Does Living Alone Affect Mental Health?

Adults living alone are more likely to experience common mental disorders like anxiety and depression for different underlying reasons. Psychological and physical health are interconnected, so the body’s stress response increases without close proximity to others.

Of course, not everyone living alone is lonely and suffering from CMDs. Some enjoy solitude and spending time by themselves. However, for those who are, seeking social and professional support can help to boost mental health.

In this article, we will tackle the risk factors that can increase the likelihood of having poor mental health and how to overcome them.

Factors That Contribute To Poor Mental Health

  • Discrimination

Being treated unfairly for an individual’s ethnicity, age, gender identity, and race has been associated with adverse effects on one’s overall well-being and often leads to increased anxiety and depression.

Constant exposure to discrimination can lead a person to internalize the stigma directed against them, manifesting in stress and poor health.

  • Trauma

Traumas can come from different sources, including domestic violence, bullying, disasters, and adverse early childhood experiences. It can make individuals more vulnerable to common mental disorders and can directly cause post-traumatic stress disorder.

People with PTSD tend to misuse alcohol and drugs, while some isolate themselves to cope with difficult emotions and avoid negative responses.

  • Poor Self-Esteem

Low self-esteem is not a mental health problem in itself, but if many things affect an individual’s self-esteem for a long time, there is a higher risk of developing mental health problems like anxiety and depression.

Because people with poor self-esteem think they are not worthy of forming new social relationships, there is an increased risk of self-harm.

  • Lack of Social Skills

People struggling in social situations tend to experience loneliness, anxiety, and depression because they cannot communicate or relate to others. Having poor social skills often leads individuals to isolate themselves and may slide into unhealthy habits.

  • Family History of Mental Illness

Mental health illnesses can be inherited from parents through genes. Studies show that a variety of psychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major depression, and bipolar disorder, tend to be passed on in families.

How To Promote And Maintain Mental Health

  • Physical Exercise

Regular exercise can help improve an individual’s mood because chemicals like endorphins and serotonin are released. It helps reduce anxiety and depression and improve cognitive function.

Being more active makes a person feel better about themself, ultimately boosting self-esteem. Besides, physical activities divert an individual’s negative thoughts and emotions.

  • Adequate Sleep

People experiencing existing mental health conditions find it challenging to get at least seven hours of sleep per night, which may worsen their mental health and cause mental distress.

Adhering to a consistent sleep schedule helps the body cope with minor stressors by calming and restoring them and improving an individual’s mood.

  • Stay Connected to Others

Socializing through group therapies is good for the brain and relieves depression and other negative emotions. It increases a person’s well-being, promoting a sense of belongingness.

Interacting and confiding with people trying to cope with the same mental health condition can be especially helpful.

  • Seek Professional Help

If a mental health problem affects an individual’s ability to function or is causing them to self-harm, seeking professional help would be a good idea. Many counselling services in Hong Kong provide sessions for people with mental health problems to empower and improve their quality of life.

Final Thoughts

Living alone can make people feel lonely and disconnected from others. Being isolated for a long time can take a toll on a person’s mental health and lead to serious health consequences.

Overcoming mental health problems can be a long and challenging journey. Learning coping skills and finding what works best can help. But, when things go out of hand, never hesitate to consult a mental health professional to address and improve the problem.

4 Benefits of Rejuran I Treatment

The Rejuran I treatment is a widely-sought cosmetic treatment that originated from South Korea. 

It’s known to stimulate collagen production and restore younger-looking skin. It helps repair tissues and rejuvenate skin from within. 

The treatment involves injecting Polynucleotides (PN) into the skin. Polynucleotides are drawn from salmon DNA and are safe and compatible with the human skin. 

Here are some of the benefits of the Rejuran I (eye) treatment.

  1. It reduces the appearance of fine lines. Rejuran I reduces unwanted fine lines and wrinkles effectively. After the first session, you’ll notice improvements in the texture of your skin. After your second treatment, you’ll likely see fewer fine lines and more elastic skin. The frequency, gaps between visits, and results may vary per patient. Your doctor will advise you when your touch-up sessions should be done for optimum results, as well as the improvements that you can expect after each of your visits. 
  1. It’s a simple procedure. Getting Rejuran eye treatment is simple and comparable to other procedures. Before starting, your doctor will apply a numbing cream on the area to reduce any discomfort. Once you’re ready, a series of microinjections will be administered into deep layers of the skin. Afterward, healing creams may also be applied to the treated area. The procedure can last up to 15 to 30 minutes. You’ll notice some bruising and redness, but this is temporary. Rejuran I is safe and has been approved for use in Singapore since 2017. It’s important to follow the post-treatment instructions provided by your treatment team to avoid issues and maximise treatment benefits.
  1. It isn’t painful. Your doctor will ensure you’ll have a comfortable session. This also why oral painkillers and numbing creams are used before your Rejuran treatment. Each injection may feel similar to an ant bite and should be tolerable. It’s natural to see little bumps after the treatment, but these should subside after a couple of days. These are the only side effects observed from the treatment, and no other adverse effects have been recorded during clinical studies. If you’re concerned about the use of needles, be sure to raise this during your initial consultation. 
  1. It can be used with other treatments. To get the most out of your Rejuran treatment, you can combine it with other aesthetic procedures. Rejuran is great at boosting collagen and giving the skin a youthful look. If you want your skin to also appear brighter and more hydrated, you may look into another treatment. You can discuss your options with your doctors so they can customise a treatment plan for you. 

Book Initial Consultations to Learn More About Rejuran Eye

Take advantage of complimentary initial consultations so you can have a feel of the clinic, the staff, and the overall environment. 

This is also your chance to learn more about the benefits of Rejuran I, and meet with the doctor to see whether you are a great fit. 

These first visits aren’t supposed to pressure you into treatments. The final decision will always be yours whether you’ll proceed or move on to another clinic.

IVF Treatment: Advantages and Reasons Why You Need It

Pregnancy can be a challenge for some. The good news is that you can improve your chances of getting pregnant with IVF treatment. Read on.

Women today are celebrating pregnancy. It is heralded by many as a time of joy, cheerful anticipation, optimism, and pride. What about those who are on the other side of the spectrum: those who want to get pregnant but are having a hard time?

In Singapore, for instance. Do you know that up to 1 in 6 individuals will experience difficulties getting pregnant and up to one-third of them will have challenges conceiving. Now, if you feel that you are part of the statistics; don’t fuss. That’s because in the world of infertility, there is a solution in the form of IVF treatment.

What is IVF treatment?

IVF stands for in vitro fertilisation and it is one of many fertility techniques that help people with fertility problems. During treatment, an egg is extracted from the woman’s ovaries. Afterward, it is fertilised with sperm in a lab setting. The fertilised egg (embryo) is returned to the woman’s womb for growth and development. 

The question still stands, though: what are the advantages of IVF treatment and why do you need it? If you want clear-cut explanations for these queries, then you came to the right place. Read on for details. 

What are the advantages of IVF treatment?

Here are some notable advantages of IVF treatment and how your trip to a tried and tested IVF centre in Singapore can increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy and childbirth. 

  • IVF works where other treatments fail

In general, the success rate of IVF treatment is 20 to 40% and it decreases as a woman ages. The numbers play a key role why it is chosen on top of intrauterine insemination and fertility medications. To add, the said treatment is one of the top choices for couples who have fertility problems. 

  • It can be used by almost anybody

IVF treatment is not restricted to the mother; it can also be utilised by gestational or surrogate carriers. Because of this, even same-sex couples or women who are physically challenged to carry a baby and single women can become parents even without participating in the pregnancy and labor stages.

  • Control with regard to timing 

Whether you are focused on your career or simply feel that you are not yet ready to get pregnant, as an aspiring mother, you do not have to rush things since you have control with regard to timing. 

This is because your egg or embryo can be cryopreserved for future use. Therefore, if you decide to get pregnant, you can do so in a heartbeat without worrying about a thing.

  • Boost your chances of having a healthy baby 

Many IVF centres in Singapore include preimplantation genetic testing to their IVF treatment packages. This helps to ensure that your baby is going to be born healthy. Because of the mentioned testing procedure, you can rest assured that the fetus that is going to be used for the said treatment are free of known genetic markers. Which may include down syndrome, sickle cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis. 

Summing up

These are only some of the advantages of IVF treatment. After reading, it is safe to say that it is a worthwhile option that you should turn to if you need help with your pregnancy. If you need more extensive information about it, look for tried and tested IVF centres in Singapore. Their personnel can help you make a decision that you won’t regret.

Keeping It Healthy: How to Improve Overall Wellness

Health is wealth. It’s an old adage that remains true – especially now that we’re in a middle of a health crisis. Keeping your mind and body healthy should always be a priority. Otherwise, the consequences of not looking after your health can have an impact on your life for the long-term.

Here are some tips to improve your overall wellbeing:

1. Eat a well-balanced meal.

In the age of fad diets, it’s easy for many to forget what a well-balanced meal is composed of. What you eat has a major effect on your health. Instead of skipping meals and hoping to lose weight, create a meal plan with lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole gains. Keep your sugar, fat, and salt intake moderate.

2. Avoid too much stress.

Make time for yourself to relax. Too much stress can be exhausting and affect not just your health, but also your overall disposition in life. Use organic CBD oil to relieve some of your stress and anxiety. If things get too overwhelming, talk to your loved ones or seek professional help.

3. Try to be physically active.

Dedicate at least four days of the week to be physically active. You can do 30-minute workout sessions or have 10-minute minor exercises that you can do daily. Physical activities like walking, running, and yoga can help clear the mind and keep your body healthy.

A healthy lifestyle requires discipline, and only you can commit to that. However, the rewards can be great throughout this journey of staying healthy.

3 Causes of Errors in Medical Interpretation

As far as medical interpretation is concerned, one may assume it’s just hearing and interpreting a word into another language that is required, no, the medical field is too technical when it comes to providing interpretation services for doctors and patients because it’s all about dealing with lives and the health of individuals. There is too much care needed when interpreting medical jargons, terminologies into a target language. The Major Causes of Medical Errors Let’s see and discuss the major causes of medical errors during the interpretations by the medical interpreters. Cultural beliefs and tradition; most cultures are too complicated which impacts medical service delivery in such communities, so to deliver medical services in such a community you must ensure you get medical translators and interpreters who can abide by the cultural beliefs and rules in that community because they will be knowing how to deal with their cultural beliefs. Some culture and beliefs do not allow females to conduct speeches in public; when operating a medical clinic in a particular community, you must get to know how their cultural beliefs and norm are such that it becomes easier to provide interpreting services, failure to do that you may make mistakes that may end up causing medical errors in the medical interpretation. Using family members as translators and interpreters, this is also too dangerous, due to fear of paying for professional medical interpreters or translators, medical services providers may resort to using the patient’s family members or the patient’s caretakers who may be fluent in English to provide medical interpretation, as we all know that being fluent in English is not enough for somebody to be a medical translator of interpreter, because of the technicality of medical terminologies, a caretaker can’t accurately interpret medical terminologies due to lack of knowledge about it, let’s assume you have no knowledge in the medical field, and you are given to interpret, the doctor mentions a statement that you’ve never heard of in life, can you manage to understand that statement and interpret into a layman language? Use of clinicians who have the basic foreign language skills to communicate with patients and doctors instead of qualified medical interpreters, medical services providers might resort to use of clinician who may have a little knowledge in a particular language understood by the patient. Medical interpretations need fluent native speaking medical interpreters and translators of the respective language so as to be accurate, but because a clinician who is a Japanese speaker knows some little French is given to act as an interpreter between the doctor and the French-speaking patient, there is no way that interpretation will be free from misinterpretation of some words. Areas where medical errors may occur Medical errors are always common in medical areas like; • Admission forms • Patient discharge reports • Medical reconciliation • Emergency department visits and surgical care Possible ways to avoid medical errors in medical interpretation To avoid medical errors, medical service providers should focus on strengthening professional medical interpretation services, doctors and patients should be able to communicate and understand each other, they should also provide already translated materials in several foreign languages for the targeted users, cultural awareness and advocacy, improving medical staff training and etc. The use of the patient’s specific identity, this will help to ensure that the medical interpreter is given the right medical information for the respective patient for interpretation. If any mistake happens that different information about the medical prescriptions is interpreted for a different patient, medical errors have to occur; hence the medical history of the patient bearing the name of the patient, admission date, is necessary since it includes the medicine prescribed for the patient.  

Medical Assistant Career – Opening Doors To A Profession In Healthcare Services

Medical Assistant Career – Opening doors to a profession in healthcare services.

Medical Assistant careers are gathering demand in the background of a healthcare industry boom worldwide.

A Medical Assistant essentially is a healthcare professional with multiple responsibilities and skill sets required to execute the same. Both administrative and medical tasks that do not need much medical proficiency fall into the ambit of a Medical Assistant.

Medical Assistants are indispensable in any modern day healthcare practice. Engaged under physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners. Medical Assistants attend to the complexities involved in delivering medical services.

By accomplishing administrative and other responsibilities, Medical Assistants make it easier for the practitioners to concentrate on attending to and treating patients.

Medical Assistants execute varied administrative, laboratory and clinical tasks in different health care institutions.

Often, Medical Assistants are seen as generalists who are involved with many aspects of the medical profession but do not specialize in them.

A detailed overview of the activities of a Medical Assistant is given here:

Administrative duties:

  • General administration which includes day-to-day activities and other tasks. These include:
  • Communication – both internal and external and office correspondence.
  • Patient welfare – maintenance of patient records, insurance forms, scheduling appointments, arranging for hospital admission.
  • Billing and bookkeeping.
  • Maintain medical and drug supplies.

Clinical duties:

  • Clinical duties require discreet manual dexterity and visual acuity. A Medical Assistant has to support the medical practitioner with the following:
  • Recording vital signs.
  • Preparing patients for examination, explaining treatment procedures to patients.
  • Assisting the physician during the examination.
  • Instructing patients about medications and special diets.
  • Preparation and administration of medications.

Laboratory tasks:

  • Laboratory tasks include:
  • Collection and preparation of laboratory specimens.
  • Performing basic laboratory tests on the premises.
  • Draw blood, prepare patients for X-rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures and change dressings.
  • Disposal of contaminated supplies and sterilization of medical instruments.
  • Medical Assistants employed at small medical outfits may undertake both administrative and clinical duties and report directly to the office manager or health practitioner.
  • Larger medical outfits have Medical Assistants reporting to department administrators and specializing only in a particular area.

Medical Assistant – Essential qualities and skills:

  • Duties entailed in medical assisting vary with the type of health care facility, size, location and specialisation.
  • A pleasant disposition is a must as Medical Assistants constantly interact with patients and public. Courteous manners, a well groomed personality and an aptitude for making people feel at ease are essential.
  • Simple medical and clinical skills and administrative abilities are integral to the profile of a Medical Assistant.
  • Traditionally, Medical Assistants did not need to be certified as they learnt on the job. This scenario has changed and contemporary medical practices prefer trained and certified Medical Assistant professionals to untrained individuals.

Medical Assistant Training and Certification:

  • Healthcare industry is increasingly in favour of trained Medical Assistants. The need for technically sound personnel who have the flexibility of handling both clinical and administrative tasks is on the rise. The trend is an offshoot of the need felt by doctors to concentrate on treating patients rather than on other functional details.
  • Certification is a mark of the individual having been trained and qualified in the profession.
  • A Medical Assistant certificate stands as a certainty of successful training. Also, securing a Medical Assistant certificate assures higher professional satisfaction and recognition. Compared to uncertified individuals, the formal education and the Medical Assistant certificate help them in advance faster in their profession.
  • The Medical Assistant certificate can be secured by both experienced and inexperienced individuals. Experienced professionals may not have to take a certification exam. Inexperienced candidates though will have to undergo rigorous training from an accredited vocational training institution.
  • Medical Assistant certification or registration will put the individual a step ahead from counterparts.
  • Medical Assistant registration and certification are the same. It’s just that different certifying bodies have different terms for referring to a Medical Assistant cerificate.
  • With many Medical Assistant schools mushrooming in the market, it is important that one acquires education and secures Medical Assistant registration from a reputed and reliable source.

 

The Right Prescription to Prevent Medical Identity Theft

Approximately 1.5 million Americans are victims of medical identity theft each year, a crime that costs the nation $41.3 billion annually. Prescription fraud is a growing form of medical identity theft that is not only extremely costly and time-consuming; it can also put your health at risk and even be life-threatening. Unfortunately, medical identity theft isn’t commonly known by many Americans, and often isn’t detected until it’s too late. When we don’t take precautions to prevent prescription fraud and other forms of medical identity theft, we put ourselves in jeopardy of becoming another victim.

What is Prescription Fraud?

Prescription fraud occurs when identity thieves use your personal information to fill prescriptions in your name. They use your medical identity to receive medical treatment at hospitals and doctors’ offices, obtain medications, and access other healthcare services.

Prescription fraud doesn’t just leave you with a huge bill-it can potentially put your health at risk as well. You may find that false information has been added to your personal health record, such as a change in blood type or supposed allergies. Every medical procedure received and prescription filled by the identity thief becomes part of your medical history, which means you may not be able to obtain the life-saving treatment you need in an emergency medical situation.

Detecting and resolving medical identity theft can be difficult as well. You may not discover that you’re a victim until a pharmacy refuses to fill a prescription because it conflicts with another medication you appear to be taking. To make matters worse, fixing errors in your record can be very challenging due to medical privacy laws. Ironically, the same laws that were implemented to protect your privacy and health information are now protecting the medical identity thief. This restricted access to medical records prolongs the duration of the theft, costing you countless time, money, and frustration.

How to Prevent Prescription Fraud

One of the easiest ways to avoid this type of medical identity theft is simply to be aware of what you throw in the trash. Prescription medication labels carry such sensitive information as your full name and address, the prescribing physician, the type of medication, prescription number, and the pharmacy’s contact information-all of the things a thief needs to perform prescription fraud. Instead of throwing empty prescription bottles in the trash, including the drug information forms, remove the labels and shred them. Other ways to prevent prescription fraud:

  • Review every explanation of benefits (EOB). Examine the charges for medical visits or prescriptions you didn’t receive, and report any suspicious activity immediately.
  • Never simply toss medical information in the trash. Dumpster divers can easily access your personal information if you fail to shred the documents.
  • Secure medical records. Keep your medical records in a safe place inside your home or in a safe deposit box, away from the prying eyes of visitors. Believe it or not, friends and relatives who have easy access to your personal information are often the culprits.
  • Safeguard prescription bottles. Hide or lock-up your medication rather than leaving it in plain sight or in a medicine cabinet. This will prevent anyone from walking off with your prescription medication and, later, your identity.
  • Manage written prescription slips. Don’t throw them away or leave them out where they can be stolen. These slips are all an identity thief needs to fill a prescription in your name, leave you without your medication, steal your medical identity, and even put your life in danger.
  • Enlist the help of an identity theft protection service such as ID Theft Solutions, which can proactively help prevent medical identity theft and even restore your identity when it’s stolen.
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