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Diabetes Humulin NPH (Isophane Insulin NPH)
Humulin NPH has a moderately slow action.
This is a Human Isophane. Humulin NPH may start to have its effect within two hours of the injection (sometimes even before) and has-its maximum effect from between four to twelve hours. Activity fades rapidly after twenty four hours. For some children on small doses, it may provide good coverage of insulin through the whole day, but many children need a small addition of quick acting insulin (Humulin R) to the Humulin NPH to cover the early part of the day. The proportion of quick acting insulin to Humulin NPH will usually be about one to four, but this varies according to how a child responds to the insulin. For many children, the effect of Humulin NPH is not strong enough through the night and it may be necessary to give an evening injection as well.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Humulin NPH given before breakfast is likely to occur in the late afternoon, but may occur during the night.
Actraphane (Isophane and neutral insulin mixed)
Actraphane is a mixture of Protaphane (70%) and Actrapid (30%). It is mixed as a convenience for those people who may need both a quick and slow acting insulin but who might have difficulties in mixing the two insulins in the syringe themselves.
Its effect may start in one hour and it has a maximum effect from four to fifteen hours with a fading of activity from then to twenty-four hours.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Actraphane given before breakfast may occur during the late morning or afternoon.
Mixtard 30:70 (Isophane and neutral insulin mixed)
Mixtard has a combined fast and moderately slow action.
Mixtard is a mixture of Insulatard (70%) and Velosulin (30%). It is mixed as a convenience for those people who may need both a quick and slow acting insulin but who might have difficulties in mixing the two insulins in the syringe themselves. It has a start effect in one hour and a maximum effect from four to eight hours with a fading of activity from then to twenty-four
hours.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Mixtard given before breakfast may occur during the late morning or afternoon.
Mixtard 50:50 (Isophane and neutral insulin mixed)
Initard has a combined fast and moderately slow action.
Initard is a mixture of Insulatard (50%) and Velosulin (50%). It is mixed as a convenience for those people who may need both a quick and slow acting insulin but who might have difficulties in mixing the two insulins in the syringe themselves. Its effect may start in one hour and it has a maximum effect from four to eight hours with a fading of activity from then to twenty-four hours.
A hypoglycemic reaction due to Initard given before breakfast may occur during the late morning or afternoon.
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Women's Health Household pesticides
A number of children have been diagnosed with Charge Syndrome which is characterized by major abnormalities including heart disease. It’s believed that the condition is caused by exposure to pesticides and insecticides during pregnancy. One baby was born with severe handicaps after her mother had been exposed to a cockroach pesticide when she was six weeks pregnant. Another woman gave birth to a handicapped child after exposure to flea insecticide during pregnancy.
Dr Jeff Howell, of South Bank University, has strong concerns about the use of permethrin to treat woodworm. This chemical has been linked to skin and eye irritations but also to birth defects. Home-owners have always been told that the treatment chemicals fall to safe levels eight hours after application. But research carried out by the Faunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Aerosol Research in Germany shows that house dust picks up permethrin and deposits it on food and kitchen surfaces. So you can end up breathing and eating it.
Parents in the UK and USA are suing the manufacturers of a garden pesticide they claim caused eye deformities in babies following use in the early months of pregnancy.
What You Can Do
• Try not to use pesticides in your garden. If this is not possible then make sure you don’t handle any of this stuff in the four months leading up to conception.
• Do not have your home treated for woodworm in those four months either. Do any house treatments before you actually move in so that you are not living, breathing, eating and sleeping in a potentially toxic environment.
• Treat your pets for fleas with natural herbal sprays. They do not kill the fleas but repel them, making them less likely to stay on the animal. There are also other ways of dealing with fleas which can be obtained from the vet. You can feed your cat a substance or put drops on their necks which change the blood so the fleas don’t like the taste. Garlic works the same way. If you crush up garlic tablets into your pet’s feed, this may keep the fleas off.
• Garlic can also be used to deter other insects. A few years ago we had some ants in the kitchen. We opened up some garlic capsules and spread the garlic around the opening the ants seemed to be coming from. Interestingly, the ants would not cross over the ‘garlic’ line and went back down the crack.
Household Chemicals
Decorating your home can be a problem. Solvent-based paints and white spirits release gases into the air and these can stay around for weeks after painting has finished. Apart from causing irritation, these gases can be inhaled and cause dizziness, nausea and headaches. Years ago, paint and furnishings were made from natural products but nowadays they are usually made from chemicals. Unfortunately, there is also a tendency to paint the baby’s room just before it is born so the baby ends up sleeping in a sea of chemicals. In addition, new carpets often contain chemical preservative called formaldehyde which can irritate the mucus linings of the eyes, nose and throat.
What You Can Do
• Decorate at least four months before conception.
• When you redecorate, buy solvent-free paints.
• Minimize the amount of chemicals you use in your home (such as polish, bleach, detergents, air fresheners, etc). Buy more natural and more biodegradable household cleaners, available from health food shops.
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General health • Jetlag and shift work are well-known promoters of insomnia. Both alter the body’s time clock and as a result sleep suffers. The effects of jetlag are worst when crossing several time zones and get much worse if the time changes 8 hours or more. It is possible to overcome the pattern by keeping to your home time but if you are going somewhere on business or for more than a day then this won’t work because you will have to fit in with the clock in the country you have travelled to. You can prepare yourself in advance, at least to some extent, by gradually altering your sleeping times in the week before you go-change them by an hour a day.
When it comes to shift work the most disruptive pattern is the combination of day and night work. Most people eventually come to terms with night work if they do it all the time-the natural body clock simply resets-but with a mixture of day and night shifts you are fighting nature all the time. Avoid such work if you possibly can.
• Bad beds are a very common, yet preventable, cause of insomnia. Many people have a bed which is too small. Since 1920 the average height of young men has increased by 2 in and the proportion of men who are 6 ft 3 in or more has gone up from one in 250 to one in 40 today. So the old ‘standard’ bed is too small for many people, especially as the metric equivalent is even smaller than the old imperial standard size. A bed should always be at least 6 in longer than your body.
Your bed may also be too narrow. Lie down with your hands behind your head. If your elbows overlap the edges of the bed, it is too narrow. Anyone over 6 ft tall probably needs a king-size bed. Until very recently in historical terms people slept on wooden boards or on the floor or a mat. This does not mean that all mattresses are unhealthy, but many are too soft. As we pass through periods of REM sleep most muscles of the body are paralyzed. They give our bodies little or no support and a very soft bed will not support us either. Young people are not too badly affected by this but middle-aged and older people certainly are and wake up with backache and aching limbs. Replace your mattress at least every ten years.
A double bed is usually more spacious, even for two people, than two singles, but when two people share a bed there is a potential for sleeplessness. One of them may snore, toss and turn, sleepwalk, have nightmares, or get up to go to the bathroom. On the plus side cuddling someone else gives a sense of warmth and security that helps promote sleep. But sharing a bed does not mean that both have to have the same mattress. Today there are excellent zip-and-link mattresses available that enable one half of the bed to be softer and the other firmer, according to individual taste.
• Some people sleep badly because they are too hot or too cold. Old blankets become thick and matted, so that they hold the heat less well than when they were soft and fluffy. It is better to replace old blankets rather than pile more on top because the weight can be uncomfortable, especially for older people. A duvet is the perfect answer because it is light and makes bed-making so easy. Room temperature and ventilation can make a real difference to insomnia, especially at the extremes of temperature-a hot, stuffy room and a cold draughty room both make insomnia more likely.
• If your room has thin curtains, you may be woken too early on light, summer mornings. Fit heavier ones, line existing ones or fit a blind inside the curtains. This could give you two hours’ more sleep.
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