you want to call it – is caused by the herpes simplex virus. The virus is dormant in your spinal cord nerve cells, and is triggered by environmental factors like a sunburn or cold. The virus then travels along a peripheral nerve to the same skin site over and over again. You’ll commonly find the sores on the edge of your lip for about seven to 10 days, making treatment unnecessary unless the eruption becomes too frequent.

Categories: adults face, chronic inflammatory, Cold Sores, genetic condition, health concerns, nerve cells, oral drugs, Rosacea, Shingles, skin condition, skin health, spinal cord

The Science of Orgasms: What Goes On in Your Brain?

Orgasms are a mysterious thing. Some people struggle to have one at all, while others can bring themselves to climax just by thinking about it. The famous sex researcher Dr. Alfred Kinsey once said that an orgasm ‘can be likened to the crescendo, climax, and sudden stillness achieved by an orchestra of human emotions … an explosion of tensions, and to sneezing.’ The weirdest thing about orgasms is that they don’t just related to your sexual health or physical wellbeing, but also your mental wellness. As Ruth Westheimer, a sex therapist and author best known as Dr. Ruth, famously put it, ‘the most important sex organ lies between the ears.’ So what exactly goes on in your brain during an orgasm?

 

According to health and wellness expert Shanna Freeman, former Senior Editor at HowStuffWorks, ‘Without nerves sending impulses back to the spinal cord and brain, an orgasm wouldn’t be possible. Just like any other area of the body, the genitalia contain different nerves that send information to the brain to tell it about the sensation that’s being experienced. This helps to explain why the sensations are perceived differently depending on where someone is being touched. A clitoral orgasm, for example, differs from a vaginal orgasm because different sets of nerves are involved.’ There is a huge number of nerve endings in your genitals, but what do they all do?

 

1. Hypogastric nerve: This nerve transmits from the uterus and the cervix in women and from the prostate in men.

 

2. Pelvic nerve: While this nerve transmits from the rectum in both sexes, women also have the pelvic nerve in their vagina and cervix.

 

3. Pudendal nerve: If you’re a woman, this nerve transmits from your clitoris, and if you’re a man, it transmits from your scrotum and penis in men.

 

4. Vagus nerve: This nerve is just for women, transmitting from your cervix, uterus and vagina. However, the role of the vagus nerve is a new discovery, and there’s much we still don’t know about it.

 

Freeman explains, ‘Since most of those nerves are associated with the spinal cord, it would stand to reason that a person with a severed spinal cord wouldn’t be able to have an orgasm. And for a very long time, that’s what people with these types of injuries were told. However, recent studies show that people with spinal cord injuries – even paraplegics – can reach orgasm…Because the vagus bypasses the spinal cord, women [are] still able to feel cervical stimulation.’ However, your orgasm brain activity isn’t just about nerve endings, you also have a pleasure centre in your brain which lets you know when something is enjoyable and reinforces the desire for you to perform the same pleasurable action again. Also known as the reward circuit, the pleasure centre includes every pleasurable action from sex to laughter to certain types of drug use. Some of the brain areas impacted by pleasure include:

 

• Amygdala: This area regulates your emotions.


• Nucleus accumbens and VTA: The former area controls your release of dopamine, while the ventral tegmental area (VTA) actually releases the dopamine.


• Cerebellum. This area controls your muscle function.


• Pituitary gland. This area releases beta-endorphins, which decrease your pain; oxytocin, which increases your feelings of trust; and vasopressin, which increases bonding.

 

Until the late 1990s and the mid-2000s, not much was known about how the pleasure centre of your brain works during sex. However, a team of researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands conducted several studies of both men and women, finding that there aren’t too many differences between men’s and women’s brains when it comes to sex. In both sexes, the brain region behind the left eye, called the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, shut down during orgasm. Study researcher Janniko R. Georgiadis commented, ‘It’s the seat of reason and behavioural control. But when you have an orgasm, you lose control.’ Dr. Gert Holstege added that ‘95%’ of the brain looks the same during orgasm as it would if you were to take heroin.

Categories: area controls, Brain, men nbsp, nerve endings, nerve transmits, Orgasms, pelvic nerve, pleasurable action, pleasure centre, spinal cord, vagus nerve

West Nile Virus – Could You Be Infected?

When you think of mosquitoes, the first health concern you probably think of is malaria. However, these nasty little gnats can also threaten your wellbeing with West Nile infection. The worst thing about this virus is that it often doesn’t present with any signs or symptoms, or you may experience minor ones like a fever and mild headache, so it can be hard to tell if your wellness has been compromised. Still, as some people who become infected with West Nile virus develop a life-threatening illness that includes inflammation of the brain, it’s important to understand what you’re up against.

 

The main cause of the infection is through exposure to mosquitoes, especially during warmer weather. At this time of year, many Brits seek sunnier climes and head to these mosquito-risk areas, partly because the flights are much cheaper! If you’re off to areas of the world where mosquitoes are live and kicking, you can reduce your risk of getting West Nile infection, as well as malaria, by using mosquito repellent and wearing clothing that covers your skin. But what do you do if you do become infected?

 

The good thing about the mild signs and symptoms of a West Nile virus infection is that they generally go away on their own, so even if you’re unaware you’ve been infected you’ll probably be OK anyway, albeit none-the-wiser. However, if you are struck by severe signs and symptoms — such as a severe headache, fever, disorientation or sudden weakness — you will require immediate attention. Again, most people infected with the West Nile virus have no signs or symptoms, but about 20% of people develop a mild infection called West Nile fever. The common warning signs and symptoms of West Nile fever include:

 

• Fever


• Headache


• Body aches


• Fatigue


• Back pain


• Skin rash (occasional)


• Swollen lymph glands (occasional)


• Eye pain (occasional)

 

The above symptoms – or lack thereof – cover the vast majority of those infected with West Nile virus. However, in less than 1% of infected people, the virus leads to a serious neurological infection. If this happens to you, your brain may become inflamed, which is a condition known as encephalitis, or the inflammation may occur in both your brain and its surrounding membranes, which is known as meningoencephalitis. Other outcomes of a serious infection include meningitis, in which the membranes surrounding your brain and spinal cord become infected and inflamed; West Nile poliomyelitis, in which your spinal cord becomes inflamed, and acute flaccid paralysis, in which your arms, legs or breathing muscles suddenly become weak.

 

You may be at risk for one of these diseases if you display any of the following signs and symptoms:

• High fever


• Severe headache


• Stiff neck


• Disorientation or confusion


• Stupor or coma


• Tremors or muscle jerking


• Lack of coordination


• Convulsions


• Pain


• Partial paralysis or sudden muscle weakness

 

As we’ve previously covered, if you develop West Nile fever, this will usually last for a few days and go away. However, the signs and symptoms of encephalitis or meningitis can linger for weeks, and certain neurological effects, such as muscle weakness, may be permanent. Therefore, if you do experience the signs or symptoms of a serious infection – such as severe headaches, stiff neck, disorientation or confusion – it’s vital that you seek medical attention right away. Generally, a serious West Nile virus infection requires hospitalisation, so if you’ve been in contact with mosquitoes and think you may be at risk, contact your doctor immediately.

Categories: Mosquitoes, muscle weakness, neck disorientation, nile fever, nile virus, severe headache, spinal cord, stiff neck, Symptoms, virus infection, west nile, West Nile Virus