Tag: oncquest laboratory

5 Healthy Foods To Incorporate In Your Diet

HealthyFoods

 

Eating healthy is one of the nicest things you can do to your body!

Here we bring some foods which you should incorporate into your diet for amazing health benefits!

  1. Avocados

Avocados are loaded with healthy fats and have majestic benefits! Apart from being tasty, they are also rich in fiber, vitamin C and potassium. Consuming avocados not only help in lowering cholesterol, but also help in reducing arthritis pain.

If you don’t like the taste of avocado, you can add it to your smoothie for its amazing health benefits. Or you can also spread it over your toast.

  1. Papaya

Though this orange coloured fruit is not everyone’s favourite, but it has some amazing health benefits.  Researchers also believe that raw papaya helps in maintaining blood sugar level and cholesterol.

You can start your day with this healthy fruit.  Or you can also add a pinch of salt over it for better taste.

  1. Yogurt

Yogurt is delicious as well as nutritious! If you are struggling with digestive issues, yogurt is the option you need to go for! It contains beneficial bacteria which improve nutrient absorption and enhance digestion. They are also believed to stop the growth of harmful bacteria.

You can add yogurt on your sandwich instead of butter, or you can also try a yummy tart, including berries and yogurt!

  1. Brown Rice

Majority of us go for white rice instead of brown, but brown rice has numerous health benefits compared to white. It helps in normalizing cholesterol levels & weight reduction! Also, it has lesser calories than polished white rice.

If you don’t like the taste of it, you can put some sauce over it, and enjoy its benefits!

  1. Apples

The old saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is so true, because apples are high in fiber and other numerous antioxidants.

Carry an apple in your bag while you are at work, or you can also add it in your salad.

Make these foods a part of your daily or weekly nutritional regimen! Your body will thank you later!

Ways To Prevent Viral Infections This Season

Viral Infections

Air-borne, water-borne and mosquito-borne diseases are rampant in this season, and everyone should take proper precautions to avoid getting sick in this season!

Here we bring you some of the ways which can help prevent these viral infections:

  1. Check the water you are drinking! Go for clean, boiled water and avoid drinking regular water from cafes or anywhere you go to hang out with friends next!
  2. Always keep your mouth and nose covered with a handkerchief while sneezing.
  3. Avoid eating out as much as possible. Your body needs fresh food during this season. No matter how much you crave for pakoras and junk food, try to avoid it for some time and eat healthy!
  4. Wear full sleeves clothes as there are chances of Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya in this season, and these mosquitoes bite only during day time.
  5. If you are traveling, don’t compromise with your health. Carry a hand sanitizer wherever you go.

Prevention Tips for Kids

  1. Don’t let your child get wet in these rains, as it contains acidic elements which can make your child get sick.
  2. If any child in your neighbourhood is sick, don’t let your child play with him/her till he/she fully recovers, as viruses can spread easily this season.
  3. Keep the nails of your little ones clean to avoid the accumulation of dirt.
  4. Ensure that your child doesn’t eat from roadside this season.

If you or your loved one still catches viral infections, make sure to visit a doctor! A simple blood test can tell if you have a virus or a bacterial infection. You can also avail Oncquest’s health tests for the right treatment.  The best thing is – you can easily get your samples collected at your doorstep and view the reports online. Oncquest’s hassle-free, easy and convenient service is what you should go for to keep yourself healthy this season!

Viral fever, throat infections, cold and cough are common in this season. No need to panic, take all possible measures, and if you still get sick, visit a doctor. 

 

Blog-image_2 (6)People, these days, highly invest in house, car, education, etc. but a very few bother to invest in their health. It is ironic because if your health is good, you have everything, and if your health is not, you have nothing. Still, people care to invest in other things rather than their own health.

Let’s understand the importance of regular health checkups:

  1. They lower the risk of serious complications which can strike later in your life.
  2. The cost of treatments is rising to new heights in India, and the number of diseases is also on a new high, therefore if you get treated at an early stage rather than an advanced stage, your treatment cost gets lesser.
  3. Health checkups give you a detailed analysis of your health. Even when you are feeling you are absolutely okay, it can tell you about the disease you might be suffering. Remember, a healthy looking body doesn’t always mean that you are absolutely healthy.
  4. The lifestyle which we live these days totally demands health checks. People are always glued to their phones, and computer screens, and you may never know what harm it is doing to your body. A health check-up, in this case, can tell you a lot about what’s happening with your body.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 4 Indians are at risk of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart diseases, lung & respiratory diseases, high blood pressure and Cancers. Investing in health checks is an absolute must in today’s scenario, to take better care of the health! Oncquest’s Fitness Health Package is a simple and hassle-free health package to keep you and your family’s health on track! From kidney function test to liver test to thyroid profile test and blood test & more, this is the most affordable package one can get in the market. Additional benefits are: you can view the reports online; which is a time-saving and stress-free process.

Early detection and appropriate management of diseases can help us lead a healthy life! Go for health tests to lower your risk of diseases as your health is the most invaluable investment you can make!

Tuberculosis – Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

Blog-image_5

Tuberculosis, commonly referred to as TB, is caused by the airborne bacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. It can affect different areas of the body, but mostly, it affects the lungs.

According to WHO, TB is one of the top 10 causes of death globally.

Let’s know about different types of TB

  1. Latent – In latent TB infection, people don’t feel any symptoms, because the bacteria live in an inactive form inside the body. Latent TB can’t be transmitted.
  2. Active – When the immune system gets weakened, latent TB can convert into active TB. Active TB can affect lung, as well as joints, bones or central nervous system. This is highly contagious.

How does TB spread?

TB spreads from one person to another, through the air. When someone with active TB of throat or lung coughs, sings, speaks or sneezes, they send germs into the air. And when you breathe in the same air, you are most likely to catch those germs and become infected.

Mostly, it is spread if you spend a lot of time with the infected person. You can get if a family member has it or if you are spending too much time with a friend who has active TB.

Common symptoms of TB

Cough, which lasts at least 3 weeks is one of the most widely known symptoms of TB. Other symptoms include:

  1. Pain in the chest
  2. Mild fever
  3. Fatigue
  4. Chills & sweating at night

Diagnosis and Treatment

TB can be diagnosed with a simple skin test, and can be cured with antibiotics.

How can you protect your family and friends if you have active TB?

  • Don’t go out and mingle with people. Stay home till you don’t recover completely.
  • Cover your mouth with a tissue while sneezing & coughing, and put the tissue in some plastic, and throw away.
  • During the initial weeks of your treatment, wear a surgical mask while interacting with other people.

Studies reveal that approx. 5,00,000 Indians die every year of TB.

Let’s practice good hygiene like washing hands regularly and using a tissue while sneezing, etc. to change this statistics!

 

Why You Should Know About Cancer?

Being diagnosed with Cancer can be one of the most frightening experiences anyone can have. Studies reveal that 1 million new Cancer cases are being diagnosed in India every year. The news of being diagnosed with Cancer can leave you in a state of emotional turmoil which is enough for anyone to lose all hopes to live and surrender to this disease.

We often think, that we are completely healthy and immune from Cancer as there is no history of Cancer in our family. But as a matter of fact, anyone with a normal and healthy lifestyle and healthy genes can get Cancer. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, particularly in developing countries.

CRABCURRY_BLOG_POST_6

Few reasons why knowing about Cancer helps:

  1. Be aware – Being prepared and taking preventive actions can only do well to your health. Most people still think Cancer is a deadly disease which has no cure. Their knowledge about the disease is very limited which can only worsen the situation.
  1. Know about warning signs – Do you know 80% of Cancers are curable if they are diagnosed at an early stage? Cancer can be prevented if you know the warning signs in advance. When should you visit a doctor? What are the risk factors that cause Cancer? Information like these can make you more familiar with the disease and help you get rid of fears and clear the myths around Cancer.
  1. Know about Carcinogens – Carcinogens are substances in the environment that can cause Cancer. By Knowing about them, you can avoid them and lower your risk of getting Cancer.
  1. Remove the stigma around Cancer – Talking about Cancer is still a social stigma in India, which has increased the burden of this disease. A lot of people take Cancer as a synonym of death. It’s high time we start talking about it and make people aware about it.
  1. Be an emotional support to cancer patients – Cancer patients go through a lot during their treatment. Treatment has an intense effect on their health and personality. If nothing, one can definitely provide emotional support to them and motivate them to not lose their hope during this tough journey. Assure them that you have their back and will not let them fall.

One such initiative is Crab Curry – a Cancer support group, in which one gains knowledge about Cancer not only for himself but for others as well. Anyone can join Crab Curry on Facebook and become a part of this community.

What you must know about Leukemia – a type of Blood Cancer

In India, cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths and nearly 13 per cent of all deaths caused every year are due to Cancer.

While there are more than 100 types of Cancer that have been discovered till now, a common type of Cancer which is prevalent these days is Blood Cancer.

In Blood Cancer, the rapidly multiplying cancerous cells attack different aspects of the circulatory system. The most commonly known Blood Cancer is Leukemia, which affects blood and blood-forming tissue of the bone marrow. In Leukemia, our body produces a large number of abnormal cells.

The average rate of Leukemia incidence in India is still lower than that of other developing countries. Yet in the past five years, there has been a 30 per cent rise in the number of victims affected by Leukemia in Delhi.

Blood Cancer - Leukemia

For a better understanding, it is important to distinguish between Normal Blood Cells and Leukemia Cells.

Difference between Normal Blood Cells and Leukemia Cells

Our blood is made up of a fluid called plasma and three types of cells with specific functions. These cells are:

  1. White Blood Cells – Fight infections
  2. Red Blood Cells – Carry oxygen to different parts of the body
  3. Platelets – Form blood clots that prevent bleeding

Bone marrow is a soft spongy tissue found in some of the bones in the body, such as the hip and thigh bones, where blood cells are formed.

In Leukemia, a person’s body produces too many abnormal white cells that are also called Leukemia Cells. It is, therefore, also called cancer of white blood cells. These abnormal white cells keep dividing continuously. Moreover, these cells don’t die when they become old or damaged which begins to impact important functions performed by our blood cells.

Chronic and Acute Leukemia

Leukemia can be classified into two types – Chronic and Acute Leukemia – depending on how quickly it develops and progresses.

In Acute Leukemia, new Leukemia cells are born rapidly and these cells are unable to do the job of normal white blood cells. A person with Acute Leukemia feels tired most of the time, gets bruised and infected easily than normal.

Chronic Leukemia develops slowly and these cells work like normal white blood cells. In this type of Leukemia, symptoms may go unnoticed since the person doesn’t feel sick at all in the beginning. One may get to know about it only after a blood test.

Causes and Symptoms

The exact cause for most of the Leukemia cases is still unknown. However, some factors that increase the chances of its occurrences include exposure to high level of radiation, high exposure to certain chemicals like benzene, smoking etc.

Many-a-time, people are unable to identify its symptoms. these include –  fever, night sweats, frequent infections, weakness and fatigue, frequent headaches, decreased appetite and weight loss, easy bruising of the skin etc.

Diagnosis

Leukemia can be diagnosed with a simple blood test by examining samples of your blood and bone marrow. Other than the blood test, following tests are recommended too:

  • Bone marrow biopsy
  • Lymph node biopsy
  • Lumbar puncture

There are many tests related to Leukemia available at Oncquest Laboratories at affordable prices. Oncquest Laboratory is well-equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and specialist doctors to diagnose Leukemia at the right time, for better prevention!