Signs you might have a kidney infection
Signs you might have a kidney infection

The kidneys can easily get infected with bacteria like E.coli. The bacterium just needs to reach to the kidneys either through the blood stream or the urinary tract and cause an inflammation there. This kind of infection can be chronic too causing severe health issues. However, it shows different signs and symptoms even during its acute stage to warn the individual about its improper functioning. Taking a note of these early warning signs can help you treat it effectively without causing further complications. So, let us look at the signs which indicate that you might have a kidney infection.

  • High fever
  • Chills or uncontrollable shivering
  • Pain or burning sensation while passing urine
  • Abdominal pain that begins at the flank
  • Pain in the groin region
  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Nausea
  • Blood in the urine
  • Cloudy or pus-filled urine
  • Foul smelling urine
  • Persistent urge to urinate
  • Frequent urination
  • Inability to urinate fully
  • Weakness

It is imperative to identify some of these signs as they are similar to urinary tract infection or UTI and can be easily misunderstood. Hence it is important to consult your doctor and verify the difference. The doctor is most likely to follow these following steps to have a proper diagnosis.

  • Urine analysis – to check for blood, pus, and bacteria
  • Urine culture – to identify the bacterium type causing the infection
  • Ultra sound or CT scan– to understand if the renal infection is caused due to any blockage in the urinary tract
  • Voiding cystourethrogram – this type of X ray enables the doctor to understand where exactly the problem is in the bladder or urethra
  • Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy – this is high-end digital imaging to see where exactly the kidney is damaged.
  • Digital rectal exam (for men) – to check for swollen prostate gland if it is the cause of renal infection

So, now, you see that even the doctor needs to do a lot of testing to confirm the presence of renal infection and just the signs and symptoms are not enough to accurately determine it.

  • Potential issues of using a safety harness kit

    When you hand over a few things, such as safety glasses or a pair of boots, they can use them properly. However, your fall protection harness safety kit is certainly not one of those things. To an amateur or an untrained eye, the harness safety kit may seem like a jumble of buckles and straps without any semblance of reason. This makes the harness ineffective and may injure or hurt the wearer. 

    Here are some instances wherein a harness safety kit can cause hurt or injury:

    Improper fit
    When the safety harness kit is not adjusted for a snug fit, its efficiency is null. It is almost equivalent to wearing no harness at all. A snug fit is vital on both the upper and the lower sections. If you slip loose from the harness while working at an elevation, you may find yourself in a dangerous situation, which may demand an immediate rescue. Organ damage, traumatic injury, or a neurological injury might occur in only a few minutes of prolonged suspension in some cases. Weight limits vary from one model to another, but the typical range is between 130-310 pounds. The weight includes the worker’s clothing, the harness itself, and any tools the worker will use while working with the harness. For obvious reasons, you must not exceed the weight limits, and the body harnesses must never be used for lifting equipment or materials. 

    Wrong D-ring position
    The harnesses were not thrown together haphazardly using some straps lying loose on a manufacturing floor. These have been carefully engineered by certified professionals who ensure that the body’s force in the event of the fall is distributed across the body to ensure that the fall is safely arrested. If you do not wear the harness right, it will not provide equal force distribution. As a result, you will even up hurting yourself. So, if the D-ring is wrongly positioned, it is a clear sign that you are not wearing your harness correctly. Hence, anytime you wear the harness safety kit, make your partner examine it to ensure that the D-ring is situated precisely halfway between the shoulder blades. It does not mean that it can land up just anywhere on the back; rather, it should be on the back’s center at the shoulder blade height.

    Overuse
    Although the harness safety kit does not come with an expiration date, you can tell when it needs to be replaced. If the harness has been used for more than five years and starts showing wear-and-tear signs, you need to replace it. When a harness has exceeded its life, it may lead to equipment failure.  

    Read more
  • Popular financial planning tools and softwares

    Financial planning is key when it comes to making different types of investments. However, technology now plays a key role in financial planning with the increasing use of software to analyze and predict certain financial outcomes. Access to historical data to compare different types of investments, assess their viability and predict a profit margin are all tasks which have been simplified due to this premium software.

    Valuation formulas for different types of securities, risk assessment, equity analysis done in real time within seconds are just some of the highlights of these financial planning tools. The five most popular softwares which have now become mainstream financial planning tools include:

    Money Tree: Money Tree has designed a number of softwares and additional tools to be primarily used by bankers. The Silver program, MoneyGuidePro, eMoney Advisor are just some of the financial products associated with this software beneficial for estate planning, retirement planning, and even educational funding plans. An easy to use software which can be integrated with various third-party programs, especially to run certain scenarios to predict financial outcomes making it one of the popular financial planning tools available in the market.

    MoneyGuidePro: Visually interactive, MoneyGuidePro is designed to engage whoever is using it to input different choices and mimic certain desired financial outcomes. This software can be integrated with many third-party programs, similar to that of Money Tree which makes it a comprehensive financial planning tools for end users.

    eMoney Advisor: Cash flow analysis module is the premier highlight of this software, with a financial feed that provides you with real-time data for analysis. Additional features allow clients to access their financial data to take printouts. Real-time data helps financial advisors stay on top of their game and assess the best investment options available.

    Advicent: While the eMoney advisor is best known for its cash flow analysis module, NaviPlan by Advicent features a detailed cash management module. The user interface of this software includes a side by side on screen comparison for investments and scenario simulations best suited for financial analysis for retirement accumulation, distribution of the assets and liabilities of clients.

    Advizr: This software offers sophisticated financial planning tools for social security, stress tests for retirement planning and more. Of all the software available in the market, Advizr is the only one which has a comprehensive focus on retirement planning which makes it one of the best financial planning tools for investment advisors.

    Read more
  • Signs and symptoms of Migraine

    Migraines are typically self-limited. Its recurrent severe headache is associated with autonomic symptoms. Mostly, every other individual who suffers from migraine headaches experience them with frequent aura.

    The severity of the pain, duration of the headache, and frequency of the attacks are different for every person. A migraine that lasts more than 72 hours is termed as status migrainosus.

    There are four possible phases of migraine. It is not necessary that all the phases will be necessarily experienced.

    The four phases are as follows:

    Prodrome phase
    It is one of the most common phases among the people who suffer from migraine. With its onset, it can the prodrome phase last from two hours to two days. It can be caused due to prolonged consumption of processed food or high caffeine beverages. Its symptoms include altered mood, irritability which can range from depression to fatigue. The person in this phase may experience constipation or diarrhea.

    Aura phase
    Strictly in medical terms, an aura is a transient focal neurological phenomenon. In simple words, the person going through this phase might experience frequent visual impairments or other sensory or motor symptoms. The aura phase occurs in most of the cases.

    Visual disturbances often consist scintillating scotoma. It is a partial alteration in the field of vision. It may interfere. This happens to people who get migraine headaches due to sensory stimulation. These typically start near center of the vision and then spread out to the sides with zigzag lines.

    Sensory auras are the second most common type and occur in almost 40 percent of people with auras. In this type of phase, the person often feels pin pricks on one side of hand, and it spreads through-out the nose and mouth area of the same side. With this, numbness usually occurs with the loss of position sense. Other symptoms usually range from speech or language disturbance.

    Pain phase
    This phase occurs when the headache is moderate to severe in intensity. It aggravated by physical activity. Bilateral neck pain is associated with it. This phase is experienced when migraine is caused due to physical stress.

    Postdrome
    The migraine postdrome leaves the person with head pain, cognitive difficulties, gastrointestinal symptoms, mood changes, and weakness. This phase occurs to the people who experience migraine due to irregular sleep cycle.

    Read more
  • Cutting costs while choosing bedroom dressers

    Where are you going to place the dresser, in the master bedroom, the kids’ room or the spare room? What is your preference in style and material? All these can help determine the type and cost of the dresser that you buy. You can find many cheap bedroom dressers that are made of good quality materials.

    Different styles of dressers
    Bedroom dressers are mainly used to store clothes. Depending on the range of clothes you have and how you want to organize them, you can look for units with more number of drawers or less. You can also choose the orientation, tall or wide. Most designer furniture can be expensive, so try and opt for something that isn’t a part of any designer collection.

    Lateral dressers: This is the classical orientation for bedroom dressers. Lateral units are wide and have at least two columns of drawers. Their short and horizontal design enables you to place a mirror on them.

    Vertical dressers: These units are tall rather than wide. They can come with one or two columns of drawers and are also known as tallboys. They have deeper drawers than horizontal dressers.

    Combo dressers: These dressers combine the lateral and the tallboy dressers into one unit. A wide and short chest of drawers is combined with a vertical dresser unit. The vertical unit can also be a long shelf with a door and can be used to hang pants and suits.

    Materials
    The materials used to make a bedroom dresser greatly influence its price. So if you opt for the right material, you can surely end up buying cheap bedroom dressers.

    Wood: Most dressers are made of wood but its quality differs. You can choose from high-end traditional hardwoods to particle boards and Medium Density Fiberboards (MDF), plywood and so on. Dressers made of materials like MDF and plywood are a lot easier on the pocket than those made of high density or rare wood. You can choose a material that is durable, fits your budget, and still looks good.

    Metal: You can buy dressers made entirely of metal or they could be a combination of metal and wood. These bedroom dressers give a modern or transitional look to your bedroom.

    Wicker or plastic: If you like the look of woven furniture, you can get wicker dressers, made from plastic or natural fibers. However, a woven look leads to the accumulation of dust and requires regular cleaning and maintenance.
    Plastic dressers come in many styles and can be fitting economic options for kids’ rooms, as you would need to replace the furniture as they grow up. Both plastic and wicker are economical materials that make for cheap bedroom dressers.

    Making the choice
    If you want a dresser with both drawers and a shelf, choose good combo dressers. If you want a dresser that will fit into a small space, select tallboys.
    A wide dresser, with two or three columns and different types of drawers, allows you to divide and organize your clothing, accessories, etc. Besides this, you can buy dressers with an attached mirror, or buy a mirror separately and place it on top of a lateral dresser. Combination units are typically cheaper, but this may not always be the case. Weigh your options carefully by comparing prices on your own.

    Cheap bedroom dressers need not translate into poor quality furniture. You can cut costs by choosing MDF or plywood rather than teakwood units. You can buy stylish and sturdy plastic dressers for your kids’ rooms. You can buy a bedroom dresser that will also serve as a dressing table or as a TV console, eliminating the need to buy another piece of furniture, thus bringing down the overall cost of redesigning your room.

    Read more
  • How to maintain your replacement windows

    Replacement windows are just like any other lifestyle asset in your home. They require maintenance just like the tires of your car.

    Here are some handy tips and guidelines on how to maintain replacement windows:

    Clean the window surfaces
    Using a clean and dry paintbrush to remove signs of dirt and dust from the window sills and tracks at least once every year. Remove cobwebs, dead bugs, and grime so that the replacement windows can slide in and out easily. Use cleaners ideal for your window type and refer to the manufacturer’s instruction manual on this.

    Maintain weather-stripping
    A weather-stripping helps save on your utility bills by weatherizing your open storm replacement windows and preventing heat loss. Inspect your windows annually and consult a professional if it shows any signs of deterioration.

    Inspect the hardware and accessories
    Many replacement windows come with a host of features such as sash locks and cringe. These provide safety and security. Inspect these manually and get them replaced if any of the components are not working.

    Replace the panes and repair window hardware.
    Replacement Windows do come with warranties. When your window warranty expires, hire a professional to replace the weather-stripping, sashes, and window panes. Consider replacing the glass with dual-insulating options, which are more energy-efficient, resulting in lower heating bills. Insulating glass panes need to be replaced when the seal around the spacer frames show signs of deterioration. Hire a certified glazier to do this job.

    General window maintenance tips.
    If you’re facing constant condensation forming on your windows and other home hacks, you can try lowering the humidifier levels, using exhaust fans, and opening the venting louvers in various places in your home. Excessive condensation can cause peeling off the paint and wallpapers in your home. You can try these tricks to reduce or eliminate the same.

    Maintaining your replacement windows will save time, money, energy, and expand their life cycle, leading to a cleaner, cooler, and more attractive looking home.

    Read more
  • 5 frequently asked questions answered about multiple myeloma

    What is multiple myeloma?
    Multiple myeloma is the cancer that occurs in the plasma cells. As you know, plasma cells are a type of white blood cells which is responsible for maintaining the immune system of the body. Plasma cells are found in the bone marrow and produces antibodies to protect your body from catching infections. In multiple myeloma, a group of plasma cells behaves abnormally, multiplies, and gets accumulated in the bone marrow. Instead of antibodies, the cancerous cells produce harmful proteins. The condition will lead to damage of kidney, immune system, bones etc.

    What are the symptoms of multiple myeloma?
    In some patients, multiple myeloma produces no symptoms, which makes it difficult to diagnose the disease. Commonly found symptoms in patients with multiple myeloma are:
    â Fatigue, weakness and tiredness
    â Pain in the bones especially spine, skull, hips etc. It can occur in any bone. Sudden back pain may also occur.
    â Bone weakness leading to frequent injuries or fractures
    â Low blood count leading to dizziness, anemia
    â High calcium levels
    â Muscle weakness
    â Numbness in the legs
    â Extreme thirst and drowsy feeling
    â Confusion and lack of clarity in thoughts
    â Loss of appetite
    â Constipation
    â Frequent urination
    â Kidney problems

    How is it multiple myeloma treated?
    Advancement in medical research has given effective options in treatment multiple myeloma. Often the treatment is based on the stage and type of multiple myeloma. The major treatment methods include:
    â Chemotherapy: Drugs in the form of pills or injection are given to kill the myeloma cells.
    â Corticosteroids: This, injection or pill, will help to regulate the immune system of the body.
    â Stem-cell transplantation: This is the most effective treatment option for people suffering from the severe symptoms of multiple myeloma. In the process, the unhealthy bone marrow is replaced with healthy cells.
    â Immunotherapy: This process uses antibodies to fight against the cancer cells.
    â Radiation therapy: High energy electron beams are used to kill the plasma cells.

    What are the complications of multiple myeloma?
    Multiple myeloma may continue in the body without showing any symptoms for a long time, and some people have a normal life although they show up a few symptoms. But for a few others, the condition may cause severe complications and worsen within a short span of time. The condition will limit the ability of the body to fight against infection. It can also create weakness in the bone leading to fractures and thinning of the bones. Higher calcium levels can sometimes lead to damage in the kidney function.

    Is multiple myeloma curable?
    Finding a complete cure from multiple myeloma is still under research. However, different treatment options are available for limiting the symptoms and complications caused by the disease. It is mostly seen in people after 40 years of age. The life expectancy of multiple myeloma patients has gone higher, and is between 5 to 25 years, according to latest research.

    Read more
  • Easy Maintenance Tips for an Above Ground Pool

    Having a water body in your backyard could add to your chores, as maintaining above ground pools do require maintenance.

    Above ground, pools need a little time and effort to be maintained. Here are a few maintenance tips for your pool:

    • Keep your pool water clean and safe with a pump and filter. These are essential tools for above ground pool maintenance. Run the pump for 8 to 12 hours during the day. Also, allow the water to circulate in your pool’s perimeter. Algae and bacteria have a harder time taking hold with water in motion. Water circulation also directs more debris to the skimmer where your filter captures it.
    • All above ground pools have areas that circulate very little or do not circulate at all. Such areas become breeding grounds for algae and other similar problems. You should wash and vacuum the walls and floor of your pool at least once a week. You will still need to do a little brushing once a week, even if you use an automatic above ground pool.
    • Make sure that you test your water for two critical factors on a regular basis – pH and sanitizers. You should do this at least three times a week. When you test pH and sanitizer levels regularly, it ensures that your pool has clear water all season long. The quickest way to do this is a digital test strip reader.
    • Chlorine tablets and granules, or sticks are an effective sanitizer for above ground pools. They help in wiping out bacteria and keeping your water clean and safe. Whichever form of chlorine you choose, make sure that you use stabilized chlorine. This is processed for protection against the damaging rays of the sun, makes the chemical work more effectively, and lasts longer. Make sure that your skimmer, automatic feeder, and floater always have chlorine for continuous sanitizing.Maintaining above ground pools is extremely important, as it ensures safe and sanitized water.
    Read more
  • 5 factors that affect jet charter prices

    If you have the resources, you can find solace from the hassles of a commercial flight by opting for jet charters. In chartered flights, you will have the entire plane to yourself, which is a refreshing change from sitting in the cramped space allotted to you in commercial flights. However, chartered jets aren’t quite pocket friendly, renting the entire airplane will cost you between $1200 and $8,500 per flight hour. Jet charter prices depend on several factors, and a slight change in either of these factors can affect the price of the chartered jet.

    If you are planning on chartering a flight, you need to be aware of the factors that affect the jet charter prices:

    • The type of aircraft you choose
      In fact, the major factor that determines jet charter prices is the type of aircraft you choose to travel in. Naturally, larger airplanes cost more, but this doesn’t mean that you can have more people traveling in a smaller aircraft to avoid the cost of a bigger chartered jet. The airlines might have restrictions on the number of passengers and the amount of luggage allowed in the particular airplane.
    • Your destination affects the jet charter prices
      Jet charter prices vary according to the distance traveled. If you are traveling to a far-away place, the jet charter prices might be higher than traveling to a closer destination. The private jet charter company will consider your itinerary and the estimated flight time.
    • Fuel prices
      Jet chartered prices are affected by the changes in fuel prices. Fuel costs fluctuate frequently, and this can dramatically alter jet charter prices. Besides, if you choose a larger airplane, it will inevitably require more fuel than its smaller counterpart. So, the fuel consumption of the airplane and its cost determine the jet charter prices.
    • The “all-in” charges
      The quote that you receive for the chartered jet consists is the “all-in” quote. This implies that in addition to containing the hourly rates of the airplane, it also consists of the different expenses of the in-flight service, i.e., the crew’s fees, handling fees, airport landing fees, catering and transportation charges, ground, overnight and daily minimum fees, and, finally, the taxes. The charges levied by different airlines for these services vary, so the jet charter prices are subject to change as well.
    • Unanticipated fees
      The price of your chartered jet can change according to Mother Nature’s wishes. For instance, if you are traveling during the winter, the airplane might require de-icing before departure, and you will have to bear that cost. However, regular fliers usually lock in the airplane at the initial cost by using their membership cards.

    The factors mentioned above are the ones that affect jet charter prices the most. Make sure that you keep them in mind before your next charter booking.

    Read more