Causes of and Treatments for Bow Legs and Knock Knees

Most people with these conditions have had them since birth, but there are solutions that could remedy the odd leg curvature.

What are Bow Legs?

A person has bow legs, or genu varum, if the ankles touch and the knees are far apart when in an upright position. You might see this condition in most babies, but this is normal because of their position in the womb.

Luckily, most children’s bow legs are corrected by the time they reach the age of 3, but this can be a problem if it persists until the child is 8 years old. Unfortunately, if no intervention is done, the child will likely have bow legs for the rest of his/her life.

So, what causes bow legs? If the condition is persistent into late childhood, it might have been caused by obesity, Blount’s diseases, vitamin D deficiency or rickets, and other rare genetic disorders.

What are Knock Knees?

To determine if you have knock knees, stand straight in front of a mirror and observe if your knees touch but your ankles don’t. Usually, people with this condition also have an awkward walking gait, especially among children aged 2 or 3 years. The condition, also called genu valgum, can become severe as the child grows older and can even be a symptom of a bone disorder if it is not corrected by the time the child reaches 8 years.

So, what causes knock knees? Among very young children, knock knees can help maintain balance while they’re still trying to learn how to walk, but it can become a problem if the condition worsens because of bone disease, rickets, bone infection, injury to the shinbone, and obesity.

What are the Remedies?

Bow legs are not treated unless it causes a severe curve in the person’s legs, making it difficult to walk. Surgical procedures might be recommended to correct the curvature; such as tibial osteotomy, which involves the cutting of the part of the shinbone and attaching a frame outside the legs; or a guided growth treatment, which stops the growth on one side of the shinbone to let the abnormal part grow healthier.

Some doctors in Singapore might not approve of braces and corrective shoes for children because these can interfere with the child’s bone development. Knock knees among children are usually corrected by the time they reach puberty, unless there is a more serious underlying cause that must be treated.

In most cases, knock knees do not need treatment unless it causes difficulty in walking, arthritis, and lowers the self-esteem of the individual because of its appearance. For severe cases, knee braces may be worn until the age of 7 years, while surgery is recommended if the condition is not corrected after late childhood.

6 Body Parts Affected in Diabetes Mellitus

Based on the statistics provided by the International Diabetes Federation or IDF, Singapore contributed 541,000 cases of diabetes mellitus to the worldwide count of 415 million in the year 2015. As there is no known cure to DM, lifestyle and blood sugar management is of utmost consideration. Medications and lifestyle modifications do not assure the patient a reversion of his or her blood sugar to normal levels. It would take a lot of commitment to comply and another to keep complying. In other words, diabetes mellitus requires a lifetime management.

It is very important to comply with the management provided by your physician as this general condition could affect any organ in your body when blood sugar levels are uncontrolled. So to inform you more about this disease, here are 6 body parts which could be affected by unmanaged diabetes mellitus:

• Your heart and blood vessels: Increased levels of blood sugar most likely increase cholesterol levels as well. This could contribute to the formation of plaques which can cause a blockage to any artery in the heart. Also, sugar increases the viscosity of the blood. Clumping may occur which could also occlude small arteries or veins.

• Your kidneys: The filtering capacity of the kidneys could be affected by too much workload brought about by large molecules of sugar or glucose. This could injure the kidney and cause renal failure in the long run.

• Your eyes: Since your eyes have minute blood vessels, they can easily be affected by the viscosity and increase in pressure caused by the persistent rise in blood sugar. Glaucoma or even blindness could result when left unmanaged.

• Your feet: One of the most commonly affected organs in the diabetic body is the foot, the toes to be specific. Due to their placement in the human body, pressure that brings blood to them from the heart is lesser. Therefore, when blood pumped is viscous because of sugar, chances are the feet become undersupplied. You may feel numbness or pain. Check any wounds which took so much time healing and try to touch your feet if they are unusually cold. If you have suspicions, tell your doctor about it.

• Your pancreas: The pancreas could be the reason why you have increased blood sugar levels. It might not be producing the right amount of insulin or it might be that there’s nothing at all! Injuries to the pancreas, left unmanaged, could lead to insulin level fluctuations.

• Your liver: Glycogen, the storage form of glucose or sugar, is in the liver. But without insulin or with resistance to insulin, glucose is not absorbed to be used by the cells or to be stored. More glycogen would mean more energy stores – another reason why diabetics fatigue easily.

Awareness of any condition can influence the compliance of a person. Be well informed and be free from the complications of diabetes mellitus!

7 Steps to Ace Diabetes Mellitus Management

Singapore has the second highest proportion of diabetics, based on a statement released by the International Diabetic Federation (IDF) in the year 2015. It mostly affects the population aging from 20 to 79 years old. Although most appear lean, Asians have more body fat percentage than their counterparts from the West. This increase in incidence of Diabetes cases could be contributed by the continuing development of the country – as development increases, activity levels decrease. Sedentary lifestyle plus high-calorie diets are specifically pointed out.

Diabetes Mellitus Type II, the most common type of DM, is characterized by the insensitivity of tissues to insulin. As a result, sugar levels in the blood rise. This is influenced by lifestyle factors such as diet, activity, and weight. Familial history could also be a factor.

But since this is greatly influenced by lifestyle, you sure can manage this with lifestyle! So here are 7 steps to help you with the management of diabetes mellitus.

1. Get a workup. It you think you’re at high risk for diabetes mellitus because of your activity level, diet, weight, family history, or age, go and see a doctor. Your fasting blood sugar levels would confirm if you are at risk or if you have diabetes mellitus. Also, comply with the rest of your scheduled follow-ups.
2. Avoid sedentary living. Sitting for at least 4 hours straight is already sedentary. Limiting your level of activity in a day could only store up the glucose in your blood. Doing moderately to vigorously intense activities for at least 150 minutes in a week could help lower your risk to high blood sugar and high blood pressure.
3. Watch your diet. You can check out recipes and research for the glycemic index of what you eat. It’s not necessary that you stop eating carbohydrates because you would really need them too; just make sure to put them in minimum to avoid overload.
4. Manage your stress. Because of your body’s response, stress can be a contributing factor to diabetes mellitus. Cortisol, a hormone in stress, tends to have a role in increasing blood sugar.
5. Get a good night’s sleep. Sleeping is one of the most effective measures to relieve stress. It allows your body to recover in preparation for another day.
6. Join a group. Not only do support groups help you relieve stress, they also help you learn from others who share the same condition. You might want to try out a new recipe or visit a Zumba instructor your friend just referred to you.
7. Do not skip your medications. Medication compliance is part of your lifestyle as a diabetic. Every medication you take has a specific action to help you manage your blood sugar and keep you from complications.

Hands Off: The Dirtiest Equipment on the Gym

Attending the gym has its perks without a doubt but sometimes we have to be careful because there are some dangers lurking around. These dangers are sometimes unnoticeable which makes it more threatening when we think about it. You should know that gyms are sort of gross. Yes, you read it right.

Gyms here in Singapore are clean especially for exclusive clubs but what about ordinary gyms? Ordinary gyms are overcrowded, hot and smell sweat. You go to gym not for the ambiance but for working out. However, you have to be particular of what you hold because lots of equipment hoards harmful bacteria.

FitRated conducted a research recently and discovered some things worth your attention. FitRated is a review site for gym equipment. It visited myriad of gyms and swabbed bacteria samples from twenty seven different gym facilities. The study revealed disturbing facts that is why it is crucial that you read it and share it to your fellow.

The swapped samples contain negative rods, positive rods, positive cocci and bacillus. The quantifier is Colony-forming Unit (CFU). CFU is used to estimate the bacteria or fungal cells for example. According to the study, here are some of the dirtiest gym equipment:

• Exercise bike: An exercise bike contains about 1,333,418 CFU. When loosely translated it has thirty nine times more bacteria that your usual plastic reusable tray in the cafeteria. The tray by the way has 33,800 CFU.

• Free weights: The next dirtiest equipment is free weights. It has about 1,158,381 CFU. When loosely translated it has three hundred sixty two times more bacteria than your toilet seat. Toilet seat by the way has 3,200 CFU.

• Treadmill: Treadmill is also dirty equipment with 1,333,432 CFU. When loosely translated it has seventy four times more bacteria than your ordinary faucet. Your ordinary faucet by the way has 18,000 CFU.

Now that you have a clear picture of equipment with the most bacteria, it is time to do something. Do not just ignore this equipment because these are also important. The best that you can do is to always remember sanitizing. After hitting the gym, never touch anything unless your hands are clean.

So, the next time you hit the gym, do not forget to bring your sanitizer and share the information to your friends. This is alarming and disturbing thinking that you cannot see it but it can cause serious illness at the end of the day.