General Health Tips

If you live in a country of extreme northern or southern latitude, most likely, you suffer from seasonal affective disorders. In this article we provide you with seasonal health tips – consider the information provided, follow our advice and be healthy throughout the year!
 

• Seasonal Health Tip # 1: Seasonal Affective Disorder Definition

Seasonal affective disorder is a term that refers to a form of depression caused by the lack of daylight in extreme northern and southern latitudes in the period from the late autumn to the early spring.

• Seasonal Health Tip # 2: Seasonal Affective Disorder Description

Though no certain causes of seasonal affective disorder have been detected, the hormone melatonin is considered to play an active role in causing this disorder. Melatonin regulates “internal body clock,” which dictates when people want to go to bed at night and get up in the morning. Seasonal affective disorder usually occurs when light is low; though it may occur even in the spring (in this case it is called reverse SAD)

• Seasonal Health Tip # 3: Causes and Symptoms

Scientists believe that people feel sleepy at night because their bodies produce more melatonin at night than during the day. During winter, when the days are shorter, the body produces more melatonin. Researchers agree that excessive melatonin release during winter time in people with seasonal affective disorders sharpens their feelings of drowsiness or depression.
 
American Psychiatric Association reports that 10 million Americans, most of whom are women, are affected by seasonal affective disorder. Moreover, 25 million Americans suffer from a mild form of the disorder. The further from the equator the person lives, the more the risk of the disorder increases.
 
The symptoms of the disease are as follows. People feel sad, angry, tired or uninterested in the life around. They find themselves sleeping more than usual. Actually, the symptoms are similar to other forms of depression.

• Seasonal Health Tip # 4: Diagnosis

Doctors carefully examine the above-mentioned symptoms reported by the patients (the time of the year included) and decide on the diagnosis.

• Seasonal Health Tip # 5: Treatment

Light therapy is used to treat seasonal effective disorders. A special device called a light-box is used in this therapy. It provides bright artificial lights which compensate the natural lights absent in winter. The patient sits for about half an hour in front of this device. The therapy is considered to be safe. However, those with eye diseases are not recommended this type of treatment as such problems as eye strain, hypomania, headaches and insomnia may develop.
 
Medication and psychotherapy are also effective in treatment the disorders. The most commonly used drugs are: heterocyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and Lithium salts.
 
Interpersonal psychotherapy helps patients to learn how mood disorders and interpersonal relationships are interconnected. Cognitive-behavioral therapy investigates how the patient’s view of the world affects his/her mood.

• Seasonal Health Tip # 6: Prognosis

Light therapy and antidepressant drugs are the best tools in fighting seasonal affective disorders.

Get more light from the smiles of the people around and no seasonal effective disorder will threaten your health!
Please, consider the article Oral Health Tips to find additional information.