Strengthening your bones is not something that can happen overnight, it takes years for your body to build strong bones and even then, it is natural for them to lose their dexterity. All you can do is keep your body healthy to make sure it is prepared for any unexpected situations. For years, many older adults have been told to take vitamin D and calcium supplements to keep their bones strong and prevent falls. However, a new report from U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is changing that advice. This report suggests that for most older people, these supplements don't actually prevent falls or broken bones. This might be surprising news, we must understand why falls happen more often as we age, what vitamin D and calcium do in the body, and most importantly, what you can do to stay safe and prevent fractures.

What the Report Says

According to the report, vitamin D supplements don't seem to help prevent falls or broken bones for most people over 60. They also found that these supplements, especially with calcium, might increase the risk of kidney stones. This report doesn't mean people with weak bones (osteoporosis), low vitamin D, or who take vitamin D for other health reasons shouldn't take it. It just means that for most healthy older people, these supplements don't prevent falls and fractures.

Why Older People Fall and Break Bones More Easily

There are many reasons why older people are more prone to breaking their bones. Our bones are strongest when we're in our 20s and 30s, and they get weaker as we age so naturally, they can break easily. It can also be harder to move around as we get older, sometimes because of problems like arthritis this can affect how we walk and make us less steady.

There are also different issues like neuropathy, which is a nerve problem that can also make it harder to feel your feet and keep your balance. Eyesight is also a culprit as it can cause you to feel dizzy and fall. Some medicines can also make people feel unsteady, and older people often take more medicines than younger people. Low vitamin D itself can also increase the risk of falls, so keeping vitamin D levels up is still important.

Better Ways To Protect Your Bone Health

USPSTF recommends a few better ways to protect your bone health and prevent broken bones and falls.

Walk Regularly

Regular walks strengthen your muscles and bones, which helps you stay steady on your feet. It is as simple as practice makes perfect so the more you walk, the better it is. Walking also improves your balance, making you less likely to fall.

Do Strength Training

Strength training, like lifting weights or using resistance bands, makes your bones stronger and helps prevent fractures if you do fall. It is like a safety cushion, but you must be careful while doing so because it can lead to injuries if done too much.

Practice Balance

Activities like tai chi, Pilates, and yoga can improve your balance and coordination, making you more stable and less prone to falls. These can also help you improve your muscle flexibility and strength that in turn helps your body be stronger.

Check Your Medicines

If you have osteoporosis, talk to your doctor about medications that can help strengthen your bones and lower your risk of fractures. Many medications can also have unsavory side effects like weakened joints, losing muscle strength, etc.

Eat Enough Protein

A proper diet goes a long way when it comes to your entire body health. So to keep up with your body’s nutrition and muscle health, eat more protein along with a balanced meal that includes loads of fiber, healthy fats and carbs.

Get Your Eyes Checked

Having poor eyesight can be difficult, not only does it make life difficult without glasses, but it also increases the possibilities of getting into minor accidents like bumping into people and missing objects placed in front of us.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is also important because when you are not sleeping, you get disoriented and can ignore even obvious things like the last stair in the staircase. Make sure you get enough sleep to keep you fresh and focused.

Make Your Home Safe

There are many things that can cause you to have accidents, even in your home. To avoid such falls, make sure there are no lose ends like crooked floor panels, rugs that are sticking out or protruding furniture that can hurt your knees

Dr Srivanjani Santosh, Pediatrician, Social Activist and First Aid trainer, who had earlier spearheaded the ORS campaigned for eight years, urging FSSAI to ban the misuse of the term 'ORS' on non-WHO=standard sugar drinks, has once again shared an important health video on rabies vaccination. Dr Santosh shared that if any mammal, including dog, cat, horse, cow, buffalo, monkey or bat scratch or bit a person, they must be vaccinated with rabies shot.

She also pointed out something many miss: the location of administering the rabies shot. In her video she urged people to not get the shot administered in buttocks, and to only get it on their shoulders or thighs. She also claimed that many clinics and hospitals, despite knowing this fact, are administering rabies vaccination on buttocks.

Also Read: Hangover Star Ken Jeong's Wife Beats Stage 3 Breast Cancer

Why Does Location Of Administration Matter In Rabies Shot?

The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly recommends that rabies vaccines must be injected into the deltoid region, which is the upper arm or near the shoulder region in adults.

In small children, the WHO notes that deltoid region, as well as anterolateral area of the thigh muscle, which is also the upper thigh works.

WHO notes that like any other injections, rabies vaccine should not be given in the gluteal region, that is the buttocks, because of low absorption due to the presence of adipose or the fat tissue.

This video comes at the time when a case of a Birmingham woman losing all her limbs to dog's lick has made headlines all over the news. Health and Me also reported on the same.

Read: Woman Loses All Her Limbs After Getting Sepsis From Dog Lick

Health and Me spoke to Dr. Rakesh Pandit, Senior Consultant & HOD, Internal Medicine at Aakash Healthcare, who further explained, that as per guidelines by the WHO, the rabies vaccine should not be given in the buttocks as they have a heavy layer of fat. The body might not properly absorb the vaccine if it is injected into this fat instead of the muscle, which could result in a vaccine failure.

"A vaccine failure in case of rabies is like a death sentence because the disease is one hundred percent lethal once it shows the signs. The injection site for the vaccine depends on the patient's age; older children and adults must receive the vaccine in the upper arm or shoulder, while infants and toddlers must receive it in the thigh. The vaccine must also be administered with the right needle length to reach the required depth," he said.

Dr Pandit further elaborated, "The place of administering the vaccine (arm or thigh, subcutaneous or intramuscular) has an effect on the immune response, speed at which the vaccine is absorbed, pain and the risk of side effects." He said, "Some vaccines give best results when given in muscle for better immunity. Other vaccines may need subcutaneous administration. When given at the correct site, the vaccines ensure maximum effect, safety and reduced local reactions like swelling."

Read: 36% Of Rabies Death Comes From India: This Is What You Should Do After A Dog Bite, Explains Doctor

What Should One Keep In Mind While Getting A Rabies Shot?

Dr Mule points out that even when there are minor scratches, without bleeding, you must get a rabies shot. "Rabies can be contracted through broken skin. Such exposures still require medical evaluation and, in most cases, rabies vaccination."

What Should One Do Immediately After Being Bitten Or Scratched?

• Wash the wound immediately for at least 15 minutes with soap and running water
• Apply an antiseptic such as povidone-iodine
• Do not apply home remedies like turmeric, chili or oil
• Seek medical care promptly for rabies vaccination and possible immunoglobin

Dr Mule points out that the rabies vaccine should be started as soon as possible. "Ideally within 24 hours of a bite or scratch. However, even if there is a delay of days or weeks, vaccination should still be started immediately as rabies has a variable incubation period," he says.

The temperature of the vaccine matters. "Rabies vaccines are temperature-sensitive and must be stored between 2°C and 8°C. Exposure to heat or freezing can reduce vaccine potency. Poor cold-chain maintenance is a known reason for vaccine failure in rare cases," points out the doctor.

Dr Mule points out that the vaccine should be given intramuscularly in the deltoid or upper arms for adults, as gluteal or buttock injections could lead to inadequate absorption and reduce effectiveness.

A simple strep throat infection, can trigger sudden skin inflammation, leading to psoriasis, particularly in children and young adults, according to a study.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden showed that a strep throat infection caused by the Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacterium, can trigger guttate psoriasis by altering the behavior of key immune cells. Guttate psoriasis is an often sudden-onset form of psoriasis with small, red, "drop-shaped" scaling spots on arms and legs.

While neutrophils -- the most common type of immune cell -- are the first immune cells to respond to GAS infection, the study showed that during a streptococcal infection, the immune cells behavior changes depending on their environment.

Notably, among people with guttate psoriasis, the neutrophils presented with antigens -- fragments of pathogens that signal and guide other immune cells -- get accumulated. Once accumulated, the immune cells activated the T cells, leading to inflammation, explained the researchers in the paper, published in the journal eBioMedicine.

"Doctors have long known that strep throat can precede guttate psoriasis, but the biological explanation has been unclear," said Avinash Padhi, first author of the study and Research Specialist at the Division of Dermatology and Venereology, at Karolinska.

"Our findings suggest a link between infection and skin inflammation through the accumulation of antigen-presenting neutrophils in patients' skin," Padhi added.

How Cells Shape Immune Response

Magdalini Lourda, senior author of the study and senior research specialist at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, noted that the "results challenge the traditional view of neutrophils as simple first-line defenders".

The findings show that the neutrophils play "a wider role in shaping immune responses, which may be important when designing future treatments."

How Was The Study conducted?

To find how neutrophils work in psoriasis, the blood neutrophils from psoriasis patients were compared with those from healthy individuals. Blood neutrophils from patients with severe strep-related lung inflammation were also compared.

What Is Guttate Psoriasis?

Guttate psoriasis is a distinct form of acute-onset psoriasis. It is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by the sudden appearance of red, scaly, and smaller skin lesions widespread over the body.

The condition typically follows an infection, most commonly tonsillitis caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS). Adolescents and young adults are the most affected. It accounts for about 2 per cent of all cases of psoriasis.

Genetics, environmental triggers, such as an upper respiratory tract infection, and the onset of an inflammatory condition in a distant organ are the major risk factors.

The condition may be diagnosed by skin biopsy, throat swab culture, and blood tests.

Hangover star Ken Jeong's wife Tran Ho Jeong in 2007 discovered a hard lump in her breast while she was breastfeeding their newborn twins Alexa and Zooey. She was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in 2008.

What Is Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer?

As per the American Cancer Society, it is an advanced aggressive, and fast-growing cancer that has spread to nearby lymph nodes or tissue, however, does not distant organs. It is characterized by the absence of estrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors, which requires a combined approach of chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes also radiations As per the American Cancer Society, TNBC accounts for about 10 to 15 per cent of all breast cancers.

At stage 3, TNBC has grown extensively and invaded nearby tissues and is likely to spread to lymph nodes. However, it has not metastasized to distant organs.

Also Read: Zimbabwe Among the First African Countries to Roll Out Breakthrough HIV Injections

Hangover Star Ken Jeong's Wife Cancer Journey

As doctors said, for Tran, it was a "year of hell". She underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy when Ken was filming The Hangover. This was then followed by a mastectomy and radiation therapy.

"I am going to survive this. I am going to fight. I have to live for the girls and for Ken," she said. After two years of battle, Tran was finally declared cancer free in 2010. Ken called it "the greatest moment" of his life.

What Happens In Breast Cancer?

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is the most common cancer globally with around 2.3 million new cases every year. At the rate of 1 in every 8 person in both sexes and a quarter of all cancer in women with 70% mortality occurs due to constrained resources.

It is a disease where abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors. If it is left unchecked, the tumors can spread throughout the body and become fatal.

It originates in the milk ducts or the milk-producing lobules of the breast. The earliest form is not life-threatening and can be detected in the early stages. Cancer cells can spread into nearby breast tissue and create tumors that cause lumps or thickening. These invasive cancers can spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs and metastasis can be life-threatening and fatal.

Signs And Symptoms Of Breast Cancer

The common signs are:

• A breast lump or thickening, often without pain
• Change in size, shape or appearance of breasts
• Dimpling, redness, pitting or other changes in the skin
• Change in nipple appearance or the skin surrounding the nipple (areola)
• Abnormal or bloody fluid from the nipple

Treatment

The treatment depends on the stages and subtypes of the cancer. However, common treatments involve:

• Surgery to remove breast tumor
• Radiation therapy to reduce recurrence of breast cancer around the breast tissues
• Medicals to kill cancer cells and prevent spread
• Therapies like hormonal and chemotherapy or targeted biological therapy