Cramps are a sudden and painful contraction of a muscle. Leg cramps, especially on the calf muscles, occur as you fall asleep or as you wake up. However, sometimes the cramps can be in the thigh or foot. Causes of Leg Cramps at Night Although exact causes of these cramps are not known, there are many reasons for it to occur. Some of them are: Sometimes, too much exercise, an injury or even excessive pressure to the muscle can lead to leg cramps Dehydration is another reason Pregnant women having deficiency of calcium and magnesium have high risk of leg cramps Cold environment or exposure to cold water may be one of the reasons for leg cramps Another reason might be deficiency of potassium and calcium in the bloodstream Sitting in a single position for hours, standing on hard surfaces for extended periods, or sleeping in awkward positions. Certain medications such as birth control, diuretics, antipsychotics, and steroids. Medical conditions affecting the kidney, thyroid, and multiple sclerosis. Treating Leg Cramps At Night There are many ways you can ease the cramp. Try these methods, and you will know how to treat leg cramps at night. Stretching Simply stretching the muscle that is cramping will give you instant relief.

A neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson’s disease affects almost four million people worldwide. This disease involves the progressive deterioration of your bodily and motor functions because the dopamine-producing cells in your brain get affected. Most common Parkinson’s disease symptoms: The problem with Parkinson’s disease is that it is hard to say that you are affected because most of the symptoms associated with this disease are common to other diseases, as well as old age. By the time the doctors diagnose these symptoms, patients would have lost over 60% to 80% of the brain cells that produce dopamine. Here are the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease: Shaking and Tremors : This is one of the first and most common Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Starting with your arms or feet, you might find your body shaking or experiencing mild tremors coursing through your body. This happens only on one side of the body initially, and you can experience these tremors on your lips, chin, and tongue as well. Over the course of time, these tremors extend to the other side of the body. Research shows that when the affected person is physically or emotionally stressed, the tremors seem to worsen, and when the patient is more relaxed, these tremors don’t occur often.

Are your clothes getting tighter around the waist? Is your body becoming more oblong and out of shape? If the answer to the above questions is a yes, then you are suffering from increasing belly fat, that gets accumulated due to a number of natural and man-made triggers. Belly fat is more than a just an aesthetic disposition of the body. An abdominal bulge is due to the storage of excessive visceral fat around the liver, stomach, and pancreas. This ‘beer gut’ is a predictor of metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, some heart diseases, and cancer. A simple tape can measure stomach fat. Standing up, wrap the tape around your waist and check your girth at the belly button. Make sure that the tape measure is level. A healthy body mass index dictates that your waist size be less than 35 inches in women and less than 40 inches in men. Ways To Burn Stomach Fat Losing fat from the abdomen area can be a difficult task, Some well-proven strategies target the specific fat buildup in the belly area. Fibrous Diet Soluble fiber is mostly indigestible plant matter that binds water, forming a viscous gel that ‘sits’ in the gut.

Probiotics are the food supplements which are added to the diet for health benefits such as immunity, digestive functions, and growth. It is safe to include the dietary intake in proper doses. High dose of probiotics at times have a bad impact on health. The probiotics can be taken orally. Live microorganisms work effectively to boost human health; however, there are some side effects related to them. These side effects range from mild to severe. They can cause digestive complications such as bloating and gas in the stomach. In some cases, the usage of probiotics can cause infections that can be only treated using antibiotics. It can cause problems for people suffering from health complications and cause unusual metabolic responses. Although the probiotics are pretty good for the body, they may cause some rare side effects. These side effects are common among people with underlying medical complications. At times, the body responds badly to the good bacterial intake. Normally, the pH level in the colon must be between 6.7 and 6.9. The pH levels below 7.0 are said to be acidic, whereas pH levels more than 7.0 are said to be of basic nature. The colon must be acidic to combat the growth of pathogenic bacteria and promote the growth of good bacteria.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term autoimmune disorder that mainly affects and causes chronic inflammation of joints, making it swollen and painful, and also leads to their stiffness. The wrists and hands are most commonly affected by the same joints involved on both sides of the body. The disease may also affect other body parts, resulting in inflammation around the lungs and heart and a low red blood cell count. The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are such that they appear slowly at first as minor symptoms, which come and go, and over a time span of weeks and months, they gradually progress. The symptoms also vary from person to person. One must start interpreting the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis to start the medications on time to prevent a degradation of their condition. Following are the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis: Fatigue Experiencing an unusual amount of fatigue is one of the most subtle and earliest signs of rheumatoid arthritis. The presence of fatigue is there throughout all stages of rheumatoid arthritis, especially when the joint inflammation is active. Fatigue can also be caused by a reaction to the medications, poor sleep, anemia, and inflammation. This early sign of rheumatoid arthritis can hurt emotions, moods, relationships, and happiness, thus sometimes initiating depression.

Sinus infection or sinusitis is medically known as rhinosinusitis. It is a result of swollen, inflamed and infected nasal cavities. Sinusitis is often caused by a virus. The issue persists even after the respiratory symptoms are gone. Sinus infection rarely but may cause by fungus and bacteria as well. Other conditions like nasal polyps, allergies and tooth infections can cause sinusitis. Chronic Versus Acute Acute sinusitis will last from a short period of time only, which is less than a month as per the American Academy of Otolaryngology. An acute infection is generally a part of any respiratory illness or mere cold. Chronic sinus infections, on the other hand, last for more than three months and recur often. Specialist confirms the sinusitis is responsible for infected nasal discharge, facial pain, and congestion. There are many symptoms of sinus infection which are common to both chronic and acute sinusitis. When you feel or found out that you have certain symptoms that may be due to sinusitis, get in immediate touch with your doctor. He would be able to confirm whether you have an infection or not. If you have an infection, he would tell you the cause of the same and suggest you a treatment plan.

Hyperhidrosis refers to the medical condition that involves excessive sweating. While everyone does sweat when it’s extremely hot outside, those suffering from hyperhidrosis sweat so profusely, that even water may drip from their hands. In normal circumstances, perspiration produced by the sweat glands is carried to the surface of the skin when the air temperature rises, when exercising, when feeling nervous or anxious, and when having fever. Once these factors have ceased, the nerves signaling the sweat glands are put on hold. But for those with hyperhidrosis, these sweat glands don’t go into inertia and one sweats even when the surrounding environment is quite cool, as in an air conditioned room. Hyperhidrosis is classified into two categories: Primary hyperhidrosis (Focal hyperhidrosis): Excessive sweating caused in specific regions of the body such as the underarms, hands, face and groin, without any apparent reason. It is not a medical condition to be worried about and doesn’t require medication. Secondary hyperhidrosis (Generalized hyperhidrosis): Excessive sweating caused all over the body and not just one specific region. This is a more serious medical condition, as the reason behind this is basically an underlying medical condition. The Causes Of Excessive Wweating The cause of excessive sweating in secondary hyperhidrosis, is mainly caused by an underlying medical condition, which is most likely to be one of the following:

Lupus is a complicated and often debilitating condition. Catching the first symptoms of lupus early is important for initiating treatment of this condition.   Lupus is a collection of autoimmune disorders, rather than one single disease. In an autoimmune disorder, the body’s immune system attacks the body itself. Lupus is a chronic condition, and the most severe and most common form of lupus is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. The first symptoms of lupus can manifest in a variety of ways. Since the autoimmune reaction causes inflammation to a number of different areas like the joints, skin, heart, kidneys, and lungs, it becomes hard to pinpoint one specific indicator as a sign of lupus. These vague first symptoms of lupus also make it hard to diagnose the condition accurately, since it can mimic a number of other diseases and conditions. The first symptoms of lupus manifest in early adulthood or the late teens, but some late-onset cases develop in the 30s. More instances of lupus occur in women than men. People with lupus experience flare-ups of the condition, followed by periods of remission that can last for months, or even years, followed by more flare-ups. This can make it easy to overlook the first symptoms of lupus.

Meningitis refers to a medical condition in which the meninges or the membranes surrounding the spinal cord and brain get inflamed mostly due to viral infection. Fungal and bacterial infections may also lead to this health issue. Often characterized by the stiffness of the neck, high fever, and headache, meningitis can turn fatal, if not treated on time. In some rare cases, meningitis gets cured in a couple of weeks without any medication. However, it is never recommended to leave meningitis untreated and report to a doctor if you can find any of the below-mentioned symptoms of meningitis. General meningitis symptoms are- Symptoms of meningitis and flu are often quite similar, making it difficult to recognize at the very onset. However, some patients get many prominent meningitis symptoms in a few hours while others may take several days for developing the meningitis symptoms. Both adults and children have the risk of getting this infection. Anyone above two years of age is expected to show the following signs when infected by this disease germ. Getting high fever all of a sudden Neck stiffness, sometimes complete immobility of neck Developing concentration difficulty or confusion Difficulty in waking up, sleepiness in the daytime or excess fatigue Seizures or epilepsy signs Difficult to see in light or increased sensitivity to sunlight Low appetite and thirst Rad rashes on skin A severe headache accompanied by fever.

There can be many causes for swollen fingers, but when it occurs, it causes a lot of pain and discomfort. It becomes difficult to flex and move your fingers. Even simple tasks like picking up a pen, or writing becomes difficult. Swelling can occur due to injuries, allergies and also as symptoms of other diseases like arthritis. It can also be because of fluid retention. Blunt force injuries, injuries that cause a hematoma, a condition in which packets of blood accumulate outside the blood vessels after a finger trauma. Injuries can also occur if a thorn, a wood splitter or if other foreign objects penetrate your skin. Strains, fractures, sprains and other traumatic injuries on the hand, can also cause swollen fingers. Other causes may include –  Animal bites on the finger can cause wounds and swelling. Insect bites and stings can also trigger finger inflammation. Tight gloves, rings that have become a tight fit on your finger, and other such constrictions can interrupt blood flow and cause swelling. Paronychia and Cellulitis are infections that can occur in the region of the hands and fingers, and cause swelling and pain. Septic Arthritis is caused by bacterial infection in the joints. This can also affect finger joints.

Spring is a season when flowers bloom, and the plants and trees flourish. So undoubtedly nature is at its best. During springtime, the trees and flowers release pollen in the air to reproduce. However, for some people, spring means a period of allergic reactions and numerous visits to the doctor. The allergic reactions can be caused due to trees and weeds like alder, ash, aspen, box elder, cypress, elm, beech, hickory, oak, olive, orchard, redtop, and many more. Allergic reactions are common, but certain people are at a higher risk due to their genetic disposition, which makes them more susceptible to these reactions. When our body comes in contact with an allergen, it starts producing allergy specific antibodies called immunoglobulin, as the part of a natural immune reaction. These antibodies are present in our nose, throat, eyes, and lungs. As soon as our body comes in contact with any allergens such as pollen, the natural reaction begins, and spring allergy symptoms like sneezing and burning eyes appear. The spring allergy symptoms could be visible, but occur late, so it should be anticipated early, and preventive measures should be taken to avoid the discomfort. Following are some of the common spring allergy symptoms.