Symptoms & Avoidance: Coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing as the airways constrict and air becomes trapped in the lungs. Anyone with asthma should use a preventer on a daily basis which should reduce the risk of an attack. However, in the event of an attack prescribed reliever medication should be taken immediately. Asthma can start at any age. Some people develop it in childhood while others develop 'late-onset' asthma in adulthood. Like eczema it can run in families and smoking during pregnancy increases the chance of the child developing asthma.

Symptoms & Avoidance: A chesty cough is your body’s way of getting rid of mucus that has built up in your lungs over the course of your cold. Your airways may become tight and you may have difficulty breathing. A dry cough is usually felt in your throat as a tickle. It occurs when your throat and airways are inflamed.

A cough can develop as part of a cold or even when you think you are getting better. A cough suppressant medicine can help to relive a dry or tickly cough while an expectorant will break up the mucus of a chesty cough. If you prefer a home remedy, drink warm water with a spoonful of honey, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a slice of ginger.

Symptoms, Avoidance & Remedies: Nausea and burning sensation in the chest is common symptom. Both heartburn & Indigestion can be easily treated by taking common indigestion remedy available from the pharmacy. Consult a doctor if the pain or cramps get worse after eating, there is nausea or vomiting, blood in stools or you have concerns there may be a heart or some other problem. Avoid spicy food or too much alcohol. Sleeping propped up on pillows can help reduce the chances of indigestion. This is because it prevents stomach acid from moving up into the oesophagus.

Symptoms, Avoidance & Remedies: Stinging feeling caused by a blister inside the mouth, often on the gums. Soothe the pain by using an anaesthetic pastille or gel. Ask your GP about special gels to help heal mouth ulcers. If you have a mouth ulcer for more than three weeks, get it checked by your dentist too as a precaution. Rinsing your mouth with iced water can help to relieve the pain of a mouth ulcer.

Screening & Monitoring for Diabetes: Screening involves a short questionnaire, a simple finger prick test to measure your glucose level, advice on how to reduce the chance of developing diabetes and healthy living advice. Finger prick test involves taking a tiny drop of blood from the tip of your finger. A blood monitoring system is then used to measure the level of glucose in this sample, and results are displayed in just five seconds. The test is carried out at home using Glucometer. Seek the advice of your GP. You can also get the diabetes tested in a pathological laboratory

Screening can help to indicate the likelihood that you have, or may develop, diabetes. The test measures blood glucose levels but is not able to diagnose whether or not you have diabetes. Results can be affected by factors such as when you last ate, and what you had to eat. Diagnosis of diabetes can only be made by a doctor following further testing. Once diagnosed diabetes can be effectively controlled with small lifestyle changes, or medication where necessary

Stress is simply your body’s response to change. It is usually associated with negative feelings, but it can be a positive influence. Think about a time when you had lots to do, you felt challenged and you coped well. Believe it or not, at this time you were experiencing stress, manageable pressure, known as ‘eustress’. Most of us perform best when we’re given a little push so a moderate amount of stress can even be good for you!

Symptoms, Monitoring, Avoidance & Remedies Symptoms: The symptoms of stress can creep up on us and we can become so used to feeling a particular way that we start to think it is normal. Take a few moments to read these lists and check off the symptoms that you experience regularly. We all have different bodies and responses so this is just a rough guide to how well you might deal with the pressures of life. There are mainly three types of symptoms/signs of stress such as Emotional signs, Lifestyle signs and Physical signs. The Emotional signs are Irritability, Impatience, Frustration, Mood swings, sense of humour failure and feeling overwhelmed. Lifestyle signs are Excessive smoking, excessive drinking, Comfort eating, Weight gain/loss, Inactivity, Disturbed sleep & No time to self whereas the Physical signs are aching muscles, headaches, feeling constantly tired, regular sniffles and bugs, skin problems e.g. acne or eczema, Digestive problems such as bloating & Nail biting

If you know you are feeling tense but can’t work out the reason, ask your partner or close friend what they think the cause might be. Because they’re not directly and emotionally involved in the situation, they may be able to see things more clearly than you.

What’s different to your normal, everyday life? Has something happened which is unusual. Stress often comes about as a result of change, so take a look at your life and see what’s happening that’s out of the ordinary. Recognising what this is may help to relieve the pressure.

You can learn to induce a relaxed state just by thinking about it. Think of a time when you were really relaxed; maybe you were on holiday, in the bath or having a romantic evening. Close your eyes and imagine you are in that situation now; see what you saw, hear what you heard and feel what you felt. Once you have that clearly in mind, imagine you can step inside that memory and feel what your body felt then. Make sure you breathe really deeply throughout this.

Visit a professional massage therapist or ask a friend or partner for an impromptu neck and shoulder rub. It’s a great way of getting rid of tension in your body. Getting absorbed in a good thriller, action movie or light-hearted comedy, we can switch off and escape our worries. Listening to music is one of the quickest and simplest ways to change how we feel, so put on your favourite song for an instant lift. Further, what relaxes might not be the same for someone else – try out a few things to find out what suits you best and relieves your stress.

No matter what your level of stress, the first step is to become aware of your behaviour. By learning what your particular warning signs are and understanding what’s causing your tension you can start to deal with your situation in a positive way. We live in a society where we are expected to cope and we are brought up to think that needing help is a sign of weakness. Asking for help is actually a sign of great strength. Support is on your doorstep in the form of friends, relatives and colleagues. Their opinion and encouragement can be invaluable. If you feel that your symptoms are too much to cope with, or if they persist for a prolonged period, you can approach your GP for help.

High blood pressure rarely has any symptoms. The only way to know whether you have high blood pressure is to have it measured. Visit your Doctor and get the blood pressure checked regularly as and when one reaches the plausible age which is generally around 50 years.

You can also monitor your blood pressure at home using blood pressure monitors commonly available in the market. With monitoring blood pressure at home you may have the advantages like, be able to take steps to reduce your blood pressure before any problems arises, will have a consistently readings of your blood pressure that can be shown to the Doctor & remedies taken. You will also be able to notice if your blood pressure becomes too high at anytime and then can immediately contact your Doctor

Once diagnosed with high blood pressure, it can be effectively controlled with little change in lifestyle and medications, in consultation with GP whenever necessary. The changed lifestyle includes:

Good eating habits such as eating sufficient quantity of fruits instead of biscuits etc. Fruits gives sufficient quantity of fibres ,no fat and fewer calories. Exercise regularly.